CHAPTER EIGHT
FULL CLOCKWORK SHINING
“How all occasions do inform against me against me and spur my dull revenge”
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet
1
For years rumors abounded about a secret military base hidden out in the southern portion of Nevada, known only as Area 51. Isolated somewhere out in the Mojave Desert, it was purportedly where the legendary Roswell Aliens were housed after supposedly crash landing in the New Mexico desert. In truth, there were very few who really knew what went on down below the desert sand. Years after the fall of civilization, the true purpose of the underground lab remained hidden from those scavenging for food, water, and shelter on the surface, while they continued their scientific research down below.
Through the continuation of their ancestral line, the researchers were forever dedicated to seeing the important work being done down in the lab completed. It was a hereditary lineage dating back to when American Forces liberated Germany from Hitler’s Nazi regime at the end WWII. They ferretted away their finest scientists to work for the United States government. Living in secret for years, it fell upon the great-great-grand-daughter of Germany’s top genetic research scientist to preserve her ancestors’ work, exhibiting a fierce devotion beyond any who came before her.
Seizing the opportunity of position, she won the heart of upstart General Alexander Cain, who rose up from a mere captain to become the undisputed leader of the abandoned government facility. The years spent living underground did not pass by without bearing the fruit of life. The son of General Cain was born to carry on his parents’ desperate work of trying to prevent the extinction of mankind and to one day permanently return to surface and build a new world. A dream that would become a reality when General Cain II aligned himself with a wandering rogue he once met as a child, but who returned a Prophet Warrior, reborn from the knowledge learned through the power of the written words he found in the pages of The Book of Tomorrows.
With the powerful directing guidance of his determined mother, General Cain II elected to revise the New Constitution the day before they were going to present it to the people, thereby signifying the official birth of a New America. The cost of his decision came at a very high price his mother more than willingly collected as the mysterious death of the Prophet Warrior paid the bill.
Over one hundred years later, the ambitious spirit of the mother of the first Guardian Administrator still lived on in the wife of the present GAC. Tragically, Atera’s mental state could no longer bear the heavy burden of trying to remain faithful to her ancestor’s dreams of a brave new world.
Atera moved some of her equipment from the Area 51 facility into the mansion’s basement where she setup a makeshift lab. The secret underground facility was still operational and functioning with a small group of scientists, working strictly under her authority. Obsessed with fixing things, she shifted focus from trying to wake up her chemically induced husband, and she started searching for a way to reverse the genetic disorder afflicting her mentally stunted son. She locked him down in her self-contained dungeon, leaving the GAC upstairs and unattended.
While Atera’s latest unhinged maneuver caused Dawson Flowers considerable concern, he felt a slight sense of relief she left the GAC in the living room, where he had been situated since being brought home from the hospital. It permitted him the opportunity to bring in Dr. Penelope to determine what the best course of action would be in finding a cure for the GAC and to help him deal with Atera’s deteriorating mental condition.
Knowing he would not take too kindly to receiving orders from him, Dawson invoked Atera’s name when he summoned Ricardo to the mansion for an important meeting about the current state of affairs. As it turned out, the new Chief Magistrate had some news of his own to report. Dawson preemptively waited outside for Ricardo’s arrival, knowing whom he would have with him.
While Dawson and Harvey made no attempt to hide the fact they disliked each other, they did at least share a mutual respect for each other’s loyal dedication and professional code of conduct. They could not say the same for Lorenzo Lacy.
“Where is Atera? What is so important to pull me away from other pressing matters?” Ricardo asked in a frustrated state, getting out of his car with Lorenzo ready to stand at his side.
“I thought it important enough for you to come see the seriousness of the situation for yourself. We can discuss it inside, but leave your dog in the yard.”
Ricardo silently nodded to Lorenzo, indicating he should stay put. Remaining patient with Dawson, he replied to his demand with a clarifying statement of ownership. “He may not be housebroken yet, but his loyalty is unquestioned and beyond reproach.”
“So, is mine.”
Making their way to the living room adjacent to the kitchen, Dawson led Ricardo to their fallen leader.
“Atera has locked herself and her son down in the mansion basement where she has setup a fully functioning lab. Something needs to be done, and you are the presiding authority.” Flowers explained his reasoning for calling, also throwing him a bone of needing his help, something Ricardo knew was a hard nut for him to have to swallow.
“Atera is a brilliant scientist, who is feeling the overbearing burden from the stress placed on her at a very difficult time. Her ways may be different from yours and mine, but she would never do anything to hurt her son. The Guardian Administrator’s condition has remained stable under her care, which is more than anyone could hope for under such circumstances.”
Ricardo made a perfectly logical argument that he did not believe any more than Dawson did.
Dawson wasn’t buying Ricardo’s lack of concern for the health and safety of Atera and her son. He knew Ricardo didn’t have all the facts, but felt it would not matter if he had. He was glad to have her out of the way. No one could challenge his authority, or so he thought. Attempting to express some concern, he made an obligatory assumption.
“I take it you sent for Dr. Penelope.”
“He is on his way as we speak.”
“Good. When he gets here, I am sure he will provide you with better consultations on the physical and mental health of the GAC and Atera than I can.” Ricardo passed the buck just as his phone started ringing in his pocket. “I am confident you and Dr. Penelope will do whatever you can for them, but I need to get going. I have a few new leads to follow up.”
Dawson was going to ask him if he would try and talk to Atera—the reason he called him over in the first place—but sensed Ricardo was focusing his attention elsewhere as the called he received alerted him to some other urgent matter.
Seeing it was Samantha calling, Ricardo answered his phone with the video mode off. Holding the phone to his ear, the words he heard sent him on the move.
“She did what?” Ricardo paused a moment to listen. “Hold on. Take it easy. I am leaving right now. I will meet you there.”
Heading for the door, Ricardo imparted some final words before going.
“I will leave it to you and Dr. Penelope to figure out how best to proceed. The GAC and Atera are under his care now. Do whatever he recommends. I got to go.”
Dawson let him leave without further delay, not giving him any insight into the true cause of Atera’s strange behavior as it related to the GAC. Ricardo was in a position to seek legal retribution on him for being an accomplice to Atera’s well-intended, desperate act.
Dawson thought her plan was extreme, but agreed with the sound, principal logic behind it. Like Atera, he was a staunch loyalist. He did not believe in the cause of the FWF rebel reformists. The country they lived in was as close to perfection as humanly possible. There was no crime, hunger, oppression, financial burdens, or wars holding back the human race from evolving into the superior species we always believed ourselves to be. Dawson thought the New American society was the best we could do.
As for Guardian Administrator Cain V, Dawson would let Doc Penelope do what he could befor
e telling him about what Atera did, which he knew to be the source of her unstable worried mind.