BackTrek (14 page)

“How so?” Jack asked. He had finally shaken
the daze that he was in.

“Even though we didn’t know who had killed
the guard, it sparked a full scale cover up. They approached me
after speaking with your boss, and asked if I thought that you
would go along.”

“No way.” Jack said.

“Exactly. I told them that there was no way
that you would. So orders came down for me to kill you.”

“What the hell?”

“That’s pretty much what I said. But it gets
worse. This was so important to them that if I didn’t do it, they
had other plans.”

“Like what?”

“What I heard was they were planning on
making it look like an accident. And unfortunately they were
talking about not just taking you out...but Trace as well.”

“My God! What could be so fucking important.
What kind of secret bullshit were you hiding.”

“I’ll get to that in a minute. So anyway, my
boss stepped in. He had come up with a solution that would stop
them from doing anything so drastic. He had the dope planted,
instigated the search, and arranged for you to have the option of
taking the honorable discharge. The problem remained however, that
you would never cop to the charges, and would never accept the
discharge. It was my assignment to make you accept it.”

“By testifying against me?”

“Exactly. I knew if you were backed into a
corner, you wouldn’t have any alternative but to accept the
discharge. No matter how innocent you were, I knew you wouldn’t put
Tracey through what a court martial would do to you. Or twenty
years in the brig. True, you lost your job. But with the honorable
discharge, your credibility was still intact. And you and Tracey
were still alive. The drug charges were dropped, and the case
sealed.”

“And here we are now, ten years later, and it
was all for nothing.” Jack said. He hung his head as his eyes began
to tear up again.

“Not exactly, Jack. That’s why I’m here. The
project that we were working on has finally gone on-line. After all
these years of deception and deceit, finally it’s about to payoff
as no one has ever imagined.”

“I don’t get it.” Jack said as he looked
up.

“Look, you’re a cop. What if I told you that
I could guarantee you would be able to identify and catch every
murderer.”

“What’s that got to do-”

“Never mind that. Just answer the question.
What if you could catch every single crazy ass sick bastard out
there?”

“Well…we’d be busy as hell. And the prison
system would be overwhelmed. But, yeah, that would something
amazing. But it’s ridiculous. There’s no way to-”

“Okay, so it would be a good thing. Let’s
make it one better. What if I told you that you could stop every
murder that was going to happen?”

“Going to happen…as in before it happened.
Look Ted, I don’t know what you’re smoking but there is absolutely
no way-”

“Jack. Just answer the question. What if you
could stop a murder before it happened?”

“That…that would be…phenomenal.”

“Jack. What if I told you that there may be a
chance...all be it a slim one...that your family might not be
dead.”

“Man, how can you say that to me? I saw
them...dead....lifeless...holding each other...” Jack broke down
again, as the haunted memories of the night before overcame
him.

“Pull yourself together and listen to me.”
Ted reached over and grabbed Jack by the shoulder. Jack slowly
looked back up at him and they locked eyes. “I’m telling you that
there is a chance that we can save them, Jack. A chance. If I can
prove to you that it’s possible, will you help me?”

“But there’s no way-” Jack said as he tried
to pull away from him. Ted’s hand held him firm.

“Jack. Listen to me. Would you be willing to
help?” Jack continued to fight, but he could not break Ted’s intent
stare no matter how hard he tried.

“It’s not possible, Ted. They’re dead!”

“Damn it Jack! Are you going to walk away
from this? Be there for them Jack. Help me. Help me to take care of
our own.” Ted’s words pierced Jack’s heart like a burning lance.
After so much had happened over such a short period of time, that
phrase had become a catalyst. It pushed at Jack when nothing else
could reach him. “Damn it, Jack. We have a chance!”

“Okay! Okay. Okay. Whatever I have to do,
I’ll do it. I don’t know how, or why, but if there’s even the
slightest chance. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Memories flooded back to Jack as he pulled up
to the front gate of the military base where he had once worked. So
many times he had been saluted through without hesitation, but this
time the soldier on duty demanded that he stop. He rolled his
window down as the soldier approached his car.

