by Ray, Joseph
“What the hell is your problem?” Gates asked, laying his large hands out on the table. “You’ve undermined me at every turn. Establishing the DHS will go long ways towards securing this country, perhaps even the planet. I can’t fathom why you keep sabotaging the suggestion.”
“It’s because she doesn’t trust you,” Garber added. “As Jana pointed out, the public sees you as the face of the Cyber program. Unfortunately, the Vice President has a habit of saying the word ‘public’ or ‘government’ when she means herself.”
Jana’s face turned red as her jacket as she turned away from the two men before her. Garber had a habit of talking about her as if she wasn’t in the room, even in front of important people such as dignitaries from other planets. She often wondered if he’d treated her late husband the same as he treated her.
“I see no point in hiding my beliefs,” Wilkes muttered. “He’s right, I don’t trust you. Unless you are cleared of any involvement with the Cyber attacks, I will never sign a document declaring you the head of a janitorial committee, let alone Homeland Security. You should be held in a cell until your innocence is proven, but what do I know.”
“That’ll be all Andrew,” Garber declared, rising from his seat.
Gates opened his mouth in protest but realized that the President needed a moment in private with his Vice President. He closed his lips, taking it upon himself to shake Garber’s hand before exiting the room. The President waited until the door was securely shut before he faced Jana.
“Have you completely lost your mind?” Gates shouted. “Colonel Gates is the only man I’d trust to take on the Cybers. The fact that you belittle him, right in front of me no less, is an insult to him, to me, and to YOUR position. What the hell were you even thinking? Do you think before you open that trap of yours, or do you just vomit the words out so you don’t choke on them?”
Wilkes rose from the table, using her backside to shove the chair out from behind her. She stormed to the taller man, preparing to unleash every ounce of frustration she’d faced since the mysterious people first started using her as their puppet. It’d been too long since she was able to act on ideas that were her own choosing, and not from some blackmailer using her family’s well-being against her.
“I’m saving your ass damn it!” she hissed. “Do you have any idea what will happen when you bring up Homeland Security? That alone will be impossible for the government to swallow, and it’ll implode when you announce that Andrew Gates will be in charge of it. They’ll hang you out to dry, James. It’s my fucking job to make sure that you’re making logical decisions and I’d be failing you if I simply let you see this through.”
“For all your talk,” he started. “I’m yet to hear anything useful come from your mouth. What would you have me do, just sit here and do nothing? Some of those people slaughtered in that courtroom were friends of mine. I owe it to them, and their families to find out who is behind this and end their sorry asses. So go ahead, Jana. You’re so damn brilliant and mindful. Tell me what you would do.”
Deep down, she knew the man to be right. The capital needed to improve its security, and the DHS would be a grand step in the right direction, given that it didn’t ruffle too many feathers. It was impossible to claim he was wrong, especially when she knew exactly what the attackers wanted. She wanted nothing more than to tell him about the blackmail, to tell him what the attackers wanted. She’d be in a cell before the sun went down if she had, and her daughter would be a step closer to exile from Eden. She pictured her daughter, safe, living blissfully on the safest planet in the galaxy. She’d sworn an oath to the people of the planet, but her motherly instincts outweighed any words she’d spoken. There was little left for her to do now.
“We give the attackers a false pretense,” she started. “Make a public appearance, declaring our need of aid from the other planets. Have the media put the murdered people’s faces on the stream, add sympathy to our cause. While all of that is going on, you can take a deep breath and get some rest. You’re exhausted, we all are. NONE of us is thinking clearly anymore. When you’ve had a good night’s sleep, revisit our options. Bring the advisors in here as well as the government. Let them hash it out for once instead of taking it all on yourself. You’re one man James. You ARE the President, not the King. Go home and get some sleep. Have someone follow Gates for a while, have them dig into his activities. Even if it’s just to humor me, do it. Whatever you find, or don’t find, will only help make the transition easier. See if someone else calls out the need for tighter security and THEN suggest DHS. If you do it now, you do it alone.”
