by CT Grey
What he was saying was truly unbelievable. There was so much smoke and mirrors around the intelligence group that nothing that had been true, was true anymore. I didn’t know what to trust in, but just trust that the foundation of our community was strong. So I said, “Okay,” and then turned to look Addison. And when I saw Harry winking, I asked, “What other options do I have?”
“Well,” Addison said. “You can always use the other drone.”
“What?” I snapped at him. “What other drone?”
“You know who.” Harry smiled. “There’s no other way.”
“Jeesus Christ,” I sighed. “You are not thinking about—”
“What other choice do you have?” Addison asked. “You’ll want to interview the new subject and you can’t get there physically, can you?”
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll need to think about it, but you’re right. Just give me twenty four hours to mull this over, and in the meantime, can I get my full status back please?”
Harry turned to look Addison and nodded. “Do it. And open his quarters in site A so that he can get some proper rest, will you?”
“No problem boss,” Addison said, while I tapped in the disconnect code and then mouthed thank you just before I hit the enter key. The world shattered into a million fragments and seconds later, I found myself sitting in my office, sweating as if I’d run a marathon.
I took off my glasses and pinched my nose, while I thought hard about what Harry had revealed. And I realised I was in the middle of a game that the Authorities had played from the beginning. They had abandoned all of us, and at the same time they expected us to pull our weight without any help from them. And if everything went pear-shaped they would just abandon the cradle of humanity for God knows how long.
No, I said to myself, as I stood up and walked around the office searching for anything to drink. I needed to strike a deal with Jane. We needed her more than she needed us. And if that wasn’t all, I realised I needed her to save me just like she’d saved her friend. I needed her to go out there and bring me back information so that we could turn the wheel in the right direction and reclaim our planet.
When I couldn’t find anything even remote drinkable I pushed the button on the wall, and immediately heard loud snoring coming from the gorilla, who’d fallen in sleep in a chair that he’d got from somewhere. It was not his fault if his duty was to guard me from outside influence, but just as I stepped into the corridor I saw the door opposite to my office sliding aside to reveal a short, balding Chinese man standing behind it.
“Oh, hello,” the man said. “You must be Mister Jackson.”
For a moment I felt stunned, and before I managed to open my mouth, he said: “Don’t be so alarmed, my friend. Your reputation precedes you.”
“Right.” I frowned at the little man stepping forward. “And you are?”
“Your colleague Mister Chung from—”
“The Ministry of State Security,” I named our rival organisation.
“Yes, indeed,” Chung grinned. “You are as observant as your file says.”
“Yeah?” I raised an eyebrow. “What else does it say?”
“Well,” Chung crossed his hands behind his back. “Many things. But now that we’re colleagues, would you like to step into my office to sample a glass of thirty year-old scotch, before Ivan wakes up and realises you’re gone, yes?”
I thought it would be a few hours before Casey got here, and took a step forward offering my hand to a man who just a few weeks ago had been my enemy, and would still be, if the Authorities hadn’t given the green light to the project. But now, when everything had been turned upside down and inside out, who was I to say no? I was soon going to try to strike a deal with an enemy of humankind. Besides, I was feeling really thirsty, and extremely eager to start learning what secrets our state enemy had on us.
*** Jane ***
“Red.” I said softly, almost too quietly for the base guardian to hear. Just like the other times, the hulking figure walking ahead turned his ginger-mopped head slightly towards me, before he turned back and waved his hand at the camera. A moment later the barred door clonked and started rolling aside to allow us to step in the corridor of grey unmarked doors, and then he turned around and said, “Skipper, I got it.”
I sensed the man behind me shifting his position as if he wasn’t sure about what my guardian in red and black armour demanded.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “This bitch—”
“She’s not a bitch, Skipper. And she’s not a prisoner either.”
“Watch your language son,” Skipper said. “She put down three of our brothers.”
Red shook his head and took a step forward. “I got it. Trust me. She’s not going to escape. Are you, my lady?”
I looked him in the eyes and said, “No sergeant, I’m not.”
“Oh, I’m not sure about that,” Skipper exhaled. “She’s quite a beast. And I would hate to lose you to a simple mistake. We got protocols for a reason. And we follow the rules because they work. Two men go in and two men come out. That’s it.”
Red looked at me as I turned around and said to the captain of base guard. “Skipper, I’m sorry about what happened. I was angry. Really pissed off. And if there was any way I could have disabled them without harming them, believe me I would have. But they were doing their job, and trying to kill me.” I tried my best to find his eyes behind that obscure helmet covering his whole face, but just like it had been with the knights in their field plates, this was too overwhelming even intimidating. “But I’m here to help you all. Now is a time for reconciliation and forgiveness. Don’t you agree? I’m not a prisoner, I’m not a threat. I shouldn’t be wearing these shackles like I am one.”
“But…” Skipper struggled to get the words out. Maybe it was because my plea for forgiveness was working, or maybe it was because he didn’t have a strong enough will to resist my power.
“I am sorry,” I said softly. “I truly am, but it takes two to make a peace, yes?”
