by B.V. Bayly
Chapter Thirty-Four
The bullet-riddled SUV screeched out onto the open road of the highway. Nate pushed the engine to its limit as they tried to increase the distance from the ranch and their attackers. Gabriel stared out the back of the SUV. No one was following them. He was shocked that they had slipped away.
“Who was that?” he yelled over the noise of the wind.
“The helicopter? TERA special ops team, for sure.” Nate snapped his seat belt.
“Not them, the other ones!” Gabriel kept watch. If TERA had come looking for him they wouldn’t be too happy to let him disappear into the night.
“No idea. They were sloppy! Hired thugs, I’d guess.” Nate changed lanes abruptly, sliding deftly between two cars.
“What about the guy in black – he was an ore user, wasn’t he? He broke through my shield.”
Nate’s eye met his eyes. “You sure? A bullet can’t get through, how did he?”
“His fist went right through it!” Gabriel twisted back and strapped himself in.
Nate continued to speed down the highway. “Maybe it just got weakened by all those shots.”
Gabriel didn’t believe it. The way the man ripped up that broken wall and threw it, the way he'd attacked those soldiers. He was like Gabriel. “He could have killed me.”
“I doubt that! It looked like your crystal was going into overdrive.” Nate pointed to the pulsing glow of the crystal visible through the hole in his shirt. “There’s a fresh shirt in the backpack.”
“I dunno.” Gabriel leaned over the seat and rummaged through the backpack, pulling a black T-shirt out. “He just stopped when he saw it. Like he recognized me all of the sudden.”
“He certainly didn’t seem to be all there … I hope nothing from the lab survives. I guess TERA finally decided to come get it.”
“Shouldn’t we be getting back to the IP?” Gabriel thought about Dr. Osho and Kyrie.
“We need to get clear of here first. Don’t want anyone following us home.” Nate dug into his pocket and pulled out a silver disc.
“Who you calling?” He watched as Nate slid the disc up behind his ear.
“Alex. My contact in Burlington.” Nate stopped talking for a moment as Gabriel changed into his new shirt, tossing the old one back into the backpack. “Damn it!” Nate hit the steering wheel.
Gabriel almost jumped. “What?” His eyes scanned the outside of the SUV, looking for danger.
“Something’s wrong.” Nate slid the disc off. “Alex left a coded message on the store’s machine— he’s left.”
“If we can’t go back to the IP, where do we go?” The IP was the only place Gabriel had felt safe. What was happening?
“Don’t worry.” Nate took an exit off a side ramp and changed their direction. “I know where they’ll be.”
The night was taking over the sky as they neared their destination. A strip of old warehouses, sat outside the north end of Denver. Gabriel noted the high fences and hazardous waste signs all around the property as Nate slowly pulled in. A small guard shack stood at the entrance of the parking lot, surrounded by six massive abandoned buildings. A casually dressed man stepped out of the shack and walked over to the beat up SUV. Gabriel could see an automatic weapon tucked beneath the stranger’s jacket.
“Glad to see you safe, Chief.” The friendly guard nodded at Gabriel as he spoke to Nate.
“What happened?” Nate put the SUV in park.
“TERA raid - Not to worry though sir, most of our people got out.” The guard looked grim. “But … they had full government support to deal with us as they saw fit – no interference or regard to the law.”
“Government support? I don’t understand…How did we find out about the raid?” Shock registered on Nate’s face.
“An associate of the Church tipped us off to the raid. Said he knew you.”
“Riley.” Nate took a deep breath.
“I believe so. We followed protocol as fast as we could, evacuating the essentials first and moving the majority of the ore we had to a safe location. The remaining non-essentials had to stay behind to make TERA believe the raid was a success.”
The story confused Gabriel. Essentials? Non-essentials?
“The others are already inside, and the essentials have all been accounted for.”
“Good work, Tony. Double the watch and get people moved out of the area. I don’t want anything else left for TERA to try and snatch up.” Nate patted the guard on the shoulder. “We’re only good here for maybe 48 hours.”
“Consider it done, sir.” Tony stepped aside and opened the reinforced gate.
“Essentials? What is going on?” Gabriel stared at Nate.
“Our supply of ore and researchers.” Nate pulled the nearly destroyed SUV alongside one of the warehouses. “Grab the stuff.” Nate turned off the vehicle.
Nate led Gabriel to a metal door at the side of the warehouse. He banged on the door and it popped open promptly. Gabriel warily followed Nate into the orderly chaos hidden behind the old steel walls. Nate leapt into action, leaving Gabriel trailing behind him, carrying the chest once again.
“Mr. Reinhart!” A man in army fatigues raised his hand and strode towards him.
