EDGE
1.
Brad Clawbourne was standing in a room where the atmosphere was as hectic as the one in the briefing room of the Shera. Only it was a kind of malignant agitation, brought about by what it sounded like an endless quarrel between tow rows of men sitting at the opposite sides of a long table which stretched across the room.
Brad was immersed in his thought, calculating the advancements in his plan and mentally assessing whether every piece of the jigsaw was at its place. The picture was almost complete. But still something stood in the way.
Facing the wall opposite the window at one end of the room, he was not bothered at all by the voices of the men at his back. The members of the General Staff who now exercised, along with him, total control over the World Regenesis Organization were appalled by the latest disasters that had struck in Corel and Mideel. The first was a significant blow in terms of economic damage, the latter was a devastating loss of human lives.
But Brad Clawbourne did not care about such details. Neither the members of the General Staff actually, who were bothered more by the bad publicity the slow and uncoordinated response was giving them. What mattered to Brad himself was the image the leadership of the WRO would have shown by tackling these disasters. Details about deaths and damages were tangent, to say the least, to the nature of the plan which had brought him to be the interim, but soon permanent, chief of the World Regenesis Organization. A position which would have enabled him to perform a bloodless show of force which would have granted to his leadership an image of resoluteness and firm hand that would have both shocked and awed the inhabitants of Gaia.
Inhabitants to which Brad reserved a contempt scowl once the thought of the countless lives partaking in the events of the planet crossed his mind. A sea of variables to normalize through a series of actions, as he sharply liked to think of them.
He turned towards the members of the General Staff, whose animosity towards each other in the discussion was at its peak
"This is insane" a man cried "I've got already two brigades in Kalm openly menacing to occupy the town and declare some sort of self-government. And they ask of me to deport their commanders! This is an invitation to an open war!"
"You leadership skills are pretty much under the rug, apparently!" another officer retorted "How can it be that two brigades, I mean TWO brigades are on the verge of mutiny?"
"Gentlemen" a third general intervened "the situation will only degenerate even more if will refuse to assist the community in Mideel. It will only mean that the central command of the WRO is deaf to the plight of the most outreaching communities. The situation will be unmanageable by then…"
The polite exchange of views among the high ranking officials lasted shortly. Soon it resumed to a ferocious brawl as fists where stomped on the desk and sheets of papers were randomly strewn across the table.
Brad decided he had enough of that group of grown-up schoolboys who had probably been entrusted with more authority their brains could manage. He turned and decided to hold the reins of the situation.
As he approached the head of the table, the argument ceased
"Can anyone please act as a the spoke-person for the whole bunch of yours? I think I heard too much voices at once…" he sarcastically observed, with a menacing grin
"Sir" a general stood up "we need to put our personnel in motion. Standing idle will only precipitate the situation. We will not feast over the ruins of a civil war…"
"So that's your chief concern?" Brad calmly asked, with a soft yet unsettling demeanour
"You promised us to have the whole population wrapped around our fingers" another officer intervened "but we are still trying to hold the command of several units scattered around the globe…"
"You disappoint me, gentlemen" Brad cut him short, with a devilish chuckle "I thought soldiers were prone to observe the chain of command. If not so, my first and most reasonable guess is that the chain suffers from some weak rings"
Upon these words the General Staff gulped in unison. The fact that Brad Clawbourne had risen through the ranks so rapidly was partly due not only to his swiftness and quick acting while the situation was unstable, but also to his ruthlessness and determination in removing every obstacle that hampered his plans.
When Brad Clawbourne, whose father had gladly sacrificed his own life to the cause whose true nature was evident only to Brad himself, moved a finger the impression of walking on eggshells reached a peak hardly equalled by anything else.
