Addie continued her performance, presenting an upset demeanor but composed enough to respond. “I think the most important thing right now is Matthew and Amanda. Please, just give me a few minutes to get my head together, and then we can talk about the mission all you want.”
Walter agreed. “I want to check on the kids myself, so you should go do what you need to do to get your thoughts together. We’ll speak more tonight.”
Walter exited the room, leaving Addie alone with the rorimite tunnel. She strolled around for a few minutes, looking at all the blinking lights on the control panels and the light coming from the tunnel itself. “This is gonna be easier than I thought,” she murmured to herself.
Hours passed with Matthew and Amanda still trapped in an unconscious state, but none of that information was accessible to April, Connor, and her team. They were ready to complete their end of the mission. They stood again at the door. Staring back at them was the portal that led down the winding path to the memory charm.
Connor said, “Why are we doing this now? I know we got the go-ahead—and believe me, I am ready to get this over with—but why so soon after the shift ended?”
Agent Blake replied, “We got the signal to go, so we’re going. I don’t question Walter or Johnson when they say it’s time to go.” Blake presented April with a set of instructions that he had been holding for months. “Only you and Connor go down to get the charm. You need to read those instructions and follow them to a tee, or this might not come out so well.”
Connor was confused, but he didn’t care at that point. He just wanted to get this over with and return to the base. April asked Marco and Blake to stand guard for them at the top of the stairs. April opened the door, and the light from the room at the end of the staircase lit their way.
It was cold as they made their descent. Against their skin they could feel the dampness emanating from the underground vault below. Connor commented that it seemed colder than before. “Perhaps our adrenaline isn’t pumping as hard this time,” April remarked,
Connor disagreed. “No, I think I’m pretty freaked out right now, so the adrenaline has to be pumping.”
The walk down the staircase took just a couple of minutes, and the charm was still stationed on the same pedestal as before. April read the instructions that Blake had handed her and then passed them to Connor for him to read. The instructions were short but critical to retrieving the charm.
“So, all we have to do is grab the charm at the same time?” Connor asked.
April replied, “It makes sense now, doesn’t it, Connor? The reason it had to be me and you is because of our blood. We have the same blood.”
Connor read the instructions out loud. “‘Only blood relatives can retrieve the charm.’ That’s the trick. That’s why it’s never been removed. The Minister could never figure out how to move it.”
April approached the pedestal. “That’s what they were doing here all those years. The people in this building were being used like guinea pigs to determine how to remove the charm. There must have been thousands of deaths because of it.”
Connor walked to the other side of the pedestal. “You’re sure this is gonna work? I don’t really feel like dying tonight.”
April replied, “We have to trust Walter. He knows what he’s doing.” Connor shrugged his shoulders. His confidence in Walter had never reached the levels that April’s had, but in this case, he didn’t have much of a choice. He had to trust him.
From their positions on opposite sides of the charm pedestal, they caught and held each other’s eyes. April said, “We grab the charm at the same time, on the count of three.” Connor agreed, and the count began. “One…two…three!”
They each grabbed the small red charm at the same time, and a rush of energy enveloped both of them. It was a warm energy, not like a blast of electricity. They could see into the mind of the other, and information was coming at each of them in huge waves of images and feelings.
April saw quick images of Connor on the beamball field, sitting at school, and playing with Matthew. She could feel his anger toward his brother when thoughts of Amanda surfaced. She could feel his love when images of her taking care of him filled her mind. A smile grew as she saw memories from his childhood and how she had helped to make it a good one.
Connor cried as he felt the pain that his mother had gone through. He saw a doctor’s office and then the face of Walter Wainwright. He felt the fear that his mother felt as she lay motionless on a table. The face of a man kept popping into his mind. He didn’t know who it was or what he had to do with her pain. His face was like a shadow. Just a brief pop of a shadow. He felt her joy as she played with him and Matthew.
The entire experience was akin to watching a broken-up home movie from an old projector. The images were blips on a screen, like looking at sonar, but the rush of emotion was overpowering. This was the price they had to pay to retrieve the memory charm. They were subjected to each other’s deepest thoughts and feelings. Only blood relatives could handle a transfer of this nature, and it had just ended for Connor and his mother.
They were both thrown to the floor, but April still had the charm in her hand. It was thrust into her Hathmec, and the bright aura of the charm was on full display. Connor looked at his mother and said, “What in the world was that?” He could still remember a few of the things he’d felt and seen while under the control of the charm, but the whole experience was more of a blur than their last trip through the rorimite tunnel.
April touched her Hathmec and felt the horseshoe-shaped charm in its proper place on the pendant. “We have what we need, Connor. It’s time to get out of here.” She stumbled over to her son and gave him a big hug. “Walter will be so proud of you.”
Connor smiled. “He could have at least given us a little warning about the whole crazy mind melt thing. That was a weird trip.” April kissed her son and pulled him to his feet.
More or less recovered from the experience, the two of them jogged back up the staircase, expecting to see Agents Blake and Marco waiting for them at the top. But they weren’t there. What they found after a quick search were Blake and Marco propped up against a wall. Their bodies looked lifeless.
