Redemption (The Alliance Series Book 1) (22 page)

BOOK: Redemption (The Alliance Series Book 1)
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              "I set in place a plan to retrieve my operatives when you and Nathan showed up and their home was destroyed. You then followed them to their back up departure location and tried to get information out of them."

              I lifted my hand, stopping them. "You mean Chen and Lijuan were the operatives who were feeding you the medical Intel? They work for you?" I asked.

              "Yes, they were scared. They had taken that video from the green dragon, who is the head of the scientific operations. He obviously didn't take too kindly to that. That’s when they asked to be extracted."

              "Thankfully, you allowed them to leave. I had given them a charm to allow them to find us, and enter, once they made it close." He said.

              "Wait," Nathan said, remembering. "The necklace, two bears, a momma and her cub."

              "That's right. I gave that to them to help them find their way. It also emits a cloaking field. Helps them evade detection, handy for a quick getaway."

              "That brings us to you." Peotr said indicating me.

              "I have a lot of people that rely on me for their safety, families and others. I knew you were very close to the Col. and had no idea if you had been influenced. I knew you had no hostile intentions due to the fact that my girls didn't attack."

              "Girls?" I asked. "I thought you had no family?"

              "You met them, but may not have realized it, but to be fair they are not really blood relations. I created them and that makes me fond of them, but they are not real in the same sense as you or I." He answered.

              "The statues on either side of the gate." I said, acting on intuition.

              "Yes, very good." Peotr said approvingly.

              "I still didn't know if you were sent to gain information or for some other purpose, so I gave you what you wanted without letting you know more. I did what I did to protect those that cannot protect themselves. I have a responsibility to those who are under my protection."

              "After showing you the picture of the Col., I knew you were struggling. I also figured that if I told you the truth you would not have believed me. You had to see for yourself. You had to find the truth yourself, hear it from the Col. himself.” Peotr finished, allowing me time to think about what he said.

              I was pissed. He lied to me, yes, he may have told me what I wanted to hear, but he left out some very important information. Then I did something I don't do too often.

              I stopped and thought about things from his perspective.

              He said he was protecting others. If the people I have seen today were who he says they are, would I have done any different?

              I thought about what he said about the Col. and realized if he had told me the truth about him I would have denied it. At the very least, it would have driven me to find out for myself. Maybe made me lose focus or make a mistake. That could have killed me.

              I was still mad at Peotr, but I couldn't hate him. Hell, I would have done the same thing. I guess I couldn't blame him.

              I looked at Nathan. He nodded gravely. One simple movement of his head and he was able to convey to me that Peotr was okay. What he did was okay. He was protecting others and that was okay.

              How could I argue with that?

              I looked at Peotr, resolution filling my voice. I put aside all my anger, all my doubt. I knew what had to be done and that there was little time to do it in.

              "Where do we start?" I asked as a huge grin came over Peotr’s face and I was again crushed by a big bear hug.

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 19

 

 

 

 

 

"First things first. You need to see the whole operation, a rundown of what we do, how we do it, and who's involved."

              I began to feel like there was much more going on here than just a big ole Russian and his great big house.

              "Come, let me begin by showing you the Compound." He added.

              We started walking around the left side of the cabin, Peotr leading the way and talking as we went. He gave us a thorough briefing about his operations as we made our way to the Compound.

              "I am proud to say the Alliance has been a thorn in the side of Chaos for many years." Peotr said.

              "Hold on." I said as I reached out and drew Peotr to a stop, facing me.

              "Did you say Alliance?" I asked.

              "Yes. That's what they call us." Peotr answered, grinning.

              "Who calls you that?" I asked.

              "The men and women who live and work here." Peotr said.

              "So, let me get this straight. You call yourselves the alliance and work at rebelling against the all-powerful system? So, you’re the rebel alliance?" I asked, hiding a smile.

              "Yes, I have seen those movies to. Do not be silly. The name fits." Peotr said. "May I continue?"

              "Please do." Nathan said, giving me a look.

              "What?" I asked.

              "As I was saying, the Alliance has been active for years. We started off as an information group. We gathered Intel from agents, and when we felt that we could release it to the public without endangering the operatives, we would."

              "Of course most of the time the governments or groups, whose dirty secrets were being exposed, would counter our reports. Quickly trying to make what we released appear as a conspiracy or false."

              "With the internet it's hard to get through all the clutter. Sometimes we would be able to release things that got politicians indicted. Other times the information was swallowed by bigger stories."

              "We kept at it though. Small things at first, then slowly we expanded our operations."

              "Once we stumbled on to Project Frankenstein I decided it was time to do more. We began attempting to interrupt transports carrying the human lab rats. Sometimes we were successful, sometimes not."

              "I am proud to say we successfully rescued twenty soldiers who were destined for labotomization." Peotr said as he puffed his chest out.

