My boots make clanking sounds as I walked down the long glass and metal hallway of the base. This was where I reported after every mission. Aside from a panel of a very few selected political leaders, I was the most well respected person who stepped foot into the facility.
As I walked by, men raised their heads and saluted. They grew tense, heartbeats quickening and sweat beading on their exposed temples. After a while, all their faces were the same but in different shades. Hell, some of them had been hidden away in the secret base for so long they came in dark or tanned and all left with pale faces. It was amazing to me what a lack of sun could do to a person.
They were all the best of the best in their fields but it only made them peons in comparison to the bigger picture here. This place was the place any serious military man or woman wanted to be. This was the front line. This was it.
And I ran it.
It was even so simple as walking into the place where the suits sat and watching them squirm. These moments didn’t happen often, moments where I was asked to show face in a more formal meeting, and so when it did they wondered what I would say or do next. I had the power to eliminate them from the program. I also had the power to take away those fat paychecks. That was scarier than death to these people.
Civilians.
Two men simultaneously pressed gel pads which formed their way up to their wrists and scanned for their identity. Not only did this read prints but it took a blood sample each time and read a chip placed into the base of their thumbs. They had to do this exactly at the same time or the doors would not open.
As the vault slowly lowered into the ground steam spewed from the edges and the main hall was exposed to us. I could smell the fear as I stepped onto the multi-pressured sensors on the floor which read the weight of each person that it stepped on. As we walked in, the few soldiers behind me who had accompanied me on my journey, our bodies were scanned again. To be honest, while here your body was constantly being monitored and scanned. Those not present sat in different labs and rooms throughout the base reading scans from other labs and rooms.
It was quite literally the most impossible of tasks to enter this place without an invitation.
The glowing red floor turned white again and illuminated the area in a pleasant tone once our scans were complete. When this happened the bulletproof shields guarding each member of the political committee was exposed. It was obviously a very small committee but they played vital roles in what we did here.
I bowed my head just once and stood up straight. Unlike the peons or the suits, the armor I wore was white, fitted to my form and highly advanced. As the room read me, I read it and everyone in it. Already my computer had informed me of the change in one of the politician’s hearts, Joseph White. He was the governor of California and had recently had a pacemaker put in.
Also, Jannet Scleral of Texas had recently gone through menopause and her heart was beating so quickly at my appearance she was on the verge of a serious medical condition. I supposed I should have said something but it always made me smirk to know how I affected the suits.
“General, we are glad you could make it here today. We understand you have a very hectic schedule.” Kevin Yu, governor of Colorado, stood, spoke and bowed. When he sat the fat surrounding his entire body continued to jiggle for a moment. While he usually was the most brave to speak he also had his reservations about me. His intimidation was derived more from fear than from inferiority.
I also don’t think he trusted me.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the counsel, it’s my pleasure. I assume you are here for an update on the misson.”
They all grew tense when I spoke. Even though we were located in the middle of the ocean undetectable and completely protected from outside ears they felt as if my blunt way of speaking was still inappropriate. This was also, of course, because of how sensitive the mission was.
Clearing his throat, Arnold Howard, the mayor of Washington DC, spoke up, “Yes, you are correct. We have been eager to hear first-hand of the results.”
I smiled and broke my stance. From my white suit I reached into a pocket on my leg and pulled a remote. Entering in a code, before us came images of the world in globe form. I reached into the air and tapped on a remote island off the coast of Russia. The image expanded to this area and showed the groupings.
I tapped on a specific island allowing it to expand further. Here, across the cost of this island were little red dots blinking in and out slowly as if nearly dormant. These images were self explanatory to the counsel. They went from a state of fear to excitement and eagerness. I had never seen any of their eyes larger.
Using my hand, I began to point to each of the dots.
“As we discussed, the drones have been placed around “Ground Zero”. After they deploy it will only be moments before they hit each of their destinations. Our team set up the tracking to show anyone monitoring the weapons that they came from Russia. Materials and information are all products of Russia and we have eliminated any possibility of it being traced back to us.”
