Chapter 3: In Times of War (Part 2)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

2007 – army base

Daniel

Hey, Leonard. How’s the food today?

Daniel is walking towards his usual table in the cafeteria of the base he had been relocated to.

Leonard

How do you expect? Hey, Jimmy, you got another story for us?

Jimmy

When don’t I? See that table over there? I hear that squad was sent on a mission to find Osama Bin Laden after a tip the President received and they found him.

Daniel

What? No way, we would know about that!

Jimmy

They say they can’t be sure yet if it’s actually him, but they believe it is.

Leonard

How did they do it?

Jimmy

I heard they went into a cave where he was hiding and there was a lot of gun fire. But that big guy there, you couldn’t even see him because he was so fast. He took out most of the hostiles single-handedly and when he got to Bin Laden, he ripped out his skull and beat him to death with it.

Leonard

What? That doesn’t seem physically possible!

Jimmy

Well it’s true.

They all start a form of awkward laughter. The laughter is interrupted when General Larken walks up to the table.

General

Lieutenant Fields, may I have a word with you?

Daniel stands up and salutes the General.

Daniel

Yes, sir!

The general orders Daniel to follow him and leads him to a tent a few minutes away from the rest of the camp. As Daniel enters the tent he notices a large table in the center with ten people surrounding it. Each has a blank expression on their face and keeps their focus on Daniel from the moment he walks in.

General

Please, have a seat. Don’t mind everyone here; they’re just going to evaluate you.

Daniel

Evaluate, sir?

General

Relax, son. You’re not in any trouble. We’re just going to ask you a few
questions. First, how is the progress going on that special assignment I gave to you?

Daniel

Last I heard, Adam said that all his research had seemingly hit a dead end and
that it is likely impossible to achieve what his theory suggested.

General

Well that is… disappointing.

His voice carries a sense of impatience through the room and for the first time all eyes in the room left Daniel and refocus themselves onto the general.

Daniel

I tried pushing him but he seemed to be more interested in pursuing other things.

General

Such as?

Daniel

Speaking honestly, nothing that could be of significance to the US military.

Felicia Grey

General Larken mentioned in his report that you claim your brother had started to pursue researching his theory after the death of your mother.

Something in the woman’s voice sent a chill climbing up Daniels spine. This entire meeting has struck him as creepy, and he can’t shake the feeling he is in over his head.

Daniel

Yes, I guess that is correct.

General

Is that a guess, or is it accurate?

Daniel

That is what happened, sir.

Unknown Man

How far is your brother in his research?

Daniel

That’s the confusing part. He told me he is making great progress in our previous
conversation. He said he actually believed he and Lionel Sabetelli could find a way to
control the brain to tell the heart and body to sustain life for a long period of time. He
said there could also be a possibility of bringing a recently deceased body to at least a
comatose state.

Unknown Man

Well, that’s not really good enough for us.

Felicia Grey

I can imagine you see the interest the military has in this research. If he perfects the technology we can invest more research to see if it has a possibility of healing injured soldiers or even reviving fallen ones after they are brought back to camp. It would certainly give us an advantage and we would lose a lot less American soldiers.

Daniel

I do; and if I may speak honestly, that idea disturbs me a little.

General

It doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture, but you have to admit that anything that can save lives is nothing but beneficial to mankind, and that providing an edge to this war doesn’t hurt.

Daniel

I guess not. So I assume the plan is to try and convince Adam to continue his work the next time I see him?

The room grew silent and once more, every eye is on Daniel.

General

It’s not that easy. We need him working on this right away and there’s only one way he’ll be convinced to continue.

Daniel

I don’t understand.

---

Present day

Carrie

Well, what did they tell you to do?

Gabriel

I’m not sure I can continue on. The memory alone scars me.

Carrie

Daniel, it’s me. You can tell me.

Carrie reaches over to place her hand on Daniel’s lap once more, hoping to console him, at least a little.

Gabriel

Fine…but first, I have couple more questions.

Carrie

Alright. Ask away.

Gabriel

What do you know about the missing LifeSource members?

Carrie

Well, I don’t work at LifeSource so I only know what Lionel and Adam told me. They said that some personnel would just not show up for work. It’s usually people that have been there for a long time. They would start to get worried but then days later they would receive a note, email, or even a phone call from the missing employee saying they got offered another job out of the city. The thing is they would never say where it is or the company name, only that they got offered a lot of money to leave right away.

Gabriel

And they haven’t been seen since?

Carrie

Not that I’ve heard of. Adam said he heard once or twice that someone who went missing had been visited by people from the government about a new job opportunity. He just assumed that is probably why they left. The weird part is that the ones who disappeared without notice had said that they declined the offer.

Gabriel

Interesting.

Gabriel gets out of his chair and starts to pace for a moment or two as he thinks about all the possibilities and circumstances that may be on their hands. His thoughts, however, are cut short when Carrie breaks the silence.

Carrie

So… who are they?

Gabriel

Who?

Carrie

The people from the government; FBI, right? You said that they would be coming for me. I assume from where this conversation is going that these are the same people who were talking to the LifeSource employees before they disappeared.

