LEGACY Book 1: Forgotten Son Read online

  Freya snarled at Tomás and in one ragged motion, tore his body in two. She dropped the pieces and began roaring at them, releasing the last bit of air stored in her lungs.

  Then she wobbled for a moment and fell to the floor.

  Clutching his hip, Stone limped toward Freya, mindful of the groaning sound of the building around them. Though the infrasound had stopped when Freya collapsed, it had further damaged the foundation. There was not much time left.

  As he leaned over, he heard a thin wisp of air as it entered Freya’s lungs. She was breathing on her own again, but it was very shallow. Her fingers were still black, so Stone grabbed a deep breath and centered himself. The air flooded his body, but he felt like he was hyperventilating.

  He had been at peak for too long.

  But he could not weaken now. Freya was hurt and she needed him…she needed her big brother. That’s what he was — the big brother — and anyone trying to get to her would have to go through him.

  Stone threw Freya over his shoulder and began descending the stairs three at a time. They exited the building directly into the middle of a dozen ninjas. The men had been injured, but survived Freya’s initial assault. When they saw Stone, they reached for their weapons, only to remember that their fear upon seeing Freya slice through their fellow ninjas had caused them to drop their weapons inside.

  As one, they attacked.

  Stone had no choice but to drop Freya to the ground so he could confront the men. Spots began to enter his peripheral vision as he moved into their midst. The first two men surrendered their diaphragms as Stone’s fist punched through their spines, but the third man managed to connect with a right cross. Stone reeled back from the punch, but was able to twist his body enough to sweep kick the man to the ground.

  A heel to the throat later and there were only nine men left.

  Two of them turned toward Freya. Stone ran over to them and dislocated their necks from behind. Still, the attack left him open to the others and they began pounding and kicking him until his air was gone and he dropped, dazed, to his knees.

  He was not going to make it.

  The ninjas were screaming in Spanish as they tackled him to the ground, pummeling him. Stone tried his best to block their attacks, but his thoughts were becoming murkier with each blow.

  And then the fists didn’t matter and the pain didn’t matter because Stone Smith lay helplessly on the ground.

  Chapter Thirty

  Freya Williams’ mind was awash with near-forgotten images of what had just happened. She remembered some of it, but it was more like seeing someone else’s memories. As she began to take stock of where she was, she heard the sounds of the beating before she opened her eyes. As she looked at the origin of the sound, her eyes opened wide.

  Seven men were beating and kicking Stone. Freya could not tell what shape he was in, but he was not defending against their attacks and their kicks were so hard that they shook his body.

  One of the ninjas jumped on top of him, pulling out a long ceremonial blade of some kind. But before he could strike, he looked up to the sky, screaming in pain. He dropped the knife and collapsed on Stone.

  The others began screaming.

  “Ella ha vuelto!” one of the men yelled. “Huye!”

  Freya sliced into the men like a dervish, fury burned into her face. The next man froze in his tracks as she reached him. Still woozy from her experience, she pulled away, smashing his face into putty. She lifted the next man off his feet so quickly that she tore the collarbone from his chest. The rest of the ninjas, remembering what she had done to the men inside, ran.

  Freya rolled the dead man off Stone’s chest and sat him up, inspecting him.

  Stone blinked once, then twice. He tried to laugh to assure Freya that he was okay, but was only able to produce a painful cough. His entire body ached, but he was alive.

  Thanks to Freya.

  “What happened back there?” he asked as Freya helped him stand. Her eyes had returned to normal, but her fingers were still a deathly black.

  Freya only looked at her brother with tears in her eyes and hugged him tightly.

  “Let’s go home, bro,” she said. “We’re done here.”

  Answers would come later.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The next morning, Ben stared at his FORtab. As he read back over the report Stone filed, he could tell several things were missing. Most of the report was immaculate, but it was far too brief in its description of what happened to the Mexican Ninja Army and how Tomás was killed. It said that the box that was to be shipped into the United States was already gone when Stone and Freya had arrived. But no mention was made of Freya’s actions in the mission. That should have been mandatory. Stone was not incompetent but simple competence was not enough. In an operation like this one, trust was everything. It took time to earn an agent’s trust, but first Stone had to trust Ben with all available information, or else Ben could give orders that would result in their deaths.

  The FORtab screen lit on the edges, indicating an incoming call. Ben noticed that the FORtab had categorized the call and it wasn’t the familiar red hue indicating a call from the mysterious Smith.

  Helmut was calling.

  Ben tapped the screen a few times and then answered. Helmut leaned forward with a smile.

  “Thank you for taking my call,” Helmut said.

  “Knowledge is power,” Ben said. “And each call empowers me a little more.”

  “Then this conversation will make you a very powerful man. Let me inform you of a secret American organization called CURE.”

  “Sure, I’m all ears, but what’s that got to do with me?”

  “It’s who you work for.”

  “And of course, you expect me to believe that you know my boss?”

  “Not personally. I was but a young man when my predecessor chose Harold W. Smith for the job. He is officially listed as the Director of Operations at Folcroft Sanitarium in Rye, New York, but that is merely cover for his real job as director of CURE.”

