Chapter Six
Troy emerged slowly from the Mark One and brushed himself down as he looked around at his strange new surroundings; he was in the middle of dense forest. His attention returned to the Mark One which was embedded deep into the soft terrain of the forest floor, he shook his head in disbelief that his ex-comrade had evaded him so easily. His communicator started to beep and a stern face filled the screen.
‘Any luck with Frost? According to my terminal you’re buried six feet into the Brazilian rain forest. Would you care to explain why?’ Thorn was eager for information his nerves were seriously frayed by the events of the past few days.
‘Managed to get a trace on the Mark Two, I used the grid to scan for Tachyons and that gave away his location. It won’t show up now the trace will have dissipated’
‘That’s smart work Daryl, very nice but why is it not Frost who’s stuck in the floor of a forest?’
‘I destroyed his rotors but they’ll be repairable. He purged his fusion drive and it hit me square on, every system failed Thorn, not a great deal I could have done about it really’
‘Ok Daryl you did good, very good but next time don’t fuck about. I’ve got all kinds of bullshit politicians raising the heat on us, I think they may go public and shut us down if this continues’
‘That general, is none of my concern. It’ll take me some time to get this helicopter flying again but I’ll get to it straight away’
‘God damn it I want you here yesterday Daryl we need to work on a way of finding Frost again. Thorn out’
Troy now felt an urge to obey his orders without question, the chip his brain housed was now attempting to control his actions as it was designed to do. He quickly set to work on the Mark One; he opened a panel inside the craft and tapped away rapidly on the small touch pad inside. Troy jumped energetically between control panels and after sometime the main view-screen suddenly flashed on. The Mark One regained power.
‘Designating start up functions to secondary and tertiary computer mainframes, bringing fusion drive back online’ the computer broke the silence of the fallen choppers interior.
‘Computer damage report please and get me some propulsion’
‘Particle field protection was offline at the time of impact therefore the fusion purge from the Mark Two had devastating effects on various major and minor systems, however the fusion drive is intact and propulsion can be achieved’
Troy made necessary adjustments to the Mark One and attempted to raise her from the ground. He activated the ships now weakened magnetic repulsion system, which was designed to move the craft when all other options were unavailable. The graceful vessel was clearly having trouble lifting itself out of the deep hole it had carved in the rainforest and warning lights filled Troy’s view.
‘I don’t treat you too well old girl do I? ‘
Almost immediately the Mark One let out a surge of magnetic waves, driving itself backwards out of the hole and onto the undergrowth that surrounded it. Branches and leaves fell to the floor like confetti as it lifted high into the canopy of the dense forest, finally it cleared the trees and the forward thrust engaged propelling the Mark One into the blue expanse ahead. Like a bird with mended wings the super chopper was back in action. As the sleek black vessel roared towards SIA HQ Troy suddenly realised he had no way of bringing her down slowly and safely which excited him in a fiendish way. The rear thrust of the Mark One disengaged and two blue flames now fired from the front of the vessel, Troy was attempting to slow her down for landing. The Mark One reduced its speed to a mere eighty kilometres an hour and slowly dropped to the ground, the only option was to crash land. The graceful chopper came down like a bullet into the soft white snow of the Alaskan winter as Troy attempted to steer her away from the base. Finally the Mark One came to a halt and the technicians ran out to her as if she were alive and injured.
‘She needs a little tweak here and there boys get her back to health for me’ Troy announced to the technicians knowing they would not listen to him; he had hurt their precious masterpiece.
Troy made his way to the door of the SIA base, placed his hand on the scanner and entered.
‘Special Agent Daryl Troy Designation 115 welcome to SIA Headquarters, please stand still while a full body scan is complete’ a familiar female computer voice filled the air but Troy was in no mood for such procedures.
‘I’m sorry computer I haven’t the time nor the inclination right now’ he walked to the door ahead, as he did a searing pain rushed through his mind like a cut from a knife, his inhibitor chip that he had no idea existed had other plans. The pain continued until he stumbled reluctantly to the scan area.
‘Thank you for your co-operation Mr Troy this will not take a moment’
Troy was shocked and disturbed by this freak occurrence, he thought the computer system must have mind control powers at its disposal; blissfully unaware it was an internal chip monitoring his every move like an over-zealous prison guard.
Once the scan was complete he carried on his way to Thorns briefing room rubbing his head softly with confusion.
‘Special Agent Daryl Troy Designation 115 at your service sir’ he announced as he entered a darkly lit room and sat in front of Thorns impressive oak desk.
‘These are troubled times Daryl and I may have acted rashly towards you my friend, I’ am sorry if that was the case, that was a great effort. Frost has become quite a foe to be reckoned with, he took out Miller, Torres and Takuya In Kandahar. Torres was our finest combat expert. It really is disturbing news Daryl’
‘I found their remains in Kandahar. It’s surreal we’ve all been brought up to believe we’re invincible and harsh reality is a tough one to swallow’ Troy was clearly missing a chunk of his soul now three of his brothers were no longer alive.