President James Garber raised a hand to his eyes, trying to rub away the exhaustion. The reminder of his lack of sleep did nothing to add energy to his body. The more the Vice President spoke, the more exhausted he became. Still, he found it difficult to argue her logic.
“I’m sorry I called you out in front of him,” he started. “You just aggravate the hell out of me sometimes. You’re right, though, I could use some rest, as could you and everyone else. I’ll call a meeting, but I want the council involved as well. I just want one shot to throw everything on the table. Maybe someone from Mesa or Parasus knows something we don’t. I’ll try it your way, but don’t think that means I’m giving up on the DHS, or Andrew Gates.”
“He’s the right man for the job,” she admitted. “I just want him cleared from this mess is all.”
Garber nodded, looking out to the sky from the windows. The busy bees continued their work as though nothing was the matter. He knew long after he was retired, or even after he was dead, that the bees would continue to mind the hive.
“We ALL need to be cleared,” he muttered.
5 CHAPTER five
Sargent Bearden and Corporal James had barely managed to reach the crossroads from the Tower when a group of soldiers stomped by. They cowered behind the door to a storage room, allowing for the sweeping death to miss them by seconds. The pistol in Janys’ hand had seven shots left, the assault rifle had twenty-five. If they were caught, they’d barely last a minute in another gunfight. They had no plan to follow, their only decision was to get themselves clear from the trap they were in. A quick glance of the map told them that they would be cornered if they stayed in the Tower, with no other exit except for the tunnel leading back to the rest of the facility. The storm brewing outside made it impossible to use an exterior door. The fact that the Cybers had destroyed one of the two exterior exits left them little choice other than to backtrack to the main halls and try to lay low while they figured a way out of their predicament.
Janys was about to leap from the doorway when Bear grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back into the storage room. She started to protest when another wave of soldiers stomped by, heading to the south end of the facility. A tap on her back told her she was welcome. Either that or it was telling her to get moving. Her foot slowly stepped out from the doorway, waiting to see which possibility was correct. The lack of her Sargent pulling her back informed her that she was to get moving. She rolled her steps, heel to toe, trying to keep the footsteps as quiet as possible. Bearden followed her lead, motioning for her to head down the southern hallway. Her instincts told her he was wrong, but his gut had kept them alive thus far.
“Cut back behind them and take the shortcut through the southern barracks,” he whispered when he realized she was confused.
She headed south, keeping a slow pace. She knew that Bear wouldn’t tell her if his head was slowing him down, so she decided to move as though he was laboring. The pace gave her a second benefit as it allowed for the group of soldiers that had just passed to get further ahead of them. She inched forward, keeping the footsteps ahead of them at a quiet distance.
“In here,” Bear whispered.
Janys turned to see the Sargent sliding through the doorway to a security checkpoint. She followed, careful not to trip over the door’s frame. After she’d entered, Bear opened the panel and cut the hydraulics to the door. Like
he had with the exterior door at the start of the siege, he grasped the emergency handle and shoved the door closed.
“What are you doing?” she whispered with heavy concern in her voice. “What if we have to get out quickly?”
“We can’t use the panel to close the door,” he replied. “If they’re using Central to locate us, then the opening and closing of doors can be monitored. Just hope that none of those soldiers remember that this door was open when they passed it.”
Janys felt her face turn red, grasping that she’d been a fool not to realize they could track her movements. She’d accessed the video feeds, closing down all of the streams she could before the Sargent ordered her to move back. As far as she could tell, no one had eyes on them. Using the automatic doors would undo all of the work she’d performed on the video cameras, telling the attackers exactly where they were. She doubted she’d still be alive if not for her companion.
“So what do we do?” she asked. “We can’t use any of the doors, or access any of the computers without them knowing where we are. Are we just going to wait here for them to leave?”
“No,” Bear muttered, checking the back of his head for blood. “I just need some time to think things through. Just press your ear to that door and let me know if you hear anything.”
