The Controller (The Securus Trilogy Book 2)

by Anthony Maldonado

  I take in a deep breath, only now realizing I had been holding it while hearing what was said before my interruption. Talia’s unexpected announcement stuns the entire room. Suddenly Mr. Vaden’s warning about Caelum has become all too real. This is the fear that has been keeping me up at night. It was foolish for us to ever think we could deceive them so easily. A foreboding silence hangs over the room for a while, until it is finally broken by a voice of reason.

  “Well, we knew this day was coming, and we are prepared for it. Did he give any details about the review process or the dates of it?” Wakil asks calmly. He looks around the room to calm the fears of the others with his carefully crafted words and the reassurance in his kind eyes.

  “Unfortunately he did not,” Talia answers.

  Cale stands up and gives an overdramatic scoff. “Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to ask for such vital information?”

  “I did. He said we will get more details when the time comes. The Controller was intentionally being vague and withholding,” Talia says, not even looking at Cale.

  “They didn’t discover the scout team we sent to the surface, did they?” asks Janae, one of the new Leadership members.

  “There was no mention of anything like that,” Talia replies.

  The room explodes into a continuous rumble of discussion. Talia patiently waits for them to get their angst out before she resumes. At times like these I realize how valuable she really is to Securus. Not many people have the presence or ability required to manage these situations. Talia is more than capable of making sure the group does not spiral out of control.

  “Despite the anxiety this review provokes,” she says and then pauses long enough for the room to give her its attention. “It may be of benefit to us. In comparison, Braeden Karun had little interest in the events surrounding my father’s death. His preoccupation with the Soldier Guards may help us conceal the turbulence caused by our recent discovery. We must stay calm and prepare for all outcomes in order to better help our people.”

  After she finishes, the discussion rages on. I hold my tongue and simply watch those around us, thankful she omitted my involvement. There is so much fear and uncertainty in a group of people who are used to being in complete control. They are not as well-equipped to deal with this as they believe.

  When the meeting ends, the participants do not disperse as they normally would. Talia is occupied by a group hounding her with questions and concerns. She does not need my help with them, so I catch her eye before leaving. She nods while giving me a small smile, letting me know she is not angry with me and that she has the group of people in front of her under control.

  When I turn to leave, it is not surprising to find Nyree already gone. She never liked being near the surface and does not intentionally seek the company of Leadership members. I walk down the hallway with my eyes fixed on the floor, deep in thought. I have been worrying about the first contact with Caelum for a while and wanted to get it over with. Now that they have finally broken their silence, I already regret it. This new threat is so much worse than the lack of communications was.

  It is hard to accept that the Soldier Guards are coming back to haunt us. I had hoped we were done with those two despicable men forever. They were the ones responsible for Merrick’s murder, and in the end, paid for that with their lives. We staged the scene as an accidental cave collapse for Caelum to find, even though it was not easy to disguise the gun blast. Now, their well-deserved deaths have cast an uncertainty on us all. On top of this, my mistake has already caught the attention of the Controller. If Caelum is able to see through our ruse, our attempt at freedom will meet a disastrous end before ever having a chance to succeed.

  Chapter 2

  Somehow I end up in my private hallway, alone with my thoughts. Before entering my quarters, an unexpected voice breaks my concentration.

  “There’s something else which requires your attention, Kagen,” Cyrina says as she swiftly nudges a Coden into my hands.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, confused by her uncharacteristically forceful behavior.

  “Take a look. You’ll want to get started right away.”

  I immediately pull open the Coden. The screen activates and a file loads. My heart almost skips a beat when seeing the contents of the file. It’s about time we get some good news, I think to myself. The brief message on the screen reads:

  The scout team has returned. They are currently in the Solar Panel fields. Their reentry is pending your evaluation and approval.

  Weeks ago, we sent a two man team to the surface in search of possible settlement locations. Even though The Agent is inactive, there are other dangers and logistical issues that need to be considered before attempting to relocate the entire population of Securus. Still, if Caelum has found a way to build on the surface, we should be able to do the same if we plan it out right.

  The scout team was days past due to return and many of the Leadership officials were becoming concerned by the delay. We had no way of knowing where they were, or if they were even alive. Now we no longer have to wonder.

  Before the Coden is closed, I am already running into the stairs, eager to find out what they have learned. They could very well have an important piece needed to escape Caelum. From the corner of my eye I see a slender figure matching my strides. It is odd that Cyrina follows me, but she is probably just curious to see what they found. No matter her motive, the important thing is this is my best chance to salvage something good from an already troubling day.

  My pace does not slow until I am near the Control Room. After taking a moment to calm my excitement, I approach the entrance. These doors are locked at all times. Like the food dispersal stations, they require a special magnetic key embedded into our identification cards for access. With a swipe of my card, the doors open.

  Inside, a group of people intently watch the surface security feeds above the main control panel. For some reason they are not as excited as I am. If anything, they appear confused. Behind them stands an elevated, empty seat with a view of the entire area. It is where Aamon sat while he plotted against me. Now it is where I sit to oversee the reentry of the scout team. The others mumble to each other while pointing to the screens. They have not even noticed my arrival.

