by Bob Cooper
Looking into the retinal scanner, a green light acknowledged her identity. Then a pale blue bolt of static electricity shot through her body causing Dirk to jump back. The door opened to two armed guards standing at attention.
“It’s okay now. We can enter,” she said, leading him to another elevator that descended further. When the door opened this time, they were alone, but Dirk could see evidence of security systems monitoring their presence. They waited about five more minutes without saying a word. Finally, a woman in a lab coat appeared as part of the wall opened.
“Good morning, General and Mister Saunders. Please follow me.” She took them to a conference room, past a set of labs where scientists were busily at work. An elderly, slim woman dressed in a gray business suit waited. Dirk recognized her instantly.
“Norma Roberts, what a surprise,” he said warmly shaking her hand.
“I see you two know each other,” the General commented.
“Yes, from our days at the Academy,” he replied.
“What are you doing here?” Dirk asked Norma.
An old spark rekindled, and Dirk smiled at her. Thinking back to when they worked together at the Academy, Dirk remembered the sweet, young and intelligent girl he planned to pursue. But fate intervened and cut his plans short with the death of Acey’s parents. From that point on, raising Acey became his focus.
“I’ll let the General explain,” Norma said.
“Please have a seat. When I got your call about your daughter and the others finding out about the Progenitor Project, it wasn’t a big surprise. We knew we couldn’t keep it a secret forever. Someone was about to stumble across the artifacts as we had done. The question is—what do we do now?”
Dirk was made aware of the find some years ago. At that time, little was known about the artifacts. He anticipated being part of the team to continue the analysis. But then, the artifacts became a highly classified military project.
“I am cleared to tell you that these artifacts deal with our human origins on Earth and possibly all life origins in our universe. We think we found genetic material preserved from every generation since human inception on Earth. We don’t know who collected it or why, but our latest tests show the samples found on Dysnomia contain human DNA. Your granddaughter and those on her team have the potential to bring this to light. I don’t have to tell you what impact this could have on our religious and social systems without a proper disclosure process.
If that’s not enough, the IIA has taken it upon themselves to be the self-appointed guardians and will do anything to keep it a secret,” General Coburn reported. “But there are those of us who believe the time for disclosure is now. The citizens of Earth have a right to know. But this must be done properly; otherwise, there will be chaos.”
“Is Acey in any kind of danger?” Dirk asked frantically.
“I’ll come right to the point. Yes, she is if she continues to pursue this lawsuit. The IIA will do whatever they need to do to stop her. I need you to do two things: Stop this lawsuit from going forward and work with Norma to determine the best way to make this information public. The timing for public disclosure has never been better. With your contacts in the public, academic and government sectors, you are our best choice to accomplish this,” the General said.
“What about the IIA?” Dirk asked.
“You let me worry about them.”
***
Acey woke up with a definite buzz in her head. A wave of nausea hit her as she tried to sit up in bed. Lying back down for a moment, she waited for the feeling to pass. The irritating buzz of the com link continued until she answered.
“Hello,” she managed to get the words out of her cottonmouth.
“Hi, Acey. Did I wake you? Sorry. But I have some fantastic news. Billy and I are engaged,” Hillary said.
Acey struggled to process the information. Engagement and marriage were antiquated institutions, and knowing Hillary, Acey thought a traditional relationship would be the last thing she would do.
“Acey, are you there?”
“Yeah, that’s great, I guess…” Acey said, cutting her response short as her stomach started to churn.
“Acey, are you alright? What’s wrong?” Hillary asked somewhat put off by Acey’s lack of enthusiasm.
“Nothing, I’m fine. Just a little woozy from last night. Why don’t I meet you for breakfast across from the Gallery? I want to hear all about how he proposed.
“Uh, like you mean lunch. It’s one-thirty in the afternoon.”
Acey looked at the clock.
“Damn. There’s some stuff I have to do first. I’ll see you at five for dinner. Got to go!”
Acey closed the com link and threw on some clothes. Running down to the elevator, she cursed having missed it. Finally, she made her way down to the first floor.
Joe waited patiently in the café. She was a half an hour late, and he was pulling out his com link ready to call when Acey showed up, out of breath from running.
“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Acey said, eyeing the folder that Joe held.
“I was ready to give up. You look flustered,” he said.
Acey caught her breath and sat down at the table. Ordering a glass of water, she tried making small talk with Joe. But she immediately recognized deep concern on his face.
“Just what do you plan to do with this?” he asked.
“Raina and Robert need the details of what’s on Dysnomia so they can prepare for the lawsuit,” she lied.
“Acey, I thought the lawsuit was not going to proceed.”
“Well, Ignacio and Jose’ decided that we should continue to pursue it,” she said, getting herself deeper into the lie.
“Look,” Joe said, “the initial surveys we did on Dysnomia show some very promising veins of Iridium Ore. We got the jump on the others and filed a claim. If this information gets leaked, claim jumpers can pick that site clean in a matter of days.”
