Yes, yes, I know. You want me to get round to updating some of my many unfinished stories. But this just popped into my head and made me write it; I was powerless to resist.
We never actually got much information on the Pulse, considering how much effect such a devastating event had on the DA universe. There aren't that many fics centred on it either; so here's mine, set pre- season one. I should warn you, it's not exactly like most of my work; somehow it got kinda political. But I do know my stuff on this particular subject (I'm supposed to be writing an essay on it for college instead of a fanfic) so if anyone asks, it's homework, OK?
Disclaimer: I don't own it, I'm not making any money out of it and any opinions expressed are my own, not those of DA or The science on the other hand is very real. Oh, and I'm not American, so if you are please don't take offence.
The Reason Why
A slightly battered and filthy jeep pulled up outside a dilapidated cabin; barely more than a shack. Its tyres churned the pristine grass and tree saplings on the track and dense forest encroached tightly on the scene; it looked as if it had been untouched by human influence for decades.
A young man emerged from the driver's seat, slightly stiff from his long journey. The afternoon sun glimmered off the rims of his glasses and picked out the blonde highlights in the scruffy stubble on his chin. He leaned back against the car, savouring the peaceful atmosphere for a moment, before heading around the cabin, his senses on the alert.
"You lost?" Called out a gruff voice, hoarse with disuse. To his credit, the man didn't jump; he simply turned to face the one who'd spoken.
"I hope not," he replied, cautiously, evaluating his companion. The man looked around fifty, features harsh and weather-beaten. He was strongly built and looked well able to defend himself; the axe slung casually over one shoulder a distinct clue to his abilities. His clothes, like the man, were leathery, battered, but durable, as if he'd worn them every day for the past ten years. Perhaps he had, the visitor added ironically in his head, considering what he suspected about him.
"Not much to see in these parts except trees," the older man said casually.
"I'm looking for Alexander Stein." The older man tensed, and then relaxed.
"Then you're out of luck, kid. Alex Stein died a long time ago."
"So all the records say. I happen to think differently."
"Yeah? Well you can't think people back to life. Sorry you've wasted your journey."
"I don't think I have, Mr Stein. Or would you prefer Red Wolf?" He stilled.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Logan."
"That's not what I asked. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to talk to a man who made a mistake, once, in another life. Nothing more."
"Who sent you? What do you want?"
"No one sent me; and no one knows I'm here. All I want is a little of your time."
"Time is something I'm not short on. Time and regrets... You can talk, if you want. I can't guarantee that I'll reply."
"Fair enough."
Stein turned his back on Logan and strode away, knowing he'd follow. They went to a neat woodpile around the back of the cabin, stacked with dead branches that he'd clearly been chopping before his guest arrived. Logan leaned against a tree as Stein placed a log on the block and split it with an easy swing of his axe.
"How much do you know?" He asked, as the sharp sound reverberated through the clearing.
"I know who you are; all of you," Logan replied calmly. "I know that The Wolf Pack were the ones who pushed the button and broadly, I know why."
"Then why bother tracking me down?"
"Because I want to understand."
"It's done now; it's past. What does it matter?"
"It matters because it's not over, and maybe it never will be. What you did is still affecting people; still killing people; and I want to understand why you did it."
"We never meant for that to happen."
"Oh, I believe you. You were trying to save people; but things didn't quite work out that way."
"How old are you, kid? Thirty?"
"Twenty nine," Logan informed him.
"Then you remember what it was like, before the Pulse. The whole world was in chaos; and we were only making it worse. Nothing anyone did could convince the people in power to listen, to act, before it was too late. All those warning signs and they still did nothing."
"So you took the decision out of their hands," said Logan. "You, Jason Caldwell, Mariah Springfield and John Mason; Red Wolf, Brown Wolf, White Wolf and Black Wolf."
"We only did what we thought was the right thing; that's all."
"You bought the bomb with your hacking skills; paid for it with government oil funds. That was excellent work, by the way."
"That was Mariah's department," said Stein, wistful fondness creeping into his voice. "There wasn't a computer in the world she couldn't tie in knots if she wanted to."
"And then you smuggled it into Canada disguised as a cultural artefact bound for a museum."
"We spent weeks working on turning it into a statue; an elephant. John was a pretty good artist; he was a botanist by profession, although you probably know that."
"You launched it over the border, without warning, too fast to be intercepted. And then you waited until it had reached the place it could do the most damage before you blew it."
"Is that what you think? We intended to bring it down and set it off at lower altitude over Las Vegas. The Pulse was only supposed to take out the casinos and the power drain with it. The Navy got trigger happy and a missile was launched from a submarine off the coast to intercept it. They detonated the bomb; not us."
"If you were after taking out the bright lights of Vegas, why did you launch the bomb from Canada? Surely Mexico would be easier..."
"You'd think that; but it was something to do with the Earth's gravity and the guidance system. The bomb was pretty basic; it had to be launched straight up and then allowed to curve back down towards the target. Jason figured it all out; he had buddies in NASA so we didn't argue. If they hadn't fired at our nuke it wouldn'tve done anywhere near as much damage."
"Figures though, I guess, after 9/11," said Logan, evaluating the new information. "They decided to shoot first and ask questions later."
