Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis
Chapter 9

The gleaming luminescence of the morning sunlight causes Alexandria to open her eyes and squint. She stretches her arms and grins as she reminisces on the delectable sensations of feeling Joshua inside her last night. Upon realizing that he is not beside her, she sits up and calls for him. “Josh?”

“On my way, Alex! Stay right where you are.”

Alexandria lies her head on the pillow and contemplates on what would happen to Joshua if he were to become infected with that deadly virus that her father was talking about. Would he be administered the vaccine before everyone else on the planet just because he is the son of StarSun’s CEO? It may seem selfish and wrong to even think it...but in a way, she hopes he does get it first so that he can remain alive and be with her. She closes her eyes and prays that her father may be able to stop the tragedy from happening in the first place.

Joshua enters the bedroom carrying a huge tray and says, “Good morning, Alex. Breakfast is served.”

Once the tray is placed in front of her, she is astounded by both his act of kindness and the delicateness with which the food was prepared. The french toast and eggs appear just the same as the images found in a search engine! The scent of the freshly brewed coffee is absolutely divine.

“Josh. Did you make all of this on your own?”

“Not bad, right? I prefer to make my own food rather than have someone else make it for me. That’s why I have two hands.”

He adoringly watches her take a small bite of the french toast and says, “Eat all of it. We got a long day of sightseeing ahead of us.”

Alexandria sips on her coffee and says afterwards, “Do you think it’s safe? You know, after what happened with David and all? You got hurt that night.”

He raises his bandaged fingers and replies, “What, you mean these paper cuts? They’re not enough to keep me locked up inside here.”

She is quite impressed with his bravery and nods in agreement. Why does she have this strange feeling that something is not right? Almost as if she is waiting for the next disaster to happen. She decides to not think so pessimistically and continues eating her breakfast.

Back at North Brunswick on Birchwood Court in New Jersey, Adam enters the kitchen to join his parents at the breakfast table. It does not take that long for his mother to notice his Che Guevarra t-shirt. Her mouth drops open with shock and she asks, “Since when do you support that bastard, Adam?”

While pouring orange juice into his glass, he replies rather frigidly, “America is poisoned, mom. I opened my eyes, that’s all.”

As usual, his father is oblivious to the conversation taking place and remains focused on his newspaper while, at the same time, listening to the mp3 collection of oldies on his phone. He was never the sort to provide any kind of supportive advice or even partake in the traditional tossing of the ol’ baseball in the backyard. Nor did he even bother to teach him the basics of being a man. It feels sometimes like he’s trying to ignore the fact that he has a son...or that maybe his own father is embarrassed by his shortcomings and wants nothing to do with him. Well, he’s going to show everyone tonight. Adam’s mother gives his father an ice cold glare and asks furiously, “Don’t you having anything to say?”

Without even flinching, his father merely licks the tips of his fingers and flips to the next page. She slaps the table with the palm of her hand several times in an attempt to get his attention. His non-reaction makes Adam chuckle and tell his mother as he pours maple syrup on his pancakes, “Leave the man alone, mom. Can’t you see he has more important matters to attend to?”

She folds her arms infuriated at the dead weight that is her husband and says, “That’s all he does! Puts on those damn headphones and shuts out his own family.”

Adam eats and drinks as fast as possible. He needs to escape this madhouse. Pretty soon, his mother will start venting her frustrations at him and he is just not in the mood today to play the part of the family shrink. His cell phone rings and he sees on the screen that it’s Melanie calling. Even though he did get rejected, he sincerely doesn’t want to end the friendship so he answers the call. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Adam? Are you feeling okay now?”

“Sure, I guess. Why do you ask?”

“You were acting weird yesterday and you didn’t answer my call last night. I thought you were mad at me.”

Adam takes his plate to the kitchen sink and, while cleansing it, replies, “I’m not mad, Mel. I have a lot on my mind lately.”

“Yeah, I understand. Wanna hang around later?”

“Um, okay. I have to be somewhere at night, though. Cool?”

“That’s fine. Call me when you’re ready.”

“Yeah. Later.”

