Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (42 page)

The next
day, Mace sat in his office tracking the Myris shuttle on his computer. It was
fifty miles from entering the light Myrian atmosphere when one of the engines
overloaded with power and blew up. Mace held his breath and sat very still as
he watched the red lights flashing on his screen. He listened to the muffled
voices of the flight crew frantically calling for help from their
communications contacts at the flight center. The shuttle set off at a spin and
disappeared when it hit the atmosphere. Communication was lost moments later
and silence filled his office. A slow smile crept across his face and he walked
stiffly to General Cline’s office.

“It’s done,
sir,” Mace said.

“Good work,
Major. I’m sorry you had to be involved with such a dark but necessary
assignment.”

“I agree
with your motive, General. I’m just pleased that you trusted me with such
sensitivity.”

“Right. But
we won’t be speaking of this again. You’re dismissed,
Major
.”

Mace saluted
General Cline and went back to his office to watch the explosion again.

General
Cline picked up his phone and paged Sergeant Quinn.

“Close the
door and sit down, Sergeant,” Cline said.

“Is
something wrong, General?” Quinn asked.

“Perhaps.
General Pike’s classified files were released to me this morning and thumbing
through I came across your name. Interesting, wouldn’t you say?”

“Perhaps.
What did you find?”

“It would
seem that you are much more than you appear to be, Sergeant…or should I say,
Agent.”

“I was
wondering if you would approach me. It’s the reason I’m still here.”

“So then, you
have already been paid for reporting on Colonel Ganesh.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve done
a good job. There is enough evidence in this file to arrest Ganesh for treason.
Why do you suppose General Pike did nothing with this information when he paid
you to collect it?”

“With all
due respect, General, I’m not paid to care about motives, but if I had to
guess, I’d say it was because of his ambition in the space travel division.
Ganesh was necessary for controlling the Camden Riles situation. Internally and
through the media.”

“There must
have been another reason,” Cline said, but Quinn just shrugged his shoulders.

“What do you
want to do now?
he
asked.

“I’ve read
your contract, Quinn. It states that at anytime, Pike could order the
assassination of the subject of observation.”

“Yes. But it
also states that there is a significant fee associated with such an order.”

“I’m willing
to pay your fee and since this contract has been transferred to me, I am ready
to discuss your next move.”

“Will you be
expecting any further reports on the colonel’s activities? I’ve continued
making them.”
        

“No. I don’t
require any reports. And I am not continuing General Pike’s course of action
either. You work for me now, Agent. Pike may have been fine letting that
traitor Ganesh live and work here, but not me. Finish the job…this week.”

Several
hours later, an old and dented transport arrived at a Tyrinian training camp
deep inside the borders. Davi, who’d survived the biomachine attack in Maile,
inspected the cargo and then walked into a brown building that looked like it
was in ruins.

“The
material has just arrived. It’s time to make use of the captive,” Davi said to
a man in a Tyrinian war uniform.

“I’ll wake
him.”

“Good, then
bring him to the main facility, office twelve.”

“Twelve? Are
you sure?”

“You heard
me right. Ten minutes…be there,” Davi said and shut the door to the brick cell
that was holding Sergeant Bearden Leitner.

Bearden was
escorted to office twelve in the main building of the camp. When he walked in,
he heard the man behind the desk in the room telling someone on a portable
phone about the diminishing Daxian threat.

“It’s not
over,” Bearden said. “They have an army of machines. They will use them when
they are able.”

“I know.
Come and sit, Sergeant Bearden Leitner. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Naja
Pinure.”

That name
rang a bell for Bearden and he looked questionably at the man sitting behind
the small beat up desk. He suddenly remembered. Naja was the government traitor
that had been killed months ago.

“You’re
supposed to be dead. I saw it reported.”

Naja smiled.

“And yet,
here I am.”

“They found
your body.”

“They found
a
body with my DNA on it. Do you believe
everything you’re told?”

“I guess
not. I just assumed…”

“That what?
Your precious Daxian government would never lie to you? Use you?”

“I used to
think that. But what makes Tyrine any better? You keep attacking us,” Bearden
said.
   

“Let me tell
you something about Tyrine and our people. We may not have your high tech labs
or your scientist spewing schools, but we are not stupid and will not stand by
quietly and let Daxia move into our lands and control our people. Of course we
are attacking.”

“Do you
really believe it will stop them? How do you plan to win this fight when Daxia
launches its attack? Your military doesn’t have a chance.”

“We have
hope. And we have love and respect for all people…and now, we have you. You
want to survive this and gain our trust? Then work with us to stop your
superior weapons. You’ve been cast out of your home by the government you trusted.
We took you in.”

“And so far,
I’ve been treated like a prisoner. Look at me. Locked up.
Dirty
and hungry.
Is this what you call respect? If so, I’ll take my chances
back across the border.”

“You have to
show love to receive it and I believe the only person you love is yourself.”

“That’s not
true,” Bearden snapped.

“Oh yeah?
Then tell me about your love,” Naja said and folded his arms. Bearden didn’t
say a word, but looked at his shoes and thought about how much Dana hated him,
and how much that hate was deserved.

“That’s what
I thought,” Naja said. “See, I know all about you, young Sergeant. And what you
did to the last people who cared about you.”

“Fine.
You’re right. I don’t deserve your compassion or your trust, but I have nothing
left. Isn’t that enough? I’ll do your science, make your virus code, just
please, stop treating me like a prisoner.”

“Will you
choose your government again? If they will take you back?” Naja leaned over his
desk toward Bearden, who took a step back and averted his eyes. “Of course you
will, because you are weak! And you don’t know what you believe in. But you
have to figure it out. Find some loyalty that you can stand behind. Fight for
what you think is right! Otherwise you are wasting life and spoiling those
around you.”

