The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (25 page)

Jack remembered the PDP he got from the dead man on the
hill. “Is this of any value to us here?” He pulled it out of his pocket and
handed it to Chuck. “I got it from the guy on the hill.”

Chuck looked it over, a faint hint of a smile on his
otherwise pained face. “Nice. This will be linked to whoever is left out there.
Help me get over by the door so we can get a signal.” Jack carefully helped him
slide over to the door, careful not to drag him through the remains of the two
men. Chuck tapped the little screen a couple times and a map came up of the
area. There was an icon that looked like a side profile of a four man flyer. It
was about seven miles south of their location, right where their own flyer was
parked. There were no other icons on the screen.

Jack looked at Chuck and said, “Let’s see if we can get them
to come up here. Call them and tell them that you have two prisoners. I am
going back up to move the body out of sight. I’ll be right back.”

“Wait. Check those bodies and see if you can get a name.” He
tapped some more on the PDP and said, “This guy’s name was Larry. It will be
easier to fool whoever is out there if I have some names.” Jack carefully went
through the dead men’s pockets, but nothing was in them. Their PDP’s had both
been destroyed by the turret gun. He shook his head at Chuck.

“Okay, go get the body, I will call it in.” Jack went to the
door and checked all around, then sprinted out and to the right. He made his
way to the hill again, and, making sure there was still no sign of movement
around him, began to drag the body down the hill. He dragged it down to the
bottom, and covered it with some of the low brush that was all around. He put a
couple rocks on the brush to keep it from blowing off the body in the light
wind. Satisfied it would be well camouflaged from the air, he went back to the
entrance.

“Body is covered. Did you call in?”

Chuck nodded. I told him we had secured two prisoners but
there was a fire fight and we killed one of them. I also told him I was injured
and we needed to get back home to get me stitched up. I think he bought it. He
told me he would be here in a minute or two.”

Jack looked around, quickly forming a plan in his mind. He
dragged Emmet and the two other men’s remains into the elevator. He striped one
of the men of his chest armor, which was orange and black, as opposed to just
the plain black of their own. He looked at Chuck and said, “How about you wear
this and as soon as I hear the flyer land I will go out and hide around the
corner.” He finished telling Chuck his plan and helped him get the armor strapped
on. He sent the elevator with the corpses and the armor down to level one, and
finally kicked some dirt over the pool of blood on the floor where the bodies
were. From the door, most of the evidence left by the turrets was hidden. For
good measure, he turned off the lights in the room.

By the time he had finished his preparations, the drone of
the approaching flyer could be heard. He waited until the sound stopped,
signifying the flyer landing, and quickly ran out the door and went around the
hill to the left. He had placed his PDP behind a rock facing the entrance, with
the camera on and linked it to his helmet. In the top left corner of the
display was a perfect shot of the entrance, and he waited until he saw the
pilot at the door to make his move.

The pilot had walked to the door with his rifle at the
ready, but when he saw Chuck sitting against the wall in his orange and black
armor, he dropped the rifle to his side. Jack made his move, crept in behind
him, and placed his rifle barrel to the back of the pilot’s neck. “Drop the
weapon, NOW!”

Chuck raised his rifle to further convince the man to do the
right thing. The man dropped the weapon and said, “Okay, okay! Don’t shoot me. Please!”
He put his hands up, and Jack took his sidearm.

“How did you find us?” Chuck demanded, still pointing his
rifle at the man. Jack had started taking the man’s armor off, searching his
pockets as he went. He took the PDA from the man’s wrist and tossed it to the
side.

“We were patrolling near here and got a call from base. They
told us to come see what you were up to. Look, you guys don’t need to kill me. There
will be another patrol here soon if they don’t hear from me. Why don’t you let
me go and you guys can get the hell out of here before you get captured or killed?”
The man was trying to reason his way out of this mess, but Jack already had
other plans.

He finished stripping the man of his gear and sat him down
against the wall opposite of Chuck. “What did you do to disable the laser radio
on our flyer?” He punctuated his question by pointing his rifle about an inch
from the man’s left eye. It probably wasn’t necessary – the man didn’t hesitate
to answer.

“I just unplugged it. There was no reason to destroy
anything. We were going to get a hell of a bonus for salvaging a flyer like
that in perfect condition.” He said it like he was more disappointed in losing
out on the reward than in being captured by the enemy or by knowing his
companions were dead.

Jack turned back to Chuck, who took a painful breath and
said, “We can’t let this guy go. We have to secure the facility and cover our
tracks. Chances are he didn’t radio in to base about this exact location. More
likely, they figured they could capture us and then loot anything they could
haul out of here then keep it to themselves if they found anything of value.” Jack
had been watching the man’s expression, and it was clear that things were
exactly as Chuck had said. The Calis would likely only know about the landing
site.

