- CHAPTER ELEVEN -
- REVELATION -
Two long, tedious hours later, the security team finally found the plasma bomb. By nature, plasma bombs were tricky, easily detonated by the slightest thing. All it would take was too hard of a nudge against the casing, or the scissors jabbing into the wrong wire to set it off.
Luckily, Ghost Man hadn▓t done anything fancy, it was standard and in another ten minutes that felt more like an hour, it was finally neutralized and sitting harmlessly in a sealed hazard waste vac, waiting for them to make port so they could properly dispose of it. Well, mostly harmless, plasma was always volatile, but as long as they didn▓t go tossing it around, they▓d be fine.
Now all that was left was for Section Seven to contact him with news of Lucas.
⌠General Davenport, you have an incoming communication.■
⌠Put it through a secure line in the warroom, Lieutenant.■
⌠Yes, sir.■
Davenport leaned back in the chair.
⌠General Davenport, this is Lieutenant Biron reporting with news on Lucas Wolenczak.■
⌠Did you secure the boy?■
⌠Yes, sir.■
A short pause told him that there was more to it than that. ⌠And?■
⌠He became... extremely agitated by our presence and we had to use force to secure him.■
He could just see it now. Captain Bridger would not be pleased if his golden boy showed up with fresh bruises on him. ⌠What kind of force?■
⌠Tranquilizers, sir, to stop him from trying to escape. We▓re currently en route to Headquarters, eta in ten minutes.■
⌠Check in with the counsel when you get there, they▓ll tell you where to put the boy. Good work, Lieutenant.■
⌠Thank you, sir.■
The connection went dead and Davenport closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Actually, that was far better than he▓d been hoping for. Lucas was not an easy target to pin down, he was resourceful, intelligent, well trained, and worst of all, terrified. If they▓d managed to get away with little more than a small bruise where the dart went in, he▓d count his blessings and move on to the next problem at hand. Pacifying the Seaquest.
Captain Bridger and his crew were quite obviously and unashamedly attached to Lucas. They▓d want to know he was safe. Ideally, that would mean communication, however, seeing Lucas unconscious and surrounded by soldiers probably wasn▓t going to make them feel any more at ease.
Still, Lucas was a part of the ship and they had some right to know that he was safe. What they didn▓t need to know, however, was that their little boy genius was going to have to answer to Section Seven before coming home.
Getting up, he made his way to the bridge to give them the good news. Well, perhaps good was stretching it, but again, another thing they didn▓t need to know.
⌠Captain, I▓m happy to inform you that my team has caught up with Lucas, they▓ve taken him into custody and are transporting him to a safe location.■
Bridger sat up, tense. ⌠Where?■
⌠I can▓t tell you that just yet.■ Bridger opened his mouth to argue, but Davenport cut him off. ⌠It▓s for his own safety. The fewer people that know, the less risk to him. Don▓t worry, as soon as we know he▓s not in any danger, I▓ll have him brought back here. On behalf of Section Seven, I thank you for your cooperation. Seaquest is now under your control. Bill, a word?■
Bridger grabbed Noyce▓s sleeve as he moved to follow Davenport out of the hatch. ⌠Bill, why the hell aren▓t they bringing Lucas back? He▓s a member of my crew, my responsibility. They can▓t just take him like that.■
Bill gave Davenport a nod and dropped his voice. ⌠You know as well as I do that Section Seven can do whatever the hell they want and there▓s not a damn thing either one of us can do about it.■
⌠It doesn▓t make any sense, Bill. Why was Lucas calling Lawrence and Cynthia his aunt and uncle? What did he mean about ten years ago?■ Bill looked nervously at Davenport, who was waiting impatiently in the hall. ⌠Bill.■ Bridger was pleading with him, gripping his arm even more tightly. ⌠Ghost Man, or whoever the hell he is, killed his family. Can you look into it? See if you can get some kind of information?■
Bill gave Bridger a long look before finally nodding, clapping Nathan on the arm. ⌠You aren▓t alone, Nathan, something strange is going on. I▓m going to return to UEO Headquarters and do some digging.■
Finally, Nathan nodded and let Bridger go. Now he just had to wait.
Two Hours Later:
Nathan glanced around the warroom at Kristine▓s concerned face before settling back on the wall screen that was supposed to be coming alive any moment. Bill had called him to UEO Headquarters and told him to patch him through to a secure line. In fact, the more secure the better. O▓Niell was routing the call through several servers, jamming it three ways and running static interference, just in case. Perhaps it was overkill, but when going over Section Seven▓s head, overkill was the way you stayed alive.
The screen turned bright blue and everyone sat straight in their chairs as Bill came on screen. ⌠Nathan.■
⌠Bill.■ He didn▓t bothering with unnecessary words and he didn▓t have to. Bill knew how anxious they all were.
⌠I did some digging, and I think I▓ve got some answers, but you won▓t like them.■
Nathan tensed, ⌠What exactly am I not going to like?■
⌠Why don▓t I let Agent Carter explain?
