***
A clap of thunder brought Kaspar back to the present. After the thunder came another strike of lighting. The bolts above lit up the black night sky and illuminated the near empty field. The intensity of the rain increased which created deep puddles of rain water atop the thick, green grass. He felt the lump in his throat and that promise that he made, that he wouldn’t cry and instead stay strong, came close to being broken. He watched as six of his brothers lowered the makeshift casket into the ground. There were others along both sides of the deep chasm where their comrade was buried.
After another clap of thunder, he felt a firm hand grip his left shoulder. Kaspar turned that way and nodded his head at Clarke. Clarke looked deep into his eyes through the thick lenses with beads of water dripping down them. It was at this moment that Kaspar realized that Clarke was the only friend that he had left.
Harvey shouted something that was nearly muffled by the thunderous skies above. Three of the men turned and pointed their M16 assault rifles to the sky. Harvey screamed “fire!” and they obeyed. The loud cracks of the rifles echoed in the air. Kaspar jolted in surprise just before Harvey ordered another round of fire.
As the men fired, the ones on either end of the burial ground began to unfold a large American flag. When it was completely unfolded, Harvey had a few things to say about patriotism and how the world had just lost a great warrior. Not just a warrior, Harvey reminded all of them, but a great person and friend, as well. Kaspar paid little attention to it. Instead, his mind was consumed with the memories he had with Krys. These memories that he had would last in his consciousness as long as he remained alive. In that way, it would be like the fallen was never really gone. However, just like with Mother, Kaspar knew that she would never be visible in this world again.
Harvey turned to Kaspar and asked if he wanted to say a few words. He nodded and walked to the front. What could be said about the person who brought him to life and was now gone? The person that he loved the most in this whole world left him and now he was forced to wander around, alone. As his mind raced for something to say, he took a deep breath, fighting back a few tears as he did. He would regret this moment forever if he simply said nothing at his one true love’s funeral.
“What can I say?” Kaspar started. He felt the lump in his throat again and paused to clear it. “Krys was the funniest, strangest, and the most brave person I have ever met. I am positive that as long as I live, I will never meet someone that I will love more than her. When we first met, I was so self-absorbed in my own sorrow, in my own self-pity. She taught me that it was okay to live with my pain. And, no matter how selfish or stubborn I was, she loved me like no one has ever loved me. She was the best person on the planet. And, believe me when I say this, the USR will pay for her death.”
He had already forgotten the promise that he made to her with those words.
.36
The Board of Elders watched the news broadcasts on the large TVs which lined the side wall. Most of the members couldn’t hold back the smiles on their faces as the news affiliates from all across the USR reported on the latest deadly attack brought about by the resistance. Anti-American rhetoric was also present on nearly all of the broadcasts. The USR, the reports said, would not sit back and just let the resistance tear this country apart.
For his part, Caine kept a low profile at the end of the table. He watched with intent eyes and his ears were wide open. Destroying the cure, to some, was a bad move. There were no doubt others in his Board that felt the same as that other prick, but after seeing his fate, they kept their mouths shut. The only one he knew for sure was on his side was Blake, who as second in command, had obvious political reasons for siding with him. There was just too much power to lose by doing something stupid and speaking out at inappropriate times.
Caine had enough of the TV and turned the screens off. His Elders looked to him with anticipation in their eyes. They were ready to know what would happen next. A few of the Elders had already talked to Caine outside of the Boardroom, but Caine reassured each individual that everything, again, was under control. When would they realize that he knew all the right moves to make?
Before he spoke, his eyes moved down the table to each one of his men. At the end was Blake, who had a peculiar smirk on his face. He nodded his head towards his leader and Caine nodded back. Blake was the only one who knew what was to come. Their next phase of control over the population was about to commence. It was all thanks to those resistance members who tried to take what was his. They could, whether they wanted to admit it or not, thank themselves for what was about to happen.
