Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (24 page)

The next
morning, Bearden walked through the science atrium without greeting anyone and
passed directly through the doors to the weaponry unit. He was looking for Mace
Magner.
 
He needed to inform him
that Lee Tripple was, in fact, in possession of the missing biomer and was no
closer to finding a way to control the biomachines than the government was.
This would not be a surprise for the major, as he knew in his gut where the
biomer was. It would be bad news though, because he was running out of space to
put the beasts and production was not stopping. His only choice would be to
postpone activation of the second phase of biomachines, a slightly upgraded unit
with a more graceful shape and enhanced agility. Since the first activation,
with Gene and Dawn, Mace was actually sort of counting on Ganesh, Riles, and
Tripple’s crime to bail his program out of the hole in which it was sinking.
With his mole, Bearden, in place, he really had Tripple Laboratories working
for him.

After ten
minutes of searching the weaponry unit that had become a maze of newly
constructed
stone walls
, Bearden found the major by
following the sounds of his booming voice. He was in the middle of berating a
group of tired looking soldiers for their shoddy work on installing the
restraints in the newest section of building blocks. His face was the color of
an almost ripe tomato and Bearden decided not to interrupt. He stood aside and
watched the soldier’s faces droop more and more with shame. This was not the
mood he’d hoped to find Major Magner in today.

When Mace
was finished with his rant, he sent the soldiers off to restart their work and
took notice of Bearden standing there.

“Sergeant, I
hope you have some good news for me,” he said.

“I think
that will depend on your perspective, sir,” Bearden replied.

Mace started
walking deeper into the maze and Bearden followed. When they were out of
earshot from where the rest of the unit was working, they ducked into a small
stone room with one of the biomachines. There was barely room for the three of
them to stand without touching each other. Bearden swallowed hard as he was
forced to stare into the eyeless face of this monster. It stood there chained,
practically inanimate and seemingly harmless. He tried to ignore the thing, but
its small movements gave him the creeps. Mace smacked him in the back of the
head.

“Snap out of
it, Leitner. You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“I just
haven’t been this close to one before.”

“Bull shit!
This is partly your creation. You should feel proud to be standing here with…”
Mace looked around the back of the machine for the designation. “…Betty.” The
machine seemed to respond to its name being said and tugged at its restraints.

“I think she
likes you,” Mace said.

“I don’t
think that’s funny, sir,” Bearden replied.

“So what’s
the news on Tripple?”

“You were
right. The stolen biomer is in his lab…in a locked room.”

“Of course I
was right! I hope you have something more to tell me than useless information
that I already know.”

“It’s not
much, but he is looking for a weakness. He’s breaking down the DNA and running
gene interference piece by piece.”

“How long
will that take? And leave out the scientific crap and give me the short
answer.”

“I don’t
know, sir. He’s got a very sophisticated system that I think if we tried here,
could take months, even years. But he seems to have a way of identifying
exactly what he is looking for. It’s really quite amazing.”

“I’m sure it
is,” Mace grumbled.

“The problem
is that he doesn’t know exactly what he is looking for,” Bearden added.

“But you can
help him with that, right?”

“I would
never be so bold to think I could help Dr. Tripple with something he couldn’t…”

Mace cut him
off.

“Dammit,
Leitner, I need you to crawl out of Tripple’s ass for the rest of this
conversation. Do you understand me?” Mace yelled.

“Yes, sir. I
will help him as best as I can.”

“You do
that, and let me know the second you have something tangible that I can use. General
Pike will not postpone this war forever.”

Bearden
saluted, bumping Betty in the chin with his elbow, and made his way back out of
the maze to the atrium for another uncomfortable day of being stared at and
whispered about.

