by Liscom, Sean
target. They wanted to leave the flora and fauna intact. They wanted to return the planet to a state before humans screwed it all up.”
“They poured hundreds of billions of dollars into the construction of the Arks. It wasn’t just construction that ate up their funds. They paid a lot of people a lot of money to look the other way when they wanted something that wasn’t quite legal. After they got what they required, those same people often had horrible “accidents” or decided to jump off of a bridge somewhere. They eliminated those people.”
“Your father was almost in that group. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking and even quicker talking, he’d have been dead a long time ago. As it was, I think he overstayed his welcome. One guy figured out that he was stealing money. He knew who your father really was and he was about to blow the whistle on him.”
“That man was Gary Wesson. Jacks old partner from the days at the agency. Now, here’s where it gets a bit messy. The day that Gary was going to turn Jack out was also the same day that he was going to be let go from his position at the ARKS. Your father killed Gary and then went to the meeting where they let him go. He walked out of the ARK knowing that he had a target on his back. It would only get bigger when they figured out that he was the one who killed Gary.”
Bill continued. “Knowing they would be hot on his heels, he came here. He finished coding the journals, hid the 44th and then left. He knew that he couldn’t stay here. He also knew that he
had to disappear before he could have one of those accidents we talked about. He flew to Reno where he and I got together and ironed out a few details and then he left for Costa Rica.”
“Why Costa Rica?” Braden asked,
“I’ll get to that in a minute. Things got even messier because of Gary Wesson’s two sons. You may have heard of one of them. Marvin Wesson. It was pure happenstance that he ended up in Elko as a Deputy Sheriff. The guy was an idiot and had been fired from four other police departments. The review usually said something about abuse of power or something along those lines. It really was just a matter of time before he got fired from the Sheriff’s office here.”
“The other brother, Paul, was second in command of security at the Ark in Los Angeles. Any guess who his boss was?”
“No clue.”
“None other than Ray Judge. Somehow those two were outside of the Ark when it went into lock-down mode. I’ve never quite figured out how that happened. I did a lot of research on those two before the world ended. I figured it was good to know the enemy. Ray Judge was a high ranking member of one of the government’s security contractors. He spent a lot of time over in Iraq and he was finally dismissed after some pretty hefty allegations were leveled against him.”
“Among those allegations were charges of mass murder, weapons theft and a lot of missing currency. Before he could face those charges, he disappeared. His new employers at the Arks helped him with that. Paul Wesson also served under Ray while he was over in the sandbox. It was rumored that he was also heavily involved with Ray’s shenanigans.”
“Where’s Paul now?”
“Here’s the kicker. From what I learned from the enforcers, there was some bad blood between the two a few months back. It all started when they went to Vegas. Ray had come up with a plan to stage an attack on Adolpha. Once she was scared shitless that people were out to get her and her personal security force had been decimated, Ray would come in as the hero and offer up his services, which she gladly jumped on.”
“I mean, who wouldn’t want a professional soldier to handle their private security, right? Anyway, Ray’s master plan was to secure his place by her side and become an integral part of the operation. Once he had his “in” he would begin to assume control over more and more of the operation. It’s a classic strategy that leaves
him as top dog in the end.”
“Something went wrong?”
“It did! Paul decided that he was tired of seeing his old boss take all the glory for himself
and decided to stage a coup of sorts. It failed and Paul escaped with his wife and a few men. I guess he’s been waging a bit of a guerrilla action ever since. It’s been fairly insignificant but it’s still a thorn in Ray’s side.”
“You still haven’t explained the Costa Rica thing.”
“You’ve seen how this ranch is set up, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“The redundancy in the systems and buildings. This whole place was designed with this in mind, it wasn’t a coincidence. Backup power and water, a place to hide underground should the surface buildings be compromised. It was all a part of Jacks master plan. In the end, having only one ranch would have still been putting all of his eggs in one basket….” Bill let that hang in the air.
“You mean…..” Braden started.
“I mean that this isn’t the only ranch.”
“But….. How….”
“It’s like this, Braden. The second ranch was built in Costa Rica. Construction started as this one neared completion. It’s almost an exact replica.”
“There’s two ranches?”
“No. There’s three…..”
The meeting with Bill had started a little after 2pm. A stunned and rattled Braden left the
security office at 6:30pm. For four and a half hours, Bill explained everything that he knew about the ARKS and what Jack Sterling had accomplished before his death. His parting statement to Braden left the man shaken to his core.
“As of now, Braden, YOU are in charge. As of now, YOU have to figure out how we are going to get Jason back and how we are going to deal with Ray. YOU are the man in the big chair now.”
Friday August 25th, 2017
Atlanta, Nevada.
Atlanta, Nevada had once been an open pit mine, abandoned long ago. The only structures I could see from my vantage point were an old mobile home that was missing half of its roof and a small steel building. There was a deuce and a half 6x6 parked by the steel building that looked a lot like the one I’d seen in Adaven.