‘I know Daryl I know but we must press on, millions have lost their lives and millions more will if Frost is not apprehended soon. We think he’ll lay low for a while now his feathers have been ruffled and I don’t think he was expecting that quite so soon’
‘Yes sir I agree. I‘d like to resume the hunt though it won’t be long now before I find him’
‘Of course Daryl as soon as the Mark One has had a bit of a pamper so to speak, you can be on your way and good luck‘
As he got up to leave he asked the general a question he was itching to ask.
‘Sir one more thing do the computer systems have some kind of mind control capability now?’
‘Mind control? You’ve had too many late nights young man, get some rest!’ Thorn replied sheepishly as Troy motioned towards the door.
‘Oh and by the way Daryl the tachyon detection idea was first class, you are certainly one of the best!’ General Thorn continued, trying to take Troy’s mind off the issue.
As the door shut Thorn’s communicator tingled his arm, it was the Planetary Commission again. He patched through to the main viewer in his office and took a deep breath.
‘Good evening Mr Jefferson what can I do for you?’ he answered with a forced smile.
‘Don’t start with your bullshit General The Planetary commission will soon be in possession of everything your agency owns. Just one more attack Thorn and we go public and become the saviours of the human race’ Jefferson squirmed back at Thorn who could feel the flames of fury burning his insides like never before.
‘We will take him down and when we do our operation will again be secured. We are the best people to take Frost down, we designed him for fuck sake’
‘I’ve lost three, no four of my finest agents and all your commission cares about is power and greed. If you would rather I didn’t instruct one of my agents to find your location and pummel you deep into the ground then I suggest you stop calling me’ Thorn finished and ended the call, he had met Jefferson at a Commission conference a few years previous and smelt his ambition was verging on madness even back then. Now he was the commissions press director, he like frost had been corrupted but in
vastly different ways.
Troy walked down the dark hallway of the nerve centre of SIA Central Command, he had a few hours to kill. He found the mess hall at the bottom of the corridor, as he entered he saw his fellow agents winding down after the hunt for Frost.
‘Daryl you’re ok! Come and join us we’re just remembering the guys, they were fine men, it’s such a shame!’ Li Kym was a good friend of Troy’s and always had been.
‘Why should we sit with him, he gave us no help! Why do you think he followed Frost alone? He’s in allegiance with that traitor!’ Markov announced to the room while he kept his eyes fixed on Troy. He and Markov had a long history of rivalry, Markov had always been jealous of the attention Troy received from his superiors.
Without a word Troy pulled a hunters knife from nowhere and pressed it against Markov’s throat so fast no-one, not even Markov, had time to flinch.
‘Because we are brothers I will let you get away with saying that once, ONCE! If you ever question my honour again I’ll gut you like a pig’ Troy put fear into the hearts of all those witnessed his outburst but no one tried to stop him as Markov was clearly out of order.
‘Hey hey, let’s calm down people we’re supposed to be a team this is just ridiculous’ Sadek said to them all to calm their nerves and slowly Troy removed the knife from Markov’s throat but keeping his steely gaze on his tormentor. The remnants of the elite band of agents sat in silence for a few moments, trying to come to terms with the death and destruction they had all seen so vividly. Finally Sadek broke the silence.
‘I really am in disbelief of the last couple of days it’s like a waking nightmare, how can everything you take for granted suddenly fall apart before your eyes?’
‘I know my friend, we have all been designed to be prepared for anything this world can throw at us, yet I don’t think any of us were prepared for what’s happened’ Kym answered Sadek solemnly. With that Markov broke his silence.
‘Well if we weren’t all here discussing it all this would be closer to resolve, you can talk as long as you want I’m going to find him!’
‘Wait Markov I’m coming with you we’ll find Frost if it’s the last thing we ever do!’ Sadek said as they headed towards the door.
Kym and Troy sat in silence as they watched their comrades leave, half wondering if they would ever see them again. With that Troy’s communicator sounded, it was Dr Janner.
‘Agent Troy the Mark One is back up to scratch and Thorn wants you to resume the hunt, I’d also like to say well done on the pursuit of Frost you did excellently, you’ll get him next time!’
Almost Immediately Troy jumped to his feet and went to shake Agent Kym’s hand.
‘Well Li look after yourself and I’ll see you when this is all over you got that?’ Troy said to Kym with genuine concern.
‘No-way Daryl you’re not doing this on your own! I’m coming with you and besides Markov annoys the shit out of me!’
‘You better keep up Li I run a tight ship; there’s no talking in my library!’
They ran for the door and headed towards the helicopter bunkers.