“Well, if it isn’t the lass and mate I’ve been keeping an eye on for the last few months. I see you have that charm we’ve been wanting.” Roger Timmons stood before Connor and April along with two large men wearing thick, gray suits. They resembled the space suits Connor had read about from the Apollo missions.
Connor wasted no time. He had no interest in what Roger had to say. He flung carrier stones at the men in the gray suits and yelled to his mom, “Run, Mom! Get the charm out of here!”
But the carrier stones Connor had thrown just reflected off the suits the men wore. Because the carriers couldn’t latch onto them, they had no effect on the men. Connor rushed the men, expecting to steal their strength, but that didn’t happen. Connor was able to get one of them to the ground as Roger watched, but he was pinned down in a matter of moments. Connor fought back, but the men held him down and removed his Hathmec.
April didn’t run, instead looking on in horror as her son was beaten down. She wanted to help him, but knew she couldn’t.
Roger tossed a carrier stone in Connor’s direction and took full control of him. Strolling over to Connor, he rubbed his head. He looked at April and said, “I can make him run into a wall or stab himself with a knife. I can kill him in oh, so many ways. Remove your Hathmec and come with us, and you both might make it out of this with your life.”
April reached into her pocket and pressed the same panic button she had used when Keith Kellington had found her in Sector 37. She then slowly reached up to her neck and removed her Hathmec. Roger walked over to her and took it from her hand. He proceeded to knock her out with a strike across the face as Connor watched, unable to move. One of the men in the gray suits then knocked Connor over the head, and he too was out.
Roger smiled and looked at his suit
-clad guards. “Take them to the transport. We’re done here. Burn this place down.” Obediently the men loaded up April and Connor and then set fire to the building that had housed the memory charm for all those years. Agents Blake and Marco would be burned beyond recognition in a matter of minutes.
Walter was still in the infirmary when he heard the panic alarm going off in his shirt pocket. Johnson asked, “Is that what I think it is?” Walter ran to the communications room with Johnson and a few other agents close behind.
Johnson asked, “That’s April’s panic alarm, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is, but why is it going off?” Walter tried to send a message to the communicators of Agents Blake and Marco, but they weren’t answering.
“Where would they be right now?” Johnson asked. “They should be at the apartment complex, right?”
Without warning, the communicator channel opened. Walter asked, “Blake, is that you? What’s going on there? Are you ok?”
The voice on the other end was not that of his beloved agent. This voice had a very distinct accent that Walter knew all too well.
“I’m sorry, mate, but your agent will be unavailable for a while. Actually, he’ll be dead for a long time, so I wouldn’t wait up.”
Walter wasn’t sure what he should say, but he needed to present a strong front. “It sounds like you know my people. Are they all dead?”
Roger replied, “Oh no, I couldn’t kill all of them…not just yet. I mean, you were so helpful in getting the memory charm for us that I hated to kill the woman and her son so soon. Besides, we have big plans for the both of them.”
Walter couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had no response. Roger added, “What’s wrong? Has the cat got your tongue, mate? Don’t worry, we’ll be seeing each other real soon. Your little revolution is about to be squished. You should have known better than to tangle with the Minister. Have a nice night.”
The communication was terminated, and Walter looked at his next in command, Johnson, for answers. “Who gave them the go-ahead to complete the mission?” Johnson didn’t know, but he knew something wasn’t right.
“I know who gave the order.” Walter turned to see a groggy Matthew standing in the communications room doorway. “It was Addie. Everything happening now is because of Addie.”
Walter’s face dropped and turned ashen. “That’s ridiculous. What would she have to do with this?”
Matthew replied, “All of this is because of her. She’s the one that drugged me and Amanda. We were never in any danger in 2016.”
Walter told Johnson to get Addie and bring her to him. Johnson rushed out and started the search. Walter asked, “Do you know what happened to Agent Bryan?” Matthew told Walter that he wasn’t sure but that Cassie would know.
“Where is Cassie? She came through with us, didn’t she?”
Walter said an unknown woman did come through the tunnel but she probably wouldn’t make it. A trip through the rorimite tunnel with no Hathmec was like being placed in a freezing ocean with no protection. A person could only take it for so long.
Matthew turned around in anguish. “What do you mean she won’t make it? Why not?”
Walter replied, “We didn’t know who this woman was, and we couldn’t risk sharing a health charm with her.”
Matthew grabbed Walter’s shirt in anger. “Where is she?” At Walter’s hesitation, he yelled, “Where is she?” Walter told him that she was in a holding cell, and Matthew immediately sprinted down to them.
After a brief search, he at last found her bound to a medical bed, her breath getting shorter and shallower by the second. One of the guards tried to stop him, so he turned his watch on and threw him through the cell’s door.
Matthew shared his health charm with Cassie and held her hand. He could only hope he wasn’t too late. Walter entered the room and attempted to justify why they had brought the woman to the holding area.
Matthew scolded the leader of the PRO, saying, “She’s my friend and a wonderful person. She has helped me in so many ways that you could never understand.” Matthew sat there for a moment and then lowered his voice. “I’ll never forgive you for what you put me and Amanda through, but if anything happens to Cassie, I will personally make it my goal in life to make sure you suffer.”