He disconnects the call and makes his way out of the kitchen to head up to his bedroom upstairs. His parents are now arguing at this point. It looks like his mother removed his headphones and now all hell has broken loose. He jogs past them and runs up the stairs while asking himself, “Shit...Why can’t I have a normal family?”

On board Indrid’s ship, Sajjad slowly opens his eyes and awakens from a comforting sleep. How is this possible without his small tank of Himalayan air and the gas mask? He sits up and before he can even ask Indrid that very same question, she says, “I adjusted the air to the point that it is now similar to what you are accustomed to, Sajjad.”

“Thank you, Indrid. It has been a while since I have slept without that mask of mine. But if you are exposed for a long period of time...”

“Since I am only part human, my lungs are capable of adapting to many environments.”

“I see. You are indeed blessed with many gifts, Indrid Cold.”

Indrid does not reply or even react to his compliment because she honestly does not see her abilities to be a blessing most of the time. From constantly having to prevent herself from reading people’s thoughts to having horrific premonitions of ominous catastrophes, they can be quite stressful and excruciating.

Sajjad approaches and notices her sitting position. He dismisses this as being simply be a habit of hers and asks, “Anything out of the ordinary?”

“No. They are safe.”

The front door of the Garrison household opens and Alexandria exits closely followed by Joshua. He closes the door and they both walk toward his blue Silverado which glimmers as a result of the sunlight. He still can’t believe how they managed to repair it so quickly and even make it look brand new. He then opens the passenger door and Alexandria enters the vehicle. Joshua jogs toward the driver’s side door and opens it. He gives her a warm smile as he sits down and says, “Let’s do this.”

The sound of the Silverado’s engine turning on is heard throughout the serene neighborhood. It then backs out of the driveway and the gear gets shifted into the drive position. Indrid takes control of the ship and inconspicuously follows them into the city.

Many hours later, an old man is sitting down on a park bench tossing breadcrumbs at a huge flock of pigeons. Rikki Hillman arrives and sits down next to him. She opens her newspaper and proceeds to read the details of the main story. The old man says, “Nicely done. Dr. Frankenstein has ceased his investigation.”

Without looking at him, Rikki replies, “Thank you, sir.”

The old man crumples up the empty paper bag and tells her, “Proceed to the next phase. I’ll inform FEMA that all is going according to plan.”

He lifts himself up with the assistance of his cane and walks away. Rikki takes out her cell phone and makes a call. “How is Adam? Okay, good.” She disconnects the call and replaces that the old man has vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, in the peaceful township of North Brunswick, Adam and Melanie are walking side by side down the sidewalk. She looks at his t-shirt for a few seconds and asks him, “What’s with the shirt, Adam? Are you going conspiracy nut on me?”

“America’s become a parody, Melanie. Saturated with mindless TV programming and Hollywood garbage.”

She does not believe the words that are coming out of his mouth and grabs his arm to make him stop walking. “This isn’t you, Adam. I get it, okay? It’s my fault...I didn’t mean to hurt you. The truth is that I...”

Adam forcefully pulls his arm away from her grip and gives her an icy stare. He then says without any kind of emotion, “I have to go now. Don’t follow me.”

Melanie sullenly watches him walk away and nervously taps her lips with her fingers. She wants so desperately to blurt out how she really feels about him, but restrains herself out of fear. Why is she scared of him now? Did he become this way because of her? Does he think of her as being the last straw and now hates everyone in general? Should she follow him just in case he becomes suicidal? Yes. She’ll just make sure that he doesn’t spot her.

In New York City, Joshua and Alexandria enter the Pure Thai Cookhouse restaurant. While waiting to be seated, Joshua asks, “How do you like the tour so far?”

“I’m loving it so much! The art museum was awesome, Josh. Pablo Picasso’s work was amazing.”

“You thought that was amazing? Wait until you taste this food.”

The young, beautiful hostess arrives and greets them kindly with a Thai accent, “Welcome. For two?”

Joshua nods his head once and the hostess grabs hold of two menus and makes a gesture to follow her in order to get seated. After walking for just a few minutes, they are both seated and handed their menus. She then informs them, “Your server will be with you shortly.” and departs from their table.

