The Last World (17 page)

Those were not thoughts Horace wanted to deal with on a day like this. He was five minutes away from class being over for the next three days and he didn’t have to work at all until the following day after trading his shift. It‘d mean he had to work on one of his usual days off, but it was worth it. With the afternoon and evening off, he planned to spend as much time with Janice as possible. Professor Davis was finishing his lecture when the bell sounded
, but no one moved—they were finished only when their Professor was done. He didn’t take too long, and just when his students thought he wouldn’t end their suffering, he smiled and excused them until their next class with four chapters to read for discussion.

Horace was raised with manners
; he wouldn’t push anyone out of his way and he’d help anyone that needed it, but right then he wanted to get outside and enjoy himself. His fellow students felt much the same pang that he did, so there wasn’t a lot of waiting around for the room to empty. Once outside, he turned right and through a set of double doors, then left under the covered walkway lined with bushes and mulched flowerbeds. After about forty feet, he turned right onto a wood-chipped path leading into the commons where Janice and Buster were waiting.

Once he reached them, Horace hugged Janice, returned her kiss,
and then knelt down to pet Buster before the puppy broke a bone or lost his tail from wagging too hard. While he was rubbing Buster’s ears, Janice asked something he never thought he’d hear again. “Why do they call you ‘The Hammer’?”

Damn it
, Steve!
Certain the name came from his friend, he rose to his feet with thoughts of murder dancing through his mind. He explained the origin of the name to her. When he finished, Janice fought back her laughter.

“They’re scared of you because of a high school nickname?”

“A
football
nickname. There’s a difference, you know.”

Janice nodded, trying not to laugh in his face
. “Still, it’s from high school.”

Horace groaned, causing her to burst into laughter
and leaving him embarrassed at a name he got for knocking out an opposing player that tried to tackle him. It wasn’t as if it was planned, he was the quarterback for God’s sake!

Chapter 21

The ringing phone on the nightstand filled the room with its obnoxious sound, but no one stirred. Winfield Bowen was in such a deep sleep of exhaustion that the sound didn’t cut through the thick fog between him and wakefulness. When it managed to finally slice into the deep recesses where his mind was hidden away from all outside stimuli, he leapt from the bed in an odd, twisted way with an arm outstretched to grab the phone.

Few can say
they’re intelligent when they first wake up and even fewer have any brain function at all when woken from a sound sleep by a phone or other unnatural method. Despite all of his skill, intelligence, and exploits, Winfield fell into the latter category. Among the first thoughts to cross his mind was the big one just dropped, and how far apart were the contractions. Nothing he’d have to experience at any point in the near future, but that is how the mind works. Lucky for him, all of those thoughts vacated his mind and the cobwebs were brushed aside only to be filled by another, more pressing fear.
Something happened to Franklin!

Once he held the receiver in his hand and heard the voice, Winfield couldn’t believe how relieved he was that the voice on the other end wasn’t Doctor Doug’s. “General Bowen
?”

Winfield remained quiet for a moment trying to put a face to the voice. “Speaking.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone and Winfield could hear the clicking of keys. “This is Captain Thompson, sir. We wanted to keep you within the loop for
Orion IV
. Is this a secure line, sir?”

What the… How stupid is this kid?
Winfield took a deep breath to calm his temper. As was standard protocol, he contacted the base he was stationed at for the foreseeable future with his contact number here in case something needed his attention. This was something unexpected. “Captain, let me ask you something. Do we discuss such things over motel room phones?”

Winfield could hear the young man swallow
, and when he spoke, his voice wasn’t nearly as strong as it’d been a moment before. “Yes, sir… um, I mean…”

“Calm down
, son. I assume your call is in the positive?”

“Yes
, sir.”

“Good. Next time you contact me you will not mention anything relating to this topic, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, is there anything else,
Lieutenant
?”

“N…” His voice trailed off at the mention of a lower rank but he regained his composure. “No
, sir.”