  “Where are they?” I ask the group gawking at the screens.

  “One of them is right behind that panel there,” the man on the left replies, throwing his hands in the air out of exasperation. “The other is right there, lying in the field. They’ve made no attempt to contact us and they’re not responding to our communications.”

  The excitement that was fueling me turns sour. Something is wrong. Both men from the scout team know the return protocol. This is not it. From here it is impossible to tell which of them is lying down. The others in the room gasp when the man tries to get up. His arms and legs move like they intend to go in different directions. The uncoordinated steps only carry him a few feet before he falls back to the ground. Those erratic movements have a distinctly familiar look to me. They are the product of an altered mind. We are in for even more bad news.

  I instantly turn to Cyrina. “Get them inside and into the research isolation rooms now! Make sure to use the highest contamination protocol, we don’t know what’s causing them to act like that.”

  Cyrina takes over my seat as I leave to collect myself before meeting the scout team. Now alone outside the entrance to the Research Department, I am left to wonder what went wrong. The misfortune is maddening. My swirling thoughts are matched by my shuffling feet during the agonizing wait for the two men to go through the decontamination protocol. Afterward, they will be placed in an isolation room until we can figure this out. When word finally comes that the two men are ready, I go inside.

  The Research Department is so different from the rest of Securus. The skeletal structure of it is close to that of the Leadership offices, with multiple rooms, bland walls, and a central hallway running through it, but that is where the similarities
end. Instead of the typical minimal amount of clutter, the first sets of rooms are overflowing with complex electronic gadgets along with an endless array of computers. Only one thing comes to mind, all this technology has proven useless for the scout team.

  Shaking the thought from my mind, I continue down the main corridor, peering into each room while passing by. In each one are multiple workers, all completely engrossed in their own projects. There is no formal transition from the electronics section to the next. The only indicator is the absence of clutter. The next room has a single researcher working with a rainbow of chemicals in multi-shaped containers. She is backlit by the refrigerated specimen container stretching up to the ceiling, with its clear door revealing the many concoctions stored inside.

  In the next section the surroundings become more familiar. The foreign equipment becomes replaced by diagnostic machines and tools I am well acquainted with. They are the reason the isolation rooms are here instead of the infirmary. It limits exposure and eliminates the need to take contaminants through the rest of Securus. I enter a small room with a limited control panel seated in front of a translucent barrier. To my surprise, Sayda waits for me inside. She sits with her blonde hair in its usual ponytail, already giving me a frustrated stare. Her crystal blue eyes look like they are glowing in the low light.

  “What took you so long?” she asks. “They’ve had us waiting for the scout team for a while.”

  I slump into the chair next to hers. “Good to see you too, Sayda.” There is no way she would let me withhold the truth, so I do not even try. “We had a bit of an issue this morning. Caelum finally contacted us. They’re going to investigate the Soldier Guards’ death and review Securus’ viability. I barely found out about the scout team’s return.”

  Sayda waives off my concern. “Well, we knew that was coming. It should be fine. This on the other hand, doesn’t look fine.”

  I sit up and turn to look through the clear portal into the isolation room. Despite my efforts to suppress it, my mind flashes back to the last time I found myself in one of these. The thought of it causes my heart to accelerate. It is not an experience anyone would want to repeat. Being strapped to a gurney and blinded by the light overhead was almost too much to take. This time I am on the other side of the barrier, and no one is strapped to the gurney.

  To my surprise, only one man is in the room, and he looks even worse than he did on the security camera. I know it has to be Taig, but he does not look anything like the young, athletic man who eagerly volunteered for the first scout team. His mission was to assess potential dangers, resources, and possible settlement locations. Judging by his appearance, he definitely found some of the dangers.

  The scouting trip was my idea, so seeing him like this churns guilt in the pit of my stomach. Before they left, we compiled all the available information on survival techniques and edible food sources we could find. Even with that, we gave Taig and his partner, Oren, all the equipment and supplies they could carry. Obviously our preparations were not enough.

  Now here Taig is, grasping at the bare wall with stuttering movements, reaching for an unseen object. He looks so ill, it is surprising he has the strength to sit upright at all. There are multiple large, blistered lesions, called bullae, on the back of his wrists and forearms. In the exposed areas not covered by the bullae, a deep red irritation stains the skin.

  “Why are they separated?” I ask Sayda while continuing to watch Taig’s peculiar behavior.

  “They’re both easily excitable and were attacking each other. We either had to separate them, sedate them, or strap them to the gurneys. I figured this was the easiest thing to do until you got here.”

  My arms reflexively stretch out at the thought of being physically restrained. “Did they say anything?”

  “Not really. Taig was trying to answer our questions, but he wasn’t making any sense. Oren doesn’t answer at all. Here’s their vital signs,” she says, sending the data to my Coden. “We did a quick check of their bags. All of their supplies were depleted, but we don’t know for how long.”