Alexandria replaces herself rather indecisive as she browses through the many selections of delicacies available to her. She looks at Joshua and says, “All of this looks good.”

“I recommend the Wok Ginger Curry with Calamari. Trust me.”

She agrees to his recommendation, closes the menu and places it down in front of her. Shortly afterwards, a waitress arrives and prepares to take their orders.

On the ship, Indrid is resting her chin on her knees. She replaces the relationship Alexandria is developing with Joshua to be genuinely sweet but unwillingly thinks about Chad’s reaction when she presented him with her true physical form. She hopes that he doesn’t break her heart as Chad did with her. Out of nowhere, Indrid receives an unclear vision of an explosion occurring somewhere near the state of New York. A nearby state, yes...but which one? Sajjad becomes aware of her peculiar behavior and before he even has a chance to ask, she raises her finger and utters quietly, “One moment, please.”

Indrid places her fingertips on her temples and concentrates deeply in an attempt to get a clearer image of the premonition. She manages to rewind the event in her mind and sees the first part of the name of what looks like a movie theater....Regal. And an abbreviation...NJ.

At Area 51, Dr. Frankenstein and Jerry are running a system diagnostic check on Phoebe. The long needle has already been inserted into her spinal column which, as a result, makes her squirm in discomfort. Just as she is about to reach for it with her hand, Jerry stops her and scolds her by saying, “Phoebe! You need to stay still!”

Her hair turns blue while saying, “Uhhhh! I don’t like how it feels!”

Suddenly, Dr. Frankenstein hears his cell phone ringing. He looks at the screen and sees that the ID is unknown. After hesitating for a moment, he answers the call and hears nothing but static. “Hello?”

From the static emerges Indrid’s voice as a series of eerie electrical impulses. “Ludwig. Explosion at a movie theater to happen very soon. The name is Regal in New Jersey.”

“Let me perform a quick search on the computer, Indrid.”

To his dismay, the results of the search show four movie theaters beginning with the name Regal located in the state of New Jersey. He wipes the sweat from his mouth with the palm of his hand and asks, “How soon?”

“It is unclear.”

That is the one unfortunate drawback of Indrid’s premonitions. She can predict the tragedies but the exact locations become hazy and indeterminable. There is one option. In the past, there were false flag operations where explosive experts performing training exercises were found in close proximity of the actual explosion.

“I will check if any terrorist bombing exercises are currently in progress within New Jersey, Ludwig.”

“You read my mind...again. Hurry and good luck.”

Melanie keeps at least a block away from Adam to avoid detection in an attempt to see where he is going. He’s more of a “stay at home” kind of person and when he does go out, it’s during the day to buy his books. The fact that he’s going out at night without her to keep him company seems so out of character. He’s getting close to a bus stop. What now? She has an idea and quickly takes out her cell phone and taps the Uber icon. She then types 1713 Livingston Avenue in North Brunswick and puts the phone into her purse. While anxiously awaiting for her ride to arrive, Melanie pretty much knows where Adam is headed. To their movie theater when they decide to watch something together. But she remembers him saying that there’s nothing out now that interests him...how strange.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, the car finally arrives and she rushes to open the back passenger door. As she steps inside, and slams the door shut, she says loudly to the driver, “The Regal Commerce Center Stadium Movie Theater.”

The panic in her voice makes the driver turn his head back and look at her suspiciously. He then warns her by saying, “This better not be some kind of drama, girl. Like a cheating boyfriend. I don’t want anything happening to my car.”

“No, no, no...it’s nothing like that. He’s not even my boyfriend. It’s a long story, okay? Can we just go now?”

After a brief silence, the driver nods and shifts the gear into the drive position. While the vehicle slowly drives away towards its destination, Melanie prays that she doesn’t arrive too late in case he is thinking about doing something stupid. She knows him well enough to know that he won’t take his own life. Why is she worried?