With a nod and without saying anything more, Winfield hung up the phone. As one of the top brass in the
Military Intelligence, he knew better than to discuss certain topics over open lines and those beneath him knew better too. Winfield hadn’t been kidding at lowering the man’s rank, considering he could gain the support of the proper people. It amazed him at how fast his good mood from earlier was ruined because of an idiot that should be on KP duty for the remainder of his career.

The funniest thing about the whole situation was that it didn’t concern national security, at least not in entirety. The
Orion IV project was a new breed of satellite that lifted into orbit the previous week. While the threat to national security was slight since the new communication satellite was already in place, it was still something they didn’t want to become known to the world. The Orion IV
was the most scientifically advanced machine mankind ever constructed, designed to monitor all electronic transmissions on the Earth for the purpose of national and international security. By doing so, it was hoped by its creator and programmer, Hans Fleece, to be the instrument to finally bring peace to the world and end the senseless killing one saw on TV on a daily basis.

By using his own contacts, Winfield managed to sit down with Fleece and
, over the course of three years, convinced him to work for the United States government. His reasoning was simple; if the intelligence branch of the United States Military knew what actions other countries were planning to take, it’d save time, money, material, and of course, lives. It was the perfect machine as far as he was concerned, and his superiors understood the ramifications of using such a device far sooner than he would’ve expected.

Hans Fleece was given the finest laboratory and
personnel he needed and wanted. The government couldn’t say no to the man that held the future of humanity in the keystrokes of his hands. Hans, for his part, agreed to develop his program into a usable device on the condition it would only be used to prevent bloodshed. His condition was met as no one intended it for anything else, not directly at any rate. It took another three years until the prototype was finished, with many more modifications than Fleece intended.

Following a successful series of tests, Fleece began work on a larger, much more powerful mechanism that was to be launched within two years. Over the course of
Orion IV’s construction, Fleece added several more elements to the satellite’s design which would enable it to remain in space indefinitely. Those latest changes came on the heels of improved solar panel designs by other engineers in answer to the country’s growing desire for green energy.

While such a thing had been successfully attempted by previous designers and engineers, Fleece worked to imbed similar panels into the metal siding of the satellite so that
, no matter what angle, it would have a continuous electrical charge. Between that late addition to the design and the upgraded computer brain, Fleece and many of those working with him believed the small, adult-sized satellite could think and function on its own for centuries after its launch. While some called those estimates extreme, one thing that was certain—Fleece would go down in history for what he created. If it would ever be printed in history books.

Winfield believed it’d go down as a marvel similar to how the pyramids were built and what really killed the Dinosaurs, so long as he had a say in it. Technology such as the
Orion IV would be catastrophic in the hands of other, less reputable governments throughout the world. The ability to intercept
every
piece of transmission from radio signals to computerized was an ability most would kill to possess. As it currently stood, America would be the lone beneficiary of the technology since they were also the only country with a computer system complex enough to download the communications from Orion IV around the clock seven days a week. While most of the information would be useless, since no one really cared about who did what to whom, the project could be looked on as a waste of money and violating the rights of every person on the planet. But then that’s why terms like Black Ops were created. So long as it saved American lives, General Winfield Jackson Bowen didn’t care who felt violated. Those having an issue with it could take it up with the boys in Arlington Cemetery. They were the ones that dealt with any and all complaints.

Putting the situation with the Captain out of his mind, Winfield rubbed his face and picked up the phone once more. After a few seconds, he heard the other end pick up and the familiar voice greeted him.

“Bowen residence.” He couldn’t forget the sound of Nancy’s voice in a million years.

“Good morning
, Babe. How’re you feeling?”

Winfield swore he could feel the cold come over the phone line and turn his blood to ice. “Oh, I’m alright.” His wife hesitated for a brief moment to let him think he could get a word in. “And so is Franklin, thank God.”

Winfield winced at the sound of her voice; he couldn’t believe it’d taken him so long to call her back. “I’m sorry, it’s just everything happened at once…” He wanted to continue, but he only shook his head at his own insensitivity for not calling her.

