Star Force: Insurrection (SF28) Page 7

  Agent raised a hand to his mouth and gently coughed. “Pardon. Without giving you too much information, let me say that we are dedicated to returning the Earth to the old ways.”

  “How old is old?”

  “Difficult to answer, that. Society doesn’t change in a moment, rather it loses itself a piece at a time. We are putting those pieces back together, despite the damage Star Force is continuing to do.”

  “That sounds like a complaint to me.”

  “We have many.”

  “I have time.”

  Agent glanced to the wall, and Nathan followed his eye line to the gator’s head.

  “Your trophy?”

  “You don’t approve, do you?” Agent asked, a bit of curiosity in his voice.

  “Was it a fair fight?”

  “That’s not the point, is it? We don’t hunt to fight, we hunt to kill, to claim an elusive prize. We hunt for sport, not combat. Is everything combat to Archons?”

  “That and cookies…well, mostly. What I see there,” he said, gesturing to the wall, “is an abomination. Archons kill, but never for fun or what you call sport…I don’t know if you’d refer to that as fun or not.”

  “No I wouldn’t.”

  “Something more noble?”

  “Good word choice. It separates us from the lesser species…those Star Force erroneously put on par with Humans.”

  Nathan leaned forward, setting his armored fists on the edge of the desk. “If you want to prove superiority, outperform.”

  “Chu, chu, chu,” Agent said, making the noise with no lip movement. “You miss the point again. We are superior by birth. We do not have to prove it.”

  “Isn’t that what you’re trying to do by hunting?”

  “I would call it a confirmation…the question is never in doubt.”

  “I call it cowardice.”

  “You would have me kill the animal with my bare hands? Would that constitute your fair fight?”

  “If you’re superior, do you really need a weapon?”

  “You carry several,” Agent pointed out.

  “Perhaps we don’t assume superiority as much as you think.”

  Agent nodded, politely conceding that point. “That we may have mistakenly assumed of you. Ignorance may be the true root of your problem.”

  “Feel free to enlighten me.”

  “As you wish. There is an order to life. Those below us in the order are ours to use, for necessity or sport. Personally I don’t like those who kill for fun, but it is their right and they can exercise it as they choose, so long as they do not exceed their position.”

  “And if they do?”

  “They shall suffer the consequences.”

  “And the killing of the students. Was that exceeding your position?”

  “If it had been out of fun or sport, yes. Humans are all on the same level, and we have an obligation to protect and serve one another…but at times sacrifices must be made to protect the masses. The death of the students was a regrettable necessity, forced upon us by circumstance and your incessant scrutiny that has forced our operations under a strict cloak of secrecy.”

  “Now, wait…so you’re blaming us for their deaths?”

  “Partially so, though the majority of the blame lays on the individual who shot them on sight, and those who oversee him…namely me. We are meant to be silent and unseen. My operations have failed in that regard, the penalty of which was your discovery.”

  “Silent and unseen to what point? If you’re going to take us on you’re going to have to come out in the open.”

  “We are no match militarily for Star Force, nor do we ever entertain the notion to be. In fact, we rather like what you’ve accomplished in that field.”

  “I know, you’ve tried to steal it from us several times.”

  “Can you blame us? Your mastery of technology is unmatched. Almost as if you’re getting outside help.”

  “We do share a bit with our alien allies…does that bother you? And by you, I mean The Word. Where do they rank in the universal order?”

  “A subject of continual discussion, I can assure you. In truth, we have too little evidence to work with. Only you have ever dealt with them. All anyone else has is stories.”

  “You question their existence?”

  “Some do…I do not. The universe is too large to be populated only on Earth.”

  “Smart boy.”

  “Is that a knock against my age? I hear Archons can live forever. Truth or fiction?”

  “Everyone can live forever. Most don’t know how, and most of them it wouldn’t matter because they’re just too lazy.”

  “Training? Come now, there must be more to it than that. Your Knights don’t train themselves to greater size?”

  “Their size is irrelevant to how long they live. The body and mind have many capabilities, some so simple they’d surprise you. Raise your healing ability above your attrition level and you can live forever. It’s not complicated.”

  “And what of the malformed children that Star Force has corrected? Did they train their way to health?”

  “As you said, we’re masters of technology.”

  “But it isn’t necessary for your longevity…interesting. How much the younger am I?”

  “About three centuries.”

  Agent shook his head in admiration. “I don’t suppose you’d let me see your face?”

  “Don’t believe me…or do you have active recording devices that you hope will be able to identify me?”

  “There are devices,” he admitted, “but I’m curious as to what might have been. Are you young, or merely postponing the inevitable?”

  “What are the weapons for, if not to challenge us? And why plasma?”

  “As you so aptly pointed out, right requires might. The Word will spread, not through grand wars but through small, deliberate actions. In such small incidents, plasma is superior to bullets, as I’m sure you know well.”

