Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (38 page)

“Yes. I know
that some of the older and larger shuttles have been allocated for your
project. We would only need one.”

“One? That’s
all? What about the weaponry?” Ganesh asked.

“The weapons
have to stay here, obviously. It’s way too dangerous to put them on a shuttle.
It would never get off the ground before they attacked. No, they are staying
and being cemented in. The whole weaponry unit will be one solid block in a few
weeks,” Cline replied.

“Then, I
will arrange for a systems check on our largest shuttle first thing in the
morning. You are welcome to it, Colonel Cline,” Ganesh said.

“Thank you.
The flight team is being assembled and as soon as the list is finalized, I will
give it to you.”

“Have the
scientists and medical team been reassigned already?” Ganesh asked. “I’m
surprised to find the place so empty.”

“They
haven’t, they are just gone for the day. But I have a feeling that General Pike
will have them training to fight with the ground forces within a week,” Talper
said.

“They aren’t
gonna
like that,” Ganesh replied.

“No, they
won’t, but there is still a war coming and we need more fighters if we expect
Tyrine to submit to our way of life without the biomachines,” Cline said.

“Well,
gentlemen, I’m heading home. You two have a good night,” Ganesh said.

“We’ll talk
soon,” Cline said. “Good night, Colonel.”

On his way
home, Ganesh made a quick call to Maeve.

“Yes?” she
answered.

“Are you in
town?” Ganesh asked.

“Got back
this afternoon.”

“Can you
meet me at my place in an hour?”

“Make it an
hour and a half. I’ve got something to finish up.”

“See you
soon.”

Ganesh
walked into his house to discover one more surprise, Sergeant Bearden Leitner
sitting at his kitchen table with his wife. A wave of relief washed over him
and he smiled warmly at Bearden.

“Well, I
think I’ll leave you two to talk,” Natty said. She went to Ganesh, kissed him
on the cheek and smiled. “See, you worried for nothing. He’s just fine.”

Then, she
went upstairs so they could have some privacy.

 
“I thought you would be at Tripple Laboratories,”
Ganesh said. “At least I hoped, for your own safety.”

“I’m a
little surprised at your concern, sir. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am so
relieved to be welcome here. I just thought that…” Bearden took a breath,
already having made up his mind to come clean, then continued, “Sir, I know you
used me. I read the ‘letter of recommendation’ you wrote for me to get into
Tripple Laboratories.”

“Hmph.
That’s unfortunate.” Ganesh said with his voice dropping. “And Major Magner?
When did you start working for him?”

“How did you
know that, sir?”

“You’re not
as good a spy as you think you are, Sergeant.”

“I was angry
with you, Colonel. I thought he could help me, but it turns out he has made my
life a living nightmare. Now he plans to kill me…that is, if he finds me.”

“Again,
unfortunate. And why aren’t you with Lee? His lab is probably the safest place
you could be right now, not here.”

Bearden
looked deeply ashamed when Ganesh suggested this.

“Tripple
Laboratories isn’t safe anymore,” he replied. “The major had an access card and
the place was broken into. He won’t be able to use it again, Lee will make sure
of that, but he wants what is in that lab and he won’t stop until he either has
it, or is dead.”

“So, he
knows of the virus code,” Ganesh said. “And the access card? That was you,
too?”

“Yes, sir,
and it’s all my fault. But, there’s more. I stole my work from the government
lab and gave it to Lee. Without it, he wouldn’t have found the genetic
alteration to make the virus, at least not as quickly as he did. I’ve started a
second war.” Bearden put his head in his hands.

“No,
Sergeant, the fault is mine. You did what you thought you had to do and you
wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for me. And this second war, the
one inside the government, it started way before you, son.”

“I should
have never read that letter, sir.”

“No, you
shouldn’t have, but if you hadn’t that code might not exist. And it is so very
important that it does.”

“I didn’t
think of it like that. I’m sorry I ever doubted your intentions, Colonel.”

“No need to
apologize. But now we have to decide what to do with you. Obviously you can’t
go home, and you can’t stay here, it’s one of the first places Mace will look.
I know someone who might be able to help, but you have to decide right here and
now which side you
are on. If you have any loyalty
left for the government that tossed you out and ordered you dead, then I can’t
help you.”

“Colonel,
I’ve seen first hand what the biomachines are programmed to do. As long as they
exist, they are a threat and I am on the side to stop them.”

“It’s about
more than the biomachines, Bearden. It’s about not allowing our Daxian
government to take over Tyrine and force labor on its people,” Ganesh said.

