Fourth Birth: The Oakmont Saga, Book 1

“Tranquilizers only. Keep in mind who your targets are. Only three of you have proper dosing for the girls. Everyone else only target adults,” Stone commanded his team, as they were approaching the area where the girls were most likely hiding.

“Yes, sir,” the men replied in unison.

“Remember, we want the girls alive and unharmed and we want to limit civilian involvement as much as possible. Let’s go,” he commanded as the van came to a stop.

A moment before the van came to a complete stop, the doors opened very quietly and men filed out, quickly and silently surrounding the house. There was an older model pickup truck in the carport and a newer model, very flashy truck in the front drive, as though there was a visitor. An unexpected and unwelcome development if true.

When I woke up, Ma Gardner was sitting beside the bed, humming softly. “How are you feeling sweetie?” she asked, when she saw my eyes open.

“My head hurts, but it always does, especially when I have one of those attacks,” I told her. I couldn’t remember much since the escape, for some reason. It was as if there was a big blank spot in my mind, but I knew there was something there. I wanted to do something, but couldn’t remember what.

“Angel, I don’t know what they did to you, but we’ll make it right, I promise,” she said.

“I don’t want to make it right, I just want to feel good again,” I said, hearing the pathetic tone of my voice. Even though I couldn’t remember much from the past while, and I wasn’t even sure how long, I knew that I needed to get back there. She kept telling me I didn’t.

She lightly brushed my hair with her hand. I almost flinched at the contact, but managed to restrain myself, at least I thought I did. I thought she still noticed though, as she paused for a moment. I guessed she decided that I needed the comforting more than I needed the space. She might have been right, but I was so confused I wasn’t sure of anything.

After a while, I sat up. I thought I was ready to get up for the day and figure out what my next step was, which may involve me abandoning Aliyah. The one solace I had in that was I believed she was safe now, and in good hands. They’d get her to Daddy and I knew he’d take care of her, especially if half of Mr. Ciansa’s faith in him was correct. My prayer was that my leaving in a different direction would keep them from seeing her in plain sight.

Ma Gardner offered me support as I got up, assisting me into the living room. Although I was getting better, I was definitely weak and a little unbalanced, in more ways than one.

As we entered the living room, I froze. There was a tall man standing larger than life, talking to Pa Gardner. He was wearing denim from head to toe, with the largest belt buckle I’d ever seen. It reminded me of the images of men from Texas.

Not sure what came over me, I asked, “Are you from Texas?”

The man laughed, a very deep laugh, furthering my cowboy impression of him. “No, dear girl, I’m not from Texas. Why did you ask that again?” he replied. It was like déjà vu. I would’ve sworn something like this had happened before, but I’d never met this man, although he looked familiar.

The more I looked at him, the more I knew I’d seen him somewhere, as improbable as that was, being that we were in Montana. I couldn’t shake the feeling, though.

“Melanie, are you alright? You already asked Hank that,” Ma Gardner said to me.

“I’ve never met him before,” I told her. She pursed her lips and then turned it to a slight but worried smile.

“Hank Stuben, this is Melanie Brager,” she said, stepping between us, in an introductory manner. Knowing what I was expected to do, I stuck out my hand.

After shaking, and he had a very firm handshake, to match his general appearance, he got a very curious frown on his face. “Although you don’t remember it, we met earlier. I was asking you about my thesis. I would still like to know about that, if you’re up to it.”

Warning bells started sounding in my mind as he said that. There was only one way he could know about that, which told me why he was so familiar. This was Dr. Harold Stuben, who happened to be a friend of Mrs. Wilde. He would turn me and Aliyah over to the school. I couldn’t let Aliyah go back there.

Faster than lightning, terror shot through me. As that terror coursed into my body, I almost fell backward, trying to get away from him and energy immediately started pouring into my mind. I was ready to unleash all of my fury on this man, who I always wanted to meet, until now.

In the back of my mind, I heard Aliyah screaming at me, but I was too focused. My vision was becoming red and my brain had completely disengaged. Just as I was about to release everything I had at him, the doors slammed open with men in military clothing surging inside.