  Nathan reached up and disconnected the seals on the neck of his helmet and pulled it off for a moment, but only a moment, giving Agent a few seconds to confirm that Nathan wasn’t lying, then he put it back on.

  “Some would say you are unnatural…but I fear The Word may have made a mistake in this regard. Perhaps you have stumbled onto a truth of the universe that we have been oblivious to. I hope that whoever sees this will have the wisdom to investigate further.”

  Nathan frowned. “Active transmission?”

  Agent nodded. “As I said, the facility is yours, but The Word will watch and learn and adjust our other facilities,” he finished with a smile, then another small cough.

  Sensing something was amiss, Nathan stepped around the desk and pulled the man’s sunglasses off.

  “I have only a few minutes remaining,” he said, looking up at the Archon with bloodshot eyes. “Ask what you will.”

  “Poison?”

  “A small tablet I ingested once hope of escape evaporated. I contain the knowledge of this facility. Even if you successfully interrogate the others, the secrets of The Word die with me. That is one function of an Agent that I have never had the privilege of executing, but I do so gladly in the knowledge that Humanity will one day be rectified.”

  “Rectified to what?”

  “Our original purpose.”

  “All of Humanity, or just those on Earth?”

  “We have operatives everywhere. Where the children of Earth go, so goes Earth.”

  “And what does Humanity look like when you rectify it?”

  “Order…brotherhood,” he said, coughing again, this time with a little blood coming up onto his lips, “clarity of purpose.”

  “Who rules?”

  “Those with the vision of leadership.”

  “The Word or are you the enablers for another?”

  “A wise question…one which I do not know the answer to. Change will take time, and I do not know what form it will be. As an Agent I focus on the moment and the moment to come, for to
dwell in the future is to ignore the reality of the now.”

  “The Now? Is that your sister organization?”

  “Choose your questions wisely. You only have a few remaining.”

  “I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” Nathan said as Agent slumped a bit in his chair, but kept his head upright. “If you had your way, what would you have Star Force do?”

  “Recognize the error of your ways and free the planet from your protocols…use your might to enlighten and uplift Humanity.”

  “We’re already doing that.”

  “To deny the natural order of life is to suffocate it. Your enlightenment is naïve and counterproductive. You have done better than most throughout history, but you are still in the wrong. The Word will bring you into the light.”

  “You can’t infiltrate us.”

  “We already…have.”

  Nathan smiled beneath his helmet. “Liar.”

  “Am I? Believe what you will, but know this…we do not want to destroy you. You are too…important…to the…fut…”

  With that Agent slumped forward, mashing his head on the desk as he breathed his last few breaths.

  Nathan stared at him for several seconds, both to make sure he wasn’t faking and replaying the conversation in his mind, trying to gleam some additional meaning in it. He’d been recording it all through his helmet, but he wondered if there wasn’t something there that would affect the here and now…like a self-destruct for the base or airborne toxin to kill the rest of the personnel.

  “Report?” Nathan asked, getting back on the comm.

  “All quiet,” David said. “Trouble?”

  “Assad?”

  “Same here.”

  “The whitewashed Smith I was chatting with just died. Some sort of self-administered poison. I’m half expecting something to go boom right now.”

  “Did he say it would?” David asked.

  “I’m not sure. He said they weren’t going to contend our seizure of the facility. But I could see how that could be interpreted into ‘boom.’”

  “I’ll keep my eyes open,” David promised. “Did you get anything out of him on The Silence?”

  “You’re close…they call themselves ‘The Word.’”

  “Any more than that?”

  “A bit. I’ve got it recorded,” Nathan said, pulling the laptop over and trying to switch the screen…but it was froze in place. “He said they did a data purge, but they may have missed something. It’d take a while, but I think we need a tech team in here to sniff around.”

  “What do we do with the personnel?” Assad asked.

  “Depends on the situation at the college.”

  “One of us has to go back,” Nathan insisted.

  David sighed. “I know. We also have to check out the other tunnels. You two stay put and start containing the…”

  “No, wait,” Assad said, thinking deviously. “When the people wake up, what are they going to do?”

  “Agent said they didn’t want the facility now that it’d been compromised.”

  “His name is Agent?” Assad asked.

  “That’s what he said.”

  “Let the rats scatter and see where they go?” David floated.

  “That’s the idea,” Assad confirmed.

  There was a short pause on the comm.

  “I like it,” David eventually came back. “And if there is a self-destruct or other sabotage I’d prefer to get away before it happens. We’ll head out down the other passages, get to the surface, and call in surveillance teams, hopefully before they can scatter.”

  “Sink a few boats and it’ll delay them,” Nathan suggested.

  “You think the end lines have already been alerted?”

  “Maybe,” David said. “Regardless, we need to find where they are, and if the computers are wiped I doubt we’re going to find a map laying around…unless one of you have found a map laying around?”

  “5 minutes to look?” Nathan asked.

  “5 minutes,” David agreed. “Then get back to the dock.”

  Nathan reached down and closed the flap on the laptop and took it with him, hoping that Star Force’s techs might be able to make something out of it.

