Consigning Fate (23 page)

“And it’s easier for you to believe he is alive ... in the future?”

“And it’s not for you? Think about it Dean. How badly did my father want to beat his illness? How hard did he fight it? All that to blow himself up? I’d believe it was a setup that went wrong, before I believe he killed himself.”

“OK. Stop.” Dean made a ‘T’ with his hands. “We know Joe’s prints were on the bomb.”

“Yes.”

“And the clone was there. The clone has your answers.”

“Will he say?”

Dean shrugged.

“Dean …”

“Robbie, I will work with you. Work on this. I will go along with your theory, I will help you prove anything you need me to prove.”

“But we have to eliminate this, Dean. We have to eliminate this possibility before we look further into this case. My father’s prints were on that bomb. So we have to check this possibility out. And it is a possibility.”

“But you have to give me something to go on. Something.”

“What if Frank was in on it?” Robbie asked. “Frank didn’t mourn our father, he jumped right into place. Frank pulled him from the office. Frank pronounced him dead.”

Dean exhaled and stood again.

“Possible?”

“Possible. Not probable. We had a funeral.”

“Closed casket.”

“We buried a body.”

Robbie just stared. “That’s easy enough to check.”

“Are you suggesting?” Dean asked. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

Robbie’s answer was merely a stare. He stared directly into Dean’s eyes.

<><><><>

Ring.

Hal grunted, looking at his phone. He and Elliott sat in the waiting room of the Creedville hospital.

“Frank again?” Elliott asked.

“Yes.” Hal, disgruntled, answered. “What is it now, Frank?”

“When are you coming to Beginnings?”

“I just told you I don’t know.”

“Well, I want to know. Give me a time.”

“Tonight.”

“When?”

“Don’t you have a meeting with George or something?”

“Yeah, waiting for him and Danny. What time.”

“I don’t know. Why is it important?”

“I want you to come and hang out with …” Frank cleared his throat. “Dean.”

“Dean?”

“Yes, Dean. You know Dean that is working right now in the clinic.”

“Why?”

“You have to.”

“Fine. I’ll see you tonight. I have to get some sleep Frank.”

“Get some sleep. I want to plan a poker night.”

“Good God.”

Frank laughed.

“Bye.” Hal hung up. He tapped his phone on his leg. “He wants me to hang out with Dean.”

“It’s my night.”

‘No, not that Dean. The other Dean.”

Surprising them both, Ellen spoke, “There’s another Dean in Beginnings?”

Elliott covered. “No, we have a soldier named Dean.”

“And it’s your night to hang out with him?” Ellen asked.

“Work with him,” Elliot smiled. “So the baby was born?”

“Little girl. Perfect. The ultra sound showed all her body parts, but we weren’t sure about the skin. She has skin and hair. Mother is doing well too.”

“Well,” Hal said. “It’s about time it was born.”

“It … was born?” Ellen asked. “Sorry, Hal, it’s birth. You can’t just rush things along.”

“And why not. One would think with all the progress in medicine, that birthing could just become a matter of ejecting the offspring.”

“Eject the offspring?” Ellen asked.

“Yes.” Hal nodded. “Legs in the stirrups, some sort of shocking jolt to the belly and out comes the child.”

“Oh, my God, you’re such a Slagel.” Ellen shook her head. “So you two never told me why you rushed here.”

“It wasn’t to sit in the waiting room, that’s for sure,” Hal said.

“So why did you stay?”

“To wait for you.” Hal held out his hand. “Escort you to Beginnings.”

“Why?” She folded her arms.

Elliott answered. “New security measures. No one is to travel the roads alone.”

“I was fine.”

“You never know,” Elliott said

“And when was this new security measure made?”

Hal replied. “You weren’t paying attention when we posted it. Perhaps you were sleeping, or dabbling in experiments or line dancing with George. Whatever the case. You didn’t get the memo.”

“And it took two of you to escort me?”

“Good heavens, Ellen.” Hal snapped “Can you just let it go and allow Sgt. Ryder to ride with you or drive you to Beginnings.”

““Yeah, but I want to stop in Bowman first.”

“What for?” Hal asked.

“Lunch,” Ellen answered. “It’s Oodles of Dan Noodles day, and they’re making a meal with them. I had the breakfast, it was good.”

Elliott said. “The captain hated it. Gave him gas.”

Hal winced in disgust. “Thank you for that, Elliott.”

“Is that why I’m not riding with you, Hal?” Ellen asked.

“No!” Hal snapped. “God. Can we just go?”

“Not yet,” Ellen said. “I have to wait for Creed.”

Hal threw his hands outward. “I quit.”

“Captain, I can wait for Ellen.”

Ellen said, “He can’t go, Elliott. New security measures. Can’t ride alone.”

“Well it doesn’t count.” Hal said. “Not for me.”

“Says who?” Ellen asked.

“Me, that’s who. I’m in charge.”

“Technically … Frank is.”

“Technically my ass.” Hal nodded, kissed Ellen on the forehead. “See you two in Bowman.”

Elliott cleared this throat after Hal left. “The captain is a bit moody.”

“Probably the gas.” Ellen shrugged. “I’m going to go check on the mother. Creed should be here shortly.”

“And I’ll just wait …” Elliott smiled and took his seat in the waiting room while Ellen tended to the medical matters at hand.

<><><><>

Trish had interrupted momentarily, and that was to bring more coffee to Frank’s office. They paused the conversation. A conversation that hadn’t even touched upon why they were meeting.

Danny refreshed everyone’s cup, while Frank exhaled into his hand.

