The Dark Rift: Redemption

  THE DARK RIFT:

REDEMPTION

by

R. M. Brewer

The Dark Rift: REDEMPTION
is a work of fiction. Names, places, incidents, characters and their dialogue are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE DARK RIFT: REDEMPTION
. Copyright © 2015

by R.M. Brewer.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

FIRST EDITION

ISBN-13: 978-1517699024

EDITED by Summer Hanford

DEDICATION

To Ellen Ripley

For inspiring generations to look to the skies with wonder ... and fear … especially fear…

Dr. Dana Culver wiped her brow, watching from a distance as her intern, Jimmy, pushed the soil auger deep into the hard-packed desert sand. Just three weeks ago, she and Jimmy were in the final stages of completing a yearlong research project, investigating tectonically active zones of the arid southwest. They'd collected hundreds of samples and performed thousands of tests.

Then, the earthquakes occurred in California and Cuba. She and Jimmy listened to the news coverage on a transistor radio in their field office. As the newscaster described incalculable loss of life and seemingly limitless environmental damage, a nice-looking middle-aged man in an expensive suit drove up to the project site. He carried the aroma of good cigars and bourbon.

“Ted. Ted Renfro. Department of Homeland Security,” he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth as he grinned broadly and grabbed Dana’s hand before she could even offer it. “Sure is a hot one today,” he said, dropping her hand and pulling his handkerchief out to mop his face. “Well, let me get to the point. You’ve been called to serve your country.”

With that big smile and an official letter signed by none other than the President of the United States, he offered her the lead position for the post-earthquake research and monitoring team. “You would be in charge of the entire effort here in the southwest. We need people like you,” Renfro said, staring at Dana with intensity as beads of sweat broke loose from his forehead.

Yet, Dana was reluctant to accept the position. It would mean abandoning her post at the university and leaving her project behind. But, as she thought about it, she realized that an opportunity like this only came along once in a lifetime. After a few brief moments, she made her decision.

"I would be honored," she said, standing a little taller and feeling very patriotic. Her test results would have to wait. She made her acceptance contingent on keeping Jimmy as her assistant and they wrapped up their fieldwork and set off for Nevada.

So, while the rest of the continent was in the process of rebuilding and salvaging whatever they could retrieve from the ocean, Dana and Jimmy were baking in the midday Nevada desert sun. But, something seemed altogether wrong. When they told her she'd be leading the team, she expected more than just Jimmy. She’d hoped for a group of junior scientists to do the grunt work and a handful of senior scientists to process the data, an air-conditioned field office, a nice comfortable chair and a spacious desk. But what she got was isolation.

Dana's work was overseen by one of the hundreds of new employees of the DHS, who really had no idea what she was doing out there playing in the sand. Yet, she filled out her daily logs and sent them off, knowing the DHS didn't understand what the monitoring results meant. She had a feeling they had no comprehension of the caliber of her work, her esteemed reputation or the sacrifices she'd made to build her career.

In the second week of her assignment, Dana called the DHS to inquire when her team would arrive. She got no concrete response, just a lot of double talk and no idea when anyone would show up. Why were they stonewalling? After a few days, she was beginning to understand that the federal government was probably just putting up a good front. She was thinking they didn't really want answers about the earthquakes. It was as if they were using her for public relations or something. They certainly didn’t seem concerned with science.

Dana went back to work, dismissing her suspicions and telling herself she shouldn’t be expecting so much from the DHS, what with an unprecedented national disaster on their hands. She hoped things would work out, eventually.

A week later, Dana and Jimmy were halfway through the seismometer grid installation, which
ordinarily would have been done by junior field geologists half her age. She glanced over at Jimmy as he peeled his shirt off and dropped it next to a mesquite bush. He pushed the probe into the ground to install the lead for a shallow seismometer. She smiled as he looked up at her, feeling like she was looking into the face of a big, dumb puppy. Months spent working under the blazing sun had hardened the young man's body into a rippling,
glistening bronzed piece of art. She noticed the sweat beaded up on his strong biceps.

Dana knew relationships with students should be off limits. However, as she watched Jimmy work, an inner conflict that had nagged at her since arriving in Nevada crept into her mind. She thought of all the years devoted to her studies, followed by teaching, and now, what seemed like forced servitude for the federal government. It was very clear that life wasn't going to work out like she’d thought it would. Her devotion to her profession left her no time for a personal life, much less a family. She knew she wouldn't be compensated for her sacrifices with fame or fortune. The more she contemplated her situation, the more she realized what she did or didn't do wasn't of any consequence to anyone, really. She let the possibility of Jimmy fill up her thoughts, her body responding faster than her mind could reject the attraction.

