The Final Spark

by Richard Paul Evans

“Exactly. Now, pretty little Cassy, tell me exactly where we’ll find the resistance’s compound.”

  Cassy closed her eyes and bowed her head.

  “She’s reciting Bible verses,” Zara said.

  “Interesting,” Hatch said. “I like Bible verses. Do you like the Psalms? How about this one? ‘They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.’ ”

  “Stop it!” Cassy shouted.

  “I can see it all,” Zara said. “I need something to draw with.”

  “Get her a pad!” Hatch shouted to one of the guards.

  The guard found a pad in the desk and carried it over to her. Zara immediately began drawing. “There’s just one outer wall. The building’s a mansion. It’s three stories high. I can draw it.”

  “How is it protected?”

  Zara hesitated. “Mostly by her. There are fourteen guards. They’re well trained, fairly well armed, automatic weapons, UZIs, nothing we can’t take out.”

  “Keep drawing,” Hatch said. After fifteen minutes she showed him a picture of the European compound.

  “Is Coonradt the head of the resistance?”

  Cassy shouted out in pain. “Stop it!”

  “No,” Zara said. “He’s second in charge. There’s someone above him.” She thought a moment, then said. “It’s Vey. Not Michael Vey.”

  “Sharon Vey?” Hatch said, sounding skeptical. “She’s the heart of all this?”

  Zara shook her head. “No. Not Michael’s mother. His father.”

  35

  Carl Vey

  Hatch slammed his fist down on the table with delight. “Jackpot! This is too much. You’re telling me that Carl Vey is also alive?! And I thought Coonradt being alive was a mind-blow. That’s unbelievable news. Well played, Vey. Well played. From the very beginning he’s been orchestrating the rebellion from his grave!”

  Cassy closed her eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks. She had just betrayed the one secret that had kept the resistance alive.

  “Where is he?” Hatch asked. “Where’s Vey?”

  Zara turned back. “She doesn’t know. It’s their prime secret.”

  “Ask her who does know.”

  Zara struggled briefly with Cassy’s thoughts, then said, “Dr. Coonradt. He’s the only one who knows.”

  “Then we’ll start with him. So, Cassy, where’s the rest of the resistance based? It can’t all be in France because we found one of their bases in Mexico and burned it down.”

  “Stop it!” Cassy shouted.

  “There’s a ranch,” Zara said.

  “I know. We attacked it. There’s nothing left.”

  “There’s another. The first ranch was called Time . . .”

  “Timepiece Ranch,” Hatch said.

  “Yes. The second one, where the rest of the resistance is right now, is called Christmas Ranch.”

  “Clever. Where is that located?”

  Zara closed her eyes for a moment, then said, “It’s on the east side of Zion National Park in southern Utah.”

  “Utah,” Hatch said. “Who would ever think to look in Utah?” He smiled. “Now, Cassy. Tell us everything you know about Christmas Ranch.”

  “I don’t know anything about it,” Cassy said out loud. “I’ve never been there.”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Zara said.

  “Ask her who knows.”

  Zara got up and knelt in front of Cassy, gently stroking her fingers through the sobbing girl’s hair. Then Zara slowly looked up. “Pretty much every one of the Glows but her.”

  * * *

  When Hatch had finished interrogating Cassy, he smiled. “Beautiful. Just beautiful. Thank you, Cassy. You told us everything we need to know to end this nonsense for good. I’m so glad your friends were thoughtful enough to send you.”

  “I hate you!” Cassy screamed.

  Hatch looked at her stoically. “Of course you hate me. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t. But I don’t hate you. You’re just a product of your upbringing. But I made you. You could say I’m your biological father. Or your god.”

  “You’re not a god. You’re the devil.”

  Hatch shrugged. “One man’s devil is another man’s god.” He leaned forward. “You might want to be more careful about how you judge others, since you just betrayed everyone you have ever loved. After we arrest Dr. Coonradt, I’ll be sure to let him know that it was you who led us to him.”

