Jon Brewer sat at the head of the conference table overseeing what passed for a military council meeting but lacked a fair number of the usual participants. General Hoth and both Omar and Anita Nehru usually attended, but Hoth and Omar continued the search for Trevor while Anita hosted VIPs at Red Rock.
Therefore, that February 4 ^ th meeting included only Generals Shepherd, "Stonewall" McAllister, and Prescott as well as Gordon Knox, Director of Intelligence, Brett Stanton, Dante Jones, and Jon's wife and Chief Administrator, Lori Brewer.
Very few people outside of this group realized that Trevor and Revered Johnny had not been seen since January 25 ^ th. Given the time of year, it would be difficult to explain their disappearance as a vacation to their beachfront property in Wildwood, New Jersey while the number of meetings, conferences, and appearances canceled had begun to add up.
Jon started with a question, "Okay, what's new from the research team?"
Reports from Omar's group traveled from Ohio to the estate via Gordon Knox's most trusted couriers. The Intelligence Director held the papers aloft for everyone to see and then let them fall to the table top.
"Nothing. The last reports indicate an energy signature Omar was trying to categorize. We have had no new reports since yesterday evening."
Jon Brewer said, "At least Hoth’s offensive has been successful. He’s taken the area around the point of interest and held it."
"From what I heard, I reckon he paid a bit high price for that piece of real estate," Shep, his shoulder in a sling, added.
Dante Jones had spent most of his time the past few weeks in and around Washington D.C., dealing with Senators. He just recently heard the news and was having a difficult time accepting the situation, as evident in his sharp tone: "Yeah, well, we wouldn’t be paying any damn price if you had stopped him from going on this stupid mission."
"One second, Dante, you know how-" Jon tried but Dante cut him off.
"Hey, you too. You’re supposed to be his friend. You should have talked some sense into him. And yeah, I know where his head was. That’s why the old cowboy over here should have been thinking a little harder before letting Trevor ride off into the sunset searching for his girl."
Shepherd shifted in his seat just enough that he received a healthy jolt of pain from where the pipe impaled his shoulder, causing him to clench his teeth as he said, "You listen-arrrg-I don’t have to take that from you."
"Yeah, well, I r eckon you were the only person who could of stopped Trevor from going after Nina and you didn’t cause you wanted to go after her yourself!"
Shepherd said to Jones, "Seems to me you were too busy playin' politics with your Senator friends down in D.C. to be worrying about what the rest of us were dealing with."
Stanton said in a slightly raised voice, "What difference does that make?"
Dante lifted a little from his seat as he shouted, "She’s a soldier! Both of you knew this could of happened! Or were you and Trevor planning to go after every soldier who disappears?"
The cross talk and tempers escalated. Brewer tried to get it under control. He failed. Dante and Shepherd stood. Prescott raised his voice. Lori appeared ready to jump. Gordon Knox’s face turned red.
Bang.
A solitary gun shot exploded through the room in a sharp clap.
Jon flinched, Stanton and Lori Brewer instinctively ducked under the table, Prescott's head swiveled about, Shepherd grabbed his shoulder in pain, and Gordon Knox drew a nickel-plated semi-automatic. The basement door opened and two I.S. agents bolted down the stairs with machine guns sweeping for targets.
General Stonewall McAllister leaned back in his chair holding his pistol aloft, letting loose a very long, drawn-out yawn, the only sound in the room. A trail of smoke drifted from a fresh hole in the old oak bar nestled in the corner near Stonewall's chair.
Everyone gaped at Stonewall who, of course, wore his trademark Old Mist-colored General’s jacket while a matching hat rested on the table in front of him.
He acted surprised at the sudden attention and let his chair fall forward with a thud.
"Excuse me. It was not my intention to distract my colleagues from this spirited and insightful debate."
Brewer dismissed the I.S. agents. The confused guards retreated from the basement.
Stonewall filled the silence, "Where were we? Oh yes, Mr. Jones was accusing General Shepherd of poor judgment and Mr. Shepherd was questioning Mr. Jones’ focus. I believe Mrs. Brewer and Mr. Knox were about ready to join the fray. Okay, good, I just wanted to be sure that the custodians of humanity’s survival had things well under control. I am quite certain that at any moment we will manage to decide who is at fault for our current conundrum. Please, carry on."
Shepherd grunted in pain then cast his eyes across the table. Dante met his stare. They both slumped in their chairs, embarrassed.
