The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (45 page)

Just then, the front left camera flashed as a rocket struck.
The left side of the cockpit exploded inward, blowing glass and flames across the
camera view, and knocking Wendy’s lifeless looking body to the copilot’s seat. Wind
and debris obscured the camera in the cockpit, but the rate of descent
accelerated dramatically. The remaining exterior camera was almost
perpendicular to the ground, proving that the left front motor had been knocked
out.

Jack cried out. As the aircraft descended, the cockpit
camera cleared up, and there was Wendy, laying sideways in the copilot’s seat,
one hand on a strap keeping her from being sucked out of the cabin, and the
other pulling hard on the controls. The descent slowed and the aircraft began
to straighten out. It was too little to stop the ground from rushing toward the
camera, but it wasn’t going to be an outright crash straight into the ground.

The aircraft came down hard, devastating the remains of the
cockpit. Jack moaned in his seat as he watched what must surely be his
girlfriend’s death. The remaining camera steadied out as the aircraft came to a
halt showing nothing but dust, smoke, and the ground. The radar view, amazingly
enough, was still active, and they saw the final enemy aircraft circle around
the downed transport, then swoop in directly over the top. As it flew over,
there was a very brief flash, and both the radar and last camera’s views went
dead.

The crowd was silent. Everyone, including Theodore, thought
that Wendy’s struggle might miraculously pull them through after she heroically
took down most of the attackers. Theodore made a note to mention those heroic
efforts when he made his next speech to the crowd. Right now he put on his best
look of grief and anger. “Why hasn’t the rescue team left yet?!”

The team shot into action, piling into the waiting
transport. Chin looked at him from his seat, a tear in one eye. “I could have
had them out ten minutes ago if you had let me.” He studied the scarred man,
wondering how much of a threat he would be. He decided that with Marcus dead,
and his ability to lay it all at Jack’s feet, it didn’t matter. He felt a
little remorse for losing the man he had worked side by side with for nearly
two centuries. He would miss their verbal sparring. However, it was a good
trade as far as he was concerned.

Jack was still moaning softly on the opposite side of the
crowd but otherwise just sat there staring at the ground. Tiny had gotten out
of the chair and had one massive arm around him. It was time to put the last nail
in the coffin. He turned to the crowd, who all looked stunned at what they had
just witnessed. “I want that man arrested for treason. He needlessly put those
fourteen souls at risk, against my judgment, and he will pay for his crime. As
acting leader of the council, I demand it!”

* * *

Half the crowd outright ignored Theodore’s command. The
other half turned to Jack with contempt in their eyes, but didn’t make a move. Tiny
stood tall over Jack’s apparently catatonic body, as if in challenge to anyone
to try to touch him. Finally the big man said, “I will take him there myself,
just to avoid any more conflict. We have all been through enough already. But
as soon as I drop him off, I’ll be visiting the other council members to get
this bullshit order rescinded. Your friend just died, Theodore, and all you can
think about is your damned politics?”

Some of the men who were about to follow Theodore’s orders
seemed to reconsider. Tiny continued, now addressing the entire crowd, “If you
people elect Theodore as the next leader, you can have your trial. Until then,
I don’t recognize his authority.”

Nobody in the room was going to question him, obviously, and
at least half the men nodded in agreement. It was fine with Theodore. All he
needed was fifty one percent of the vote, and after this devastating blow to
his competition, he was certain he would have far more than that. He turned
without another word, got on the rail car, and punched the button.

Theodore headed back to his private quarters. His spirits
were particularly high. For the past twenty years, he had felt oppressed by
Marcus. It started when they disagreed on the subject of Cali and seemed to
escalate daily ever since. Until then, their philosophies had been in sync, and
he had not had much difficulty playing second fiddle.