Maeve Daire
was crouched in the venting system above an empty office next to Ganesh’s
office. She was dressed in black from head to toe and her long shiny hair was
completely hidden under her hat. She held a recording device with a voice
amplifier against the wall closest to Ganesh. She was on her own mission, to
find out if she could trust him with her traitorous secret. So far, he and
Special Unit spy, Quinn, had said nothing of consequence. The two got along
really well and Ganesh seemed to genuinely like him. It made her sad because
there was no way Ganesh would come out of the assignment without being hurt, or
killed. Maeve had yet to determine if Quinn’s was a kill mission, but she had
been close by since she met Ganesh at his home. She had hoped he would have
called for her help by now, but he had not. Maeve knew Ganesh was stubborn and
wouldn’t readily admit if he was in over his head, so she just waited; ready to
assist him if he needed her.

At 10:55,
Quinn was in the middle of telling Ganesh a hilarious story about his first day
of training involving some oversized pants and a stray rodent, when there was a
knock on the office door.
Ganesh
who was laughing so
hard there were tears in his eyes, cleared his throat to help stifle himself.
Quinn opened the door and smiled at Sergeant Leitner.

“Hey,
Bearden,” he said, “Come on in.”

“Hi Quinn,”
Bearden said with a straight face and walked past him and stood in front of
Ganesh’s desk, saluting the Colonel.

“Sergeant
Leitner. Always a pleasure,” Ganesh said, still with a chuckle in his voice. In
the vent, Maeve wrote down the name.

“I have
something for you, sir,” Bearden said glancing sideways at Quinn to suggest
that he should be dismissed.

“It’s ok,
Leitner, what have you got?” Ganesh said holding out his hand.

Bearden gave
him a sealed letter from Lee, which he promptly opened and read. Ganesh took a
long deep breath.

“Anything I
can help with?” Quinn asked.

“No, no.
Just something from Lee Tripple inquiring about his friend, Professor Riles,”
Ganesh lied.

“What’s it
like working for that crazy man?” Quinn asked Bearden.

“Well, I’m
only there a few hours a week, but it’s always interesting.”

“I heard
that he eats the lab mice when he’s done testing them,” Quinn said.

“I seriously
doubt that,” Bearden said with a laugh. “In fact I haven’t even seen any mice.”

“Yep!
Because he eats them.”

“Boys!
Enough,” Ganesh scolded them. “Leitner, come see me this afternoon, after 5:00.
I will have seen Camden by then. I’m sure he will want to write a nice letter
to his friend.”

“Yes, sir,”
Bearden said. “Later, Quinn.”

“So, Leitner
is a messenger boy for the science gods,” Quinn said when Bearden was gone.

“No, but Lee
sends a friendly hello now and then and knows that Camden is not taking phone
calls during his stay here. It’s faster than sending mail, I guess,” Ganesh
said. Quinn knew he was
lying,
yet still his reports
to General Pike were vague at best. Because Ganesh used to train spies like
him, Quinn knew that getting his true secrets out in the open would be tricky.
It was easy to speculate, but there was no hard evidence of thievery or
government betrayal by Ganesh or his cohort Camden Riles.

Maeve, still
listening in from above, however, was hoping for some government betrayal from
her father figure. She had snaked a long scope through the vents just over
Ganesh’s desk when Sergeant Leitner handed Ganesh that letter. She snapped a
picture of the words on the paper that she would magnify and read later. She
inched her way out of the vent and checked her stolen copy of the building
plans to look for her best options of catching the conversation that Ganesh
would have with Camden Riles later. Perhaps she would be lucky enough to get a
glimpse of Camden’s reply to his friend, Lee. Either way, the fact that Ganesh
was facilitating communication between the two gave her hope that he was on her
side of the fight. She would have to keep a close eye on Ganesh and Quinn
today, but a little later. Maeve decided for the rest of the morning, she would
follow Sergeant Bearden Leitner, in case he was more than a messenger. She
worked her way out of the venting system and ducked into a restroom. She opened
her small bag, checked her schematic of the building, changed her clothes and
put on a wig.

