Essentially Human Page 22

  They entered a large room, full of military personnel. Not official uniforms, but no doubt a private force. They drew to attention as Hammer entered.

  “Where is Jenkins?”

  “The cell.”

  “Bring him and give Agent Montgomery a pistol.”

  They had Jenkins?

  Sam felt a gun pressed to his right hand and he had a momentary surge of hope. His vision blurred as he visualized raising the gun…pointing it at the back of Hammer’s head and pulling that trigger…

  A red hot trickle ran down his cheek.

  “Sir? His eye is bleeding.”

  “Really?” Hammer turned back to Sam and lifted an eyebrow. “Interesting new side effect. It really is useless to resist.”

  Three men stepped into the room, leading the battered Admiral. Jenkins looked up, one eye so badly bruised and bloodied, it teetered on the edge of falling free of the swollen eyelid. He drew a deep breath and stood ramrod straight.

  “I understand you know Admiral Jenkins, Montgomery.”

  Sam said nothing.

  Hammer chuckled. “Do you know Admiral Jenkins?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you admire and respect him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, that makes this so much better. Shoot him in the belly.”

  Sam didn’t even process the order before his arm rose and he fired the pistol. Jenkins stared at him a moment in disbelief. Then he crumpled.

  The pistol dropped from his hand, horror at what he’d done filled him.

  “None of that. Pick it up and let’s finish this demonstration.”

  Sam bent, picked up the pistol, attempting to process what he’d just done and how to undo it, how to take control… He couldn’t undo, he could Finish… That was the key.

  Before Hammer said another word, Sam lifted the pistol to Jenkin’s head and fired again, killing the man instantly.

  Silence filled the room.

  Hammer snarled and ordered Sam be disarmed. “Very clever, Montgomery. The nuances of speech. I’ll be more careful from now on. He was dead already.”

  Sam read the expression on the man who’d taken the pistol from him. Pissed. Really pissed. He’d won something. He wasn’t sure what, but it was something.

  “Take him back to Nowisk. Agent, you will answer the doctor’ questions, follow his directions and cooperate.”

  Resistance was futile. But he’d wait and there would be a time. As he walked back to the lab, he remembered Jenkins and mourned. He’d thwarted whatever Hammer had intended. The only thing he could do.

  *****

  Jarveski and Ria rode public transit into New York. While she’d been wrapped up in her personal misery, she’d lost track of time. Was it the day after Sam left her with his mentor? Two days? Three? Did it matter?

  She glanced out the window at the passing scenery. Jarveski reached out and took her hand. “I am sorry we did not finish. I feel we were on the verge of something very important.”

  “Oh, you finished. I’ll find it again. But I can’t think about it right now.” The logical aspect accepted an emotional breakthrough and was certain she could return to it. A cynical whisper taunted her with the opposite, but concern for Sam outweighed all the inside arguments.

  “Tell me what you know about Rachel that you didn’t know before.”

  She thought a moment, then shook her head. “No. Tell me what you deduce about Hammer and what drives him. I can wait. Sam is why we are here.”

  “I could debate that with you, but I won’t.” He sat back, lifting the cup of hot coffee from the vending machine. “I’ve been considering Hammer, but the public record isn’t full of detail. I know he is a successful man, driven. He treats the world with a great deal of disdain, paying scant attention to the social pressure of giving back to the people. I understand he manipulated the Aleena, but am unclear on the methods.”

  Ria turned in her seat, glancing around at those near them. “Perhaps we can talk in the viewing car?”

  “Good idea.”

  No one occupied the upper tier of the train. It was cold, the windows so covered with the film from the decade’s old breath of passengers, little could be discerned of the outside. The seat covers were brittle and ripped. Sam told her there was no money for upkeep of the less accessed areas of the cars.

  Such a pity, as she remembered train trips where she never left the top seats, gazing out at the landscapes passing. She settled on the stiff vinyl and turned to Sam’s mentor, recognizing the need for total honesty.