On the ship, Sajjad observes in amazement at the speed in which Indrid is scanning the entire state of New Jersey for any possible military communications regarding bomb drills in progress. She finally picks up some voices on one channel and discovers that there is in fact a drill being conducted a few blocks away from a movie theater. She uses her hand to get a closer look into that area of New Jersey in order to see the name of it. There it is. She looks at Sajjad and says, “Regal.”

He nods and replies, “We must hurry.”

The engines hum and the ship illuminates the night sky like a bright star. It spins completely around and vanishes into the nearby cloud bank.

The Uber driver takes a quick glance at the rear view mirror and sees Melanie biting her fingernail. He has a daughter about her age so he can pick up the signs of trouble very easily. “My name’s Tyrone, by the way. I’m used to talking so I’m letting you know.”

While staring outside of the window, she replies, “Melanie.”

“You’re worried about someone. Right, Melanie?”

“It’s my fault.”

“What is?”

She rests her head on the window and closes her eyes. While remembering Adam’s humiliation at the hands of that bully, she says, “We were kids. I saw him get bullied...and I didn’t help him.”

“And he stayed friends with you?”

“Yeah.”

“That means he knew you were afraid so don’t sweat it. The past is done. No such thing as do-overs. What’s important is what you do from now on.”

Melanie looks straight ahead and sees that they are two blocks away from the movie theater. She leans forward and says, “You can drop me off here. Thanks for the advice, Tyrone.”

He waves his hand and tells her emphatically, “Just don’t fuck it up this time. Deal?”

After grinning and nodding in agreement, Melanie opens the passenger door and steps outside. The car drives off as soon as the door closes and she begins scanning the area in search of Adam. She begins jogging past the people in front of her until the movie theater is directly across the street. Looking past the crowd of pedestrians and traffic, she finally spots him exiting the movie theater and walking across the street. As Adam walks down the sidewalk, he takes out his cell phone and unlocks the screen. He becomes startled at a familiar female voice shouting, “Adam?”

He stops walking and turns around to look at Melanie approaching him. He asks her in an angry tone, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m worried about you. You’re acting weird. Where’s your backpack?”

Adam takes a moment to think about what she just got finished asking him. He’s here to complete his mission, of course. But something doesn’t feel right. Is he here...to kill people? He’s never killed anyone before. At this point, he starts to experience a splitting headache and his vision becomes blurred.

Inside of a nearby black van, one of the agents inside observing a monitor informs Rikki, “Uh, Agent Hillman. We have a problem here. Adam’s waking up.”

She kneels slightly down to look at the screen and discovers Melanie speaking with Adam. This was not very likely to happen but it now seems there is no other choice at the moment. She says, “Plan B, fellas. Chris, take control of his phone and detonate the bomb. We can make her an accomplice to the crime. Move it!”

Melanie sees that Adam is about to lose his balance and holds his arm tightly to prevent him from falling. She then notices that his phone is accessing an application on its own and entering a password of some kind. She asks him, “Adam? What’s going on with your phone? It’s doing stuff by itself.”

His headache subsides and he observes on his phone screen, in confusion, a password being entered without any kind of interaction on his part. As if it were somehow possessed by a ghost. Fragments of his memories come together, like a jigsaw puzzle, and he now knows what is about to happen next. Adam grabs Melanie and drags her with him down to the pavement while yelling, “Melanie! It’s a bomb!”

The surrounding area shakes violently giving the impression to people that they are experiencing an earthquake. Then, the sound of a massive explosion is heard coming from inside of the movie theater followed by the destruction of its entrance. Chunks of the theater collides with several innocent bystanders resulting in spontaneous dismemberment while others are consumed with flames. Nearby windows of cars and buildings shatter into thousands of pieces. Melanie screams as the resulting force of the blast causes her, and Adam, to get pushed against the wall behind them. Instinctively, Adam throws his body over Melanie’s to protect her from the fragments of debris and falling shards of glass.

He adjusts his glasses and becomes disgusted at the sight of an arm on the sidewalk next to him with its bloody fingers twitching back and forth. His ears are still ringing as a result of the explosion and he can only faintly hear the people around him screaming in agony.

