Revolution of the Gods: The Battle for Sol Book One (12 page)

“We have about 3340 on our list here at JBLM. I will have them transported immediately. Is there anything else I need to do before the briefing?”

“I suggest that you reinforce the defense preparations for your base. I have already begun reorganization of the defense perimeter here at Dugway. Other than that, have the complete inventory numbers of all air wings, armament divisions, naval fleets and other assets designated for Operation Goliath ready for the briefing.”

“No problem.”
Straka reflected on all of the preparations.
”Jacob, what has caused the acceleration of Operation Goliath?”
he asked, hoping to gain more insight.

“I do not have time for much detail. As I said, Dr. Hauer has shared information with me that changes everything. The NAU Command is only a pawn in the bigger picture. Our fight is with the C7. Or I should say who the C7 represents,” Bracken revealed, causing Straka to only become more curious. “Hauer will give a full explanation. For now, keep an eye out for anyone in your ranks that may not be a team player.”

“Yes sir. Straka out.”

“Colonels Hawthorne and Diaz report to my office,” Bracken ordered over the com.

They were two of the four colonels at Dugway with knowledge of Operation Goliath and had nearby offices on the command level with Bracken. They walked into the General’s office about twenty seconds later and the door locked behind them.

“Gentlemen, we are initiating the modified Ark Protocol. I want you to oversee the logistics. Get as many of those people here as you can before 2200 hours tonight. Dismissed.”

“
Sir, Dr. Leroux has arrived at the base and is secure on Level 120,”
a disembodied voice rattled from Bracken’s desk viewer.

“Acknowledged.”

Time to check on Cathy and the boys.

S
ince their arrival a couple of hours ago, the general had not yet been to see his family on level 120. The main bulkhead door to Level 120 slid open and he walked into the expansive lobby. As Bracken paced to the large archway leading to the recreation area, he heard Jake Jr. yell, “Daddy!”

“Hey there champ!” Bracken said, revealing a rare smile and catching Jake as he leapt into his arms.

“Dad!” exclaimed Carver, Jake’s twelve year old brother, running to hug his father.

“Jacob, what in the world is going on?” Cathy asked, approaching her husband and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Bracken gave each of his sons a firm hug and instructed, “Give mom and dad a few minutes boys,” while pointing them back to the recreation area.

Although the Ark participants had not yet begun to populate Level 120, the massive space still bustled with dozens of facility personnel. Bracken guided his wife over to a more secluded area.

“Cathy, you and the boys are going to be here for the foreseeable future. I have a private section on a lower level being equipped for you guys. Events on the surface are going to be unpredictable and volatile over the next few days and weeks. I do not believe hostilities will exist for very long but we are prepared to be underground for up to five years if necessary…”

“What hostilities?”

“The Council of Seven is not what the world thinks it to be. We have formed a group of global military leaders and scientists to confront them,” Bracken replied, tactfully sidestepping the more shocking facts Hauer had conveyed earlier that day.

Cathy looked up at her husband and with complete clarity asked, “Jacob, what is your role in this group?” She already knew that he was part of any fight against this new world order.

“Dugway is
the
safest facility to occupy during this time. Don’t worry honey,” Bracken reassured, completely deflecting her question.

He pressed her head against his chest as she hugged him back tightly.

“Sir, I apologize for interrupting, but I have someone insisting to see you,” a security guard informed Bracken.

“Soldier, do you see I am…” Bracken cut off his statement as he turned to see Dr. Leroux standing behind the guard. He turned back to Cathy to let her know that he would be back down soon to take them to the lower level.

As his wife walked back to take care of their boys, Bracken walked over to Dr. Leroux. “Dr. Courtney Leroux, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s good to meet you. I would like to know why I have been requested here,” Leroux asked in a way only a civilian would dare query a general.

Bracken found her certitude a bit humorous and almost smiled before he said, “Dr. Leroux, please note that the Ark Protocol has been initiated. You will have a private section on the same level as my family. Please stand by here until your presence is requested on the Command Level.” The general slightly bowed his head before walking back to the elevator.