“I didn’t know that. I understand your concern. I’ll make sure that Raina uses discretion with these documents. Uh, I really have to go. Thanks for everything,” she said, gulping down the water as she headed for the door.
Joe watched her leave. Something didn’t add up. He had no reason not to trust her, but his gut instinct told him he shouldn’t have given her the surveys.
Stryker snickered to himself as he finished recording the last of their conversation from the next table.
***
Aidan entered the front door, acknowledged the receptionist, and walked directly into Raina’s office.
She was distressed from the disastrous meeting yesterday. She had never seen Acey that upset and knew it had to do with hiring Aidan.
“Hi. Have you talked to Acey?” Aidan asked before Raina said anything.
“Yes. She called and apologized for the meltdown at the meeting.”
Aidan shook his head and took a deep breath. He knew it was because of him.
“What is going on between you two, may I ask?”
“I ran into her a few days ago. I tried to explain where I was and what I was doing, but the words wouldn’t come out. She became totally outraged and stormed off before I could say anything more. Did she know I was working for you? The look on her face at the meeting yesterday suggested she didn’t.”
“That’s my fault. I got totally immersed in preparing for the meeting, and I forgot to tell her,” Raina said.
“I went to her place last night to try to explain things, but I saw her leaving with some guy. They looked quite cozy. All I could do was watch as they got into his cruiser and drove away. I got the registration information from scanning his vehicle’s id chip. His name is Tim Arden. Do you know him?”
Raina thought for a moment. She knew that name. Finally, it came to her. “He’s one of the astro-archeologists going on her expedition,” she said, looking alarmed.
“We have to talk to her before she does something stupid,” Aidan said.
***
Acey stead
ied herself as she got into the shower. A traditional wedding for Hillary, she thought. How, unlike Hillary. Traditional weddings were passé in today’s society. Hillary didn’t have a conventional bone in her body. She grew up in a tolerant and open childhood where she could explore and question anything. Her artistic talents dictated her behavior through adolescence—from how she dressed to the bohemian crowd she hung with.
In spite of her eccentricities, Acey and Hillary were the best of friends. The one thing that set Hillary apart from anyone that Acey knew was her telepathic abilities. Acey witnessed this first hand on Antares when Hillary telepathically communicated with alien beings. It shocked Hillary to find out she possessed these abilities, but it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. Her mother had these “gifts”, as she called them. They made her mother’s life hell—full of ridicule and persecution. Hillary made everyone swear not to divulge her secret. She did not want to be labeled a “freak” like her mother.
Looking at her buzzing com link, Acey noticed it was Dirk. This was his sixth call. She had to take it.
“Hi, Dirk. How are…..”
“Acey, I need to talk to you right away. Can you stop by my office right now?
“Uh, I can’t now. How about tomorrow morning?”
“Acey, listen to me. You need to back off from the lawsuit. It could endanger you and those around you.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I know because I was told. You need to back off,” he said, growing frustrated.
“I’ll stop by tomorrow morning, and we can discuss it further. Got to go.”
“Acey, listen to me….”
She hung up and contacted Tim. “Hey, I have the info on Dysnomia.”
“That’s great. Send it to me. We leave the day after tomorrow, so be ready. I’ll pick you up at 7:00 AM.”
“Got it,” she confirmed.
***
Stryker waited in the central square for instructions. He watched the sunset with a close eye on the many people milling around. A young woman in shorts and a tight tee-shirt sat down next to him. Myra looked like an Academy student. His eyes scanned her from top to bottom, and she smiled at him.
“Why Colonel Stryker, when was the last time you saw a young female? You’ve been in the field too long,” she said, crossing her legs seductively.
It caught Stryker off guard, and he blushed. He wasn’t expecting someone her age—not in the IIA. Hell, he had underwear older than her. But she was a welcomed sight compared to whom he usually dealt with.
“You’re probably right. I do need to get out more. I have the complete dossier on the Saunders family,” he said, giving her the file.
“And what did you give General Coburn?” she asked, leafing through the pages.
“Pictures of the artifacts they found, but I left out the details.”
“Good work. Those artifacts and all the lab work they’re doing must be destroyed. I have a team working on that as we speak. And one more thing,” she said.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“General Coburn is no longer an ally of the IIA and jeopardizes our mission with all her talk of disclosure. She must be eliminated as soon as possible.
7
Stryker squatted in the cold drizzle and waited on the rooftop of the apartment building across the street. Getting off the shuttle an hour ago, he had no time to acclimate to the cold, damp weather of the capital city. He felt it seep into his old bones. His military career brought him to many missions on and off-world, and the conditions never bothered him. Most of his friends left this game a long time ago—either dead and forgotten or hiding on some extra-terrestrial world, living off government subsistence.
He believed in the IIA and would probably die defending it. Once humans ventured out to the stars, the Earth needed protection from whatever evil was out there. He dedicated his long career to the protection of humanity. The younger ones in the IIA ran the show now, so he had to prove his worth every day to stay in their good graces. It was becoming more challenging to do, not that he felt less than them, but because his seniority and service record wasn’t valued. They very rarely listened to him. He was viewed simply like someone to do their dirty work.
