The Song of Eternity
Canto 4 : Earth
Verse 3
The General
He meets the one who led Earth against the evil,
He meets the one who knew Starmore the best,
While watched by one who knows the truth,
But is determined to ignore it.
Major Marcus Boyd walked off the helicopter and waved at it as it took back off into the air. He turned quickly and walked to the rooftop entrance of the building and entered after his retina was scanned. He was greeted by a pair of Earth Force guards who escorted him to a room several floors down. He was told to take a seat, that someone would be with him shortly. One guard stood casually by the door as the other threw some logs on the fire in the fireplace.
Marcus and the guards all stood up stiffly at attention as an old man was wheeled himself into the room. "At ease boys, take it easy," the old man said. Marcus took a seat as the guards left the room. "So you must be Major Boyd, I've heard a lot about you," the man greeted Marcus as he wheeled himself in front of the Major.
"What do you mean sir? I've only been on this project for a week and a half," Marcus asked as he wondered if the man was senile.
"That would be from me," came a familiar voice as Colonel Hartnett walked into the room and took a seat on the couch beside the pair of them.
"Sir, why are you here?"
"Simple. To protect you from hearing class 10 classified things. I have briefed General Stumpf here," he nodded at the old man," on what things you are not to hear about. Both he and you know the penalty for divulging or hearing such information, so I expect no problems."
"Don't worry about Hartnett, I gave him his command. Now, I hear you wanted to ask me about Starmore and World War 3. Go ahead, ask me anything," Stumpf ordered. "And in the interest of keeping both of us healthy, pick your words carefully."
"Fine. First I want to ask you of what you know of Travis Starmore's childhood," Marcus said as he eyed the Colonel with suspicion.
"Not much, just that he disappeared, then I met him at Nellis," Stumpf explained.
"Sir, this is a military inquiry. I will ask you again, did you know him before Nellis," Marcus asked as he opened his folder and looked over some papers.
"No, I did not," Stumpf said as he too eyed the Colonel.
"I discovered proof of you and someone of the same name and description as Travis Starmore knowing each other in the same area where you and Starmore both reportedly grew up," Marcus said as he looked up at Stumpf who was looking at the Colonel.
"What proof? The only proof of that is locked away under class 10 clearance," Hartnett said as he placed his hand on his gun.
"The newspaper records, that's what you found, right?" Stumpf asked Marcus.
"Yes, sir," Marcus confirmed as he handed both of them copies of old newspaper articles showing names and pictures of Stumpf and Starmore on a high school cross country team.
"In the future today, tell me when you find things like this so I don't end up shooting you," Hartnett ordered as he pondered the situation. "Since it wasn't under class 10 you are free to talk about it, but keep in mind you may be asked to forget about it later," he said as he sat back to let them talk.
"Yes, I knew him. We were best friends up until he and his brother disappeared," Stumpf explained.
"Did he ever exhibit any signs hinting at what happened later in his life?"
"Did he ever blow something up with an energy blast? No, he did not. He led a normal life before his disappearance," Stumpf explained.
"What is the official story that you can tell me about his involvement in World War 3, with class 9 clearance of course," Marcus asked the general.
"We were retreating towards the California coast at the time. I had assumed command due to all officers above me in the ranks being killed in the war. We stopped for supplies at Nellis and were pinned down in battle against Alpha's forces when it happened. There were two explosions. The first one made a hole leading out of Nellis's basement labs, which he floated out of. The second came from him as he blasted the WEAPON's forces into nothingness," Stumpf explained.
"After that he helped us hold off the main armies while he battled Alpha itself until they both disappeared in a black flash of light over Africa. Most of the unclassified documents are correct in their telling of his battles," he narrated.
"Then why the secrecy surrounding his past?"
"Who knows, I was busy fighting a war. You'll need class 10 to find out the truth," Stumpf shrugged, wondering if the Major had another surprise up his sleeve.
"Sir, is there a VCR here?" Boyd asked as he pulled out a tape from his bag.
"Yes…" Stumpf was cut off as Hartnett broke in.
"That tape will be class 10 in a month Major. Tell him what is on it, you may discuss its repercussions, but unless your report is done by the New Year, you will not be able to use this information," Hartnett ordered.
"That tape has footage of Travis Starmore being kept in a lab under Nellis from roughly the same time as the Alpha WEAPON appeared in Russia," Boyd explained. "The audio is poor, so I was hoping you could tell me how they engineered him so quickly," Boyd asked.
The other two men chuckled a bit before Stumpf talked again. "Engineered him? We could barely clone sheep back then. He was no test tube monstrosity. The truth is much worse. Those scientists found his nearly dead corpse in the desert and kept him sedated for a year and a half until he broke free and saved my men and I. That's why we circulated the story about genetic engineering, to avoid public backlash," Stumpf explained.
"What of his arm then? There are reports of him having only one arm, along with reports of it being metal, or pure energy. What is the truth?
"When they found him, his right arm was missing from just above the elbow down. As he rested it reformed in a rough energy shape of an arm, which is how they invented pulse rifles at Nellis, by studying him. Later after a battle in which he took a chunk out of Alpha, he formed the metal into an arm and fused it with the energy to create a new arm," Stumpf said as he thought back to the incident. "It was an amazing display of power, what he did."
"I only really have one more question. Is he dead?"
"No one knows, but from what Hartnett tells me, it appears he has returned," Stumpf guessed.
"That is all I really have to ask you sir. I thank you for your time," Boyd said appreciatively as he stood up and shook Stumpf's hand.
"No problem at all, now go back up to the roof, I am sure Hartnett wishes to speak to me before he leaves as well," Stumpf ordered.
The guards led him to the roof shortly afterwards where one watched the door and the other turned to talk to him. "This is a message from the General. If you want to know the truth about Starmore, watch him battle. Look into the past of Colonel Hartnett as well. That is all," the guard finished as Hartnett came up the stairs and spoke to a helicopter pilot through a walkie-talkie.
"Hope you learned what you needed Boyd. You're mucking up everything that is classified and unclassified, I'm going to have to contact some people, see what needs to stay secret and what you can put in your report," Hartnett explained as a helicopter came out of the sky towards the rooftop.
"Sir, why didn't you tell me you would be here? More importantly, why were you here? I was supposed to have freedom to interview eyewitnesses as I wished," Boyd said coldly.
"Just doing my job. Just trying to get all the loose ends tied up," Hartnett muttered as the helicopter landed and they got on.