  “You’re sick,” Cassy sobbed.

  Hatch laughed. “Guards, take her back to her cell. And see to it that she doesn’t try to hurt herself. I’d like to keep her around for a while.”

  Hatch stood. “I’ve got to go.” He turned to the guard. “Start bringing the Glows in one by one. Don’t bother with my Glows, just the ones who came here from the resistance. Start with Ian and Frank. Ian because he’s seen the most and Frank because he’s a detail man. I want Peters and Heinz up here interrogating them with Zara. I want to know everything about this Christmas Ranch by twenty-one-hundred hours. I want a complete map, schedule, everything. I’ll be back in ninety minutes.”

  “Where are you going?” Zara asked.

  “I’ve got a date with a bottle of Karuizawa.”

  * * *

  When Cassy got back to her cell, she was sobbing hysterically. McKenna put her arm around her. “It’s okay, honey.”

  “No, it’s not. Nothing’s okay. I’ve given away everything. Everything. I didn’t know they could do that. I never should have come. I’ve ruined everything.”

  PART FIFTEEN

  36

  Welcome Aboard

  Hatch had Captain Shool escorted up to his office on the second floor.

  “How is business?” Hatch asked the captain.

  Captain Shool smiled. “Business? Do you call war business?”

  “War is big business,” Hatch said. He brought the bottle of Karuizawa out of his liquor cabinet and held it up for the captain to see. “Imagine, this liquid costs more per ounce than gold.” He opened the bottle and poured liquid into two shot glasses.

  “Admiral-General . . .”

  Hatch held up his hand to stop him from talking. “Please. Enjoy this moment. Such pleasures are far too rare.”

  Both men lifted their glasses and drank.

  “Magnificent,” Hatch said. “Worth every penny.”

  “Indescribable,” Captain Shool said.

  “Then let me pour you another.” Hatch refilled the captain’s glass, then his own. After they had drunk the second glass, Hatch’s face had a red glow. “Did you know that the distillery where this nectar was produced was on the slope of an active volcano?”

  “No, Admiral.”

  “Unfortunately, it is no more. The distillery was closed more than a decade ago, which makes this magnificent liquid all the more valuable. Life is like that. The most precious things are fleeting. Do you agree, Captain?”

  “Yes, I agree.”

  Hatch again lifted the bottle to top off the captain’s glass.

  “Thank you, Admiral, but I think I’ve had enough.”

  Hatch smiled and poured the glass anyway. “Can you have enough heaven?” He laughed. “I think not.” He filled his own glass again. “So, as I asked before, how is business?”

  “It is well, mostly.”

  “Mostly?”

  “You know. I’m a soldier, not a politician. The politics are as capricious as the sea.”

  “I understand,” Hatch said. “I have a solution for that. I would like to make you a proposition.”

  “A proposition?”

  “Yes, Captain. I have recently lost my best ship captains.”

  “How could you lose them all, sir?”

  “Very unexpectedly,” Hatch said, lifting his glass. �
��What do you know of these criminals you brought me?”

  “I was not told much, except that they were terrorists.”

  “Terrorists,” Hatch said. “Indeed. They were involved in a suicide bombing that destroyed most of my army.” He put the top back on the bottle of Karuizawa. “My point in telling you this, Captain, is that I am looking to hire.” Hatch took a slow sip as he studied the captain’s face. “I don’t know what you know about the Elgen Corporation, but we are poised to become not only the largest and most profitable corporation in the world, but also the most powerful. If we were a country, our GNP would make us the twelfth most profitable in the world, somewhere between Australia and Mexico.”

  “That is remarkable, Admiral.”

  “Yes, it is. I am, by trade, a scientist as well as a businessman. Which means I don’t assume anything. I hypothesize, then prove. I research. And I’ve researched your career, Captain. You are from Quezon City, the most populous city in the Philippines. Your father was a bureaucrat, your mother, who is Vietnamese by birth, was a professor of international law. You have never been married; you have been quoted as saying that you are married to the navy.”

