Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (18 page)

“Refined?”
Quinn chimed in.

“Yeah, I
guess.”

Lee stood up
and started pacing in the space behind the chair he was sitting in, ignoring
them both. His mind was already working on how he would use Ari’s body parts
when he got them. He would need something from the wife, too. That could be
tricky. It is unlikely she would give him one of her fingers. No matter, all he
needed was a little DNA to start. He could just take it if he were to get close
enough. A small accidental scrape of his scalpel, that’s all.

“Dr.
Tripple! Did you hear me?” Ganesh’s voice broke into Lee’s thoughts. “I said
Ari’s service is tonight. I have an address.”

“What? Oh,
yes, that will do. I will take the boy with me,” Lee said.

“Who, me?
You want me to go somewhere with you tonight?” Bearden asked. He felt panic and
awe all at the same time.

“Yes. You
will come with me. I will explain the assignment when we are back in the lab.”

“Um, sir, I
have to return to the lab here this afternoon. Remember, I only have a half day
allotted with you.”

“Well, that
won’t do for today. Make arrangements. I’ll wait here,” Lee said with a growing
impatience.

Ganesh
rolled his eyes at Lee’s bad manners and Bearden looked at him for help.

“Go,” Ganesh
said, “Tell your team leader that I have requested your service for the rest of
the day.”

“Thank you,
sir,” Bearden said and rushed out.

Quinn made a
new note in his notebook.

“You’re
driving me crazy with that thing, Quinn,” Ganesh said.

“Yes, sir,”
Quinn replied.

Down in the
lab, Bearden ran almost head on into Major Mace Magner who was checking on the
day’s progress. He stopped abruptly and saluted.

“Where are
you going in such a hurry, Leitner?” Mace asked.

“I have
orders from Colonel Ganesh to take leave for another project this afternoon,
sir.”

Mace’s eyes
widened with excitement and a smirk appeared on his face.

“Well, good
for you, son.” He patted Bearden on the back just hard enough to make him
cough, and then leaned in close. “I’ll see you tonight. You know where. I’ll
expect a full report. Just call as soon as your, eh, project is complete.”

Bearden
swallowed hard. He hadn’t had anything to report to the major since their first
meeting at his flat. He hoped to avoid this very situation altogether, but
instead he replied, “I will, sir. I will call.”

“Good boy!”
Mace said, smacked him again on the back, and walked away with his chin high in
the air.

Back in
Tripple Laboratories, Dana was putting small clumps of cloned flesh into
separate tubes to test the latest mixture, 252. She looked up when Lee walked
in and was surprised to see Bearden right behind him. They headed straight for
Lee’s office. Without so much as a ‘hello’ to either of them, Dana asked
Bearden with sharpness in her voice,

“What are
you doing here?”

“Not really
sure yet,” he answered as they walked right by her. She hobbled along after
them, feeling miffed that Lee had not acknowledged her.

“You’re not
supposed to come back until next week. What’s going on? I’m sure I can help,
whatever it is,” she called after them, but Lee closed the door just as she
caught up.

“Well, isn’t
that something!” she said loud enough that she hoped Lee heard her through the
door. She stood there balancing on her uninjured leg and folded her arms.

On the other
side of the door, Lee got right to the point.
 
Bearden stood in shock.

“You want me
to do what? That’s not right. I can’t, and with his family
there
,
and… it’s just not right.”

“You have to
go. I was planning to, but after considering the situation more thoroughly,
decided it was not suitable. People will recognize me, but I cannot afford to
miss the window of opportunity to collect a sample. No one will talk to you.
You won’t even have to issue condolences.”

“Will
Professor Riles be there? You could ask him. If I hurry, I could get a message
back to the unit before the service.”

“I did ask.
It proved to be a useless conversation. You have to do it. His cells are
important to my work. Are you or are you not my assistant here?” Lee opened a
small cabinet beside his desk, pulled out a specimen container and thrust it
toward him, hitting him in the chest.

Bearden took
the container with reluctance and said,

“I’ll need a
small sharp scalpel…and what am I supposed to tell his family? They don’t know
me.”