The rain came down harder, and he covered the long-range sonic disrupter under his black range coat. Sonic disrupters proved most efficient for assassins these days. No loud bang, no powder residue, no casings—only a pulse wave that shattered internal organs and blood vessels from up to a mile away.
The door he had his eyes on opened, and General Coburn stepped out with her dog. In the common area, there was a patch of grass specifically for pets. As she approached it, Stryker took aim. He watched her knowing this would be her last act on Earth. Holding his breath, he pulled the trigger. He noted the time—7:43 PM.
General Blair Coburn fell backward. Her dog barked and watched the blood pour out of her every orifice.
***
At 7:50PM, Norma Roberts finished documenting the results of her ongoing experiment. The alarm system sounded, and the lights went out as she packed her things to get ready to leave. The emergency lighting came on bathing the entire area in a purplish hue that made it difficult to see. Moving to the hallway, she could hear glass shattering.
“What’s happening?” she yelled.
No one answered. Then she heard the unmistakable shots from blasters. She heard screaming and ran back into the lab, locking the door behind her. Frantically, she considered her options as the screams grew louder and the shooting came closer. Explosions hurled glass and metal through the hallway. Hiding under the table, she pulled out her com link. Calling General Coburn, she got no answer. The glass wall shattered as black figures came crashing through. Her heart pounded, and the tears in her eyes obscured the com link’s display.
“Call Dirk Saunders,” she whispered into the com link.
Norma screamed as two black figures appeared, pushed over the table she was hiding under, and pointed their blasters at her.
“Dirk, this is Norma! I’m at the lab. Please help! Please…”
“Norma? What’s going on? Norma! Norma!” Dirk said, confused and concerned.
Taking aim at her head, the masked figure was about to pull the trigger when he was stopped. “Wait! They are in the building! We can’t get out! Grab her and others that are alive and follow me!”
Norma saw the dead scattered throughout the hallway while she and several other colleagues were rushed up the stairs to the next floor. “Secure the elevator and the stairs!” he shouted. Shoot anyone attempting to come up here!”
The hostages huddled in an office with a guard watching them. They all had cuts and bruises but otherwise were in good health.
Before her com link went dead, Dirk heard her scream and then the sounds of explosions. Taking a deep breath, he called Norma back. The guard heard it and took it away from her, giving it to the leader. He answered it. “Listen closely! If you don’t leave now, I will kill every one of these hostages!”
“Who the hell is this. Put Norma on!” he yelled in vain as the com link went dead.
He called General Coburn. A male voice answered.
“I need to speak to Blair Coburn.”
There was a long hesitation.
“Hello, I need to speak to General Coburn now!” he said, losing his patience.
“Who is this?” the male voice answered.
“This is Dirk Saunders, and this is an emergency. Who are you?” he shouted.
Another hesitation. Dirk could hear muffled voices.
“What the hell is going on? Put Blair Coburn on!” he shouted even louder.
“Hello. This is Captain Ryan from homicide. I’m sorry to say, but General Coburn is deceased. How do you know General Coburn?” he asked.
Dirk grabbed the edge of the table to steady himself. He couldn’t believe what he heard.
“What happened?” he asked quietly, catching his breath.
“Sir, have you
had any contact with the General in the last few days?”
“Yes, yesterday we spoke.”
“I’d like you to come down to the station so I can ask you some questions. I’ll send someone to pick you up. Where are you?”
“Of course. Of course,” he said, calming down.
“Wait. I received a frantic call from one of her employees at The General’s lab facility. There were explosions, and when I called her back, a male voice said they would kill the hostages if we didn’t back off. You need to get someone over there,” Dirk said.
“Okay. Please hold, and I’ll get one of my people to get the details,” Captain Ryan said.
Dirk poured himself a tall glass of scotch and waited. Clearing his head, he knew this would eventually involve Acey.
***
Hillary approached the table beaming. Sitting down across from Acey, she held out her hand displaying the moderate-sized, diamond-studded ring before Acey could say anything.
“Oh my god! It’s gorgeous! I’m so happy for you.” Acey said as Hillary turned her hand to make it sparkle even more.
“Thanks. We really haven’t spent much time planning the wedding yet, but as soon as this current exhibition is over, Billy and I will find a wedding planner to help us.”
“A what?
“A wedding planner—you know—someone who can walk us through the whole process.”
“I didn’t know these people existed anymore. Are you doing a traditional wedding? I would think you would be more comfortable doing your own thing.”
“Well, Billy and his family are all about tradition. So, I thought it would be nice to be a part of that and experience something new. But don’t worry, I will have my say in how I want this to be handled, and there will be some of my personality included.”
“I didn’t think for a moment that it wouldn’t,” Acey said, laughing.
The waiter came to take the drink order. He stood there with a bottle of Aurigan Brandy.