Eve of Destruction (c) 
Chapter Sixteen 
By Fiction Writer #13 
(nosex, sci-fi, paranormal, violence)

'Nice try, Dr. Whelan, but this time it's your name on the list, not 
mine.'

The man known as Donovan shoved the frightened wizard toward the 
still glowing hot door. "Break the spell, or I'll hold you against that 
steel until it sears your fucking mouth shut."

Donovan hated having to use the man to get to his target.  The Dark 
Arts were such a disgusting way to get things done.  The Enemy 
used magic, and those who chose to do the same were no better.

"Do it," he growled at the cowering man who was twice his age, but 
the man didn't move.

He turned to the two other men in the office, both dressed in full black 
combat gear. "Put him to the heat, he's no good to us."

The two men moved instantly, grabbing the wizard's arms and pulling 
them behind his back.

"No!  No!  Nooooo!"

The man screamed as his face sizzled.  Flesh and bone liquefied, 
then boiled away.  The soldiers holding him held tight as he thrashed 
and convulsed in agony.  They waited until he went limp, and then 
pulled what was left of his face away.

"Get him out of here.  Make sure the others see what happens to 
those who stand in our way." Donovan waited as his men dragged 
the near dead wizard out of the office, listened to the gasps of the 
other magic users who were being held at gun point in the hallway.

"Bring in another one."

It was only a matter of time before one of them would break.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sarah, listen to me." Malcolm sat his granddaughter down on the 
edge of her bed. "They mustn't get you.  No matter what happens, 
you have to get away.  Do you understand me?  You can't let them 
get you."

Sarah wiped away her tears, "But how?  They're right there and the 
doors are almost broken.  There's nowhere for us to go! We're 
trapped!"

Mal knelt on the floor before her. "I'm trapped, not you.  I was never 
able to grasp the Ether as well as you do, I can't move through walls, 
but you can."

Sarah stared into his big brown eyes, eyes filled with profound 
sadness.

"No!  No I couldn't!  I won't leave you here!"

"Sarah, it's the only way.  You can make it out, you already know the 
route, and you have powers that I don't."

"No, Grampa, no!  I won't!"

"All you have to do is get to Uncle Allen's lab.  There is a room with a 
big machine in it."

"No!  I won't!"

"Most of that machine is hidden behind another wall; go through that 
wall and you will find an air intake shaft that goes all the way to the 
surface."

"I'm not going!"

"Climb the ladder and you will be in the city.  You'll need to wear 
clothes.  I've hidden a bag with a dress, shoes and some money at 
the top of the ladder."

"No, no, no..." She shook her head, refusing to listen.

"You'll have to run, Sarah.  You'll have to hide.  Don't trust anyone, 
anyone except for Jonathan, or Allen if they haven't gotten to him yet.  
Stay invisible as much as you can."

"Will you listen?  I'm not leaving you!"

Mal offered her a weak smile. "I'm sorry, little one, but this is the only 
way."

"Nooo... Grampa," she pleaded with him. "I could... maybe... we 
should..."

"No, little one; you must go, and I must stay and face my demons.  
The bad man out in the hall is my fault. I tried to take care of the 
problem, but I failed.  I trusted someone, and they lied to me.  Now I 
have to do what I can to make sure that they don't turn you into one 
of them."

"I would never..."

"... They have ways to force you, to make you do as you are told.  
Just like, just like I did, with you and your family."

She broke down into uncontrollable sobs. "Grampa..."

"I'm sorry Sarah.  I love you, but you must go."

"I... I love you... I love you too..."

KREENGGG-WHOOOOOOMMMB!

A wall of hot wind and smoke filled the house as the steel doors 
exploded into the living quarters.  The concussion of the blast 
knocked Malcolm off his feet and sent him tumbling over Sarah 
before he fell off the bed with a hard thud.  The home was in absolute 
chaos, furniture overturned, shelves and table tops wiped free of 
books and knick-knacks.  Sarah's teddy-bears suffered as well, bits of 
their fur lay all around scorched and smoking, their inner fluff floated 
as they burned like some kind of hellish snow.

