“Come on,” he said after a few seconds. “Let’s get in there.”
The men inside sealed the front door but it was only a matter of seconds for the men outside to blow it open. Sam and the Army made fast work of the mild resistance.
“Ok, you and your men sweep the base, look for any more men guarding the place. I need to get to Devin.”
“Come on Sam, don’t make this personal!” Riker yelled to Sam’s back.
“I’m not,’ Sam said at the foot of a set of stairs. “If you know there was a tech team coming to scrub your systems for information regarding your leaders, what would you be doing right now?”
Riker’s eyes widened as realization hit him. Sam nodded.
“Besides, he is the Shadow Troops leader. Take him out, the rest will fall out of the hive mind mentality.”
Sam kicked the door in to the server room. Just as he thought, Devin was standing at the terminal against the wall.
“Stop right there Franks!” Sam yelled as he ran towards him, blaster drawn.
Franks turned around and threw three silver balls at Sam. As they flew in mid-air, the centers split apart, turning three silver balls into six sharp spinning blades.
Sam dropped to his knees and leaned back, watching as the blades flew over his head. He straightened back up in time to see Franks’ attack.
A toe kick intended for Sam’s face was easily blocked by grabbing hold of the whole foot with both hands. Digging deep down inside him, Sam jerked Franks’ foot up, causing him to fall on his back
Sam jumped to his feet, then jumped to dodge a leg sweep attempt.
As Franks got to his knees, Sam delivered a side kick to his head, wrapping his foot around the back of his skull.
Franks tucked with the blow and rolled away from Sam, giving him enough distance and time to get to his feet.
“You just don’t go away do you?”
Sam just smiled and lunged forward, bringing in a right kick. As Franks’ moved to block it, Sam revealed the feint by bringing in a hard right hook. Not suspecting the fist, Franks’ guard was down just enough for Sam to connect with his jaw.
As he stumbled back, Sam moved with him, bringing in a one-two combo. Franks dodged the left. As the right came in, he step out of reach, then palmed Sam’s arm, adding more momentum to his spin.
As Sam’s back turned on him, he aimed a right punch to the back of Sam’s head. Not moving quick enough, Sam completed the turn and blocked the punch with his right arm, bringing his right leg out with him, connecting a spin kick to Franks’ side.
Franks stumbled to the side, recovered and deflected another right from Sam. Ducking under a left hook, Franks’ moved behind Sam. As Sam turned, Franks pulled a knife from his scabbard and aimed the blade at Sam’s chest.
Sam caught Franks’ hands in between his own and pushed the blade away. Releasing his left hand, Sam brought it in on Franks’ wrist in a hard palm smash, causing him to drop the knife.
Sam kicked it out of the way. Sensing Sam’s focus elsewhere, Franks delivered to quick left jabs, both connecting on Sam’s nose.
As he let go, Franks chopped Sam in the throat. As he bent over coughing, Franks grabbed Sam’s shirt, spun around and sent him flying into one of the computer banks lining the wall.
Sam fell to the floor in a shower of sparks, glass and wires.
With his opponent dazed, Franks recovered his knife, charged at Sam and leapt in the air.
At the last second, Sam rolled out of the way. With nothing to stop him, Franks’ knife drove deep into the motherboard. The smell of burnt hair and human flesh sat heavily in the air as 200,000 watts of electricity coursed through his body. In a shower of sparks, Franks was thrown through the air, crashing into the ceiling then back to the ground.
Franks rolled on the ground, screaming in agony as smoke drifted from his hand. Feeling like a million ants were crawling all over his body, Franks climbed to his feet.
“Yo Dev!” Franks turned around just in time to catch one of the sharp disks in the knee cap. Stumbling back to his knees, another one flew out and caught his right shoulder, shredding the muscle and tendons to pieces.
As Franks’ screams echoed in the room, another disk lanced out, severing his left ear. As he rose his upper body, two more disks flew out, sticking directly in his chest.
Sam walked up to Franks and looked down on him.
Franks smiled, revealing his blood stained teeth. “Nothing to say now, Mr. Owens? No pithy remarks, no glib comment?”
Sam gave him an ice cold stare, then in a flash put a blaster bolt between his eyes.
Sam stood on the bridge of the frigate Savannah watching as the rest of the fleet around him prepared to make the jump to lightspeed.
“Major General on the deck!” Someone yelled. Everyone turned and saluted Lestra’ad as he walked in.
Sam stood taller and gave Lestra’ad a respectful nod of the head. His right arm was placed in a sling by the ships chief medical officer. He was under orders not to use his right arm the rest of the trip home so his ribs could heal properly.
“At ease everybody,” Lestra’ad said. He walked up to Sam and put a gentle flipper on his left shoulder. “You did amazing work today my boy. You’re parents would be so proud of you.”
