“Not for a while yet. It’s not a General’s job to rest.”
Brian smiled, feeling for the first time that he really understood his father.
Chapter 14
“You usually have to wait for that which is worth waiting for.”
—Carl Bruce
May 20, 2176
Fort Belvoir
Captain Brian Umar
The search parties came up empty. It was a major blow to Brian—he’d had high hopes that they would find something in Tobias’s high school science lab where he had discovered Lohiri.
Shortly after the search teams returned to the base, they received news that Tobias’s clones had destroyed Natalee’s entire stealth unit. From the sound of it there were no survivors. Brian’s heart was heavy. He didn’t know Natalee that well, but she had been a good soldier—an expert fighter. If the clones had defeated her, he hated to think what would happen to the rest of them.
Just the thought of running into a clone again made Brian shiver. Though his arm had healed by then, he remembered the pain all too vividly. He was in a soldier’s uniform, but he certainly didn’t feel like a fighter. He was a scientist before anything. He used brain over brawn.
Their only hope was that Knight would discover the location of the cure.
Brian regretted that McGregor had not thought of a way to send Knight a message. He would have liked Knight to know that they didn’t think he was a traitor. But he understood that such devices and transmissions were extremely risky.
Knight would have to go it alone. And the rest of them just had to wait until he turned on his microphone.
Chapter 15
“When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist.”
—Harvey Mackay
May 20, 2176
Lohiri
Tracee Parker
Tracee’s head pounded as if a thunderstorm swirled in her head. She was cold. Freezing. It took a moment for her to remember where she was.
The faces of dead soldiers who lay all around her brought her back to reality. The clones had killed them all. The only reason she was alive was because one of those idiots had tripped and, while trying to keep his balance, swung his arm, knocking her out with the gun he held firmly in his hand.
She regretted that she hadn’t been able to protect them. She was the best fighter in the military, but she felt woefully inadequate.
She was in the middle of a rocky terrain. Tobias’s lab was about a mile away—a pinnacle of white glory in the distance. The ground there was a reddish brown. The dirt clung to her hair and uniform. Whenever she saw the place, she couldn’t help but think that it looked a lot like Mars. Except that from above you could see that it had water gathered on its surface.
Tracee pushed herself carefully up from the ground. Her head pounded in punishment for the movement. She sat upright. She reached into the emergency bag and swallowed a small portion of her water.
The clones had gone back to the lab. What should she do?
She thought about loading the corpses onto the ship and flying home—at least she would give the families a decent funeral; many weren’t so privileged. The only problem was that there were far too many corpses there for her to handle alone. The dead weight of twenty-five full grown men would be too much for her. She had to leave them.
After staring up at the purple sky for a few minutes, she came to a resolution. She wouldn’t fly home, a lone survivor, and leave the corpses here. If she was going to return to earth, it would be in victory or in death. She could give nothing less.
She forced herself to her feet and ignored the frantic hammering of her brain. She turned on her cloaking device—a product that she had found on the black market for far below its value. She didn’t know what scientist had made it, but she thanked him or her—it was a lifesaver.
Invisible, Tracee walked toward the lab, toward Donovan. She liked him. He was a decent person—and the handsome face didn’t hurt. She knew he was married—she had no intentions of crossing the line with him. Just the one time; she was hysterical. That was all.
It was an innocent crush—a flirtation. Nothing more.
Donovan was her friend and she would help him however she could.
The lab loomed ahead of her, housing more clones than she would ever be able to defeat alone. At least she would have the element of surprise—they would never see her coming.
Chapter 16
“The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions.”
—Claude Levi-Strauss
May 20, 2176
Lohiri
Donovan Knight
Donovan landed on Lohiri and disembarked. He walked inside the huge lab with confidence that he wouldn’t be attacked. He knew that Tobias knew he was coming. Tobias would call off the clones.
Sure enough he made it inside the giant fortress of a lab without impediment. In fact, like the previous visit, the place seemed deserted. There wasn’t a single clone in sight. Donovan didn’t know where to go to meet with Tobias so he went to the only place he could think of.
When he arrived in the huge cloning room, Tobias was already there, dressed in a dark gray suit.
“So you came, my boy.”
“Yes,” Donovan said, trying to make it sound convincing. “You were right. About all of them. Nothing but liars and traitors.” He injected all the bitterness he could into his tone.
“I’m sorry you had to find out that way. They were your comrades, but they were also your friends, weren’t they?”
“They were,” Donovan said. “But not anymore. You’re the only one I can really trust. You told the truth, even though we didn’t want to hear it, even though it hurt.”
Tobias nodded. “The truth can hurt. Indeed, it can be extremely painful. But that pain can be cured by working to remove all lies and evil from the world. I promise that helping me will dull the pain. Over time it will vanish completely.”
“What do you want me to do? How can I help?”
“I’m going to send you back to the future,” Tobias said. “I don’t need you in this time. I can handle the Army and Space Force on my own. I’ve had more than enough warning.”