Dana made no attempt to stop ogling the young man. Her mind traveled downwards, following her eyes. Little by little, she let herself consider the idea of Jimmy, his writhing sweaty body sliding over hers on the hot desert sand. Her feet started moving, seemingly involuntarily, and she made her way over to him. No time like the present to get the discussion
started.

"Say, Jimmy, I've been wanting to talk to you about something," she said, letting her face form that little smile she knew made Jimmy's eyes sparkle just a bit brighter.

Jimmy stopped digging and leaned on the handle of the soil probe, looking adorable. "Yeah, what's that Dr. Culver?"

Before she could answer him with her proposal, an odd thing happened. Dana heard a sharp crack followed by a dense thud. She watched as the side of Jimmy's head exploded into the air, spraying a calico cactus,
Echinocereus engelmannii
, to be precise, with grey matter and bits of bone.

Dana sucked in a mouthful of air, watching Jimmy stand there, still with that dumb puppy look plastered on his face. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground, an unthinkable amount of blood seeping from his head into the superheated sand. Dana screamed and fell to her knees, crawling to Jimmy, grabbing at his body, looking for a sign he was still alive. She felt the gritty acid taste of bile and sand mixing in her mouth at the sight of the contents of his head dripping off of the nearby flora.

She continued screaming so loudly that she didn't hear the truck approaching until it was almost in front of her. Something reflective shined in her eyes and she looked up to call for help, blinded by the glaring light. Blinking back the tears, she made out the silhouette of a man standing outside a van, pointing a gun at her head. She heard the shot almost at the same time she felt the bullet punch into her forehead, leaving a trail of silvery white light as it screamed through her brain. As she fell to the sand, she noticed the metallic logo gleaming on the side of the van. "Gypsum ... Gypsum," Dana mumbled as the world turned black.

Jodie knew Gypsum would try to find them. They would be painted as terrorists, responsible for the devastation in California, and somehow also linked to the earthquake on the east coast. They would be hunted until they were captured or killed. The only thing saving them, for the moment, was the fact that the earthquakes had wiped out much of the power grid in California, leaving normal forms of communication out of the question for Gypsum to use to disseminate their lies. Jodie knew her safety, and that of everyone with her, was dependent on their ability to expose the truth. But first, they needed to set concern for their own lives aside and foil Gypsum's backup plan. Then, they might have a chance.

They'd been at Nick's house at Lake Tahoe for only a day when Jodie decided it would be safer for everyone to find shelter somewhere else. Somewhere where no one would know them, somewhere no one could find them. So, Jodie and Nick began their attempt to cover their tracks. They started the Gypsum van Mei had driven to Nick's and sped out into the woods.             

"Maybe we should blow it up," Nick said. "It might make us feel a little better." Nick glared at the van with certain hatred in his eyes.

"Yeah. I'm sure it would make us feel great, but we might draw too much attention. We better just cover it." Jodie let herself think of flames licking at the logo on the van. Of Gypsum being consumed by fire. A smile started to form on her face, but she was brought back to reality by the urgency of their situation. They needed to prepare for their trip. Starting tomorrow, they would be on the run.

Jodie felt responsible for everyone in her group. She would need to find a safe place for Christy St. John and her son, Noah. She knew she’d probably need to leave Nick and his dog, Hunter, behind to protect them. She’d also have to leave Bonnie Martin and her son, Tim with them.

Sometime before they separated, she'd need to question Bonnie to get whatever information she could about Bonnie's husband, David, who was complicit in the Gypsum plan. Bonnie might know something about her husband’s whereabouts, a detail she didn’t think was important, but could lead them in the right direction. But Jodie knew in her heart that David had likely lied for years about what he was doing for Gypsum. She’d probably have to find him without Bonnie’s help. She’d have to count on her father to get her to the Gypsum installation and Isaiah to help her throw a wrench into their plans.

Then, there was Mei. Jodie had no idea if leaving her behind with Nick and the others would even be possible. She knew Mei would probably demand to go with her and didn’t look forward to the conflict she knew they would have over it. But when she thought about it for a moment, Jodie realized Mei’s stubbornness was one of the things she was learning to love about her.

After parking the van behind a dense grove of trees, Jodie and Nick covered it with large branches and brush. She felt a creeping sensation on the back of her neck, almost like she'd experienced days before, when she was out in the woods. Like someone was watching them. “Let’s get going, Nick. I’m starting to get a bad feeling. I think we need to get out of here as fast as we can.”

