Rise of Aen (15 page)

The nurse did as she was asked and set the tray down before stepping back to allow Phillips to wheel herself towards the table. She just hovered momentarily before piping up once
more.

“Oh, and you have a visitor waiting to see you! Shall I tell him to wait until you are finished eating or shall I send him out right
away?”

A visitor! Emily had only had her parents visit her every weekend since she’d been transferred here and today was Wednesday. “Do you know who it is?” she asked curiously as she sipped her dreadful cup of hospital
coffee.

“He didn’t give his name, but he looks like Special Forces if you ask me.” The nurse replied in her chipper
tone.

Emily thought to herself quickly and decided that any company was good company right now. “Tell him to come and join me, if you would be so
kind?”

The nurse nodded with her fake smile and went back to the nurse’s station inside. Emily sat and picked through her food—stale toast, an orange, fake bacon and simulated eggs, not what she’d ever call fit for rations—when she felt a presence beside her. Startled that she hadn’t heard any footfalls on the path, she spun the chair around and slowly looked up at the man in dark body armor and a trench coat standing looking down at her. When she saw his face, she gasped and nearly fainted. It was
him!

“Major Emily Phillips, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.” He spoke in a low, rolling voice. “May I join
you?”

“Why are you here?” she managed to stammer out
nervously.

“To meet with you, of course.” He replied coldly. “Been visiting some of the old gang; fun times! Not for them, of course, but you get the
picture.”

“Are you here to kill
me?”

“That is yet to be decided, Major Phillips. I was hoping to pick your brain a bit before making any decisions.” He sat on the chair across from her as the iron creaked under his
weight.

“They will come if I scream for help.” Emily nodded in the direction of the doors leading to the
hospital.

“I would be long gone and you would be dead before they could react to those screams, so why even waste the breath? Besides, my mother chose to take pity on you and I would like to see what makes you worthy of
it.”

“I…I see.” She stuttered, in shock of how calmly he leveled the threat towards her. “So my life lays in my answers to your
questions?”

“No, your life was forfeit when you helped those monsters do this to me!” he pulled off his glasses and the eyes that haunted her dreams peered right through to her soul causing her to recoil slightly. “Our talk here is your way to cleanse your
soul.”

The hair on her arms rose up—Emily could feel the energy pulsating from this man sitting across from her and knew how powerful he could really be. He was in control here and he knew it! She just had to do what he said and hoped it would be what he wanted. “What can I tell
you?”

“Why
me?”

She sighed. She knew that question would be the first. “Because you had a genetic anomaly that helped you not only recover quickly from traumatic injury, but one that made you 99% compatible with the host subject. Finding you was like winning the lottery for our
project.”

“And that gave you the right to take me from my family and torture me? That’s right, it was for the greater good, I’m
sorry.”

“No, Aaron, it’s me who is sorry. For too long I stood by and watched you get ripped apart and made anew. For my part in it, I hope you can find forgiveness. Even with my injuries, I feel I haven’t been punished enough!” Tears streamed from her eyes as she poured her heart into the
apology.

“Interesting, the first one spits in my face and the second throws herself at my feet.” He spoke aloud, but clearly to himself as he stood up and took a few steps away. “Tell me Emily, did you know the full scope of the project? Do you know why they made
me?”

“At first no, but once I saw them milk you for DNA to make others I figured it out
quickly.”

“But the one in charge, this General Taylor, had no clue at what he’d made, did
he?”

“None of us did. But the prospect of alien life was so terrifying. We needed a
response.”

“It is not my mother’s people that pose the danger to your world, they were only here looking for
me.”

The tears had slowed, but still fell down her cheeks, leaving streaks of moisture behind. Emily was finally able to release all her pent-up emotions at long last, still she wondered if they would be the last she ever felt. Slowly she eyed him up, dressed in a deep grey suit with a long overcoat. His leather coat obviously was hiding a weapon or two; she noticed the bulges instinctively as he sat. Her eyes rose slowly over his face; his eyes were covered in black sunglasses that gave nothing away, and his hair tousled slightly in the morning breeze in waves of black, with bluish highlights—all the while revealing his elfish tipped ears from time to
time.

“So what do you have planned?” she asked, still wary of the predator before
her.

“For now I seek peace and quiet, but I am still considering a bit of revenge. Got a taste of its sweetness the other day and I must say I enjoyed
it.”

