Son of Cerberus (The Unusual Operations Division Book 2) (30 page)

The back of the island was much the same as any other part. Heavy foliage blocked the night sky and the waters of the river lapped just out of sight. Stewart could see clearly enough in the darkness of the night and bolted quickly toward the boats. His counterparts, the two other men whom had also escaped, followed pitifully in his wake.

No one pursued the three as they made their way to the boats, then out into the cold river water.

David was too concerned with the large amount of blood spilling from Stephen’s head. Though both men had been knocked around fairly well, Stephen was losing much more blood than David. He checked his pulse and his breathing before he turned him over into a recovery position. The wound across his skull had peeled back a thick layer of scalp, but it stopped there. No bones or brains were showing.

He sat down in the small room, pistol trained on the door. Though he knew Phillip needed help, he had to rest for a moment. The case they had been working on so hard hadn’t ended the way they wanted it to. In fact, it hadn’t ended at all.

After a brief moment of frustration, David hauled himself to his feet. Stephen and all of his two hundred and fifty pounds of muscle wasn’t as easy to get off the ground, but David finally managed it. In the other room, the small group of people that had been captured remained in a small huddle in the center of some desks. Phillip hadn’t moved. His weapon was still trained on anything that moved in the pit below him.

“Is he okay?” he called down upon seeing his unconscious friend Stephen.

“He’ll live, I think,” David replied. “Stewart got away though.”

“More for us to catch later, I guess,” Phillip said. “Too bad we couldn’t have just killed him.”

“I tried,” David said. “Unfortunately, I missed.”

The morning came and Marcus was not a happy man. He heard the news about Stewart, his now arch-nemesis, getting away. He also had to inform the Coast Guard of the ship that had stealthily made off into the night while the team had been aboard the smaller and slower boat. He had been shot at, nearly blown up, was cold and wet, and now he had to figure out how to get his team home.

Gregory had abandoned them to get home on their own, so Marcus took his time. His first stop was to get a new cellular device. Once activated, he suffered through messages from both his boss and his girlfriend, or fiancé. He didn’t know exactly what was going on with her, but from what he could see Julie had just won a big case and was now in the mood to celebrate.

Marcus doubted he could celebrate with all the failure he had just endured. There were dangerous organisms out there, shipping off to god-knew-where in the world and getting ready for distribution. He knew they could easily put out all sorts of warnings to every pharmacy in the world, but it wouldn’t stop the immediate distribution of something that could easily change a person for good.

The cool Seattle air felt good as Marcus used his phone to hash out the details of their flights back to D.C. They had nearly the entire day before the only available flight took off, so Marcus figured he would do some shopping.

Cynthia had her entire hand and forearm wrapped in bandages as the wounds that seemed as if they would never heal had split open once more. She figured it was from the stress of using her non-firing hand, though she couldn’t discredit her superpower-like abilities when it came to putting the men in the warehouse down.

Henry did not join them. He slept in the hotel room, content without a phone. The hot tub and some champagne made him feel better, even though it wasn’t even noon yet.

While they waited patiently on the opposite side of the United States from everyone else, Stephen paced nervously. His arm had been broken and his scalp had been slashed open badly enough to need two dozen stitches, but other than that he was fine. In fact, he hadn’t even touched the pain killers.

He wanted to see his girl when she woke up. The doctors had promised him that today was the day they would bring her out of the medically induced coma so they could gauge her vitals and brain function.

Stephen, the biggest, toughest man that most people knew, felt queasy at the thought.

It was just after lunch when he was allowed in to see her. Besides the small scratches on her face, she seemed serene. Her hair fell lightly around her pale porcelain skin, her usually red lips were a light pink, and her azure eyes were closed tight.

“You’ll need to be ready for anything,” the doctor explained kindly. “She might not wake up. We don’t know what to expect yet. She went through some pretty severe injuries and you have to know that she’ll never be the same.”

“Physically,” Stephen said to himself.

