CHAPTER THIRTEEN: JANUARY - THE BEGINNING IS THE END IS THE BEGINNING
December 31, 2010
11:58 p.m.
Two minutes to midnight and the start of a new year. The atmosphere in Melissa Bennett’s bar in Vegreville, Alberta was filled with partygoers and merrymakers on this the last day of the old year, At one of the tables among those waiting to count down to the end of 2010, sat the Vegreville Six, all of them having something to celebrate. Dean Williams was celebrating Crazy Diamond now going into post-production and early buzz on it has it being accepted as a critical darling for the upcoming year. He also finally reconciled with his long-estranged family, who finally got to meet their granddaughter Faith, as well as news that Karen was expecting and very soon Faith would be a big sister. Donnie Bellum and Kevin Brody put aside their differences and also reconciled all of their ill feelings towards each other, especially when Kevin convinced Rachel to invest in the exploding market of online movie rentals – thus making more money for everyone involved. And new love was budding between Amy Benz and Benny Carlson – with Benny introducing Amy to the straight-edge lifestyle and both of them having a similar distrust of “The Man”.
It was now one minute to midnight. A hush fell across the room as 2010 was about to end and a new year full of hope and promise was about to come in. People watched on the television as the traditional big apple from New York came closer to dropping. As the seconds got closer, people began to count down.
10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2…
January 1, 2011
12:04 a.m.
That was the time Dean Williams noticed on his watch when he woke up. It was just another dream as he looked around and realized the cold hard reality of the last five months or so. His wife Karen was still in a coma after receiving a massive blow to the head back in July. His daughter Faith was in protective care by people who are in the midst of some kind of time war. And to top it off, he found out Crazy Diamond went back into turnaround since Dean is pretty much a top suspect in a massive terror attack back on July 7th.
Dean just stared at Karen, who seemed very peaceful as she lied their on the hospital bed. Dean took Karen’s hand and held it with affection. He let out a sigh of exhaustion as he began to talk: “Sure could use you right about now, Kare Bear. Everything around me seems to be falling apart. Seemed like the beginnings of our life in L.A., remember? Remember how I struggled with the whole change in our lives? We sat out on the deck and you held my hand. Then you told me ‘As long as we’re together, we can weather any storm.’ Then Faith came into our lives and I gotta admit, being a father made me scared shitless. Here was this little life that I had to be responsible for until she was old enough to be on her own. Here I was thinking on how I should raise her and try not fall into the same trappings and habits my parents had when raising me. Especially my own father. I always told myself ‘I will never be like him. I will never treat my own kids the way he did to me’ and now here was one more chance to do so, to try and live up to that promise. But then I had doubts about even living up to that, and dealing with my newfound success and trying to find a balance between devoted father, loving husband, and Hollywood’s new ‘it guy’. But now we are here, huh? Some crazed man is Prime Minister of our old home, some alien life forms are marching all over the place, and any success we had built up is now tarnished because people think we’re either dead or perpetrators of a heinous act of terror. *Sigh*, like I said, wish you were here to tell me things will be okay again.”
Amy Benz walked into the room, carrying two cups of coffee. “Thought you could use this,” Amy said as she handed Dean one of the cups. Dean looked confused, as if he was in a totally different world. “Oh? Thanks,” he said as he took the coffee. Amy then pulled a chair over to sit next to Dean. She somewhat struggled to sit down since being somewhere in the beginnings of the third trimester of her pregnancy had seen some massive weight gain on her part.
“How’s she doing today?” Amy asked Dean, trying to make small talk with the father of her unborn child. The father she has yet to tell, that is.
“Huh?” Dean said somewhat confused. “The same I guess. Not much has changed since July. Other than if we ever get out of here, my career is completely fucked.”
“Well, Roman Polanski continued to work in exile…” Amy said.
Dean interrupted her and added “…But Roman Polanski committed statutory rape. I’m a terror suspect accused of killing hundreds of innocent people, among them the president of the United States and the prime minister of Canada.”
“Well, at least you’re innocent.” Amy said, feeling a slight stomach movement as her unborn child moved around inside the safety of the womb. As a way to make Dean feel some kind of connection to his soon-to-be born child, Amy took Dean’s right hand and placed it on her stomach, as if to make Dean feel the movement the child made inside her. Dean felt something but was oblivious to everything going on except for the motionless sleep Karen was stuck in and the odd sounds made from the machines that both monitored Karen’s vital signs and kept her alive, if one could call it living. Amy felt slightly dejected by Dean’s apparent cold shoulder, but that didn’t stop her from giving Dean a kiss on the forehead and telling him “Get some rest, hun, you need it,” as she left the room. Closing the door behind her, Amy let out a scream of frustration and punched a walking-by Lucas on his upper arm.
“Ugh! That man is impossible to deal with!” Amy said in a huff.
“Um, ow?” Lucas said, clutching his now stinging arm.”
“Sorry,” Amy said, once realizing what she had done. “It’s just, argh! How do you tell someone something when they barely pay attention to you now?” Amy walked away, still fuming from another failed attempt to make Dean aware of her condition. Benny then came up from behind Lucas and leaned on the side that Amy had hit.