“Get someone to ditch that vehicle immediately.” Nate barely looked at the man.
“Yes, sir.” He nodded to Gabriel briefly, and faced Nate. “The trucks are being loaded with the remaining essentials. They will be shipped out tonight to secure locations across Europe as well as our remote northern locations near the old Canadian border.” The man handed Nate an electronic clipboard. Nate nodded as the man continued to explain the shipments and routes listed on the clipboard. Gabriel’s eyes wandered around the warehouse as he jogged after Nate, dodging people and machinery as they off-loaded crates from a revolving series of trucks.
“We will have operations back up to eighty percent in five days max, full capacity by the end of the week.” The man stuck close to Nate as the two moved through the busy floor.
“How much did we lose?” Nate barked at him.
“We lost eight percent of the essentials, twenty-one percent of the non-essentials, and thirty-four percent of our combatants, sir.”
“Where’s Osho?” Nate handed the man back his electronic clipboard. “Pen.”
“Third office, sir.” He traded Nate a pen for the electronic clipboard then pointed to a set of steel stairs leading up to a few rooms overlooking the warehouse.
“Turn around.” The soldier obeyed and Nate used his shoulder as a writing surface. “I want these trucks gone in four hours and I need extraction teams to retrieve the ore at these coordinates ASAP.” Nate handed the man the piece of paper he had printed at the lab under the barn. He had translated the code into coordinates. “Empty these two caches in the next 24 hours or less, otherwise TERA will most likely find them. By the way, that piece of paper you’re holding is the only copy so don’t lose it!”
The man yelled orders at some of the loaders as he tucked the piece of paper into his chest pocket, making sure it was zipped shut.
Their feet clanged on the steel stairs as they climbed to the second floor. Gabriel paused at the top, looking over the railing at the workers moving around the warehouse. He spotted Kyrie among the crowd and attempted a wave, but she didn’t see him. She had joined a line of people passing boxes to a truck. It was good to see her up and moving. She would be headed back to the field to look for the Spheres under Nate’s orders. Gabriel could only hope she would find a lead for him to go on.
“Gabriel!” Nate hollered from the third office door. “Move your ass.”
They entered the small office space together. Gabriel spotted Osho seated at a crowded table, in the midst of a heated discussion. The room fell silent as everybody looked up. Some of the faces were angry.
Nate walked straight over to the table and slammed down his things. “What happened?”
“Nothing we didn’t foresee happening. TERA was just q
uicker than we assumed.” Osho’s usual calm, cool manner didn’t falter.
Nate clenched his hands into fists as he stared at Osho.
“We will bring you up to date shortly, I promise.” Osho nodded at Nate. “Let me first introduce Father Clarence and Cardinal Vincent from the Church of Humanity. These men saved us from what would have been a devastating assault on our operations.”
Nate nodded at the guests.
“This is Nathaniel Reinhart, our Chief Security Officer, and Gabriel Roberts.” Dr. Osho finished the introductions.
“Roberts?” The cardinal pursed his lips.“We know of him.”
“We know.” Nate pointed a finger at them. “Don’t try anything.”
“We are here under a flag of peace.” The cardinal put his hands together. “He is safe for now.”
“Gabriel is Calvin Robert’s son.” Osho bowed to Gabriel. “Any move towards him would jeopardize any future you hoped to have.”
Gabriel’s eyes met the cardinal's and they exchanged a nod of acknowledgement. The cardinal stared at Gabriel, not saying a word. Gabriel set down the strongbox and used it as a seat, tired from carrying it for most of the day. The meeting resumed and he yawned trying to not draw any attention to himself.
“The last forty-eight hours have been busy for TERA on a global scale. Let me bring everyone up to speed.” Osho recapped the last two days like a news anchor.
“TERA openly attacked the so-called ‘Horsemen’ in China, completely destroying their suspected headquarters and seizing what remained of their ore. While no direct support came from the Chinese government, no issues were made about the attack and TERA was allowed free passage. The reason for the attack is still unknown as TERA has always tried to stay clear of the Horsemen. Something got their attention, or they wouldn’t have been so bold. After my daughter was rescued from the camp in Denver, she confirmed the Horsemen have been focusing on black ore. We don’t know about their goals, but, from the research she managed to steal before she was caught, it’s some kind of new armament.
“Across the globe, TERA has been setting up offices and facilities. Most countries are welcoming them, hoping for access to the ore as their own, alternative energy sources are dwindling. Many countries are on the verge of losing power completely. Several new TERA locations have been confirmed across Europe, as well as on the eastern continents. Our friends at the Church have been keeping a close eye on this. We are also seeing heavy movement through the dark zones - TERA is transporting some major resources off the grid. Could be bases or research sites - we aren’t sure, but our spies will move into the dark zones once we are secured.
