Chapter Two
Matt suffered more from channeling the sun’s power than he initially realized. When he urinated in the toilet he saw floating globs of blood swirl in the water. He was disturbed by his body’s response, but there was nothing he could do except hope he’d improve, so he flushed and waited for clear water to completely refill the bowl so Telia wouldn’t accidentally discover the full extent of his injuries.
Matt still felt incredibly tired, like he’d just had a serious bout of flu. Telia had been trying to nurse him back to health using every family remedy she could remember and Samantha suggested some palliatives, but nothing really helped. He had an irresistible urge to be in the sunlight and tried to absorb the weak December rays from a chair that was near the big picture windows of the Lodge.
The group took to gathering around him in the afternoon. Much of their previous work had been undone as the weeks went by. In spite of a lobbying effort by Seth, and fury from the public, new draconian credit card collections laws sailed through a banker owned House and Senate and were signed into law by the banker owned President. A few of the prominent protesters on the National Mall turned up dead and were being badmouthed and discredited every day on cable and network news programs. Dozens of other people who had been identified in photos went to jail, branded as “seditionists”. The word was being rammed into the popular mind through repetition.
The financial implosion of JJ Gorman stopped, then reversed when the Federal Government began issuing 100 year treasury bonds. Gorman was granted the sole franchise for selling them and also began offering 100 year mortgages for homes, and began issuing 20 year car loans. A new program called S-Lever, allowed people to combine their student loans, auto loans, and home loans into one lifetime loan that discharged upon death. People who were delinquent on payments were required to clean city streets or donate blood every month, and were forced to live in new debtor’s camps.
Cadres of financial talking heads cheered the programs. They cited the bravery of the Secretary of Treasury in pushing the 100 year notes. They lauded the new legislation as the start of a new epoch, a new golden age of finance that heralded an economic boom that would be ignited by lower loan payments. The financial markets rallied on the news.
Seth called the Lodge over a secure video link. Francis put his laptop where they all could see the screen. Seth had dark rings around his eyes. He was despondent. “I thought we had them on the run. You guys did great, but the response to the damage was really rapid. I still think we should pursue the current strategy as far as we can take it, but unfortunately we’re running out of time.” He sighed.
Telia asked, “Why, what changed?”
“They’re actively looking for you, now.” Seth shrugged. “It’s just a matter of time until they find you. Could be days. Could be hours. Francis, get ready to shut it all down when you need to.”
Francis held his head in his hands. “Shit.” He mumbled.
Matt said, “I’m just way too weak to try to attack again.”
Owen said resolutely, “I will do it.”
Telia gasped, “No! Owen, it almost killed Matt and you’re twenty years older.”
He shrugged and smiled. “Telia, it’s really alright. I’m ready for it.”
Matt shook his head. “No way! Suicide is not on the agenda.” He coughed.
Francis held up a hand and interrupted them. “Guys, if we’re discovered, we have a plan to follow. Matt and Telia, you get in the tunnel, then I’ll blow this whole place up. There’s actually enough ANFO buried underneath these buildings to turn the Lodge and the reflector into confetti.”
Telia was aghast. “No! What the fuck?! Francis what will you do after that?”
He said. “I’ll try to get away. You guys should be safe in the tunnel. It’ll be completely buried. Someone will come get you when it’s safe.” He breathed out heavily to steady himself. He spoke with firm resolve and added, “None of us can be caught alive. We do not want to be taken alive, understand? It would be horrible.”
Telia threw up in the waste basket. “Sorry. sorry…” She whispered and wiped her mouth. She took the can out into the kitchen and cleaned it and herself up. They could hear her sobbing.
Owen stood up and headed for the barn. He turned back to them and asked, “Are you all coming?” Then he descended the stairs and headed down the hallway. Matt grimaced and stood up and followed him.
Matt said glumly, “We’re going over there, Tee.”
She sobbed and groaned. She managed to say, “I can’t. I can’t…”
Francis and Matt walked after Owen.
Owen climbed into the reflector. He said, “Don’t disconnect me. Tell Telia I am going back home. I think she’ll understand.”
Francis nodded grimly. “OK. Let that fucker have it, Owen!”
Owen asked, “Can you bring me a big glass of water?”
Francis poured a tall glass with no ice and gave it to Owen. He took a swallow and said, “Thank you very much Francis. It’s been a pleasure to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you again someday.”
Francis patted his shoulder and stepped down the ladder. Owen was relaxed and smiling. He went to the other side. He was by the mountain stream and Samantha took both of his hands. Owen said, “Hello Samantha, I’m relocating today!”
Samantha said, “You’ve prepared for this for a long time. I think you’re ready.”
Owen smiled, “And what a way to make the passage! Powered by the roar of the sun.”
She closed her eyes and they were back in the mental territory that corresponded to Washington DC. The life they’d restored in their previous attack had receded. The trees were blasted and charred, and bare and the grass had mostly given way to sand again.
Samantha began speaking in her ancient tongue. “Foul serpent. I feel your fear! Vicious devourer, the time has come for you to be split and your flesh rendered to ash.”