“And after you have killed us all, then what?” she was uneasy challenging such power, but her back was against the wall here. “You mother told me about an old enemy that would come and overtake us. Will you not help us
then?”

“You, as a military organization, no—I will leave you to wallow in your corruption.” He said with a quiet calm. “You seem to lack the sense of the big picture and how minute this world is in that context. Governments have built themselves high and will be the first of many parts of civilization to fall as the heavens rain
down.”

Aen sighed and stood up once more. “But humankind is worth saving, Emily Phillips. I believe that because of the memory implanted in my head of your kindness to my mother, despite the circumstances. There are many worth saving; the bright and adventurous, the passionate and the kind; all of which are being drowned by the ignorance who seek to lead you for their own personal gain. So yes I will help you fight, but I will also let those who deserve to
die.”

“So where do I fit in those categories?” she asked as he began to walk
away.

“That depends on your choices between now and then.” He said cryptically as his attention diverted to a beeping sound emanating from his gauntlet. “Time is running out for the world you know. It may be days and it may be years, but the darkness looms and it is
certain.”

“So you are letting me
live?”

“I’m leaving you to fight, whether you live or die depends on you.” He was at least twenty feet from her at this point when he turned back to face her. “I would make arrangements to leave soon, they are closer than you
think.”

“How much time do we have?” she asked, reaching out to the stranger in
desperation.

“How much do any of us truly have in this life, Emily? It just matters how you use the time you have and not waste it. I thought I had all the time in the world, and then you came for me and took it all away. What’s different from us is that a few of you will see the darkness and truly understand it, before it’s too
late!”

Before she could respond, the man disappeared in a bright flash, leaving her alone in the courtyard. The few nurses that were watching the exchange came running out frantically, babbling nonsense about what they just witnessed. Emily ignored them and began to make a checklist in her head of what to do and where to go. She had been given a prophetic warning and was damn sure she wasn’t going to waste any more time here in this
hospital!

SEVEN

Rocky Mountains, Utah –
Military Installation Code Named White Rock

It was dark tonight, much darker than it had been of late. An overcast sky helped the matter as it kept the usual shining stars wrapped up in a smothering blanket and held the mountain range in a black coldness. Standing on the roof of the facility, General Patterson couldn’t help but notice the symbolic nature of the sky. It held all the characteristics that recent events held over the once vaunted project, and he hoped it wasn’t a foretelling of the fate of all
involved.

What was once the most celebrated of all the black operations, Star Child was now the new textbook case of the worst-case scenario. Yes, they had achieved the impossible. They had created the perfect soldier and combined the DNA of humankind and an alien. But then, due to poor management, they had let it get out and now had to deal with the repercussions of this creature being out there turning its power back on
them.

“How do you fight this thing?” he asked the darkness, not expecting it to answer but more to vocalize frustration. “How do we get you back on our
side?”

“Sir?” Davis’s songbird voice chimed in behind him. He was amazed that he had been so distracted that he hadn’t even heard her approach. Everyone was frazzled and he had to show composure to right the ship, so to
speak.

“How can I help you
Sergeant?”

“I hate to add to your worries, but we lost contact with the team following the daughter
sir.”

His head hung a little lower as he remained focused on the dark horizon. “Get a search team mobilized
and...”

“We don’t have to, sir, we found them
already.”

This was the first bit of good news he had in a few days. “Well, get them back here and debrief them on their absence
then.”

She hesitated and he knew instantly something was wrong. “That will be difficult—they are in the city
morgue.”

Now he was incensed; not at Davis of course, but he wondered what the hell was going on. “How? What
happened?”

“Both their necks were broken; quite forcefully—the heads were nearly spun right around. And there was a message for you on the bodies; the P.D. wouldn’t open it as soon as they realized this was a government affair.” She said as she handed him the
note.

Snatching it from her hand, Patterson dismissed her with a nod and waited for her to be gone before unfolding it. It was handwritten, and like she had said made out to him. He sat down on the helipad as it was the only light out here and began to
read.

General
Patterson,

I believe we had a misunderstanding about the proper distance to be given to myself and my former family, a misunderstanding I hope that is no longer there. I had warned your men on the consequences of harassing them, but as I suspected, you failed to listen. I hope I have your attention
now.