Regardless what threat Dr. Stuben might have posed, the men storming into the house were a more immediate threat. The nearest one got the full might of my brewing anger. I released a flow into his mind, hopefully only knocking him out, but I’d never done anything like that before, so I had no idea what I was doing.

There were purple flashes all around me, but what caught my attention was what Aliyah was doing. She had created fields around the Gardners and Dr. Stuben, with purple flashes erupting all around them. Apparently, she had failed to cover herself, though. The purple flashes around the grownups stopped as I saw Aliyah fall to the floor, with a dart looking thing sticking out of her neck. Watching the only friend I had ever had fall to the floor, possibly dead, shoved me over the edge into complete desperation, and maybe madness. Not knowing what I was doing, I attempted to recreate the thunderclap that I somehow used to stop James.

Thankfully, as I desperately grabbed the energy and tried something I’d never before attempted, I heard the boom and all of the men in black fell to the floor. Pain exploded in my head, but I managed to remain conscious, barely. On my knees, I crawled to Aliyah, checking to see if she was alright, or if she was even alive. There was a small dart sticking in her neck, which I pulled out and stuck in my jacket. As I pulled it out, blood started pouring out of the wound.

Dear God, what now? I might have killed her with my own stupidity. Following the example that Mr. Ciansa gave me, I put my finger over the hole and tried to staunch the flow. I also knew I needed to leave soon. If I actually did what I intended, I had no idea how long they’d stay unconscious, and I didn’t know if there were more outside.

I couldn’t do both and I knew she’d die if they got her, so I quickly returned to the room Aliyah and I stayed in and drug our packs out. Getting them in my hand, and grabbing Aliyah, I soaked up as much of the energy as I could manage to contain in my mind, letting it flow until it felt like I was going to burst. There was so much, it actually burned. Releasing it all at once, I teleported away. I had no destination in mind. I just had to get away. As the energy surged through me, my head exploded into billions of shards of blackness.

“Melanie!” Stone yelled, as he saw the carnage and got a glimpse of Melanie kneeling over Aliyah, who was covered in blood. There was a look on her face that scared him, the look of madness. He’d seen it before and didn’t like seeing it in her.

The explosion of pain on her face was immediate and he knew she was about to teleport away. Blood gushed from her nose and there were red tear streaks down her cheeks just as she blinked away. She was gone without even seeming to hear him, screaming the pain that was clear on her face as she did. He wasn’t sure he would blame her if she deliberately ignored him, but he was pretty sure she wasn’t able to hear him. What also caught his interest was the fact that she just carried Aliyah with her, along with the two packs. She’d never done anything like that before, much less whatever distance she just teleported.

“What the hell happened,” he pondered out loud, returning from his thoughts of Melanie. There were not supposed to be any injuries, especially of the girls, and it definitely looked like Aliyah was badly injured. There was too much blood for it to be otherwise and it was definitely where she had been lying.

Thinking quickly, he pulled a small test tube out of his jacket and collected a sample of the blood on the floor, using the small collector in the test tube. Although he needed to verify who’s blood this was, he was fairly certain he was right.

Another concern was how all of the men inside the house were unconscious. No telepath had ever attacked the mind like this before and none had ever been able to attack a non-telepath in any way, oddly enough. Read the mind of a non-telepath sure, but not attack. That had always been solidly limited to other telepaths. He hoped desperately that they were simply unconscious and nothing more serious.

Bending to examine the closest soldier, he saw a small amount of blood at the nose and eyes. Moving the man’s head a little and lifting his earpiece revealed a tiny trickle of blood at the ear as well. She definitely used some kind of mental attack on his men, which scared the crap out of him.

He knew that she attacked in self-defense, but that didn’t change the fact that she was very dangerous. Especially considering she was untrained and was reacting out of instinct. Some of the most dangerous animals were the ones that felt cornered, which was how she most likely felt.

“We found her but she got away,” he said into the phone when Rebecca answered. “Although I’m not certain, I’m pretty sure that Aliyah was injured in the attempt. You should also know, Melanie attacked my men with her mind. All of the men that were inside the house are unconscious. I don’t know the extent of the attack, but it looks a lot like the aftermath of the attack with James,” he told her.

