by B.V. Bayly
Chapter Forty
The next day was a whirlwind of activity. Secret communications were sent to the remaining IP members in North America, strengthening their numbers with operatives of the Church. Access into the TERA mainframe was acquired, as they broke through security weak points. Operatives waited to disable TERA’s central communication hub. The trap was set. Targets were selected all over Europe and North America. Gabriel stuck close to Nate and Father Clarence. They studied local maps and roadways for each target, choosing the optimal position to attack. Exposed stretches of isolated road, manufacturing facilities and warehouses were dissected, as they determined the strongest plan of attack for each target. Dr. Osho coordinated locations where the teams could retreat to after their assaults. Safe houses were set up within churches all across North America with hidden vaults inside for the ore.
A final meeting with the council was called to review the operation. The lights in the room dimmed as Gabriel found a piece of wall to lean against. The screen at the front of the room glowed with red letters. A list broke apart and reformed under three columns.
Father Clarence started the meeting. “These are the targets for this operation; 31 in total. Our operatives have hacked into TERA’s mainframe through the exposed networks of the acquired companies in North America. From there they can attack the network and disrupt any communications. This will give us the time we need to strike. Twelve of the targets are ore transport trucks, heading to manufacturing plants around North America. Teams are positioned to hit them on open stretches of highway, well outside of any of the cities and far from any TERA support. Fifteen of the targets are new laboratories. Teams included in this leg of the operation will be straight assault, demolition, and ore retrieval. The IP will handle the majority of these with their people. The last four listed are testing sites for experimentation. These are human testing facilities – which until a few weeks ago was illegal, but now are growing exponentially every day, caging exiles. I know this might be a challenge for some of you, but the goal is to destroy these facilities. Minimal efforts will be made to save any prisoners. From what information we have, most of them are already lost. May the Lord forgive us.”
Mumbles and whispers filled the room, but no one objected. Gabriel could see everyone knew what had to be done and no one questioned it.
As Father Clarence took his seat, Dr. Osho cleared his throat and stood up. “Soon, we will expose the bait. Everything depends on this. The leak about a major cache of ore the IP had kept hidden will trigger the attack. Judging by the amount of resources put into the first attack on the IP, and knowing TERA, they will react immediately. We expect them to divert a large piece of their team to assault the cache we have set up. We’ve developed an elaborate series of defenses that should slow them down.”
Dr. Osho returned to his seat and Patriarch Goodwin took the floor. Gabriel was surprised to see him dressed, not in his red robes, but in black. Large brass buttons ran down the front and a red sash was tied around his waist.
The Patriarch took the time to look around the room at each person before speaking. “There are going to be casualties – for TERA and ourselves. Our Lord will forgive us, but this is an act of war. All teams are instructed to shoot to kill, making sure no witnesses are left. If a brother in arms falls beside you, you will bring him home. The operation needs to be as covert as possible, leaving no trace of our involvement. We cannot risk this becoming open war.” He ended by bowing his head and saying a prayer in Latin.
Gabriel thought about Goodwin’s words. What sacrifices would be required to get the ore into the hands of good, honest leaders? He just wanted to end the tyranny attached to the ore. He didn’t want to see the world his father feared for them.
When the prayer finished, the room emptied, leaving only a few remaining. An image of the weapons facility appeared on the wall. Gabriel walked down to sit in the front with the remaining twelve soldiers. Father Clarence handed each of them a small booklet. It mapped every wall in the weapons facility.
Nate cleared his throat. “Memorize that. The initial assault will begin from the European Commonwealth. Our team will secretly enter the base. Once inside we will split up – Gabriel will enter the vaults alone to deal with any black ore. The rest of us support him and find out who is behind the facility, then we will place charges within the facility and level it from inside. Those beside you are all that you have. The Commonwealth will not recognize our actions or protect us in anyway if we fail.”
Nate’s words scared Gabriel. His heart raced as he imagined what he might encounter on his way to destroy the main black ore supply. The amount of the black ore in the facility was still unknown. He was certain he could dispose of several large shards, but didn’t know how it would affect him. Osho predicted there would be dozens of samples. The largest would be as big as a bowling ball, which seemed like a challenge – but not impossible. He hoped.
Two hours later he left the meeting and retreated down to the vaults. They were the only vacant hallways in the whole structure where he could find some peace. Unfortunately, the guard didn’t quite understand.
“I’m not here to take any of the ore. How many times do I have to say that?” Gabriel repeated himself for the guard. “I was looking for a quiet place to relax. Have you been upstairs lately?”