Indrid is taken aback by what has just happened and gasps in disbelief. The tragedy still occurred...but how is that possible? They are precisely where the bomb drills are taking place. A block away from the Regal Hadley Theatre Stadium. Unless....she takes the controls and tells Sajjad, ”We’ve been tricked.”

“The bombing happened elsewhere?”

“Yes. At the Regal Commerce Center Stadium in North Brunswick. I need to inform Ludwig.”

At Area 51, Dr. Frankenstein is sitting at a table in the dining area taking a sip of his coffee when his phone suddenly rings. Once again, the ID of the caller is unknown. He answers the call. “Indrid?”

“It has happened, Ludwig. We were at the wrong location.”

He slowly rises from his chair and his face becomes exceedingly pale as soon as he gets hit with the reality of what is happening. These false flag events are almost always done to divert public attention away from a previous event or to justify a clandestine operation which may be taking place in the near future. He recalls the time when Operation Northwoods was proposed in 1962 for that purpose.

“They anticipated our involvement, Indrid.”

“Shall I attempt to replace the sleeper assassin?”

“No. It is far too late for that now, I’m afraid. The major news organizations will undoubtedly name that person as the perpetrator in a matter of minutes. Just make your way back to Area 51. In the meantime, I’m going to contact Major General Avery right now to get to the bottom of this.”

Dr. Frankenstein disconnects the call and touches Major General Avery’s number. After three rings, the Major General is heard saying, “I know the reason for this call, doctor. You know why it had to be done and we simply could not have your team fucking up the operation.”

“There’s more to this than disguising what happened in New York, Major General. Do not insult my intelligence. It’s about Yersinia pestis, is it not?”

Dr. Frankenstein hears nothing but silence and takes that as an acknowledgement. After several minutes, he tells the Major General, “There is no cure. Whatever you have been told is a lie.”

“I have nothing more to tell you, doctor. Goodbye.”

Dr. Frankenstein slowly lowers the phone and replaces himself disgusted with humanity’s willingness to flirt with worldwide disaster. Forever doomed to have our history repeat itself over and over. Earth’s fate now depends on the outcome of his meeting with Diana Garrison.

Inside of the black van in New Jersey, Rikki turns her head to look at Abigail and asks, “Are you ready, Donna?” Her true name is Donna Lenz. She was recruited by the CIA not only for her exceptional skill as a hypnotist, but also for her natural acting ability. Donna has been used many times before as an eyewitness of tragic events. Each time, of course, with different tones of skin and hair color. Only a person with a very keen eye can recognize her during the various live news broadcasts. While being applied the final touches to her pregnant woman disguise by several people, she nods at Rikki and says, “Ready, Agent Hillman.”

The side door of the van slides open and Donna exits the vehicle. She wastes no time blending in perfectly with the increasing amount of curious, as well as frightened, spectators and quickly gets into character. Pretending to be shocked and terrified is pretty much second nature for her by now. As Donna pushes people aside while holding her belly, she screams, “Let me through! I’m looking for my husband!”

The crowd of people do their best to make a path for her. She finally exits only to be held back by a man behind her. He tells her loudly, “Ma’am, it’s not safe! Just wait here for the fire department!”

Donna glances across the street and notices Adam rising up to his feet while also assisting Melanie. She then looks at her watch. The actor playing her husband should be arriving within a few minutes. She looks at the man behind her and asks, “Do you see that kid over there? What’s he holding in his hand?”

This makes the man look up at Adam and try to focus on the aforementioned object. It looks like a typical smart-phone to him. But wait...he notices that Adam is focusing more on his phone rather than on the fiery aftermath in front of him. Adam successfully lifts Melanie up to her feet. She holds her head with one hand and holds onto his arm with the other to keep from falling down. He asks, “You okay?”

“Uhhh. Yeah. What happened?”

Adam does not exactly know the answer to that question himself. Once he saw the password being entered on his phone, for some strange reason, his instinct was to take cover to prepare for the explosion of the bomb. He sees a black van parked further down the street and cannot help but think that he has seen it somewhere before. Inexplicably, the eyes of the crowd are on him. What is going on here? Only one thing comes to his mind as a possible answer. He’s being set up. He whispers to Melanie, “I have a bad feeling. Let’s get out of here.”