  I go through Taig’s data first. Unfortunately, it is not particularly helpful. His heart rate is elevated and though his blood pressure is lower than before, it remains within the normal range. One important thing I notice is his temperature is not elevated. None of this tells me what is going on. My initial impression is this is not from some sort of infection, but I need to examine him more closely. Doing so will not be easy.

  “I’ll manage here. Can you make sure they fully process whatever was left in the scout team’s supplies?” I ask Sayda.

  She is already walking out of the room by the time I finish the sentence and does not turn bake even as she replies. “Got it.”

  Sayda did not mention anything about the scout team’s data logs. I want to see what they found, but that will have to wait until we stabilize them. Besides, the research workers are already reviewing the entries. Needing to get a closer look at Taig, I put on a protective mask, gown, gloves, and slowly open the door. In his current condition, how he will react to my presence is unpredictable, so it is better not to surprise or scare him. In case he becomes too agitated, I have a syringe filled with a sedative ready.

  Taig is still picking at the wall and does not notice my presence until I call his name. “Hey Taig, it’s me, Kagen.” I cautiously approach. When he turns around, his eyes dart back and forth before locking onto me. Even though he stares right at me, he does not seem to recognize who I am. “Could you sit on the gurney so I can have a look at you?”

  The confused gaze disappears, and he stands fully upright. Instead of moving toward the gurney, his muscles tense as his stare intensifies. A scowl creeps onto Taig’s face. As it does, the breath feels like it is forced out of my lungs. This is not good. I should have gotten some help before doing this. Slowly, I back up toward the door, being careful to watch him. My retreat is not fast enough. Taig lunges at me. The door is too far away. I cannot escape.

  As Taig springs through the air, my arms instinctively reach out for him in an attempt to deflect the attack. He crashes into me. Both of our bodies twist, as I use his own momentum to force him to the floor. Taig screams wildly before extending his jaws to bite the closest piece of flesh he finds. I jerk my body back in time to avoid the bite, but he redirects his aim, clenching down on my forearm. The force of his bite tears off a chunk of my skin.

  Ignoring the pain, I force him onto his stomach and pull out the syringe from my side pocket. Struggling to steady my hand against the violence of his thrashing, I inject him with the sedative. It takes every bit of strength I have to hold him down while waiting for the medication to take effect. Eventually, he stops resisting and falls unconscious.

  I roll off of him and collapse onto the floor, catching my breath. He was surprisingly strong for being so sick. With him no longer trying to maul me, the adrenaline wears off, allowing the pain to set in. There is no time for the burning ache in my arm right now. While he is sedated, I lift Taig onto the gurney and strap him in place. Every movement intensifies the throbbing of my forearm and the nagging pain in my shoulder. But I cannot risk him waking up before securing him to the gurney.

  Forcing myself to continue, I place an intravenous line in his arm to administer an infusion of fluids and draw blood for the lab work. With that done, I take the opportunity to examine him more closely. His lips are dry and cracked from dehydration. More surprisingly, his tongue is slightly swollen and has a deeper red coloration than usual. The other thing immediately apparent is the smell. He has soiled himself. The foul, liquid stool drips out of his pant leg.

  By the time I finish cleaning Taig’s mess, my stomach is growling. Most people would lose their appetite from things like this, but after working in the infirmary for years, that reflex has disappeared. However, food will have to wait until after I check Oren. Not to mention there is a fresh wound on my arm to tend to. The injury is painful and annoying, but it was not a concern to me until a
distressing thought comes to mind. What if they contracted rabies from some wild animal?

  I race from the isolation room, heading to the nearest cleansing station. The worry of rabies bounces through my mind while I hurriedly clean the wound. My skin becomes raw from the forceful cleaning. For once my analytical thoughts do not help calm me down. I cannot recall much about the condition except that it is typically transmitted through an infected bite and once rabies sets in there is no cure. If the infection gets to the brain, it becomes one-hundred percent fatal. Living in an underground facility, rabies is not a condition any of the Healers are familiar with so it is doubtful any of them could help me right now.

  After hastily slapping a dressing on the wound, I rush to the nearest internet access point and frantically search the database for any information. Scrolling through the seemingly endless sea of information, I finally find a description of the condition. Initially the symptoms often have agitation, diarrhea, vomiting, fevers and intense itching where the patient was bitten. It progresses as the virus goes up the peripheral nerves to the brain. When rabies infects the brain the patient may develop hallucinations, confusion, and fits of rage. Within ten days of the onset, the patient will fall into a coma and die.

  There are a lot of similarities to Taig’s condition, but there are also some significant differences. One is the general onset of the symptoms occurs multiple weeks to months after the bite. They have not been away that long and there were no obvious bite marks on him. Reading further, I find more and more features Taig does not have. The thing that convinces me is the lack of findings on his exam. He does not have a fever, blood pressure instability, dilated pupils, or excessive salivation. Those things would be expected during the furious phase of a rabies infection.