“You got it. I’m having the same feeling. Something isn't right.” Nick stared off into the woods. “When we get back to the house, I’ll load up the truck.”

* * *

The next morning would have been beautiful, had it not been for the smoke rolling in from the coast and the dread it brought with it. Jodie stepped over by Mei and looked at the foggy haze coming from the west.

"That's from San Francisco, isn't it?" Mei said, her expression grim.

"It's hard to tell, but probably from somewhere along the coast," Jodie said, slipping her arm around Mei's shoulder. "I know you're worried about your parents, but give it some time. Once the phone lines are up and running, DHS will probably put together a list of survivors with contact information so people can locate each other. We'll find them, Mei." Jodie tried to be as reassuring as she could, but she knew the
chances of finding Mei's family in the disaster zone that used to be the coast of California were slim.

Mei nodded and continued to look off to the west.

"We'd better get moving," Jodie said, taking her hand and steering her toward the SUV. Jodie pulled out a map she'd marked up earlier, highlighting two backwoods areas in the nearby national forest. “Okay, I think we should split up. This is where we’re headed,” she said, pointing to the areas on the map. “If it looks like one area's been compromised, move on to the next."

Nick switched the channel to three on their two-way radios and handed one to Jodie and another to Isaiah. He held another in his hand. "These things have a range of about thirty miles. Tricky thing is, you'll need to get out in the open to get a good signal. You can't be under the trees, so you'll need to call from the road."

Jodie wondered if the radios would help them, but using them was the only option they had for communication. She knew they were taking a chance by splitting up, but she felt like staying together would put everyone in danger if she or her father were recognized by Gypsum. Evan Watts would, without a doubt, be amongst the most wanted by Gypsum because of his knowledge of their inner workings. Jodie would be equally in danger because of what she’d learned over the past few weeks.

“Okay, first, we need to find transportation that can't be linked to one of us. No one knows Isaiah has the rental SUV, so we'll keep that, but we need two more vehicles. Let's find a place for you to wait while Isaiah and I go car shopping." Jodie traced a feint line on the map showing the location of a gravel forest road. “This looks like a good spot to hide for a bit.”

Jodie drove the SUV ahead of Nick in his four-wheel drive truck, north into the dense forest where the tree canopy kept them shielded from satellite view. She turned off on a muddy road leading to a deserted campground. Once the rest of the group was settled, she and Isaiah left everyone waiting with the SUV and drove Nick’s truck into the nearest town they thought would have a car dealership, about forty miles away.

Coming into town, they passed a used car lot, seeing it looked completely dark inside. As Jodie looked around, she was encouraged by the fact that no lights were on anywhere. After all, if there was no power, there would be no alarm. They hid the truck in a parking structure and walked back to the car lot. Not a soul was on the streets. Jodie stood for a moment and looked around at what used to be an upscale resort town south of Lake Tahoe. The view was depressing. Windows were boarded up and front doors locked down. It looked as if the town had been evacuated.

Isaiah grabbed her arm to get her attention. Jodie caught her breath, standing still as a pack of dogs ran down the middle of the street, unfettered, and made their way to an overturned dumpster in back of a fast food restaurant.

“I’ll keep watch out here on the street. Okay with you?” Isaiah said.

Jodie nodded. “Better keep out of sight. You never know who could be here. Besides Lassie and her friends, that is,” Jodie said.

She continued toward the car lot, where she spied a1950s Jaguar Roadster sitting in the front row under a canopy, likely just for show. While she thought it would be fun to travel in style, the Jag would stand out too much, so she moved on. The next row held a more reasonable selection, one of which immediately caught her attention. Now, that's more like it, she thought. Jodie walked over and peeked in the window of the sleek black Camaro. If she was going to add grand theft auto to her list of offenses, might as well make it worthwhile. 

Walking up to the door of the building, she could see someone else had the same idea. The front door was smashed in. Jodie’s feet crunched over broken glass as she pulled out her service revolver and made her way to the key box. The sturdy metal container had seen better days. Jodie spied a sledgehammer lying on the floor next to the box, which was riddled with indentations from repeated battering. Yet, the lock had held. She guessed that people in this part of the country weren't too well schooled on the fine art of auto theft.