The frost was gone from her voice a second later
. “I know… Franklin told me what happened. Does the doctor have any idea what caused it?”

He shook his head,
not realizing she couldn’t see him. “None. In fact, he ran out of tests to run three times and there still isn’t a reason for Franklin to be sick or not. Nothing about it makes sense.”

The silence on the other end of the phone wasn’t an uncomfortable one
; it happened often between the pair over the years as their minds worked toward solving some issue in unison. For several minutes, neither one of them said anything before Nancy broke the silence.

“He chased away the devil.”

Winfield nodded, there wasn’t anything he could say or do to offer a counter point to her reasoning. As a man priding himself on being able to detach his emotions from any situation, he’d been very emotional to the point of becoming raw before the previous phone call forced his barrier to be raised. Nothing, not a damn thing, would ever allow him to think his son was a part of anything but a miracle. With each passing breath, he felt the old him reasserting itself but with a difference—he now had patience and room for his son in both his heart and soul.

“My boys. My boys.”
They were the only words Nancy could find within herself to say while thinking of the two of them mending the bridge that kept them apart for so many years. She was proud of both of them, and always would be.

Chapter 22

Sneaking around ha
d never been one of Zach’s strong character traits. It was for that reason he wanted to wait until the office personnel went home for the day before taking Steve into the computer lab. The funny thing about the lab was it didn’t have anything special about it on most days, but over the course of the previous week, everything changed.

Not being a computer geek himself, Zach was forced to watch and listen when he was in the room changing a light bulb a couple of days earlier. While it was business as usual for him, everyone in the room acted as though national security depended on what they did. They didn’t order him out or try to hide anything from him, quite the opposite
. They just ran around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Zach thought it was strange since he never saw anything like it before.

Most of the
national guardsmen were intent on their jobs and ignored him. Others didn’t feel the call to duty like their brethren. One, a young man that couldn’t be more than a month over eighteen, told him they were among a small group that monitored the various satellites circling the planet Earth, but their conversation was cut short when the guardsman’s senior officer returned from using the john. The thought of being able to see such things intrigued Zach at first, but he didn’t think any more of it until Steve told him about the meteor. The thought increased in intensity once they found proof of the meteor and he wondered if the satellites tracked meteors and other Earth-crossing anomalies.

Not for the first time, Zach wished he’d been born with a normal body like everyone else. He didn’t even have to be on the front lines if his superiors thought he’d be better serving in a technical way. Until then, he hadn’t thought about being anything other than a grunt, but the possibility of being behind a computer and helping his fellow s
oldiers in that capacity appealed to him. And to think, he owed his entire change of heart at how to serve to a dumb kid with daddy issues.

As luck would have it, Zach managed to bump into th
e same young man early that morning shortly after he and Steve arrived. He hoped to gain access to the computers for a brief time with a technician there to show them the operations. It wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did at times. They all knew Zach and he wasn‘t a security risk in any way. Unfortunately for him, new security procedures were put into place beginning that morning placing an actual MP on guard duty outside the room and only authorized staff were allowed inside.

Hearing the new status could easily have been a blow to him, but Zach wasn’t worried. It was the same regulation that had been in place since the day the computers were first brought in, except back in those days they helped monitor America’s security net, or what there was of one after that
fellow in the White House finished gutting their intelligence and military forces. Hell, Zach was lucky he hadn’t been laid off like the four or five thousand that were booted out of the shipyards in Philadelphia, but those memories are neither here nor there at the moment. Zach shook his head to clear them out. He and Steve were scheduled in the computer lab to clean and spot check everything to make sure they were all in working order.

After everyone left for the day, he and Steve were the last in the front reception hall and Zach motioned for Steve to follow his lead.

Steve was tired but still wired as he spent the day looking forward to what Zach had to show him. Throughout the day he had visions of super-secret laboratories and weapon testing areas. He found it hard to keep focused with his mind full of ideas about what he would see throughout the day, but he somehow managed to complete the tasks assigned to him by Zach without too much trouble.