He reflected on his long life, starting back in Saber Cusp
as a young man. His parents had enough standing with the city to get him
appointed to the most prestigious scientific department: artificial
intelligence. The star of the department was a young Marcus. By the age of
twenty two, Marcus had achieved more prestige with the citizens of Saber Cusp
than any other scientist in the history of the city. As an understudy Theodore
quickly became wealthier than he could have ever imagined, and his position
granted him more prestige than he could have gained for himself in fifty years.
He worked hard to become friends with Marcus, gaining his trust first, then his
respect as they worked together to make huge advances in their field. Regardless
of how well Theodore did, however, in the public’s eye, Marcus was always
better than him. He accepted his place, and even when Saber Cusp was reduced to
a small handful of survivors and prestige no longer mattered, he remained in
that place, just beneath Marcus.

Now the man was gone, for good this time. It was his turn,
and he was the one with the most prestige. It wasn’t the same as the days of
old, but it was good enough for Theodore. Once he was on the council in Cali,
it would even be better. And with the wealth of DNA in Montana under his
control, he would soon be the most powerful and prestigious leader in
existence.

He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was time to set some
things in motion. He had one quick call to make before he secured his temporary
leadership in the absence of Marcus. With his former mentor gone, there was no
longer anyone smart enough or skilled enough to bypass his countermeasures. He
was free to contact Cali from right here and finish the deal.

He brought up the satellite link and sent the command to
connect to the laser transmitter that Joshua had pointed at their satellite. A
few minutes later, two boxes came up on the screen.

THIS HAD BETTER BE WORTH IT, I LOST SEVEN
AIRCRAFT!

I TOLD YOU TO BRING A LOT OF FIREPOWER.

IT IS NOT MY FAULT YOU ONLY SENT EIGHT SMALL
FLYERS.

DID MY PILOTS COMPLETE THE MISSION TO YOUR
SATISFACTION? THE ONE SURVIVING PILOT BURIED FOUR MORE MISSILES IN THE DOWNED
AIRCRAFT, THERE IS NOTHING LEFT LARGER THAN A DINNER PLATE.

YES, I WATCHED THE WHOLE THING, IT WAS HIGHLY
ENTERTAINING.

GOOD, THEN WE HAVE A DEAL?

YES. IT WILL TAKE TWO WEEKS FOR ME TO SECURE MY
POSITION, THEN WE WILL OPEN UP OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND MERGE OUR
COMMUNITIES. AT THAT TIME, I WILL BE ABLE TO DELIVER WEALTH THAT WILL GIVE US
THE ABILITY TO TAKE OVER ALL REMAINING COMMUNITIES IN A MATTER OF YEARS.

I LOOK FORWARD TO IT.

BY THE WAY, YOUR BROTHER WAS ON THAT AIRCRAFT. I
FIGURED YOU SHOULD HEAR IT FROM ME FIRST.

There was a long hesitation.

GOOD. THAT ELIMINATES THE NEED TO DEAL WITH HIM IN
THE FUTURE.

I WILL MAKE CONTACT IN TWO WEEKS.

He signed off and closed the link. Whistling to himself, he headed
to the council chambers. He was going to be early, but he wanted some more
alone time to reflect on his good fortune before he called in the council.

* * *

The rail car was back four minutes after Theodore left. Tiny
climbed aboard with Jack in tow, he still hadn’t said a word.

When the rail car left the dock, Jack wiped the tears from
his eyes. What he had seen on the monitors shook him up horribly, but he had to
trust Marcus that it was all a ruse.

Just a short week ago he had come to terms with his rebirth
based on what he saw with his own eyes. Now he had to tell himself that what he
saw with his own eyes was an illusion, and it wasn’t easy. The tears he had
shed were very real, and it didn’t take any effort for him to appear
distraught, angry, afraid, and finally devastated. If every detail of what had
just happened had not been laid out in the file Marcus had left him, he would
be on that rescue transport himself, praying for a miracle.

Tiny and Chin didn’t know the truth yet, and were probably
devastated. He felt bad about this, but it was necessary. At least he could let
Tiny in on it now that they were alone. He cleared his throat to get the big
man’s attention. “This may come as a shock, but Wendy and Marcus and the crew
are all safe in S.C. What you saw there was very real, except for what you saw
of Wendy. A computer was controlling the aircraft and created the illusion.”

