Final Challenge (32 page)

Only in me!

Those words struck deep into Hanson. Behind dementia of Clerigan had an obsession, that of p
erpetuating the woman he loved.
For a moment
the image of Kelly
crossed his mind, he felt about her what had never felt for any woman, despite having passed so many for his life and
for
his bed.
He was not willing to lose her under any circumstances, so he posed himself the question of what he had been able to do if Kelly disappeared forever from his life and he had the resour
ces and knowledge of the professor
. He concluded that he could not criticize him for his obsession but by pass over all moral values
, for causing so much unjust suffering to satisfy his selfishness.
Hanson also thought that although you love someone deeply, you have to know how to accept her death. Never, however much it may seem to her, there will be no one to fill that gap.  As he
threw in the hands of another woman, although she was a clone of the former, all that he showed was that, more than loving her, he loved himself. Hanson remembered something that he had read related with the iconodules that could have something in common, because Iconodules did something similar, worshiped an image representing their God, that is, their desire to have God near them, to achieve an image that would meet thei
r expectations, exceeded their
admiration and respect.

 
H
anson, as a result of his re
flect
ion, made
a comment, followed by a tough question
.

- I would wish you had realized your mistake before starting all this! Clerigan, I can even understand your reasons a
nd why you've done, but I can’
t understand is for what. Where the road takes you
now?...  Where once that your hopes, your ex
pectations have been frustrated

- 
Do you mean to say I'm a failed? - Raised his voice, one could see his eyes the glow that precedes anger - Failed? I admit that at first I didn't care how far I had to reach to quench the thirst to have her by my side, she was the soul of this project, I was the potter who only put his hands, so her spirit is in all and each of the creatures I created.
That's more than enough. Did you notice? - Stared at the children - would you call this a failure?

-
How is it possible that our socie
ty can breed monsters like you?
How?...  Something is wrong with our system - Harold mused aloud as he shook of his head - Mengele, the Nazi doctor at your side was a saint.

- Please do not ever compare me! I'm no ordinary butcher. And I have powerful people behind, people who
m
supported me and deserves respect - he paused, then looked up to heaven - This is a new world with a new power.

- A power which does not mind the blood on his hands - pointed out the President -

- You'd be surprised if you knew some of the names of people who support us. You may win this battle, but your war is lost.

 
Hanson, true to his character, was getting impatient. It struck him that the talk of Clerigan only sought to conceal his desire for justification, self-pity.
That
waiting didn’t take them anywhere.

-
Come on Clerigan, you have no outlet.
Surrender!

- I think you haven't correctly assessed the situation - Clerigan answered a sarcastic smile - Drop your weapons and leave this house right now!.
Get away.
Walk until
the gate
of the fortress.

- What do you pretend? You have nothing to do!

-
I'm not going to repeat it - shouted Clerigan making as if to shoot Tommy -  

They had no choice. Hanson left his weapons on the
ground and then, with a look,
invited their colleagues to follow suit.

- Okay, it looks like we're getting understand each other - told Clerigan challenging them with his gun - Now go out one by one, slowly - think twice and corrected - rather, by first the lady, never forget that first and foremost I am a gentleman. Then you, President, I mean ... former president. Then yo
u,
detective, and finally, Mr. Klein. If anyone stops in the garden, halfway betwe
en the house and the palisade,
the following one will pay for it.

They were going out in the
e
stablished order, except Harold, who messed up, had to be helped by Susan. Clerigan told when corresponded to get out each of them with a pause of about two minutes between each.

As soon as Klein, the last one, went out the door, Cl
erigan shot two bullets in his
back. Klein tried to get up and continue, moment in which he received two shots more that finally ended his life.
When Hanson heard the shots, he turned around and saw Klein lying on the ground. Then he ran back toward the house. He came like a shot, so Clerigan missed his shot. Then, as Hanson was about to go upstairs, Clerigan pointed with his gun to the child.

 
- Stop playing games. Go
again
with your peers or I kill her now.

 
- Miserable! - Hanson answered before retiring slowly,
as if he was unable to resign
to his fate, to the garden -

Kelly went to Hanson's step and they fused in an embrace, under the watchful eye of Marvin. It had been too long without knowing of each other, wondering if they would have opportunity to meet again, imagining as would be the time of their remeeting. They stayed embraced without uttering a word, the mere presence of the other was enough to reward them for so much suffering, for a moment became isolated from the reality around them. Then they gently took to Marvin between both and withdrew him to a safe distance from the house.

 
In turn,
Clerigan desperately sought a plan that could save both him and his project, but the only chance he could think of, was that the Indians made
an appearance.  He also missed his man at the village, surely he would come to hel
p him soon. In any c
ase, they should have come for some time
, it was strange that they had not been aware of the shooting.