Apparently the floor still belonged to Garrett "Stonewall" McAllister.
"I have come all the way from Tennessee-leaving our armies there in the hands of less experienced officers-to learn…what? Trevor is missing. Is he presumed dead? Is he presumed hostage? Are we to believe that he has been spirited off across time and space?"
"I told you what I saw," Shepherd repeated his story yet again. "The entire place flashed and then was gone. There was even a second of wind, as if the air rushed to fill a vacuum."
Lori added what she had read in the report, "Nina and her team were set free but Trevor and Johnny were not. All right then, why?"
"We know it was about getting Trevor," Dante said but he struggled hard to chase off any accusatory tone.
Shep explained. "According to Nina, Johnny refused to leave Trevor. We all know the Reverend can be pretty damned stubborn."
Chuckles from around the table.
Jon said, "But the most important piece of this puzzle…the people who took Trevor were human. And one of them was Nina. Wow."
"Hold on there," Shepherd’s protective instincts kicked in. "From what this lookalike told Nina, she and those other people came from a 'parallel' Earth, whatever that means."
Lori Brewer said, "A 'parallel' Earth? A place like here, with duplicates of all of us?"
Prescott cocked his head to the side and said, "Seen that enough on TV over the years. Pretty hard to believe it might be true."
"No harder than to believe in aliens and monsters, don't you think?" Lori said.
Gordon Knox assessed, "This was a well-planned operation on their part. They used someone Nina knew and they figured Ms. Forest’s disappearance would draw Trevor. Apparently they knew something that I didn’t know. How interesting is that?"
Gordon’s words hung over the table. No one knew if he expected an answer or if he already knew the history involved.
"There’s nothing to do," Brewer said.
Knox agreed: "We have to tough it out and see through the investigation. Then we’ll get some answers."
The upstairs door opened and the sound of shuffling feet came down the stairs as well as a voice saying, "Answers would be nice."
That voice belonged to Evan Godfrey, with two I.S. agents frantically trailing behind, one being Ray Roos who called apologetically to the meeting, "I’m sorry, Sirs, but the Senator here bull-dogged his way through us."
Evan approached the conference table. "I’m wondering why I have to force my way into the estate and why a Senator is told he can’t enter a conference chamber. Why Trevor Stone keeps canceling meetings. So, yes, I would like to get some answers, too."
"This is a restricted meeting," Brewer stood. "You weren’t invited."
Godfrey did not flinch. Not one single inch.
"The top minds in The Empire, but no Emperor. I’ve done some checking. It's been at least a week since Trevor has been seen in public."
Evan scanned the cast of conspirators in the room.
"Where is Trevor Stone?"
Brewer answered for them all. As the General spoke, he inched closer to Godfrey as if his physical presence might force the Senator to accept his words. "Trevor is on a mission on the front lines. It is top secret. You and no one else have been informed and it is to stay that way. A gag order, Evan."
"From the Emperor? His gag order?"
"Yes."
"Do you have that in writing?"
"No. Since when does Trevor have to put his orders in writing?"
Godfrey's eyes narrowed. "This isn’t his little clan any more, General. There are procedures. There is a system. Trevor may be at the top of that system, but he is a part of it, nonetheless. You’re hiding something, and you’re scared, too. I can see that. You have nothing to fear from me. Unless, that is, you have something to fear from the people. Me and my colleagues, we represent those people. Withholding the truth will do more harm than good."
"I’ve…told you the truth," it was possible that Brewer’s lips did not move as he growled the words.
"Understand this, all of you," Evan again scanned the room. "I accept that Trevor has been our unquestioned leader. I even accept his title- as foul-tasting as it is — I even accept his title of ‘Emperor’ because it fits what he has made of himself."
Evan leaned closer to Brewer even though the latter towered overhead.
"But know this…if Trevor is no more, I will not accept a new Emperor. The people will not accept a new despot. And if need be, I will lead an insurrection against all who try to impose some sort of line of succession."
Lori Brewer's mouth dropped and she said, "Are you threatening civil war?"
"I’m not threatening, I’m promising that when Trevor Stone is gone so is the office of the Emperor. Nothing less will be accept-."
Evan stopped mid-sentence as a cold gun barrel pressed against the back of his head.
Gordon Knox held a nickel-plated. 45 caliber with a hitherto unseen fire in his eyes.