The guard didn’t blink. “If you have no business here, please head back upstairs.”
Claire stepped up beside Gabriel and smiled at the guard.
“Ms. Bennett, do you need access into the vaults?” The guard returned her smile, ignoring Gabriel.
“Yes, I just need to get some samples for some testing.” She held out her badge. “I can take Mr. Roberts in with me.”
Gabriel was happy to see her – he had missed her. The last several days had kept them apart from their usual meals together.
The guard frowned and stared at Gabriel.
“I can get Patriarch Goodwin’s approval if there is a problem?” she suggested politely.
“No.” The guard shrugged. “You’ve been given open access to the vaults; I wouldn’t want to bother the Patriarch at this time.”
“Good.” She smiled again and took Gabriel by the arm.
“I’ve missed you.” He enjoyed the moment with her.
“Happy to hear that.” She flashed a grin and led him to a large steel door with a keypad on the side of it. A small lens pulsed with a blue light. Claire entered a sequence of numbers as the lens scanned her face. The door popped free from its lock and slid sideways. “This is my favorite place.”
Gabriel’s jaw dropped as he entered the room after her. Piles of ore glowed in the darkness. Their colors pulsed and shimmered. Never had he seen so much ore in one place. Some were as small as a shoe, others were large boulders that rose to his knee. Several wall-mounted lights flickered to life as they entered the room, revealing even more pieces of ore hiding in the corners. “It’s one of the largest collections of ore in all of Europe.” She strolled through the pieces. “We’ve found that the blue, red, and green ores can naturally charge one another over time.”
“They do?” He walked after her, twisting and turning as he found his own path through the ore.
“Well, not enough to counteract any large draw on them, so I guess it’s more of a trickle.” She touched a green boulder beside her. “These are all still rough cuts as we call them …” She bent down and picked up a smaller crystal. “See?” Pieces of stone were still attached to it.
“So many of them.” The ores pulsed brighter as he navigated through the room.
She giggled. “Look at them react to you.” She smiled and watched the ore brighten around him.
He shook his head. “Gift or curse?” He placed his hand on a large blue shard, causing it to glow brightly. Condensed water formed on his hand. He smiled at her, shaking it dry.
“Hardly a curse.” She headed back to the vault door. She closed it and clicked off the lights along the walls. “I lov
e how they glow.”
“I’ve never been around this much ore before.” He dropped onto the floor, resting his back against the wall. “Can you feel them? The energy humming inside them?”
“Sort of. It’s more peaceful to me.” She made her way over to him, her dark hair gleaming in different hues as she approached. Her eyes reflected the colors around the room. “All their shapes and auras. I wonder if this was what it was like back in the Garden.”
“You never told me how you first found out about your connection?”
“I happened to find some stored in our house.” She smiled and sat down beside him.
“Sounds like a familiar story …” He thought of Kyrie playing with a small shard as a child.
“What do you mean?”
“Just a friend who found out the same way.” He smiled. “Played with it as a child.”
“So, your father discovered all of this.” She pointed to the sea of colors in front of him. “You don’t talk about him a whole lot.”
“I thought, after our first lunch, that we stayed away from the sad topics.” He bumped her with his shoulder. They had. Neither of them pushed for any information about their past. Gabriel had even given up on asking about the ‘Spheres’.
“No, not stay away from them.” She smiled at him. “We just need to find the right moment to talk.”
“Tough to argue with this one.” Gabriel looked around the room and sighed. “I wish my Dad hadn’t found all of this … I’m pretty sure he wished for that too.”
She frowned at him. “Why would you say that?”
“'Cause I wouldn’t be here, life would have been normal … he would still be alive.” He faked a smile to hide his pain.
“But then I wouldn’t have met you.” She shrugged. “I think that’s a pretty big loss.” She smiled, then sobered. “Sorry. I guess life isn’t so simple, is it?”
He leaned into her. “It’s definitely the best silver lining I could of hoped for.” He illuminated a red shard in front of them. It cast a breath of heat towards them, like a small fire.
She stretched out her hand to feel its warmth. “How did you find out?”
“It was kinda forced on me.” He pulled down his shirt collar to reveal the tip of the white ore in his chest.
She froze. “How? TERA?” She looked sad.
“No.” Gabriel shook his head. “Luckily. I – ah – had a bad day. A tornado to be exact.” His lips twisted. “I woke up the day after, with this stuck in my chest. It was a gift my father had given me. Funny how that played out.”
“You’ve never shown me your ore before. I didn’t know it was white.” She pulled his collar down further, running her fingertips over it, clearly amazed.