She followed the order though she was starting to question his logic. The man knew what he was doing, but he was also concussed. If they were truly alone in the facility, then it was just a matter of time before they were discovered. She tried not to think about the gunfire that crackled through the speakers earlier, but the thought brought an image of all the techs and soldiers they’d lost in a blink of an eye. Those soldiers were on alert, which meant that there were more on the inside than just those that’d shut down the power and the defensive grid. She tried to run the numbers, but her head was aching from all the gunfire as well as her ears and eyes. She needed sleep, she needed water, and she needed food. A shower would be nice, but she’d trade that for a bottle of scotch. Something told her that there would be massive amounts of alcohol in her near future.
“We have to get them to leave,” Bear stated, sitting down on the chair at the security terminal.
“What?”
“We can’t keep this up much longer. One wrong move and they’ll all merge on us. We’ll be trapped. We’re almost out of ammo, dehydrated, hungry, and exhausted. We can’t get to a ship from here without them knowing, not that either of us knows how to fly one.”
“I can fly,” she informed him, pulling her head from the door. “It’s not pretty, but I can take off and land a pond jumper.”
“That helps,” he muttered. “But there aren’t many options for a jumper. There’s a few other outpost on the planet, but we wouldn’t out run one of those harriers. Jumpers are light so that dust storm forming outside would swat us to the ground before we cleared the facility. We need a way to force them off the planet.”
“But we watched them leave,” she whispered. “How many others could have been in on it? Maybe we can clear them out if we’re smart about it that is.”
“It’s a thought, but that brings us back to the supplies and fatigue issue. Not to mention that we’re hilariously outnumbered. We’d need a tank just to get back to Central.”
Janys shot a glance at the Sargent, her eyes widening at the mentioning of a tank. Bear realized what she was thinking.
“Feel like running through a storm Sarge?” she asked, a beaming smile forming on her pale face.
“We could blow a hole through Central, flush em out of their nest. At least, then we’d know how many there were,” he stated, pulling himself up from the chair. “Plus, the mess hall is on the way. We could stop for water and food. We could use the delivery door to the kitchen. Doubt anyone is guarding that one.”
“We’d have to follow on the heels of that team that just passed through here,” she replied, pressing her ear back to the door. “I haven’t heard anyone come back, so that leaves four of them against the two of us, assuming there weren’t any others out there.”
“It’s better than just sitting here,” he muttered.
Bearden pulled her away from the door as he lifted the emergency handle and yanked the metal door open. Luckily, the maintenance crew had just performed their annual sweep of the south wing, meaning that the doors had been freshly greased. The door opened smoothly, and without the screeching sound, the north doors had made earlier.
They each took one side of the hallway, making for the mess hall at the south end of the facility. Bearden thought of the harriers that had landed on this end of the facility, wondering how many troops had been dropped off that they would be forced to deal with. He started to run the scenarios through his head when he heard voices from up ahead.
Bear motioned for Janys to cover the doorway as he edged around the right side of the door’s frame, peering into the cafeteria. The wide room was normally full this time of day, littered with soldiers and lab techs all huddled together in groups at various tables. There were a dozen long tables, six per side. In the far left corner of the room stood two soldiers conversing with each other. There was a doorway straight ahead that led to the kitchen, the next target for the duo. He was developing a plan when a third soldier came from the doorway on the left side of the cafeteria, one that reached out to a set of barracks. He said something to the two soldiers, but they were too far away for Bearden to hear what they were saying. Whatever was said took both of the soldiers to aid the newcomer to the group as all three disappeared through the left doorway.
He wasted no time motioning for Janys to move out. He pointed to the door that the three had just exited, leaving Janys to cover the exit with her pistol as Bearden focused on the doorway to the kitchen. Quietly, they managed to trek the cafeteria without making a sound, side rolling their boots as to avoid having their footsteps echo off the barren walls. They reached the kitchen undeterred as the duo checked the doorway to the back as well as the delivery door. Satisfied that they were alone, they each scrounged the cupboards and coolers, looking for anything they could eat in a hurry.