Sarah was the first to regain her senses.  Her ears throbbed, nostrils 
and eyes burned, and her lungs choked on the smoke.

"Grampa!"

"Over here little one," Mal coughed hard, "Under the mattress."

Sarah ran to what had once been her desk but was now a pile of 
smoking debris, and began to dig. "I'm coming, Grampa!  I'm 
coming!"

She got down to where she could grab a corner of the mattress and 
pulled with all her might.  The heap slid and tumbled away, revealing 
her grandfather's broken and bloodied body.

"No, no, no, please!  Please, nooo!"

"Sarah, you... you have to go now... before... before they..."

Tears flowed down her cheeks, washing away soot in their wake. "No 
Grampa, I hafta help you."

"It's too late for that." He moved his hands away from his abdomen, 
unveiling the long shard of metal impaling him, pinning him to the 
floor. "I'm not going anywhere."

"No!  Grampa, no..."

"Go now, little one... make all of this mean something... make me 
proud..."

Movement could be heard in the adjoining room.  They were coming.

"Go now... Go!"

Sarah stared at him blankly, sobs wracking her entire body.  She 
didn't want to leave him, not like this, not while he was hurt.

A commanding voice cut through the smoke. "Dr. Malcolm Whelan!  
By order of the Council, you are hereby relieved of your command.  
Surrender the girl or we will take her by force."

Rage filled her, anger on a scale she had never felt before.  They had 
done this to her Grampa; they had caused all of this.  Her anger 
burned, blossomed into an inferno of hatred.  She was going to make 
them pay; make them pay for what they had done.

A man dressed in black stepped into the charred doorway, raised his 
weapon, leveled it at them. "Step away from each other, hands where 
I can see them!"

Sarah ignored his order.  Instead she leaned in closer to her Grampa, 
close enough to kiss his lips. "I love you, Grampa."

He smiled weakly, the light in his eyes growing dim. "I love you too."

"STEP AWAY FROM..."

"NO!" Sarah cut the man off as she stood up and turned to face him.  
Her eyes fixed upon him, burrowed into him, cut right through the 
heart of him.

"Get out of my room."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donovan remained in the office as ten members of his personal strike 
team rushed into the home.  Everything was going according to plan 
with only two minor exceptions.  The first was that security guard 
running off to warn his target, the second being that damned spell on 
the door.  He'd gone through six different magic users before finding 
one who valued life more than Dr. Whelan.  It was messy, but 
effective.

The months of slowly integrating his own team members into key 
positions within the Facility had paid off.  The entire complex changed 
over with only limited resistance.  Sure Jonathan and Malcolm still 
had a number of supporters still walking around, but it was only a 
matter of time before they were all rounded up.  Some would be 
terminated on the spot, others would be given an opportunity to 
switch allegiances, but only if they were of value to Phoenix.

A tinny voice, not his own but a member of the strike team, spoke into 
his ear. "Targets located in the girl's bedroom.  Access is restricted by 
a narrow hallway.  Preparing to move in."

Donovan pressed a finger against the hinge of his jaw. "We need the 
girl alive.  No mistakes this time."

"Roger that.  Moving in."

Donovan smiled to himself. 'No escape for you now.'

He moved to the jagged edged open door, peered into the lingering 
haze.  He wanted to see the look on Malcolm's face as he was 
dragged out, wanted to see the exact moment when he realized who 
had...

vvvvVVVVVVSSSSSHHHH!

One moment he was looking into a smoke filled room, the next a wall 
of swirling colors rushed at him at an incredible speed.  The force of 
impact threw him into the hallway, slamming him against the far wall 
so hard it left him dazed and blinded.

Slowly he got back on his feet.  Nothing felt broken, but his body 
throbbed from head to toe. "Strike... uhng!  S... Strike Team, report."

No one answered.

"Strike Team, this is Black Wolf, report!"

Still no answer; as his vision returned, he discovered why.

"Holy..."

The walls before him were deformed, pushed out from within.  Had he 
not been in the doorway, the bulging steel structure would have 
crushed him flat against the very same wall he had bounced off of.  
The office was gone, the residence beyond was gone, everything... 
everything was just gone.