“A new global message has been issued by Dr. Cymru listing demands that all nations must comply with if they want access to the ore. The list requires the nations to replace all old technology with ore- powered equipment – this includes manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, and some retail components. That means ore will be used on a global scale – and the people needed to recharge it will increase dramatically. By the time the public realizes what is going on they simply won’t have a choice anymore. They are also proposing new laws to allow trial experiments on any humans that have a relationship with the ore, claiming it is needed for research. This would mean regulated testing for everyone, and most likely every person with a relationship to the ore would be put into camps. TERA also wants all companies involved with the ore and its research to come under their control – like us – peaceful or not. Our government is in full support of their recommendations. It won’t be safe for us here anymore.” Osho sat down at the table.
“No one is against this?” Nate sounded overwhelmed. “The public, the lobbying groups, anyone?”
“Most opposition has been wiped off the table in one way or another.” A man Gabriel didn’t recognize answered. “This is a massive shift in power and it’s the start of a dictatorship.”
“Our government is leaving them to do what they feel is necessary. I am sure the paperwork to commandeer our facility was filed at a very high level, which means we don’t have a lot of options.” Osho shrugged.
“How can people believe them? It sounds insane!” Gabriel finally spoke up.
“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Second Corinthians eleven verse fourteen. The power of deception can be quite strong over the masses.” The cardinal stood up from the table.
“It’s true.” Osho nodded at the cardinal and turned to Gabriel. “TERA is promising a way to turn back the clock for the planet, assuring everyone that the earth can rejuvenate itself if the ore is used properly. In theory, it is possible, but their motives aren’t so pure.”
Nate sighed. “We don’t have as much research into the ore as TERA does. No one does. But knowing their intentions, these moves are intended for control. If everyone is forced to depend on them for energy, then we will see more people sacrificed to keep up with demand. Things will only get worse after that.”
“I have to agree with Mr. Reinhart.” The cardinal nodded. “I think we haven’t even begun to see true terror from them yet and that is why you must join us. You have to trust us.” He turned to Osho, his hands together as if in prayer.
“Trust you?” Nate’s voice rose. “What are you talking about – trust you with what?”
“We are compromised here.” Osho wouldn’t meet Nate’s eyes. “Which is why we have been discussing placing ourselves under the control of the Church.”
Nate bolted to his feet. “The Church? We know nothing about them!” He pointed at them. “Just because Riley warned us about today’s attack doesn’t mean they aren’t on the same side of the power struggle as TERA.”
Osho remained silent but Cardinal Vincent cleared his throat. “Mr. Reinhart, how many did you lose … how many souls were sent home today because of what happened?”
Nate glared at the cardinal. “I lost one third of my men!”
“And you were given a warning. Next time you may not have us to help you. How many more are you willing to lose before you see that you cannot stand against this devil alone?”
“I have looked at this option many times over the years.” Osho’s tone was calm, but a note of pleading lurked beneath his words. “Nate, you know we can’t survive on our own. We can trust them. We cannot stand up to another raid from TERA. Not with the government behind them. We don’t have much of a choice.”
Gabriel was with Nate. He didn’t trust the Church. “Why not join the ‘Spheres’?”
Osho shook his head. “Gabriel, we don’t even know if they are real. It’s just a rumor. We don’t have time to try and see if they’re true.”
Father Clarence finally spoke, his eyes on Nate. “The IP will simply fall under our protection … you will still be able to continue your ore research. If you are working with our current researchers, we might be able to find something to change the course of this world.”
“What about our people? Some of them might disagree with your practices.” Nate’s nostrils flared, his chest moving rapidly.
The cardinal met Nate’s stare, unafraid. “I offer a sanctuary, nothing more. Their futures will be decided by their actions, not ours.” He then glanced at Gabriel.
“Gentlemen, please.” Osho did his best to settle the room.
“Dr. Osho is right. Our beliefs might be different, but our enemy is the same.” Father Clarence put his hand on the cardinal’s shoulder. “We can set aside our differences.”
Nate looked at Dr. Osho, and Gabriel watched a silent conversation pass between them. He turned to Gabriel. “What do you think?”
“Me?” Gabriel was dumbfounded. He didn’t want to join the people that tried to kill him, but what choice did they have? TERA would surely try to finish them. Still, he wasn’t sure what the right answer was. “What would Dad have done?”
A small grin creased Nate’s face. “He would find a way to fight another day … and he wouldn’t do it alone.” A minute of silence passed in the
office. “Transfer all the essentials over to them. Make sure our people are safe!” Nate glared at the cardinal. “All of them.”