“Tell them
nothing. You won’t need long anyway. Dana will get you a scalpel. Here is the
address,” Lee said, handing him the small piece of paper that Ganesh had given
him earlier. “I would suggest changing into civilian clothes.
Less obvious.
And don’t talk to Camden. Avoid him
altogether. That would be better.”

Lee was
fidgeting more than usual and it was clear that the day’s interactions had left
him frazzled and uneasy. He was looking forward to spending the next several
hours alone in his locked lab, where he had been working with the biomer for
the past week. Bearden waited a moment for a dismissal, but Lee was staring off
into space in the other direction, so he just left. When he opened the door, he
almost knocked Dana over because she was standing right in the doorway.

“Well…?”

“Well, I
need a very sharp scalpel.”

“For what?
Are you taking stuff out of the lab now?”

“Can you cut
the ‘high and mighty’ crap for once and just get me a damn scalpel?”

“Fine!” Dana
hobbled across the main lab into the storeroom. Bearden followed, nervously
rolling the container around in his pocket with his fingers.

“Are you
going to at least tell me what it is for?” Dana asked again.

“I don’t
know if I can. I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. You know everything that
goes on in here now, don’t you?

“Not
everything…” she murmured while looking through a meticulously organized drawer
of sharp objects. “Here. Take this one. It’s brand new. It should slice through
just about anything.”

Bearden’s
stomach contracted when she said this and he almost gagged.

“Thanks. Oh,
I’ll need to come back later, too. Could you set up clearance?”

“Ugh, What
time?”

“Around
10:00?”

“How
precise.” She rolled her eyes.

Bearden was
starting to look disturbed.

“Fine,” she
said, “I’ll get your clearance. Go…do his bidding.”

Mace Magner
placed his fingers on a security print pad and slid his electronic key card
into a door between the lab atrium and the weaponry unit marked:

‘Weaponry Unit

Clearance Level 9-B Personnel Only’

Once inside,
he walked down a short hallway and turned the corner, entering his favorite
place in the whole building. It was a labyrinth of machines and the smell of
the metal artillery was intoxicating. There was a much different feeling on
this side of the basement than in the atrium. The botany and scientific
development side was bright, full of plant life, and the air was filled with
chatter among the creative work force. This side had much less color, mostly gray,
and the general demeanor of the soldiers working here was somber and focused.

Mace began
walking down the metal ramp that wound its way through the facility, inspecting
the progress of the machines. Rows of indestructible guns hung from metal racks
overhead and the further into the maze he went, the more impressive the armory
got. He passed a soundproof, explosive-proof testing chamber where small
robotic transports armed with biomer weapons were trying to destroy one
another. Mace paused to watch as one of the transports fire at the other,
causing its main firearm to burst into pieces. The transport shut down and
appeared to be defeated. Anyone doing battle with this machine would walk on,
thinking it was defeated. But minutes later, the weapon began to move. The
biomer started to regenerate and the machine turned itself back on. Mace
laughed out loud and walked on. The regeneration might take hours. He would
come back later and check on the little guy’s progress.

What he had
really come down here to see today was the third attempt at the insertion of an
intelligence chip into the humanoid weapons. This was key in preventing Daxian
casualties in battle. The computer engineers were sure they had worked out the
compatibility kinks from the first two attempts and that this integration would
be successful. The information on the chips had been downloaded from
collective, computerized brain waves of top soldiers, who volunteered for the
job. Most had sustained injuries from the last war that forced them into early
retirement. Some of these soldiers were also in attendance today to witness the
fruits of their labor.

On a
platform in the innermost room of the unit was a room made of bulletproof and
soundproof glass and dubbed ‘The Sanctuary’. In it stood General Pike, Colonels
Talper and Cline, four of the robotics and computer engineers, and two humanoid
weapons. Surrounding the platform were several members of the weaponry unit
interspersed with heavily armed soldiers in biomer body specific armor…for safe
measure. Mace entered the sanctuary and pushed his way to the front of the
group. There was not much conversation in the room. Everyone was focused on the
center platform with excitement and nervousness waiting for General Pike to get
things going.

