Bad Jack ((Ascension: Book 1)) (8 page)

Chapter 19
: A General Misunderstanding

They were escorted to a small room on the ground floor by the two guys from the other SUV. The General was pacing within as the two escorts took their leave, shutting the door behind them. The General was livid with Billy. He kept saying court martial and yelling military arrest and hollering breach of contract.

Apparently Billy wasn’t supposed to let Jack out of his sight.

For better or worse, Jack backed Billy up by insisting that he probably saved his life back there. The General dismissed Billy with a flick of his wrist as though he were waving a foul stench away.

When they were alone the questions started coming rapid fire like. Jack had no
adequate answers though. All he could do was explain exactly what happened but that just made the General angrier, probably because it didn’t make a bit of sense.

He said, “So this homely
senorita was going through your stuff and then pointed a gun at you and started preaching about a messiah until a big black guy broke in and hit her, even though they were together, and he started asking you questions about your new job and if you felt the messiah calling to you? I believe you Jack but I sure as hell don’t want to. There’s no Messiah here. I would have heard. There’s a lot I don’t know about this place but I know a so called Messiah wouldn’t be held by the government against his will in a secret facility. The PR fallout alone would prohibit it. I’ll send a couple men back to your apartment tonight to check things out but I’m guessing you just got robbed by a couple crack or meth heads.”

Jack didn’t buy it. Those two back at his apartment might have been nuts but they were wholeheartedly convinced in their story. And they had a following too; the three white people in the rusty sedan. There was no way five crack heads would be interested in robbing him. What would they steal anyway? He didn’t have anything
of any value. He had a nice enough TV but it was already six years old and he had the ipod but split five ways they’d get exactly squat.

The General said absently, “I should get a promotion just for dealing with all the extra baggage you’ve brought into my life.”

Jack responded sarcastically, “Yeah, it must be tough sitting around here worrying all day long but not actually doing anything productive. Gotta be rough riding my ass all day, huh? I’m the one who nearly got abducted. I should get a raise.”

The General gave him an icy stare, “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that to me. Do you
know that I’m here under the exact same circumstances as you are? I have no outside ties. I’m a military lifer because my folks kicked me out at age eighteen and wanted nothing to do with me after that so I joined up and never left. I can be punished just as severely as anyone else around here for a serious enough breach of contract and my contract requires much more from me than yours does of you.  On top of that, as far as I know no one besides the Doctor has been stuck here longer than I have. If I come off as testy or pushy it’s because the pressure can get to me from time to time so you have no right to question my duties or my worth.”

Jack nodded as an apology.

This back and forth between them seemed to be a recurring theme in their relationship; they argued like an old married couple.

Jack was going to drink again tonight even though it was way past his bedtime.
The General must have read his mind.

“Listen; let’s get past this useless banter. I’m thirsty, care to join me for a drink?”

Chapter 20: Grilling Dave

He let the General lead him down to his quarters. It was already midnight but his heart was still racing and a few drinks would be good medicine.

Billy had been waiting for them outside
the door but the General waved him off.

Jack felt bad about that. He knew Billy had risked his life to stop
those people from abducting him tonight. He was a decent security guard after all.

The General
explained, “Only a select few of us stay below ground level. All nonessential personnel stay above ground. Most of security sleep up there as well as the pilots and grunts like maintenance and tech support. You truly have no idea what a privilege it is to stay below. Not only that, but the Doctor sees something in you he can use. By the time you’re done here you’ll probably be calling the shots.”

Jack hoped not. This place was driving the General up the wall.
He didn’t want that kind of burden.

“Here we are
.” The General unlocked a door and let him inside.

Jack wasn’t surprised that the
se quarters made his look like a slum. There was an extra room with workout equipment and another room with one of those little infinity pools. The bathroom looked the same but the Jacuzzi was larger and there was a flat screen TV mounted opposite the toilet. Beside the bathroom door was another door that opened on a small steam room.

He
started to wonder why the General was always so uptight. This entire apartment was designed to relieve stress. He had two liquor cabinets and they were both stocked to the max.

The General
pulled out a bottle as he beckoned for Jack to take a seat.

“Listen, we need to start to see eye to eye pretty soon. I don’t like how adversarial our relationship has gotten.”

Jack didn’t normally take to mushy conversations so he quickly agreed so they could move past it and just drink.

The General
handed him a glass of scotch and took a seat beside him. He paused long enough for them to take a sip.

“Listen, do me a favor and don’t tell
Doc Collins about what happened tonight.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s under enough stress as it is. He doesn’t need to hear any crazy stories about meth heads and abductions or the Messiah.”

Jack saw through the lame excuse.
“You’re worried he’s going to think you, or one of your men screwed up, right?”

“You got me. Yes, I don’t want his faith in my abilities questioned.”

This might be the perfect opportunity for Jack to blackmail some answers out of him. He had to give it a shot.

“I’ll agree if you’ll agree to answer a few questions.”

The General became visibly uncomfortable. He was being asked to do something that would get him court martialled or worse if anybody found out but he must have thought it was worth it to ensure Jack’s cooperation.