While Donna continues to stare at both of them as they depart the scene of the crime, the actor playing her husband arrives and says in a horrified manner, “Megan!”

She hugs him tightly and, while crying hysterically, shouts, “Tim! Thank God you’re safe!”

The entire area becomes engulfed by the deafening sounds of numerous sirens as both the fire and police departments make their way to the scene. It does not take that long for the major news networks to park their vans nearby and prepare their reporters for the live broadcast of this catastrophic event to the world.

In the city of New York, Joshua and Alexandria are eating their dinner inside of the Thai food restaurant. Joshua replaces it strange that everyone, instead of enjoying their meals, are staring in shock at their smart-phones. As the waiter pours water into the glass, he asks, “Excuse me...Did something just happen?”

The waiter gives him a horror-stricken gaze and replies, “You don’t know? There was an explosion inside a movie theater in New Jersey. It’s all over the news.”

Alexandria gets a cold chill up her spine and takes her touchscreen tablet out of her purse. Joshua stands up and places his chair next to her. He sits down and observes the live stream of the news report on CNN.

“Once again, it is unclear if this was a terrorist act or simply another incident of a gas leak. We do have an eyewitness here that claims to have seen a young man acting suspiciously just minutes after the explosion. Megan O’Hara. What exactly was it that you saw that made him look suspicious?”

Everyone inside of Area 51 is in a state of shock and no one can say anything about the horrid imagery being shown to the entire nation. They failed to save all of those innocent people inside of the, now demolished, movie theater. Innocent civilians just spending time with their friends and families. Enjoying a good flick before leaving to the comfort of their homes. In a second...it’s all gone. Lost in a fiery blaze. Barbara is covering her mouth with both hands while tears stream down her cheeks. She is thinking about how the family of the deceased must be reacting at the gut wrenching news right now. To receive the call which everyone fears. Megan now begins to describe her version of the events which unfolded not too long ago in the once tranquil area of North Brunswick, New Jersey.

“This is just so...Oh, my God!”

Tim embraces her and she wipes the tears from her eyes while gathering up the strength to continue. This is truly an Oscar worthy performance.

“I ran over here to make sure my husband was safe. I saw this kid across the street looking at his phone. I mean, here we are, scared out of our minds, and he’s just standing there! Calm and looking at his phone! When he saw that we were looking at him, he ran off with a girl.”

The cameraman focuses on the reporter as she says, “Thank you, Megan. I’m sure the authorities will want to speak with you shortly.”

Dr. Frankenstein stares at the news coverage being displayed on the wall-mounted fifty inch screen with his arms folded and mutters to himself, “The sleeper assassin. That must be him.”

He inserts an ear bud, raises his wrist and says, “Indrid. Scan the area for two youngsters departing that scene. I need to speak with him before his picture gets splattered all over the news.”

“I have already located them, Ludwig. Give me a moment.”

Melanie is trying her best to keep up with Adam but has unfortunately become so tired that her vision becomes blurry. She stops and lays against a tall tree while shouting, “Adam!...Wait!”

He ceases running, turns around and places his hands on his knees while taking deep breaths. He is completely drenched with sweat and feels himself almost giving in to the temptation of falling down on the grass. Suddenly, they both become startled by the sound of Adam’s ringtone. He takes out his phone and first looks at the screen and then at Melanie in a puzzled manner. She rapidly shakes her head indicating to him to not answer the call. Unable to replace any other way to resolve his current predicament, he answers the call with the slim hope that everything will get fixed. “Uhhh...hello?”

Dr. Frankenstein is heard saying, “Do as I say if you want to live, Adam.”

“Who is this? What do you want?”

“Not important. There is no time to waste, my boy. You must go to the nearest police station and surrender.”

“But...I didn’t do that!”

Melanie takes a step closer and grunts as she feels a sharp sting on the back of her neck. A few seconds later, she loses consciousness and falls to the ground. Adam lowers his phone as he witnesses this and races toward her while screaming, “Melanie!”