General Pike
was also having a meeting in his office this morning, with Colonels Talper and
Cline, and Major Magner. They were discussing the progress of the biomachines.

“The Phase
Two units will have upgrades in their response systems. It is unlikely that
they will be able to ignore their programming even if they decide to bond with
each other,” Cline said.

“But, it is
still a risk,” Talper added, “Bottom line, this biomer is unpredictable and we
need to be prepared.”

“I agree,”
said General Pike, “Which is why I have re-designated the open field behind the
TRU Building for a new housing facility to house the activated phase two
biomachines.

“Will we be
able to stay on schedule for activations?” Mace asked.

“As long as
you have made enough restraint lockers in the sub-basement for the rest of the
Phase One units,
Major
.”

“We are
almost at capacity down there, sir, but I can re-assign office space if
necessary,” Mace replied.

“I would
advise not to disturb the programmers space,” Talper said. “We need them on
standby at all times during this process. Don’t you agree, General?”

“I do,” he
said. “Find another way, Magner.”

“Yes, sir,”
Mace said.

“Colonel
Cline, you will meet the building crew this afternoon in the open field. Give
them these plans,” the general said, handing him a large envelope. “Don’t
answer any questions about the facility’s use. If they press you on it, say
it’s for storing equipment for the Camden Riles flight project. That way, if it
makes it to the press, it will be the publicity we want.”

With that,
the general stood and saluted the three men who saluted back and took their cue
to leave.

By 12:00,
Maeve had changed into military garb and put her hair under a black wig. She
was hiding out in the science atrium trying to figure out a way into the
weaponry unit behind the well-secured doors. She had been watching Bearden for
an hour. There had been nothing interesting or suspicious about him, apart from
that he seemed to be an outcast by his co-workers. Just then, he checked his
phone and then disappeared behind the doors leading to the other side of the
atrium, to the weaponry unit. Maeve walked the perimeter of the atrium so she
could find a better hiding place without drawing attention to herself while she
worked out a way to access the weaponry unit. She needed a plan, or the right
opportunity. She waited until another soldier accessed the weaponry unit. Just
before the door closed behind him, she grabbed the handle and waited, keeping
the door cracked. Pretending to stick her own card in the access panel, she
smiled and nodded at a group of scientists walking by, then walked through the
door.

In the
technology development wing of the weaponry unit, Luke the programmer sat down
for lunch with his intelligence chip co-creator, Charisa. They, along with the
entire tech team had been working non-stop to enhance the response signals in
the chips for the Phase Two biomachines. Luke, who had been one of the handlers
when the biomachines murdered the training soldier last month, felt strongly
that the remainder of the Phase One units should not be activated.
 
He shared his concerns with Major
Magner, but like General Pike, his war ambition clouded his rational judgment.
So, he of course, was overruled. Charisa shared Luke’s point of view and after
finding no flaws in the programming, appealed to Colonel Talper and Colonel
Cline to put a stop to Phase One. It was too dangerous for her team of handlers
and programmers to try and train the beasts, not to mention what could happen
if the biomachines became unresponsive for extended lengths of time. The
colonels seemed sympathetic to her concerns and convinced General Pike to
initiate the new security measures, but the threat of war was too close at hand
to stop the program. Charisa also wrote several requests to meet with Colonel Ganesh.
He seemed to be the only high ranking officer in the unit who was not war
hungry. He was never in the weaponry unit these days and that gave her hope
that he could be swayed to fight the general on his decision to push ahead with
these intelligent weapons. But he was, so far, unresponsive.

As the two
ate at their desks, they discussed possible signal boosters for the Phase One
controls when they saw through their window, Major Mace Magner approaching
their office with Sergeant Bearden Leitner walking behind him. Luke looked at
Charisa with a loathsome expression.

“Great, now
I’m sure to get indigestion,” Charisa said to Luke, returning his look.