“I don’t mean to step over boundaries,” George said. “OK, I do. But this deserves some thought. A lot of changes have occurred around you, Frank. A lot. The loss of your father, the sudden leadership role, just taking over that is stressful. It makes you put other things secondary.”

Frank nodded.

“I’m just simply saying, things done to Beginnings, to the Society, from both our sides, it was intentional. We have buried that. Put it behind us. What Johnny did, was caused by his tumor. I just want you to think about it, and think about talking to him.”

After a single nod, Frank looked at Danny.

Danny shrugged. “Tough call, Frank. Sometimes though it’s easier to hold the hatchet than to bury it.”

“I’ll give it some thought. I really will.” Another exhale. “Ok,” Frank said. “Let’s get this started. Issues.” He nodded at Danny.

“First …” Danny reviewed his list. “The Mike situation. Right now he’s in a holding cell.”

“Can we release him?” Frank asked.

George lifted his and in defeat. “I don’t know. He’s not buying the war or anything.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Danny said. “Tigger. I think Tigger should return with George to the Society side of the country and speak to his father. Maybe come back with him. Can you two coexist?”

Frank chuckled “Probably not.”

George said, “I could use him if he agreed. Really. He has experience. And you guys would be miles apart.”

“Well, why don’t we talk to Tigger and get his take.”

Danny nodded and wrote down. “Next … the satellite system still is not running. We do expect to be operational soon. But does that mean we’re gonna catch anything?”

George replied, “We’ll be able to scan the skies and sea, but we’re gonna have a perimeter. They’ll have to get into that area.”

“What area?” Danny asked. “Where are they coming from?”

“I’ve always had a theory,” George said. “We feed most of the world. Eventually, they would have to make their way here to live. I’ve said this from the get-go and have planned for it. Unfortunately, my troops and their training leave a lot to be desired. This will have to be worked on ASAP. I think the attack or the invasion is going to come from the Eastern World. Asia, Russia.”

Frank nodded. “The Fredrickson hit there, so it’s possible they planned on leaving, knew it was coming.”

“That would have to be a hell of a movement,” Danny said. “If they’re invading here. They’d have to have the means. Would they all come at once?”

“An attack. Maybe.” Frank said. “They have to know we’re occupying the East Coast, mainly. It’s easiest for us. Plus, the Fredrickson killed our west coast. So, I highly doubt an attack would come from there.”

“We should check,” George said. “Has anyone flown a reconnaissance over the west coast for damage?”

“No,” Frank answered.

“How about Robbie and I do it while I’m over this way.” George suggested. “It’ll give us an idea of what that seaboard looks like and if it’s viable.”

“Good idea. We’ll get together with Robbie on that,” Frank said.

Danny asked. “If it were you Frank. How would you do it?”

“Hit us?” Frank asked. “The West Coast is out. I wouldn’t even consider it. Me, I’d have two visible invasions. One from the east, one from the south, up through the Gulf of Mexico. I’d use SLBM to make strategic hits on our soil. Weaken us, then a ground invasion.”

“From which way?” Danny asked.

“Every way. Depends on what way they nuke us from. I also wouldn’t rule out coming from the north. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt at all if they already started moving troops in up there to come down. I would. Months before the big attack I’d have my men up there waiting.”

“Holy shit,” Danny said. “What about these rebels on bikes? Ryder thinks they’re coming from the north.”

George said, “Eight men on bikes do not make an invasion. They do however, make a good cover for a scouting team.”

“I agree,” Frank said. “Hal’s getting scouts together to look for them.”

“If it is them,” Danny said. “If they’ve been moving their troops in up there. Then what? What do we do?”

“Mobilize.” Frank said. “Mobilize units up north with surveillance equipment. George has the troop power, but they aren’t ready.”

George shook his head. “Not in the least.”

“All right how about this. I’ll get a hold of Doyle, have him pick out ten of his best men and they head east to start training your men properly.”

Under your direction?” George asked.

“Absolutely.”

“That’s the only way it’ll work Frank.” George said. “I’ve always said you had the knack.”

“We’ve got to get ready. Period” Frank said. “That’s it. Get ready. We’ll prep Doyle for deployment to the east to train. Get your man on the horn to gather your troops into ten training divisions. We’ll work out the numbers later. This has to be done, without hesitation. Obviously, they’re coming. We just don’t know how, or when. We just …” Frank paused. “We have to prepare.”

<><><><>

How horribly devastating it would be, Dean thought. Robbie’s thought process was going towards Joe not being dead. Dean as a scientist and a doctor knew the odds of that were slim.

It wouldn’t be as bad if Robbie wasn’t his son, but he was. He knew himself how hard it was to lose a father.

But to get your hopes up that he was alive, only to have them crushed …

Robbie didn’t deal well with Joe’s death. He hoped this wasn’t a setback.

There had to be an explanation. Joe’s fingerprints were on the bomb.

Dean thought back to the day Joe died. How by the time he found out he went to see Ellen, and Joe was already in a coffin when Dean arrived back at the hospital.

The memorial service was held, closed casket, in an auditorium. Then after, a procession took them a few miles out of Bowman. Elliott had found the location. Actually, it wasn’t far from where Dean was hiding. A cemetery, and just inside was a personal mausoleum. A white structure with pillars and golden doors. So fitting for a man like Joe. Upon learning that no one was placed to rest in there, UWA soldiers cleaned up the vines, the high grass, and washed the building to perfection. The tomb was opened, and Joe’s casket placed inside.

Was it sealed?

Dean doubted it. In the old a tomb had to be sealed, but why would Beginnings seal it.

He didn’t know. But Dean wanted to know about the fingerprints. Why they were there. What all went down that day? What seemed at first to be a simple plot of assassination, suddenly twisted and turned into a bigger mystery.