This just gets better and better
, Leroux thought with a huff of exasperation.

O
sborne was busy with his own logistics planning and it had nothing to do with sustenance preparedness. The colonel was sitting in a technical command room and had established a masked communication link with Lindherst.

“Director, I have information directly impacting your scheduled arrival here,” Osborne updated.

“Go ahead colonel,”
Lindherst attentively responded.

“Bracken is deploying a defensive perimeter around the surface. He has mobilized the entire resources of the base. I also have confirmation that he has initiated the Ark protocol,” the colonel conveyed.

“Colonel, I am modifying my schedule to be there by 2200 hours, accompanied by the NAU Command’s Capital forces. Your presence already inside the base will be of certain strategic value.”

The director stood up from his chair, began pacing in front of his window viewer, and then continued,
“If he is in fact forming an insurgent force, then gaining access to the facility will be very difficult from the surface. Osborne, it may eventually fall on you to take care of Bracken before we can get into the base. I have an idea…”

Lindherst began detailing his plan for Osborne to become a trump card in case the NAU Command was unable to gain entry from the surface – a plan that served more than one purpose for the director.

T
he several hours of rest that Taon enjoyed were his first since being outside of the incubation chamber. The hours that the former football player spent on the bathroom floor, bound and gagged, were not as enjoyable. After being chased constantly from the time he left the lab, Taon was completely exhausted and had passed out on the large king size bed in the Luxor premier suite. He woke up a little before 5:30 p.m. feeling stronger and more lucid than any other time he could recall from his choppy memory.
Standing in front of the closet, the escaped GEO wondered which suit may be the better pick after his less than ideal but fortunate choice last time. Although the tall former athlete possessed an impressive selection of Gassane custom tailored dress suits, Taon opted for function over form this time. He replaced his waiter uniform with a black nylon warm-up suit, the only pair of cross trainers and a black fleece beanie.

After gaining entry into the Vegas RZ by hitching a ride from one of the transport trucks, Mykah had spent all afternoon shadowing Valik. She was now sitting in a defensive pod turret atop the north side of the forty-three story Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino west tower. With the two C7 operators lying unconscious on the roof outside the pod, Mykah observed Valik’s entrance into the Luxor from an ideal vantage point.

After the Helios had landed, the S2 began a methodical grid search of the entire western side of old Las Vegas. Utilizing the surveillance sensors on his ship, the thirty-two man crew that operated those sensors, twelve enhanced drones, and his own skills, Valik now stood at the base of the giant obelisk in the cavernous atrium of the Luxor with Commander Reyes.
A compilation of drone feeds, satellite feeds and the Dugway footage had allowed Valik to achieve 98% accuracy on Taon’s facial recognition.

“Bring me the security surveillance data for the last seven hours. Station your men on every floor and at all exits. I have established a surveillance perimeter consisting of twenty drones outside,” Valik efficiently informed Reyes.

“Yes sir,” Reyes replied, confirming the S2’s higher rank. “Here is the security data,” he added, handing Valik a data chip. The commander had anticipated this request on his way to the Luxor.

Valik took the chip from Reyes, rolled up his shirt sleeve and placed it inside a slot on his left cybernetic forearm. In his left eye Valik viewed a display the equivalent of a 12 foot screen. He simultaneously reviewed each of the seven files instantly. The recordings showed all the people entering and exiting the structure in a blur as Valik’s system sped through the files. Then file 2031/12/21-1100h-1200h stopped and began blinking. Valik zoomed in on the paused image and then accessed his profile of Taon. He moved the profile over the surveillance image and his system verified the identity.

“The target entered this structure at 11:05 a.m. I have sent a facial image and a surveillance photo of his most recent appearance to your guards’ data pads. I also have linked my system to the internal surveillance cameras. Begin a discreet evacuation without alarms and have your men carefully check everyone exiting. Once all non-C7 personnel evacuate, begin a thorough search of this structure,” Valik directed, taking care to protect the guests, some of whom may be high profile members of the C7’s upper echelon.