  “It all started with his grandfather…”

  Hours passed. Jarveski bled her dry of details, tacking back and forth in such a dizzying fashion, she had no idea what he could extrapolate from the mishmash of memories. The sun rose as the train slowed and they prepared to switch to the ferry. Hermione had insisted they stop in New York.

  After meeting with dozens of men and women over the course of the day, they were left alone at a corner diner and told their driver would pick them up within the hour.

  Jarveski blinked at her, removing his spectacles and using a napkin to wipe at them. “I am drained. But hopeful. They said very little but from what they asked, I’d ascertain they are prepared to seize control of Washington very soon.”

  “I… That’s what you got from all of that?” She gazed at the menu, trying to find something that stirred her appetite. The body needed to be fed.

  “What is your impression?”

  Setting the menu down, she stared at the stained table top. “They can’t do anything for Sam. They don’t know where Hammer is or what his plans are.”

  “I understand your focus is very narrow. But I don’t believe they intend to sacrifice Sam. Have faith.”

  With a grimace, she snarled at him. “You should know faith isn’t something I have excess of. We need to move, this is getting us nowhere. I’m tired of being taken where others think I need to be.” She stood up. “I’ll get there on my own.”

  Storming toward the door, she ran straight into a short man, very sturdy. He gripped her arms and looked into her face. Staring at him, she had a flash of memory. The stony faced one, who never reacted. One of Sam’s team?

  “I’m Harold Dancer, and it’s time to leave for Virginia.”

  Finally.

  19

  Ria watched as they planned. The memorial would be all but deserted at dusk. Drummond assured her that T’talin had been informed and was on the way. Hermione reiterated that the underground would be present.

  Jarveski attempted to continue her therapy, assessing the music his program had played for her at the very end of their one session.

  She didn’t care. Standing in the ruins of the Roosevelt Memorial, she gazed across the river at the Jefferson dome and worried what Hammer had done to Sam. She’d seen the jars, she’d seen the specimens and the files, the bulk of the experiments that man made on two living beings. Somehow, she knew they had been alive, knew the taste of their terror in the back of her throat. When she’d set them free and water had reeked of despair before the sigh of release.

  The Aleena didn’t believe in an afterlife. They believed in recycling as the ultimate gift to the future. It was the closest they came to religion.

  The heat of the day pressed down on her, making it difficult to stand straight. They’d fought to reach this place, avoiding patrols, testing the fake identifications the underground provided. So far, everything had gone according to plan. Drummond had cut her hair again, it was a choppy mess, and Hermione had used a spray color so that she now sported a mess of blond and red. No one would voluntarily do this to their head, so it proved a perfect cover.

  For the first time, she wore tight fitting pants and heavy boots, black lipstick and heavy eyeliner completed the look. No one would recognize her. Dancer stuck to her side, wearing a bright red cloak, his hair sticking straight up like a Mohawk Indian.

  They waited for a signal to join the rest at the Jefferson. He had Sam’s
electric motorcycle and it would see them across the bridge.

  Dancer didn’t say much. He’d driven them from New York, through security checks without a glance. She found him oddly restful. A very attentive man.

  When he signaled it was time to move to the memorial, she strode behind him, pausing just long enough to glance at the stone representation of Roosevelt, in his wheelchair, Fala at his side. He’d been a man who faced adversity head on and seen the country through such changed. Wonder what he’d think of things now?

  She climbed behind Dancer and held on as they turned toward the dome.

  *****

  Sam couldn’t block the pain, it overwhelmed any thoughts he had of resistance. Following Hammer from the car, up the stairs and into the memorial drove his mind into a shrieking black hole. There had to be a limit to how much pain a nervous system could handle before the brain simply shut down. Sweat poured down his back, he could feel it pool in his shoes.

  The last two days he’d killed four men for Hammer. At least his body had. No sleep, no rest, constant tests and more questions. He found he could twist and answer a handful in a fashion that some bits of truth were hidden. Sanity was something he’d concealed, buried below the babbling fashion he’d answered questions with the last few hours.