“I hope you
two techies have some good news for me. Especially if you have time to take a
leisurely lunch break,” Mace said as he walked in the door without knocking.
Bearden stayed outside and tried to look busy. He felt uncomfortable around
Luke ever since they met in General Pike’s office after that soldier was
killed. Their technology developments were the combined reason for that man’s
death and that was a common ground Bearden did not want for a relationship.

“Fortunately,
Major,” Charisa said. “We ‘techies’ are capable of multi-tasking and it just so
happens that we are in the process of making your life easier.”
 
Mace folded his arms and smiled nastily
at her. This type of look from him always gave her the shivers and made her
feel dirty. She avoided eye contact with him without looking away. Luke,
sensing her discomfort spoke next.

“Major, if
we could delay training of the Phase One activated units for at least a week,
we might be able to attach signal amplifiers to the handler control pads. It
could lessen the risk of, well, you know.”

“Not
possible,” Mace said, “In three days, we should have all of Phase One activated
and restrained. Training will happen as scheduled.”

“So, do we
have the go ahead if we can do it in three days?” Charisa asked.

“No, Sugar,
I need all available manpower working on the new structure going up to house
the Phase Two units. Unless you’d like to have drinks with me later and try and
persuade me.” Mace said and licked his lips at her.

“I’d rather
take my chances with the biomachines, sir,” she replied.

“We’ll see,”
Mace said,
then
turned to Luke. “I think your break
time is over. You two get back to work.” He walked out and slammed their door.

Charisa
threw the rest of her lunch in the wastebasket.

“
Ughh
! I’ve lost my appetite,” she said.

“You should
report him, ya know,” Luke said, shoving large bites of food in his mouth as
fast as he could.

“What’s the
point? As long as I don’t ever run into him alone in a dark corner, it’s not
worth it. C’mon, we’ve got a lot to do. I’m not giving up on the Phase One
control amplifiers. We just have to do it discreetly,” Charisa said.

The two walked
down the ramp to the training arena to see two biomachines out of restraints at
the same time, surrounded by twenty nervous looking soldiers and two very alert
handlers.

“What’s
going on here?” Charisa yelled down to them and took off at a sprint. Luke
froze in his spot, not wanting to be anywhere near the biomachines. At the end
of the ramp, a soldier grabbed Charisa and kept her from entering the training
arena.

“Don’t go
any further, ma’am,” the soldier said, putting his hand over her mouth.

Her eyes
went wide with fear as she saw the biomachines had exact synchronized movement.
The handlers were frantically pushing buttons, but it was useless. The
biomachines started shooting. The soldier shielded Charisa with his body and
started running with her up the ramp. When they got to where Luke was still
standing, he let go of her mouth and grabbed Luke by the collar, forcing him to
run too. Charisa screamed, without meaning to, all the way back to their
office. On the training floor, the surrounding soldiers were armed this time
with smaller,
chipless
, biomer guns. In a coordinated
effort, they managed to disable the arm gun on one of the biomachines, but not
before they had managed to take out eleven of the soldiers and wound at least
five more. The wounded biomachine seemed to shut itself down, causing the other
to once again respond to its handler, who was standing behind a bulletproof
shield. Another team of
soldiers
who had been standing
by, charged in to separate and restrain the biomachines and assist their fallen
and injured comrades. Colonels Talper and Cline, along with Mace appeared after
the biomachines were properly restrained. Bearden had planted himself against a
wall. He was shocked, and wondered how the hell to get himself out of this pile
of shit he’d fallen into. Mace walked up to the disabled weapon and watched as
the gun began to regenerate. It was a slow process, but seeing the biomer
beginning to repair
itself
made the major smile even
in the midst of the disaster all around him. Talper was on the phone with the
unit hospital giving orders to assemble all available doctors for the injured
soldiers.

In the tech
office, Luke had a bag of ice on Charisa’s head and was trying to calm her
down. She was crying on the shoulder of the soldier who had just saved her
life. Between sobs, Luke heard a dripping sound and looked down at the floor
and saw a pool of blood streaming from the soldiers leg.