  “So why is he hiding his face if everyone but me seems to know him?”

  “Don’t fool yourself. There are fewer people who are aware of CURE’s existence than VIGIL’s.”

  “VIGIL, huh? You’re dropping a lot of names for someone who likes to keep secrets,” Ben said.

  “Think of it as my way of thanking you for your assistance. Your agents caused such widespread destruction that the Mexican nationals were spending all of their attention on the cartel attack, allowing my agents time to quietly and safely escort my package across the border. It is now in safe hands.”

  “I figured as much,” Ben said. “Whatever it is, it’s still in play, so it can be stopped.”

  “That’s what I like about you. Smith has no imagination, but you, Benjamin Cole, you are an inquisitive man. You grew up reading comic books, making almost weekly trips to the theater. Smith’s persona is based on the thin notion of patriotism. Yours is fed by living out your childhood adventures. Though you would deny it, this is just a game to you. Our very conversation has already been reduced to one of ‘good guy versus bad guy’ in your mind.”

  “So why are you telling me this?”

  “I want you to know that I personally chose you. Along the way, I made sure that your name was put before Smith. Your very existence in this program is thanks to me and my organization, VIGIL, and whether you want to admit it or not, your agency’s mandate is a result of VIGIL’s worldwide goal.”

  “And that goal is?”

  “A peaceful world,” Helmut said.

  Ben laughed. “Run by you, of course.”

  “Naturally.”

  “Good luck with that. So now what?”

  “You have a very important decision to make, Benjamin Cole. You know the secret of VIGIL’s existence, which even the director of CURE is unaware of, but what will you do with it? If you inform Smith, he will no doubt declare CURE impossibly compromised and disband it, resulting in b
oth of your deaths. Or will you attempt to take your rightful place as the director of CURE?”

  Ben glanced down at his FORtab as the program running in the background signaled completion.

  “Neither. See, I’m a pretty clever guy and I’ve learned a thing or two about my FORtab since our last conversation. For instance, I discovered how you accessed my tab to obtain images of my agents. And that allowed me to connect to your FORtab during this conversation. Those images, along with all information dealing with CURE, have been deleted from your unit.”

  For the first time, Ben saw a crack in Helmut’s confidence. Turning his attention from Ben, Helmut began searching his FORtab. The only files he found were compressed videos of old Three Stooges movies. He switched to the directory where he kept his secured VIGIL files.

  It was empty.

  “You know what was really cool?” Ben said. “I was able to copy eight thousand files. And don’t bother trying to access either my FORtab or my boss’s. You’ll find that I set up a firewall. This will be the last time we talk, until I put a bullet between your eyes. Have a good day.”

  Ben closed the connection.

  The small satisfaction that he felt from sucker punching Helmut had already disappeared as he digested the information he had been given. Ben had worked in psychological operations long enough to know data manipulation when he heard it, but he also knew that the best manipulation always contained a large kernel of truth.

  The question was, how much was truth?

  It was late. Ben pulled the bottle of vodka out of his drawer and headed to his room. Though he was on call 24/7, he was calling it a night. He would file his report in the morning.

  No one owned his soul.

  He thought about Sara as he filled his glass.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Inside a stone chamber deep under the ruins of an old French castle, the twelve Watchers who made up the inner council of VIGIL took their place at the round marble-topped table. Originally designed during World War II to house various government heads in case of aerial attack, the thick-walled complex of offices and sleeping quarters had gradually been forgotten over the decades. It was one of three nuclear bunkers acquired by VIGIL.

  The organization’s inner council consisted of thirteen members: one male Watcher and one female Watcher from each of the populated continents. Each wore a tunic representing the continent of their birth. The thirteenth member was the director. The men and women varied in race and age.

  But they all had purple eyes.

  Helmut sat at the director’s chair at the head of the table and after each Watcher was in place, called the meeting to order.

  “The Senior Watcher from Europe has called this meeting,” Helmut said, nodding to a middle-aged man with a dark tunic and a tempered glare on his face. “Europe Senior, you may proceed.”

  The man stood to his feet and locked eyes with his peers before returning his gaze to Helmut.

  “Director, VIGIL has been compromised and the council is extremely displeased by your failure. Exactly how much does this Benjamin Cole know?”

  Helmut stood to address Europe Senior. “It is likely he only has access to a few of our short-term operations.”

  “You said that he claimed to have access to eight thousand files.”

  “That is correct.”

  “Did the FORtab indicate that he was lying?”

  “No, but it did detect some kind of deception on his part. It could be possible he has eight thousand icons with no data attached.”

  “Or it is possible that he has our home addresses and phone numbers,” Europe Senior said. “We cannot underestimate an intelligence failure at this level.”

  “Security has been increased at each of your stations,” Helmut said, annoyed that a council member would show personal concern above that of the organization. A show of weakness like that would normally have been fodder for the other council members, but Europe Senior’s words carried a ring of finality to them.

