Project Lazarus (20 page)

Commander Archibald Henrid was a man known to level the playing field.  But this was no ordinary playing field. Hair graying, eyes fading but dark, he stared at the foe, the enemy, the man he should have killed.

There was no should have, could have, would have for a military man.  There was none of that for this mess.  Regrets led to nothing.  It was action that led to results.  Regrets, this man, had learnt, especially at the price, of a lonely soul with a heart, a heart to believe the good in men, left him long ago. 

He was isolated after the Amazon incident from his military career.  He was shunned.  It was a cold feeling to being shunned by your peers but at least Commander Henrid felt those feelings.

Eyeing an eager rabbit in a cage, named Charlie Dempster, he knew despite those outward appearances, there were no feelings.  Charlie Dempster was more cold blooded than anyone he had encountered in battle.  Could it be?  Not all the living dead were dead, Henrid mused to himself.

Watching the sweat permeate Charlie’s pores and pour out of him like an open faucet, fascinated the Commander.  Charlie’s eyes, firing up, preparing for battle, but his soul and mind weak- Commander Henrid could see him.  Really see Charlie Dempster.  He was a man playing with a secret.

“Let us be,” Commander Henrid told Mr. Adams.

“I thought I was to be in on this interrogation Sir,” Mr. Adams rejected the notion.

“You thought wrong.”

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Adams asked.

“You will address me as Sir,” Commander Henrid announced defiantly.  He had been shunned too long.

Charlie smirked to himself.  A small bit of satisfaction, knowing his arch enemy had suffered.  Whatever his fate now, he had some gratification.

“Yes Sir,” Mr. Adams looked at the man in the military uniform.  He turned his back on the man that held all the answers.  He wondered what transpired out in the Amazon so many years ago.   He only hoped if there were answers, Commander Henrid could get them.  He wished the nightmare over.  At any cost.  Was that wrong?  Would Commander Henrid kill Charlie if he left the room?  Mr. Adams didn’t know.  But the two men stared intently at each other now and he knew it was a matter of time before some kind of truth revealed itself, whatever truth there was in this crazy world.

“Sir,” he paused hesitantly, knowing who was in control in the small trailer room, “I’ll be outside.  Do you want me to pat him down again?” He asked, referring to Charlie.

“Oh really,” Charlie said annoyingly.

Commander Henrid shot Mr. Adams an angry look.

“That won’t be necessary.  This is a private war.  Go now,” Commander Henrid demanded.

Mr. Adams pointed to the door, “I’ll be waiting.”

Commander Henrid nodded.

He stared at Charlie Dempster.

Commander Henrid, adjusted his military uniform.  He wanted an end.

Charlie said nothing and waited.

“You’re going to put an end to this Charlie,” Commander Henrid said, walking towards him.

The sound of his footsteps were deafening in the small room.  For once, Charlie felt out of control.  Because he had no control.  Commander Henrid had taken control back somewhere along his lonely journey.

Henrid plotted and waited for this moment.  He researched everything about Charlie Dempster, the man who disgraced him.

He wasn’t a man seeking redemption or justice but if ever there was a moment this was it.

Commander Henrid moved so close to his face, Charlie could feel his heavy breathing on his face.  Not labored like he imagined his own but slow and steady.

Charlie darted his eyes from the corner of the room directly at Commander Henrid’s.  This was no time to be coy.   The cards were on the table.  It would be stupid of him to think Commander Henrid didn’t know everything.  Like a well calculated chess game, Charlie was always one step ahead.  He wanted to keep the pace.  His son, Dylan Dempster was still alive thanks to the Amazon man.  He would keep him alive at any cost.

“No way,” Charlie told him.

“This is not a negotiation.”

Commander Henrid’s voice was so steady.  Charlie wondered how many drinks of Vodka he needed to match that temperament.  But there was no liquor break in this war of words.

“It’s out of my hands,” Charlie told him, “what’s done is done.”

“I’m not asking,” Commander Henrid told him softly, lowering his eyes.

Good God.  What did he mean by that?  Charlie wondered.

“Someone has to pay,” Commander Henrid told him, as though he could read his thoughts.

Charlie shook his head, “No.”

Commander Henrid left him standing there.  He didn’t offer him a seat, although there was a chair across from the desk.  The leather chair, at the front of the desk, he seated himself in.  It was plush and he settled into the comfort.  This was the way he imagined it.

Charlie stared at the empty wooden chair.

“Go ahead Dempster. We have no secrets here, do we?”

“No,” Charlie replied meekly and settled in the chair.  It might as well have splinters. 