There were no working lights save for the single flickering Bio-Lumin 
tube above his head, so the space beyond fell into complete 
darkness just a few feet away.  Donovan pulled a Burn-Bright from 
one of the many pouches attached to his assault suit.  The peanut 
sized pellet crushed easily between his thumb and forefinger, mixing 
the chemicals within.  Instantly the pellet burst into life, emitting a soft 
white light that steadily grew in intensity. He tossed it into the void 
before him and gasped.

The cubical design of the space had been obliterated, the corners 
stretched, the walls pummeled into a new shape, an immense 
sphere.

'She's more dangerous than we anticipated.  A Dark Artist of the most 
vile kind.'

Donovan stood on the precipice created by the doorway, staring in 
awe at the sheer magnitude of destruction.

'No one should have such power, least of all some half-breed little 
bitch.'

His eyes fell to the bowl shaped floor far below where the Burn-Bright 
glowed as brilliantly as the noon-day sun.  Two figures huddled 
together there.  One was the man who had sentenced him to death at 
the age of ten, the other the little girl who had just wiped out ten of his 
best men.  He checked his weapon and found it damaged, and so too 
his sidearm.  He had a few sticky grenades, but at this range they 
would detonate before reaching the pair.  The remainder of his 
equipment was meant to kill, not stun.

"Damn it!" He pressed a finger into his jaw. "All teams, all teams, this 
is Black Wolf."

"Black Wolf, this is Sec-Com, we read you five by five.  We've lost all 
Strike Team transponders, can you confirm?"

"Affirmative Sec-Com; Strike Team is DOA and targets are not 
secure, repeat, not secure.  Primary has demonstrated a level ten 
action and should be considered a hostile target.  Secondary appears 
to be wounded and disabled, but be aware of possible deception.  I 
have targets sighted and stationary on what appears to be floor 
number six, directly below last reported position."

"Roger that Black Wolf; Standing by for orders."

Donovan peered over the edge. "I'm heading down to intercept 
targets.  Send re-enforcements ASAP, non-lethal weaponry only, 
shoot on sight."

"Non-lethal armament order confirmed, Black Wolf.  ETA sixty 
seconds."

'Okay you little bitch; we tried to do this quietly, now we're bringing 
the hammer down.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't, "God 
damn, ouch!"  She shielded her eyes from the intense white light but 
not before it had burned purple blotches into her vision.

"Grampa?  Grampa are you there?" Her free hand groped blindly on 
the concave floor until she felt his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She didn't remember much of what happened, just the moment when 
she released her anger on the man, and then the sensation of falling.

"Grampa?" He wasn't moving. "Say something, please!"

She rubbed her eyes, clearing away the pain before she opened 
them again, this time slowly.  The light appeared to be coming from 
somewhere on the floor next to her Grampa, and was so bright that it 
completely filled the open space.  Crushed steel covered the inner 
wall of the globe, its surface like that of crinkled aluminum foil.  The 
reflected light twinkled and glittered all around.

Her attention turned back to her Grampa who still lay unmoving 
beside her.  She whimpered, "Grampa?  Please... please don't be 
dead."

A stranger's voice startled her from behind. "Are you okay?"

Sarah spun around to face the man.  A wave of dizziness washed 
over her. "Stay... stay back!"

The man stopped in his tracks, holding up his hands as if in 
surrender. "Okay, okay.  No need to do anything rash."

He wore the same black uniform as that other man, but he also wore 
a slight smile. "I'm here to help.  I'm a friend of Jonathan's."

The harsh light stretched his shadow out behind him until it climbed 
high on the wall.  Sarah stared at him, studied his face. 'He, he looks 
just like...'

The man took a careful step forward, nodding toward her Grampa. 
"He needs a doctor, let me take a look and see if I can help."

Sarah's heart pounded in her chest as the man inched closer and 
closer.  She felt so tired, all she wanted to do was go to sleep and 
wait for this nightmare to be over.

The man stepped closer, becoming bolder with every inch gained.  
His smile twitched in the light, the shadows amplified the subtle 
movement of his lips.  He was lying, this was a trap.