Jodie brought her arm up and aimed her gun at the box. She stopped as she heard footsteps crunching behind her and swung around in time to duck, a stanchion pole missing her head by mere inches. Her would
-
be attacker held the red ropes clipped to the stanchion and swung the pole the other way as Jodie tried to dodge the brass missile aimed toward her head. She fell backwards and flattened herself against the floor, feeling the glass trying to dig through her clothes and the breeze created by the stanchion as it whipped over her face.

"Stop now, or I'll shoot," Jodie said, pointing the gun at her assailant.

A boy, about sixteen years old, by Jodie's estimation, cowered in front of her, shaking and holding onto the red ropes.

"Drop it, now," Jodie said, as she stood up, her feet sliding on the broken glass.

The boy complied. "I, uh, I'm sorry. I just ... we have no way to get out of here. I need a car," the boy said.

"Who's with you?" Jodie said, scanning the rental office for a sign of another person.

"Nobody. I mean, my girlfriend. She's waiting down the street. Everyone else is gone."

"What's your name?" Jodie asked.

"Rick. Are you some kind of police officer or something? Are you gonna arrest me?"

"No, Rick, I'm not. Where are your parents? Why didn't you leave with them?"

"My dad was traveling in Europe. Emma -- that's my girlfriend -- Emma's parents were in San Francisco when everything happened. We tried calling them, but they didn't answer their phone. Now, there's no phone anymore, or power, or anything. Emma wants to go to the city to see if we can find her mom and dad."

Jodie felt pity for the young man. If his story was true, it was likely Emma's parents were dead. With the damage to infrastructure in the area, it was also safe to assume his father wouldn't be returning anytime soon. The DHS had designated the entire United States as a no fly zone, likely because they didn't yet know if the devastation in California and Cuba were the result of terrorism. She knew these kids would be on their own for a while. "Okay, Rick. Drop your weapon and I'll see what I can do to open this box."

"Uh ... yeah, okay," the boy said, letting the stanchion ropes fall to the floor.

"Stand to the side over there, where I can see you,” Jodie said. “I don't want to be surprised again.”

The boy stepped over to the side.

“You know, there are better ways to ask for help than hitting someone in the head with a brass pole.” Jodie realized how lucky she was. If Rick had managed to connect with the stanchion, she wouldn’t likely be able to get to a hospital for medical treatment. It wouldn’t be safe.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

Jodie laughed at the boy and looked around the rental office and beyond, out into the lot. Everything seemed deserted. “By the way, why are you in such a hurry? You could’ve waited for me to leave and taken what you wanted.”

Rick’s expression revealed his confusion. “Don’t you know about the evacuation? They came this morning. You know, those government contractor guys in the vans? They said we're sitting on the fault line. We gotta get outta here,” he stammered, shifting back and forth on his heels. “I guess I thought you were one of those people. They were jerks. Uh, no offense.”

"None taken, Rick." Jodie wondered if the evacuation was done by Gypsum to get everyone out of the way while they searched for her and her companions. “Those contractors. Did they tell you who they work for?”

“No. After they said we should evacuate, they pretty much chased everybody outta town. They told us they’d arrest us if we didn’t leave. Me and Emma were trying to figure out what to do and they started banging on the door, so we hid in the basement while they searched the house. We could hear them walking upstairs. I think they took some of my dad’s stuff.”

“But, they didn’t tell you who they work for?”

“Nope. They had on these uniforms. Like combat uniforms, or something, with a globe-shaped thingy on their shoulders. Not a military uniform.”

Jodie knew whose uniforms those were. The Gypsum Corporation. It was obvious that Gypsum had evacuated the town, searching for her and the rest of her group. She knew they had to hurry back to camp and warn the others. "Okay, cover your ears," she said, as she aimed at the lock and pulled the trigger. The bullet made a hollow thudding sound. Jodie walked over and pulled the door open, revealing rows of keys.

"I'm taking what I need. Whatever you do when I'm gone is your own business," she said.

"Sure, lady. Thanks."

Jodie ran her fingers across the labels, coming to a set of keys on the second row of hooks with a Chevrolet logo. She pulled the keys down, pointed out into the lot and pressed the unlock button. Taillights flashed back at her. I just hope that machine has some gas in the tank, she thought. She pulled down a second set of keys
,
belonging to an SUV, for Isaiah.

"Rick, do you and Emma have food and water? You'll need supplies if you're traveling toward the city. And, I have to tell you, you're not going to be safe there. People will want to take your car and anything else they can get from you. You might be better off finding somewhere to ride out the storm. Actually, the fewer people you talk to right now, the better, even though you do have a pretty good offensive swing," Jodie said, smiling at the scared boy.