Let me make my expectations clear: this fight is between you and me. They are to be left alone, period. Harassing them, spying on them, even using them as bait to lure me is unacceptable behavior and will be met with escalating force—and the pile of bodies I will deliver to your doorstep will be
staggering.

If you have any doubts about my conviction on this, know that I had a wonderful evening at your granddaughter’s piano recital. She is a lovely child, very talented. My family’s safety and peace for yours; quite a fair trade, don’t you think? I’m glad you
agree.

Now, let the hunt begin. Let loose your dogs as you try and chase me and know that I will be waiting. Let us see who is hunting who and which one of us is left standing for the dark days yet to come. Odds are you and I will speak
again.

Your
friend,

54

His granddaughter, the fucker was threatening his granddaughter. How did he know? Patterson’s files were so top-secret that there were four people, including the president, that had clearance to read them and know any family details. He had to warn them and get them to safety. He silently wondered what the hell they created here. The stakes had been raised, and it was his turn to move. Patterson knew he had to be careful; this was no fox hunt he was on, this was the hunt for a tiger and this one had home field
advantage

Himalayan Mountains, Mount Kailash, Tibet

“I am not sure it was wise to threaten the man’s progeny.”
The ever-annoying Caretaker spoke as he offered his opinion on Aen’s recent volley.
“If anything, you will anger him and put you former family in grave
danger.”

Aen merely smiled as he went about preparing the neural interface for a new session. He had a bit of an advantage in the last little bit, but he had to learn more. Combat training, mixed martial arts, both human and Lyarran techniques were on the docket
tonight.

“He won’t dare, he can’t take the risk, but I haven’t done much more than ensure their safety. If anything, I’ve made him more determined to find
me.”

“And why would you do
that?”

“Because the harder they push, the more mistakes they will
make.”

“And your visit with the
Major?”

“I removed their conscience; without it they lose their ability to think rationally. It would have been merely a matter of time before she returned to the fold and guided them to find us. By far, Emily Phillips was the brightest person in that
project.”

Aen sat himself in the chair and let the machine consume him as he gave himself over to his companion to expand his mind. With a hum, the interface began and he was lost in a trance to a lifetime of learning and experiences. Hours began to roll by, and Aen sat undeterred in his resolve to absorb it
all.

Instead of monitoring Aen’s progress, Caretaker moved on to another task, one that it had worked on while its charge had been occupied or away. It hovered over a single control panel the whole time as it repeatedly attempted to access a long dead system. This time it was making some progress; such a revelation that Caretaker had failed to take notice of Aen completing the interface and coming up behind it to
observe.

“What is an Amarra?” Aen asked, causing the hologram to shudder in surprise and making it run a full diagnostic on its sensors to see how his proximity alarm hadn’t been triggered. In the time of a few seconds, it had run everything and found no errors. Flagging the incident as worthy of further review, it filed it to the side and kept
working.

“It is, how you humans say, the ‘Ship of Pilgrimage.’ It is the frigate that brought the Lyarrans across the great divide and to your shores, and has been long dead for close to a thousand
years
.”

Aen turned back to begin making some adjustments on his armour, but wasn’t finished with his queries. “So why the sudden interest in it now, or did you think I hadn’t noticed you working away for the past
bit?”

Once again, Caretaker was taken aback by how observant this creature was. It had thought it was so careful on what it was doing, guarding the work so as to not tip him off. This incident too was flagged for further review; what an intriguing
being!

“If it satisfies your curiosity, I am attempting to resume contact with the Lyarran Council. Ameia was amongst the members of the Grand Council, thereby having a seat in it, and the ship has the ability to link up to join an adjourned session of said council. Seeing as we have been out of contact with them for an extreme length of time, and the recent events leading to you, I surmised this is as good of a time as any to
try.”

Aen was indeed curious and wondered what this AI might hope to accomplish other than report on the state of things. From his studies, he knew that all council members were female; as were all leaders in the Empire; and those worlds that didn’t have female representatives were assigned one. So the fact that an AI was trying to dial in seemed like a major faux-pas. There was something else in Caretaker’s agenda, something more he wasn’t sharing that was driving this new obsession and Aen was a bit worried on what it could
be.

“And where is this ship?” he
asked.

“From our current position, it is five thousand, eight hundred and sixty-nine kilometers South
East.”