Walter wasn’t amused at Matthew’s comments but felt better when he saw Cassie opening her eyes. “I guess your streak of vengeance will need to wait awhile, my boy. She’s waking up.”
Matthew watched as Cassie’s eyes opened and continued to hold her hand tightly. “Cassie, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?”
Cassie’s voice was light, as if she had a sore throat—but she was back. “I hope I’m in 2185, or that trip was really not worth it.”
She turned her head and looked frantically around the room. “Addie…you have to stop Addie.”
Walter came to the bed and asked, “What did Addie do? What’s her plan?”
Cassie explained that Addie had betrayed Bryan back at the Genesis labs. “She turned him over to the police, and I tried to keep Addie from coming back to 2185, but I was too late. Bryan told me that if we came back here with him still there, it would change everything.”
Walter’s quiet confidence was gone. He now had the look of a man with everything to lose. He straightened up as Matthew took off the restraints that had Cassie pinned down. Just then Johnson ran into the room. “There is no sign of Addie. She isn’t in the building.”
Walter asked, “Is anything missing that we know of?”
Johnson replied, “You need to come take a look at the rorimite tunnel.” Matthew told Cassie to stay in bed and that he would be right back. He wanted to see with his own eyes what was going on.
Walter walked around the rorimite room and picked up a tool placed on the control panel. Enraged, he threw the tool against the wall and screamed, “Damn it!”
“What’s wrong? What did she do?” Matthew was alarmed.
Walter explained that Addie had taken not only the schematics for the tunnel but also the trilite tube.
Matthew asked, “What’s a trilite tube?”
“Without the tube, there is no time travel. It’s the only piece that cannot be replaced, and she knew that.” Walter walked around the room for a few minutes in complete silence as Johnson and Matthew looked on. “Johnson, I want you to sound the alarm. We need to run Protocol 1.”
Johnson asked, “Are you sure you want to do that? That’s like a self-destruct button.”
Walter replied, “The Minister has all the pieces in place to end us all. He has Agent Bryan, which means he probably knows everything about our operations and our bases. It’s clear he has Agent Addison too, so any plans in the works are known to him as well. He let us get the memory charm for him because he didn’t know how to get it himself. This whole thing has been in motion for years, and if we don’t all scatter now, there won’t be any of us left to fight.”
Johnson agreed. “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”
But Walter scotched that idea. “No, I need to go alone to a location that no one else knows about. Not even you. I’ll contact you when the time is right.”
Matthew spoke up. “Let’s call back my mom and brother. We’ll hide out until you’re ready to get started again.”
Walter replied, “We think the other team has been captured by Roger Timmons and his team. They’re on their own.”
At that, Matthew jumped into Walter’s face and said, “That’s not an option. We have to go get them.”
Johnson stepped in. “We don’t even know where they are, Matthew. I’m sorry, but they’re gone.”
Walter started to collect his things while Johnson went out to announce Protocol 1. Walter looked at Matthew and said, “I’m sorry about April and Connor. I really am. These things can happen when we aren’t all honest with each other. I don’t know how we got to this point, but you still need to trust me. I want you and Amanda to come with me.”
His emoti
ons in turmoil, Matthew didn’t respond to Walter and instead walked out of the room. His mind flooded with all the horrible things the Minister might do to April and Connor, but he didn’t know what to do. He ran back to the infirmary area and found that Amanda had just woken up. She was happy to see Matthew, but she could see the stress on his face. “What’s wrong? Did Addie do something?”
“Yeah, Addie has done plenty, but that’s not what I’m worried about. They have Connor and my mom. I think I know how to get them back, but I need your help.”
Amanda grabbed Matthew’s hand and grinned. “It should be obvious by now. I’ll follow you anywhere.”
Chapter 21
YOU SHOULD BE FLATTERED
“Wake up, sunshine!” Cold water splashed onto Connor’s face as he flashed back to consciousness. He looked up to see Roger Timmons standing over him. Roger threw to the side the small bucket that had housed the ice-cold water and hauled Connor to his feet.
Grabbing Connor around the throat, Roger walked him out the back of the transport. A small thud resonated through the structure as he stood. Roger didn’t see what had made the noise, but he wasn’t concerned. He was in total control of the situation. The group of Roger, his two gray-suited helpers, Connor, and April were just a few miles out of Sector 1. Roger said, “It’s time to pay the piper, mate.”
Connor struggled as he exited, so Roger took control over his body with a carrier stone. Both Connor’s and April’s Hathmec pendants were nowhere to be seen. Clear of the transport, Connor found himself in a secluded site outside Sector 1. They were close to the river, in a wooded area. Connor looked over and saw his mother kneeling on the ground and unable to move. Tears streamed down her face.
Roger positioned Connor beside his mother and ordered him to his knees. Connor tried to fight the command, but he couldn’t. He fell down beside her, the cold night air on his face and the rocks scattered on the ground digging into his knees.
Last Chance Volume 2 - The Legend of the Hathmec: Planting the Seed Page 30