“So what do you want to do, kill him?” Jack was concerned
that this was exactly what Chuck was thinking. The pilot visibly paled at this
suggestion.

“No, I think we should bring him home. Let Marcus decide his
fate.” The pilot looked relieved, which reflected Jack’s feelings as well. “As
soon as the flyer had lost connection with New Hope, they would have mounted a
rescue effort. I estimate it will arrive in about ninety minutes. I think we
ought to just clean up here and wait. I can cover this guy if you want to get
started.”

Jack considered the plan and added, “I think we should
re-establish connection with base first, tell them what’s going on. Is there a
way to do it from the Cali flyer?”

Chuck nodded “Yeah, they probably have a laser radio on
board, and it would be easy to direct it at our satellite.” He looked at the
pilot for confirmation and the pilot nodded. He explained to Jack how to
connect his PDP to the flyer’s comm system and get it disconnected with the
Cali satellite and connected to their satellite. “I got this guy covered. Go
call it in. Use a call sign of ‘Eagle’ when you tell them who you are. That
will tell them that they don’t need to come in with guns blazing.”

Jack went outside and made it to the flyer. He climbed in
and followed the directions that Chuck had given him. “New Hope, this is Eagle,
is anyone there?” He waited for a response.

“Mad Dawg, is that you?” The voice was deep.

“Tiny, it’s good to hear your voice. Look, we ran into some
trouble. A patrol came by and tried to capture us. We lost Emmet, and Chuck is
hurt.”

“Shit! I am en route to your location now, ETA about sixty
minutes.”

“Listen, I need you to land at the flyer and we will meet
you there. We are going to clean up here and make our way back. The Calis know
where we landed and they sent the patrol to find us. We don’t think they know
about the Freezer though, and we need to hide it from them. Chuck and I will be
wearing orange and black armor in case they are watching with the satellite. I
just disconnected their flyer’s radio and they will probably be sending another
patrol to find out what happened. We need to clear out ASAP when we get there. We
will have two flyers, and no pilots.” Jack figured that this flyer he was in
was valuable, and there was no reason to leave it for the Calis to take back.

“No problem, Jack, we have two pilots in our party, one of
them is looking mighty fine that you are okay.” Jack smiled. It didn’t surprise
him that Wendy would have gone in the rescue group.

“Okay, we will see you in an hour. Eagle out.” He got out
and made his way back to the entrance.

“Thank God you are okay!” Teague said, greeting Jack at the
underground air field. “When we lost communication with the flyer we were very
nervous.”

Jack winced as he climbed out. His body armor had kept him
alive, but it didn’t do much to soften the blows. About the time he had been
driving back to the flyer his adrenaline had worn off and the pain revealed
just how hard those bullets hit. He would be sore for at least a few days.

“Good to see you too, Teague.”

Wendy climbed out of the second flyer as it landed, came
over to Jack, and helped him over to the rail car. She didn’t say anything, but
the look on her face told him she wasn’t planning to leave his side. Men he had
not yet met carried Chuck out of the transport on a stretcher and loaded him in
the rail car. Tiny followed, escorting the Cali pilot whose hands were bound,
not that he would try anything foolish with Tiny as his warden

When everyone was on board, the car made its way back into
the complex. Along the way, Teague examined Chuck with some instruments, and
said, “Nice work on patching him up Jack. I don’t think he would have made it
without the first aid you administered.”

Jack only said, “I just did what had to be done. Besides, I
never would have made it out of there without his help.” Chuck was sleeping,
having been given more pain killers on the transport.

When they arrived at the end of the rail line, Tiny took his
prisoner to a lockup on the sixth floor. Teague arranged for Chuck to be
brought down to the medical ward and told Jack to follow so he could give him a
quick exam. On the way down the elevator, he said, “Don’t worry about Chuck, he
will be back on his feet by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?! Teague, I thought you examined him back there. Didn’t
you notice the hole from the bullet? Or the broken ribs? He’s going to be down
for months.”

Teague simply chuckled, “Medical technology has come a long
way since your time. We will get his ribs set, repair a little damage, and then
give him a shot of the same stuff we used on you the past few weeks. Trust me,
in a few hours he will be feeling pretty normal, although quite exhausted. We
will get you fixed up too. A good night’s rest will have you feeling much
better.”

Jack just shook his head, not sure if he really believed the
doctor, but not sure of much of anything these days. The elevator opened and
they made their way to an exam room. Teague followed them in and told Jack to
take off his armor and under suit. “Aren’t you going to go take care of Chuck
first?” Jack exclaimed.