He kneels down next to her and shakes her in a panic. Wait. She’s not dead! He notices that she is still breathing. Feeling the sensation of someone approaching him, he looks up to replace Agent Rikki Hillman pointing a sniper rifle at him. Adam is very certain that he has met this woman before. He stands up and says angrily, “I’ve seen you before.”

“Nice to see you too, Adam.”

“You’re behind all of this. Why?”

“This is called breaking a few eggs, kid. Nothing personal.”

Rikki pulls the trigger and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart. He collapses to the ground shortly afterwards and Dr. Frankenstein can still be heard calling his name frantically. This makes her grin as she recalls what was done to David Stubbe’s panic room keypad. She takes her phone and is shocked to replace that there is absolutely no signal whatsoever. A blinding flash illuminates the entire park for just a split second. This instinctively makes her put the rifle around her neck using the strap and take out her pistol which has real bullets. She places a silencer on it and scans the surrounding area similar to a huntress searching for her prey.

Rikki hears the rapidly increasing sound of shoes trampling on the grass. She attempts to aim her gun at the individual but her wrist is grabbed tightly and pointed upward. Impossible for a normal person to get into contact with her that quickly! Damn, he’s strong! She loses her grip on the weapon and Sajjad head-butts her with such a force, that the right lens of her eyeglasses gets cracked.

Rikki loses her balance and falls to her knees. She recognizes the metallic taste of her own warm blood as it trickles down from her nose and into her mouth. Sajjad tells her frigidly, “If you wish to avoid further pain, I suggest that you remain in that position, madame.”

He is taken aback by her sudden maniacal laughter. She gives him a frightening stare...frightening because her left eye is fine while her right eye is bloodshot...and replies, “You think I’m in pain, little man?”

Sajjad becomes extremely flustered by Rikki’s lack of respect and grabs her by the throat. He becomes blinded with rage mostly because of his old fashioned upbringing. He was strictly taught by his father that the man is never to be treated in a condescending manner by a woman. She gasps as she gets lifted to the air and grunts when she gets slammed hard against the tree behind her. Rikki realizes that she touched a sensitive nerve but doesn’t give him the pleasure of becoming afraid. Instead, she reveals her blood stained teeth as she starts laughing again. “Now, is this any way to treat a lady?”

Sajjad calms down once he sees that he has lost control of his temper and curses at himself. Dr. Jaeger used to warn him about this reckless behavior constantly. He’s the one that taught him restraint and the proper ways that one must live in this country. This woman is a trained assassin, however, so he cannot simply lower her to the ground and apologize. Rikki giggles at him and says, “Pathetic. I bet you’re still single, aren’t you?”

“Enough! You will not destroy the lives of those children.”

“Take a look behind you, man.”

Sajjad doesn’t quite trust her at first and hesitates for a moment. A minute passes and he can no longer resist the temptation to take a quick glance behind him. Standing there are two individuals who both bear a striking resemblance to Adam and Melanie...but upon closer inspection, there does appear to be subtle differences in regards to their facial features. The kid who looks like Adam grins slightly and takes a big puff of his cigarette. Afterwards, he points a handgun at him and makes a gesture to step away from Rikki. Sajjad lifts his wrist and says, “Indrid.”

This makes Rikki chuckle and say, “You think we didn’t see this coming? She can’t hear you. Now put me down before I have Adam blow out your kneecaps.”

Without any viable options available to him, Sajjad lowers her to the ground and releases his grasp. She nonchalantly removes her eyeglasses and, while observing the cracks, says, “This is much bigger than all of us, Sajjad.”

“I am not surprised that you know my name. What comes next? Are you going to kill me?”

“I should kill you for ruining my fucking glasses. But I feel generous today. Tell Dr. Frankenstein not to worry about the kids. I’m sure he knows the procedure.”

Rikki picks up her gun from the ground and, while walking away, says, “It’s been fun, Sajjad. Send my regards to David.”

A black van parks nearby and Sajjad watches them until they all enter the vehicle. As soon as it departs, he raises his wrist and says, “Indrid.”