Aen measured in his head as he tried to follow an unseen map. “That would put it somewhere in the Pacific, wouldn’t
it?”

“Indeed, very impressive!”
the machine cooed.
“It lies four point two four kilometers under the surface and has been without power for some time. I believe the last time it was holo-linked for the Council was six hundred and thirty one years
ago.”

“And you think the Council will allow an AI to
participate?”

Silence. Aen had caught the machine in its own arrogance and it couldn’t process it. With a coy smile he knew he now had the opportunity to peak in on this grand
meeting.

“And seeing as we both know that they would see your intrusion as severe, they might be more receptive to me; seeing as I am the great ‘Harbinger’ and
all.”

“An interesting observation, one I am sure you have contemplated for some time.”
Caretaker replied at last.
“But I am far from being able to raise the Amarra, never mind restarting her dead power core to dial in to the
Council.”

“But when you are,” Aen said with a smile, “I have an idea for that problem
too.”

Rocky Mountains, Utah –
Military Installation Code Named White Rock

The warm feel of the autumn days turned cold as snow began to fall and winter began. The days shortened but still there was much to do. General Patterson stood at the window of his office and looked down to the valley below thinking of the task that still loomed before them. It had been months since the creature had showed itself, and it had taken the whole time to get his new tracking team up to par. Now everything stood
silently.

Repairs to the facility had been complete; now only the color of new brick told the tale of what had happened, that and the temporal disturbance that was once the morgue. It had never been right, even though the men that had disappeared stumbled out in a haze a few days ago thinking it had been a few hours not almost a year. The men were now in the remade infirmary, most undergoing psychological tests to make sure they could cope with what had
happened.

Patterson was unsure of the next step, only that there was one that needed to be taken. But he was being doubly sure that he was as cautious as can be; the threat levied by the creature still weighed on his mind and heart heavily. It was crystal clear that there would be no compromise with him; it was stay away from his family or the General’s would pay with their
lives.

A knock at the door startled him, rousing him from his
thoughts.

“General?”

He looked back at Sergeant Davis. She had been a rock of strength for him and the team. Always cheery, always getting her work done and always looking to help however she could and kept them all on the right path. He silently wondered how much longer she could keep it up as the stress here mounted by the
day.

“I checked into contacting Major Phillips as you asked, but she’s gone AWOL. The staff at the hospital said a strange-looking soldier came to visit her and she left the very next day. No one knows where she
is.”

“Interesting.” Patterson mumbled. “Very
interesting.”

“Sir?”

“This creature is very creative; very crafty. Davis, this thing has done the bait and switch with us. It seemed like he was focused on his family, when all the while he distracted us to remove the one who knew the most about
him.”

“So now
what?”

Patterson turned back to the window and began to ponder. “That is the question, my dear.” He said quietly before remaining
silent.

Davis took this as her cue to leave and snapped a quick salute off before walking away just to air on the side of caution. Things had been drastically different since the retrieval plan had gone south a few months back. Everyone was on pins and needles and the tension in the project was so thick it could be physically felt by touch. There was no escaping it, at least not in her mind. Everyone was afraid of the retribution this creation of theirs could rain down upon them. There was no measurement of his potential, and that was the truly frightful part! Every contact with it had shown exponential growth in its abilities, the last of which had been staggering. In a few short minutes, it had not only ambushed highly trained soldiers, but it had played with them like toddlers with no fear whatsoever. Davis had noticed the General’s behavior change since that day. There was fear in his eyes, real fear, and it was growing
daily.

Bristol County, Massachusetts

Sitting on the roof of an old shop downtown, Aen watched unseen as his former wife went about her daily life. It had been a long time since he had seen her, and the hole in his soul that was eating at him won out. He assumed her routine to be the same: coffee at her best friend’s house in the morning for a few hours and then off to pay bills and shop. This is the point where he now saw her and his heart felt as broken as it ever
had.

Over three years had passed since he last saw her, and he was awestruck at her beauty as she strolled down the downtown sidewalk. She had grown her hair out—before it was cut just above her shoulders—and had a happy bounce to her step. Her face showed a slight smile, but the pain of loss was still evident behind the clever facade. Every fibre of his being wanted to reach out to her; the old longing for her was overwhelming, but he remained in the shadows
above.