  Perhaps his brain truly was shutting down.

  They pulled up to the Jefferson Memorial and he followed the evil bastard, his pet doctor and security expert, Scicle. As he took the steps the agony of putting one foot in front of the other lessened. It wasn’t relief, he analyzed. He could no longer feel his feet.

  Unless Hammer told him to turn his head, he couldn’t. But he did have control over his eyes and recognized the presence of security people. Not just the normal guards, on alert for vandals, but the more casual appearing tourists. They looked the part, but instinct told him there was more going on. He didn’t question. He just prayed they were the right security.

  Hermione stepped forward and stared at the contractor. Drummond was behind her and next to the doctor stood Jarveski. He didn’t see Ria.

  “I expected you to keep your word. Montgomery, step forward.” Hammer’s confidence was so great, he didn’t even glance back to see if Sam followed orders.

  Hermione glanced at him. “I never gave my word for anything.”

  “If you do not turn the author over, Agent Montgomery will shoot himself, but first he will shoot you, and Dr. Drummond. I have total control over him.”

  Pressure built inside of Sam’s head. He was already dead, they couldn’t turn Ria over to this monster.

  “What have you done to him?” Jarveski stepped forward, frowning as he gazed at Sam.

  “A delightful byproduct of Aleena glands. Where is the author?”

  “Here.”

  Her voice came from behind them. How he longed to turn and see her, say goodbye in some fashion, scream a warning, apologize…

  Jarveski walked out of sight and returned, with Ria. She gazed at Sam, but Jarveski stood between them, talking to her in hushed tone. A tear ran down her face and she shook her head. Sam knew his mentor and could see the gesturing, the bend of his head, the deep breath he took as he continued to speak. But he couldn’t hear him?

  A buzzing filled his head, and the sounds of the world disappeared. Sam blinked and turned his face slightly, trying to discern what he was hearing…

  *****

  Ria heard Jarveski, babbling about the program and what she had to remember. He appeared intent to communicate this to her. But now? Her eyes filled with Sam, shuddering, sweat pouring down his face. She gasped as a thread of blood trickled from his nose.

  The next few moments blurred. Sam began to sag, Hammer shouted at him to shoot Agent Bales, but Sam’s eyes were locked on hers as he fell to his knees. The shot that rang out shocked her and Jarveski gasped, falling forward. She tried to hold him up as blood welled from his mouth.

  “Ria! Ria! Don’t forget to…to play the program…to the end…” His eyes pled with her, then she saw the light fade from them. Focus fled and she realized he was gone.

  Shots rang out around her. Screams echoed under the dome and chaos erupted as the real tourists fled. She eased the body of Sam’s mentor to one side and looked for Sam. He lay, flat on his back, a yard away. Not moving. Hammer wrestled with Hermione, while the two men he’d brought with him fled. The air seemed heavy and Ria found it hard to crawl to Sam. The light in the dome faded and the sound of automatic gunfire filled the structure.

  Then, just as suddenly, all went quiet. Save for Hammer, screaming and cursing at Hermione. Ria cradled Sam’s head, ignoring the rest. His eyes were filled with blood, but they blinked and suddenly widened, focused on something above her.

  She ducked, reading the panic in his iris. His arm shot upward and the knife Alfred Hammer gripped fell to the stones. Sam simply held on, but the struggle went on. Ria tried to shelter Sam’s torso as the chaos continued to erupt around her.

  Sam’s breathing was labored, she could feel his heart struggling under her hand. His body was slick with sweat and blood…

  “Agent Montgomery, you can let him go. He is dead.”

  T’talin’s voice broke through the rest. Ria opened her eyes to find Aleena surrounded them. The man who’d haunted her dreams sprawled near them, Sam’s hand holding a crushed and bloody wrist so tight blood seeped between his fingers. T’talin himself slowly unpeeled his fingers as Milaar set her hands, in tentricle form around Sam’s head and crooned. Sam’s body abruptly went limp.

