The Radical Chronicles

Chapter 24

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“No one among us could’ve predicted what happened that day – not even those of us hiding inside the bowels of the Central Government. All we could do was try to stay alive. By surviving, we could do as our parents couldn’t – live to tell the story.”

Radical Archive – excerpt from Radical Government Origins

“What are you two being secretive about?” Chad asked. He threw his shoulder bag down on the bed in the center of the room and approached Molly and Veronica.

Veronica took a moment to catch Chad up as she continued searching through articles on his terminal. “And that brings us to my current search,” she said. “See? She’s no where until very recently. The Central Government scrubbed her travel records, but didn’t do a very good job of it.”

“So she was on the train with you?” Molly asked.

“It’s right here in front of us. She was there.” Veronica shook her head. “And now we need to find a way to stop them from killing everyone.”

“How can we? There’s no way to get in touch with every facility in New Chicago without arousing suspicion,” Chad said.

“I have an entire team at my disposal…plus Ruby and her team. If everyone takes a large cell, we can hopefully reach every major cell in the region by tomorrow. The trickle down effect should take care of the rest after that.”

“You know, this makes a strong argument for your unification movement,” Chad said. “People may not believe the news if it comes from you because of that.”

“I know,” she said. “That’s why I’m going to stay here and try to stop Todd and Lorelei.”

“By yourself?” Molly asked.

“They aren’t going to do anything drastic as long as we’re in the facility where others can see them. I’ll be careful though, I promise.”

“So what are we going to tell everyone? You don’t even know what this Operation Blue Haven is, right? You just read the one memo,” Molly said. “I need a time frame and more information if I’m going to convince a cell leader to evacuate an entire facility.”

“I’m going to do some more reading while you two gather the troops. Ruby is already supposed to be stopping by my room, right Chad?” Veronica looked up from the terminal screen at Chad.

“I never found her,” he said.

“That’s fine, I’ll go get her now…get everyone else. Have them all go to the medical ward. I’ll be there reading up.” Veronica stood and turned to face her friends. “I don’t know how much time we have, so let’s work on the assumption that it’s sooner than later. Based on our informant’s information, whatever they were going to do was supposed to happen after the official mission, so it can’t be too far off now that the mission is off.”

Molly stood up and faced Veronica. “Are you sure you’re well enough to be walking all over the place? I can go get her for you Veronica.”

“I need to warn her about Lorelei…I need to be the one to tell her, not anyone else.” Veronica hugged Molly. “Thank you though.”

“We’ll be by as soon as we can,” Chad said. “Come on, I’ll walk you out so we can ensure Lorelei doesn’t see you.” His green eyes sparkled as he flashed a Cheshire grin at Veronica.

“Be careful.” Molly stood back and watched her two friends walk out the door. She shook her head, knowing Chad better than he knew himself.

“She knows, you know,” Veronica said after they’d made it a good distance from the suite. “She knows you left her for me.”

“I figured…I mean, she took it way too well. It’s like…”

“It’s like she was waiting on it, I know.” Veronica shook her head. “It still doesn’t make this any easier.”

Chad stopped. “I didn’t tell Molly we had to be friends just for you to say the same thing to me.”

“I didn’t say that. I just think we need to…”

Chad turned, placed his hands on Veronica’s shoulders, and pinned her against the wall. “You think too much Veronica.” He leaned in and kissed her. Chad stayed there taking in the moment, grazing his nose against her neck just below her ear. “Can we just skip the pretense and be happy?” he whispered.

Veronica wanted to protest, but her entire being seemed to reject the thought. She leaned into Chad and rested her head on his shoulder. “This doesn’t make the situation any better, just so you know.”

“Did I say it did?” he asked.

“As long as we’re on the same page,” she said. “Now help me back to my room.”

“What about Ruby?”

“I’m going to call her from the medical ward and have her come to me.”

A few minutes (and kisses) later, Veronica found herself back where she began. She pulled the covers up over her chilly legs and flagged down one of the on call nurses. “Could you bring me a transmitter? I need to call Ruby.”

“You need to get some rest Miss Quibs, doctor’s orders,” the nurse replied.

“I’ll ask you one more time, and then I’m just going to stand up and get it myself,” Veronica said.

“Very well,” she said with a huff.

Moments later Veronica waited for a transmission to connect to Ruby’s transmitter. When Ruby answered Veronica tried not to come off as carnival crazy. “Where are you?” she asked. “Can you come by the medical ward?”

“I’m on my way out to dinner actually,” Ruby said. “I’ll stop by when I get back, okay?”

Veronica bit her lower lip. “Can you come now? It’s important.” And she really wanted to say why, but open transmissions were most certainly being monitored by Todd.

