Mason refused, “No Luke—I have a lot of respect for you. You know I do. But I can’t stand for this.” Mason slammed his fist on the table, “I’m not just going to sit back while lives are put in jeopardy because of mere personality differences on the job.”
General Thomson laughed, “What? Personality differences? Is that what you think this is all about. Give me a break!”
Mason nodded, “With all due respect sir, I’m pretty sure that I’ve rub you the wrong way since we first started working together.”
Thomson not hiding his disdain, remarked in a low voice, “Oh—you could say that.”
Mason then snapped, “Well guess what? The feeling is mutual!” Mason then glared at the General in what amounted to nothing short of unbridled rage, as he declared, “I’ve seen how you work with your clichés and circles in the Pentagon, and you know what? It disgusts me. It really does. Because while you play favorites people are out there dying!”
Luke’s face was ashen as if her were in shock as he once again called for restraint, “Mason! Seriously that’s enough!”
The General smirked and looked over to Luke, “That’s alright Luke, he can feel free to blow out as much hot air as he wants. Just be sure to let him know that Onyx is done for as far as I’m concerned. They are barred from this mission and all others until further notice.”
The General then stood up to leave and glaring at a still seething Mason, announced sarcastically, “Alright its been fun folks, but I’ve got to meet some of my disgusting friends in the Pentagon that Mason is so fond of.”
In that moment Mason felt a real urge to jump up out of his seat and slug Thomson right then and there. The only thing that stopped him was Raina seated next to him grabbing his hand and pressing hardly on it as she whispered, “Mason please—don’t worry about it. Just let it go. It’s not worth it.”
To Raina’s relief Mason appeared to gain some semblance of control and the General left them without further incidence. After the General left, the group sat in silence for a moment until Luke finally spoke up, “Alright—you heard Thomson. Pack your things. We’re clearing this place out.”
MEANWHILE BACK AT STANFORD. Clara Walker was just getting back to her dorm to find that the dormitory mostly deserted. There were other students present for the summer session but at the moment most were either asleep or elsewhere. Sighing to herself she proceeded down the empty hall to her door.
Fumbling with the lock she thought she heard a noise in the distance—a scraping sound, which made her slightly jump. She looked out the hallway window and realized the wind had caused a tree branch to grate against the side of the building.
‘Get a grip Clara’ She thought to herself.
She then stepped inside, shut the door behind her and plopped down on her bed. Unzipping her backpack, she started to pick up one of her text books but realizing that she had been literally studying all day long she muttered, “No… That’s enough—no more books.”
Grabbing the remote from her nightstand she then turned the TV on just in time to hear a startling news report. A news correspondent was walking through a New York hospital visiting patients who had been exposed to some kind of virus. The word visiting would be a bit of a misnomer however since all of the patients were isolated, quarantined and separated by thick walls of glass.
The reporter was speaking to a doctor outside of the glass partition, asking, “So you think that most of these patients will recover?”
The doctor nodded, “Yes—I believe so. They were exposed to just a very low-grade version of the virus and most were treated fairly quickly after the fact.”
The reporter questioned, “What about the two that have already passed?”
The doctor sighed, “It’s all very tragic, but those two it turns out already had sufficiently weakened immune systems—one was a recovering cancer patient and the other was suffering from lupus—and it seems that the small trace element of Ebola they were exposed to was just enough to finish them off.”
The reporter looking away from the doctor and back to the camera, concluded, “Very sad indeed.”
The reporter paused before continuing, “It could be said that nothing short of the worst of humanity could have brought about such an insidious attack.”
The reporter turned back to the doctor and continued, “But it could also be said that the best of humanity came forth when it came to saving lives in the aftermath.” The reporter then asked the doctor, “Do we know much about how the main thrust of the terrorist plot was foiled?”
The doctor answered, “From what I’ve heard it was a group of special forces that came in to stop them—not sure what branch but several eyewitnesses recall a team of military personnel of some sort, descending on the scene to deactivate the device.”
Taking this bit of information and running with it, the reporter turned back to the camera and remarked, “Who are these mysterious special forces who came in right in the nick of time? I’d say that whoever these unsung heroes are—they are very special indeed.” With the TV still blaring, nestled under her covers and thinking of her father, Clara was falling fast asleep.
21
Love Speaks Louder than Words
Mason arrived at his house in Baltimore shortly after dusk, and as he opened the door to his home, he saw that it was already replete with darkness. A darkness that mirrored the despair he felt in his own heart.
Stepping inside Mason asked the onboard AI in his home, “Give me light…” The house AI then dutifully complied in response, turning the main overhead light in the living room on.
Sitting down on the couch, Mason slumped back and stared up at the ceiling. His frustrations were about to boil