"We never meant to do so much damage. All we wanted was to get them to listen, to do something about climate change before it was too late. We thought taking out a place that wasted so much energy would force the government to introduce some kind of measures to reduce our emissions."
"The USA was the richest, most powerful country on Earth and we produced half the world's carbon dioxide. The air and sea temperatures were rocketing as they hadn't in tens of thousands of years because of us. The disasters were getting worse and worse, more and more frequent; hurricanes, floods, droughts; the weather just kept getting more and more unpredictable and it was us who were causing it. Thousands of square miles of rainforest were being burned to raise cattle for hamburgers and the ice sheets were melting faster and faster. No amount of peaceful protest or scientific evidence was having any effect; so we took direct action. But I swear, we never meant to kill anyone."
"Whether you intended to or not, you set off the Pulse, Alex. You brought down a superpower and indirectly, killed thousands of people, through riots, famine, and disease. You brought down the economy and most of the population became unemployed overnight. Not just the American economy, either; the whole world collapsed. So many people lost so much... so many lives..."
"Don't you think I know that?" Stein snapped. "Don't you think I know what we did? Why'd you think Mariah killed herself? She couldn't live with the guilt..."
"We tried so hard... all they had to do was listen; to stop employing puppet scientists to deny it was happening, to do something before it was too late. But they decided their precious economy would be damaged; and worse, their own popularity. No administration dared take action to raise taxes on gas as they should; because they knew they wouldn't be re-elected. They were barely coming around to admitting that they knew global warming was our fault in '09, when the proof had already been around for twenty years. They'dve waited another twenty to actually do something."
"Yes, they probably would have," said Logan softly.
"We had to find a way to make them listen; don't you see?"
Logan nodded slowly. "Yes; I understand. I really do. Sometimes individuals have to take action to force the authorities to do the right thing."
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Johnny used to say that. He was so… he burned, you know? We followed because we believed he was blazing a trail that would save the planet. We would have followed him to the end of the world."
"And now I'm the only one left to tell the story; to tell why the Pulse happened. Jason was killed in a food riot just a few months after it happened; Mariah committed suicide before June was out and Johnny was murdered when he started telling people he'd caused the pulse."
"It's dangerous being an honest man these days," Logan stated ironically.
"I… I just kept my head down. We'd already prepped this place as a hideout from the Feds after we set off the bomb. Terrorists, they called us. Terrorists! They were the ones hell bent on destroying the world and they called us terrorists!"
"The silence, is what I remember most," said Logan distantly. "No news, no TV, no internet; no information at all. Everything just… stopped, and all we could do was wander the streets wondering why. And then, when people realised that the power wasn't going to come back on any minute, that their lives were never going to be the same again, they tried to find someone to blame."
"None of them got it right," Stein replied. "They attacked the cops, the authorities, anyone who wasn't one of them. Muslims, Jews, blacks, Hispanics, all at one another's throats and none of them considered for one minute it might be the tree hugging environmentalists. No, something that big had to be Al Quaeda, or a government conspiracy, or Judgement Day, or aliens. Says something about America, that so many people believed the pulse was supernatural."
"Too much TV," Logan agreed. "At least that's not something most people have to worry about any more."
Stein snorted. "Yeah; it's just food shortages, cholera outbreaks, police brutality and unemployment these days." He sighed. "We really thought we were doing the right thing. And then… it all got out of control."
"Good deeds do tend to snowball," Logan replied.
"What's your stake in all of this?" Stein asked, curiously, with a hint of distrust. "You must have money, to be able to come out on a wild goose chase like this. Why'd you care why it happened?"
"I… was celebrating my college graduation when the Pulse hit. My parents were flying home to Seattle. Their plane was one of those that dropped out of the sky when the electronics got fried. I didn't even find out for sure that they were dead until months later."
"So what, you're here to get revenge? Go ahead; I deserve it. Like you said, I've murdered thousands of people."
"I don't believe in revenge, Alex. And the definition of murder implies intent. You made a mistake; and you have to live with it. There's no punishment anyone else can inflict on you that could be worse than what you've done to yourself over the years. I've got what I came for."
"You… really don't blame me?"
"I save the blame for the people who could have rebuilt this country instead of locking it down and imposing martial law. The officials who take from the bad guys to line their own pockets while thousands starve right outside the gates. The men who've got rich exploiting the chaos and use their wealth to make sure it stays that way. They're the ones at fault, here, Alex; not you."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
Logan smiled. "Like you said; the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. And pretty soon, the last few good men will be making their stand, to stop the evil in its tracks."
"That's suicide," said Stein, flatly. "The cops will disappear you within hours."
"Only if they can find us. And believe me, they won't." Logan held out a hand to the older man. "I'm glad I met you, Alex," he said. Alex Stein took the proffered hand hesitantly, and looked up into the clear, blue eyes behind the glasses. He'd only seen eyes like that in one other person; Johnny Mason. They burned with purpose, with belief, with utter conviction that he was doing the right thing. Suddenly he felt like the man he'd been before, free of eight long years of guilt and grief and loneliness, in front of his friend, his leader, his hero.
And he began to believe that this man would not make the same mistakes.
"Not as glad as I am, Logan," he replied, genuinely smiling for the first time in a very long time.
So, any thoughts? Constructive criticism welcome.