Bill wheeled the still unconscious Nick into his office, slammed the door shut behind him and locked it. Easy he reminded himself, going off in a rage wasn’t going to help matters any. He pushed Nick over to a spot near the couch and left him there as he took up a seat at his desk. It had been tricky getting out of Dulce with his prize. He found his way down to the train level and took a maintenance car back to his base of operations at Groom Lake. He pulled a radio out of his pocket and pushed the button. Fred’s disembodied voice crackled through the receiver
“Yes sir”
“Update your status”
“The facility is lost sir. There are pockets of resistance, but we are overrun”
“The power came back on, didn’t that restart the shields?” said Bill grasping for a ray of hope.
“Yes, but by that time they had already beamed in thousands of troops. Once inside they have set some sort of a transponder and they can beam in at will now.” A long pause followed “They were waiting for it sir. The precision they displayed in getting those troops in here was meticulous. No way was this a chance opportunity.”
“What about our allies?”
“They were badly spooked when the power went down. When it came back on they fled down past the seventh level. We are on our own now”
Bill scowled and shook his head.
“What is your position?” he asked
“I am in an escape tunnel with a few dozen others. What are your orders?”
“Return to this base as fast as you can. I have a feeling that we will be next”
“Yes sir” and the radio went silent.
Bill sat back and rubbed his eyes while gritting his teeth. What the hell was going on? Everything was falling apart. All their well laid plans were in ruins. Dulce base was gone so Bill could only assume the moon base was as well. All he could do was sit there and shake his head in silent disbelief. Nick stirred and caused Bill to look up. At least he would get some answers before everything was ruined completely. He spun around in his chair to the cupboard behind him and pulled out two injectors and walked around his desk to where Nick was. He pulled down Nick’s collar and injected the adrenaline straight into Nick’s bare neck.
Nick had been awake for quite some time and he listened intently as Bill conversed with someone at Dulce. The news that Dulce base was now under Annunaki control exhilarated him. He was thankful that Telarc's death, and the deaths of the others, was not in vain. All the pain he had endured and things he had gone through were washed away as if by some magical cleansing. Nick recalled fondly now his effort in everything and he was proud. He had seen and done things that he had never even fathomed were possible for a human being to achieve and he was still alive, still here and committed to the very end, no matter what the outcome was. He chose to pretend he was still unconscious to buy himself some time to think. Nick still couldn’t move but he had time to analyze his situation and realized that Bill must have paralyzed him in some way. With either an agent of some sort or with an Annunaki flash weapon. If Bill had used the weapon, Nick knew from his training, that the effects would wear off eventually. He had to keep Bill distracted as long as he could and when he was able to move he could fashion some sort of escape idea. Bill's chair squeaked slightly as he got out of it. Nick heard a door open and then close a few seconds later. Bill's heavy steps came in Nick's direction and Nick let his muscles go slack as he continued to feign unconsciousness. Bill roughly pulled his collar down and pressed something to his neck. Nick continued to play his part well and slowly stirred; giving the impression it took some effort to become reanimated. He raised his head and blinked a few times, disoriented. Bill's impassive face came into focus. He was sitting on a comfy chair a few feet from Nick, hands folded neatly in his lap. Even though Bill displayed an air of indifference Nick knew that he was supremely agitated, that below the stoic exterior, Bill was seething. It satisfied Nick immensely to know that he was the source of Bill's frustration. Behind Bill, Nick could see out his office window and into the large hangar outside. The doors were open, which struck Nick as odd, and beyond he could see the darkness of night. They sat there, silent for a time, sizing each other up. Bill broke the silence first.
"You have done well Nick. I am impressed" Bill said, and surprisingly Nick did not detect any sarcasm.
"People have been trying for centuries to do what has taken you a mere few hours to accomplish. You should be proud." Bill continued "Of course, you had some help that was, shall we say, out of this world"
Nick didn't respond and he could see a spasm of anger contort Bill's face for the briefest of moments.
"It's this help that I want to talk about Nick. As you know, you were meant to die on Nibiru, yet here you are. Astonishing isn’t it? Perhaps you can enlighten me as to how you engineered such a feat"
Nick didn't see the harm in telling Bill what happened now and in doing so could buy himself some valuable time. So he related everything, leaving nothing out, still trying to buy himself time to regain functionality.
He told how he had arrived at Nibiru and after some tense moments was found and taken to Zhengil's residence where he was briefed on more of the mission particulars and continued training until Zhengil took him to the atmosphere monitoring plant, their harrowing trek to the machine where Nick was to release the nanobots. He relished the effect he had on Bill as he told him how he figured out the double cross and how Zhengil had died as he struggled to end Nick's life.