"Get back!" Sarah roared and he stopped again, the sly smile turned 
back on instantly.  She felt the anger growing within her again, but 
knew that she was too tired to use it.  She couldn't protect him 
anymore, she had to leave or be caught.

'This is what that woman meant.  This was the difficult choice that I 
had to make, to save... myself.'

Tears welled up in her eyes as the man started to move again.  He 
was only a few feet away when she felt a gentle nudge against her 
thigh.

"Run Sarah," her Grampa whispered. "Run and don't look back."

The man heard him, his overly friendly smile evaporated into a snarl.  
His hands reached out as he lunged for her. "Come here you little..."

Sarah squealed as she dove out of the way.  She scrambled to her 
feet, her legs kicking out, slapping his grabbing hands away.  She 
ran; she ran as fast as she could.  The floor curved upward but she 
still ran, and he chased her.

"There's nowhere to go!" he growled as he closed the distance.

Sarah jumped into the air, pulled the blanket of the Veil around her, 
and passed through the wall.

Donovan crashed into the hard surface at top speed, his prey 
vanished.

"No!"

He got to his feet just as his re-enforcements arrived at the doorway 
above and began to drop into the sphere one at a time.

"The primary target is on the run! Find her!"

The men who had yet to descend took off in pursuit; the rest quickly 
surrounded Dr. Whelan and held their weapons at the ready.

Donovan pressed his jaw bone and spoke rapidly. "Black Wolf to 
Sec-Com, primary is on the run, invisible, and has the ability to pass 
through walls.  Flood the building with charged particles; get every 
available unit to begin a room by room search.  Spread out and find 
the little bitch!"

He spat some blood out of his mouth before marching back to 
Malcolm. "You think you're clever, don't you, you piece of shit."

Malcolm had been rolled over onto his back, the shard of metal still 
embedded in his stomach glinting in the light.  He chuckled weakly 
between coughs. "Smarter... than... you..."

Donovan knelt down over Mal and touched the piece of metal, 
causing him to wince in pain. "Well, let me tell you something, Doctor.  
There is nowhere for her to go.  We have this place locked down 
tight.  We have men stationed at every exit point."

He paused a moment, fixed his glaring eyes on Mal's. "We even have 
men waiting at that air shaft you so carefully had removed from the 
blueprints.  You know, the one where you left a bag full of young girl's 
clothes and money."

Mal groaned and closed his eyes. "She'll find a way."

"Always the optimist," Donovan twisted the metal under his fingers.

"Hunnnggha..." Mal winced and coughed up some blood. "Fuck 
you..."

"Perhaps you need a little more convincing that you've lost.  You see, 
this wasn't our first mission of the day.  We paid a visit to a certain 
family home tucked away out in the middle of nowhere.  I killed your 
daughter, Mal, and you should have heard her beg.  The others are 
gone as well; her husband, the children.  Dead."

Tears ran out of Mal's tightly closed eyes. "No..."

"So that just leaves you, and that thing you call a granddaughter.  
Looks like you don't have much longer." He gave the metal another 
sharp twist. "And she has nowhere to go.  But even if she did, you 
should know, your family line has been ended.  You see, a few 
months back, we took her right from under your nose.  You thought 
she was going in to have a cavity removed, but we took a bit more 
than a decayed tooth." Donovan grinned wickedly. "We harvested her 
ovaries, Mal; picked the vine clean.  Little Eve, or should I say Sarah, 
will never know the joys of motherhood.  Right now, our scientists are 
studying her fertilized embryos, building a new army, the army your 
father promised so long ago."

"No!  You... you fools don't know what you are doing!  The serum... 
Those children, they'll kill us all!"

"Now, now, Dr. Malcolm; is that any way to speak about your future 
great-grandchildren, especially in front of their father?"

Donovan waited for that last bit to sink in, waited for the look of 
absolute horror to flash on Malcolm's face before he gave the order. 
"Kill him."