Finally, General
Pike spoke,

“As all of
you in this room know, the Tyrinian people have started an uprising. Small
conflicts with their rebel groups are taking place almost weekly now on our
borders. Sure, we have the upper hand and no one inside our territory feels an
overwhelming threat, but they are gathering strength and organization. They
scout our borders on cloudy nights looking for weaknesses, but soon, their
desire for this war they keep waging against us will be gone. With these
biomachines, they will surrender, finally admit defeat, and work for us to
develop the few resources they possess. As our population grows, as many
scientists believe it will, we must harvest the little bit of habitable land
that exists on this planet. Or else our children’s children will be forced to
settle and survive in the frozen landscapes that span the rest of our world;
living among primitives who don’t even possess the brainpower to come in out of
the cold. When Tyrine rises up this time, it will be the last.”

The group
clapped with awe at the general’s speech and anxiously waited as the robotics
engineers each moved toward one of the biomer creations and opened a panel in
the back of it’s left leg. Then, the computer engineers inserted tiny oval
metallic chips into slots in the control boards. Everyone in the room took a
deep breath simultaneously and watched as the machines suddenly came to life.
Their movements were smooth and strange. Not machine-like, but not human
either. The biomer was a living organism and it had just successfully been
given a brain. There was a collective gasp from the group when they began to
move around the platform. Colonel Talper and Colonel Cline backed away
instinctively, trying to hide their sudden and obvious discomfort to be in such
close proximity to these beasts. The engineers were beaming and congratulating
each other with hugs and handshakes. Mace couldn’t turn his eyes away from the
beautiful and powerful creatures. General Pike was applauding the engineers
with a wide smile, and then turned to the group to address them once more.

“Now that
they are activated, they cannot be inactivated. From here, handlers will take
them to a secure training facility built especially in our sub-basement to test
their responses and programming. Once we are sure they can correctly identify
their enemies, we will begin the first phase of mass integration for all the
mobile weapons in the unit.”

Again the
group cheered and applauded the general’s words. Behind him, the humanoid
biomers turned to face each other. They had no eyes, only sensors throughout
their heads and bodies. They stopped moving for a moment, and then reached to
each other, with their high-powered gun arms. Everyone in the room flinched and
backed away from the platform. The machines touched, but did not fire. They
seemed to recognize one another, if that was even possible. Mace tapped his
foot and pursed his lips at this. General Pike noticed the group’s reaction and
looked behind him. Thinking quickly on his feet he turned back to the crowd, held
his arms out and said,

“Ahh,
camaraderie. Could we have hoped for more?”

Most of the
group relaxed at his words but the clicking sound of the readying guns held by
the armored soldiers in the room was not lost on all. Colonel Talper was now
off the platform completely, pretending to hold an important conversation with
one of the on-looking scientists. Colonel Cline was stiff as a board, but
maintained a calm expression. General Pike motioned to the soldiers, who
immediately gathered around the newly aware biomachines and put them in chains.
The handlers, accompanied by the soldiers, led them out of the sanctuary
without difficulty and to the sub-basement lift that was the size of a large
room and required a special code to activate.

The amazed
group began to disperse and Mace jumped up on the platform and grabbed one of
the computer engineers.

“What the
hell was that?” he asked.

“Sir…I don’t
know. The programming is correct. I don’t know.”

“So, that
definitely was not supposed to happen?” Mace asked.

“Sir, we
weren’t sure what was going to happen, but we could have never predicted
interaction between the machines.”

“Can you fix
it?”

“Not with
those two. They are programmed to resist inactivation at all costs. It would be
too dangerous to try, but we will re-check all of our work to prevent it from
happening with the next activations.”

“That would
be wise,” Mace said. “What’s your name?”

“Luke, and
I’m afraid that maybe, it has nothing to do with the programming.”

“What do you
mean?” Mace said.

“The biomer
is alive, sir, with or without the intelligence chip.”

Mace left
the unit without revisiting the little transport that was still busy
regenerating. He now had more than one thing to discuss with Sergeant Bearden
Leitner tonight. How fortunate that he was blackmailing the very botanist who
had discovered the catalyst. He probably understood the biomer better than
anyone.