The doctor administered a drug into the IV that ran into Brenda’s arm. For the first few minutes, everyone held their breath. Nothing looked different. There was no deep inhalation, no sudden opening of the eyes. There was only disappointment.

Finally after what seemed like an hour, she stirred. The doctor was quick to listen to her heart, watch her vitals as they climbed ever so slowly, and ensure she didn’t do anything that would make her situation any worse. Her eyes slowly opened, focused on nothing in particular. They were a little darker blue than they had been, perhaps because of the lighting.

Stephen held her hand as tightly as he could without breaking it. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t look at him. She simply stared up at the ceiling, her unblinking eyes focused on nothing.

It was another few minutes before she said anything at all.

“I’m alive,” she managed. “I’m not dead.”

“No,” Stephen said, tears dripping from his dark eyes. “You made it.”

The team managed to reassemble later that day. The good news from Stephen regarding Brenda and her temporary consciousness and lucidity made everyone happy. Even Stephen managed to smile a bit, though a grim determination made his eyes look as if they were ready to cut someone in half. His tightly fitting suit and tie made him seem as if he were just too large for the room and his chair creaked beneath him as it always did.

Henry wore his usual pastel, not much worse for the wear. The bright pink tie brought a special lightness to his aura that Marcus hadn’t felt lately. Marcus himself managed to wear a dark blue shirt, dark tie, and black pants. His hair, cut out of necessity up past his eyebrows, was messy and unkempt.

Cynthia had been checked out by a doctor as well, though this one belonged to the UOD. The physician said that her wounds had somehow changed, but they couldn’t tell if it was for the better. Her usually glove-covered hand and arm was now wrapped in something like plastic in order to keep her wounds from leaking. Other than that, she seemed to be all business.

Phillip and David looked like they could hardly keep themselves together. They were in the back of the room, struggling to keep themselves awake for one reason or another.

Gregory, crew cut and sporting a finely pressed suit, glared angrily around the room. Even the two NSA agents were present for this meeting.

“The Coast Guard managed to seize quite the stash,” he said, looking crossways at the two NSA agents. “This bacteria is going to be analyzed by the UOD and just about every other biologist on the planet. We can’t know where they came from or for what purpose they have been created, but we’re going to try our hardest.”

“Amy knows,” Phillip said. The police had arrived to the island nearly twenty minutes after Stewart and his goons took off. They also took Gelda into custody, but had thankfully been warned about Phillip and Stephen and David. Though they required an ample amount of paperwork, some coaxing from the NSA, and a few hours of their time, they managed to escape incarceration.

Amy was brought back with the crew, first class seat with the rest of the UOD agents in the company helicopter. She didn’t speak much. In fact, she had slept due to what she complained of as headaches and nausea for hours. The police had insisted on taking her to their station until just about every federal branch of the government informed them very forcefully that they were to do no such thing.

Phillip had volunteered to watch her. She seemed so weak and fragile, but he had seen what she was capable of. Her eyes, though they seemed simple enough, were keen. They had something Phillip couldn’t describe.  There was a depth that seemed to have no ending, like a well of infinite knowledge hiding beneath the iris.

“She’ll be no use at all to any of us until she stabilizes,” Gregory said. “We have a team of the world’s best doctors looking her over as we speak. If they don’t lobotomize her in their search for this ‘organism,’ she may prove herself as useful to all of mankind. God only knows what sort of information she’s going to provide us if everything you’ve said is true.

“Two consciousness’s merging in any sort has never been anything more than theorized. Now we have an alien, or some ancient biological anomaly, that’s capable of taking control of bodies or… whatever happened to her.”

“She’s going to rock our world, that’s for sure,” Phillip said, knowing full well nothing would ever be quite the same for him or his friends. As for the rest of the world, it would most likely be decades before the news was ever leaked outside of the government.

“Hopefully she can tell us where her counterparts went,” Marcus said, nursing his neck. He had been complaining of a cold since they got back from Seattle. The water hadn’t been warm, especially that far north, but he wasn’t complaining while they watched the fireworks unfold before them.

