Chapter 11
Gabriel lowered the rifle slowly and looked left and right. The room was small, less than half the length of the lab he just left, with only a utilitarian steel desk taking up any floor space. His neuretics completed their automatic sweep and confirmed the room was empty. No wall units, no screens, no other furniture. Empty.
Except for the two familiar faces that stared at him from behind the desk.
“You can safe the weapon, Lieutenant,” said Biermann from his seated position. Knowles stood just off his left shoulder, her face a mask of anguish. Her eyes were focused squarely on Gabriel’s bloody face and right arm. When she noticed Gabriel looking at her, she lowered her gaze. He noticed she was wearing a clean, unstained, light-blue pullover.
His mind raced. He’d been ‘awake’ for less than fifteen minutes, and behind him in the hall lay four bodies, added to the two in the lab. Two were dead, and one more would probably be dead within the hour without medical assistance. All at his hands. And all… for what?
“Captain,” he said, still struggling to wrap his brain around the situation, “what’s going on? Who…” His voice trailed off as he heard a sound behind him. He snapped the pulse rifle back up to his shoulder as he spun to face the new threat, chastising himself for taking his attention away from his passive scans.
Two men in civilian clothes walked through the door, hands raised above their heads. The first man in stopped, glanced at Biermann, and then continued into the room. The second man slowly followed, staring at the barrel of the rifle Gabriel held.
“Lieutenant, safe that weapon now. That’s an order,” came Biermann’s voice from behind him.
“But sir,” he began, only to be interrupted.
“Please, Evan,” said Knowles, her voice low. “We don’t want anyone else hurt.”
He lowered the rifle, letting the barrel drop to face the floor. He held it with his right hand and reached across with his left hand to squeeze the throbbing wound on his upper arm. The pain from the mine’s shrapnel was only now starting to penetrate the mask of his adrenaline rush. The mag pistol wound in his side hadn’t yet gotten that far, but he knew very soon the pain would find its way to his nervous system.
Hurt, Knowles said. So they knew. The remote wipes came from this room, and Gabriel guessed they must have been monitoring his movements the entire time. Probably using the same security system he had. He thought back to his initial plan to round the torus in the opposite direction, only to find the blast door sealed. He suspected then someone was leading him in a certain direction, but he never expected it to be Biermann. Or Knowles. This was all so… orchestrated. That word jumped into his consciousness again. But to what end? He ground his teeth together and glared at Biermann.
“Sir, with all due respect, someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on here.”
Biermann held up a finger dismissively and turned to the two other men, who now stood in front of the desk. The shorter man, the second one in the room, kept flicking his eyes over his shoulder to Gabriel as if he expected an attack. Gabriel shot him a glance and he quickly turned back to face Biermann.
“Report,” said Biermann as he stood up from the chair.
The taller of the two civilians answered. “Two KIA. Four wounded, one seriously with what appears to be a broken jaw and several cracked vertebrae. The two in the lab have already been taken back to the holding cell, and a medical team is on their way for the others, as requested.” He glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel. “Your boy did a hell of a job out there.”
“Bloody tornado, if you ask me,” the shorter one said under his breath.
“I didn’t ask,” said Biermann in a sharp tone. “Collect the weapons after Med is through, then get the cleanup crew to work. Station personnel will be back in just over an hour, and as I see on the monitors, the walls could use some panels replaced.”
“You got it,” the taller one said, then turned and walked out of the room without a second glance at Gabriel. The shorter one walked up to Gabriel and held out a hand.
“Rifle,” he said, his eyes not meeting the much-taller Gabriel.
Gabriel looked at Biermann, who had come around to the front of the desk and was leaning against the edge, arms crossed. The captain nodded. “Rifle, Lieutenant,” he said.
Gabriel looked at Knowles, whose face was lined with sadness. Biermann stood impassively, staring back at Gabriel. The short civilian extended his hand further.
Without taking his eyes off Biermann, Gabriel tossed the rifle against the near wall, where it bounced and clattered to the floor. He took four quick strides, bumping the civilian out of his way, and stopped within inches of the captain.
Biermann stood upright away from the desk and met Gabriel’s stare, having to look up a few inches into the taller man’s face. His arms stayed crossed, and a small smile crossed his face.
“Something on your mind, Lieutenant?” he asked.
Gabriel clenched his fists at his side, his inner turmoil raging. The pain from the through-and-through was starting to creep into his system, and his arm still throbbed. The blood on his face had nearly dried, and he felt the sticky substance crack and stretch as he worked his jaw. But all of those sensations were secondary to his anger, which was now directed squarely at his commanding officer.
“What was this, Captain? Some sort of… test?” He spat the last word out in disgust.
Biermann stared at Gabriel for a long moment, then turned away and walked back behind the desk. He waved the shorter civilian out of the room. Gabriel saw that Knowles had her eyes lowered and wouldn’t look back at him.
“Of course it was a test, Lieutenant,” Biermann said. “I’m not going to buy a weapon without trying it out first. I’m sure you’ve test-driven cars before, right? Think of it that way.”
“No one died when I test drove a car,” Gabriel said. “Sir,” he added through clenched teeth.
Biermann looked off to one side, his eyes unfocused. “They chose their fate long ago.”