  “America is just too powerful,” the Junior Watcher from Asia said. She was known by Helmut to be a close ally of the European Watchers.

  Helmut paused before he spoke again. “Before going any further, perhaps we should all remember that the mission we set out to accomplish has been a success. It was our plan to ship into the United States the antidotes to all the viruses now being developed by the destructive savages in the lunatic nations of the world. If such viruses are ever unleashed, only in America will there be the capacity to create cures and preventatives for them. This was our goal and we have accomplished it. The anti-viral programs are now safe in the United States.” He looked around the room to see if the council had understood that they had accomplished a great deed for humanity, but the Watchers were not listening to him.

  Of all Watchers present, the most senior was the short woman from Africa. She rarely spoke at meetings, but she now called for Helmut’s attention.

  “This is the largest intelligence failure in VIGIL’s history,” Africa Senior said. “After centuries of working to create a sane and stable world, you say we have succeeded, but because information concerning VIGIL has gotten into the hands of those who will not support our efforts, we may be faced with destruction. And so I ask, is it time for the Carnage program? Is it time to strike first against those who would destroy us?”

  Helmut paused as he considered the card just played. The woman had been trying to put the Carnage program into play for the past two years. She was nearing the end of her life cycle and was unwilling to have her successor enjoy the fruits of her labor.

  Carnage was the most dangerous program that VIGIL had ever launched. It was an armageddon effort, designed to destroy any standing army. It had been limited to a test field of one hundred candidates. Because of the strenuous nature of the program, only twelve had survived. Of those twelve, it was projected that only four would ever maintain enough sanity to be of any real use. In the next phase of the program, they would serve as models for VIGIL’s first army, an insurmountable cadre of faceless, fearless, deathless killers. Even with access to advanced biological technology, it was still decades away, but with the sensitivity of the current situation, Africa Senior’s appeal held stronger ground than it normally would have.

  “This is not the time for panic,” Helmut said, trying to reassure the council. “The Carnage Program was not designed to be triggered by anything less than a doomsday card. And despite this temporary setback, we are not there.”

  “But we may be soon. This is the perfect opportunity to move the program further ahead,” Africa Senior said.

  The other council members murmured amongst themselves.

  “The Carnage Program is not designed for such a measure,” Helmut cautioned. “If Carnage appears too soon, it will open itself up for counter-measures…and we will lose.”

  “I call for a vote,” Africa Senior said, ignoring Helmut.

  Helmut nodded and stepped outside the chamber into the formal greeting room. Council votes were reserved for members of the council. As director of VIGIL, he had final say on anything other than a unanimous decision. There had been very few unanimous decisions in VIGIL’s history.

  He poured a cup of chamomile tea while he waited.

  The door buzzed open twenty minutes later and Helmut resumed his seat at the head of the council table.

  Africa Senior turned to Helmut.

  “Director, VIGIL has come to a unanimous decision. A limited Carnage test will be performed.”

  “Its target?” Helmut asked.

  “Benjamin Cole and his super agents.”

  “I wish the record to note my strongest disapproval,” Helmut said. “If you are correct and Cole possesses information concerning VIGIL’s whereabouts, we will not be capable of withstanding a direct assault.”

  “All the more reason to initiate a first strike,” Africa Senior said. “You have ninety days to prepare for the demonstration. And, Director, this council will not tolerate subversi
on of its decision.”

  Helmut said nothing as the meeting concluded.

  He would do as they directed, but he would ensure that the council would come to regret its decision.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “So we could not intercept the box?”

  “No. Apparently it was gone before we got there,” Ben said.

  “And that’s your entire report?” the tart dry voice questioned. “Were there any abnormalities that I should be aware of?”

  Ben recognized the tone. It was the same one he had when thinking about Stone’s lean report. Ben had realized that something was missing and was frustrated that he had not earned Stone’s full trust. And now he was doing the same thing to his boss.

  “Yes, something big,” Ben said. “I would like to meet with you to discuss it.”

  “One of the conditions of your employment was that we can never meet.”

  Ben paused and looked down at his FORtab. It was sitting in the same place it had been when he first found it and had thought it was a bomb. Now, he knew that it did not need to be a bomb. He smiled grimly to himself at the fact that his entire office was lined with explosives, all of which could be remotely detonated by the man on the other end of the FORtab.

  “There is a third FORtab,” Ben said.

  “That is impossible,” Smith said. “Only two units were manufactured, at my direction.”

  “That’s what I understood as well. But the fact is that a man contacted me from a FORtab and he seemed to know a lot about you…Doctor Smith.”

  There was an awkward pause.

  “And you thought to leave this out of your report?” Smith finally asked.

  “Only because I wanted to directly speak to you about it.”

  “Who is this man?”

  “I don’t know how much I can believe. My FORtab says that he’s telling the truth, but there’s something odd that I can’t put my finger on. I can say for sure that his name is Helmut,” Ben said, uploading a screen capture he had taken of Helmut’s face. “Facematch software is unable to find him on any of the public databases. He claims to work for something called VIGIL.”