“She hinted at her ability to ‘feel’ them out. Maybe she will be our newest addition—along for the ride to find her ex-counterparts.”

“We can only hope to find them soon,” Gregory said angrily. “It’s good none of you were killed trying to capture the guy in the first place.”

“What about the other ship?” Cynthia said from her quiet bubble. “What about the ship we saw leaving out into the dark?”

Gregory looked a bit perturbed about the situation. He knew something bad was happening out there, somewhere, but he couldn’t do anything about it. There was a bad guy with the capability of becoming a real menace to mankind, yet he could do nothing to stop him.

Stewart had a few things the UOD did not—more of the organisms, the ability to deliver them into hosts stealthily, and any machines that hadn’t been on the island when the police showed up. Besides, Marcus had heard what the scientist had said about not having to worry about making too many more machines. The implication, at least in his mind, was that they were making a large enough machine to affect square miles at a time.

“We don’t have any trace on it,” Gregory said sadly. “It might be one of the small fleet of boats that Lambert Frederickson, our missing old man, owned. It could be one of a billion little boats in the area. You guys didn’t get an ID on the ship, so there’s no way for us to know.

“We have police, FDA, and federal agents checking every single pharmacy and apothecary shop in the United States for anything even resembling a product that Lambert and his fortunes might have an influence over. There’s big fines for anyone caught with his products, which might help keep them off the streets.”

“And the island,” Henry asked. “What’s up with that place?”

“Yes.” Gregory was skeptical about the island, too. “How a working manufacturing plant and testing facility could be hiding in plain sight is beyond me. There is definitely a bigger conspiracy here. It’s one we’re going to have to tread lightly over, or risk falling in ourselves. New changes to our policies have already been placed in effect because of it and the involvement of legitimate officers in this scandal.”

“So what do we do now?” Marcus was truly upset. He had never experienced a half-win like this one. He wouldn’t quite call it a draw, since the bad guys got away and they still had ammunition to fight with.

“Carry on, try to figure this case out like any other case,” one of the NSA agents said from behind. “You’ll be receiving more help, too. Monetary, personnel, and otherwise; you’ll be fully equipped for the daunting task ahead.”

“Great.” Marcus held a grudge against the NSA agents. They seemed as if they wanted the UOD to fail more than succeed. “Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome,” the man in the suit replied.

“For today,” Gregory said, “I suggest you go home and get some much needed rest. You’ll be back and at ’em come Monday morning and we’re hitting the ground running. Any hint of Stewart, Lambert, or goons resembling drones and you’ll be on the road within minutes.”

“We’re dismissed?” Cynthia said, sitting forward in her seat. Even Phillip managed to jump in his sleep-like state.

“For now,” Gregory said. “Keep your phones on.”

Marcus jumped on the opportunity to have a night out with his girlfriend Julie. He called her on the way, driving slowly through the traffic so he could enjoy his nice vehicle, loud music, and moderate feeling of calm. She laughed excitedly before hanging up. She was already at his house, so he didn’t have much to worry about in the way of finding her.

She had a way about her that made Marcus crazy inside. There was music on in his apartment already. It was a soft melody he had heard many times, but happy in a way that calmed him to his core. The dark floors were perfectly clean and showed her reflection as she whisked to and fro in the room, hiding from him until she was ready.

“Don’t peek,” she squealed, jumping from the bedroom to the bathroom quickly. Marcus didn’t care. He was wearing what he would wear to dinner anyway. The suit and tie he wore were well-tailored masterpieces, so he never looked anything less than expensive.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he said, sneaking into the bedroom. The bright light from the sun made his entire bedroom seem much lighter than it actually was. It made him feel welcome and at home.

“What,” she said playfully. “Did you get me a stuffed animal? You know I don’t like that stuff.”

“No,” Marcus said.

“Oh, roses to make up for your impromptu absence then,” she scoffed. “Like I’d take those from an animal like you.”