“Thank you sir.” The compliment brought a smile to Sam’s face. “What’s next?”
“What you uncovered in those files did amazing work. The Legions of the Lost are going to be reintegrated back into the Agency once Franks’ brainwashing wears off. The Shadow Troops are being disbanded and their neural implants will be removed.
“Most importantly though, you opened the door we needed to get ourselves back on trail of the K.L.F.”
Sam’s smile grew wider. “That has to be the best news I have heard in a few months.”
Lestra’ad nodded. “Now what I need you to do is rest and get better.”
“Doc says the sealant should be completely done by the time we get back to Earth. I should be good for duty soon.”
“I’m glad to hear it my boy. We are going to need our top Agent on this as soon as possible so we can bring their leader in. Until then though, get some rest,” Lestra’ad turned and walked away. Sam opened his mouth to argue when Lestra’ad raised a flipper.
“That’s an order.”
Sam called Lestra'ad's name as he turned to leave.
"What about the mole?" Lestra'ad gave him a curious nod of the head.
"You know, the mole. The whole reason I was assigned to this case to begin with."
Lestra'ad nodded absentmindedly as if he had just remembered the missing ingredient to a dish.
"It was Franks all along. He used his training to make it look like a mole."
"Just chasing ghosts huh?" Sam said with a smile.
"Shadows would be more apt but yes," Lestra'ad commented with a chuckle. "Now try and get some sleep."
Meanwhile in the city of Iacon...
“The base has been totally scrubbed sir. They know a lot of information. They know Devin was working for us and using the Legion as his personal forces.”
“I know.”
“They know all our minor bases. They know some of our top officers. They know,”
“I know what they know. They know what they know because I allowed it.”
“Sir?”
“Why do you think that information was in that computer bank? Out of all the bases, why did the base, containing the Legions of the Lost have such ‘sensitive’ information?”
“You planted it there?”
Laughter echoed in the dark room. “Yes. Yes I did. Because I want them looking for us.”
“You do sir?”
“Of course I do you moron! I want them looking for us because they will send him and if they send him then I can talk him into joining us.”
“I don’t understand why he is so important.”
“Are you kidding me? Look at how easily he handled this mission! Pretending to be me, making a false statement, giving me credit for something I didn’t do? Just so the Federation would allow him to come after me? That was brilliant!”
“So we didn’t kill Lancaster?”
“No, that was Devin’s doing. I just wanted the oil, he wanted Lancaster out of the way. Figured it would be easier to steal the oil that way. Speaking of which, did it arrive at the proper destination?”
“Yes sir. The cargo arrived safely on Dromon Kas. Just as you ordered the crew was killed as soon as the oil was offloaded.”
More laughter, then silence for a few seconds. “Are you familiar with the beliefs of the Synovians?”
“I’m sorry, no sir.”
“It’s ok. Synovia is a very out of the way, backwater planet. Their beliefs on hell are very interesting though. They believe that there are different forms of Hell, some we even go through during this life.
“Right now, Sam is going through what the Synovians call ‘Yoshur De Pofroom’……’ The Hell of Disillusionment’.
“Sam may have some faith restored in his precious Federation, but make no mistake about it, he is still very lost and we have his way.”
With that the mysterious man cut off the screen, ending the transmission. As he sat back in his chair, a smile crept across his lips.
Three days later, Sam had some free time and a lot on his mind so he decided to make a trip to see his psychiatrist, Dr. Marshall Langstrom.
You see dear friends, Sam has been going to Marshall’s ever since he was a little kid, for he has suffered from a serious problem for years.
Sam’s parents, proud members of the Federation Navy were killed by pirates when Sam was a baby. Every night since he was nine years old, he has watched his parents die over and over and over. The more stress the more vivid the dreams.
Last night though, something different happened. Something……strange. Marshall was the only person he could talk to.
The little blonde receptionist (I know she looks familiar…..who is she?) looks up and smiles.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes I was in the neighborhood and was just curious if Marshall was free for a quick chat.”
“Dr. Langstrom is with a patient right now. If you would like, you can have a seat in the waiting room.”
Sam smiled. “Ok fine. I spose I will.”
As Sam turns away and walks toward the ceiling to floor window overlooking the bustling metropolis of Iacon, he has no idea that his life is about to be turned upside down. Old friends, new enemies and a world of adventure beyond his wildest imaginations are about to be thrust into the path of his life.
Try as he might there is no going back now. The course is set, the wheel is in motion.
Sam’s greatest destiny is about to be revealed.
DID YOU ENJOY THIS SHORT STORY? STAY TUNED TO PURCHASE MORE STORIES OF SAM ON AMAZON FOR YOUR NOOK OR KINDLE! FIND OUT HOW BRIA COMES INTO THE PICTURE. FIND OUT HOW SAMS ULTIMATELY SAVES THE PLANET AND THE UNIVERSE!