Knowles turned from the desk and slowly walked towards the back wall of the room, her head down. Gabriel watched as the slump of her shoulders gave way to a posture of frustration as she put her hands on her hips. He could almost feel the emotion radiating from her. The same tangled web of thoughts he was experiencing.
He stared at Biermann, whose gaze remained on the far wall. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Biermann looked back at him, and Gabriel saw a flash in his eyes. “What that means, Lieutenant, is that those people were nothing but criminals. Each of them a murderer, or rapist, or traitor to the Federation.” He stood up and fixed Gabriel with his stare. “They chose their fate long ago. Every one of them has given up their right to be a member of society, and every one of them was sentenced to death. We give them a chance to reduce their sentence, to change their fate, by participating in a test. This test. A test you passed, Lieutenant. Otherwise you wouldn’t be standing here.”
Gabriel’s head spun. Images flashed across his mind: the barrel of the pulse rifle smashing into a man’s face, blood spurting from his wrecked nose; burn holes in the back of a woman’s body armor; the crazy angle of a man’s lower jaw.
He leaned over and placed his hands on the front edge of the desk, breathing deeply, trying to wrest control from the emotions flooding his system. Two dead, another four injured, by his hand. For a test.
“Does that make a difference to you now, Mister Gabriel?” Biermann asked. “Now that you know who you killed?”
“You bastard,” came Knowles’s voice as she turned back around. “That’s a loaded question and you know it. How can any of them who come through here answer that?”
Gabriel’s head came up and he looked at Knowles, whose face was red. From anger or frustration, he wasn’t sure. He saw flashes of the emotion he detected in the lab. This was what she was concerned about. But why would she be caught up in this type of operation?
He looked bac
k at Biermann. “I don’t believe you.”
Biermann pulled a folded sheet of hardcopy from a folder on the desk and read from it.
“The two men who were sent to the lab. Falk, Walton H. Tried and convicted of murder in the first degree of a shopkeeper in the commission of a robbery, Denver. Bathory, Ian W. Serving a life sentence for rape, but killed two men in a Mexico City prison, so was sentenced to death.”
He opened the sheet to the inside fold and continued. “The two you gassed and took out. Ruggieri, Samad M. Traitor to the NAF, sold state secrets to the Chinese which directly resulted in the deaths of fourteen foreign service agents last year. Sentenced to death for high treason. Sefu, James K. Kidnapped and killed two women from a daycare in Calgary. Sentenced to death.” Biermann’s face cracked into a small smile. “The tear gas was very inventive. You’re the first to use that tactic. I liked it.”
He turned the hardcopy over. “Gorog, Markku L. The big ugly guy outside the door. He’s a real winner. We were saving him for a special test, and you drew him. Professional hitman from Croatia. Killed twelve minor members of the NAF government two years ago for reasons unknown. He’s been on ice since then, waiting for diplomatic extraction, but that fell through. So he became ours.” He pursed his lips. “Wasn’t sure if you’d get past him. Again, very inventive, using our own weapons against us in an unexpected way. Shows outside the box thinking. I can use that.”
Gabriel stared at him for several long moments before speaking. “And the woman?” he growled.
Biermann leaned towards him across the desk and stared back, not looking at the hardcopy. “Bustos, Erika M. Housewife from Sacramento. At least that’s what she was to neighbors. In reality, she was a serial killer. She singlehandedly killed over twenty men in a two-year period. Kidnapped them, emptied their bank accounts, tortured them, and burned them.” He leaned in closer. “Alive.”
Gabriel clenched his teeth, thinking back to the pale face and dead eyes lying on the floor of the corridor.
“Before you accuse me of lying, Lieutenant, feel free to look it up. Pull up news faxes from northern California, 2164. And make sure to get a look at her images in those stories. She was sentenced to die by lethal injection last year, but was hanging on by appeals. She made her choice, and she was even given a second chance, here.”
Biermann walked back around from behind his desk and stood next to Gabriel. “What you need to understand, Lieutenant Gabriel, is that not all enemies come in clearly marked packages. Once you realize that, you’re on your way.”
Gabriel squeezed his eyes closed. Criminals, serial killers, rapists, traitors. No matter, he knew the images of their faces, of their pain, of their deaths, would haunt him for a long time.
He opened his eyes. “On my way where, Captain? What is this all for?”
Biermann nodded slowly. “The ones who came before you have asked the same question. There are threats to the Federation, threats we know about, and ones we don’t, which can be even more dangerous. In order for us to protect the freedom of its citizens, the Federation needs the best in technology, intel, and training. And people, Mister Gabriel. The most valuable assets any military force can have are its people. People like you. We’re here to take the best soldiers to the next level. And,” he said with a mirthless chuckle, “the saying is you can never make a good omelet without breaking a few eggs.”
Gabriel looked at Knowles, whose face was now clouded with anger. His mind whirled again. This was all happening so quickly, he knew he needed to clear his head, or the adrenaline running through his veins would get the better of him, and Biermann might end up paying the price.
He turned on his heel and headed for the door.
“Lieutenant, where the hell do you think you’re going?” snapped Biermann.
Without breaking stride, Gabriel responded over his shoulder.
“I’m going to get my shoes.”