Bearden
looked thoughtful as the larger scope of the situation became clear to him.

“I have
nothing left here. I’d be a fool not to join your fight,” Bearden said. “I’ll
do whatever you want me to do.”

“Good. Then,
welcome to the resistance. There is someone I’d like you to meet.”

About an
hour later, after Ganesh had filled Bearden in on some of the details of his
mission with Maeve Daire, she appeared in the doorway. She was wearing a fitted
yellow shirt, tight black pants, and a black beret. Her hands and arms were
dirty, like she had been digging in the ground. Both men stood when they saw
her.

“Your house
has been bugged,” she started and walked to the sink to wash. “But don’t worry,
I found where the transmitter was buried, and I placed signal scramblers around
the perimeter weeks ago. I just thought you would like to know.”

“Maeve, this
is Bearden Leitner,” Ganesh said, not at all shocked by her revelation.

“Yes, I know
who he is. The one working for both you and Mace Magner,” she said, then looked
at Bearden. “It seems you have gotten yourself into quite the predicament. Your
apartment has been trashed and it won’t be long before they come here looking
for you.”

Bearden sat
back down and stared out the window in disbelief. Maeve was using one of
Natty’s kitchen towels to dry her hands and arms.

“Can you
help him? He needs to be in a safe place. He’s on our side,” Ganesh pleaded.

“I don’t
know that I believe that. I think he’s just scared,” she replied and
scrutinized Bearden with her eyes.

“Have you
been watching me?” Bearden asked.

“I’ve been
watching Mace Magner, and I keep an eye out for Ganesh. You meet with them both
on a regular basis, so naturally you’ve been a person of interest. Ganesh also
told me what you do for him in Tripple Laboratories. But look, there is not
much time. Right now we just have to figure out what to do with you.”

“You mean
decide if you will help me or not,” Bearden concluded. “I can be of help to
you. I’m a scientist, but I’m also a soldier.”

“There is a
meeting place, sort of a safe house for the resistance,” Ganesh offered.

“No.” Maeve
cut him off. “He can’t go there.”

“You can
trust me,” Bearden said.

“Yes, when
you’ve earned it. Not today,” she replied. “I’m sorry Ganesh, I know you have
some faith in him, but so far, he’s betrayed everyone but himself.”

“She’s
right, Colonel. I’ve made a huge mess of things. It was stupid of me to come
here.” Bearden started to leave.

“Now just
wait a minute, both of you,” Ganesh said. “Bearden, sit back down! Maeve, give
him a chance. Let him earn your trust. His situation is partly my fault, he’s
made a few mistakes but out of confusion, not because his intentions are bad.”

Maeve folded
her arms and sighed.

“Fine, but
only for you, Ganesh. I’ll take him with me to a training camp in Tyrine. He
can earn his trust among the people he’ll be fighting with.”

“And I’m
sure they would welcome a scientist of his caliber, and one who has worked in
the weaponry unit as well,” Ganesh added. “Not that the biomachines will be a
threat much longer.”

“What?”
Maeve asked. “How? The virus code?”

“She knows
about the virus code?” Bearden asked Ganesh.

“Yes, of
course she knows. And no, Maeve, the entire biomer unit has been shut down. The
weapons will be cemented in.”

“Until
someone decides to dig them up, or the ground quakes. They need to be
disabled,” she said.

“You’re
right about that. We don’t have much time, but if we can get the virus code
from Lee, the biomachines can be infected before they are cemented in,” Ganesh
said.

“I wish that
were possible, but even if I could get back into Tripple Laboratories, there
isn’t nearly enough to disable the machines, not by half,” Bearden replied.

“I can get
in,” Maeve offered. “I’ll talk to Lee, tell him what we need.”

“There still
won’t be enough time. Making the virus code is a slow process, the chemical reactions
involved can’t just be sped up,” Bearden said.

“You’ve seen
it done? You know how to make the virus code?” Maeve asked.

“Yes, well,
mostly. I’ve never actually done it, but I have seen Lee make it. If I had his
notes to follow and, of course, enough biomer to work with, then maybe I could
do it.”

“I have his
notes. Ganesh, can you procure some more biomer?” Maeve asked.

“That will
be difficult, especially now,” Ganesh said. “Is this really necessary?”

“I know it
seems like a wasted effort, but I’ve seen those biomachines in action. If they
are ever freed from their cement prison, someone needs to be able to stop them.
Especially if we can’t disable them now,” she said.