“I don’t know, miss…”
“Mrs,” I corrected him. “My husband isn’t dead…” yet.
“All right,” Skipper waved his hand. “Take off the cuffs, but you my lady, you’ll promise me you’ll go without a fight, or I’ll do everything in my power to put you down permanently. And I won’t feel sorry if I have to do paperwork for the rest of my life because of it.”
“I promise, Captain Skipper,” I said, while Red moved behind me to remove the cuffs and leg-irons. “I’m a good girl.” I stepped over them and turned slightly in front of the captain of guards, walking towards the cell, which had served as my home ever since Henrik had sent me there. I didn’t go in immediately even though the door was open.
Instead I turned round and said to Red, “Tell me the truth. Is she alive?”
The sergeant looked at me and then shifted his gaze to the right as if he wanted to tell me something. And in that moment I knew that the Resurrection Clock had not been wrong, even if I’d been worried needlessly for the last six hours. And I said, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Red jerked his head and gestured for me to enter the cell just like I’d promised. “You didn’t know the doctor or his assistant, and neither did I. But you saved that girl’s life my lady, and that must mean something.”
“Thank you Red.” I tiptoed and kissed his cheek. “You’ve been a loyal servant.”
He blushed and then ushered me to turn around, while he whispered, “Thank you ma’am. It is my privilege and honour to serve you.”
I stepped into my cell and sat down on my double mattress bunk. Red tossed something in their air. “Here, my lady. I’ll get you more when I get a minute.”
I watched the box of cigarettes land on the floor in front of me as the door slid back to its place, taking away the light. I didn’t reach out to click the light switch, but just sat still as I heard the Underworld carrying a message from Bo, the Last King of Celts.
“Ther
e is no turning back now,” it said. “The wheel is spinning and the unbelievers will perish in flames of war. Stay strong and you will get through the pain and suffering. That I can promise to you, my lady. ”
The way the half-brother to Mother of Earth said the last few words came out in exactly the same mocking tone Damien had used, when I’d withdrawn my fangs from Jacqueline’s neck. It was as if the Underworld didn’t believe I could keep my promise to Bo, just like Damien hadn’t believed I had the willpower to take Jaq’s life. Not that he’d even noticed I’d taken the Resurrection Clock, and used its power to turn her to one of my own, without going through the rituals of siring. And that was going to be all he needed to know, before I’d slice off that mocking head from his shoulders. The question was: how long would it take before I was back out there again?
I reached down, grabbed the packet and took out a smoke. I lit up and let its softly-glowing red end illuminate the darkness, while I wondered if I’d ever see Mister Jackson again. And if I did, would I be able to get him on my side before they tried to take my life?
Whatever the answer was, I made a decision not to ask the necromancer’s help unless I was forced to. I didn’t need Bo to come and lay his filthy stench in what seemed to be the last refuge of humankind. No, I needed to something else, but what it was, I didn’t know, nor could I guess. The dying ember faded out and left me to fall asleep.
*** Henrik ***
“Is that her?” Chung poked my side as I saw Casey hopping like a little pony out from the tunnel leading to the Portal House. “She is prettier than her picture depicts in your file, Mister Jackson.”
“True,” I agreed. “She’s my little angel.”
But I couldn’t say the same thing about the Agency Nanny on her heels. She was a thorn in my side and I already could see the disapproving scorn on her face, as Casey ran towards me and took a gigantic leap.
She stretched out her hands in flight as if they were wings of an eagle before she landed in my arms and almost made me fall on my backside.
“I love you, Daddy,” Casey whispered in my ear. “This is better than the park.”
I moved her so that I could see her eyes before I said, “Wait till you see our new—”
In an instant she wrinkled her nose. “Dad, have you been drinking?”
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t as I guessed my breath must have resembled a whisky distillery and I said: “Mister Chung insisted my dear. I couldn’t say no,” even though my brain was screaming at me to shut up.
The smile on her face faded as her voice turned cold: “Of course you couldn’t,” she said, sounding for a moment like her mother. “Let me down.”
As I let her down I also noticed the Nanny wrinkling her nose and fanning the air in an exaggerated way: “Yes I have been drinking. But it was for a good reason, wasn’t it, Mister Chung?”
“A very good reason,” Chung replied. He took a wobbly step to my side and leaned on his knees. “Your dad is a famous man, Miss Jackson. So please don’t blame him, when everything was my fault. I insisted—”
The nanny took a step forward and pulled Casey away, “There is no need for either one of you to tell lies to a small child,” she exclaimed in a loud voice. “You know very well we’re trying to build a new society here. So I hope you start acting like this new beginning means something to you.”
Angry, I took a step forward and tried to take Casey’s suitcase from her. “I agree,” I lied. “It was bad call, but like I said to her I simply couldn’t say no. Not when—”
“That is what you men always claim,” Nanny said, moving away from my outstretched hand. “That is so typical. And it’s wrong. Morally and otherwise.” She took Casey’s hand. “Come on darling. We have to find your quarters on our own because your daddy clearly has better things to do, than to see you’re happy.”
