Chapter 20

ID: 1762291   (Rated: 13+) Artifact Man  A thriller, new age, sci-fi novel about a strange man found in the desert. by Hyperiongate

ID: 1773203   (Rated: 13+) Chapter 19  The assassin closes in on his targets. by Hyperiongate

2:00 am, Wednesday, March 24th
Hotel in Downtown Reno

Rudolf sat in deep meditation. It had been a long day, starting with the stakeout of the base and ending with his trailing the sheriff’s friend to his home in Reno. Rudolf had gathered all the information he could on the man, car plates etc., and sent them off to his contacts. Now there was nothing to do but wait for the results. He dare not act on his suspicions. If he was as close to finding the answers as he thought, any action would be the equivalent of waving a big sign that said “Assassin in Town,” leaving him very little time to find the Dark Angle.

His computer beeped, signaling the arrival of what he’d been waiting for. Rudolf studied the printout he had just received. The car and home both belonged to Jack Barton. He had only moved to the area recently. Interestingly, there was no apparent link between Mr. Barton and the Sheriff. What could have happened recently that would bring these two men together? Rudolf wondered with a smile.

He decided to put Jack at the top of his list of leads. The sheriff could wait. He’d be easy enough to find when the time came. This Jack Barton was much more of an unknown. The notes said there was a military background but no details beyond that. Rudolf’s instincts said, “Follow this one.”

The assassin shut down his computer and slipped back into meditation. He needed to have a clear mind. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. He could feel it.
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9:00 am, Wednesday, March 24th
Artifact Base

Wes turned to the fatigues in the corner. “What’s the status?”

The square-jawed man stood and walked to the head of the table.

“It’s Rudolf alright. We went back and looked at the video feed outside of the sheriff’s office. A vehicle seen leaving that scene was later observed parked at a convenient store about a mile from Barton’s place. We think he must have found Tucker and accidentally came across Jack. Given that we have satellite imaging that confirms it was Rudolf up in the nearby hills, we think the probability is high that he now knows about Jack and the Sherriff. It’s probably only a matter of time before he scoops one or both of them up.”

“Double the men assigned to each of these.”

“Already done, Colonel. We don’t believe he knows about JD11 yet but we can’t be sure. We are assuming the worse. I have put extra surveillance at the hospital. No one will get in or out of that place without us knowing about it.”

“Very well. Keep me informed.”
With a razor sharp salute and a “Yes, Sir!” the man on his heel and marched out of the room.
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7:15 pm local time, March 24th
A Small town in Italy

“Brothers, thank you all for coming on such short notice. There have been developments in our “investigation” with regards to events in the western state of Nevada. I would like Brother Joshua to please bring us up-to-date.” Brother Michael, the senior member of the group took a seat off to the side as Brother Joshua prepared his presentation.

Although the brotherhood had been in existence for nearly two thousand years, they were far from an archaic society, backwards in their techniques. From the very early days, they had spared no expense to ensure that they had the best tools possible for the job at hand. With a click of his mouse, Brother Joshua began his presentation.

“Our man has been in the United States for only a couple of days and already he has established that there is a Dark Ops operation in progress although he is not sure what is actually going on. There are three players thus far: a military officer, a sheriff and a local civilian who is ex-military. The sheriff is the one whose cell phone call into Fallon Air Force Base first alerted us to the event. As you know, Protocol Echo is the term we screen for. Its use indicates an inexplicable event that may precede the coming of the Dark Angel. One component of Protocol Echo is that there must be a body. We have yet to establish what this means in this instance. As you know, the Dark Angel can take many forms. Right now it looks like if he has assumed embodiment, then he is most likely at the camp outside of Reno. Rudolf is working to establish this fact.”

Brother Joshua flipped through several aerial photographs of the United States, eventually zooming in on Reno, Nevada. “Rudolf assures us that there is something big going on at this site. The presence of Colonel Lanier can only mean that there is either a physical object or a living being associated with this event; both of which are consisted with Protocol Echo. Thus far, we are not sure of which we are dealing with; perhaps both.”

One of the men at the table spoke up, “How much longer will it be until we find out for certain? The Prophesy tells us that the longer the Dark Angel lives, the more powerful he will become.”

“Rudolf is very aware of the need to hurry. At the same time, we must realize that the forces of darkness are strong. Already, he is fairly certain that they know he is in the area. This makes his task all the more difficult.”

“You mean to say that he had been discovered? This is not good news. If he were to be captured, not only will our mission be set back, but he may lead them back to us. This threatens our very existence. Should we fall, who will be left to stand against Him?”

Brother Joshua could see that the concerns just voiced were shared with others around the table. “Rudolf will not be taken alive. He knows what is at stake. Should he fail, there will be no trail back to us. In the mean time, I have put two more soldiers in the area. That is addition to the lower level contacts we already maintain in the United States. They will stay out of the way and let Rudolf do his job. They will only be called into play should the need arise.”

There were no more questions.

Brother Michael returned to the head of the table. “We all know what is at stake. Our mission is clear. We need to protect the Church as the age of the Apocalypse approaches. There will be no stopping the Four Horsemen. It is not our job to even try to. Our job is to make sure that the End of Times is as short as possible. When mankind comes out at the other end of this trial, the Church must be there to guide him. The Fallen One will continue to send his minions and we must continue to fight them. The longer the beginning of the end can be forestalled, the shorter the time of strife shall be.”