I watched for over an hour and saw no movement of any kind. The sun would be setting in another two hours so I needed to make my move. I slipped from my hiding spot and returned to my horse. After climbing back into the saddle, I pointed her toward the mine. The comms relay looked abandoned, I was really hoping it was.
Cautiously riding closer, I raised my rifle with one hand and guided my horse with the
other. As I approached the truck I smelled the horrible stench of death. Staying on my horse, I maneuvered so that I could see in the back. Three bodies had been piled inside and the radio equipment was smashed.
I just shook my head and turned my mare toward the south. I’d wasted a day riding to get here. I didn’t want to waste any more.
Friday August 25th, 2017
Lund, Nevada.
“Rest here tonight, Jill. You can get a fresh start at first light. You should make Caliente at the same time he does,” Kaitlyn offered sheepishly. She had told Jill about everything that had happened while Jason was there, EVERYTHING. She wasn’t about to lie to the woman across the table from her.
“He turned you down, huh?” Jill finally asked, a smirk breaking the corners of her mouth.
“Yep,” she replied and Jill began to let the smile come out. “It's kind of funny, now that I think about it.”
“If you had met Jason three or four years ago, you probably would’ve gotten lucky. He had a pretty big reputation with the girls,” Jill giggled.
“Well, you got nothin to worry about with him. I can tell you that for a fact!”
“Oh, I’m not worried. Not about that anyway,” Jill started to get serious again. “So, Caliente is a two day ride from here and Atlanta?”
“It is. I looked it up on the map after he left and its 60 miles from Atlanta and 90 from here. You might have to push but you should be able to catch him there. He said he was going to try and resupply and get some rest before he pushed on.”
“Alrigh
t, you talked me into it. I only have one condition…..”
“That is?”
“A hot bath and hot food.” Jill replied.
“You got it!”
CHAPTER 32
Saturday August 26th, 2017
The ranch.
Braden was once again in the shack this morning. It seemed almost as if he had been living there as of late. He was still in shock after speaking with Bill the previous afternoon. Some of what Bill had told seemed so outlandish that it didn't even seem possible.
When Bill had told him that the people behind the construction of the ARKS had intended to wipe out the majority of the population of the planet, he just couldn't get his mind around that thought. Bill had also told him that the use of EMP weapons were actually their plan “B”.
In early 2014, they were planning on doing a test of their new bio-weapons on a batch of homeless people that they had snatched from the street and taken to the Ark in Los Angeles. Several of the board of directors were on hand to witness the effectiveness of the weapon. Also on hand were all of their top scientists.
The test subjects were in one room, the scientists and board members in another. They were separated by a four inch thick glass window and the test subjects were in a standard air
pressure room. The important people were in a room that was slightly pressurized to prevent any possible contamination. They were also given fully self-contained bio-suits. They thought they were safe.
Five minutes after the demonstration began, everything went horribly wrong. Alarm klaxons began sounding and all of the fail-safe systems kicked in. The entire lab area was sealed behind thick steel and concrete doors. Hundreds of tiny vents opened and the entire area was filled with a Nano-thermite cloud of dust in a matter of milliseconds. That cloud was ignited by a static discharge. The resulting inferno lasted less than a minute but the temperature in the laboratory reached a staggering 6000 degrees Fahrenheit.
It was later determined that one of the scientists had forgotten to close an air valve. What they didn't know was that Jack had set off the system with a small piece of computer code. In an instant, he destroyed their bio-weapons program and all of the minds behind it.
“Shack, Tower two,” the voice from the radio caused Braden to jump.
“Yeah, Mark,” Braden said into the mic.
“We got a single rider approaching fast from the south. Hard to tell but I think it's Dan!”
“Copy that!” Braden sprang out of his chair and started for the door. Sprinting across the
compound, he arrived at the gate the same time
Dan did. Dan dismounted and walked his horse through the open gate.
“Is Melissa here?” was his very first question.
“No, she's not. Where's Jill?”
“Jill's still out looking for Jason. We gotta talk!” he said as Braden's daughter, Kalin, approached to take his horse. “Thanks, Kalin. Be good to him, he's run hard,” Dan said to the young woman and patted his horse on the chest. He and Braden headed for the security shack.
“You left Jill out there, alone?”
“Her orders, Braden. Melissa and Jason split up just outside of Duckwater. Melissa should have been back here by now,” Dan sat across from the desk, Braden behind it. “We got bigger problems though.”
“Of course we do!”
“Early yesterday morning, I saw a convoy of fuel tankers headed for Ely. Thirty semi-trucks hauling a full size trailer and a pup. I had to abandon the search for Melissa, this took priority.”
“That's a lot of fuel!”
“I don't know what their capacity is. If I had to guess, I'd say that was probably in excess of 200,000 gallons of fuel that passed me by.”
“That's enough to get Judge's army back up and running.”
“Yeah, it is,” Dan replied.
“Shit....” Braden's voice trailed off as the radio went off again.
“Shack, Tower two. Got another rider approaching from the south!”