The swarming shadow passed overhead again. It tumbled and rolled through the sky like a black billowing cloud of reptile scales. Its hissing screeching voice chilled them both. “You are discovered by my servants. But it is not too late for you, Owen. You could be a king in my world instead of a pauper and servant to this cunt. If you go back now, I will finally eat Samantha and I will reward you with a crown.”
Owen motioned to Francis to direct the reflector at the Sun. The glow emanating from him was a distinct red, not the brilliant white that Matt emitted, but still the trees were restored and the grass swarmed across the field. Samantha began radiating a red glow and she blasted the serpent again. The light arced from her hands and it steadily intensified, from red, to orange, then became whiter and more intense.
The damage she inflicted likewise intensified. The Beast began writhing, and it was unable to flee. Owen was holding the creature in place with his mind, but his body was enduring incredible strain. The heart rate monitor had been pegged at 175 beats per minute for twenty minutes, and sweat was pouring out of him. Owen made one last effort to kill it. A portion of the serpent exploded in a shower of white light and sparks, then Owen collapsed onto the ground next to Samantha. She crumpled over next to him and the Beast let out a screeching cry.
Owen’s body slid down in the chair and its lifeless arm knocked the water glass over and it fell headfirst from the platform. Matt shouted, “Let’s keep it going!” Adrenaline surged and he clambered up the platform and sat in the chair.
“Matt! Don’t!” Francis called out.
Matt closed his eyes and felt the power of the sun’s roar surge through him.
Samantha saw Matt appear as a blinding flash of white light. A gold and yellow metallic mirage of the Occitan cross rippled around him. She could make out a glimmering vision of the interior of the barn and saw Francis looking up at Matt. With Matt’s arrival, the sky turned from dull gray to dark blue and fluffy white cumulus clouds bloomed overhead. Birds sang. Samantha struggled to her feet and helped Owen stand. They all began to glow with white ligh
t that was tinged with flowing red curtains. Owen and Samantha launched new attacks on the Beast. Its tail fell off in a shower of sparks and it began to split open. It screeched in agony.
Matt’s heart rate pegged at 200 beats per minute. Francis muttered, “Holy shit…” He yelled, “Telia get in here!”
Alarms sounded all throughout the Lodge and the barn. Telia ran through the tunnel and emerged into the barn. She shouted, “What is that sound?”
Francis said, “They’re coming for us!”
They heard the thunder of helicopter blades, then multiple thumps of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles launching from around the Lodge. Trails of smoke corkscrewed toward the helicopter. A heavily armed detail of Seth’s personal guard were stationed in the woods all around the Lodge and they were going to protect the place from any attacker.
United States special forces were conducting the raid on what they believed to be a seditionist cell. They’d been directed to launch the attack by the Disciple of the Beast Colonel Pepper Richards. They assumed the people in the Lodge were a group of lightly armed civilians, so when the missiles erupted from the canopy of trees the pilot was shocked. He barely had a moment to react.
He banked the helicopter hard left, but a warhead exploded near the rear of the aircraft and snapped the driveshaft to the rear propeller. The helicopter started spinning wildly toward the barn. Men were ejected from the open sides of the chopper and plunged to their deaths through the treetops. The helicopter bounced off the roof and broke in half, and the blades shattered against the structure.
Inside the barn, the impact was as loud as a canon going off. Telia was stunned by it and fell to the ground. A beam in the ceiling cracked and collapsed onto the reflector and warped the ball of metal and knocked Matt to the floor ten feet below.
Francis sprinted to his side and grabbed him under the arms. He shouted at Telia, “Get in the tunnel! Move!”
He dragged Matt down the stairs into the middle of the tunnel. Telia followed them and sat next to Matt and looked bewildered and afraid. Francis said, “There’s food and water and lights.” he pointed at a closet in the middle of the tunnel. “I’m going to blow it all up. Bye, Telia.”
Francis sprinted back up the stairs to the control panel. He opened a hidden compartment beneath the panel with shaking hands. He could hear heavy automatic weapons going off near the road and in the woods. Ground troops were now moving in. There was another explosion as an Abrams-M1 tank lobbed a shell at the Lodge.
Moments later, the M1 erupted in a geyser of flames and its turret flipped through the air as it was rocked by a TOW missile. Francis found the detonator button and pressed it, then sprinted out of the barn. The tone of the alarms changed from a rising “whoop whoop whoop” to a sustained high pitched squeal. Francis followed a set of leg holes in the snow away from the sound of gunfire and once he was on a rocky slope, he clambered up the side of the steep hill as quickly as he could. He hyperventilated with the effort.
Ground troops were running in toward the buildings and the screeching siren started beeping rapidly until the ANFO went off. Telia felt the shock wave ripple through the Earth and she bounced on the floor as the Earth vibrated with the massive release of energy. It became completely dark in the tunnel as both sides collapsed and sealed them in.
The men who were exposed to the pressure wave and shrapnel were killed instantly. The Lodge disintegrated into a cloud of dirt, wood splinters, pulverized foundation stones, and glass. The heavy beams of the barn floor shattered, and erupted through the roof and the reflector was torn into a thousand pieces. The computers and records were all annihilated.