“Hi there.” Jack said. “My name is Jack King.
I believe that a pass should be waiting here for me.”

“One second, sir.” The soldier said, as his
eyes scanned the inside of Jack’s car before he turned back to the
guard house. After a few uneasy moments, the soldier returned with
a piece of paper which he presented to Jack.

“Put this on your dashboard and leave it
there, sir.” He stepped back and waived Jack through. Jack pulled
onto the main road, and followed the directions that Ted had given
him. After a few turns, he saw the building that was his
destination, and turned into the parking lot. He drove through the
parking lot, aisle after aisle, and finally parked in the first
empty spot that he found.

His conversation with Ted the night before
constantly played back through his mind as he pulled himself from
his car, and headed towards the entrance. Even as he had showered
earlier, he had tried to pick apart the words, as he sought some
hidden truth or meaning. Though he had no real hope that he would
ever be able to see or touch his children again, Ted’s statement,
‘take care of our own’ had driven him to the point that he did not
feel he could have said no. Ted had left shortly after that, but
Jack had stayed almost all night. He had gone aimlessly from room
to room, and often had to feel his way along as the torrent of
tears flooded his vision. He had held Bella’s favorite teddy bear
for almost an hour, before he entered Brandon’s room. He had buried
his face in his beloved son’s baseball glove, as if he drew some
kind of remote strength from the scent of the leather. Later, he
had touched every single thing in his own room, as he remembered
that at some time and some place, his wife Tracey, his only love,
had at one time touched it too. As the hours passed, he had began
to pull himself together and make some type of peace with himself,
but in the early morning light, that peace had begun to slip away.
Clouded out by the hope that there might be some possibility that
he might see them again. It began to drive him harder and
harder.

As he approached the front of the plain
looking building, his mind wondered to a conversation that he and
Tracey had had well before there had been any thoughts of children.
On the beach in Florida while on vacation, they had sat and
listened to the surf, and felt the soft sand with their toes. As
they stared up into the moonlit night, they had talked of love, of
dreams, and of desires. They had talked of past wrongs, things they
wished they had done differently, and of how much they enjoyed one
another. And they had talked of God. Jack had never had a God in
his life. He had been raised by a single father whose agnostic
viewpoint left little in the way of faith. But Tracey had been
raised in a God fearing, church going environment, and knew her God
with conviction. She had had no doubts about what would become of
her when she died. She knew whole heartedly that the gates of
Heaven would open gracefully and accept her soul without
hesitation. He wondered if she was right, and if so, if she was
happy now. How we wished he had a God to believe in. How he wished
he believed in her God.

“Yeah, and then I told him...hold on just a
second.” The uniformed man pushed the hold button on his telephone
and looked up at Jack. “Yes sir, may I help-” The soldier stopped
in mid sentence with a puzzled look on his face as he stared up
from behind his desk at Jack. “Mr. King?” Jack was shocked that the
man had called him by name.

“Yes.” He said as he stepped towards the
man’s wooden desk. “I’m here to see-”

“Yes, sir. Ted has been waiting for you.” The
young soldier continued to look at Jack as if he was perplexed by
Jack’s presence, and it made him feel slightly uncomfortable. “Just
follow this hallway straight back and through the door at the end.
Take the first elevator on the left to level Delta.” As the soldier
pointed down the hallway, he picked up the telephone and punched a
button. “Okay, now where were we?”

Jack lingered for a moment more, but the
soldier quickly became engrossed in the conversation on the phone.
Occasionally he stared back up at Jack as if he were a circus
freak. Hesitantly he headed down the hallway, towards the only door
at the end. As he reached the door and opened it, he was surprised
to see that it opened into a lobby filled with a bank of elevators,
yet no other doorways at all. As instructed he went to the first
elevator on the left, and pushed the only button on the drab blue
wall beside it. Presently the door opened quietly, and Jack entered
the small steel carriage. As the doors closed behind him, Jack
couldn’t help but feel slightly claustrophobic, though normally
this type of thing never bothered him. He reached over and pushed
the button marked Delta, and then waited as nothing happened. A
second or two passed before a series of beeps sounded, and then the
bottom of the elevator fell out from under him. The sudden
accelerated descent left his stomach in his throat, as the elevator
seemed to go faster and faster, before it finally began to slow
down slightly. Though Jack had driven past this building many times
when in the military, he had had no idea that it was linked to any
type of subterranean installation.