“How are you so certain?” Margret Clark of New York City, probably the most brave of the counsel, questioned the mission as this was by far the greatest we had set to accomplish in a very long time. She also felt I was too young. My being a woman didn’t matter. This was a new world and women mostly ran it. My age, however, caused issues. Being below the 30 mark tended to turn heads.
I wasn’t surprised but it grew old proving myself. I was already the General of a private army with intentions to benefit the United States at any and all costs and by questionable methods. Proving my worth had simply grown bothersome.
“The work “impossible” comes to mind, Governor. This is what I do. I would not execute a plan if I could not bet my life on the results being at quality.” I smiled but behind it was the question I held as to if Margret Clark was really a value to this team after all.
“The General has never let us down, Clark. I don’t know why you feel the need to do this every time.” Howard drew the attention to him and ran his fingers through his blonde toupee. He was the sort of man eager to please. That was valuable, “Everything looks according to plan. When have we decided to strike.”
I laughed now as I looked back at my team. Two women and two men whom I had hand chosen all over the world of millions of qualified people to accomplish what needed done in the most sensitive and difficult of missions. They were not me but they were damn close. They also honored the white armor only theirs had a chest plate of black, also fitted firmly to their form for ease of movement and grace.
They followed suit in the laughter. They ran this place nearly as much as I did. Most face time with these people were done through others following a chain of command. My team threw up more questions of rogue tendencies and malicious behavior than even my own reputation seeing as most of them were from war torn countries.
Together we scared the shit out of these people.
“I am sorry, counsel. “We” have not decided anything. I have made the final decision. On the day of activation, if you are sleeping, eating, at the spa, doing an interview on television or shitting on your private toilets with paper made of gold you and your families will be taken to a safe and confidential location. You will not know when, why or how and this is how it will remain.”
“That’s not part of the plan!”
“I make the plans, Governor, Clark. If you would prefer to forfeit your seat to another who might understand how things work here you can just tell me now.” With a snap of my fingers a solider in black was standing behind her with a gun to her head. As if draining the color from her face, the woman went pale. Nearly as pale as the soldiers who served in this base, the woman was a ghost and shivering until her teeth chattered.
“We do not need to take such extraordinary measures, Governor. Everyone understands that this is how it will work.” Yu did his best to reassure me but he felt the gun at the back of his head and froze just as Clark had.
“What is the meaning of this?” Scleral demanded as she began to cry and squeeze at her skirt.
I laughed. This felt good. Laughing, for me, usually came with rewards. Reaching for my leg, I pulled a communicator from the pocket and gave the code. Everything locked down and the plans had changed.
“You cannot steal this from us!” The governor shouted again as he struggled under the restraints of my team.
“You can steal anything, counsel.”
When I awoke from this dream, this… memory, I came to in a very slow, calm manner. Zek and Tommy where both asleep in their pull down beds and the ship seemed to have been stopped. I opened the window to find that Alyx and Nicolas decided to sleep outside. Nicolas was awake and Alyx was dead asleep. They were doing a sort of manual watch next to a fire hovering over a silver ring. Above it was a suspended bar with meat cooking.
I pushed the unlocked door open to the outside and met with Nicolas standing to attention quickly. When he realized it was just me he let out a deep breath and sat back down. It was black as coal outside aside from his fire and should have been freezing. It took me a moment to find they had also put up a zone surrounding camp to prevent the weather from disturbing our night in the harsh mountainside.
They really did come prepared for anything.
“Bin-Rah, I am sorry. I thought you were something else.” He sat back down and began to poke at the cooking meat with a stick. I knew there were better ways for him to cook that but he seemed like an incredibly traditional member of the crew.
Unlike the others, Nicolas had a string tied around his neck with a religious symbol on it. It seemed to have been hand carved and very old. This could have easily been passed down to him from many generations of tradition.
