All Comes Together

He reached out to the ringing cel phone on the night stand beside the bed. He waved the girl away from him as he keyed in the three digit code to activate the encryption software on the phone. He pressed the answer button. Every light in his suit flickered as the white noise filter in the room automatically activated. He paused for a moment to make sure any and all listening devices would be blocked before he brought the cel phone to his ear.

“Identify yourself.”

“It’s Liberator, boss.”

“Are you encrypted?” The blonde at the foot of the bed stirred as Atlas rolled to the edge of the bed.

“Of course,” Liberator said.

“What news of the girl?”

“We have her in custody are en route to the Des Moines police.”

The blonde and the redhead started rubbing Atlas’s back just as the brunette emerged from the bathroom, still nude. Atlas turned to the girls behind him and muted the phone.

“Enough,” he said. “Go entertain yourselves.”

Both girls turned their attention to rubbing one another.

“Join them,” Atlas said to the brunette as he climbed out of the bed. She moved to the massive bed and joined in touching the other two women.

Atlas un-muted the phone and brought it back to his ear. “Take her to the Ankeny facility instead.”

“But we’ve already called ahead to the Des Moines police.”

“They will just assume it to be a prank, and if not, my men inside will handle it.”

“You’re the boss. ETA will be in twenty-seven minutes.”

“Hold her there and prepare our other friend. I think it’s time we put his abilities to the test.”

Liberator didn’t respond for several seconds. Finally, he said, “Boss, are you sure?”

“You know better than to question me, Liberator. Get everything ready. I’ll arrive as soon as I finish here.”

“You want it, you got it, boss. Liberator out.”

Atlas closed the phone. One less problem to worry about, he thought.

He turned back to the tangle of women in the bed with a smile.

“Slow down, ladies,” he said. “The party’s only just begun.”

*****

Iniri pulled in front of the small building marked Tudor Police and Fire Department. It looked from the outside to be little more than an entryway and a pair of garage doors.

Iniri shut the engine off and turned to Freedom. “What’s the plan?”

“I go in,” he said. “You wait here. I try to get the local police’s help in contacting Annabelle Montalvo’s foster family.”

“And I’m waiting in the car why exactly?”

“Because we’re in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Now I’m not saying we’ve entered Deliverance or anything, but it’s best not to press our luck. Honestly, going in search of a Mexican couple while looking like an interracial couple isn’t our best bet. I’d like to think the folks around here are better than that, but I’ve had enough bad run-ins with small town law enforcement to have my doubts.”

Iniri scowled at him. “Sometimes, Freedom, you’re a little too truthful.”

*****

Outside of Des Moines in suburban Ankeny sat the nondescript offices of Gencorp. Those in the know knew it did various genetic research, but few had ever seen the inside of the building. Its security trumped any of its rivals. A casual observer might assume it to be just a bit of paranoia by company security.

Deep beneath, the main office, a group of scientists and technicians began the slow process of opening a cryo-storage unit.

A robotic arm pulled the individual chamber from the large metal base that also served as a refrigeration unit. The arm carried it across the chamber, past dozens of similar cryonic chambers and in to a separate, germ-free room. The temperature inside stood at just under -20 degrees Fahrenheit and the two technicians inside wore full cold suits.

The first technician connected a diagnostic panel to the long cylindrical cryo-unit. He watched it for a moment as the row of lights went from yellow to green, one at a time, in sequence. When the final light turned green, he gave his coworker a thumbs up. The second man connected a pair of tubes to the top and bottom of the cryo-unit. Both men then walked across the room, where they each inserted a key in to a panel on the wall. They turned the keys simultaneously. With a whoosh of gas releasing, the nitrogen left the cryo-tanks. In exactly two hours, the creature inside would awake.

*****

Freedom walked past a group of older men leaving the police station as he entered. He glanced back to Iniri. She hunched down in her seat as they walked past the car and in to downtown Tudor.

Freedom waited another moment to make sure Iniri would be safe. After all of the men passed, he turned and head in to the office.

The interior was even smaller than it seemed from outside. An empty desk sat right inside the door. Freedom assumed the local dispatcher was gone for the evening. Past that desk were three doors. The one to the left sat against the garage, while the right door’s purpose was easily distinguished by the long metal bars that lined the beat-up frame.

The third door led in to the local police chief’s office. A large window to the right of the door allowed Freedom a view inside.

The local policeman, an overweight balding man of at least fifty, yelled at another man. The other man was dressed in plain clothes except for the large badge hanging from his shirt pocket and the baseball cap that read “SHERIFF”. The sheriff took in the policeman’s vitriol without a twitch. He only stood stock still and stroked his moustache.

Freedom cursed silently. Of all the places to run in to Tilby again—

Freedom turned away and started back towards the door. If he could get out without Tilby seeing him, everything would be fine. He heard the door behind him fly open as he reached the exit.”

“Can we help you, sir?” the police chief said from behind him.

Freedom stopped in his tracks, but didn’t turn around. He tried his best to disguise his voice as he spoke. “Uh, no. No problem. Just needed a bathroom.”

Tilby cleared his throat behind Freedom. “Patton, you’d better turn your ass back around right now.”

Freedom sighed and turned back to Sheriff Edward Tilby. Tilby unholstered the .357 Magnum on his belt.

“I told you I’d shoot you dead if I ever saw your damn face again, you bastard.

“I wasn’t kidding.”

He clicked the hammer back as he pointed the weapon at Freedom’s head.