“Sajjad. Something odd happened. My ship was somehow...malfunctioning. It was unresponsive. Are you safe?”

“Yes. We arrived too late. They have already been taken away and replaced with actors.”

“The CIA seems to be using some sort of newly discovered technology. I can no longer track them.”

Sajjad does not say anything in response. Indrid can sense his overwhelming disappointment and says, “Prepare for teleportation.”

Frank Garrison is at his home intently watching the news in complete aghast of the events unfolding in his own state of New Jersey. There is still no knowledge of whether or not this was domestic terrorism or a matter of a gas leak within the theater. The reporter on the scene is about to speak so Frank decides to raise the volume.

“We just received word that the FBI has obtained the surveillance footage and the agents are in the process of viewing it in hopes of discovering the identities of the two individuals that fled the scene. I’m presently joined by retired explosives expert, Layne Darrell. Mr. Darrell. From your years of experience in dealing with explosives and deadly chemical reactions. What can you tell us? Does this look like the result of a gas leak or a bomb?”

“Well, Kendall, it’s a bit early to come to any kind of definitive conclusion. Per common procedure, the debris has to be tested for the presence of RDX, TNT, PETN, TATP and other organic explosives. What I can tell the public is what I’ve observed up to this point. If it was a gas explosion, two major things needed to have happened later on. The first needed to be an instantaneously dissipated flame and the second an enormous, widespread pressure wave. Neither of the two has happened here.”

Frank lowers the volume and sits back in his sofa to take a moment and think clearly about what was just informed by Layne Darrell. From his early personal experiences, he is leaning very close to the opinion that a bomb was used tonight. His cell phone begins to ring and he sees that it’s Joshua calling. “Hey, Josh. Yeah, I know...I’m watching the news right now.”

Something on his television screen captures his attention. The news network is showing the surveillance footage of one of the suspects. That certainly was pretty fast in regards to the FBI allowing the footage to be shown. He looks familiar...no...it can’t be. Adam? He tells Joshua, “I need to check something out, kid. Let me call you back.”

Frank hangs up and fumbles with the TV remote for a few seconds until he finally succeeds in raising the volume. While paying full attention to the news, he whispers to himself, “No fucking way this is happening.”

“The identity of this young man is still not known up to this point, Bethany. We are urging the public to study the footage on our website and inform the authorities if any of you are aware of who the suspect is. It is also not yet known if he had something to do with this tragedy, but he is wanted nevertheless for questioning.”

Frank’s phone starts ringing once more. He picks it up and is saddened to see that the person calling is Adam’s mother, Edna Eastman. What can he tell her? He is just as baffled as she may be. He answers the call and says, “Edna. I’m just as shocked as you are.”

All that is heard on the other line is the sobbing of a distraught mother trying to cope with what her own son is being accused of. A nice kid who always kept to himself and stayed out of trouble. He didn’t even drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes for God’s sake. Where did this random act of violence come from? Adam’s not as stupid as to take the lives of innocent people simply because he was rejected by his childhood sweetheart. He’s way smarter than to make that immoral, as well as sadistic, decision and flushing his future down the toilet.

“Listen to me, Edna. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this. I promise you, okay? Has he called you?”

With a quivering voice, she replies, “No. He hasn’t. I tried calling him but it goes straight to voicemail.”

“All right. He probably turned his phone off. You hang in there, Edna. I’m gonna make a few calls.”

“Help him, please. Thank you, Frank.”

The call disconnects and Frank gradually lowers his phone. He places it next to his leg and folds his hands together while attempting to make sense of this perplexing enigma. Poor Alex. He’s gotta be out there running for his life and scared out of his mind. This has to be a setup. No doubt about it. The first step for tonight is to get in touch with his contact who is still actively involved with secretive covert operations. These activities are hidden from the public for many reasons and he understands this completely. Adam, however, is a good kid and doesn’t deserve to made a patsy. The second step is to figure out what the bomb was composed of. Once he acquires that information, the pieces of the puzzle will definitely fall into place. He only hopes that Alex manages to survive this night of insanity.