“Some… thing?” I sat on a stone near him causing his body to tense. I laughed and held out my hands to the fire for warmth. It was still cold despite the best of their attempts to counteract the negative temperatures we sat in.
“The Golden Circle is not only known for their harsh weather and terrain but also for the beasts that live here.”
“I can only imagine what sorts of animals can survive in this place.”
Nicolas shook his head and sucked in a sharp breath, “Not animals, ma’am. These are beasts.”
A very strong wind rattled at the barrier protecting us and made it feel as if there would be an earthquake. Nicolas helped me keep balance before sitting as far away as possible from me in his seat. He was so nervous and torn from both his government loyalty and religious. No matter which really was superior to the other, this was a very dedicated man.
“Explain yourself, soldier.”
He nervously shifted in his seat and said a prayer. Kissing his charm he turned back to me and continued, “I suppose it’s something you must know. I just don’t want to tempt the Gods as our fortunes have been good this journey.
“The Golden Circle people were first recognized for their weapons and armor when the God’s first came to the Circles. The Scripts of the Fifth state, “And so they came, with salvation in hand, to the land of the greatest darkness. All visited the God’s in awe as salvation became them and eternal loyalty would provide rewards in the afterlife. Not a moment of salvation passed before the creatures rose from the caves.
“Hundreds of thousands of beasts, half man and half monster, began to scour the lands hunting down the Gods. With eternal power at their hands but the restraint of faith, the Gods did not fight. Instead, the people of the Fifth destroyed many with their skill. The passion of the Gods gave them the power to stand and take over their lands again.” From that point forward it was said the beasts only attacked strangers to the circle and roamed during the night.”
The meat was starting to smell good. It was much different than the military food they ate on this transport. In fact, I found myself salivating and watching Nicolas closely as he pulled it off of the rod and placed a bit on two different plates for us.
Once we started to eat, the silence wasn’t nearly as discomforting as one would have thought. The story sounded like one you would hear from many religions. It was always more of a fairy tale than anything else. Monsters, Gods and salvation? It was all so…
Barbaric.
“Has anyone ever seen one of these creatures?” I asked as I chewed a piece a bit too large for comfort. It was a very tough meat but juicy and sweet. I liked that it was more rare than the other meats I’d had while here.
“Not in hundreds of years. The Golden Circle has done well in protecting travelers across their passes. This road we are traveling is the safest. It’s only once you decide to travel off road you are really at risk. In fact, no one has ever lived to tell us of how that journey would go.”
“Where is it that you are from?”
He motioned to speak until a sight behind me caught his attention. I watched as he stood and saluted only to find his superior had joined us. In a snap, Nicolas was back in full uniform and walking the boarder of our camp.
“I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.” I commented as I stood and placed the plate down in my seat, “If you will excuse me, I prefer not to be electrocuted again.”
“I’m not here to electrocute you, woman. I am here to apologize.” He motioned for me to walk with him several steps behind Nicolas as we circled the large boarder. I could tell he felt safe to speak this far away from his underling and we were also out of sight.
“I didn’t take you for a midnight stroll kind of guy.” He provided me a confused look and I turned forward again, “I’m not going to pretend that apology was sincere. In fact, I am not going to take it at all. You and I know it’s to both of our advantage to end this trip safely and part ways. I am not in the habit of ratting on soldiers stepping out of their orders but I promise you this…”
We stopped and I watched as he avoided my eye contact. A man with too much pride, Arthur Grendalby was, but no sense came to any man who crossed me.
“Look at me when I address you.” I snapped my finger and pulled his face so that we were looking directly into one another’s eyes. The hair on his forehead blew slightly as an artificial wind inside of the camp blew it. He didn’t fear me. He feared those who now represented me, “If you ever electrocute me again or so much as touch a hair on my party’s heads… I will kill you with my bare hands.”