As they walked down the hallway
toward the computer lab, Zach pulled him aside. “Whatever you do, do
not
act like an idiot and stare. We’re only to spot clean and spot check the equipment. Don’t touch anything.”

Steve nodded, barely containing his enthusiasm. “I’m as cool as a cucumber.”

Zach shook his head, this guy really needed to watch something else on TV. “Alright, remember that or you’ll be spending the next few years in Leavenworth.” At hearing that, Steve’s smile faded and he nodded.
Glad to see he can control himself better than he did during the day.
Zach nodded down the hall. “Alright, c’mon.”

The pair stepped out of their
brief huddle and continued down the hall, then turned left. The door to the computer lab was twenty feet ahead of them on the left with a burly guard standing at the door. The black and white MP patch was displayed on his arm. While most outside of the service don’t take the Military Police seriously, those that ran afoul of them would say otherwise. Zach knew that through what he read about them and saw on television.

Fighting back the growing sensation that he wasn’t as prepared for this as he thought, Zach stepped forward
and smiled. “Good afternoon. I’m Zach Wahl and this is Stephen Drake, we’re to clean and spot check the computer lab before we leave.”

The guard stood watching them, his chiseled features and bulky build enough to scare anyone that shouldn’t be there off. After a moment, he reached out to take their identification badges and checked them. When he was finished
, he nodded his permission to enter.

Steve fought back the urge to say “
as you were
” like he saw in so many movies. Instead, he smiled and nodded at the man in as friendly a manner as he could and received the same cold look from the guard as the man gave Zach.
So much for that.
Steve tried to hide his smile until they were in the computer lab.

His smile disappeared and was replaced with a stunned look. Surrounding them on three out of the four sides were a solid wall of desktop computers. Steve regained his composure before the young man in the room noticed.

A corporal, judging by the twin stripes on his shirt sleeves, turned and nodded their way before turning back to the computers and the lone technician working with him, a young woman he didn’t remember seeing before. Zach nudged him to begin wiping the terminals and tables down on the other side of the room. It took a few seconds, but Steve managed to pull his attention from the two active computers. While he couldn’t see what was on the screens, he wanted to ask them questions in the worst way.

Zach knew w
hat his friend had in mind and cursed himself for getting his hopes up. With the added security, he doubted they could get anything from the pair sitting with them. Trying to work out his angle, Zach began to wipe off the computers at the opposite end of the room from Steve and work his way around. He was hoping they’d meet by the pair about the same time so it wouldn’t be so obvious. Besides, he knew the kid would love what they had to say, he just didn’t want to lose his job in the process.

After a few minutes, he was only a couple of computers away from the
corporal when he “innocently” looked up at the screen. “Looks like they got you guys doing some grunt work tonight. I don’t know how you do it.”

The
corporal smiled and shook his head. While Zach didn’t know him personally, the man knew Zach since, well, everyone in the headquarters knew Zach. “You got that right. You’d think we could get something besides baseline readings.”

The tech looked at the young man in shock
. “That’s enough, Corporal,” she hissed loud enough for everyone to hear.

At first, the corporal turned to say “it’s only Zach”
, but instead he closed his mouth and turned back to the screen.

Steve’s eyes widened at the brief exchange and he began wondering how long he’d be locked
up for asking questions. This idea didn’t feel as good to him anymore. Whatever it was Zach wanted to show him wasn’t worth it and Steve flashed him a frightened glance.

Zach noticed his friend’s reaction but he didn’t give any indication of doing so. Instead, he continued on to try to smooth things over with the young woman. “My apologies
, ma’am. I was just making small talk, it won’t happen again.”

The woman pulled her gaze from the computer and Zach could see she wasn’t as young as he had thought. From across the room she looked as though she were in her twenties but up close, and with the harsh light from the computer screen,
she appeared every bit as old as Zach felt some days.
Christ, glad I didn’t get a tech job after all. It ages you way too fast.