The image flickered, wavering with the static for a moment before coming sharply into focus. ⌠Hello, Captain Bridger. I▓m Special Agent Davon Carter with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.■
⌠Agent Carter, I know how risky this is. Thank you for joining us.■
⌠Just glad to be of help. Eleven years ago I was called out to a homicide in Buffalo, New York.■
Bridger and Kristine exchanged confused glances. ⌠What does that have to do with Lucas.■
Agent Carter smiled sadly, ⌠I▓ll get to that, Captain, but, please, be patient. As I was saying, I went to investigate a homicide in New York. Pretty grisly affair, even in my line of work. It was a family, living out in the suburbs, gunned down with almost... clinical precision. An entire family had been killed, both parents, Jason and Shalimar Wolenczak and two of their children, Matthew and Laura.■
Lucas▓ words echoed in Nathan▓s head, ▒he▓s killed my whole family▓. ⌠They were Lucas▓s relative?■
⌠More than that. Jason and Shalimar were his biological parents. Matthew was his older brother, Laura his twin sister.■
Nathan remembered all the times Lucas had referred to himself as an only child. He▓d had a brother and a sister?
⌠Evidence at the scene suggests they didn▓t attempt to run, or fight. Whoever did it was there to kill them and didn▓t give any of them a chance to fight back. Disturbing as it was, it reminded us of military executions. One bullet to the head, right between the eyes. However, our biggest concern was the missing son.■
⌠Lucas.■ Kristine wasn▓t asking, but Agent Carter answered.
⌠Yes. I searched for him for ten years. One day, a boy showed up at my front door, claiming that I was the investigator in charge of his family▓s murder. He looked... well, he looked like hell, really. He was malnourished, bruised, far too small for his age, very pale, and he twitched every time someone came within five feet of him. I thought he was going to be sick when my wife took him inside the house to feed him.■
⌠He said his name was Lucas Wolenczak. I was... hesitant to believe him at first. After ten years we▓d pretty much assumed the boy was dead, but we took him to the hospital, ran a blood sample and, sure enough, he was Lucas.■
Nathan finally found his voice, ⌠Where had he been the last ten years?■
⌠According to Lucas, a man broke into his home, informed his parents that his boss wanted Lucas and that if they didn▓t cooperate he would kill them. When they told him to leave, he shot Lucas▓s parents, then his brother, then his sister, then took Lucas and left. Lucas refused to tell anyone what was done to him, but he said that he▓d managed to hack into the FBI files and saw that I was in charge of his investigation. When he escaped, he found me.■
⌠Who had him?■ Nathan had a feeling that he wasn▓t going to like the answer, but it was Lucas and if they were going to help him, they needed to know all the facts.
⌠A man by the name of Mason Eckart. Real piece of work. We had him arrested and put on trial and we won, too. He was supposed to be in jail for the rest of his life. Lawrence was Jason▓s older brother and Lucas▓s only living relative. Him and his wife Cynthia had been unable to have children themselves and they jumped at the chance to take care of Lucas.■
⌠Even with Eckart behind bars, Lucas was spooked. He kept saying that Eckart was going to come after him. I kept in touch with the family for the most part, making sure Lucas was okay and adjusting well. The last time I talk to Lawrence, he▓d said Lucas▓s paranoia over Eckart had gotten pretty bad. They▓d settled it by sending Lucas to the Seaquest. It was in the middle of the ocean most of the time and even if Eckart did come after him, there were enough military personnel on board to keep him safe.■
Kristine dropped her hand from her mouth. ⌠Wait, Lucas was afraid of someone he called Ghost Man.■
⌠Ghost Man is Mason Eckart▓s code name in Section Seven. He worked for them and a private society.■
⌠Section Seven?■ Nathan▓s blood ran cold. ⌠They were involved with what happened to Lucas and if Mason▓s free, it▓s their doing.■ He stood up, gripping the back of his chair, ⌠Damnit, they have Lucas.■
Kristine stood as well, ⌠Section Seven has Lucas?■
⌠They said they were taking him into custody to protect him. Bill, we have to do something.■
The screen split for Bill▓s face, ⌠I know, Nathan, I▓m already on it. I▓ll contact Secretary-General McGrath.■
Agent Carter nodded to Nathan, ⌠I▓ll sent you a copy of the investigation and the medical files concerning Lucas and his family. I▓m sorry I can▓t be of more help.■
Nathan managed a tight smile, ⌠Thank you for giving us that much. If there▓s anything you ever need, you let me know.■
⌠Good luck, Captain.■ Agent Carter cut his line.
Bill looked somber as he reached over to turn his end off as well. ⌠I▓ll be in touch.■
Kristine turned to Nathan as soon as they were alone again. ⌠Nathan, if Section Seven has him...■ she choked off. ⌠Dear God, what are we going to do?■
Nathan shook his head, his fists still clenched over the back of his chair. ⌠I really don▓t know, Kristine.■ Section Seven was bigger than them, more ruthless. This, if nothing else, proved it. One of their own was responsible for what had happened to Lucas and it was very possible, probable even, that they had known about it all along. In fact, they▓d most likely been playing all of them so they could get their hands on Lucas again.
Right now, all he could do was wait for Bill to call back and hope he had some good news.
TBC