A general cleared his throat
"There are no issues at all regarding the chain of command" he explained "but we'll have to step up the operation as soon as we can otherwise we won't be able to hold the stage anymore"
"People are just people, gentlemen" Brad cut him short, his voice now sounding more firm than menacing "and they will do what we will tell them to do if… threatened!" he concluded
"Sir" an officer intervened "no one wants to solve the situation with a bloodshed. We are ready to do our part but we need something to work with. There are rumours spreading around that former Director Reeve Tuesti might have nothing to do at all with the alleged coup"
"There's nothing easier than deem that kind of voices as preposterous propaganda!" Brad swiftly countered, as he clenched his fist upon hearing that name
"That does not mean that we have to hurry…" someone intervened
"We need to respect the timing of our plan!" Brad suddenly raised his voice, putting everyone at their place "If we disclose the information in our possession too soon we will leave plenty of room to the ones doubting the sincerity of our action!"
Brad took a few step towards the table
"Gentlemen" he exclaimed "Nobody forced you to take part in this plan. You all joined because you shared Adrian Clawbourne's vision about a world ruled according to the sacred principle of justice and discipline…"
He could not prevent himself about thinking of the absurdity of the situation. No one could ever imagine that his aims were the opposite of the ones of the men sitting at the desk before him. Brad and the General Staff were two sides of the same coin but soon the coin would have split apart
"…but the condition is that we all would have followed his plan word by word, as written down in the book. The plan for which he gladly took his life!"
He paused, as the thought of his father sacrificing himself momentarily breached the hull he had built around himself. He did not have time to grieve over the death of Adrian Clawbourne, who had already suffered endless torments in his life because of the organization he had ironically decided to serve. He had pulled the trigger voluntarily and without second thoughts, knowing that his son would have ultimately succeeded in carrying on the plan he had conceived to exact his revenge
"So" he resumed "whoever thinks he is not in his element anymore is free to stand up and walk through that door" he stretched his arm indicating with his index the passage on his left
"But mark my words!" he followed, regaining his stance "The moment you will walk through that door your existence will be unsafe just like the ones of anybody not yielding to our will. Am I clear?" he finished, stressing out the last three words.
The table stood silent as every WRO officer stared at him in submission. Sometimes all it took was the right word in the right moment, and even the fiercest discussion would terminate at once
"Where we were at?" he candidly asked, then, as if nothing really bothering had happened
"We will resuming mobilizing the resources we have" the general whose seat was virtually next to Brad spoke up "until further notice or development" he said, chunking down a throb in his throat as he finished.
"Is that all?" Brad asked "Everyone concurs?"
"Yes, Sir!" the board of generals replied at unison
"Good" Brad maliciously smiled "Is good to have everyone at peace and with a common intent once again…"
A loud beep prevented him from finishing his sentence. Along with the sound, a yellow led appeared next to the door
"Urgent message for Interim Director Brad Clawbourne and the General Staff" a mechanical voice came from a speaker. Brad's face twitched upon hearing his newly bestowed title. He could not wait to remove that hideous word that came before 'director'.
"Listening" he replied. Only the message was not via PA. The yellow light turned green and the door slid open. A messenger stood beyond the threshold, at attention
"Well, what that should be?" Brad asked, impatience rising in him. The whole General Staff had turned their attention to the sudden appearance of the WRO soldier holding a tablet in his hand
"I'm sorry Sir" the soldier replied "the message we had received from Junon was too confidential to be put on loudspeakers, Sir" the soldier explained, still standing at ease.
Brad moved towards him. He took the tablet and slid a magnetic card attached to his uniform on the screen. The display lit up and finally, after punching in a couple of codes, the message appeared.
A wide smile appeared on his face.
The good things always happened to the ones who could wait.
"Gentlemen" he exclaimed "Your patience has been rewarded. Apparently we have just been cleared to proceed to phase two of our plan. Thanks, private. Dismissed!" he ordered the soldier handing him back the tablet.
The generals looked at each other in amazement and curiosity, a low, muffled voice coming from them as they speculated on the nature of the message Brad had just received.
"You are all dismissed and the meeting is adjourned" Brad announced "You will be briefed as soon as the details of the next phase will be available. Now off you go: You have some work to do…" he ordered, as everyone stood up collecting their stuff and calmly and orderly proceeding out of the room.
Brad slowly walked towards the giant window dominating the wall opposite from the end of the wall where he had stood. He looked downward at the bustling metropolis of Edge, and a pleased grin grew on his face, upon recalling the content of the message.
Things were about to become more and more interesting.