Just then,
something clicked in Bearden’s head and he turned to Maeve.

“You’ve been
inside Tripple Laboratories already. It was you…who took the vial of the virus
code,” he accused.

“Very
perceptive,” she replied. “Ganesh, I’m sorry I didn’t give you the vial, but
the good news is, it works. Mace Magner and General Pike attacked Maile a few
days ago. I was there, and watched two biomachines destroyed when shot with the
virus code.”

“Does anyone
else know about this?” Ganesh asked.

“Yes, I sent
the footage of the attack to Director Fitzhugh, which is probably why the
biomer unit is being shut down.”

“Maeve, I
don’t know what to say.”

“How about,
‘good work’? Or don’t say anything now because our time is up, do you hear
that?” Maeve asked.

Ganesh and
Bearden got very still and listened. There were footsteps approaching.

“Ganesh, get
Natty to stall them. Bearden, come with me, quick!” Maeve said.

Bearden
looked at Ganesh with a panic stricken face.

“Go!” Ganesh
said.
 
“And good luck, Sergeant.”

“Thank you
for everything, sir,” Bearden said and raced after Maeve through the garden and
down a side road. She had a small black transport waiting there. He climbed in
and they immediately took off at high speed. Bearden looked back with regret,
wondering if he would ever see Ganesh, Lee, or Dana again.

Camden met
Rita and Terry a little after 10:00 to take Rhys on a walk through the
building. Aldretti, of course, had to tag along. Rhys seemed happy about the
outing and talked incessantly all the way to the entrance of the old
interrogation wing, where he would be allowed a little more freedom. Camden
walked beside him with a recording device, in case he said anything useful and
questioned him about the space-bending prototype. Unfortunately, so far, his
words had only been nonsensical babble. The general mood of the group was
light. It seemed that everyone had needed this little change of scenery. Terry
was quiet, as usual, but he was whistling to himself and twirling the sedative
he carried between his fingers, like a baton. Rita had engaged Aldretti in a
friendly conversation and for the first time since Camden had known him,
Aldretti let down his guard a little and laughed with her. Camden had a good
feeling about tonight. He believed so strongly that Rhys could guide him on how
to build the next layer of the
machine, that
he’d
brought several versions of the plans that he and his new colleagues had drawn
up. He held them up, one at a time, for Rhys to look over and tell him which,
if any, was the one with which to proceed. Terry began to wonder whether or not
Camden was just as crazy as Rhys.

When they
opened the doors to the old wing, Rhys froze and his expression changed to
fear.

“Come on
Rhys, it’s okay. We’re just continuing this nice outing,” Rita said to him when
he didn’t follow her.

Aldretti
found the lights for the corridor and when the place lit up Rhys’s expression
changed again from fear to curiosity. He started down the hall turning in
circles and pointing at Camden and Rita.

“I’ve had
this dream before,” he said.

“This is a
new place Rhys. It’s all new,” Terry said and led him by the arm.

They walked
a little way through the wing, quieter than before, but all wondering the same
thing; whether or not Rhys would throw a fit and ruin their evening out. After
a few minutes, Camden returned to showing him prototype plans as they walked
along. All of a sudden, Rhys grabbed one out of Camden’s hands, looked hard at
it, then crumpled it up and started shouting.

“No…No…I’ve
had this dream before...then, the monsters come!” He took off running with
Rita, Terry, and Aldretti immediately running after. Camden bent down and
picked up the crumpled drawing, shoved it in his pocket, and then ran after the
group. Rhys was still shouting about monsters when the group caught up with
him. He’d turned a corner and stopped cold. Rita gasped and grabbed Aldretti’s
arm. Before Camden turned the corner, he heard a booming voice that did not
belong to the group.

When Camden
caught up, he found himself, and the group, standing almost face to face with a
biomachine and General Pike charging toward them. Behind the biomachine, Luke
stood startled, with the controls in his hands.

“What the
hell are you doing in here?” Pike yelled.

“General
Pike,” Camden said, “One might ask the same of you.”

“What is
that thing?” Terry asked.

“Professor
Riles, why are you out of your room? No one is supposed to be in this wing. You
are all trespassing.”

“We were
told this wing was empty, so clearly whatever it is that you are doing here is
off the books, General,” Camden said. “Is that one of them? A biomachine?”