S
he nodded, the bun on the top of her head bobbed with the motion. “Thank you, I’d appreciate that.” Which meant shut up or be arrested. It was a hint Zach understood very clearly.

“Do you wish for us to wipe off your terminals as well? We can wait if you’d like to switch to other ones.”

She shook her head, her eyes locked back on the computer screen. “No, we’ll take care of these.”

Zach nodded
. “No problem, anything else in here you need done?”

She let out a breath of impatience, but
she held in any remark she planned to say. “Not today, thank you.”

With a nod, Zach finished what he was working on and helped Steve with the last couple before they left. Once outside the room
, he nodded at the MP and continued walking with Steve right behind him. It wasn‘t until they reached the reception area and were ready to lock up that he felt all right to breathe.

“That was close.” Steve was breathing heavy and shaking.

I really want to play this guy at poker
. “What? They wouldn’t arrest us for asking an innocent question.”

“How are you so sure?”

I’m not
. “It’s not something our government does. They don’t arrest people without probable cause.”

Something about it still made Steve feel queasy
, although he wasn’t sure what it was. “She gave me the creeps.”

Zach nodded with a snort. “Yeah
, she is pretty cold-blooded, ain’t she?”

“I hope you have a better opinion of me at a later time
, Mr. Wahl.” Her voice caused both of them to jump out of their skins. Steve spun around so fast he almost tripped over a potted plant sitting off to the side and Zach clutched at his chest.

“Damn
, lady… I mean, ma’am. Don’t sneak up on a guy like that.”

A small smile spread across her face
. “I tend to do that when my ears start burning.”

Both men wanted to laugh but they were too busy catching their breath. After a minute, Zach nodded
in the direction she came from. “I was about to check on you all. The other two coming soon? We have to have this place locked up tight before we leave.”

She nodded
. “They had to make a side stop, but they’ll be along shortly.”

Steve recovered enough to wipe the sweat from his brow
. “How long are you going to be here?”

She looked at Steve with a questioning glance before Zach interpreted his meaning. “He means are you going to be stationed here for long
, or is it until you’re done with what you’re doing? We’re both curious, since we have to be the last ones to leave.”

His reasoning ma
de sense to her and she nodded. “I’d tell you if I could, but I don’t think an extra hour of overtime would hurt either of you gentlemen.” At the word overtime both men shook their heads. Who couldn’t use some extra money? “Good. Ah, here we are. Ready, gentlemen?” The corporal and MP turned the corner to join the little party. With a quick nod from each of them, Zach and Steve unlocked the double doors and led them outside into the darkening and cooling night. “See you tomorrow.” She walked away from them without the simplest care in the world with the MP, leaving the three men behind.

They were heading for their separate cars while the sedan carrying their two guests pulled out of the parking lot. Before they got into the
ir cars, Zach nodded toward the corporal. “So what’s the deal?”

The young man smiled and shook his head
. It was easy to see he was more nervous than he had a right to be. “I don’t know. I just sit there and collect data before it’s sent to DC.”

Zach nodded with his own smile
. “And here I was hoping it was some new video game you guys were playing.”

The corporal shook his head with a laugh. “No
, sir, nothing that exciting.”

With a shrug Zach waved bye and joined Steve in the car. “Well we still don’t know shit
, but it’s more than we knew this morning.”

Steve looked at him, the fear he felt when the woman rounded the corner was still apparent on his face. “What the hell are you talking about? How could we learn anything more than this morning?” His mind was a jumbled mess due to the added stress of the past twenty minutes. Nothing made sense to him at that point and it was driving him crazy.

Zach smiled as he started the mustang’s engine. “They’re here for something. I’ll bet it has to do with that meteor of yours.” Steve’s face went white at hearing that, but Zach tried to calm him. No sense in scaring the boy into running to the authorities about what he saw. Changing tactics, he smiled at Steve. “I’m joking. If they were looking for a meteorite or comet there’d be more than a tech and MP here. Got me?” Steve nodded. “I think it’s best if we leave things be. There’s no need to get our asses in the sling over nothing.”