Arthur Grendalby reached for his gun to intimidate me but found himself on his knees with his arm one twist away from being shattered.
“Please tell me you understand my proposal.”
Urging him was part of the fun. His soldier had tuned us out knowing he shouldn’t be listening. Nicolas was such a loyal worker that Arthur knew he would not disobey. These people had learned all their lives there was no other choice than to obey.
With a single nod of his head and no words I released him from my grip and watched as he eased the pain. It didn’t surprise me that he couldn’t look me in the eyes anymore. I had been as much a thorn in his side as I was everyone else I’d met since I arrived. The idea I was now to save this world and assist in some takedown made less sense than just giving in.
I continued to walk around the edges of the camp, my traveling partners knowing I would not leave just to die in this treacherous terrain. Plus, I needed to stretch my legs. The ships and the transports all enabled me from my activity. I was used to much more than this. My body felt restless, like bugs crawling under my skin. I just wanted to run. I hadn’t in so long and I yearned for it.
Throwing off my cloak, I stopped and leaned forward to touch my toes. Several pops came from my back and arms. I then stood and crossed each arm over my chest. A jump or two later and I was speeding around the camp allowing the cold wind created by the action to sooth my skin. My muscles cramped a little and it to a while to catch a momentum I felt comfortable with.
This continued for a long time until fatigue came over me again. While the crew was inside the transport I knew they were watching me closely. My skin had become sensitive enough to feel the cameras they used like a light touch on my skin. I slowed my running to a walk until I had cooled down enough to sit on a nearby stone.
It was cold underneath me but I was just fine. I allowed myself to lean back and stretch again before taking in a deep breath. I expected the rest of this night to pass as any other. I would sleep and we would continue to travel on. Unfortunately, trouble followed me. This dangerous place would prove far more complex than I could ever imagine. This realization came at the smell of burning wood and hair coming in lightly from the mountain face below where we had set up camp.
A dull glow was coming from the edge of the cliff where we were. I got close but the barrier prevented me from leaving. It was for the best. The winds were so harsh and cold I heard the team talking about how it could kill of skin in minutes and you could be dead in under an hour. That being said, I strained my eyesight to find out what had been going on.
It took a moment to finally realize the small village below was under attack. Before I could look back and shout to the team what was happening, a man grabbed me from outside of the shield and pulled me through. It felt like my body was being pushed through a gelatin sack causing me to become soaking wet as well as fatigued further. Once on the outside you could not see my camp. It was disguised as a large boulder in the mountains face.
When I turned back and looked up, the man who had grabbed me shoved a hand over my mouth so that I could not speak. He was large, like a giant large, and smelled like oil and coal. With my eyes adapting quickly I could see he was covered head to toe in protective clothing and for good reason. My skin had grown so cold just from the few seconds I was outside of the camp that I felt sick and my body began to shiver uncontrollably.
With what was left of my body strength, I struggled but met with a hushing sound from the man who had grabbed me. For the first time since arriving here I was overpowered. My first concern was who this man was and the second was how he managed to see through the shield of my camp. As more men came and entered the gelatin shield with incredible ease I then realized my entire troupe was in danger.
The man carrying me wrapped me up tightly in the hide of an animal and threw me over his shoulder like a rug. I wanted to struggle and move but I felt the covers only grow tighter the more I struggle. It was no average fur and this was no average kidnapping. This man’s heart was not racing, he had no adrenaline flowing through his veins. Even his breathing as he carried my full weight and a sack up further in the dangerous, slick mountains remained steady the entire time.
“Where are you taking me?” I managed to ask as we hit a flat surface and entered into a cave-like opening in the mountain face.
As I suspected he didn’t answer. He seemed too focused for something like small talk. I could hear the others who had entered the camp coming up behind us. Their breathing was a bit more labored than before. I only could hope they had brought along my two companions. The rest could have been left behind for all I cared. But I needed Tommy and Zek. It was explainable but I needed them to be with us.