As he was talking he felt a gun touch his back, and then move back. “I suggest you end your call,” a male voice told him.

“Rebecca, I need to go. I’ll call you as soon as I’m able,” he told Rebecca and hung up the phone without waiting for a reply, slowly turning to face this new threat.

The man he saw was not a huge man, but seemed fit. His clothing was very functional, providing freedom of movement, but also providing warmth in this environment. He held the gun in his hand with a certain look of ease, obviously very familiar with the feel and apparent confidence in his abilities. Stone considered trying to disarm this man, but for some unknown reason, he hesitated.

“I have no idea who you are, mister, but I’m with the Department of Defense and I’m here on government business,” Stone told the man.

“I also work for the Department of Defense and I’m also here on government business. And by the way, you’re in a CIA safe house, which means your presence in what appears to be an attack is a violation of federal law,” the man replied. He handed Stone a card, sliding it across the coffee table, which he’d placed between them.

Slowly, so as not to appear threatening, he reached down and picked up the card, looking at the identification. He again considered a quick attack to disarm the man, but again stopped himself. This man was obviously trying to avoid unnecessary violence, so Stone decided to play along, for now.

His stomach dropped as he saw the name, Randall Brager, Deputy Chief, Division of Woodland Security and Surveillance. Stone had never heard of this division before and had no idea how it was attached to the Department of Defense, but he knew how dangerous this man could possibly be, based on the much redacted record he had seen.

“I don’t know what this division is, but I’m certain that I outrank you in this situation, as this is a military matter, not a nature and wildlife matter,” Stone said, not willing to make any foolish moves now that he knew who was in front of him. Randall Brager might not be at the level he was at when he was in the army, but Stone also didn’t know that he wasn’t just as capable now as he was then.

What Stone could clearly see was a man standing in front of him with a clear and comfortable ease with a gun in his hand. He also appeared very fit, even though the clothing could hide it if he was getting a little soft around the edges.

“Where’s my daughter?” Randall said, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth, after Stone’s statement. That hint of a smile disarmed Stone as much as anything else, as if Brager knew where he stood and had no concerns with Stone’s position and credentials.

“I don’t know,” Stone replied.

“You just mentioned her to the person you were speaking to. You obviously came here for her, so where is she?” he asked again, a dangerous glint in his eyes and any hint of a smile gone.

“Mr. Brager, I don’t know. We came to recover her, but she’s gone. We were attacked, as you can see, and she disappeared in the assault,” Stone said, not providing full disclosure.

“Whose blood’s on the floor? The body is obviously missing,” Brager asked.

“Aliyah, a girl that was with Melanie. At least, I suspect that it’s hers,” he said, slowly lowering his hands.

“Sit down, please,” Brager said, the gun never wavering in the slightest. This man was steady as a rock, which gave Stone a clue as to his competence. There was also a look in his eyes that Stone had seen before. Only the hardest soldiers got that look, and usually just before they went into combat, a place those soldiers had been too often.

“You obviously weren’t intending to harm her, or anyone else, seeing the tranq darts, so I’ll assume you’re telling the truth. Tell me what you’ve been doing with my daughter,” Brager commanded. Stone had the distinct impression that Randall Brager knew at least some of what had happened, but how much he had no clue.

“I’ve been monitoring her while she was in the school, trying to make sure she stayed safe. She was assaulted in October and I thought it prudent to keep an eye on her. It’s not uncommon for victims of assaults to try and harm themselves, and there was also the possibility of the attackers trying to do it again,” he said, not holding anything back, not knowing how much he might already know.

“My daughter was sexually assaulted, I assume it was sexual based on your wording and concern, and you didn’t see fit to send her home, where she belongs,” Brager said, his face getting even more intense. Stone had seen his fair amount of combat in his life, but he had never felt fear before like he did at that moment.

“Mr. Brager that’s not a decision I can make or know anything about. I’m only responsible for the security and safety of the facility,” Stone told him. He gave a barely visible nod, but nothing more.