Of course you have, with your spying system. What other secrets do you have, Tobias?
“The time machine is this way.” Tobias started walking toward the exit.
Donovan had to struggle not to panic. He couldn’t go back now. He hadn’t gotten any useful information yet.
As they walked, Donovan thought hard. What could he do?
The room they entered was just as large as the cloning room, except it was filled with row upon row of time machines. What could Tobias want with so many of these? Did he often send people through time? Was he sending his clones through time to cause trouble? Donovan didn’t understand it.
Tobias stopped in front of one of the machines and pressed a button. The door swung open with a hiss. “There you are, m’boy. You’ll go right back to 2258. On what date and at what time did you leave the General’s office?”
“May 4th. About 1500 hours.”
“Perfect. So I’ll set you to return at...” Tobias turned a couple of nobs. “…precisely 3:45pm on May 4th.”
Tobias stepped to the side and gestured grandly. “In you go, m’boy.”
Donovan stepped forward then stopped, an idea suddenly coming to his rescue. “Wait. Before I go… can you tell me more about grandmother? And my father?”
“You can ask me in your own time when you meet up with me.”
“But what if you don’t remember as well? And besides… it won’t be quite the same as talking to the you who you are right now. Who knows how you’ll have changed in the next eighty-two years?”
Tobias looked thoughtful. “Perhaps that’s not quite a bad idea. I haven’t talked to anyone about my wife in a long time, much less to a member of the family. Wouldn’t want to forget about her, would we
?”
“Of course not.”
“Yes, why don’t you stay for a couple of hours more?” Tobias continued. “We needn’t worry about the attack—the clones will take care of everything. Follow me, m’boy. We’ll sit someplace comfortable and have a nice chat. I haven’t had company—other than myself—for many years.”
Tobias led Donovan through the long white halls and into another massive-sized room. This one looked exactly like his library back on earth except that it was five times its size. Donovan thought that Tobias might have a copy of every scientific book that existed in there. The shelves stretched up and up to the ceilings three stories above, years of knowledge all collected in one place. Classical music played softly from hidden speakers.
Scattered between the shelves were several tables with benches and chairs beside them. Along the walls were small tables surrounded by arm chairs. Tobias led Donovan to one of these and invited him to sit.
“So, my young grandson, what would you have me tell you?”
It sent a chill down Donovan’s spine for this evilest version of his grandfather to call him “grandson.” Despite that, Donovan began asking questions.
“How did you and grandmother meet?”
Tobias smiled. “Ah, now that was a glorious moment in my life…”
And so Tobias talked. Once he got started it wasn’t hard to keep him going. He seemed to love the sound of his own voice. He went on and on, and all Donovan had to do was periodically say “wow” or “really” or “that’s amazing.” That small bit of encouragement spurred Tobias on for more long minutes.
Two hours later Tobias had drifted far from the original topic. “And that’s when I discovered this very planet. Oh, it was such a high moment. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of discovering something for the first time—before anyone else—to be the first human being to ever lay eyes on something, to ever think a particular idea.”
“I can only imagine then,” Donovan said, “What you felt when you finally perfected the virus. It must have been glorious.”
“Indeed it was, m’boy. Indeed it was.” In his excitement, Tobias had not even noticed the shift in subject. “Oh, it was like injecting a syringe full of pure, unadulterated ecstasy! Never had I felt happier. Except perhaps when I completed the formula of enhancement—E-X45, as you know it—but it wasn’t quite the same.”
Sensing that he was getting close to what he wanted, Donovan reached up to his ear as if to scratch it, turning on the microphone as he did so.
“Creating the cure was nothing in comparison to either of those.”
Chapter 17
“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
—Benjamin Franklin
May 20, 2176
Fort Belvoir, VA
Captain Brian Umar
The General had called a meeting. They used Colonel McGregor’s signal blocker to protect the room from Tobias’s spy system.
Brian, his father, Colonel McGregor, and Lieutenant Chaplain gathered around the desk. For once, his father wasn’t sitting calmly down but pacing the floor urgently.
“I’ve stalled the attack for as long as possible, but it would be impossible to continue the charade without arousing suspicion. I will send the troops to attack Lohiri. McGregor, Umar, you are to wait for the feed from Knight. Do not leave that computer alone. We don’t want to miss him.”
Brian and McGregor nodded their assent.
“If Knight does make contact and we get any information about the cure, contact me immediately. Once we confirm the cure’s location we will notify the troops to abandon their original mission and help Knight to escape from Tobias.”
“Chaplain, prepare yourself for battle.”
“Yes, sir.”
The General stopped pacing and looked at them all as if trying to impress upon them the gravity of the situation. “You’re dismissed. Don’t let me down.”
Brian followed McGregor to his quarters. It contained the computer Knight’s recorder was set up to send footage to. They sat in front of the screen and waited.