Finally the elevator slowed to an abrupt stop
and the doors slid open. Jack looked into the vast aircraft hanger
sized room in front of him and was amazed. There were people every
where, as they milled about likes ants. He exited the elevator, and
the doors slid shut behind him. He shifted his gaze across the
expanse until his eye caught Ted just a few feet away. He was in
conversation with a uniformed soldier. Ted saw him, and stepped
towards him.

“I see you found the place all right.”

“Yeah, pretty much right where I left it, but
I don’t remember any of this.”

“We did a little remodeling. Come on, there’s
someone that you need to meet.” Ted led the way across the hanger,
and Jack followed close behind. Jack couldn’t help but continue to
gawk at the throng of people that moved constantly throughout the
complex. So consumed was he with the excitement that he almost ran
into Ted when he stopped abruptly at the other side. Ted opened one
of the many doors, and held it open for Jack. As Jack entered he
couldn’t help but see the letters C.O. on the door. Ted had led him
to the Commanding Officer’s office. Ted paused and spoke briefly
with the soldier seated behind the desk in the front office, before
he waived to Jack for him to follow him again as he headed for a
door to the rear of the room. Ted knocked once then opened the door
for Jack.

“I’ll wait out here, Jack.” Jack looked at
him, concerned that he was being left alone. “It’s okay. He can
explain it better than I can. Go on.” Hesitantly, Jack entered the
office, which to his surprise, was empty. He turned back to Ted,
but the door was already shut.

“Have a seat Jack. I’ll be out in a minute.”
A voice echoed into the office from an open doorway on the
side.

“Sir. Yes, sir.” Jack responded automatically
before he realized that he himself was no longer a soldier. He sat
down in front of the large desk in the center of the room, he heard
a faint chuckle echo into the room.

“Once a solder, always a soldier. Is that
true, Jack?”

“I guess so, sir. In a way.” A large framed
man appeared through the doorway. Jack sized him up more from habit
than any conscious effort on his part. Middle aged, fit, large
stature, a slight premature graying, receding hairline, but
definitely the man in charge. And Jack knew that this man expected
everyone to know that he was in charge, just by the way that he
carried himself. As the man walked behind his desk he leaned over
and extended his hand.

“General Steven Atwater. Nice to finally meet
you, Jack.” Jack took his hand absentmindedly, and shook it. He
rose slightly out of his chair. “Sit down. I’ve heard a lot of
things about you, Jack. Most of it good, a little bad, and a lot of
bullshit...but then, you know Truman.” He laughed as he sat down
behind the desk, and propped his feet on the corner. Jack smiled,
but was still slightly uncomfortable.

“Ted is a unique person.” Jack replied.

“That he is, my friend...that he is. But for
all of his short comings, he’s one of my best agents. And quite
frankly, Jack, he speaks very highly of you.” Atwater said as he
dropped his feet to the ground and leaned forward. “He tells me
that you have had some troubles lately. A family problem?”

“Yes, sir. My family was-”

“I know what happened, son. Don’t drag
yourself through it again. I’m sure you’ve been through enough
lately. He also told me that he said that we might be able to help
you.”

“Yes, sir. But I don’t see how.”

“You’re absolutely right, son. What’s done is
done and nothing in the world can change what you’ve been through
or what you’ve seen.” Jack’s mouth suddenly fell open. Ted had
lured him here with the tease that maybe he could somehow resurrect
the dead. How foolish he suddenly felt, as the anger that had been
squelched began to boil inside him. Atwater saw the surprise in his
actions, and identified the rage as it began to grow. “Yep, you’re
absolutely right.” Atwater said smugly, a smile on his face. Jack
fought harder and harder to hold back his sudden anger.