"Senator, I do believe you have just threatened treason. I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say I don’t really like that. Now you have your fancy papers and big speeches down there in Washington D.C., but you need to remember something, Senator. We’re still living in the jungle. The lions still eat the antelopes. So maybe you need to rethink your words."
Ray Roos watched from the stairway. His hand wavered toward his side arm but then retreated. He did not commit to any action.
Godfrey stared directly at Jon Brewer while the gun remained pressed to his skull.
"This is in your hands," Evan challenged Jon. "Which way do you wish to go? Will you allow Mr. Knox to blow out the brains of an elected Senator here, in this mansion, on the hollowed grounds of humanity’s rebirth? Or are you more than a lion who eats antelope?"
Jon sighed and held his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"Gordon, put that damn thing away."
Knox considered for a moment, and then holstered his gun. The room breathed a collective sigh of relief. Jon retreated to his chair and sat.
"You’ve heard what I’ve said," Godfrey spoke to the entire room again. "If Trevor Stone is off on a secret mission, fine. I look forward to seeing him when he comes back. I can be patient. But if he isn’t coming back then know that I-and many like me-will not accept a new monarch. If Trevor is gone, then so is the Emperor."
Evan turned and faced Gordon Knox. "I won’t forget this. Trust me."
Gordon smiled and his eyes widened menacingly. "Good. Remember. Especially when you go to sleep at night…all safe in your bed. Just like that Hivvan governor in Richmond…"
Evan scowled and ascended the stairs to the exit.
Nobody said a word for nearly a full minute until Stonewall spoke.
"Well, I dare say this has been a productive gathering. I think I shall head back to the front. The monsters there are much more pleasant."
– Lori Brewer turned off the desktop lamp and the dining-room-turned-office went dark with only a trace of light eking through the windows from the dying day outside.
With another bad day behind, she planned to steal her daughter away from the nanny and head to their small, lakeside home. Alas, she found her escape blocked by Ashley standing in the doorway.
Lori said, "Hello, Ashley" but also gathered her papers into a bundle to send another message: I am leaving.
Ashley ignored the body language and said, "I know you don’t like me very much."
Lori could not deny that she had not liked Ashley in the old world. However, since her ark ride, Ashley seemed a changed woman. Quieter, stronger, and surprisingly resilient.
Armageddon tended to change people.
Still, she stumbled, "Huh? What? Ashley, what are you talking about?"
"That’s why I came to you. Maybe you’ll tell me the truth."
"The truth? The truth about what?"
"You know, being married to…," she stopped, considered her words, and then re-phrased: "Being with Trevor has its advantages. While the rest of you play coy I went straight to one of Gordon Knox’s assistants and got hold of Shepherd’s report summary. I don’t think the poor woman knew I wasn’t supposed to see it."
Lori eased back against her desk, a defensive posture.
Ashley went on, "There’s a bunch of stuff Jon didn’t tell me about what happened in Ohio. Like Trevor knew the commandos were missing before he left and that one of the people in the building was a twin of Nina Forest."
Lori did what she always did when on the defensive; she tried to go on offense. Mrs. Brewer was not the type to drop back ten yards and punt.
"Alllrriiigghty then. It must be big conspiracy. Do you hear yourself? No one is keeping you from anything. Trevor did what he always does; he took control of the situation. That’d be just like him, wouldn’t it?"
Ashley nodded in agreement. "It would be just like him. I guess you’re right. That would be something he would do," Ashley smiled but it was not a very friendly smile at all. "I guess those people who wanted to snatch him knew that, too. I guess that’s why they lured our Nina Forest into a trap. Apparently they thought that was going to get Trevor’s attention."
Lori suddenly wished she had punted. Exactly when did Ashley get clever enough to maneuver people into a conversational corner like this?
Ashley went on, "So now you believe these people were from some kind of parallel Earth? And there was a Nina Forest from that other world, waiting for Trevor."
Lori gathered her things again. Denial served as good a fallback position as any.
"We don't know what happened. Everything is guess work."
"So your best guess is that people from the other universe thought Nina Forest would make a good lure for Trevor? That he would go behind enemy lines just to save her? Tell me, Lori, what happened in the year I was gone that would make anyone think that?"
"I don't know, okay? Now, excuse me," and Lori finally navigated around Ashley.
"Tell me something, Lori. The year I was gone…after I disappeared…did Trevor ever go searching for me?"
Lori blinked and answered, "Ashley, everyone-even the U.S. government-thought the people who disappeared were vaporized. He thought you were dead."
"So the answer would be no."