Caine marveled to himself for a moment at the brilliance of his plan that was set in motion. With all of the compounds which were used to manufacture the population control drug, he assumed that the resistance would also be searching for the cure to the old drug. So, after another compound was attacked, he intentionally leaked the whereabouts to the cure on the computer systems. It was very much a high risk/high reward operation. The hope was that the resistance would take the bait and go after it.
It worked to near perfection as the cyphers that he dispatched all around that mountain caught a glimpse of a team of terrorists hiking their way towards it. Once Caine received confirmation, he called in the birds and also a hit squad to take out the rebel squad. It didn’t work to full perfection, as some of the rebels survived the attack. However, the more significant damage had been done. The cure was destroyed and, thanks to the cyphers, they had visual evidence of the resistance at the scene of the crime. It was truly brilliant.
“Gentlemen,” Caine said. “Congratulate yourselves!”
There came a sharp round of applause from the Elders. They looked to their leader with smiles and looks of accomplishment. This was one of Caine’s favorite parts of the job. He truly got off on the accolades and lesser individuals giving him praise. When he said ‘congratulate yourselves’ what he meant was ‘congratulate me’. Caine held up his hand to quiet down the applause.
“Now,” he continued. “On to the next assignment, I suppose. From here, we’ve got more leeway to advance our cause. Which is to keep those filthy buggers down there in check. We are going to intensify our search for the resistance. And, those fools are so scared out of their minds that they will not say anything about it. In fact, I think that they will grow needier of our services.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
Caine smiled. “It’s quite simple, my friend. Let me introduce you all to General Hank Blackman. He was a member of our Committee here in this city.”
The room grew silent as the decorated war veteran walked into the room. Though the medals and flag pins from other countries meant nothing to him now, he liked to show them off whenever he could to let people know he meant business. He wanted people to respect what he’d been through. It worked, as he received nothing but respect from anyone he ever encountered. Whether it came from those resistance dogs or these high and mighties in their fancy suits that must have cost a fortune.
Blackman had a lot to think about in the past few months after his Committee was put out of commission. The USR still paid him a nice sum of credits for time served. The more time he had to think, the more he wanted to stop thinking and get back to work. He was delighted when he got the call from Caine about a new operation that the USR was to conduct, though the full specifics were not mentioned to him. All that mattered to Blackman was that they wanted him to be the leader of it and the old General couldn’t help but smile big while he held the phone.
“Evening, gentlemen,” Blackman greeted, “you all look dressed for some fine occasion.”
“It is a fine occasion,” an Elder said. “We just scored another victory.”
“That you have,” Blackman agreed with a head nod. “However, there is still work to be done. There are still rebels out there ready, willing, and able to strike back at us. They are always out there. We have to snuff them o
ut.”
“That’s correct, General, sir.” Caine said with a sarcastic tone to his voice. “We need to up our game and hunt these boys down.”
“How do you propose we do that?” asked an Elder.
“It’s simple,” Caine replied. “General?”
“We’ve got plenty of surveillance on the ground, in the form of your Agents on the streets. However, the resistance is still in hiding. To up the ante, we are going to apply military personnel on the ground.”
“Declaring martial law? Brilliant.”
“That’s right,” Caine spoke up. “With troops on the ground, in our major cities, we will be able to not only find the rebels, but also keep those little ants out there in check. As we all know, these citizens that we have under our control don’t know what’s good for them. They think they do, but they don’t. Our military, they will be able to further help them on the path of righteousness, so to speak.”
There was a loud bat of laughter that filled the room from Caine’s words. Caine joined them with a few chuckles of his own. He truly loved his life and it was moments like these that brought even more joy to his soul. With a wave of his hand, he got the Board to quiet down.
“All right, let’s settle down. The General has some more to tell us, isn’t that right?”
“That’s correct, sir.” Blackman replied. The General was growing tired of the Board’s games and lack of respect. But, they were the USR’s leaders, so he had to just deal with it and respect them. “We might have some rebels sneaking around here, in this city.”