“I’m meeting Lorelei at Carver’s Park actually, and I’m certain she’s already left the building too. Whatever it is can wait another two hours,” she said. “And if it can’t, I have full faith you can deal with it.” She disconnected the transmission before Veronica could say another word.

Veronica stared down at the transmitter in her hand and froze. Why now? Why tonight? What purpose could Lorelei need Ruby out of the way for? Or was it about Ruby? A terrible feeling rumbled through Veronica’s body as thoughts flashed through her head.

She pulled her tablet out from under her covers and began digging through files trying to obtain more information on Operation Blue Haven. She ran a quick search through the downloaded files for anything with mention of it or the OBH acronym. As the search results began populating, she opened the first document and began scanning through it. One paragraph stuck out:

OBH is projected to have a 42% success rate - well within acceptable parameters. The remainder will simply perish due to the effects or be eliminated on a case-by-case basis.

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was reading. This read more like a genocide manual than it did a Central Government document – something that shouldn’t have been too surprising given their history and penchant for violence. The next file didn’t make the picture seem any brighter:

OBH’s potential is limitless, and could signal a new era of Central Government citizen enforcement. In this committee’s opinion, stopping the problem before it arises presents a cost efficient and low key method of control that can be applied through out the public sector in everything from routine police enforcement to population mood alteration.

“Mood alteration?” Veronica asked aloud. She shook her head…this seemed ludicrous.

With all of the information at her fingertips, she still wasn’t seeing anything pointing to a solution, a time frame, or anything she could relay to her team. She scrolled down the list of documents looking for anything she could use. Toward the end of the list, she found a non-descript memo labeled with an agenda name and date…one that seemed too convenient to be coincidence. Dated one week after the fall of the Seattle facility, the document seemed to indicate the project merely shifted focus after the loss of their building:

Due to the potential side effects from exposure to mass quantities of the experimental drug, key operatives will be housed at central operations in New Chicago. Based out of the underground base below the Blue Dome (the city’s crown jewel and tourist attraction) in Carver’s Park, all priority one officials will have a haven during the experimental stages of our new Section 7 initiative. Called Operation Blue Haven (“OBH”), the initiative should be ready for application within three to five years minimum. Once tests are complete, OBH will move to its final phase: mass implementation.

Veronica felt adrenaline begin pumping through her body as pieces of the puzzle finally began falling into place. The next document seemed even more damning:

This committee sees two potential problem areas. (1) Former Seattle Project test subjects that may have a degree of immunity since they were the ones we used to initially develop this treatment. (2) The potential conversion of high level, adequately-trained Radicals who may not survive the process.

While the former may simply be an unavoidable consequence that will be left to future discussions, the latter will need to be a focus of local embedded agents. It will be their responsibility to ensure these men and women are taken out of their facilities and cells before the procedure is initiated. They can be brainwashed, converted, or otherwise inoculated through traditional means down the line once OBH reaches completion.

“Veronica?” Maria appeared from behind the privacy curtain. “Am I disturbing you?”

“You’re fine, I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

“Thanks to you,” she said. “Molly said you wanted to see me.”

“I need to see everyone actually…Ruby’s entire team.”

Maria’s eyes widened. “Is this about that thing we discussed at dinner the other night?”

Veronica smiled. “It is, in fact. Can you help gather everyone?”

“No problem, I’ll be right back!” She disappeared back through the curtain, leaving Veronica alone with her tablet.

Veronica went back to scanning through files, looking for more information on the actual experimental drug Operation Blue Haven kept referring to. She finally found a brief description in one of the oldest documents in the file:

Through a combination of the successful inoculation treatments developed in the Seattle facility, our aim is to develop a treatment that will work across a broad spectrum. Through combining the treatments with the highest success rate, we’re developing an experimental drug that has dual purpose: to pacify as well as normalize the Radical population.

Those with aberrant genetic make-ups that never received prenatal gene manipulation will receive the most successful of the behavior modification treatments. Concurrently, those who had initial inoculation immunity will receive those treatments that most successfully broke down that resistance in those inside the Seattle facility. This dual focus will impact both Radical populations, leaving only those who may exhibit immunity from the overall treatment. Since we have names and physical descriptions of each of these subjects, the problem shouldn’t prove too vexing.

“The cellar experiments,” Veronica said. “Those bastards.”

She couldn’t read anymore – the information she’d processed made her stomach turn. All of those kids…all of those experiments – it was all aimed at this? A drug to convert or destroy the Radical population? And they surely wouldn’t stop at New Chicago either; if they succeed here, the rest of the nation would soon follow.

Veronica looked up at the clock on the wall. Nearly half an hour had passed since she left Chad and Molly. Something felt wrong…though that feeling wasn’t new. She’d been experiencing that dull sense of dread since she began reading through the stolen files. This feeling felt more specific though – more directed. She looked down at her lap and it finally hit her – the transmitter still sat there on her blanket waiting on the nurse to return to retrieve it.