Gabriel

That’s certainly what it sounds like. I only ran into them once.

Carrie

But you do know about them, right? Are they involved with that happened to you?

Gabriel

No. I’m just finding out about them now. It seems like they have something to do with all this, but now I’m not so sure. It seems they have their own agenda. None of this makes sense. It doesn’t fit with everything that’s happened.

Carrie

What does that mean?

Gabriel

I have a feeling that the crash Adam and Lisa were in was planned. I also have a feeling that if the crash hadn’t happened then they still would have been in danger.

Carrie

From the Protesters?

Gabriel

No, the Protesters have nothing to do with anything that’s been happening.

Carrie

Then what do you mean by the crash being planned?

Gabriel

Adam is the brains behind LifeSource. I don’t think anyone with power in the company would want him to leave.

Carrie

So the government put him in danger? That sounds really crazy.

Gabriel

I don’t think that the thought is out of the question for the US government, but it isn’t them. I think it is the FBI. Well, the special task force for LifeSource, anyways.

Carrie

Why?

Gabriel

The two guys who I faced are behind the operation and from what I’ve seen they don’t like to follow any rules and have their own secrets.

Carrie

So what do they want with me?

Gabriel

I haven’t figured that out yet, but I think they’re planning something that the government might not even know about. They’re getting as many people from LifeSource as possible, which means they’re probably working on something.

Carrie

So I’m supposed to spy on them?

Gabriel

Yes. If you put up a fight then they’ll lose all trust in you and you’ll be treated like the ones that refused. You need to willingly go along with what they say.

Carrie

What about Adam? Do you think he refused?

Gabriel

Did he ever meet with them?

Carrie

He never told me.

Gabriel

I think I should probably go. I don’t think I have much time.

Carrie

Wait, you never finished your story.

Gabriel

It’s probably for the best.

Carrie

I have to know. I haven’t seen you in years.

Gabriel

Alright, but I have a feeling you’ll be crying by the end of it.

---

2007 – Army Officer Tent

Daniel

Get off me!

Daniel manages to pull himself out from the hold of the officials who had a hold on him only to stumble onto the ground. He quickly gets to his feet and makes a run for the door, jumping over stools and chairs, sliding across the large table that sits in the room and trying to push his way out of the tent. However, despite his best efforts, the officials outnumber him and eventually one of them tackles him to the ground as another pulls out a handgun and presses it against Daniel’s forehead.

General

I’m sorry son, but we’re going ahead with this plan, even if you don’t agree. I’m giving you a choice here. Your brother needs to believe you are dead. We discussed this at great lengths and have agreed this is the best option. He will be in an emotional state, like he was when your mother died, and hopefully he will be re-inspired to continue his research. We don’t have to spend money we could use for other resources so that if this little project of his goes south, we wouldn’t have wasted our time and money.

Daniel

I can’t just let my brother think I’m dead!

General

Oh that’s out of your control. What you can do is comply and continue fighting in the war. You are a great soldier and we would prefer if you were with us on this one. If not, we can contain you. You won’t be contributing to the war, your brother will still think you are dead, and you would rarely be seeing sunlight. The choice is yours. I just hope you choose the obvious one.

Daniel has completely given up in his attempt to escape by this point and the officials allow him to get off the ground and take a seat at the table again; gun still pointed at his head. He takes a seat and begins to contemplate his situation. Should he go along with the officials and assist in the war, or should he be kept a prisoner?

Daniel

Well, seeing as these are my only options, I’ll go along with it. I just want to make it clear that I don’t agree with this solution.

General

And I want to make it clear that we don’t care. We’re here to win, not to put into consideration your feelings on the matter. Oh, and you are forbidden from making any more video calls or discussing with other soldiers to give any indication to your brother that you are still alive. You will be given a new name that everyone else will refer to you as from now on.

Daniel

What name will that be?

General

I don’t know something generic perhaps. John? How does everyone feel about ‘John’?

Daniel

Now it matters how people are feeling?

The woman holding a gun to Daniel’s head butts the handle of the gun against him.

Felicia Grey

John is fine.

General

Alright, ‘John’ it is then. You are dismissed.

---

Present Day

Carrie

‘John’?

Gabriel

That name didn’t stick.

Carrie

So they made Adam think that you were dead and you couldn’t say anything? That’s horrible.

Gabriel

I wish that was the end of it.

Carrie

There’s more?

Gabriel

Nothing that is particularly important to this situation.

Gabriel stands up and looks out the window to check for the agents. When he finally believes it to be safe Gabriel turns back to Carrie and realizes that he has been gone for years and hadn’t even bothered to ask the generic questions a long lost friend would ask.

Carrie

What about to me?

Gabriel

How about I tell you another day?

Carrie

Alright. If you have any more questions, now would be the time to ask.

Gabriel

I have many, but I feel I should ask this one while I have the chance. A question I have been meaning to ask you for years that I was hoping I would be able to ask you if I ever saw you again.

Carrie

What is it?

Gabriel

How have you been?

To be continued...