“I assume then that you were unaware that we had been provided evidence, including certified documents, that our daughter was dead,” he said. Although Stone didn’t know it, he wasn’t really surprised, considering the nature of the program.

“As for you outranking me in this situation, you’re mistaken,” Brager told him, lowering the gun and unchambering the round that was loaded, then smoothly holstering it inside his jacket. Stone relaxed visibly, but knew better than to think he could easily take this man, as he’d considered earlier. It was also a testament to his confidence that he had put the gun away.

“What’s your intention, Mr. Brager?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I was hoping to get her out of here quietly and without incident. When I arrived and saw the government van, I knew better, but this was unexpected,” he said, indicating the scene in the room.

“I have no idea what to do with you now and I’m not in the habit of taking prisoners,” he admitted. Stone was a little appalled to be considered so lightly, as if he would be a pushover.

“Another complication is that she apparently has another girl with her, one who may be seriously wounded, looking at the amount of blood on the floor. That adds an extra entanglement to the situation. I taught her better than that,” he said, looking deep in thought. That last statement was almost under his breath.

His comments just answered some of the suspicions that Stone had concerning Melanie and her planning and abilities. He was now sure that she was trained by her father for different situations.

“Did you teach her to make winter shelters?” Stone asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“I was asked by her troop leader if I would teach the girls about snow shelters and winter survival shelters. It was a lot of fun and the girls were a joy to work with. They slept in them that night and were warmer than the girls that slept in cabins,” Brager replied, obviously enjoying the memory.

“Well, it served her well during her escape. We found the remains of her shelters. As cold as it’s been, that training likely saved her life and Aliyah’s.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, his pride shining like the sun.

“Mr. Brager, there are things going on at the school that aren’t right. I suspect that my time at the school is short, as I will not harm children and the people currently in charge will and have,” he said, deciding to be up front with this man.

“I assume you were going to recover the girls and return them to the school, or whatever it really is,” Brager asked.

“Yes, that was my intention and it truly is a school, although it’s also a research and training facility. There are some that are attempting to get the head docs out of the school, which is why I was willing to return the girls. Melanie in particular needs guidance for her abilities,” Stone said.

Deciding to give full disclosure and gambling a bit, he said, “Your daughter is dangerous. She has skills that can kill people and she needs to be guided by those that are familiar with them. I don’t know how her recruitment happened and I can’t vouch for the ethics of all of that, but I do know what I have observed while watching her.”

“If she’s dangerous, you people made her so,” Brager stated flatly and clearly angry at the implications. “I know about the serum your people gave me which brought about her telepathic abilities and that it will likely manifest in my son. I also know that she far exceeds what the standard telepath has exhibited in the past. I’m not sure of her strength, but the age of onset is far outside the standard deviation of this highly unethical experiment. You people have engaged in human testing, which is banned by many treaties and international law, as well as U.S. law. Don’t talk to me about my daughter being dangerous when you people made her so,” Brager said in his flat, unemotional voice. It was so flat and unemotional, it scared Stone.

After a pause, “Is she responsible for this?” he asked, clearly indicating the unconscious soldiers.

“Although I was not inside when it occurred, I’m certain she is. Aliyah has never exhibited this type of ability before, whereas Melanie has more than once. Never to this degree though,” Stone replied, an odd interest in his expression.

“You’ve opened Pandora’s box, it seems,” Brager said, a small, almost evil looking smile on his face.

“So it would seem,” Stone agreed. “As I asked before, what next?”

“Well, here’s my suggestion for you, even though I know you won’t accept it. Resign your job before we cross paths again. You seem like a capable and conscientious soldier. I never like killing good men, just because they ended up on the wrong side, but I do what I must,” Brager told him.

“But you will if we cross paths again?”

“If you’re in pursuit of my daughter, then yes, or you’ll kill me.”

Randall Brager stood up, offering his hand to Stone. Reaching out, Stone stood and shook his hand with a single, firm shake.

“Good luck with your search, but I hope you fail,” Randall Brager said as he headed for the door.

“Mr. Brager, you need to know, Melanie was given certain substances to enhance her abilities, just before she escaped,” Stone began. The mention of escape brought a smile to Brager’s face, as he was clearly proud of her, but the smile quickly disappeared.