She pushed the covers down and jumped down from the bed. After opening the off-white privacy curtain, she finally saw what her body was telling her: something was indeed wrong. The medical ward was empty except for Veronica – no other patients, no staff…no one. She walked over to the outer door and looked out into the hallway. The same eerie silence stared back at her there too. Veronica tucked her tablet under her arm and began walking slowly down the hallway toward the common areas. She felt suddenly thankful for the adrenaline rush that seemed to be warding off the lingering pain in her hip and shoulder.

Up ahead, in the main meeting hall, she heard the rumble of multiple voices. She walked as quickly as her tired body would allow, occasionally holding on to the wall to support herself. At the outer edges of the room, she began catching stray pieces of conversation.

“All of them! That’s what they’re saying!” a nurse said.

“Well that has to mean something,” her friend responded. Veronica couldn’t help but to notice the panic in their voices.

Further into the crowd, Veronica spotted a member of Ruby’s team talking to a surveillance team member. “This is related to them too, I bet you. Veronica asked us to stop by. That can’t be a coincidence!” he said.

“What can’t be?” Veronica asked. “Who are you talking about?”

“Oh, I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t realize you were standing there,” he responded. He looked familiar, but Veronica couldn’t recall his name.

“Tell me what’s happening here…I ordered your entire team to report to the medical ward a while ago!” Veronica said.

“Yes ma’am, I apologize. It’s the news though! Haven’t you seen?”

Veronica looked up at the large television monitor on the main wall. On it, a news anchor spoke about public officials’ absence. “It appears as if they’ve all gone into a city-wide meeting today, which is nearly unprecedented in recent history. We haven’t seen a mass meeting of this size since the incidents in 2746!”

Veronica could feel the air leaving her as the realization hit her. “Have you seen Todd?”

“That’s what I was just saying,” he said. “I figured you were calling us in to meet with you and Molly since Todd and Ruby aren’t in the facility. That leaves you two in charge.”

“I need you to listen to me very carefully. Are you listening?” Veronica stared the man directly in his eyes. “Go to the medical ward. Take as many people as you can with you. Get every gas mask and bio suit you can find. Bring them here.”

“But why?”

“There’s no time. Just go! Now!” Veronica could feel the panic in her head slipping into her speech. She took a deep breath so her anxiety didn’t begin infecting others.

She turned and looked around the crowd for a familiar face. She needed her friends now…she knew that. She couldn’t handle this one all by herself – this was bigger than her. This was possibly bigger than all of them, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying to save lives.

“There you are!” Chad said from a few paces away. “We went by the medical ward to get you, but you were gone. I guess you’ve heard.”

“It’s begun,” Veronica said calmly. “I sent one of Ruby’s men for all the gas masks and suits we can muster.”

Molly shook her head. “We don’t have enough.”

“We three are the only Seattle survivors here, right?” Veronica asked.’

Molly nodded in affirmation. “Why?”

“According to these files, we may be immune to it because of Seattle.”

“The experiments,” Chad said without thinking.

“My thoughts exactly,” Veronica said.

“Then we don’t wear masks,” Molly said. “What about everyone else?”

“We need to get as many people to the surface as possible.” Veronica looked around the crowd. “I’m certain they probably have some kind of Plan B in case people get out of their facilities though. I’ll work on researching that if you two can begin evacuating Blithe Spirit.”

“I’ll address them,” Molly said. “I am in charge, after all.”

“I’ll head to ops to make sure the exits are unobstructed. I don’t think today is a day we’ll want to take the upstairs exit,” Chad said.

“Good idea. Good luck,” Veronica said.

Molly walked up to the stage and stood in front of the mounted television monitor while Veronica stayed off to the side of the stage reading through her tablet.

“I need everyone’s attention!” she said in the loudest voice she could muster. “We’ll be evacuating Blithe Spirit in a moment, but before we go, you need to know a few things.”

“What’s happening?” someone shouted from the crowd.

“Where’s Todd?” another person shouted.

“He’s a Central Government agent,” Molly said. “And he’s left us all here to die today. Right now, across New Chicago, cells are under attack…not by soldiers, but by something much worse. By chemical weapon.”

The room exploded into frenzied questions and accusations. Molly lifted up her hands and demanded silence in a loud, commanding scream. As the roar died down, she continued, “I need you all to listen to me…you’re lives depend on this. Someone will be returning from the medical ward with gas masks and bio suits soon. Distribute them. Those of you who don’t get one will receive priority evacuation status.”

“How do we know you’re telling us the truth?” someone shouted.