There were nods all around. The meeting came to a close and the dark sedans, once again, pulled out into the night.


1:00 pm, Wednesday, March 24th
Renown Medical Center

Jack waited for Lise to meet him in the lobby. It had become a routine for him to meet her for lunch. They usually ate in the hospital’s cafeteria. In the evenings, they would go out somewhere. The staff had come to know Jack. As soon as they saw him come in, Lise was sent a page.

Jack made himself comfortable. He knew it was the middle of the workday for her and, given the nature of her job, he would have to wait until she was free. He somehow knew if she was busy or not. Today, he could feel that she would be a little slow in getting to him. He didn’t understand how he knew but he was certain that she was busy.

During their short courtship, both Jack and Lise had found that they seemed to be in tune with each other. It was as if they were on the same wavelength. She would be thinking of him and he would call moments later.

If this had happened only a few weeks ago, Jack would have laughed at the suggestion that this was anything more than coincidence. Today, however, he knew better. His awareness seemed to be expanding beyond his obvious connection to Lise. He felt as if he could sense other things.

For example, just last night, he was certain that he was being watched. Not only that, he was being watched by someone that represented a threat to him and Lise. Although the details were unclear, Jack was certain that this was not just an overactive imagination reaction to colonel Lanier’s warnings.

Even this afternoon, he felt the presence of something or someone. It was a clear threat but not an imminent one. He knew there was someone nearby that was probing; as if he were hunting someone. Jack cleared his mind, trying to let more information come to him.

Just then, Lise walked into the lobby.

Her hair was a little frizzled around the edges as it often was. He liked it that she didn’t feel the need to stop and preen every time he came by. It made her more real. Her face told Jack that something exciting was going on. He knew it would be something to do with JD11.
He greeted her with a small peck to her cheek. Both were well aware of the staff watching as they tried to be busy on other things. Lise was a popular doctor at the hospital. Many staff members were happy to see that she seemed to have found someone she liked.

Lise pushed back and looked into Jack’s eyes.

“What’s going on? And before you say “nothing”, I know it’s something.”

Jack pulled her to the side of the lobby, out of earshot range of the every curious hospital staff.

“I’m being followed. I don’t know who or why but I can only assume it’s bad news.”

“Have you told the colonel?” she asked.

“Not yet. I’m not absolutely certain about this. It may just be that I’m getting a little paranoid.”

“Jack, promise me you’ll tell the colonel. Let him make the decision on whether or not it’s your imagination.”
“Alright. I ‘ll give him a call after lunch. Tell me, what’s up with you? I can see you’re excited about something.”

“Jack, we are going to do it. We are going to take JD11 out of the tank!”

Jack had learned quite a bit about JD11’s remarkable progress over the last few days. He had come to appreciate that what was taking place was far outside of what normal science could explain. “I know. You already told me that you were thinking of taking him out sometime next week.”

“I’m not talking about next week. I’m talking about tomorrow. It’s amazing how fast his body has healed. This morning, we have full function of all vital organs and 100% skin coverage. In a few days, he’s grown back more tissue than we would have optimistically expected to see in a few months. In fact, his recovery is so far along that leaving him in the tank might become dangerous. It was never intended to support a completely healthy person.”

“Well congratulation, Dr. Marshal. There could be a Nobel Prize in this for you,” Jack said.
Lise smiled at the comment and then turned serious. “Jack, I don’t think I am responsible for this. In fact, I’m certain I had virtually nothing to do with his recovery.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Lise. The TIG technology is your baby. It just works way better than you thought it would.”

“No. His recovery goes way beyond, not only what I expected, but what is actually possible. Did I tell you he grew back all of his fingers? All of his organs are fully functional. Jack, this man came back from certain death, in a body that should have been dead. Now, he looks to be a completely healthy man in his twenties. There is nothing in science that can explain this.”

Jack sat for a moment and then, “Lise, it’s time to admit that something very, very strange is going on here. I’m not just talking about JD11. I’m talking about us, about Annie; about all of this. There is a strange thing out in the desert. Someone is following me, I certain. We have the military involved, headed up by Colonel Lanier who seems to have infinite resources.”

Lise nodded. “I know Jack. I can feel it myself. I know things I shouldn’t know. I think my staff is starting to be affected as well. They all seem to be working together, just as they always have. Except now, they don’t seem to talk much. They go about their business without saying a word. It’s as if they can read each other’s minds. Any, none of them even seem to notice.”

She reached across and took Jack’s hand. “Jack, I have a very strong feeling that this is only the beginning.”

Jack squeezed her hand and said, “I know.”

Out in the hospital parking lot, Rudolf sat in the back of a minivan, tinted windows kept prying eyes out. Jack Barton had been a good bet. He’d unknowingly led Rudolf straight to the hospital this afternoon. His computer was open and in the process of downloading the hospital’s blueprints. He could feel it. The Dark Angel was here, inside.

He dialed a number and after a moment said, “I need a fully equipped telephone utility truck ready to go in four hours.”

He hung up and then considered how to deal with the two surveillance vans he saw as he innocently cruise through the lot when he first arrived.

ID: 1775834   (Rated: E) Chapter 21  The Artifact acts up, Rudolf sets up and Annie has a warning. by Hyperiongate