The command vehicle for the raid was parked on the road about a mile from the Lodge. Colonel Pepper Richards stood next to the Humvee and listened to crackling, terse announcements over the radio. He felt the shock wave and heard the rumbling roar of the explosion. He opened his mouth to equalize the pressure.
He looked at his hard faced lieutenant and said, “Shit son, they weren’t messing around! Let’s go see if anything’s left.”
They drove up the road toward the carnage. The battle was mostly over. Bodies littered the snowy woods around the compound. Injured men were being tended to. Gunfire popped off here and there. None of Seth’s men allowed themselves to be captured alive.
The carcass of the tank smouldered in the middle of the drive and blocked the way to the Lodge, so they got out and went the rest of the way on foot. Trees that ringed the Lodge were smashed down onto the snowy ground.
The charge beneath the Lodge was large enough to excavate a smoking blackened crater in the ground. Nothing was left of the structure except chunks of stone from the fireplace. The barn was shredded into splintered flaming pieces of wood and bits of the reflector were scattered all around.
The Colonel said, “Have the men gather up these bits of metal, and see if there are any records, notes, or electronics that survived. Do a sweep of the area and make sure nobody escaped.”
Francis found a cave near the top of the hill and crawled inside. A black bear was curled up into a large slumbering ball of fur and winter fat. Francis could hear voices outside, so he gingerly climbed over the bear and curled up next to her. Francis felt the bear stir and put a huge paw on his shoulder. Her breath whistled in her nose. Francis strained with all his might to hear what was going on outside, but the voices were muffled and indistinct. A flashlight briefly illuminated the cave’s ceiling then it was dark again.
Francis remained curled up in a ball for hours until darkness fell, then he ventured outside. It was snowing heavily and a cold wind was blowing. He could see men with lights were still moving around the Lodge site. He circled along the hill until he had a clearer view of what was going on. Men were loading debris onto flatbed trucks. He returned to the cave and sat down out of the cold wind near the bear. The small cave was surprisingly warm compared to the outside. He was relatively underdressed for the winter, with just a pair of pants and a bulky sweater, but at least he had hiking boots on.
He dozed off overnight and when morning came, he shoved some snow away from the mouth of the cave and went outside. All the men were gone, but he didn’t dare venture down toward the Lodge. He assumed at least one or two people were watching it. He worked his way along the ridge for miles toward a few tourist cabins that were clustered around a small, deep, mountain lake.
The water looked cold, foreboding and black in contrast to the piles of new white snow that covered the landscape. An old Subaru Outback was parked in the driveway. The car had Indiana plates and Francis said, “No way!” The family had a Valparaiso Vikings sticker in the window.
He knocked on the cabin door. A middle aged woman opened it cautiously. She was surprised to see him standing there huddling in the cold. She was wearing a sweater and blue sweatpants. Her hair was blonde with lots of gray strands. She had gold rimmed glasses, and she pushed them back on her nose in surprise.
“Oh my!” she said, “Get in here! How’d you end up out there in those clothes!?”
Francis happily went into the warmth of the cabin. A few teenagers were playing a video game. He could smell bacon cooking. Francis said, “I noticed your Vikings sticker. I’m actually from Valparaiso. I’m Francis, by the way, I just got totally lost in the woods. I’m up here for work. Do you mind if I use your phone. I lost my cell phone!”
The woman was pleasantly surprised, “Oh my god, small world! We’re up here to do some skiing. We come every year. What’s your last name?”
“Mouseler.” he said.
“Ohhhh! Are you related to Betty Mouseler?”
Francis’s face lit up. “That’s my mom! What are the odds?! No way!”
“We were in high school together, like 1000 years ago! My name’s Clara. Used to be Clara Clark, now Pettite.” She laughed. “Oh my god, yeah, make yourself at home. Want some breakfast?”
They sat down to breakfast. Francis relaxed, basically everything was out of his hands now. He asked h
er, “How long will you guys stick around here?”
“Why do you ask?” She said.
“I could use a lift to the nearest town, or really wherever. I can arrange transportation for myself, but it’d be a little easier to find a hotel and regroup.”
She smiled. “You must have gotten really lost!” She patted his arm and said, “But that’s your business.” She winked at him then called over to the boys, “Hey Mark!”
One of her boys said, “Yeah what, Ma?”
“Can you give Francis a lift over to Lake Placid?” She asked sweetly.
“Ma! I’m right in the middle of a game.”
Francis offered, “This will sound a little tacky, but my employer is really generous. I have an extremely flexible expense account. If you boys want some new skis for example, we could get some.”
Her face turned red. She laughed, “Oh my god! That’s totally unnecessary. Mark, get your ass in gear, now. The game can wait!”
Mark was a willowy blonde teenage boy with curly blond hair. He jumped into his boots and threw a puffy winter vest on. He tapped Francis’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go, Dude!”
Clara shook her finger, “Manners! What did I tell you about calling people dude?”
Francis waved it off, “Call me whatever you want! I’ll tell my mom I ran into you. Maybe I’ll actually head back home today. It’s been a long time!”
She hugged him. “Christmas is coming up soon! You should.”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 45