“She still hasn’t told him yet, eh?” Benny asked.
“I guess not. Wish she’d quit using me as a punching bag already!” Lucas answered back.
“Oh come on, if she wasn’t Black Juno right now, you’d want her to use her tongue around your little punching bag. And by ‘punching bag’, I mean…”
“Umm, eww! God, don’t even finish that thought!” Lucas protested as he quickly ran off. Benny just smirked at his friend’s rather bashful and disgusted reaction to anything involving sex talk.
“Lord knows I would,” Benny said quietly to himself.
“It's not easy having yourself a good time / Greasing up those bets and betters / Watching out they don't four-letter / Fuck and kiss you both at the same time / Smells like something I've forgotten / Curled up died and now it's rotten… ”
The mood was definitely more lighter in Ottawa as Prime Minister Jason Saxon celebrated the new year with a grand party. After a shaky start to his reign, people have come around to seeing things the Jason Saxon Way: events like July 7th haven’t happened again, the Viisk have been both brutally vicious and efficient in aiding Canadian soldiers in the Middle East, and while the Vegreville Six remain at large, Jason Saxon has reassured the Canadian populace that they will be made to answer for their crimes. But now was not the time to dwell on the past, this was a time to celebrate the year ahead as Jason Saxon quickly drank a glass of champagne and spotted Claudia Daring, sporting an elegant black cocktail dress with a very low neckline that accentuated her two best assets.
“I'm not a gangster tonight / Don't want to be a bad guy / I'm just a loner baby /
And now you're gotten in my way…”
As the Scissor Sisters’ “I Can’t Decide” played during this grand party, Jason Saxon and Claudia Daring danced a fast-paced waltz to keep up with the music. Saxon dipped his dance partner and planted a passionate kiss on Claudia’s luscious lips, who in turn reciprocated the favor. A roar of applause came from the rest of the partygoers as Saxon and Daring stood center floor and took a bow.
While a party went on in Ottawa, Doctor Sarah Bellum was hard at work inside the warehouse in Saskatchewan, overseeing the processing of a narcotic whose scientific name was “napicin sulfite”, or as she learned after the fact – an ARC project known as “Yellow Light.” A drug synthesized from canola and an experimental organic compound that was left over from the incidents back in 2007. If only she had paid closer attention to the goings on in her company, Sarah could have found a more productive way to stop all of this from happening. She wouldn’t have had to witness the death of her father and her mother’s loss of identity back in July. Now here she is, as some sort of indentured servitude to the Jason Saxon regime, getting a drug ready for a legion of Viisk soldiers, about to make their triumphant return from Iran.
“They’re waiting for it. Is it all set?” an Initiative soldier came in and asked Sarah. Sarah nodded yes as other soldiers walked in and took vials of the napicin sulfite. One of the soldiers motioned for Sarah to come with them. It became pretty much a routine around these parts: the Viisk go into battle, they come back victorious, and are rewarded for their success. Sarah watched from the top as Sloane stood on the ground floor, waiting for the Viisk to return. Twenty Viisks phased into warehouse, marching in unison. The first Viisk approached Sloane and presented her what appeared to be a decapitated head, almost like a dog presenting its kill to its master. Sloane looked at the head and took it into her hands. She then went onto make a speech that has pretty much become routine around these parts: “Accept this offering from Jason Saxon, our glorious leader. Accept it as his reward for your continuing loyalty to his cause. May you accept it in order to maintain our order across this land. Order leads to loyalty. Loyalty leads to obedience. Obedience leads to victory. Victory is life!”
“Victory is life!” the Viisk sounded off as the human Initiative soldiers administered the vials of napicin sulfite to the victorious Viisks. Sarah Bellum felt a heavy heart that she was aiding in what could be best described as an inhibitor for an addictive drug. “Score one for the good guys,” Sarah said quietly and under her breath, since showing any kind of disrespect usually got met with a slap across the face from Sloane.
Rachel Mills carried under her arms a bunch of rolled up papers as she made her way into the command center’s main wardroom. She placed the papers on a table and unrolled them to reveal a series of maps. She studied an area of the map that was circled and then looked at a smaller piece of paper. She studied the two with great intent and made notes on a separate smaller map.
Benny walked by and noticed his fellow Squint busy at work. “Didn’t know you were heavy into cartography, Rach.” Benny said.
“Actually, my father was one of the top orienteer in our home state.” Rachel said, still with her eyes fixed on a couple locations highlighted on the map. “It was one of the few things we bonded over the most.”
“So, whatcha looking for now?”
“Trying to pinpoint old Section 31 facilities and also trying to correlate them to the possible location of this lost project.”
“Thought everyone gave up on that looking glass thing?” Benny asked.
“Well, there seems to be some contention among our hosts and what’s left of our group. For some reason, Kevin thinks bringing in people who have suffered some neurological impairment will allow us to figure out where it is. The greycoats, not so much.” Rachel stated. By this time, Ariel Brody-Toroshenko and Donnie Bellum arrived, escorting a woman that looked like she had spent the last six months lost and homeless. The woman was Stacey Noble.