There was a collective gasp from everyone but Caine and his second in command. He had their full attention now. There was nothing but looks of complete anticipation from them. Gone were the stupid jokes and the snide remarks. Blackman soaked all of their looks up and breathed in deep.
“That’s right, they are right under our nose.” Blackman continued. “We need to put an end to their activities.”
“What have they been doing?”
Blackman answered the Elder with a complete breakdown of each of the suspects. He explained, in great detail, about the top secret factory that they worked in. When he got to the point of what department they were involved in, the attention in the room grew more intense. It took him a few minutes, but he finally got to the end about the best COA to bring them to justice. Of course, there would be no trials or anything like that.
No, Blackman had the perfect solution for dealing with the problem.
.37
Sullivan rocked the recliner back and forth with gritted teeth as he watched what was going on in the news. The cure, it had been destroyed, and the USR was blaming the resistance for it. That, of course, didn’t make any sense to Sullivan as he thought about how the USR operated…how he operated when he was the big shot Agent in town. To the USR, the truth wasn’t important. What was important was how they could spin the truth to create their own truth which, of course, the public believed because they didn’t know any better.
Davie was wrapped up close to him on his chest. The little boy fell asleep about an hour ago. He almost sent the boy to bed, but with what little time he spent with his son, he just let him sleep. Even though the boy was unconscious, Sullivan still felt like this was a way of spending time together. He looked down at him and smiled. The smile quickly dissipated, however, when he thought about the type of world Davie would live in when he grew up. That was a life that no father in his right mind would have for his son. Not a world where its leaders poisoned their own people.
Sullivan cradled the boy and quietly moved him to the back bedroom. They were at Mary’s house once again. Surprisingly, he was able to get out of work today at a decent time. They went to the hideout, which of course was quiet, so they got to leave. The investigation on the suspected rebels would grow a bit more intense, and Sullivan knew it. They would start to go after them at home.
Once he had Davie in the bed, he tucked him in nice and snug. Davie began to blink his eyes a little bit as he woke. He asked his father what was going on. Sullivan smiled and told his son to go back to sleep. Within seconds, Davie was back in dreamland. Sullivan stood over the bed for a moment and just watched his boy sleep. The boy was so at peace in his bed, no doubt dreaming about being a superhero or something. Putting away bad people like his dad was supposed to do. For the first time, Sullivan could feel something inside like he was about to do the right thing. The only downside, which would be almost enough to make him not go through with it, was that he would have to leave Davie behind while he went out and fought.
The time for thinking about that was premature. Sullivan turned and quietly closed the door. As he walked down the hallway, he pulled out his black cell phone which had a secure line to keep the USR’s curious ears away from his conversations. The number to the phone Reed had was on speed dial. Sullivan pressed the number, listened to the phone quickly dial the number, and then listened to the phone ring four times. He was starting to get nervous until Reed finally answered after the fifth ring.
“This is Travis,” Reed said.
“Travis, Sullivan, how’s everything?” Sullivan replied.
“Doing just fine, on my way home from work.”
“Good. You being followed or anything?”
There was a pause on the other end. Sullivan assumed that it was Reed checking his surroundings. There was also some chatter that Sullivan could hear on the other end. It must have been some, if not all, of Reed’s boys talking amongst themselves. Sullivan really hoped that it was only a few and not all of them. He had enough faith in Reed’s smarts to trust that he knew better.
“All clear,” Reed replied after the brief moment of silence.
“We were at your funhouse today. We didn’t see or hear anything.”
“Of course not.”
“Listen to me, things will get tougher from here. They are going to get more aggressive. I haven’t been able to convince my superiors that there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Okay.”
“Whatever you guys are planning, get it done. Get it done fast. Can we meet tomorrow?”
“Yeah, where?”
Sullivan named the time and place.