“I’m not a surgeon. Someone else will handle that.” Teague
left the room while Jack undressed. Wendy seemed to relax a little as she helped
him out of his body armor and under clothing, probably because there were no
holes in him. She did wince when his shirt came off and revealed a pattern of bruises
across his chest.

“Jesus, you could have been killed!” She was becoming
distraught.

“Chuck and Emmet took the brunt of the attack.” was all he
said. Now that he felt completely safe, he began to brood over the fight. He
had watched a fellow soldier die and then killed three men. During the
conflict, he had held his emotions in check, but he was no longer the hardened
soldier he once was, and he was a little shaken up. Wendy seemed to sense he
was in distress and wrapped her arms around him.

It helped and he felt some of the trauma leave his body. Teague
walked back in, and cleared his throat when he found the two in an embrace. “Wendy,
can you help him lie down on the table?”

Wendy broke away, flushing a little, and helped him. Somewhat
surprisingly, she said, “I’m going to go see to that new flyer we acquired and
make sure it’s in good shape. I’ll be back in a few hours, after you are
feeling better.” She kissed Jack on the cheek and left.

Teague started to examine him with his instruments. “She’s a
fine woman Jack. It’s a good thing you came along when you did. She was in
pretty bad shape emotionally, and I was worried she would decide to end her
life. She hid it well, but I knew what was going on. When she came to me with
your file, she was adamant that we find a way to revive you. I couldn’t figure
out why she had latched on to you like that, before we had even considered
trying to bring you back.”

This was confusing as she had been an emotional anchor for
him. Even Chuck and Emmet had all but called her a cold hearted bitch. Perhaps
Teague had read her wrong, she seemed to him to be as tough as they come. “She’s
a wonderful woman, Doc, and whatever her motives, I’m happy she cares about
me.” She had revealed her motives to him and it was personal, so whatever
information the doctor was fishing for here, he wasn’t going to catch anything.

Teague finished the exam, gave him a couple shots, and said,
“There you go. You bruised a couple ribs pretty bad, and those bullets
tenderized your chest pretty well, but these shots will take care of it in no
time. Why don’t you get dressed and meet me in the council’s chamber for a full
debriefing.” Jack nodded wearily, used to this sort of thing after an incident
like this.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Jack entered the Council’s chamber. The
room was round with a circular table shaped like a large letter C in the center.
The end facing the door was the opening of the C and the middle was about five
feet in diameter. It was designed so everyone in the chairs would face each
other, and a speaker could stand in the middle to address them all. As he
entered, he glanced back to see a large screen like the one in the training
room mounted above the door. The room was dim but lights in the ceiling
illuminated the twenty or so seats so that each person at the table could be
clearly seen. Only five of the seats were occupied. Marcus sat in the center,
and Teague to the far right. He didn’t recognize any of the others.

Teague said, “Jack, I would like you to meet Caleb,
Theodore, and William. The five of us are the original founders of New Hope,
and sit on this council together.” As Jack moved to the center of the room, a
light above came on. Although it was just so whoever was presenting in front of
the council could be seen, Jack suddenly felt like he was the focus of an
interrogation. He shook each man’s hand before stepping back and assuming a
parade rest stance.

Before they could ask the first question, he started
talking. “Gentlemen, we have a problem. I believe it is only a matter of time
before Cali discovers the cryogenic facility.” Jack had spent many years
addressing senior officers, often in debriefings similar to this one. Often
they were inept and inexperienced, looking for intel from men in the field who
had a far better understanding of the situation than they did.

Marcus spoke first. “Before we talk about that, let’s
discuss what happened today.” Jack sensed that Marcus was trying to take
control of the conversation, and he relaxed, knowing this had to happen. A few
minutes of explaining was not going to make a difference in the long run.

He gave them a brief synopsis of everything leading up to
when he re-established radio contact with New Hope. Teague interrupted him
there and said to everyone “The prisoner is in our holding cell. He has been
cooperative. I spoke to him briefly before coming up here, and I think we can
integrate him into our community. He was not happy with how things were in
Cali, and can probably give us some insight into what has been going on there
lately. Also, he not a breeder and he is convinced they will execute him for losing
a flyer to us.” Jack studied each of the council member’s faces as Teague said
this, and wasn’t particularly surprised to not see much compassion. Chuck seemed
to be right, these men didn’t show any signs of truly valuing human life, particularly
those who couldn’t contribute to rebuilding the human gene pool.

Jack continued his debriefing report. “After talking to Tiny
on the radio, I went back in and we hauled the three Cali bodies into the
complex. We stored them in the unoccupied tubes, that way the complex won’t
stink up with their rotting corpses. We brought Emmet’s corpse back here with
the hope of... I don’t know the term. Recreating him?” He paused at this and
looked at Teague.

