Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Red Thunderbolt

Ross nodded. “Take a seat, because this is going to be a bit lengthy. From listening around and reading old record documents, this is what I have found, at the cost of the compromise of my status as a spy.”

“Around fifteen years ago, the Barbonian government launched Project Dominus. It was a program orchestrated by two men: General Thaddeus Wolf and Dr. Julian Rollan. Together, they combined a team of expert scientists and military personnel to carry out the task. This operation involves many developments to make scientific weapons and improve military quality and equipment. It’s not just one facility, but facilities all over Barbonia. The ultimate goal is world dominance, but first, it is Baldornan. Our country is a test trial. First, they plan to destroy us. If it works, they expand, and launch similar offenses on other countries.”

“Dr. Rollan was the one who initiated a program for human testing, for which they would recruit children. They would take the children away from their parents, mostly at birth itself. The children were mostly those who were born in poverty, and whose parents could not afford to take any action. Rollan believed that fear of punishment and pain could drive humans to perform their best and to do any task that the program demanded of them. So, the General came into the picture. The children were raised in poor conditions and were trained in combat, running, jumping, and pain tolerance. They were named after stars or constellations. If they failed or fell short in any of the tasks, they were punished severely by shocking, whipping, and beating. At the age of nine, they were all branded with a mark similar to what you saw not much long ago. If any of them ran away, they could be identified and brought back. The punishment for running away was death, in front of the other kids, which was meant to be a warning for them.”

“Aries was a product of this program. But once, when she was ten years old, a certain accident occurred, which gave her electric powers. There’s an entire file on them. This placed her at a higher value than the others. So when she made an attempt to escape, she was not killed like any other one of them would be. The other children were transported to a different facility, but she was kept in the one we just captured to undergo further experimentation, as the scientists wanted to find out what had caused her to receive these powers. Apart from those, she also has advanced durability and combat skills. She’s more capable than grown soldiers in those areas, and it takes more effort to kill her than it does other humans. Not that it isn’t possible, but she has higher chances of surviving anything.”

“Her powers have limitations. Overuse causes severe exhaustion and fainting. Which is why it is advisable that she not use them unless the situation is genuinely desperate. If she overexerts herself, she even runs the risk of death. They can be triggered involuntarily due to a severe emotional breakdown as well, something like anger or grief. In such cases, she goes out of control and needs to be brought out of it. Like what happened at the facility when she struck down those men. She generally doesn’t require them, as her normal abilities are well enough. There are thousands of such children with those abilities who can be used against us.”

“Both Wolf and Rollan are out there, and this operation continues. So, we need to get an investigation launched into it and crush it, before it gets to us and destroys us. That’s it. Any queries?”

The room remained silent for a few minutes before Bancroft asked a question.

“Is there any information on Aries’ parentage?”

“No, not as far as I know.”

The General paced the room in deep thought. Eventually, she spoke.

“First, we need Edna. Tell her to write a report, and immediately send it to the Chronicle. Send some of our personnel as well, to make sure it reaches and gets published safely. Once it gets out, we’re overthrowing Buckhoff.”

The last statement was unexpected for everyone in the room. Both Ross and Howard gave frightened exclamations, while Bancroft and Edith looked shocked. Finally, the Deputy asked calmly.

“You want to overthrow Buckhoff?”

“We have to,” the General explained. “Look, this is a bigger matter than we thought. For this, we won’t just need the military, because this isn’t a war that can be fought face-to-face. We can’t just barge in and fire. We need to strategize, and we need more manpower. And more than anything, we need a stable government, that won’t budge and will be able to deal with this threat. If Buckhoff stays in power, he won’t deal with the threat. He’ll try to cover it up and ignore it, which puts the stability of the country at risk. He’ll try to convince everyone that it isn’t true, which means the people won’t stay on their guard. So for the time we take in eliminating this threat, we need a government that will assist us and not be a hindrance. When that report is released, he’ll lose public support too, so it won’t be very hard.”

“But who will take over then?”

“I don’t know. But whoever will, we will make sure he’s on our side.”

“This is a violation of the law. You know that, don’t you, General?”

“Desperate times require desperate measures. We’re doing it for a good cause, not for our own benefit. Sometimes we have to do things that may not be right at the time, but are important in the larger context.”

Bancroft sighed, conflicted. Cartwright reached over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Have I ever led you wrong, Bancroft?”

The Deputy shook her head.

“I just need you to trust me. We’re not in a conventional situation where we can play by the rules. Okay?”

Bancroft looked her mentor in the eye. Finally, she nodded. “Alright.”

Howard shrugged. “I’m not completely sure about this, but then again, as you said, we can’t always play by the rules. I guess we do it.”

Edith spoke as well. “Well, then we’ll have to get on with it.”

Ross sighed, but he didn’t object.

The General continued. “Apart from that, Ross, we need your department in. Send in drones, and locate all the facilities, wherever they are. Try to get all information relating to anything we need to know relating to these people, how they function, who they are, where they work, spies, anything.”

He nodded. “Consider it done.”

“Howard, help him with drones and alert your soldiers. Tell them to stay ready, because we never know when they’ll be needed. Understood?”

“On it.”

“Bancroft, all our forces should be on alert too. Garson, your battalion, especially. Send some of your personnel to help Ross, and the rest, take them back to the facility and gather everything from there. Documents, machinery, everything. We may find them useful. Tell your sister to finish her report, and get it to the Chronicle instantly. Howard, get one of your pilots to take her down to Randordam. Run fast enough, you’ll make tomorrow’s morning edition, and we can get Buckhoff out quick.”

