Asterion (24 page)

Jean, back from her overseas visit opens the door and enters. Burnsom stands, “You’re back. So glad to see you back safe. Sit down and tell me all about it.”

Sitting, she clears her throat, “Ira, I was met with skepticism, condescension, and hostility over the direction you are taking this country. The only favorable receptions I had was with other countries that exercised one-man-rule forms of governance. Russia, split between the old guard and new guard could not give an answer. The ones favoring total power in the hands of the government were sympathetic while the others saw this as the old ways that never worked. No one wants to help you overtly. Most don’t want to criticize either side. They are waiting this one out.”

“Well, you tried, but did you stay anywhere long enough to work on changing their view?”

“I wore out my welcome with some of them when I knocked on their door. They were obviously frustrated even before I left. There is nothing we can do to change their opinion.”

“Okay, thanks for trying. Well meet again soon.”

He stands and sees her to the door. Closing it behind her he thinks, “I wish she would have been gone longer.”

Burnsom is in his office facing the window in his chair when his assistant announces that Jackson is there for their meeting. He presses the intercom, “Send him in.” The door opens and Burnsom points to a chair on the other side of the desk. “Have a seat Tom.”

“You seemed anxious on the phone. What’s up?”

“Tom, the province is rebelling and security forces there are sympathetic because they are in the same boat. The commanders at Fort Progress and Camp Forward are pulling the Constitution on me and refusing to crush them and they will only assist the local police with law enforcement. They will only battle opposing forces. The rebellion does not measure up to that yet.”

“What are you thinking?”

“If dissention catches on in the other areas, we’re done. I have to quash them now.”

“Asterion?”

“Yes.”

“Can you control him?”

“I have my methods.”

“Is that enough?”

“It has to be enough. Trent assured me that we can use him when necessary.”

“I hope you’re right Ira. I hope you’re right.”

“You and me both Tom, how do we spin this fiasco?”

“We could exploit the epidemic story. Deploy troops to control access to the area. That would keep things quiet while those beasts restore order.”

“Good, let’s go with that. Tom, start the wheels in motion”

“I’ll get on it.” Tom bids Ira farewell and leaves the office. The door closes with a solid thud. A reminder of his increased isolation, he slouches in his chair. Zapped of the energy he used to have by the stress of the issues facing him, he falls asleep.

Asterion arrives at the White House. The sight of him and his military escort leaves the visitors and workers wide-eyed and slack jawed. Everyone stairs at him as he walks past and his steps vibrate the floor and he strolls into Burnsom’s office. “You called?”

“I’m glad to see you Asterion. Your time has come my friend. Are your troops ready?”

“Yes. We have a mission?”

“You bet. You get to quell a rebellion in one of the provinces. No restrictions, but remember this, intimidation works better in some cases than brute force. Show a little mercy at the right time and they will get the picture and fall into line. I need compliant workers, not dead people.

Asterion laughs, “We’ll keep the fun down to a minimum.”

Not fully assured, Burnsom continues. “Transports have been engineered to carry you and your troops. We modified weapons for your proportions. They will drop you and your group at the perimeter of the rebellious area. Report back to me everything that happens.”

“Understood, when do we leave?”

“Immediately, there is no time to waste.”

Asterion leaves the office. His footfalls alert all that he is coming down the hall and the same expressions of amazement, horror and wonder greet him as he passes. Returning to his legions, he orders them into the transports and they begin their journey to the province. Along the way, they view monitors that show them how to operate the weapons. Asterion tells them that weapons are only as a last resort. Otherwise, a more personal touch will strike fear in the people and satisfy the creature’s blood lust.

The convoy reaches the last red light out of Washington and stops. A little boy and his mother wait to cross the street. He is excited and waves at the vehicle. Asterion lowers the window, looks at him and grunts a low bellowing laugh. The boy’s smile drops immediately and his mother pulls him away from the street. The light changes and the convoy races off into the countryside.

CHAPTER 26 - TIPPING POINT

Christine calls Taylor and Phil to where she is working. When they gather around, she points to the test bench where she has assembled strands of artificial muscles together. Attached to a strain gauge, she introduces a small current into the muscle. The gauge goes up to five hundred pounds. “How is that for progress?”

Taylor pauses for a second with his mouth open. “Wow, how did you get that much force out of such a small current?”

Phil, still staring at the gauge agrees. “That’s not possible with that little current.”

“It is when you use genetically engineered organic muscle tissue to enhance the artificial.”

Phil sighs, “Well, you have a problem here with providing calcium and oxygen for it. That involves some sort of oxygen supply or gathering apparatus and some sort of method of providing it to the muscle tissue like a circulatory system and the same with calcium.”

“Not with active lung technology.”

Taylor stops handling the muscle and turns to Christine. “Active what?”

“Active lung is the ability of the muscle to take oxygen from the air directly without other mechanisms.”

Phil focuses on the tissue trying to see it. “What if it gets clogged with debris?”

“It has a cover with filtering.”

“What if the filter gets clogged?”

“I have a scrapper to keep bulky accumulations off and reverse ventilation to blow the finer material out of the filter. Calcium is infused from a small supply for each muscle group.”

Phil looks at Taylor. “She’s a keeper.”

Taylor smiles, “I know.”

Christine continues, “Real muscles can generate a lot of power with just a very small signal. Same thing here and the artificial material resist tearing so the organic tissue does not need daily repair. Periodic replacement when power drops below the minimum is the only maintenance needed.”