Camden was
the only one of the group that even knew that the biomachines existed. General
Pike crossed his arms and sharpened his gaze at Camden, thinking about how to
best handle the situation. Luke wanted to shout to this group of people that he
was a prisoner and needed help, but he stayed still and quiet, focused on the
controls. The others moved closer together so they were almost huddled around
Rhys, who whispered,

“The
monsters are here.”

“Well, it
seems we’ve found ourselves in an unforeseen situation. But, I’m sure we’ll get
it worked out, one way or another,” Pike said, glancing anxiously at Rhys in a
way that made Rita extremely nervous.

“Not that
it’s any of your business,” Pike continued. “But we are…”

Rhys
suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs and started jumping up and down,
causing everyone to turn their attention to him.

“You and
me…at the end!”

Luke,
startled by the screaming madman, dropped the controls, accidently setting the
biomachine to kill.
 
Rhys turned
and started running, which was a mistake. The biomachine was programmed to
identify enemies fleeing, and took its first aim at Rhys, landing the shot in
the middle of his body. Rhys’s arms, still bound together, flailed above his
head as he hit the floor face first.

“Rhys!” Rita
yelled and ran to him, further provoking the biomachine to attack. As she
dropped beside him and turned him over, she was shot in the back of the head
and instantly killed. Aldretti started to run to her, but Terry seeing the
pattern, grabbed him, pulled him to the ground, and held him still.

Pike turned
to Luke as quickly as the first shot was fired. He told him to pick up the
controls, but instead, seeing his one chance for freedom, Luke turned and ran
the other way. Pike ran to grab the controls, but the biomachine was faster,
and shot the general straight through the chest. That shot gave Camden the
second he needed to duck around the machine, slide into the floor and grab the
controls. He started pressing buttons, hoping he could find the right one to
settle the beast, which was turning to face Camden. The biomachine took aim
just as Camden’s fingers stumbled upon the right combination. The biomachine
put its arm back down and stood again, statue like.

General Pike
was dead, Rita was dead, and Rhys looked dead. His eyes were closed, but he was
moaning softly while his blood spilled out of his body. He opened his eyes one
last time and saw Pike bleeding on the floor and Camden standing behind the
monster with the control pad in his hands. He lifted his finger to point at
him.

“You’re the
killer,” he whispered and then his body went limp.

Camden
looked at his hands holding the power to control the incredible killing machine
before him and felt sadness pierce him for the loss of Rhys and Rita. He looked
at General Pike and frowned, thinking of Enira. Would she be devastated or
relieved?

“Terry?
Aldretti? You two okay?” Camden called out.

“We’re okay.
Is…is that thing going to start shooting again if we get up?” Terry asked.

“I don’t
think so, but let’s move slowly and in a minute. Let me see if I can figure out
this control pad,” Camden said.

“Rita? Is
she dead?” Terry asked with his voice wavering.

“I’m afraid
so, Terry,” Camden answered.

He studied
the control pad listening to the sounds of sobbing, but not from Terry. It was
Aldretti and he was staring at Rita’s body.

“Okay, I
think it’s safe for us to move,” Camden said.

Aldretti
walked over to Rita and knelt beside her. He lifted her hand and held it in his
for a moment, then got back up and turned his back on the whole bloody scene.
Terry, who had kept his wits about him throughout, stood beside Camden and
squeezed his shoulder in a brotherly way.

“We need to
talk about how we are going to handle this.” Camden said. “Let’s go back to my
room. I need a scotch.”

“Are we just
going to leave them here?” Aldretti asked.

“I think we
have to, Aldretti. It’s a crime scene. You know that,” Camden said.

“I’m sorry,
Aldretti, I didn’t know you felt so much for her,” Terry said.

“I just
liked her, that’s all,” he replied, still turned away from the bodies.

“Come on,
let’s get out of here,” Camden said.

The three
men left the old interrogation wing, tightly closing and locking the door
behind them. There must have been another way in, from which General Pike had
come, but they decided not to look for it. The young man controlling the
biomachine would have likely left that way. Camden convinced himself that,
whoever he was, would have also locked the door behind him.

In fact,
Luke did not lock the door when he fled. He kept running until he found an
entrance to the stairwell, raced to the main floor and straight out of the
front door. He didn’t stop running until he came to a busy part of the city,
where he could duck inside a restaurant and call for a taxi. Twenty minutes
later, he would be safe at Charisa’s house.

