Asterion (19 page)

They pull into an alley and screech to a halt. Shutting off all the lights, they climb into a car and race off.

Back at the base Asterion sees that they have escaped. Looking around for clues Trent races in and shouts, “Milar is gone.”

Asterion slowly rises up as he turns toward Trent. Trent’s knees go weak wondering what is next. Asterion silhouetted by the emergency light blows out a deep breath of aggravation at their escape. The mist fills the air. “I told you she is of no use. You should have had her eliminated, but you are weak. If you can’t grow a backbone, you will be of no use to us.”

Trent stuttered, “You, you need me for the creatures and stuff.”

Asterion smiles, “That is the only thing keeping you alive and continued breakthroughs equals continued usefulness and life. Understood?”

Trent with eyes wide open responds, “Understood.”

Asterion strides past Trent and finds Caldwell. “Get me a detail. I have to go after them.”

“No, The General has ordered that you stay here and stay out of sight. We will reacquire the escapees.”

Asterion angrily storms out of the office. He contacts Burnsom who tells him “We have our own security detail that will pick you up, so sit tight. They are not military. They answer directly to me and they will do what you want. The only restriction I place on you is this, you must keep it quiet. They will alert me if there is a risk. Do you understand?”

Asterion snarls, “Yes, I understand fully.” He is growing impatient with taking orders from humans. He lies on his bed and waits.

In the car, the three of them nervously drive away from the lights of the city. Christine realizes, “We have no way of letting them know we are okay. We have to go back to Barry’s place. It is the only way to establish communication again.”

Taylor looks at Milar. “She’s right.”

Milar glances out of the corner of her eye. “It has to be a short stop.”

“Okay,” as he looks over at Christine nodding her head in agreement.

They pull up the driveway and see the charred remains of Barry’s house in the headlights. Shocked, they sit there wondering what their next move is going to be. A light flashes a signal from the trees. Milar looks at Taylor and Christine, “They are saying, name.”

Taylor tells her, “Say my name.”

Milar flashes the lights and they wait. A figure appears from behind, approaches the passenger side of the vehicle, and shines a light at the occupants. Then he shines the light to show them his face. It’s Barry. They jump out and greet him.

Christine laments, “We’re sorry this has cost you your home.”

Barry reassures her, “At least it did not cost us our lives. We can always start over. However, we are willing to give it all for this cause if we must.”

Taylor asks, “Where is your family?”

“They are at my sister’s house. We’ll go there for the night.”

Chance comes out of the woods with the signal light, they all get into the vehicle, and Barry guides them to the home of his sister. Getting out of the car, Barry smiles, “I bet y’all are hungry.”

Christine replies, “Starved.”

Taylor and Milar are nodding in agreement. Entering they are greeted by Mary and Barry’s sister, Beth. Milar is impressed with the warm hugs and hospitality. The days of carefree existence are a faded memory of long ago.

Mary inquires, “Milar, you don’t seem to be from around here.”

Milar responds, “No ma’am, I’m from Israel.”

Barry says, “We have a Jewish family in town.”

Mary asks, “Maybe you know them dear.”

Milar smiles, “I don’t think so.”

Mary responds, “Too bad.”

Milar looks at Taylor and Christine, “You people really don’t have a world view of things do you.”

Taylor and Christine laugh. Christine responds, “It’s a big country. Most people don’t ever have to deal with someone from a different country.”

Milar smiles, “Well, they are really nice. No one seems to be a stranger to them. Reminds me of growing up, when the old folks were still alive.”

Taylor ruminates, “You see, deep down it’s about what’s really important. Family, friends and sharing each other’s company. That’s what makes us alike.”

Milar replies, “Nice platitudes, but the world is not cooperating is it.”

Christine interjects, “No, but that’s what we are working for now.”

Milar responds, “Well, if there are a lot more like them, there is a chance.”

Taylor comments, “With God, it’s not chance.”

Milar shrugs, “I really don’t know about that. There is so much evil in the world.”

Beth comes out of the kitchen. “Oh dear, I prepared pork for supper. I’ll fix you something that’s not forbidden.”

Milar reassures her. “Don’t worry, I don’t practice my faith. Pork is fine.”

Milar looking back at Taylor and Christine with a smile, “They really do care about making you feel at home don’t they.” They laugh and share a moment of peace in a tumultuous time.

The call to supper comes and they assemble around the table. The whole family and the three share a meal. Barry mentions, “I got in contact with Phillips. We can’t get any kind of communication device to you. Here are your instructions.” He hands them a paper with directions, maps and their next contact. “You will be assisted once you head west after getting to the Gulf. You will make contact at the designated spot and he will help you get to the border.”

Taylor asks, “Thanks, how can we ever repay you?”

“Succeed. That’s all I ask. Otherwise it’s all in vain.”

Christine responds, “We will, even if it costs us everything.”

After supper, the three say their goodbyes and with a prayer from the group, they leave into the night. All talked out they drive in silence for a while. Milar breaks the silence, “We in Israel see your situation from the outside. There are many, even some associated with the military that don’t have the resolve that you and the others have. You have a good chance of making them back down. They really don’t want a conflict. However, if the creatures are ready, they will do the fighting for them. That is their purpose. Whatever takes place must happen soon rather than later.”

Taylor replies, “Thanks, I did not have enough pressure on me yet.”

Christine rubs his shoulder and laughs, “You need to share that yoke.”

Taylor smiles, “Oh yea, Christine has that weight also.”

Christine, puzzled responds, “Really, are you or we going it alone?”

Taylor laughs and realizes, “Oh, it’s hard sometimes to remember the Lord is with you when you only look at situations with your eyes.”