Within a few minutes, streams of people began pouring out the sides of the Luxor. Mykah zoomed in close with the turret’s high resolution digital scope to the pyramid which was now lit with its ornamental pacing lights running up and down the spines and a brilliant beam shooting into the heavens from the tip.

If you are in that building, you need to get out now,
she thought, realizing there was little she could do at the moment without compromising her stealth.

Looking out of the angled window in the suite, Taon observed the seepage of people at the base of the south side of the Luxor. As he watched the pretentious and superficial ooze coming from under this black edifice, a hard knock sounded on the door.

“This is C7 Security…the hotel is being evacuated,” a voice loudly declared. A few seconds elapsed and then there was a clicking sound. The door opened as far as the inside latch allowed. “Open the door! We must empty the hotel!”

Taon continued looking outside realizing that he had slept for too long. “Coming,” Taon responded, pulling the beanie further down over his forehead and turning off the recessed light over the foyer. He unlatched the door and allowed the armed man inside.

“Sir, you need to exit the building immediately,” the guard instructed, attempting to get a good look at the shadowy face. He reached into his pocket, grabbed his data pad and reviewed the image. “Remove your cap sir!”

At the moment of the guard’s instruction, a loud bang came from the bathroom. The guard held up his sidearm pointing it at Taon while he sidestepped to the bathroom door. Reaching over and opening the door, he saw the guest from New York sitting next to the toilet with his hands and feet restrained with a lizard skin belt and gagged with a black silk ascot.

“Get on the gro…” Taon moved so fast the guard did not finish his command before he was struck with the butt of his own weapon, falling unconscious at the bathroom doorway.

Valik was monitoring each floor through the internal surveillance system when the video feed from the twenty-sixth floor began flashing - a guard’s locator chip indicated he was unconscious.

The vigilant S2 looked up, raised his right arm, and shot an ultra-thin, high tensile cable the diameter of a fishing line from his forearm. The cable quickly zipped upwards with the spiked metal tip embedding itself just under the ledge of the twenty-seventh floor walkway. While he clinched his right hand around his left wrist to stabilize his weight, Valik retracted the line, pulling himself up through atrium.

Taon closed the bathroom door, concealing both the highly agitated former defensive tackle and the limp C7 security guard. He adjusted his cap further over his brow line and started to open the door to the hallway. Just as he reached out to touch the access panel, the door shattered from its hinges, splintering all around him. The force of the torrid blast knocked Taon backwards but he remained on his feet.

As the dust and debris settled, Valik’s menacing cybernetic body entered through the smoldering opening to the room, carrying his Sterling - PCR (Positron Combat Rifle) switched to the widespread setting. The S2 was somewhat surprised to see his target still standing after the positron blast. They locked eyes while Valik readjusted the setting to a narrower spread and re-aimed his PCR. A dazed Taon attempted to jump but the more concentrated positron blast hit him squarely in the chest. The concentric blast dissipated and absorbed into his torso, leaving a smoothly singed circle in Taon’s nylon jacket.

Valik leapt forward shoving his shoulder into Taon while he was looking down at his chest. The force knocked him across the suite and crashing through the angled window. Taon landed on his back sliding head first, down the south side of the Luxor’s glass exterior. Valik stowed his PCR on his back and accelerated toward the breached exterior, diving out the window head first. His velocity out of the window allowed him to land on top of the sliding Taon.

“You are about die!” the S2 declared as he powerfully punched Taon in the right temple causing his head to ricochet from the glass. Taon withstood the strike and sensed the ground was approaching quickly. He grabbed Valik by the throat and slammed his head against the inclined slope. The friction caused Valik’s body to drag off Taon’s right side. He slammed his left heel into the glass and flipped himself on top of the S2 assassin.

Sensing the ground approaching, Taon leapt into the air, kicking his heels into the Luxor’s glass skin to gain momentum. He hit the ground, rolled several times and come to a motionless sprawl in the middle of a freshly paved parking lot on the southeast side of the pyramid. Simultaneously, Valik’s body smashed head first into the landscaped bedding surrounding the base.