Before Molly could answer, Allison’s unmistakably forceful voice cut through the crowd. “Did she not make herself clear the first time? Shut your hole! Aren’t you paying attention? Have you seen the news? Todd left us here, just like the New Chicago officials got the hell out of dodge. They’re all in hiding waiting on the smoke to clear. And this woman…these women up here, Molly and Veronica…they’re trying to save your sorry asses!” She moved toward the front of the room and stood near Veronica.

“Thank you,” Molly said. “As I was saying, once we make it to the subterranean emergency exits, we’ll need to keep our guard up. Veronica and I believe they’re planning for such a scenario, which means you may still face exposure on the surface as well.”

As Molly spoke, Veronica scanned through the files for any mention of contingencies. Everything spoke in absolutes though, which frightened her. She finally found a document that referenced those who escaped, and she didn’t like what she was reading.

“Molly, we have a problem,” Veronica said quietly. “Tell them to stay in the sewers as long as possible.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Molly asked.

“Just do it, I’ll explain in a moment.” Veronica couldn’t tell Molly what she’d just read…it just couldn’t be true, and saying it out loud just made it more real. Molly began speaking again, but Veronica interrupted her. “We can’t wait any longer, we need to get them out.”

“Everyone, get to the exits immediately. Grab a gas mask on your way… I see them filtering through the crowd right now.” She turned to Veronica. “What’s happening? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Todd has remote control over the facility. I think each embedded agent does at each large facility.”

“And?” Molly asked.

“He can lock down as many exits as he wants from the comfort of his little Blue Haven room…which means he funnels us wherever he wants us to go.”

“It’s a trap,” Molly said. “They’re going to get us either way we go.”

“I don’t think he counted on us organizing this fast though. We may still be able to get people out if we hurry.” Veronica tugged at her collar. Her medications seemed to be wearing off, and straining to stand up was taxing. She could feel sweat forming across her forehead.

“Is it hot in here to you too?” Molly asked. “You look flush.”

“I thought it was my meds wearing off.”

“The weapon,” they both said together. They looked around the room for the nearest vent and walked over to it once they spotted it.

“It has a distinct odor, that’s for certain,” Molly said.

“Go, get them all out. I need to contact Chad and make sure he keeps the exits open.”

“Chad, are you there?” Veronica said into the wall intercom. “Chad!”

Chad appeared from behind her. “I’m afraid I have bad news,” he said. “Todd already shut down all but two exits.”

“He’s already ahead of us,” Veronica said. “Don’t tell anyone…I don’t want people in a mass panic. If they can make it out maybe they can still make it.”

“What about those with masks?” he asked.

“What are they going to do, wait here forever?”

“We can lead them up the front exit. Todd won’t be expecting something that bold.”

“I like it. Go, start collecting them. Try to get as many of mine and Ruby’s team as you can. I trust them implicitly.” Veronica turned and looked toward the main hallway. She’d seen something there out of the corner of her eye a moment earlier when she was talking to Chad, but dismissed it as a shadow.

But now, there it was – a figure walking in from the wrong direction. Whoever it was, he was entering from the main entrance door – the upstairs entrance. She squinted her eyes and tried to see who it was through the shadow…and then he appeared. Veronica suddenly wondered if she was dreaming.

“Veronica, is that you?” Alex said. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”

Veronica stood speechless. She felt like her brain was shutting down.

“Veronica! Speak to me! Are you there?” Alex rushed up and hugged her. “I missed you so much!”

“Alex…what…I mean, how?”

“Don’t you realize?” he said. “I was sure you would’ve figured me as your informant. I left the file for you…who else knows your parents’ names?” he said. “I broke cover to come to you though. I needed to make sure you were okay.”

Veronica’s head swam with confusion. “You’ve been here all this time?”

Before he could answer, Chad appeared behind Alex and made eye contact with Veronica. Her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Alex was back. Veronica rubbed her eyes to prevent the inevitable tears from forming.

“We can talk about that later. Have you read all of the files?” Alex said.

“You’re the informant?” Chad said.

“Long story, but yes,” Alex said.

Molly appeared from the side and looked around. “I missed something, because you’re not supposed to be here,” she said to Alex.

Alex’s eyes lit up. “Oh my God!” He rushed up and hugged Molly. “I had no idea you were here!”

“The exits are closed off,” Veronica said to Molly. “We have another crazy plan though.”

“Wait, stop…” Alex said. “Before that, I need to know if you’ve read through all of the files. Do you know how big this is?”

“Yeah, it’s citywide…every cell in the city,” Veronica said.

“No, it’s bigger,” Alex said. “It’s everywhere.”

“What does that mean?” Chad asked.

“It means every Radical in the country is facing this right now,” Alex said. “It means the end of everything unless something spectacular happens...and soon.”

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