“I did not
join the government ranks to fight. I am just a scientist and I will do what
you ask. Isn’t that enough?”

“Oh, no,
Bearden Leitner, you are much more than a scientist. You just don’t know it
yet. Davi, take him to the lab and keep him guarded,” Naja said and waved his
hand to dismiss them. “Oh, and give him something to eat.”

After they
left, Naja plugged a data file into his computer that had saved his life four
months ago. He sat back in his chair as Maeve’s face appeared on the screen and
her voice filled the room.

“Naja, my
love, remember what I am about to tell you and then destroy this recording. If
you are found with it, you and I may both end up dead. First of all, please
know that I am sorry from the bottom of my soul for what is about to happen to
you. So many times I’ve wanted to tell you who I am, especially after you were
so honest with me.”

“My name is
Maeve Daire and I work for a special division of the government. Espionage and
assassination missions mostly, but all top secret.” Maeve hesitated and looked
around before continuing. “I came into your life because you are a target. I’m
your hired assassin. Don’t worry. You are safe, for now. I submitted your
assignment as completed without incident. This means that the Daxian government
thinks you are dead, by a chemical accident during your last traitorous trip to
Tyrine. They’ve suspected you for a while, which was why I was called in to
deal with you. The official story is that you illegally transported an unstable
chemical weapon across the border and the accident left your body severely
burned. The body that the government received was covered with your DNA, so
there was no question of your identity.”

“Listen
carefully now, Naja. I know you are probably shocked by all of this, but it is
important that you do what I say. You must leave, now. Take nothing with you
and flee to Tyrine. Go underground when you get there or we will both be hunted
down and killed, and my betrayal will have been for nothing. Be careful, and
know that I truly love you. And even though I know that you will never be able
to think of me in the beautiful way that you did, you will be alive, and that
is enough. Because of you, I was able to experience joy and love in my lifetime
and I thank you for that. You’ve changed
me,
Naja and
I will continue your fight. Now, go.”

The screen
scrambled and Maeve’s beautiful face disappeared. Naja locked his precious data
file away and went to check on Bearden Leitner in the lab.

Back at the
TRU building, Ganesh sat slumped at his desk with the devastation from recent
events coursing through him. The classified report of the shuttle loss sat on
his desk and he was clenching the paper’s edges with both hands. He’d been
trying to reach Maeve since the Myris shuttle left yesterday morning. He wanted
so badly to hope she’d made it out, but his gut told him that she was gone.

The sound of
his office door opening brought him momentarily out of his stupor until he saw
that it was Quinn.

“Are you
okay, sir?” he asked.

“I’m fine.
Grab me an ice cream, would you?”

“Whoa, that
bad, huh?”

Ganesh
looked again at the report in his hands, crumpled it in a ball and tossed it in
the trash. Quinn was still standing there obviously ignoring his request.

“What is it,
Quinn?” Ganesh asked, seeing that Quinn obviously had something to say that was
more important than ice cream. “Make it quick. I’d like to be alone right now.”

“I’m being
re-assigned, Colonel,” Quinn said, adding to the sorrow in Ganesh’s face. “Can
you believe it? You’re finally rid of me.”

Ganesh’s
body momentarily stiffened. One new thought cleared the others from his mind.
His time was up.

“Really,
Quinn? When?” Ganesh asked, not letting his fear show. He couldn’t help
thinking of the cup of coffee Quinn had served him this morning, or the
sandwich for lunch. He could already be poisoned…if that was the method of
choice. Or maybe there was a bomb planted in his home, or…”

“Tomorrow. I
just wanted you to know how much fun I’ve had working for you, sir. You and
your colleagues are amusing, to say the least. It hasn’t been dull for a
second. Not like my usual office work,” Quinn smiled.

“Well, I’ll
be damn sorry to see you go, Son,” Ganesh said without lying. He would miss
Quinn… if he survived. Quinn looked at him with a hint of regret.

“Is there
something else?” Ganesh asked.

“Sir, I just
want to tell you how much it means to me that you saved my life. The way you
got to Rhys before he could…and at your age,” he grinned. “Well, it’s what I
imagine a parent would have done. Not mine of course, my dad hated me, threw me
out when I was fourteen.”

“Sergeant
Quinn. I had no idea. I don’t know what to say.”

“I think
that’s a first for you, Colonel,” Quinn smiled again. “It all worked out in the
end. The military found me soon after, took me in till I was old enough to
join.”

Ganesh knew
at least the last part of this story, if not the whole thing, was a lie. He
must have been in the ‘early riser’ sector of the ‘Special Unit’. The military
found him all right, but he’d been
trained
young…too
young in Ganesh’s opinion. But, why was Quinn telling him all this?

“Well,
anyway,” Quinn held his hand out. “Goodbye, Colonel.”

“Good luck,
Sergeant,” Ganesh said, shaking his hand and privately wishing Quinn anything
but luck on his attempt to assassinate him.

When Ganesh
got home that night, he went straight to his wife.

“It’s time
to go underground,” he said, “Quinn is going to kill me if we don’t and I’d
hate for him to have to live with that.”

“You are too
good a man, Samuel,” she said and kissed him. “How do you know he’s going to
kill you?”

“He, pretty
much, just told me. Can you believe that?”

“Actually, I
can. Don’t worry, I’ve been ready for days, let’s go.”

“What would
I do without you, Natty?”

She squeezed
his hand and smiled at him. Then, she turned to take one last look at her
comfortable home and walked out. Ganesh looked straight through his house into
the kitchen, imagining he saw Maeve sitting at his table. He blinked his watery
eyes realizing it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He sighed with
sadness for all he’d lost today. He had to put Maeve out of his mind, at least
for a while. His only job now was to protect his wife and hide from Quinn. He’d
contact the resistance in a week or two.