“Not roses,” Marcus said, readying himself.

“I’ll take a car,” she said, laughing to herself as she dreamed. “I hope it’s really cheap though. That way you can save up for our weekend away.”

“No car,” Marcus answered.

Julie was suddenly very quiet. She didn’t know what to expect, but Marcus wasn’t playing her games as usual. The banter between them was that of best friends, and Marcus wasn’t playing along. Something was different about this game he was playing and she could tell it was serious.

Marcus saw her stockings first. The black did very little to hide her beautiful skin from him. He could feel her heat as she approached. He had to look up from where he was to see that she wore a modest skirt and a classy white top. Her hair was messy and her makeup was halfway done, but Marcus couldn’t have imagined her looking any more beautiful than she did just then.

From one knee, he held the ring that he had purchased in Seattle out for her to see. The simple gold band and single diamond was enough for her, he was sure.

“I wanted this to be the first thing you saw after being away for the last few days,” Marcus said quietly. “I wanted this moment to last.”

“You’re asking me to…” She fought back the urge to cry.

“Much more than that,” Marcus said, quietly. “I’m asking you if you’d like to take this journey with me, no matter what it brings us.”

“No matter what,” Julie echoed, tears welling in her beautiful blue green eyes.

Stewart hardly got aboard the private jet before the door shut and the engines started. He knew his boss would be mad beyond belief, but he had to face the reality of his situation. They had been made and there was nothing he could do about it now.

There was an ample amount of pipe smoke filtering through the dark interior. It made the jet seem much smaller than it actually was. A multi-million dollar Learjet was nothing to scoff at, everyone knew that.

Stewart sat down in the seat he knew that he would be summoned to. His boss sat across from him, smoking happily through his long pipe and sipping on expensive brandy. It was his way. There was never anything that would rattle him out of his calm demeanor.

“You did well.” The words surprised Stewart. He thought he would be eating a bullet today, but his boss was giving him praise.

“There was nothing you could do about the government interfering as they have. You did everything I asked of you. We still have a product to work with. It’s something we can rely heavily upon. Rest assured, our ways will be changing, but we haven’t lived as long as we have and accrued so much material wealth by being brash and stupid.”

“Thank you,” Stewart said, adjusting the glasses on his still grotesquely deformed nose. “I wish it would have had a better outcome.”

“Nonsense,” his boss reassured him. “Don’t let it get to you. Stewart, you have vast potential. Already we have a small army to work with. Soon, our numbers shall grow. Besides, the loss of our star subject only proved that we can successfully migrate hosts without damaging the new body any longer. The days of living through half-working corpses are over, my friend. It’s a new day, one with less peril than we have ever experienced.”

“Yes.” Stewart was hopeful for the future. He knew this body only had a few years left and then he would have to migrate once again. It was a painful process and one that brought many tears. Though his people weren’t one to worry about their hosts, they became keenly aware of what they were doing once they were required to change.

It was something Stewart was happy not to have to endure ever again.

“Mr. Frederickson,” the pilot called back from the cockpit. “We’ve been given the go-ahead to take off. Should we depart?”

“Please,” Lambert Frederickson said from the comfort of his jet. “Let’s get to Spain as quickly as we can. I don’t want anyone else getting there before we do. Seems like we might have some loose ends to tie up.”

“And what about the federal agents?” Stewart asked, wondering what they were leaving behind.

“Not to worry,” Lambert said, smiling. His old features seemed grandfatherly to Stewart. “They won’t be able to track us as we change. They won’t be able to outlive us, either. One way or another, we’re going to outsmart Marcus and the Unusual Operations Division. One way or another, we’re going to show humanity the flaw of their ways.

“Just remember, Stewart, that if you’re going to stay with me you’ve got to be willing to travel. You know what the funniest part is, Stewart?”

“What’s that?” Stewart asked suspiciously.

“The funniest part is that they walk amongst us and others like us, every day. It’s just that they don’t know it…yet.”

The End
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