“You got an ID?” Braden asked into the microphone.
“Negative. Not yet.”
“Okay, Mark. Get down to the gate and find out who it is.”
“Copy, on my way.”
“Jill?” Braden asked of Dan.
“Doubt it. If she's on Jason's track, she won't stop until she finds him.”
“Yeah, you're right about that. Any idea where she was headed after you two split up?
“South-East. It looks like Jason pulled a 180 and headed back toward Vegas. As of Duckwater, they had about a four day lead on us. There was an ambush site a few miles north of town and I think they spent the night there. The ambush happened the day after they left the trader in Duckwater so we might have actually gained a day on them.....”
“Braden, its Melissa coming through the gate. She's headed to the shack,” Mark said over the radio.
“Thanks,” Braden said and put the mic back on the desk. It didn't take but 30 seconds before
he heard her boots on the front porch of the
shack. She stepped through the door and looked
at the two men.
“Thank God you're both here. Jason sent me back to get him some help. He's going back to Vegas and he's going after Ray Judge!”
“Slow down, Melissa!” Braden waived his hand. “Where's Jason?”
“We split up just outside of Duckwater. I didn't want to leave him but it was a direct order. I have to get him some help or he's gonna barge right into Vegas by himself.”
“When was that?” Dan asked. The former Sheriff’s deputy in him kicking in.
“Couple days ago, Dan! What the hell does it matter? He's probably already in Vegas. He's counting on me to get him help!” she said loudly.
“Alright, Melissa. I get it.” Dan stood and walked past her to close the door that she had left open. As he walked by on his return, he took a deep breath before he sat down. Something stunk and it sure wasn't Melissa.
“I don't know what the hell we’re going to do. Even if I send everyone we have out on horseback, right now, it'll take a week to get there!” Braden said.
“Braden, send Teams 1 and 3 to Wells. Tell them to hit highway 93 and they will find a staging area about 10 miles south of wells. That's where Ray is staging his fuel tankers. They aren't
very well guarded, yet. You need to get the
Teams out there before they get their shit
together!”
“How do you know this?” Dan asked. All sorts of alarms were going off now. Melissa looked at him for a moment before she spoke. He could see her mind racing.
“The trader in Duckwater told us that they had been through there. That's the big reason Jason wanted me back here!” she answered. “I had to get this information to you!”
“Okay. What else did Jason need?” Dan asked electing to play the game.
“That's it. I just need to get him all the help I can. He told me that if I couldn't find it here, I needed to keep moving..... Are you going to help him or do I have to get back on that horse?” she demanded.
“Alright, Melissa. I need you to sit down and tell me everything that's happened since you and Jason were taken....” Dan started.
“DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?” she shouted at Dan. Dan swiftly stood from his seat and moved in front of her. He'd had enough.
“Squad Leader Lange. You will stand your ass down and remember exactly who it is that you are addressing in this room.” he said very slowly and very clearly. “DO. I. MAKE. MYSELF. CLEAR?” she looked at him defiantly for a second and then snapped to attention.
“YES, SIR!”
“Good. Now, I want you to take that horse of yours to the barn. Get him food and water. Brush him out and rub him down. While you are doing that, you can be thinking about the verbal report that you will be filing in one hour. In that report, you will tell me everything that happened from the moment you left here until you returned. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” she said. Dan glan
ced at his watch. Nine in the morning.
“I want you standing here at 10am, sharp. Dismissed!” she stole one last defiant glare before she spun on her heel and stomped out the door. She made sure to slam the door behind her.
“What the hell was that about? That's not like her at all!”
“I don't know but I'll get to the bottom of it. Somethings off with her story.” Dan followed her out of the shack and jogged to catch up to her.
“Ya know Lange, I'm seeing a whole new side of you today,” she just stared straight ahead, lips pursed. “Why don't we start this conversation by going off the record? Is that okay with you?” she nodded. “Alright, off the record. Mind telling me where you've been?”
“I've been trying to get here!”
“That's bullshit Melissa! I know what day you and Jason went your separate ways. I was in Duckwater, I talked to the trader. You left the ambush site on a dirt bike. You arrive here today
on a fully equipped horse. You have semi-clean civilian clothes on and you've had a shower or bath within the last couple of days,” she stopped walking and looked directly at him.
“On top of all of that, you know where the fuel trucks are being staged and you didn't mention Team 2 when you told Braden to send the Teams out. There's no way that you could have known that Team 2 has been missing since all of this started. No, you've been somewhere other than where you should have been and you have gotten information that shouldn't have been readily available to you. I want to know where you've been, who you've talked to and how you got the info that you've gotten,” he continued.
The look of defiance was growing in her eyes again. “Melissa, it's either you tell me, here and now, or I arrest you and throw you in the brig in Elko. The choice is yours!”
“Dan, I can't.....”
“Melissa, I need to know.”
“I've taken an oath. I cannot and will not betray that!”
“You took an oath the day you walked through that gate! Remember that?”