Nick could feel life coming back to his limbs. A tingly feeling swept up and down his torso and legs and arms. With great difficulty he fought down the urge to try and move and continued with his story.
Bill was especially rapt as Nick imparted how he was captured and brought before the Nibirian council. How he awoke to Leskal's vigorous shaking and Leskal viewed the implanted memory and ordered the strike.
"And he just ordered the strike right there?" Bill interjected incredulously, shaking his head.
"It was very convincing. Until Leskal forced the real memory out of me, I was positive it was what really happened." Nick said. He was getting closer to full movement.
"Ironic isn't it, the very weapon you create to destroy your enemies coming back to blow up in your face" Nick threw out mockingly. His comment had the desired effect as the blood drained from Bill's face and he sat forward to the edge of his chair, his rage barely contained.
"Yes, it is ironic" he said through gritted teeth "So what happened then?"
Nick obligingly continued.
"Well, he realized after there were no reports of any kind coming back from Nibiru that something had gone wrong. That's when he forced the real memory out of me. Fortunately for me that's when the Annunaki turned up and attacked the lunar base."
Nick was almost at full ability to move now so he tried his telepathic power and was dismayed that he couldn't bring them to bear. Must be something to do with the paralyzing agent he thought. No matter and he continued with his story.
"They took me aboard their ship and the plan was hatched to attack Dulce and show the people of Earth the lie they have been living under. The rest you know."
Bill stared at him lost in thought. Nick knew he was moments away from springing into action and he decided to needle Bill some more to throw him off.
"Your plan is in shambles Bill. You're not going to succeed now. Earth will be given back to its people and we will grow beyond anything you could imagine."
Bill sprang to his feet and turned his back to Nick, strolling toward the window. This was it Nick thought, the moment he was waiting for. He quickly flexed his arms and legs and everything was functional. He stood up noiselessly and readied himself, summoning his anger at Bill for motivation. He sprang over the chair that Bill had been sitting at, like an Olympic hurdler. Bill spun around, his mouth open like he was about to say something and his eyes widened in shock as Nick, soaring threw the air, threw a punch. Bill’s training kicked in and he ducked the punch and tackled Ni
ck in midair and drove him to the ground. They landed and both started throwing wild punches with little effectiveness. Bill drove his fist into Nick's stomach, winding him. As Nick clutched at his chest, gasping for a breath, Bill reached into his inside pocket and was pulling out his weapon. Nick squeezed in a small breath and flipped sideways, throwing Bill off, knocking the flash gun out of his hand and it went skittering across the floor. Bill started crawling toward his weapon. Nick dove on top of Bill and rained down punches. Bill was a wily opponent though and managed to block more than got through. Nick drove his knee hard into his Bill's ribs and he heard an audible crack followed by Bill's groan of pain. He drove his elbow down into Bill's face and his nose broke with a sickening crunch. Bill's body went slack and Nick, adrenaline still coursing through his veins, threw a few more punches at Bill's face. It took a few seconds for Nick to realize what had happened and he pulled himself off Bill and sat, breathing heavily, looking at Bill's unmoving form. In a daze he stood up and staggered toward the door, wanting to get away. He was almost at the door.
"Not so fast" said Bill.
Nick spun around. Bill was standing there, his weapon retrieved and now pointing at Nick's chest with a quivering hand. Blood was flowing freely from his smashed nose, over and around his mouth and dripping off his chin.
"I agree Nick it is ironic how everything has come down. Sadly though, you won't get to see the fruits of your labor, I am going to relieve you of that honor" and as he said it, Bill dragged his sleeve across his mouth and looked down at his bloodstained sleeve, then started lurching toward Nick, a savage look in eyes.
"I won't get to fulfill my dreams Nick, but then neither will you." and Bill came even closer.
Nick didn't want to die, but if he was going die forfeiting his life for the sake of mankind, well there could not be a more honorable way to die. He stood tall, squared his jaw and took a deep breath, readying himself to meet his fate, wondering how it would feel. Bill stopped about ten feet from him, his visage crazed and terrifying.
"Farewell Nick" and he raised his arm, finger on the trigger.
A flash of light and Bill and Nick both looked around in surprise. In an instant a half dozen men appeared in Bill's office, and one woman. Bill realized that the Annunaki had tracked down Nick and were coming to save him and quickly trained his weapon on Nick. The female detached herself from the shocked man whose neck her arms were around and ran to Nick, arriving just as Bill fired.
Chapter 25