Bearden settled on a slab of opened salami, unwrapping the beefsteak and tearing off chunks in his hungering mouth. He found a cup and poured himself a glass of water from the faucet, taking turns between eating and drinking. Janys dropped two pieces of bread, a sliver of cheese, and an apple next to him on the counter as he poured her a glass of water. The two ate in silence, their eyes focused on the two interior exits as they consumed their fill.
Janys found two empty potato sacks, which she quickly filled with as many wrapped foods as each could hold. She sat the two bags by the delivery door, then searched through the cupboards for something they could carry water. She was about to open the cupboard above the sink when Bear grabbed her and led her behind one of the coolers, out of sight from the doorway to the cafeteria. She could hear the two voices coming their way, realizing that the two guards must have returned from whatever task the third soldier needed their aid to accomplish. Bear placed a finger on his lip, motioning for silence as he ducked low and stalked to the open doorway.
The two soldiers must have considered the kitchen and cafeteria as a dead end as both kept their backs towards the kitchen. Where others would see an opportunity for escape, Sargent Bearden saw an opportunity for revenge, as well as a chance to reload their weapons. Neither of the soldiers carried the same weapon as his monster assault rifle, but he hadn’t expected anyone else to be able to carry the heavy weapon. The fact remained that there were two men, with two rifles, two side arms, and hopefully extra ammo for all.
The Sargent waited until the exhaust motor for the cooler kicked in, then he unsnapped the ring around his knife and slid it from the holster. Janys followed suit, but her hands trembled as the blade cleared the sheath. She took deep breaths, trying to find her center as she followed the Sargent through the kitchen.
Bearden edged around the open doorway, keeping the other doors in full view as h
e crept behind the unsuspected soldiers. Both had their rifles in hand, but neither had their fingers on the trigger of their weapon. Their protective vests were closed, covering their chests from attack. He knew that the throat would be the only option though he wondered whether the Corporal was up for such a brutal assault. He glanced back at her and nodded to the soldier on the left.
Janys took a deep breath and focused on the left guard. The moment paused in time as she saw Bearden lunge for the man on the right. One meaty hand wrapped around the man’s mouth from behind as the Sargent plunged the tip of the blade into the tender flesh of the neck. Janys followed suit, but her hand could barely cover the man’s mouth. She was half a second late as the guard on the left had already turned at the motion to his right. Janys realigned her approach, choosing to jump onto the large man’s back as her left hand went over his mouth, her right hand plunging the blade deep into the throat. Her first attempt barely broke the skin, her hands too skittish to channel her animal instincts that she needed to kill someone by hand. The startled man threw both of his hands up, trying to grab the hand on his mouth and the blade hand at the same time. Janys felt the man pull forward, lifting her higher than her equilibrium was prepared. Their momentum shifted as the man started to fall forward. They were halfway down when Janys managed to release her hold on the man’s mouth. His hands remained at his throat when his forehead smacked the hard floor, sending a hollow thud through the room. Janys felt the panic swirl in her throat as she fell onto the man’s back, forcing the air from his lungs. She forgot the blade for a moment, choosing to release the weapon and focus on the exposed head of the fallen soldier. Her hands clutched both sides of his temples, drawing him off the floor before pressing all of her weight down, crashing the man’s skull into the floor once more. She repeated the effort a second and third time before the room went quiet. She thought about the gunfire over the radio, all the innocent lab techs who were slaughtered like animals before a feast. She smashed his face into the floor again, thinking of the ten soldiers that had come to her aid, only to be shot down or blown to pieces by the Cyber’s grenade. She smashed his head downward repeatedly, losing count of the blows. Her throat threatened to clench shut, tears forming in her eyes as she thought of every person she’d known in the facility, lying on a floor somewhere, their mouths and eyes frozen in horror as the blood slowly left their bodies. She smashed his head down, again and again, the heat building in her face with each satisfying crash. His body had gone limp long ago, but she continued to smash his face into the ground. Her arms grew weary, her shoulders and back ached, but she continued the brutal assault. She wanted him dead. She wanted ALL of them to feel her pain, to pay for their treachery.