But the splinters were deep in his heart now.  For he know exactly where Commander Henrid intended to strike.  What followed was a long soliloquy.  One Commander Henrid had practiced in front of a mirror for many years, should he and Charlie ever cross paths again.  It was the kind of speech that meant more to the speaker than the listener.  Like some disgruntled and jilted lover or recipient of unrequited love, he let the man before him have his wrath.

He motioned his hands in the air, “You see this Charlie?  This is my parade.  And I don’t want you raining on it.  You see this Charlie?”  He pointed again.

The words faded in and out for Charlie.  He was thinking about Dylan and Millicent.

“This is my sunshine, my limelight, my time, my moment, my stage, my performance and I want you out of it.  I want you out of the whole damned picture.”

“Then what am I doing here?”

“I think it’s time you realize how insignificant you are Charlie.  You’ve manipulated all of this.  You took away everything from me in that jungle Charlie.  And I worked and I waited and I endured all the shame and the pain and the hurt and all the loneliness.  I felt the sting of rejection.  I know what it feels like to go to bed at night and know there is an unjust world because of you.”

“There was a life at stake,” Charlie implored.

“Yes, mine.  Not the one you saved.  Not the greed you chose for yourself.  And now you sit among the rubble again.   How many lives will it take for you to see the error of your ways?  So cavalier with your words, your ideas, your ideals, your life and your choices.  This game is over Charlie and you made your last move a long time ago.”

“But if only you had a son….”

“You can ‘t sacrifice one for the good of yourself and only you.  One can only be sacrificed for the good of all.”

Charlie stood up in defiance and pounded his fists on the desk, “No.  I tell you.  It’s not the way.  It’s not the way.  Will you be able to live with yourself?  Will you?”

“Insignificant Charlie.  Did you miss my point?  I am in good ranks again because I follow the rules.  I don’t bend them to fit my ways.  I took my punishment and I stand before you today to let you know the decision is mine and mine alone.  You will say nothing and you will do nothing because you can do nothing.  There is no manipulation Charlie.”

“You can live with this?”

Commander Henrid refused to answer.

“You’re not a brave man like you think Henrid.  You’re the same coward I met in the Amazon.  You hate me because I do what needs to be done.  You’re taking the easy way out.  You can’t live with this decision.”

“I can and I will,” Commander Henrid assured him.

“It’s tempting, oh so tempting….” Charlie threatened.

“What?   Think you can kill me here?”

“Yes, yes, I do you fool.  You follow commands.  You get a slap on the wrist.  A pat on the back.  But what kind of man are you really?  You think I’m a killer.  You’re no better.  You think you’re better than me.  You aren’t.  And as for my insignificance, I made this all possible.  I see the possible.  The finish line.  You just see the end.”

“So then….do it.  Kill me Charlie Dempster.”

Charlie lurched for him and Commander Henrid knocked him to the ground.

Mr. Adams heard the rumble from outside but didn’t interrupt.  Until the Commander called out, he would wait.

Commander Henrid pounded his face in with his fists.  The flesh of his knuckles felt like steel meeting the chin, the nose, the neck until he was bloodied enough to get the point.

“I want you out of my way Charlie Dempster,” he roared.

Curled up on the floor.  Commander Henrid delivered one swift kick to his gut.  It left Charlie reeling.

“Get out,” Commander Henrid roared, “get out of my way.  You’ve been a monkey on my back long enough.”

“I’ll leave you to it.  If killing my only son is the answer, then I won’t stand in your way,” Charlie stumbled to his feet.

The admission left Commander Henrid more shaken than the lash of anger he had just released.

“I don’t need your permission.  My orders to kill your son Dylan are already underway.  I’ve listened in on all the conversations with the Amazon man.  A life for a life Charlie.  I know what you did and I know why.  What you don’t get is that I don’t care.”

“Oh, I get that.  Very clear.”

“Once the Amazon man has what he wants order will be restored.”

“How?”  Charlie asked. “How do you plan to kill my son?”

“Quickly.”

“Okay then,” Charlie announced and turned his back on the only man that could kill his son.

Commander Henrid could do what he wanted.  But so could Charlie.  Dylan was safely hidden in a place he would never find him.  Being the prepper, his alternate life afforded him, Charlie doubted very much Commander Henrid knew about the secret bunker.

Charlie let him think he won.  But all the while, he was planning the death of the Amazon man.  How would he get him alone?

Mr. Adams escorted Charlie out of the room, only glancing ever so slightly at Commander Henrid, when he saw Charlie’s bloodied and bruised face.