Tiny looked at him with tears in his eyes and said, “Jack, I
think you’re in shock. I’m so sorry about what just happened, but now is not
the time to lose it, this setback could cost us everything and we need you
functional. I can only imagine how devastating this is to you, but I know you
have it in you to pull through.”

Jack understood, if the roles were reversed he would think
Tiny was delusional too. In fact, what they saw was so real that he wouldn’t be
completely at ease until he held Wendy in his arms again. “Tiny, I’m being serious;
we planned this all in advance. Here.” He gestured toward his datapad, which
Tiny had brought with them. Tiny held it out and Jack punched the screen a few
times then gestured for him to read.

Jack waited for him to finish before saying, “I need you to
keep up the act, but after dropping me off in jail, I need you to go see Caleb immediately
to plead my case. Don’t let him know that what you saw wasn’t real. Be sure to
tell him that Theodore stood by and watched it happen without any action
whatsoever. Relay the whole thing to him. Caleb should end up letting me out
pending the election. When he gives the word, come get me and we will head back
to the flight bay.”

Tiny could only nod in acknowledgement. “Oh, and I need you
to call Chin right away and tell him to check his messages, there are some
instructions for him he needs to follow immediately. Make sure he doesn’t read
them with anyone around.”

Tiny sniffled once and said, “God I hope you’re right, Jack.
I have never witnessed something that awful in my life. Is it safe to say
Theodore is behind all this? He wouldn’t lift a finger to help.”

“I am pretty sure, but until we have proof, I can’t make any
kind of open accusation. Honestly, nothing he has done yet has shown anything
other than a strong desire to become the next leader of New Hope. Perhaps some
of Marcus’ tricks will lead us to a definitive answer.”

* * *

Chin got the call from Tiny three minutes after the man had
left. “I need to tell you something, privately. Are you alone?”

He simply nodded, still stunned. “You need to check your
messages, and then do what it says. Keep it quiet.” Tiny signed off without
another word. Chin looked around to make sure nobody was near. The various
people in the flight bay had retreated to deal with the tragedy in their own
way. Some of them were grouped up and others were alone dealing with their
grief. Every man here lost someone they knew in that attack.

He opened the message Jack had left, confused at what this
was all about. He knew something was up, but figured that whatever Jack had
been planning had gone horribly awry.

The message detailed out how the attack they witnessed was a
sham, and instructed him to execute another command on the central computer. Although
he refused to believe what he had seen with his own eyes was all an illusion,
his loyalty to Jack was still unwavering. Without hesitation, he fired off the
command and waited in stunned silence. The rescue aircraft called in to say
they were en route, but he didn’t notice. All he could think about was how they
had watched helplessly as Wendy struggled to keep the aircraft from crashing. He
hoped to God Jack was right about this. He watched the monitor, but unlike the
program he ran earlier, nothing came up on his screen.

An hour later the rescue team reported they had found the
wreckage, and it was a complete loss. Chin sat back in his chair. Whatever the
program was looking for, it hadn’t seemed to find anything.

* * *

An hour after arriving at the chambers, Theodore called in
Caleb, William, and Teague. The news had already spread about Marcus’ death,
and Theodore watched each man’s face as they entered. Teague looked like he had
been mourning. That was no surprise, they had been close, closer than Theodore
had ever been to Marcus.

William looked irritated. Conventionally, he would have been
handling the decision to send out forces against Cali during their attack on
the large transport. Under normal circumstances, Theodore had stepped somewhat
out of his boundaries, but he believed the results were worth it, and he knew
how to handle William.

Caleb showed no emotion whatsoever. Caleb was the wild card.
Had Theodore’s plan this morning worked and they had called a vote right then
and there to elect a new leader, William would have voted for him and Teague
would have voted for Marcus, leaving Caleb. Caleb’s weakness, as Theodore saw
it, was that he was extremely protective of the people of New Hope. He acted as
if that was his own asset. He wanted nothing to do with communities outside New
Hope, and the thought of someone threatening the safety of his people was
unbearable. Theodore believed that by laying the blame for all the recent
deaths and failures at Jack’s feet, Caleb would swing in his favor seeing
Marcus as the bigger threat to New Hope. Marcus’ play to have the people decide
their next leader was masterful, but as destiny would have it, futile as well.