Martha had been kept at the back of Clerigan, sh
e had been listening intently to each and every one of the words he had spoken to the strange, wasting no detail of his attitude. Although her mental age didn't exceed seven years, she had sufficient intellectual capacity to understand and interpret his arguments.
She felt humiliated, disappointed, betrayed. She
thought that her father didn't
deserve any respect. He had cheated her. She had been like a puppet in his hands, like a toy he had made to meet his instincts. All he promised was a lie, she meant nothing to him, only a reflection of a past to which he clung for fear of being left with nothing.
And even he wasn't a better father to the rest of his brothers. He had created them to satisfy their selfishness and vanity, not to give them a chance to be happy.

As
Clerigan was seeking a solution he didn't find, he detected on his back a smell of smoke that caught his attention. When he turned around, his worst fears came true. The curtains were on fire, but he couldn't understand what had happened.
Then he stared at the clone of his beloved Martha
, she had a candelabrum
in her
hand,
it couldn't
have other explanation to that fire
. By looking in more deta
il, also observed flames coming
out of her dress.
Surprised, h
is first thought was that it had been
an accident. He didn't have time to react, let alone to draw conclusions as what had been the cause. Martha rushed into flames on her biotechnologic father and at the same time lover, whom hit while shouting desperately.

- I hate you, hate you, hate you. Why did you give us life? I do not want to live! 

Clerigan's clothes began to burn, the smoke was unbearable,
it di
dn't allow them to breathe, the
wood did the rest. The screams were app
alling, as much that they were
the first sign that Hanson perceived from the garden, even before the smoke was beginning to go out the mansion.

Hanson ran toward the house, and behind him Kelly. When he arrived, the scene was horrific. The upper floor was inaccessible, in flames. However, in a sublime effort, he tried to climb the wooden stairs, but before he set foot on the second rung collapsed.
He could see, in the darkness of smoke, Martha standing, undaunted, worthy, as if she didn't care to immolate, as if death meant her release, as if conscious of having done the right thing.
The smoke and fire had taken over the mansion, bec
oming Clerigan's paradise into
a hell, an allegory of what he had created in his intention to revive a past that had been reluctant to lose.

Hanson could do nothing except save his own life. He w
ent out hal
f suff
ocated, Kelly
helped him to get a few meters away. He was coughing, lying on the ground for a while, unable to s
peak as
Kelly tried to reanimate
him.
As soon as he felt
a little better, he looked back and could see how the whole house was engulfed in flames.

-
         
You've taken them with you to your hell, bastard! - Exclaimed -

-
         
And he has also brought his secrets with him - Kelly turned his eyes instinctively toward the bungalow. Most of them were there, which could mean a breakthrough for humanity or the greatest of disasters, depending on the hands that they fell. She was, as a scientist, tempted to approach, but then reconsidered it, thinking that it would be best leaving it to fate, the same fate that had carried to Clerigan to meet  with the love of his life, which he had always been longing to the point of losing his mind and defy all laws human and divine -.

-
         
I fear there will be always some Clerigan in this world - Hanson reflected in the arms of Kelly
-

The house was about to collapse, they had to get up and walk away as soon as possible to get to safety. Between the two moved to Marvin to the gate of the stockade, where President a
nd Susan were waiting for them.
Susan kissed and embraced to
Marvin.
He reassured her.
In turn, Kelly got a great surprise as she met Harold, it was clear that Hanson had many things to tell her. Hanson then approached
to
the corpse de Souza. That great guy as smart as kindly, as cunning as prudent, without whose knowledge of the Amazon would
never have achieved their goal.
They were in eternal debt with him. He had given them everything, even his life in a act of courage t
o save the life of his peer
.
It seemed unfair that Souza would have been just the victim. He thought that life does not understand about justices or injustices, it does not always help those who deserve it jus
t as rarely punishes evil wills
.
Ho
wever, as he crouched beside him
and picked up his badge, the keys of the helicopter and hat, he thought that perhaps Souza was the piece that God, or fate or whatever handle the threads of our lives, had sacrificed to do finally justice. Because Clerigan, driven by an obsession that had become dementia, had challenged not only human laws but divine so they probably had turned eventually against him.

XL

 
Th
ey decided to pick up the last mercenary
of Clerigan that was still alive, the same that Marvin and Souza had left tied in the middle of the forest, they found him as they had left. They improvised two stretchers with branches and vines from the trees. In one of them placed the President, who had led his effort to the extent of fainting, so Hanson and Clerigan took him in the first instance. On another of them set out to Marvin, being
carried by
Kelly and Susan, who in an act of integrity rejected that nobody help
s
her.

They surrounded the village with the intention of avoiding
it
, at their ignorance of what could have been the reaction of the natives to appreciate the smoke of the fortress in the distance. They could have decided to approach or the opposite, moving away terrified. It could even happen that they would have continued to make their daily lives in the village, without flinching, but whatever it was, they had no doubt that it would be best avoiding to meet them on their path.