The room exploded with gunfire and muzzle flashes as Donovan 
laughed triumphantly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world around her was a blur of sight and sound as she sprinted 
through walls, through rooms, through labs, and through more walls.  
She had no idea where she was, only that she had to keep on 
running.  Her lungs burned, her heart felt like it was going to explode, 
and yet she continued on, pushing past the pain, past the exhaustion.  
A tingling sensation washed over her.  At first she thought it was a 
symptom of her running, but when people in the rooms she passed 
through began to scream as she bolted by she realized that she was 
no longer invisible.

Out of the corners of her eyes she caught glimpses of more of those 
bad men dressed in black.  It seemed like they were everywhere.  
They were hunting her, trying to cut her off, trying to anticipate where 
she was heading next.  But she was quick, and changed direction 
whenever she spotted one of them.

An alarm was sounding, a calm voice giving orders to all of the 
building's occupants, but she only caught bits and pieces of the 
message when she wasn't passing through a wall.

"Please remain calm... security action in progress... Stay where you 
are... If you see... do not attempt to... considered dangerous and... 
Thank you..."

Suddenly Sarah stopped.

'This looks familiar.' She slowly turned in place, scanning the meeting 
space that surrounded her. 'I must be in the Core, and that means 
that Dr. Allen's lab is... is in that direction!'

She was off again, and not a moment too soon.  Twelve soldiers 
burst through the doors in front and in back, rushing toward her, 
leveling weapons and firing what appeared to be tiny red darts.  They 
all missed, the darts hit the wall she just passed through with a rat-a-
tat-tat.

As she got closer to the lab her spirits grew brighter.  A tiny smile 
crossed her lips as she deftly dodged another wave of attackers.

"You can't catch me!"

She heard herself taunting them in a sing-song voice but couldn't 
believe her own ears. 'Am I giggling?'

When she got to Allen's lab she waited for them to find her, then took 
off in another direction.  Once they began to chase, she lost them and 
then carefully backtracked her route.

Allen's labs were full of equipment, and scientists.  She paid them no 
attention as she moved through the maze of computers, but they all 
took a few steps back, fear clearly showing on their faces.

A flashing red light drew her attention to a door marked 'MERI' in 
large black letters.

'That's got to be it!'

Her girlish giggling continued as she passed through the heavy steel 
door separating the two rooms. 'I'm going to do it!  I'm going to make 
it!'

"Ooof!"

She had the wind knocked out of her as she ran into someone who 
was standing in the way, blocking her from going through the last wall 
standing between capture and freedom.

"Whoah!  Slow down Sarah."

Her eyes grew big in surprises as her over-worked lungs struggled to 
suck in as much air as they could. "Dr. Paul?"

"That way is not safe.  They will be waiting for you."

"What?  But, but Grampa said..."

"I'm sorry little one, but they have been herding you here, hoping that 
you would run right into their hands."

Sarah felt defeated.  There was no where else to go, she was 
trapped. "I... I can't let them..."

Dr. Paul wiped away her tears. "I know; that's why I'm here.  There's 
another way, but we have to work quickly.  Lay down on that table 
while I strap you in."

"What?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The news wasn't good.  Donovan hated bad news, especially today.  
Today was supposed to go down as a shining triumph for his team, 
but unforeseeable factors had rendered that outcome null and void.

"This is where we found her." One of Donovan's subordinates pointed 
to the now empty MERI device. "She was still plugged in, but the 
transfer was already complete.  There was nothing we could do."

Donovan gnashed his teeth together, "Her present condition?"

"We rushed her to medical.  They say she's still alive, but..."

"But what?"

"But completely unresponsive, Sir.  They believe she's in some sort of 
coma.  Too much data transferred at one time.  She's fried, Sir.  The 
lights are on, but nobody's home."

Donovan slammed his fist into the table, "Reed?"

"We found him unconscious on the floor, but he is recovering as we 
speak.  Security logs have him in two places at once yesterday; in his 
office and at Dr. Whelan's residence.  Security vids confirm that he 
was indeed with Whelan when the data cube was created, but show 
no one in his office during that time period.  The vids also show that 
our second suspect was responsible for attacking Reed this morning.  
He drugged him in order to gain access to the MERI device."

Donovan turned his attention to the long haired hippy-like man 
dressed in robes who was presently kneeling on the floor in 
handcuffs. "Do we have a name for this second man yet?"