“I’
ll answer all your questions to the best of my ability but only here and now and I’ll deny it if any of it leaks out. Promise me that this will remain completely confidential and we have a deal.”

Jack promised.

“Where do the artifacts come from?”

“The
Doc brings them up from downstairs. Other than that, I don’t really know.”

“Why did you choose me for this job?”

“I told you already. You have no ties and you lived close by. Your skill set was exactly what we were looking for. We also knew you needed the money.”

Jack shook his head. People like Jack didn’t get chosen for this kind of thing.

“There must be others like me though. Why pick me?”

The General became agitated. “Listen, you met the criteria. The
Doctor suggested we get an expert on symbolism and you were the guy I chose; it’s that simple.”

“Is there a Messiah here?”

“I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in God, let alone a Messiah. No, there’s no Savior in this facility. Those people were nuts or confused about who you are, that’s all.”

Jack was pleasantly surprised too hear the General admit that he was an atheist. Jack was a closet atheist, had be
en since his family was killed, but he didn’t tell the General. He had more questions.

“How long has this research been going on?”

“I’ve been here for about a year. I don’t know how long the Doctor’s been at it but he was here before me.”

“What do you know about the research downstairs?”

“A lot less than you buddy. I almost got to go down there one time. The Doctor called me to say they had a situation but before I arrived he called me off saying he had it under control.”

“Do you know that I in fact do have family? I have an Uncle.”

“Yes I do but he hasn’t been around since the day you turned eighteen, right?”

Jack nodded.

He’d half hoped the General would know where his uncle was hiding. He missed him but as soon as those checks stopped coming in the mail from the government, he’d left without warning. He abandoned his own apartment just to get away from his nephew.

It still made Jack angry and brought forth
feelings of self loathing.

He’
d tried to find him over the years with no luck but he knew deep down he’d never see him again. His uncle had raised him not out of love or devotion to family but for money.

The General put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and stood to refill their glasses.

“We have that in common; both our guardian’s abandoned us at eighteen. My dad died six years ago and my mom didn’t even tell me. I had to find out from the internet. Mom passed a couple years later.”

Jack
shook his head sympathetically and accepted the glass as the General rejoined him.

“I stayed in my uncle’s apartment until the Sheriff kicked me out. I went to college after that and I remember accepting my diploma and scanning the crowd hoping to see my uncle’s face out there but he wasn’t there. I used to imagine him driving by my dorm to secretly check up on me
, make sure I was ok, but I know now that he didn’t care enough for that. I have some abandonment issues as a result and some residual pangs of remorse stemming from the car accident that killed my family. Sorry, I’m rambling on.”

“
It’s ok. I know all about you. I’m genuinely sorry about the things that happened throughout your life.”

Jack didn’t mean to get all
whiny; he usually avoided the topic completely so he changed the subject before he dwelled on it or started brooding the way he used to when he was with Samantha.

“What’s the most dangerous artifact you have here?”

The General didn’t need to think about his answer.

“The red balls. Y
ou analyzed them already. Those things killed four of my men before we got them contained. They scare me half to death.”

Jack remembered the one he’d stolen and hid in the beaker. He had to find a way to return it. He almost told the General what he’d done so they could return it to the box
together but he decided their relationship was still too riddled with trust issues.

“I’d like to take another look at them if that’s alright?” That would give him a chance to
put the stolen ball back.

“You have your pictures. I don’t want to put anyone at additional risk. Those things are not to be taken lightly. Sorry.”

Dammit
.

“Did they do autopsies on the bodies
of the men after the red balls killed them?”

He
was still worried seeing as how he’d touched the damn thing.

“
Yeah but they didn’t find anything conclusive. Everyone killed was under thirty five and in the peak of health. Their hearts hadn’t undergone any trauma so it wasn’t a heart attack. Their organs all looked healthy. They just ceased to live. I saw two of them die with my own two eyes and I can pretty much attest to the findings from the autopsies. They both looked emptied out before they hit the floor, like the life inside them was just snatched away or snuffed out like a candle flame. At least they didn’t suffer.”

Jack didn’t have any more questions he could think of. Maybe it was the whisky softening his brain but he suddenly felt very tired.

He thanked the General for being so candid and he promised not to say anything to Doc Collins about what had happened at his apartment earlier today.

As he was leaving the General made him swear again that nothing they’d talked about would be repeated. The man was paranoid, but for good reason.

Jack reassured him and started down the hallways.

W
hen he reached his apartment he went straight to bed.

He dreamt of his dad
. It was that same old dream from nearly two decades ago but it hadn’t lost its luster over time. It was just as vivid now.

Just like when he was a kid,
he woke up cold from the piss he’d expelled in his sleep.

He took a shower, changed clothes, pulled off the sheets and flipped the mattress. He chastised himself the whole time.

He thought that nightmare was behind him. He threw the comforter and sheets in a hamper and hoped whoever had to do his laundry wouldn’t notice how wet they were. He settled into the couch cushions and fell back asleep, this time nightmare free.

He woke up the next morning dry as a bone
but he still felt a little silly. Grown men don’t piss the bed. That was just a known law of the universe that was only broken by alcohol or old age. He knew he was about to get too busy to dwell upon it and for that he was glad.