Teague pondered it for a moment then said, “Emmet has
struggled a little with relationships lately, but otherwise has been very
useful. He is a good soldier, and is very loyal to our cause. And of course
being reborn, he is fertile.” Marcus and the others appeared to be weighing the
information.

Jack spoke up and said, “If it weren’t for Emmet we would
have all been killed or captured. He could have surrendered, but he sacrificed
himself so we could get away. He is a hero, plain and simple.”

Marcus looked at his fellow councilmen, who each nodded to
him, and he looked to Teague and said, “You have a subject coming out of the
tank tomorrow, right?” Teague nodded. “Okay, get started on the process tonight
then.” Jack was relieved to hear that. They only knew each other for a few
hours, so in all likelihood, Emmet wouldn’t remember him. Jack was fine with
that, but something was nagging at his conscience. Perhaps having the ability
to bring someone back from the dead was pushing the boundaries of his morality.

Continuing on, Jack said, “Chuck went with the Cali pilot
and held a gun on him while he flew back to the landing zone, and in case
anyone decided to watch via satellite, I donned some Cali armor, loaded Emmet’s
corpse, and drove the ground vehicle back. I secured the entrance to the
facility, and did my best to cover up the tracks in the area. We hauled all
their gear back to the flyers. When the transport arrived, we threw our guns
down as if surrendering then had Tiny and another man smash the Cali PDPs. They
loaded us onto the transport, then Wendy and another pilot loaded up the ground
vehicle and we all flew back here. If they were watching, it will look like
their patrol captured some of us, then were captured themselves by our rescue
party.”

Marcus and the rest nodded, obviously impressed by the
forethought put into everything.

Jack continued, “Look, I talked to the pilot we captured. The
Calis have figured out there is something going on up there, and they believe
it has something to do with why we will not trade our men with anyone any more.
They have been running patrols in that area, just waiting for a chance to
capture one of our groups. We need to do something now, before they find that
facility.”

Marcus and the others had paled slightly, and after a brief
silence, Marcus said, “What would you propose doing?”

Jack had been thinking about this since they captured the
pilot, and was ready to throw out some ideas. His real strength was in
analyzing a situation, weighing his assets, and coming up with the best
possible way to accomplish a task. This had served him well in his job building
bunkers but didn’t define him strictly as a contractor. If he had an
understanding of the goal, reaching it was his specialty. “I have some ideas,
but I don’t know what assets we have. Much of what I will propose is built on
assumptions from what I have learned in the short time I have been here.”

Marcus gestured for him to continue. “I think we need to
recover as many subjects as we can and store them here.” Jack expected a
reaction to this, and he was not disappointed.

Caleb spoke up first. “We don’t have the capability to store
that many bodies! Have you seen the size of that facility?”

Then William pitched in with, “Even if we could, it would
take dozens of trips up and back, leaving ourselves way too exposed, and
virtually showing our fellow communities exactly where we are going. Cali would
not sit back and watch, and once they figured out exactly what we have up
there, they will try to take it for themselves. It could easily escalate into a
real war!”

Theodore was quiet, and Teague was observing as if he was
not a part of the conversation at all, merely a student watching it all play
out. Marcus spoke next. “Both these men are correct, we have neither the
ability to transport, nor a place to store so many bodies – at least not without
drawing unwanted attention from probably every other community in the western
half of the continent. You said yourself that Cali was actively patrolling the
area.”

Jack waited until they were all finished. “I had surmised as
much. I took the liberty of examining the schematics for this facility.” He
went to the table and collected his datapad, and punched a few times on the
screen. The lights dimmed and the screen on the wall behind him lit up. Jack
was becoming very proficient with his datapad, and loved using it when he had
the opportunity. A schematic of level six showed up on the big screen. “I see
seven rooms that are unoccupied. I am guessing these rooms could be turned into
cold storage. Given that we do not need the entire body of the subjects, we
could store at least fourteen hundred heads, by my estimation.” He paused to
let that sink in.

Caleb skeptically said, “How do you propose we turn them
into cold storage rooms?”

Jack smiled and said, “I don’t really know, I’m not an
engineer, but I imagine that we have a few engineers in our population that
could get us an answer pretty quickly.” Marcus and Theodore nodded.

“How do you propose to transport them here? Fourteen hundred
heads would require far more capacity than any of our transports can handle.” That
came from William.

Jack smiled again and said, “I had a great conversation with
Tiny the day I met him. He had been training on how to set up landing strips
behind enemy lines. Now I am not an expert on anything like that, but I bet if
you put Tiny and a couple guys from Army engineering corps in a room together
you could probably have a way to quickly go in and build a landing strip. Once
you have a strip, I understand you have a very large transport plane you can
land there?” He had posed this last question directly at William, since he
seemed to be the man in charge of that aspect of New Hope.