“What is the nature of these substances?”

“She was given a number of different drugs, but there is one that really concerns me. It was banned a long time ago, but the head docs used it anyway. When I learned of it, it was referred to as SHD. Apparently, it contains heroin, cocaine and amobarbital, along with an unknown list of other things. I was told that this stuff brings a telepath to their full potential a lot faster.”

“Would they have potentially used it to get information from her?”

“You know what amobarbital is, I take it?”

“Yes,” Brager replied, very simply.

“She was always very closed with information, even when we were trying to help her. I suspect that the docs wanted information, along with the other ‘benefits’ of the drug. I assume they got what they were looking for, but I really don’t know. I do know that this stuff is really bad. For what it’s worth, I truly hope you find her before I do.”

“Your men outside are unconscious, but aren’t seriously harmed. They may have a headache for a few days, though. They really should pay better attention to what’s around them,” Brager said, a small smile playing on his face again. He then got serious, looked at Stone for a moment, turned and left, his steps light and silent.

As he left, Stone noticed several other things all at once, which he hadn’t noticed before or been aware of in the heat of the moment. Brager was wearing a very high end earpiece, and he had several high end pieces of tactical gear about him. His clothing was designed for ease of movement and access to equipment. Then there was the handgun he had. That was a very unique gun, the likes of which Stone had never seen before and although there was not a silencer attached, it looked muzzled. The man carried it with practiced ease, and a lot of confidence. He holstered it with practiced ease, as well, which clearly indicated he carried it on a frequent basis.

“I need a cleanup team ASAP,” Stone said into his radio, after watching the door for a while after Brager left. As he waited, he got the realization that the man he just met was more dangerous than he looked.

“I met Randall Brager,” he said into his phone, when Rebecca finally answered. “He was fully aware of the program, before coming here. He also knows that Melanie’s death was staged and I did not tell him that. Of course, I wasn’t aware they had already done that,” he said. After a long pause he said, “He knows about SHD now as well. I thought he needed to know, in case he finds her first,” he added as he began to walk through the house to see if there were any clues as to where the girls may have gone, even though he was pretty sure he would find nothing.

He was surprised when he got to a small back room and stared at a very complicated looking machine. Writing down some information, as to its model and manufacturer, he walked back out. That did not look like something that the old couple on the floor should have.

Returning to the main room, having found nothing as he suspected, he saw a bundle of paper by the very tall man in denim. Picking it up and looking it over, he saw some work from Melanie, and a letter from Rebecca. The math in the paper was way above his level. He put it back down and checked each of his men, which he should have already done.

A couple hours later, he was watching as the Gardner’s and the man he now knew was Dr. Harold Stuben, were given a stimulant to come out of the sedative in the tranquilizers. “Are you awake?”

The woman looked angry, but was not saying anything. The larger man still looked groggy, which was a little surprising to Stone. He should have the lightest effects, simply due to his size, but he seemed to have the strongest.

“What right do you have to barge into our home and accost us like this?” the older man said.

“We’re with the Department of Defense and we had reason to believe that two fugitives were being held here. We were apparently wrong and I offer my sincerest apology,” Stone said.

“Why is there blood on my floor?” the woman asked.

“There was an unfortunate accident, but nothing for you to worry about. It’s being taken care of,” he assured them.

“Did you shoot the girls,” she asked, a look he couldn’t read on her face.

“If we had shot them, they would still be here,” he said, but he was worried at the amount of blood as well, and he knew it came from one of them.

“We’ll clean up any mess created by this unfortunate accident. My lieutenant will handle this going forward. If there are any concerns, please let him know so they can be addressed and we can put this behind us,” Stone said, using his well-rehearsed statements.

“You could’ve shot them without the intention of deadly force, as you did us. I know that accidents happen with those darts sometimes,” she continued, obviously not put off by his dodge. He paused, clearly not wanting to outright lie, but at the same time, unable to tell them everything.

“All I know is, they’re not here and I don’t have custody of them,” he said, giving as much as he could and still being honest. She nodded, accepting his reply this time.