“Fine.”

The General walked over to a shelf, opened it, and pulled out a typewriter. Placing it on the desk, she began to type.

“With witness as Deputy General Patricia Bancroft, I, General Marjorie Cartwright, Head of Baldornan Ground Infantry, launch Operation Red Thunderbolt, on this day, at this hour, for the purpose of elimination of threats to the integrity and safety of the citizens of this country. I swear that I shall do my best to eliminate any anti-social elements that will threaten the identity of the nation, and I shall protect all my people to the best of my abilities even if it means that I must risk my own life in doing so. All of the military forces must now obey my command in order to eliminate these threats. Refusal to obey said command will make respective personnel liable for a dishonorable discharge, regardless of their post. Under conditions such, I declare this Operation launched.”

Below this, she typed her name, her post, Bancroft’s name, and her post. Taking a pen from a nearby stand, she signed below her name. Then she handed the pen to Bancroft, who signed it as well. She held the document and looked at it, satisfied.

“This should do it. Ask Edna to include the fact that the Operation has been launched as well in her report. We’ll see how long Buckhoff lasts. If all goes well, by the day after tomorrow, he’ll be out of the place. Okay fellows, here we go!”

All of them saluted and left.

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Edna sat on the bed.

Aries was in the bathroom. She gazed through the mirror, looking at herself. Her hand subconsciously touched the scars on her body, on which Edna had just applied appointment. They were healing, but they would still be visible. She ran her hand through her hair, which had just been washed after her arrival. She was wearing a clean white vest and a pair of shorts, as the doctors had advised that she only begin to wear normal clothes after the scars had fully healed. She was extremely emaciated to the point that her bones were visible through her skin. She was short in height.

She’d never really looked at her own face. There were no mirrors in the facility. She looked at her palms. Closing her eyes, she concentrated. She allowed herself to feel happy. She concentrated on the thought that she could now live a normal life, and things were beginning to look upward. She opened her eyes. There was a small light in her hand. It was a trick she had learned. It always helped to restore her confidence, and encourage her to fight on.

“Well, that’s really cool.”

Her head swerved around. Edna stood in the doorway, smiling. “How do you do that?”

“Happiness. Feel happiness. It helps me to feel better.” She raised her hand. The light was white. She removed her hand, and it stayed in the air.

“So, I get producing electricity isn’t the only ability you have?”

“I can also go into memories. My own memories. I can watch them, and replay them. But I have never gone very backward into them.”

Edna nodded, impressed. “Do you do that often?”

Aries shook her head. “No. Only when General used to ask me to do it.”

“Well, why don’t you come out? You need to rest, you know.”

They came out. Aries sat on the bed. Edna went to a bag that lay in the corner of the room. There were a bunch of records in it. She pulled out one of them and placed them in the record player that was in the room. Music began to play. Aries initially jerked at the sudden sound, but then looked at it inquisitively.

“It’s music. Good sounds. Do you like it?”

Aries smiled. “It’s very nice.” She picked up the cover of the record, looked at it, and read the name slowly. “My Way of Life, Frank Sinatra.” She pointed at the man on the cover. “Who is that?”

“Frank Sinatra, that’s who he is. He’s a singer, he makes, writes, and sings songs. A damn good one at that too. He’s old, 50 or something, but I like him.”

“He has a nice voice.”

“Oh yeah, he does. Do you want to see all of the stuff I have here? Edith and I stash them in here because she comes here so often, and she likes them. I like most of them too, except some of them.”

She brought the bag up on the bed and toppled all its contents onto the bed. Aries’ face lit up, and she began to look through the records, film posters, newspaper clippings, and pictures of actors and actresses. “I used to live in New York, reporting for the newspaper here. I used to write for newspapers there too sometimes, as an independent columnist. I was a film critic, so I would just watch movies and review them. Talk about them, essentially. And I collected all this stuff. Pictures, posters, of people I like.”

Aries pulled out one of the pictures and looked at it. Edna leaped over the bed to her side and looked at it as well. “Who is that?”

“That’s Carol Burnett. Really funny lady. She makes people laugh and does a good job at it too. She sings well too.”

“She is …… beautiful.”

“Yeah, she is. She really is. Did they teach you how to talk, read and write there?”

“Yes. They would have lessons.”

“Well, that’s one good thing that comes out of it. When we return home after all this is over, I’ll show you more people like this. Movies, TV, they’re really good when you just want to relax, or you want to learn about the world. They are great inventions. Even Broadway, although it’s not as popular as it used to be.”

“Broadway?”

“Yeah. In Randordam, it would probably just be the theatre circuit. People perform things, they do shows, act. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but when you see them you will understand.”

Aries shrugged. “Can I keep it?” She asked, pointing at the picture of Carol Burnett.

“Sure, why not. I’ve got many with me. You can have that.” She checked the time. “Don’t you think it’s time you got some rest? You’re tired and everything.”

“Sleep?”

“Yeah, sleep. Otherwise, you’ll be tired.”

“Okay.”

She kneeled to the floor, but Edna stopped her. “Not there. You sleep here. On the bed. It’s softer. No more sleeping on the floor.”

She climbed onto the soft bed, and lay down on it, huddling into herself and hugging her knees close to her chest. Edna patted her curls. “I have to go now, to see what the General, Edith, and the others are up to.”

“You will come back?”

“Yes. I’ll be back as soon as possible, I promise.”

“Okay.”

Edna left, switching off the light as she went. But she left the door open. Aries closed her eyes.

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