              "What happened to them?" Nathan asked.

              "We brought them here, and then explained what was happening. We gave them a choice. Go back and take their chances or stay with us. Relocate here where their family could be brought and kept safe. Work with us trying to make things better."

              "How many stayed?" I asked.

              We had made it around the cabin and were walking towards a highly forested area in the opposite direction of the archery range.

              There was activity everywhere. It seemed to increase the closer to the Compound we got.

              "Out of the twenty we freed, fifteen stayed. Their families came here shortly thereafter. We have nineteen families that live here now. We already had five families that were staying here because their parents are already members of the Alliance. There are also many field operatives that provide the needed Intel we use."

              "Peotr, you have been holding out on us." I said, somewhat bemused.

              "I had to keep them safe, John, even from you." He answered somberly.

              I clapped him on the shoulder in a meaningful way. "Let's see this Compound." I said.

              We had reached the tree line and entered the forest. We walked along, moving every once in a while allowing people to pass by.

              "You realize the Col. is on his way to destroy all this?" I asked waving my hand.

              "I do, thanks to Nathan’s phone call. I was able to confirm that the Col. is gathering his forces for an assault. I have already moved the children to a secure location. The rest have decided to defend their homes. They will not let it be taken from them without a fight." Peotr said.

              We finally made it through the heavy woods and entered a large open space. I could see living areas, small houses gathered in a group at one end of the Compound. Further in, towards the center, there was a large building. Two smaller buildings were attached at either end. I couldn’t see what was behind the buildings.

              "As you can see this is the neighborhood." Peotr said pointing to the houses.             

              "It’s cute." I said. "All we need now are some white picket fences."

              "It's not perfect, but we try." Peotr said with pride.

              "The buildings you see over there are the cafeteria and meeting sites. We sometimes have family fun nights where we show movies or have old-fashioned dances. Beyond the community buildings is a small farm. We plant what will grow in this region and have to get the rest of what we need from town."

              "This area and the cabin are the two main areas of concern. I think the Col. will concentrate most of his resources in trying to take out these structures. We will be defending them when or if he does." Peotr said.

              "There’s no real perimeter around here, how are you going to set one up in such a short time?" I asked.

              "Everyone seems to be concentrating on the cabin." Nathan said.             

              "Yes well, if you come to the other side you can see the progress we have already made." Said Peotr.

              We walked around the neighborhood staying on the outskirts of the town. As we came around the last house, we could see a makeshift wall already almost completed on the opposite side of the Compound. It was built from trees that had just recently been cut down. They were stacked on their sides like a Lincoln log set. Every twenty feet or so there was an opening in the logs, big enough to let a man walk through.

              "You’re creating a barrier here, around the Compound?” Nathan asked.

              "We are limited in our manpower. We expect more action closer towards the cabin, this wall will help slow down any attempts at entry from this avenue, allowing us to adapt to their tactics.” Peotr explained.

              "Where's the equipment?" I asked. Having noticed that there was no machinery here, no bulldozers or cranes of any sort. How were they getting these logs into position without that?

              It was then that I heard the gryphon. The roar of a gryphon is quite similar to a dragon in that it can make a man lose control of his bladder, especially if he’s not ready for it. Once again, I managed to not make a mess.

              I saw the gryphon come gliding over the treetops. I had never seen a creature that captures the essence of majesty like a gryphon. They are ancient and magical beings. With the head and front feet of an eagle and the body and back legs of a lion, the gryphon is the epitome of power, speed and grace. Gryphons live for millennia and are known to be remote and not prone to involving themselves in the matters of men. They are beings surrounded in magic. They have long been symbols of power and intelligence for ruling kingdoms. They are very secretive. Not much is known about them. They are a mysterious race. Like unicorns, they are very protective of their privacy. Generally, they are understood to be friendly creatures. They are not known to raze villages and burn down cities like dragons. In fact, they are said to be the natural enemies of dragons.

              This one, with a pure white head and a golden beak, came soaring towards the wall. The gryphon had a large tree that had been cut near its base and had most of the limbs removed, clutched in its powerful claws. The gryphon, with a few powerful beats of its wings, slowed almost to a stop in midair and deposited the tree with precision and confidence. The gryphon then began to beat its wings again and quickly gained altitude, flying off to gather more trees for the wall.

              "You have a freaking gryphon working with you?!" I asked amazed.

              Peotr stood there smiling, "She has decided to help, yes."

              "She? What's her name?" I asked.

              "I'm sorry, John. Gryphon's names are special to them. They do not give them out lightly and resent it when someone else gives their names away. They entrust people with their names knowing they will keep that trust. I cannot tell you. You will have to find out for yourself." Peotr said with a small, amused smirk.

              "Truly magnificent." Nathan said, in awe.

BOOK: Redemption (The Alliance Series Book 1)
7.95Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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