The men seated themselves around the circular table. Theodore
was the first to speak, as he had called the meeting. “Gentlemen. As you are
aware, a huge tragedy has befallen us this evening. Jack Taggart, showing poor
judgment, sent another team to Saber Cusp in hopes of fixing the mess he had
created last night. Somehow, he convinced Marcus to personally go in with the
team, putting himself at risk. Unfortunately, there was a traitor in our population,
and word got to Cali that Marcus was on that mission. They sent a large
contingent of armed aircraft to intercept the large transport as it made its
way back home. Aboard the transport were fourteen New Hope citizens, including
Marcus. Wendy Roberts, one of our finest pilots, fought valiantly against the
overwhelming odds. She managed to take out seven of the eight attackers before
losing three of the four motors on the transport. She didn’t survive the crash,
although she struggled heroically, despite being mortally injured, to prevent
it.” He took a moment of silence, which each man in the room honored.

“Before we get down to business, I want to let you all know
that I intend to exact a heavy toll on Cali for this horrible act. They will
not only replace our lost transport and provide us with fourteen suitable
replacements, they will also be forced to pay extra for their crime. I will
guarantee, before any kind of peace accord is reached with them, that they will
make this right with New Hope. You all know my feelings on this subject. I want
to live in harmony with our neighbors, and do not, under any circumstances,
want a war.”

Caleb snorted at this. Theodore expected him to react that
way. He ignored it.

William had held in his anger for too long, and took this
opportunity to let it out. “Theodore, you have overstepped your position! Why
wasn’t I notified at the first sign of trouble?”

“William, I understand your anger, and apologize. I was
asked by Jack to visit him in the flight bay moments before the attack. Jack
contacted me because he believed the Cali were responsible for the loss of
communications with our team. He expected me to contact Cali and plead with
them to break off their attack. I determined that any sort of action, short of
sending in a salvage team, was a waste of time and resources. If I had sent
support aircraft, they would have been thirty minutes out when the transport
went down. I never would have made contact with Cali in time to do anything,
and even if I had, I couldn’t exactly accuse them of being behind the attack, I
had not been presented with any kind of evidence supporting Jack’s theories. There
was nothing to decide, William, or I surely would have contacted you.”

William wasn’t ready to let it go. “You still should have
contacted me and allowed me to make that decision. It was not your right to
make that decision in my place, even under the circumstances.” The man was
right, and Theodore acknowledged it. William had lost some of his steam, simply
because his only course of action was to protest this to Marcus. Marcus wasn’t
here, however, and William knew his place. Theodore considered the matter
closed and continued.

“The primary reason I gathered you all tonight was to
discuss the grave matter of an interim replacement to Marcus, until the
election in two weeks. I, having held the highest status next to Marcus,
believe that I should act in that capacity. Is there any argument to the
contrary?”

Teague held his tongue. The man knew his place in this room,
and Theodore was counting on that. As long as the council ruled, he was just a
pawn. Once he was the elected leader, he would dissolve the council anyway,
removing any threat from Teague or the others.

Caleb leaned forward in his seat, looking grim. “Before we
decide on an interim leader, I have information I need to bring to light. Shortly
after Marcus and the team took off for Saber Cusp, I was sent evidence that
implicated one of our own citizens of high treason. I reviewed the evidence,
and determined that it was indeed authentic. The evidence consisted of a
transcript of communication from a terminal in the records room, and a video
feed from the security camera corresponding to the exact time of the
transmission. The transcript clearly shows the traitor giving key tactical
information to Cali, and also demanding they take all measures possible to
destroy the transport upon its return. It also hints at a much larger
conspiracy within New Hope. As head of internal security, I issued a warrant
for the arrest of Red.”