  Captain Shool smiled. “That is all true, Admiral.”

  “You were also the captain behind one of the most controversial operations in all of Philippine history, as you put down the president’s rival with a significant number of civilian casualties.”

  Captain Shool downed the rest of his glass. “I was following orders.”

  “Exactly,” Hatch said. “Exactly. Which makes you precisely what I am looking for. I’m impressed with what you have accomplished. I’m impressed with your obedience in following unpopular orders. I’m impressed by your attention to detail and precision, and how successfully you carried out this mission. As such, I would like to offer you the position as head of the Elgen Navy.”

  The captain looked stunned. “Sir . . .”

  “Before you answer, consider this. You will have a life of power, privilege, and, most important, purpose. I will quadruple your current salary and give you a million-dollar signing bonus if you agree right now. That is in American dollars, or the equivalent of a million dollars in any currency you wish. But my proposal is only good if you accept it now, before you leave this room.”

  Captain Shool was quiet for a moment, then said, “I cannot abandon my crew here. I would need to sail back and inform my superiors.”

  Hatch smiled. “See, exactly why you are perfect for the job. Of course, Captain. I would expect that. But before you go, I do have a favor to ask, one that may benefit your crew.”

  “What is that, sir?”

  “The coup that took place in our nation is not completely put down. The rebels have taken refuge inside our national gold depository just sixty kilometers from here. Unfortunately for us, I built the depository to withstand any land assault.”

  “Of course you would,” the captain said.

  “Being indestructible is, of course, only of value if you have control of the building. But, currently, I do not. I could use a battleship right now to . . . correct the situation.”

  “I understand, Admiral. But to engage in battle I would have to have the permission of my superiors.”

  Hatch took the top back off the bottle of whiskey, then said, “Unless, of course, it was only a training exercise. It’s not often you get the opportunity to engage in a real-life shelling of infrastructure. Far too costly.”

  Captain Shool thought for a moment, then said, “It could be done.”

  “Excellent,” Hatch said. He poured another two glasses of Karuizawa and handed the first to the captain. “If you will accept my offer, please celebrate with me with a toast.”

  “I will,” Captain Shool said, and took the new glass.

  “To my new chief admiral of naval operations. Welcome aboard, Elgen.”

  37

  Operation Mute

  Since Cassy had never been to Christmas Ranch, she couldn’t reveal much about it. Zara and Hatch’s war ministers grilled Ian, Taylor, Zeus, Nichelle, Abigail, and McKenna for several hours on the specifics of the ranch headquarters. The Elgen learned how the property was laid out, the level of security, where their weapons were kept, their routines, and, most important, where they would find Sharon Vey. By the time they finished their interrogation, they knew everything they needed to destroy the ranch once and for all.

  * * *

  After concluding his meeting with Captain Shool, Hatch called a council of the EGG—the four who were in Tuvalu and the rest by video around the world.

  “Gentlemen,” Hatch said. “The resistance has made a fatal error and handed us the rope we need to hang them. Yes, we are weakened, but, fortunately, we still have guards abroad and, as luck would have it, not far from where we require them.” He walked to an electric screen, and a map of the world appeared. “The last of the resistance resides in two places.” He pointed to the map with a laser pointer. “Their main headquarters and hiding place of the voice is here, a secret compound in the northeastern mountains of France. The second is a ranch in southern Utah, where the resistance council and Sharon Vey are hiding. That is where they went after we destroyed Timepiece Ranch.”

  “Sir,” EGG Amon said. “I thought we had destroyed the resistance in Mexico.”

  “Unfortunately, we’ve learned from our interrogations that they had been tipped off about the attack, and contrary to our belief, we didn’t kill a single member of the resistance. There was no one there to kill.”

  “But we lost men in the attack. . . .”

  “Yes, we did,” Hatch said. “The resistance was defending the ranch by remote to create the appearance of a battle. We have a clever adversary.” Hatch turned back to the council. “We’ll send Captain Smythe and his men from our Baja base to Christmas Ranch to bring back Vey, then destroy the ranch and all its inhabitants.”