Phil scratches his chin. “When can we mass produce?”

“We can set up a bunch of growing mediums and produce the bundles in about a week with accelerators and produce a few working models in less than a month. Mass production will take some effort.”

Taylor looks over the lab space. “We’re limited here. We need to go with this quickly. We’ll get mass production of the muscles going and work on the prototype suits. If they check out, we’ll have some stock to work with right away.”

Phil and Christine nod in agreement and begin working on the project. Taylor prepares his report to General Sanderson.

From a distance, the provincial capital looks like any other city except for the troops surrounding it. Protestors taunt them from a distance, but the lightly armed soldiers keep their composure. The rumble of approaching large vehicles grows from out of the distance. Now in sight the convoy comes to a halt at the checkpoint. They present their papers, they are checked and the gates swing open. The convoy of beasts rolls past the shocked soldiers who are seeing them for the first time.

A soldier standing next to her officer looks at him and asks, “Lieutenant, what are those things?”

“All I know is that they are here to relieve us. Let’s pack up and bug out. It’s their problem.”

“But sir, I don’t know, are the citizens going to be okay with those things.”

“Not our problem. We have orders and it’s time to follow them.” The lieutenant motions to his soldiers and they begin to pack and leave to return to their base.

Asterion dismounts from the vehicle and eyes the protesters. They are stunned at first, but one musters the courage to throw a rock that hits Asterion in the back of the head. He spins around, but one of his beasts is on the protester in a flash and tosses him on the ground in front of Asterion.

Looking the human over, he grabs his arm and pulls him up to his face. He snorts and snarls. The man is trembling violently now. “Not so brave now are you? It’s been a long trip and my troops are hungry. Useless people are not missed, but they stave off hunger.” He tosses the man back to the ground and looks over the crowd now surrounded by several of his beasts. “Do I have to make an example of you in order to educate the rest of the citizens?” In silence, they all shake their head no. “Then you run away and tell them that resistance will be immediately dealt with. There is no mercy here, there is no law, there is only me. They run off toward the safety of the buildings leaving Asterion and his minions bellowing at their first taste of dominance.

Asterion orders his troops to march in and form a grid throughout the city. Each creature has a view down the street and another beast at the other end. The sound of rumbling hoofs sends the residents into the shelter of their apartments.

Asterion marches up to the provincial government building with his best troops marching in behind him. The provincial governor and the city mayor with local police behind them meet him. They try not to appear frightened, but they can tell the beasts outnumber and out gun them.

The governor speaks first. “This action is unlawful and uncalled for in a civilized society. You have no authority here.”

Asterion huffs, posturing to show his dominance and replies, “It is the decree of Burnsom. We will restore order and productivity to this city.”

The mayor interrupts, “We are keeping control here. We are the legal authority.”

“You were not successful in keeping order. That is why we are here. I am in control.”

The governor interjects, “I am the only authority that can declare martial law in the province.”

“Oh, this is not martial law. This is my law. Step out of line and we will put you back in line, by any means we deem necessary.”

Asterion hands them the orders from Burnsom and the governor, mayor and chief of civil security look it over. They concur, but none of them seems to have a suitable response for Asterion. With a sickened look on his face, the governor hands back the orders to Asterion. “I won’t tolerate any abuse of the people and I will speak to Burnsom personally.”

Asterion is incensed, “You will tolerate whatever I do and keep your mouth shut. Burnsom sent me to put this place in order. Something you are apparently not able or willing to do. Do all the talking you want, but I’m here to take action.”

“I can give you my word that we will comply with Burnsom’s order. However, there are those who insist on protesting.”

“I will deal with them. You stay out of the way.” Asterion turns and returns to his troops. “Fan out. If you meet resistance, crush it.” Asterion follows his soldiers into the heart of the city.

The governor turns to the mayor and police chief. “What can we do to stop this?”

The mayor looks at the chief for a response. “We don’t have the arms they have and riot gear will not suffice for protection. Look at their size and power. They’re inhuman and incapable of mercy or restraint. We don’t stand a chance against them.”

The mayor shakes his head. “So this is it. Burnsom has achieved total control and has managed to keep his hands clean of the consequences.”

They return to their offices in the building to ponder their future. The city goes quiet.

The governor calls Burnsom. “Ira, you and I have been friends for a long time. Why have you done this without consulting me?”

Burnsom, irritated, shoots back, “Don’t play the friend card. This dissension is out of hand. You said you could control it and I gave you the opportunity to prove that you could. Don’t cry foul when I have to take action to clean up your mess.”

“But, no warning Ira, no warning.”

“Here’s your warning. Stay out of sight and you might live. Stay off this phone and you might still have a position in government somewhere when this is over.”

“Goodbye Ira.” The governor hangs up the phone. Thinking for a few seconds, he picks up the phone and dials again.

Taylor Christine and Phil are in the conference room of the lab with Sanderson on the monitor. “Your advances are great. They will certainly give us an advantage. We need to speed up development as much as we can. Rumor has it Burnsom has already moved on the province that had protests breaking out and it is also believed that Asterion and his troops are running the operation.”

Taylor sits up in his chair. “That’s incredible progress. What are our intentions?”

“If it is wholesale slaughter, we attack immediately. It’s overextending ourselves and we are working on the final touches of our automated systems, but we can’t stand by if it goes bad there.”