Luke was a
bit in shock from what he had recently witnessed. He sat down at a table and
asked for some water while he waited. He wondered where Major Magner had been
tonight. It had surprised him when General Pike came to his door earlier to
start the transfers, instead of Major Magner. When Luke asked him why they were
starting without the major, General Pike just said he was on a personal errand
and would join them later. Hoping for his moment to escape, Luke hadn’t
expressed his concerns about being short handed. Now it had paid off and he was
free.

Camden,
Terry, and Aldretti sat around the small table in Camden’s room, quiet and
unnerved. The horror of the evening was settling in and none of them wanted to
talk about it. Camden poured glasses of scotch for the three of them, to ease
the sadness.

“Here’s to
Rhys and Rita,” Camden said, holding up his glass, “May they be at peace.”

The three
men clanked their glasses together and sipped their scotch.

“Who should
we call about this?” Terry asked. “Someone has to know.”

“I think we
should tell Ganesh,” Camden said. “Terry, can I use your phone?”

Ganesh was
at home finishing his drawn out conversation with two members of the military
police who’d been questioning him on the whereabouts of Sergeant Bearden
Leitner, when his phone rang. Because of Mace Magner’s anger, Bearden had been
publicly labeled a spy for an anti-government group, which was the truth, but
Mace didn’t know that.
 
Mace was
there too, of course, at Ganesh’s house, but was sitting in the government
transport outside watching the interview in case Bearden was found hiding out
with his favorite colonel. Mace wanted Bearden dead so he’d keep his mouth shut
about the side work he’d done for him. And it was easy for accidents to happen
during an arrest. Unfortunately for Mace, Ganesh handled the police with
confidence and integrity. After searching, it was clear that Bearden was
definitely not here, so Mace sat back in his seat, hidden by the dark windows
and ready to leave when he saw Ganesh pick up his phone.

“What?”
Ganesh asked shortly after he answered. “When, tonight?
Less
than an hour ago?
Stay where you are, I’ll be right there.”

After he
hung up, he called after the two military policemen, who were walking back
toward their transport.

“Wait, I’m
coming with you back to the TRU Building. You are going to be needed tonight,
after all.”

Mace didn’t
want to alert Ganesh to his presence, but now he had no choice. Ganesh jumped
into the transport and picked up his phone to call Colonel Cline when he saw
Mace sitting beside him. He put his phone back in his pocket.

“I thought
you might be behind this, Major.”

“I’m just
trying to keep our government safe from traitors, like Leitner.”

“Hmph. Well,
tonight we all have something much larger to deal with than a rogue sergeant.”

“What do you
mean?”

“General
Pike is dead.”

Mace stared
at him with hate in his eyes. He wanted to ask how, but he already knew. He
wondered if Luke was dead, too. If not, he would talk. Their small, secret army
would be found, and maybe already had been. Mace fidgeted, wondering what would
await him when he got to the unit.

“Don’t you
even want to know what happened, Major?” Ganesh asked. “You two were close.”

“Yes.
Obviously, I do. Tell me what happened, Colonel.”

“It was one
of the weapons, and his wasn’t the only death. Rhys Krell and his nurse Rita
were also killed.”

“Rhys Krell?
What were they doing in the…I mean, how?”

Ganesh
raised one eyebrow at Mace.

“I don’t
know the details, Mace. All I know is that Rhys and his nurses were taking a
walk through an old wing of the building and met a biomachine in the hall with
General Pike, and a handler who lost control of the thing.”

“Where is
the handler now?”

“I don’t
know, I didn’t ask. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. No one has even
been to the scene yet.”

“Then who
called you? The other nurse or the handler?”

“Neither. It
was Camden Riles. He was there too, along with Aldretti. I’m going to call
Colonel Cline now, so he can meet us at Camden’s room. We’ll get the whole
story and then go and examine the bodies.”

“This could
be bad for all of us,” Mace said, mostly to himself.

Luke arrived
at Charisa’s house to find her and Andreas on the porch swing engaged in a deep
kiss that was, in his opinion, better suited for the bedroom.

“Charisa!”

“Luke!
You’re here. I knew you could do it.” Charisa pulled herself away from Andreas
and ran to Luke. They hugged each other for almost a minute before Luke
suggested that they might be safer inside the house.

Luke
recounted the horrific night for Charisa and Andreas, pausing when they gasped
or asked him questions.

“We aren’t
safe, then. We have to leave…I guess tonight,” Charisa said when Luke had
finished. Andreas had a strange look on his face.

“What is
it?” she asked.

“Luke,
you’ve killed a general. And now you two want to skip town. This is all getting
a little too real for me,” Andreas said.