Time seemed to pass especially slowly. Brian thought that they must’ve sat there for at least an hour already, but when he checked the time only fifteen minutes had passed.
They sat in silence, tapping their feet, taking in deep breaths and exhaling loudly. They looked at their phones. Brian skimmed a couple of articles without really taking anything in. He watched some videos, but he wasn’t really paying attention. He was thinking.
Where could the cure possibly be? They’d already checked everywhere important to Tobias that they knew of. Maybe they had missed something. Or maybe Tobias kept his secrets so closely that there were places important to him that they would never think of.
Plain sight. Knight had said that Tobias had likely hidden the cure in plain sight…
A cloud seemed to open up in Brian’s mind as the answer fell into his brain. He almost laughed, it was so obvious.
But before he could confirm his idea, he was distracted. The speakers to the computer suddenly filled with static then cleared.
A voice came through.
“Creating the cure was nothing in comparison to either of those.”
It was Tobias.
“What was it like? Creating the cure?” Donovan asked. “I mean, it was significant, wasn’t it? It would provide you with a way to save the worthy. I guess I’m trying to understand why it didn’t make you as excited.”
Brian called his father directly on his watch. A secretary answered.
“Get the General to Colonel McGregor’s room!” he said. “Now!”
Chapter 18
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal.”
—Thomas Jefferson
May 20, 2176
Adaeze Abrams Lab—Lohiri
Donovan Knight
“Well, with discovery and creation, the excitement comes from solving a challenging problem just as much as the thought of its significance,” Tobias explained. “Yes, the cure was highly significant to me. I did feel a deep satisfaction. But understand, m’boy, it didn’t exactly take a lot of genius to create it. I made the virus myself so it wasn’t a challenge to create the counteracting substance. Quite frankly, it was easy.”
“Well, it’s giving the soldiers at Fort Belvoir quite a challenge,” Donovan said. “I think you underestimate your own intelligence.”
“Why, dear boy, you’re too kind.”
Donovan waved a hand as if to say “it’s nothing.”
“You’re quite intelligent yourself. After all, you have my genes bolstering your brain.”
The words sent a shiver down Donovan’s spine. It was the exact same thing that the Tobias who raised him used to say.
Donovan nodded in assent. “I was quite good at the sciences, but never as good as you. I followed in my father’s footsteps.” Remembering that Tobias hated his father’s decision, he amended, “A decision I question deeply, now that all this has happened.”
“Don’t fret,” Tobias said. “You’re still young. There’s time to reform.”
“Yes, of course,” Donovan replied. “I have another question for you grandfather.” Donovan hated having to call him that.
“What is it?” Tobias asked graciously.
“How will you decide who is to be spared? With the cure, I mean? You said last time that you would spare those who did kind deeds. But what is it that you consider truly kind? How do you know the acts of kindness are genuine? Or if they are fleeting, and underneath is a horrible person?”
“Good question.” Tobias always spoke as if he were teaching class. “I plan to study these people for more than just one day. I will not give the cure for one kind act. There must be a pattern of behavior. Years of kindness. I will take a look, too, at whether or not their outward deeds match what they do and say behind closed doors. I will make absolutely sure of their worthiness before imparting the cure.”
�
�What about children?” Donovan asked.
“Well, I’m not completely heartless, you know. All children under ten will be spared. I will give them the cure.”
This was it! They were getting closer.
Donovan contained his excitement behind a mask of intellectual interest.
“Really?” Donovan asked. “Don’t you think at that age the children will have too much of their parents’ influence? That’s ten years of programming that you’d have to overcome.”
“That is true,” Tobias said. He looked pleased with Donovan’s reasoning. “Spoken like a true warrior for change. They do have a fair amount of their upbringing latched into their brains, but at that age or younger it’s easy to reshape them. I find that children above ten can be much more willful, too difficult to control.”
Donovan wondered how his grandfather would know something like that. How many kids did he interact with to have come to that conclusion? He only had one son and he was an adult already.
“Anyone eleven and up will have to prove themselves. I will make them come here to me to fight off the soldiers that General Umar sends here. Those who survive the fight will have the cure.”
The cure, yes! Donovan thought. But where is it?
“I’ll go personally to the base for the pleasure of killing Umar myself,” Tobias went on. Donovan almost panicked at the change in topic. Had he missed his chance? “They think that army base is impenetrable. That no one can get in or out. But I’ve slipped through undetected more times than I can count. They have the best technology known to man, but I am more than man.”
A tingling sensation formed at the edge of Donovan’s mind. Something about what Tobias had just said… What was it? Why was that so interesting? Donovan didn’t know why yet, but he asked, “Why else would you go to the base besides to plant the spying system?”
“Oh, dear boy, I’ve never been there myself,” Tobias said lazily. “I rarely do things with my own hand. I’ve sent people to the base on many missions. Some are even still there.”
The Legend of Things Past (Beyond Pluto SciFi Futuristic Aventures Book 1) Page 16