“Excuse me.” I raised my voice as Nanny loaded Casey’s suitcase on top of her own and then left me standing next to Chung as if we were a pair of village idiots. “She’s my daughter, you know.”
“Calm down,” Chung said. He laid a hand on my shoulder and gestured us to follow the pair fleeing down the floating bridge. “We can make this right. Trust me. It’s not like she can keep you from seeing your daughter.”
“Oh Chung,” I sighed. “You don’t know that bitch like I do.”
“Bitch,” Chung laughed. “Now that can I believe.”
I said nothing. I couldn’t, as I felt bad, acting that way in front of my daughter. At the same time, I was just a man. Not Superman. I had flaws, I had weaknesses, and drinking was definitely one of them. And there were times when I couldn’t refuse a drink, but for the life of me, I’d like to see someone who’d gone through everything I had and remain sober.
I pushed my hands deep into my pockets and turned around to face the tunnel leading to the Portal House, while I thought. Well, someone else might have done it, but then again, they’re not me. They don’t have my feelings, my background, nor are they bearing the weight that sat on my shoulders.
“Chung,” I said. “I’ve got some unfinished business. I’ll see you later.”
“Very well, Mister Jackson. Take care.” Chung bowed as I started walking against a stream of people coming out from the tunnel. Whether he said anything afterwards I didn’t hear. I wasn’t actually listening as I was trying to understand how this had exploded in my face, when I’d done nothing wrong.
“Women,” I said, as I stepped into the glowing portal. “They’re all the same.”
“I kept saying that same thing over and over again, when my third wife left me,” a familiar voice said as I arrived a moment later in the London base. Full gravity added an uncomfortable load on my shoulders, and I saw Wally standing next to the Portal, grinning.
“Yep, alive and well, sir. But you look like you could use the hair of the dog right now.”
“No, Wally,” I raised my hand. “I need to sober up and quick.”
“Oh come on.” Wally produced a small flat bottle out from his back pocket. “Don’t be a loser. Have a drink and tell Uncle Wally what happened.”
I looked at the flask the same way I’d looked the collection of very expensive bottles on Chung’s sideboard, and even though I felt an urge to take the offer, I couldn’t. “No Wally, I really can’t.”
“Suit yourself.” Wally took a quick sip from the bottle and then hid it before anyone could see. “I just wanted to give you a bit of boost, sir.”
“I can see that,” I said sourly. “But to be honest, drinking is the problem.”
“If you say so,” Wally sighed. “I take you didn’t find those things…”
Just as I was going to admit that I had, and it'd led me to other things, he continued: “Not that they were that important, as we can capture more, ‘cos there’s a lockdown on level one.”
“How did you know?”
“Oh,” another mechanic said from above, where he was doing something to the portal machinery. “There aren’t that many secrets in this place, are there, Wally?”
“Shut up, Jason,” Wally snapped at him. He placed a hand on my back, and guided us away from the Portal. “I’m so sorry, sir,” Wally whispered. “It won’t happen again.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Jason fiddling with something at the top of the portal arch as if nothing had happened. Then I realised what had actually happened. “What he said—”
Wally stopped me at the end of the Portal House ramp. He glanced over his shoulders and lowered his voice. “Never mind about what he said sir. Jason knows nothing.”
“Are you sure?” I glared at him. “Because I’m struggling here, to be honest.”
“Sir,” Wally measured my face for a moment before he produced the flask again and looked really determined. “Believe me, Jason knows nothing. But now that you’re insisting on keeping lid open on that can of worms… is it true…” He looked around again before he looked into my eyes and whispered: “…that you’ve got a
vampire here?”
I didn’t even have time to deny or confirm as I saw his irises dilating. “I knew it.” Wally gasped and pointed a finger at me. “I knew it. I was right all this time, and you denied it.” He took a sip and offered me one, whilst his voice got louder. “I should have guessed that’s what you were talking about when we met—”
I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close to my face. “Shut your fucking hole, right now. Nobody knows, and to be honest, it’s better if nobody knows the truth. Understand?”
Wally stared at me. He raised the flask and took another swig. “Okay boss. Sorry.”
I grabbed the flask from his hand and said, “Apology accepted.”
Wally backed away, his eyes flaring wide in terror. He probably realised what a big mouth he had, and what would happen if Harry’s spies found out it was him who spilled those secrets to the public. At that moment I wished I had access to the Men-In-Black Neuralyzer. But I didn’t, and neither could I call the guards to arrest him in front of all those innocent people swarming at front of the Portal. So I shoved the flask at his chest and grumbled: “I hope there’s no reason for me not to trust you, is there?”
Wally pulled a zipper over his lips and threw away the imaginary key.
“Good.” I started leading him away from the masses that had started taking notice of us. “Then I also hope you understand why I was desperate to keep quiet about it in the first place, don’t you?”
“Yes sir.” He nodded. “But weren’t you also saying that…”
I gave him a glance that made him swallow his words. Luckily we’d moved far enough for people to see we were still arguing. I poked my finger into his chest and growled: “Whatever you think you know about the real situation, Wally, should stay in your head, and your head alone. Is that clear?”