  “Who will we send to their French compound?” EGG Amon asked.

  “The Domguard.”

  The EGGs looked at one another.

  “Do you have a problem with that, EGG Amon?” Hatch asked.

  “No, sir,” Amon replied. “That’s precisely what I would recommend.”

  “Good. Because it’s what we’re going to do.”

  The Domguard, also known as the Order of the Amber Tunic, was the most elite of the Elgen special services and was considered even deadlier than the Lung Li. They received the highest level of combat training, comparable to military special ops, the Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, or Marine RECON.

  The Domguard were stronger and larger than the other Elgen guards. But it wasn’t just their physical presence that made them stand out. Their attire was unique, consisting of a black-silk uniform with an insignia of an all-seeing eyeball, with the pupil in the form of the taijitu, the black-and-white yin-yang sign.

  In addition, the Domguard wore an amber-colored cloth belt, signifying the Amber Tunic, an ancient occult society. Amber had special significance for the Elgen scientists and the Elgen in general. In fact, before the Elgen company was incorporated, it was, for a time, called Amberz. The word “electricity” came from the word “elektron,” the Greek name for amber. An early Greek philosopher noticed that amber, when rubbed by silk, would become magnetized and attract objects. That invisible power was called electricity.

  In reality, the EGGs knew little about the Domguard, which was Hatch’s doing, since he reserved the force to serve as his personal guard and troops, loyal only to himself. If there were ever an attempted coup within the Elgen, it would be the Domguard who would crush it and restore Hatch to power.

  When Hatch had returned to the Tuvalu plant from Hades, one of the first things he had done was put the Domguard on alert to be prepared to fly to Tuvalu. But he hadn’t given them the order yet, as they were currently his only troops in Europe, and with Schema, the former Elgen chairman, still abroad, Hatch couldn’t afford to leave that part of the world completely unattended.

  “W
e’re still analyzing all the data we’ve received from the Glows and finalizing attack strategies,” Hatch said. “But here are the basics. To avoid the possibility of them warning each other, causing us to lose this priceless opportunity, we must simultaneously attack both strongholds. Since there’s an eight-hour time difference between the two locales and a night attack is always to our advantage, we plan to attack their French headquarters at four thirty a.m. using night vision. This would put our attack on Christmas Ranch at eight thirty p.m. mountain time, an hour after sunset.”

  Hatch stepped back from the board to better emphasize his point. “I’m calling the French operations Operation Mute, since we’re finally silencing the voice. I’m calling the Utah sortie Operation Christmas Eve, for obvious reasons. Our objective is to bring back Coonradt from Europe and Sharon Vey from America.”

  “What about the Glow Grace?” EGG Bosen asked. “Is she being held at the ranch?”

  “Yes, she is. What about her?”

  “Don’t we want her back?”

  Hatch shook his head. “No. Only silenced. She can die with the rest of our enemy.” Hatch stood. “While we finalize the specifics of the attack plans, I want both forces moved into striking position. Bring the Domguard up from Rome into Turin, and the Apache Guard in Baja up into northern Nevada. I want them ready to strike at a moment’s notice. EGG Amon, I leave it to you to get them in place.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “What of the rebels?” Despain asked.

  “They are, for the time being, stranded on Plutus and holed up in the depository, a situation we will soon remedy. Captain Shool of the Philippine Navy has agreed to shell the depository and deliver our army to the island to reclaim our property. He has also agreed to come on as our new chief admiral of naval operations.”

  EGG Despain clapped, followed by the other EGGs. “Well done, sir,” he said.

  “Thank you.” Hatch looked around the table at his council. “Does anyone else have anything to add?”

  Amon raised his hand. “Yes, sir. I thought it might be appropriate, at this time, to invoke the words of the Elgen handbook. ‘A new day has dawned, not just for the world but for us. Rise up to this morning of a new dispensation, the novus ordo glorificus Elgen, and personal glory will follow.’ ”