  8

  May 24, 2405

  Solar System

  Earth

  David walked out of a freezer, pushing open the door after the back had sealed like an airlock. He wore no armor, only the standard Star Force uniform that had a slightly raised collar where the silver stripe that extended down the arms and legs began on either shoulder of the pure white shirt and pants. Outside the freezer, in the back storage room of a donut shop in Craig, Colorado, several other Star Force uniforms were present…the reds of the logistics division, red/greens of analytics, and many gold/white uniforms of security.

  The Archon closed the door on the empty freezer, then another person cycled through and followed him out of the covert entrance to another subsurface exit station on The Word’s connective water tunnel line. She wore the light green uniform of a software tech, and had just finished up her confirmation of Agent’s assertion that the hidden base’s computer systems had been thoroughly purged.

  One of the security officers stepped over to David as he came out, shaking his head in a negative. “Dead end. We picked up the operative in an apartment, like he was just waiting for us. I think they gave us a decoy to follow while the others got away.”

  “They got away?” the Archon asked, raising an eyebrow. They’d been tailing dozens of The Word operatives that had fled the four base exits that Star Force had discovered.

  “We’re still following 13 others, but the rest vanished. We plotted the locations and are searching for more concealed bolt holes.”

  “Damn,” David whispered. “You think the others are decoys or we still have a shot with them?”

  “A few are running hard, so I think they’re genuine. The others I couldn’t say.”

  “Got some big pieces coming up. See that they’re quietly moved to the spaceport.”

  The security officer nodded, then David passed him by and entered the kitchen where three dedicated staff were busily creating the morning pastries in lieu of half their staff having mysteriously vanished.

  “David! When did you get back?” the owner asked, coming back into the kitchen from the small dining area.

  “Just passing through, I’m afraid,” he said, shaking the man’s large hand.

  “Can I get you something to go?”

  “As long as it has sprinkles.”

  The owner/chef pointed a finger at him. “Stay right there. I’ll be back in a second.”

  David obliged him and waited in the kitchen as more donuts were being made to add to the quickly thinning trays up for sale out front. Two days ago Star Force had made the owner a very lucrative offer, buying the business and allowing him to continue running it for as long as he wished. After the purchase David had clued him in to the fact that his shop had been used as a covert entry point for a criminal organization, of which he had been completely oblivious to.

  He’d agreed to keep the matter a secret, as all sorts of Star Force personnel were coming and going regularly now and David didn’t feel like trying to hide the fact from him. The other entrances they’d discovered were less accessible, so Star Force had purchased this one to use on a regular basis and without the former owner’s cooperation that would have been dicey to say the least. The Archon knew he could have replaced him and the others with an entirely new staff, but that would have created a disruption in the regular business cycle, and the less attention the shop attracted the easier it would be for Star Force to come and go as they’d need to over the coming months.

  After setting up hasty surveillance on the exits the three members of Green Team had found their way out of, all of which had been abandoned prior to their arrival, David had led a return team a day later made up of security personnel and techs, which proceeded to sweep the base for lingering personnel and booby traps, neither of
which was found. What they did find was a cleaner version of the base than they’d left it, with a few items having gone missing and the bodies covering the floors gone. That said, there was still a huge amount of equipment left behind that subsequent Star Force analysis teams were busy going through, trying to dig up whatever intel on The Word that they could.

  So far they’d been able to keep the Americans out of the loop. Many Star Force personnel working out of the Phoenix spaceport were American citizens, so seeing Star Force uniforms in public wasn’t as much of an oddity politically as it was fashionably, for they stood out in greater contrast to civilian clothes than even the American military uniforms.

  Then again, everything that Star Force made did…including their civilian clothing line. Functionality mixed with a dose of superiority, as one fashion reviewer had stated, was Star Force’s MO with regards to clothing, and moving around town David had spotted several familiar items on Craig’s inhabitants…mainly on those running, jogging, or walking their way through workouts, because Star Force only made clothing to fit the fit.

  Still, he’d turned many heads walking through town over to the donut shop from one of the apartments rented for the surveillance teams’ use. Not only because of his Star Force uniform, but because more often than not the public knew the different color codes and could identify him as an Archon. And as David well knew, they didn’t get out into public eye much.

  As for the donut shop, the Star Force personnel kept to the back areas, letting the regular customers conduct business without added distraction. Still, many questions were raised, which the owner covered for them by informing the public of the purchase of the shop because of the high quality of donut he made…which David wasn’t about to argue, given that he did make a mean donut.

  They’d also started a remodeling job on the building, covering for the trucks coming and going and giving the business a more ‘advanced’ look, befitting the new owners. Those trucks were bringing in more personnel that David hadn’t wanted to risk being seen walking the streets, as well as equipment for the analysis teams…most notably their own water craft. Like the college, the donut shop also had its own cargo lift, which would allow the larger pieces to move in and out while the freezer airlock was reserved for more quiet personnel movements.