“People whose brains are fried like this one?” Ariel asked.
“Fried like sausages. Plump juicy breakfast sausages.” Stacey said, giggling uncontrollably.
“Still don’t see why we’re playing capture the loonies.” Donnie scoffed. Around this time, Kevin Brody – walking with a slight pronounced limp and a cane – showed up and addressed the concerns expressed by Donnie. “It’s because none of you are ready for anything major,” Kevin said weakly, his voice gravelly and hoarse as he was still recovering from his life-threatening injuries.
“Well, when will be ready?” Ariel asked. “Who are you to say when we’re ready?”
“Because last time, the two of you just about got yourself killed while chasing down a wild goose in a blown lead to the location of our objective.” Kevin told his life partner. Ariel just fumed and stormed out of the room. Donnie just looked at Kevin, who sat down and looked disheveled. “She does have a point. You can’t keep mollycoddling us with these simple in’n’out missions.” Donnie said.
“Had we played it safe from the get go, Sarah would still be here.” Kevin lamented. “Karen would be okay, too. If playing it safe means keeping the rest of us from getting badly hurt or worse, then so be it.”
Donnie just rolled his eyes, then slammed his hands on the table in frustration. “Fine, feel sorry for yourself!” he shouted, “Keep in mind, the longer you stall, the longer it’s going to take for you to make up for allowing Sarah to get captured by him!”
Kevin struggled to stand and coldly stared at Donnie. He then calmly replied, “Fair enough. Tell Ariel to increase training sessions with you. When she feels you are ready to go into the field again, you have my blessing. But, anything bad happens to you or her, it will be your own fault. God forbid I need more names to weigh down my conscience as it is.” Kevin then slowly walked away from Donnie as Stacey sat in a chair and spun around with the enthusiasm of child. “Out of darkness, the light will shine once our heroes endure through their suffering.” Stacey said, despite feeling dizzy. “Then we can all enjoy sausages again!”
Lucas walked by Stacey and shook his head. “Oh Christ, not another one! You know Kevin put the one who thinks he’s a dragon in with me?”
Benny smirked and said to Lucas “He didn’t try to fry you, did he?”
“No. But if I hear ‘Fuck you, I’m a dragon!’ one more time, I swear to god…” Lucas bemoaned.
“Sure it’s nothing personal.” Benny interjected, “Guy needs some humor in his life now. Doctor House and Donald here had their bi-weekly quiet agree-to-disagree moments.”
“Call me by that name again, and I’ll drop you,” Donnie said with quiet rage towards Benny.
“When did Kevin get his doctorate and change his name?” Rachel said with slight confusion.
“It was a television show reference,” Donnie said as he too walked away. Benny just shook his head and muttered “Such lovely people they’ve turned into the past five months or so.”
It was late at night as Jason Saxon and Claudia Daring made their way from the New Year’s party to their private limousine. The two of them were unaware of someone watching from a distance through a set of night-vision binoculars. The two of them were unaware that this someone kept an eye on the two of them making out and making their way into the care. This someone was a woman, donned in black cammo gear and wearing a brown trench coat. She reached into her pocket to reveal what looked like a remote denotation device. “See you in hell, fucker!” she said as she pressed the button. But nothing happened. In anger, she kept pressing the button like an obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferer.
A man’s voice addressed the woman, “Hello, Willow.”
The woman – a young adult version of Willow Ecstasy Brody-Toroshenko – looked at the man, who wore a grey trench coat and called him by his name, “Vedder. This does concern you.”
The man simply known as Vedder pulled out a small incendiary device from his pocket. “When it comes to directly interfering with events that have to occur in this timeline, then yes, it does concern us.”
Willow just scoffed and said “Come on, you know the second that son of a bitch and his little whore die, everything goes back to normal!”
“Not necessary,” Vedder said. “A lot of factors could lead to everything falling apart. This is not your time to strike.”
“Heard the same thing from Jericho. Why didn’t he come and stop me himself instead of sending a lower-rung errand boy?”
“You have no idea how much your actions have hurt him.”
Willow just lightly laughed “Please, you tell me you are all so above emotions, and now he’s too shook to bring me down himself?”
Vedder just looked at Willow and said to her “You know deep inside this is not the time or place. Act now, and not only will everything unravel before you, but you will become the one thing you hate the most – a Corruptor. Just like Jason Saxon.”
Willow watched as the limo pulled away from the party scene. Perhaps her former mentor was making sense. But not enough for her to take him down with a simple judo takedown. She straddled Vedder and held a gun to his head. “Let’s get one thing straight, pretty boy – you can keep sticking your nose into my business, but one way or another, I will get revenge on the man who took my family away from me. Next time you grey or bluecoats stand in my way, it’d better be Jericho, or I get to see if you guys really are nothing but concentrated balls of energy.” Willow then forced a kiss onto Vedder’s lips and then got up. “See you another time.” Willow said as she tapped a device on her left wrist and faded out of the area. Vedder got up and simply thought to himself At least she has mellowed out somewhat.
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