  “No.” Ria gasped. “Sam! No!”

  “We need to get him to the ship, now.” Milaar broke the silence.

  “Sam, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Ria sobbed.

  “No…” his voice was hoarse and barely audible. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…understand. Not your…fault.”

  “Now!” Milaar took over. T’talin pulled Ria to her feet and held her at his side as Sam was taken away, down the steps and out to the blur of green at the river’s edge.

  “Agent Bales, Dr. Drummond, we will do all we can.” T’talin surveyed the memorial, over a dozen people looked on, shock on their faces.

  Drummond nodded. “Let me go with him.”

  “Go. Anyone else?”

  Hermione shook her head. “I’m needed here. Let me know, please.”

  Ria pulled away from T’talin and ran after Milaar.

  Nothing else mattered.

  *****

  He could hear Milaar’s voice, through the bits of music breaking through the filters. The pain faded with her words and the numbness spread. That felt so good. He floated, simply thankful as little by little the burning acid sensations fled.

  “Sam. Listen to me. I can save you, but Sam…it means accepting as Ria accepted…”

  He didn’t understand, he couldn’t figure out what she meant.

  Drummond’s voice broke through. “Sam, you have to agree. Let them save you. Sam!”

  He nodded. He thought he nodded.

  The voices around him grew. The last thing he registered was Ria, objecting…

  20

  Hermione stood, days later, at the bridge overlooking where the Aleena ship moored. It shouldn’t be there, the river wasn’t deep enough, but there it was. Drum said Monty was undergoing treatment and would be weeks recovering. Not just recovering. “I suspect he will be…different. Not like Ria, but uniquely Sam.”

  She took a deep breath and looked beyond the ship, at Washington. Everything had changed. The capitol was under a new regime, one the underground had set up years in advance. The current president was under house arrest, congress had been sent home, the Supreme Court was in control. But not the Supreme Court appointed the last decade. Judges from around the country arrived, along with militias from each state and met to reshuffled the constitution, restore it to what it once was.

  The coordination had been massive and very little blood was shed. Small skirmishes were reported in foreign embassies, but somehow…minimum lives
were lost. Most of the credit was owed to the Aleena stepping in with the freeing of the internet. Communication flowed without filters, without manipulation.

  Plus the presence of a massive alien ship sitting in the Potomac Tidal basin, non-threatening but very solidly present, stifled any panic. The ship was a lovely thing. An iridescent bubble that bobbed in the water, no hard angles, no weaponry bristling forth. The Aleena wandered the capitol mall, those that could take on a close to human appearance. They spoke to those who approached them. They appeared before the new Supreme Court, they presented evidence of the mass deception of the last fifty years.

  She’d sat in on some of the hearings. She looked forward to the swearing in of the new president and the upcoming elections. The US Government wasn’t the only country undergoing change. The Aleena were thorough. Other capitols didn’t transition as smoothly. Aleena ships appeared in London, Paris and several South American ports and their presence stifled resistance. Especially that of military might.

  Simply put, those who controlled the networks and computers, controlled the weapons. Technological advances proved the undoing of totalitarian regimes across the world.

  Hermione leaned on the railing, wondering about Sam…

  And Ria.

  She hadn’t set foot on the ship, content to observe the revolution from the outside. Jermaine had joined his father and from Drum told her, he was completely besotted with the aliens. “Finally found a focus for all that brain power.” Drum had chuckled.

  Her cell phone vibrated and she lifted it to her ear.

  “Hey, H. You’re needed at the court.”

  “Damn, okay, Harold. Be there in about thirty minutes. I’m on foot.”

  “Meet you there.”

  Dancer had taken over the security around the court and was doing an admirable job. She strolled along the parkway, arriving to find herself under pressure to accept an appointment as ambassador to the Aleena. She argued and fought and finally convinced them to accept Jermaine Drummond.

  “I’m leaving for Canada as soon as my former commander is out of the woods. I haven’t seen my parents in fifteen years. When I get back, I’ll consider accepting employment.”