He liked her boldness. “Kinda the trade secret.” Her blue eyes reflected the glowing ore. He waited, not saying anything, holding his breath as her fingers brushed against his skin.
“I’m sorry.” She laughed and pulled her hand back quickly.
“It’s alright.” He smiled and straightened out his collar. “I feel safe around you. And this thing,” he tapped his chest, “there’s no getting rid of it!”
“I feel the same way.” She leaned up against his shoulder.
He reached out again, touching a red shard for a breath of heat. He was at peace sitting here. He could feel the energy moving around him – flowing from shard to shard. He shut his eyes and rested his head against the wall, absorbing the moment.
After several minutes of silence, Claire spoke. “You alright? With tomorrow and all.”
“Numb, I guess.” He opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Numb?” She shook her head. “I would be so scared!”
“It has to be done. It’s my purpose … my father’s purpose. It’s something I have to do.”
“Your father’s?” She rested her head on her knees, which she had pulled up to her chest. She looked cold.
He reached for the red shard and this time, left his hand on it. The air around them heated up quickly. “You know one of the last things he said about the ore before he died? That it needed to be destroyed.”
“Destroyed? Maybe the black, but the others are so important!”
“Are they?” He stared at her.
“Yes!” She frowned. “We don’t have much energy left to keep things going in this world … we need the ore to survive.”
“Really? Do we?” Gabriel stared at her, his jaw tense. “No one will ever stop using it. No one will even try to find other solutions. Maybe if we had to change, if it was no longer an option, we might be better off.”
She stared at the ground, avoiding his eyes. “The Church is trying to utilize the ore only for good, just like the IP is. It’s a gift from God, left behind to us.”
“I’m sorry but in my life the ore is a curse … too many have died for it already.” He stood up. “The ore has taken my father, my mother, and possibly my brother from me … they are all dead. That isn’t much of a gift if you ask me!” He drew in a ragged breath. “A month ago I was in a cage, being treated like an experiment because of this thing in my chest … people were being killed and beaten to discover the ‘potential’ of the ore. I have no home … everything I own sits in a bag in my room. Nothing but death and pain come with the ore.” His lips twisted. “Why are we keeping it?”
“I’m sorry …” She spoke softly.
He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “No … I’m sorry … that wasn’t fair of me.” He knelt back down beside her. “I was out of line. I am just so tired of how everyone treats the ore, and those who have a connection to it. I just want it all to stop.”
“So do I.” She leaned back into him. “I have to believe there’s a reason for what the Church is doing – what my father’s doing.”
“Your father?” Gabriel frowned at her. “I didn’t know your father was here.”
“Trade secret.” She smiled at him. “Goodwin.”
Gabriel was shocked. “Patriarch Goodwin?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“So, that’s why you aren’t treated like an exile.” He had wondered.
She nodded. “We don’t really know each other, but we try.” She stared at a piece of green ore, her fingers tracing its shape. “Patriarch Goodwin was only a Bishop when he fell in love with my mother. He repented and left her. I was still young when she got sick. She was dying, and he came rushing back. He tried to treat her with a shard of green ore, hoping it would heal her. It killed her so fast. He never forgave himself. I guess, as my father, he was obligated to care for me, but that caused problems once they discovered what I was. So, I was left alone with the nuns as an exile. His work with the ore and the Church consumed him. I barely talk to him anymore. Most days I don’t even know where he is.” Gabriel could feel the pain in her voice. It trembled as she kept talking. “If the ore is used properly we could save so many. The Church would see the world renewed. Isn’t that worth it?”
Gabriel really didn’t know. That was a question he didn’t have answer to. “Where will you be tomorrow?”
She smiled. “Where it’s safe … my father wouldn’t have me involved, even if I wanted to be there.”
“Hmph.” Gabriel scoffed. “I find that hard to believe.” Claire was stubborn and fierce when she wanted to be. Every day she walked around this place with her head held high. Without even realizing it, she was courageous. Few people were like that.
“Well, don’t go too far.” He smiled at her. “It’s tough to find someone to share pudding and cake with.”
“Just be safe.” She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
His heart stirred and he slowly turned his head, pressing his lips gently against hers. She took a deep breath, finally, and pulled away ever so slightly. He kissed her again, and his body leaned into hers, feeling dizzy as his chest grew hot. The ore around him suddenly flared with light.
She rested her forehead against his. “Please, be careful.�
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“Destroying a bunch of black ore? What could be safer?” He smiled.
She faked a smile and reached for his hand. “I’m worried that you won’t make it back.” She took a deep breath.
He wrapped his arm around her. “Me too.”