Anthony DeCosmo - Parallels

Gronard absently nodded. "I suppose so. Just seems out of character."

"Well it’s done," Nina said. "So what do we do now?"

"Trevor did this?" Gronard repeated what they had already told him.

"He did it, yeah," Nina agreed. "But everyone followed him. I mean everyone. Me, the guards, the squad leaders from Third L. And, shit, they loved it."

"So I guess that puts him in charge." Gronard looked directly at Snowe.

"I guess so."

"For the man who was probably next in line, you seem to be handing it over to him easy enough. I would have thought you’d have more to say about that."

Snowe answered, "I guess we’ll just have to see how things go."

"How things go? Last time things didn’t go so well," the First Legion’s General reminded.

Snowe said, "Last time we did things half-assed. Things got out of control; there wasn't enough discipline in the ranks. With a few exceptions here and there, we're not dealing with a professional army. We should have anticipated that some people wouldn't just fall in line. This time, we drop the hammer on anyone who acts up; leave no doubt who is in control."

Major Forest interrupted, "They want to follow him. Our people — our troops- are ready for a strong leader again. You know?"

The sound of approaching footsteps silenced the conversation. Trevor Stone walked into the room, a rifle slung over his shoulder. He stopped and surveyed the scene.

"Are there any problems I need to know about?"

Snowe glanced to Gronard. Gronard turned to Trevor and said, "No problems here."

"Not here?" Trevor caught the tone. "Where might there be problems?"

Snowe answered, "Second Legion, General Goss. He supported The Committee."

Forest asked, "Does he know about this yet?"

Snowe guessed, "Probably not. If he did, we’d have heard about his troops mustering."

"I shut down communications in the city. A total lock down. No one knows shit yet," Trevor told them.

"Then someone better go tell Goss," Director Snowe suggested.

Trevor said, "I’ll tell him myself. I’ll give him a choice."

"I’ll go with you," Nina volunteered. "You’ll need some back up."

Trevor shook his head and ordered, "I want you here in Operations. I can trust you. This is the nerve center. Hold this place and we've got Thebes by the balls. Anyone starts causing trouble, shoot them. This is no time for debate."

Nina nodded and did her best to suppress an enthusiastic smile.

Trevor threw his attention at the two Generals. "I don’t want any problems with Goss but I don’t know him. I’m just saying, I’ll need to take a familiar face with me."

"And a couple squads from Third L," Nina added.

Gronard said, "I’ll go. Max and I go way back. I’ll talk to him first."

"That’s good," Stone agreed. "After we get Goss in line we’ll start broadcasting the news across the city. Until then, everything is in lock down. All traffic off the streets. I sent Third Legion troops to man the key check points and secure armories."

"You’re expecting problems?" Snowe asked.

"No," Trevor shook his head. "As far as I can tell, everyone in this city has been a bunch of sheep for the last couple years. They may not know who I am, but they’ll take to a new leader easy enough. It’s the Generals and the veterans I’m worried about. But we’ll get them under control quick. Okay then," he pointed to Gronard. "You’re with me. Let’s get this done."

Snowe touched Gronard's arm and said, "Goss knows who this man is, he received a full briefing before Major Forest jumped universes. Still, he might cause a problem if he's not happy about what happened here. Don't hesitate to put him down fast if necessary, understand?"

The idea of shooting a fellow General did not appear to sit well with Gronard, but he nodded his head in agreement nonetheless.

Trevor gave Nina one last look before leaving the room; a look that said don’t let me down. She could not help but offer a big, earnest grin. Snowe saw the grin, too.

Trevor and Gronard left the chamber and workers dragged away the last of the body bags, leaving Director Jakob Snowe and Major Nina Forest alone in the room. They said nothing for several moments as they listened to the sound of Trevor and his entourage exiting the Operations Center. To their surprise, the techs and workers in the Ops Center did not break into chatter as soon as Trevor left. On the contrary, they appeared more focused on their work than ever before.

When certain no ears listened, her eyes narrowed and she said, "You killed his friend, didn’t you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Shit, you did. The Committee wouldn’t have the balls for that. I mean, they were probably going to send him another dozen memos before doing anything."

"Yes, that’s right. That’s about all they were going to do."

"So you killed Johnny. Why?"

"Why?" Snowe brushed dust from the destroyed committee chamber off his gray tunic then motioned around the room at the results of Trevor's tirade. "This is why."

"I had everything under control. You didn’t need to do that."

"Yes I did and you know it. Did you think you were going to get him to lead a coup just by shaking your ass? Wow, you think a man like that only thinks with his dick?"

Nina bit her lip but could not find a counter-argument.

"Relax, Major. You got him most of the way there. You should be proud. He’s starting to remind me of our old Emperor. But to slaughter The Committee? No…he is…he was too honorable of a guy for that. Not in his nature. At best he might have arrested them. And where would that have gotten us? Think The Committee was going to go to a jail cell quietly? Think they would have still kept the secret? I'm surprised they played along as far as they did. No, they would have started talking. Think he would want to rule in Thebes then?"

The diminutive Director casually strolled to the shattered remains of The Committee's platform. It no longer stood so tall.

He went on, "But revenge, now there is a motive any man can follow. There’s a motive that can send a man into a rage, and rage is what we got. Damn, from how you described it, he looked a lot like our old Trevor for a few minutes there, didn’t he?"

Nina walked to him and, through clenched teeth, said, "If he finds out? If he turns on us?"

Snowe shrugged half heartedly and told her, "That really doesn't matter too much. What is important, Major, is that you remember the terms of our arrangement. If he somehow manages to find a way back to his universe, you have to stop him, even if that means putting a bullet through his head. Do you think you could do that?"

She averted her eyes. Snowe smiled to himself and said, "Everything comes with a price, Major. For all this, our price tag was simple: Stone never goes home. Face it; even with him here our chances of surviving are long if not for the deal I brokered. Now we'll be getting help. Probably best if you don't mention that to him, by the way."

Nina huffed then turned to walk away.

Snowe thought of something and as he spoke he watched her response carefully.

"I know, if he does find out, maybe you can just shake your ass a little more for him."

He slapped the Major’s rear end. In an instant — less- the Director found the sharp end of a blade pressing against his throat. She looked at him through the eyes of a murderess.

"You ever… ever touch me like that again I’ll slit your throat."

Snowe grinned and said, "Yes, you could put a bullet through his head, couldn't you? Maybe if our new Trevor gets out of line then he can have a little battlefield accident, too."

She sheathed her blade.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"We never did an autopsy on our fearless leader’s body, I didn’t let them. Some were concerned that you were the only witness. They wanted to know if his knife wound was from the front, or the back. I convinced them that Nina Forest would never kill Trevor Stone."