Milar smiles at them and sighs; their faith reminds her of her youth, before she became cynical.

A plain, unmarked panel box truck arrives at the gate of Fort Pershing. The guard stops them and examines their papers. He says, “I’ll have to authenticate this, wait here.”

Impatiently, the occupants idle at the gate while the guard is on the phone. The guard returns, “General Foxx is coming to the gate personally. Pull over into the waiting area.”

Without a word, the truck pulls over into the holding lot. After about a half-hour, Foxx arrives, ushers the men into the guard shack, and closes the door after them. He looks them over, examines their ID’s and credentials and says, “Even though Burnsom sent you here, each of you must obey the rules of the base. There will be no tolerance for disobedience. You will follow my vehicle to the designated door and we will turn Asterion over to you. However, any actions taken by Asterion that are illegal will be on your heads.”

Agent Sam Griggs, the leader of the group nods in acknowledgment. “We are capable of keeping him in line until we reach the research center.”

“Good, we understand each other.”

Foxx gets in his staff car and orders his driver to go to the designated door. The panel truck follows close by and backs up to the door at the instructions of the guards posted at the exit. They open the door and Asterion exits, looks around for a second and enters the back of the truck. Griggs’ men close the door and return to the vehicle. Foxx waves them off and they exit the main gate of the base.

Griggs enters the back of the truck. “I’m Griggs. Burnsom sent me personally to assist you. These are my hand picked team members. We have been briefed on you mission and prepared to assist you in the reacquisition of the targets. We know how to get in and out of places quickly and with little detection. You must do the same when we are not in direct contact, capisce?”

Asterion, unfamiliar with the vernacular looks curiously at Griggs. Griggs responds, “You’re not familiar with slang and such. I thought you might not so I brought a list of popular slang and definitions. Oh, capisce means do you understand?”

“Yes, that has been made clear to me on several occasions. I’ll do what I need to do under cover of darkness and away from the public.”

Griggs smiles, “Good. We have spotters keeping an eye on your targets. They were briefly in the town where you captured them before for several hours, but they did not remain long. We think they are still heading in a southerly direction”

Asterion interrupts, “I say we get ahold of those who helped them and I’ll interrogate them.”

“That is a negative. Too many eyes to see what’s going on and they are well known in their community. We cannot act with any assurance of anonymity.”

Asterion reacts with anger, “How is this different from the military expedition with Foxx’s soldiers?”

Griggs calms Asterion down. “The difference is we are not bound by military code, but we are bound by the dictates of Burnsom. If you cause a riot or trigger the South Central Province into acting, then we won’t be able to protect you against a significant force. The timing is not right.”

This angers Asterion. He is growing more frustrated with Burnsom, but he must bide his time. He smiles at Griggs, “I’m just anxious to get this done and start training my legions.”

“That’s okay. We’ll get you in position soon enough. A motivated soldier is always anxious for action. Your bed folds down here and food is stored in these cabinets. I’ll leave you to rest and I’ll let you know when we get new intel.” Griggs leaves him alone and returns to the front of the vehicle.

Asterion envisions the day when his legion will help him overthrow Burnsom. “The perfect leader,” he mouths under his breath with a smirk. He takes advantage of the trip to rest.

The three arrive at the outskirts of a medium size city. With no safe house, they find a rural hunting trail where they can hide and rest for a while. Taylor looks around, “I’ll catch first watch.” He gets no complaints and he tries to see into the darkness and listen for danger. Milar and Christine each take a few hours on watch and before dawn.

Milar stretches and looks around, “We probably need to keep moving. They are probably trying to track us and we have no idea how close they might be to us.”

Christine nods, “Asterion has got to be burning with anger. I don’t think he will give up on trying to capture us again.”

Taylor wakes up “I’m hungry”

The girls laugh. Christine waves her hand around, “Unless you want to graze or hunt something down we’ll have to get down the road to find food.”

Milar adds, “Taylor, you drive, you’ve just rested.”

“Okay, fair enough. You girls rest up.”

They climb in the car and drive off the path and head south down the rural back road.

The panel truck drives through the night. Griggs reports to Asterion, “The vehicle they are driving was spotted on the highway, so they are still going south. We’ve alerted spotters all around the area to inform us immediately when they are spotted again.”

Asterion smiles, “Good, I can taste victory,” as he examines the weapons provided for him. Griggs goes back to the cab of the truck.

The three get to the Gulf by midday. Hungry, they stop at a small restaurant outside of town.

Taylor asks, “How do we get something to eat without telling them exactly where we are?”

Milar whips out a card. “Israeli Embassy card, so it has tracking immunity.”

Christine smiles, “Problem solved.”

They eat until they are uncomfortable. When you do without food for a day, you eat everything you can while you can. They stocked up for several days at the local store. They find a hiking trail where they can hide out in the forest and wait for nightfall.

Sitting on tree stumps in the afternoon heat, Christine raises her head. “We never found out your last name.”

Milar looks up with sweat dripping off her nose and replies, “It’s Strehlitzig, we lost a lot of family the last time a dictator decided to conquer the world.”

Taylor perks up. “Hitler?”

“Yes, we have roots in Leipzig.”

Christine wipes her brow. “I’m glad we don’t have that here.”

Milar has a shocked look on her face, “You don’t know do you.”

“Know what?”

“Burnsom has successfully hidden this from most of the populace. There are whole sectors under lockdown. Unrest is growing. He is building more prisons for political prisoners. In his desperation, he is not only turning your creation into his new fighting machines, but other weapons of great destructive power.”