The subordinate answered. "Dr. Paul Rogers.  Seems he's an expert 
in Ethereal manipulations.  We have security logs dating back over 
the last year that show he's had frequent contact with the girl.  We 
found him waiting here for us, in some sort of meditative pose; Said 
he would only speak to you, Sir."

Dr. Paul smiled warmly up at him, "Greetings!  You must be the one 
I've been waiting for."

Donovan looked down at him with contempt, "You responsible for this 
mess?"

"Yes, yes I am, but that's not what I was waiting to tell you.  I have a 
message to pass on."

Donovan drew his newly acquired side-arm, cocked the slide action 
back with a snap. "You better speak quickly, your life is about to 
come to an end."

"It's a simple message, one that I'm going to take great pride in 
delivering."

"Well, go on then." He put the barrel to Paul's forehead. "Speak your 
last words."

"Sarah said to tell you," Paul grinned, "Neener-neener neener!"

BANG!

Dr. Paul's head snapped backwards.  A tiny hole in the center of his 
head oozed blood as he slowly slumped to the ground.  Even in death 
his grin never faded, a detail that left Donovan more furious than 
when he first learned the operation was FUBAR, Fucked Up Beyond 
All Recognition.

His subordinate broke the silence, "Sir, your orders?"

Donovan thought for a moment before speaking. "Put Dr. Reed under 
house arrest until we can sort this out.  Have him interrogated as 
soon as he's on his feet, but nothing too damaging.  We may need 
him to fix the girl's brain, not to mention MERI."

"And what of the girl, Sir?"

"Medical can't do anything for her?"

"No Sir."

"Then no sense in tying up a bed that could be used for a human.  
Put her in the PBRC; get that thing that Malcolm called a sister to 
care for her."

"Yes Sir."

The man ran off to carry out his orders, leaving Donovan alone in the 
MERI lab with Dr. Paul's body, which he promptly began to kick 
repeatedly with all his might, "Son of a cock-sucking bitch!"

A voice chattered in his ear, cutting off his tirade. "Sec-Com to Black 
Wolf, come in."

"Black Wolf here, go ahead."

"Incoming transmission from the Council."

'Yeah, let me guess who,' he grumbled to himself, but answered, "Put 
him through."

There was a small pop followed by a new voice, Hollister Broddick's, 
"Donovan, report."

'Why can't that old bastard remember to use my call sign?'

"Sir, there were... complications."

"Such as...?"

"The girl turned out to be more trouble than anticipated, and a third 
party intervened."

"I don't have all day Donovan; just tell me whether or not you have 
her in custody."

"Yes Sir... but, as I said, there were complications, I don't think she'll 
be of much value to our cause anymore."

"Explain."

"She's alive, but neurologically, she's a vegetable."

A long, uncomfortable silence hung on the other end of the 
conversation.  Finally, Hollister spoke. "You've failed me twice today, 
Donovan.  I'm very disappointed."

"Yes Sir. I sincerely apologize, Sir." Donovan stammered.  Broddick 
was not someone whom you wanted to fail. "I take full responsibility."

"As you should.  I'm beginning to wonder if maybe Dr. Whelan was 
right, that maybe Jonathan was the best of your litter."

Damn, that man knew how to cut him down to size. "No Sir.  That is 
not the case.  Let me make this right."

"Find the boy."

"Yes Sir, we're already..."

"No more mistakes.  No more excuses."

"Yes Sir, absolutely, But don't you want us to bring in the older sister 
as well?"

"No, she is of no use to us.  Malcolm's personal files have just been 
uploaded to my computer.  The sister is not a threat, but the boy most 
definitely is.  He's already demonstrated his ability once today, but 
you should know that, since you were the one who lost him."

Donovan gritted his teeth. "Yes Sir, I remember.  It won't happen 
again, you have my word."

Broddick didn't bother with any more words; he simply cut his 
connection, leaving Donovan to smolder.

"All Strike Teams listen up." He stormed out of the lab holding a 
finger against his jaw bone. "We're back on the hunt!"



Continued in Chapter Seventeen....


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