“You’re
shot!” he said.

“It’s
nothing,” the soldier replied. Charisa sat up and saw the blood. Luke ran out
to get some help.

“Oh, my
God!” Charisa said and felt
herself
gag at the sight.
She grabbed the wastebasket that currently held her half eaten lunch from
earlier, and spit up a little.

“Not good
with blood, huh?” the soldier asked.

“I work with
computers. Computers don’t bleed,” she said and grabbed a napkin to wipe her
mouth.

The soldier
smiled at her then started to look faint. Charisa stood up and helped the
soldier to her chair.

“Put your
head between your knees. You don’t look okay.” Then she yelled, “Luke! Hurry
up! He doesn’t look so good.” She patted his head and tried hard not to think
about the blood she was standing in.

A minute
later, Luke returned with a nurse dressed in military garb, who was on her way
to help out the other injured soldiers. She went to work right away on the
soldier, cutting his pant leg away to reveal a gaping hole in his upper thigh.
Luke saw Charisa go green in the face and pulled her out of the room.

“Wait out
here,” he said and let go of her. She slid down the wall to a seated position
and Luke went back in the office to help if he could.

“It’s not
bad,” the nurse said after five minutes of stitching and bandaging. “The bullet
went right through and no major arteries were hit. He’ll just be limping for a
while. You should get him to the hospital so he can recover his blood loss.”

“I didn’t
know any nurses had clearance down here.” The soldier said, examining his tidy
bandage.”

“There are
only a few of us,” she answered curtly.

“That’s
interesting,” the soldier replied, now studying her face.

“Will you be
alright taking it from here?” she asked Luke, turning her face away from her
patient.

“Yeah, I
think so. Thanks for coming with me,” Luke said. “You should go help the rest.”

She nodded
and hurried out, disappearing in the commotion all around them.

“Give this
girl some juice before she faints,” the nurse called back to Luke after seeing
Charisa sitting against the wall, pale as a ghost.

Luke did as
the nurse said, and then hastily mopped up some of the blood in the office
before he let Charisa back in.

“We’ve got
to get you up to the hospital,” he said to the soldier who looked like he was
feeling a little better.

“I think you
should be more worried about your friend out there,” he replied and nodded
toward Charisa.

“She’ll be
alright,” Luke said. “She’s tougher than she looks.”

Charisa, who
was listening to the two, stood up slowly and walked back in the office.

“He’s
right,” she said leaning against the wall for support. “I’ll be okay. But you,
you got shot…saving my life…and I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s
Andreas,” he said, “And believe me, your life is way more important than
mine…both of your lives.”

Luke put the
blood soaked mop away and helped Andreas out of the chair.

“Come on,
let’s get you to the hospital now,” Luke said and put the soldier’s arm around
his shoulders. Charisa got on the other side and did the same. She looked up
into his face, which she found extremely handsome, and he smiled warmly at her.

“You can fix
this, can’t you?” Andreas asked.

Charisa
looked down, feeling ashamed. She took part of the blame for the deaths and
injuries happening around her.

“We are
doing everything we can,” Luke answered for her.

“It should
be me with the hole in my leg,” Charisa said.

Andreas
tightened his embrace around her shoulders.

“Don’t think
like that. They need you more than they need me. Just promise me you will stay
out of the training area.”

“She
promises,” Luke said.

When they
got to the medical floor and turned Andreas over to the hospital team, Charisa
grabbed Andreas’s hand.

“Thank you,”
she said.

“For you,
anytime,” he said and kissed her hand.

“Look at
that, he’s smitten,” Luke said and rolled his eyes as they walked away. Charisa
was still looking back at her hero being taken inside the hospital. “Looks like
he’s not the only one either.”

“Shut up,”
Charisa said and punched Luke in the arm. “Let’s get back down there before
Major ‘Pain in the Ass’ Magner realizes we are gone.”