THE SLIDE, Part 4

Chapter 40: Zed Questions Marie

Fiction: Subterfuge

Warning — there is a brief scene of violence/rape

Flash of Light

Nine days passed between the time Zed and Marie discovered the collapsed Recordist and when they arrived at Fort Normandy.

Marie was plagued by a reoccurring dream-vision that woke her every three to four hours: she was being questioned by Zed calmly at first and then with increasing intensity until terror set in. When she couldn’t hold back the scream any longer there was a flash of light that filled the space and she woke feeling calm, peaceful, and surrounded by great love.

Recap/Summation

When Zed was young and lost his parents at sea he was saved by an enormous sea creature and later used by Suni — the representative of the SS to become part of their organization. Much later Marie and Suni formed a connection on a moonlit beach. Through a series of mishaps, they were both pulled out into the Upolu Sea by the nine tentacled 60-foot-long Ombolo creature. Ombolo was hit by a fragment from a disintegrating satellite plummeting from orbit and was helped by a very large mother/father Orca. In order to survive she separated into two beings — one herself and one that came to be known as X.

She helped foster Suni and Marie’s connection as Ombolo and as X.

At the current time, Marie used her military connections with the SS to summon a medical team. They set up in a warehouse controlled by the clandestine group and began work on saving the Recordist’s life. Zed and Marie crossed the narrow street to a mobile laboratory for debriefing — information from flesh-to-flesh contact with X.

Zed’s Office — Fort Normandy

“You owe us the truth,” Zed said with gentle urgency. Q and A acted as witnesses

“Of course,” she said. “I am an open book.”

“Let’s start with something simple.”

Marie made an inner eye roll. Nothing was ever simple with Zed.

Marie nodded thoughtfully with deference to him.

“Do you remember when we activated you?”

“The exact date, no. The circumstances yes, of course.”

“Proceed.”

“It was just after Sofie shot Farha and fell suicide, but I now know she was shot and fell; for the greater good of the Confederacy. When the ambulance was stopped by the black opps team I was activated. I summoned cleaners for the autopsy room and planted evidence that Sofie L’Mallard had died. I did this all from a preprogrammed state that meshed with my instincts, intellect, experience, and rank. It was as if someone else was using me as their puppet. It slowly came to me that it was c, I mean X. Regarding Sofie, I only found out later who she really was and what her fate had been.

“After that, I began living the life I had before I knew. When I wasn’t needed I had no knowledge of X or the black op that had been running out of this fort. I was turned on as an agent when needed. A brilliant way to run an agent by the by. Slowly over time you and X brought me to full awareness. Is that correct?” Brigadier General Bissett concluded her statement.

“Close, but not everything has been revealed to you, because, frankly I don’t trust you.” Zed accused.

“You call X “c”. What is that about?” Zed began.

“It is a pet name — a child’s thought for Ombolo.”

“STOP. You are forbidden from saying that name aloud, ever!” Zed bellowed.

Marie controlled her breath and slowed it as Zed calmed.

“I deeply apologize, sir,” Marie said. She felt him using X’s power to invade her body with violence bordering on rape while smiling that sweet poisonous smile he was notorious for.

‘Stop, Zed, please stop,’ she sent the message gently into his mind. He had created a pocket dimension to carry out the rape. Suddenly he was on top of her.

Zed was flung across the room like a rag doll crashing into Q and A who had huddled more closely together. They were rendered unconscious.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Marie said holding up her hands, gently shaking her head “no” and looking down.

Zed sprang up from where he had been thrown and rushed albeit dramatically to his desk and barked orders,

“Medics and guards.”

Two medics and two guards entered.

A bright yellow light filled the room and blinded everyone. When it dissipated Marie was gone but in her stead was Ra.

“Guards, shackle him and take him to the dark cell before he does something crazy,” Zed commanded. Q and A had awakened and were refusing further medical attention.

“What happened to General Bissett?” A asked.

“Ask Ra,” Zed pointed at Ra.

“What did you do with General Bissett?” A asked.

“She is safe,” he responded. The guards shackled him and led him away.

After the guards left with Ra, Q asked Zed, “Does this mean that we failed to keep Ra in the Prison of No Escape?”

Zed chuckled. “The only way that Ra could have escaped was with help. There was only one person that could have helped him. And even though she is not imprisoned we can put her in the prison he escaped from any time we wish.”

“And who is she? General Bissett?” Q asked.

“No. She in question is Farha,” A answered.

The previous chapter:

The next chapter:

I appreciate your continuing readership and applaud you that you take the time to read this longer work in an era of shorter stories. Bravo!

Rebecca Romanelli | Blaine Coleman | Spyder | DL Nemeril | May More | David Price | Dr Mehmet Yildiz | Melanie J. | Joseph Lieungh | Camille Grady | madmess’s thoughts | Orla K. | Ravyne Hawke | Winston | Margie Willis | Noorain Ali | Lee David Tyrrell | Libby Shively McAvoy | Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi | Ilis Trudie Palmer

Contents Parts 1 & 2:

Contents Parts 3…