Chapter 10

The chopper touched down in the street just outside the town hall where the Soil Coalition’s headquarters used to reside. Frizen was the first of the joint chiefs to step out and make his way up the steps, with General Mears and General Cooley flanking him on either side.

The rest of the city was a mixture of bodies and smoke. Once the military pierced the western line and made it into the heart of the city, what sentries remained quickly surrendered. And when Frizen learned why, he insisted on visiting Topeka personally.

“We didn’t have any indications of any flights taking off during the fight,” Cooley said as he followed Frizen down the twisting hallways of the worn city hall.

“And we’re sure Gordon didn’t possess any type of stealth craft or was working on any project that could have afforded him such an escape?” Frizen asked.

“I am one hundred percent confident that he did not leave through the air, Admiral.”

“There was a break in our northern lines during the battle,” General Mears said. “I think Gordon drove his way out of here.”

“Then I want every available asset tracking him down and finding out where he is and where he’s headed,” Frizen said.

“I have men already on it,” Mears answered.

Frizen came to a stop outside a door that had charred burn marks scorched on the outside edges. A team dressed in white hazmat suits scanned the wreckage for anything that wasn’t destroyed. One of the workers saw the admiral and immediately called everyone to attention.

“At ease, Sergeant,” Frizen said, giving the man a salute. “What have you got for me?”

“He wiped everything, Admiral. We’re taking what hard drives we think we might be able to salvage back to the lab, but it’s a long shot we’ll be able to pull anything off of them.”

“And nothing on the servers?”

“No, not yet.”

“Very well. Keep me updated if you find anything of interest.”

“Yes, sir!”

The sergeant went back to his work, and Frizen stepped over a broken computer screen and back into the hallway, where the faces of Mears and Cooley mirrored his own fears. Gordon escaped, and he still had the soil data. “General Mears, we need to find Gordon before he leaves the country.”

General Mears took off and was then replaced by an out-of-breath corporal who did his best to retain his composure and extended a message to the admiral. Frizen’s jaw slowly dropped as Cooley waited eagerly to see what he was reading. Frizen crumpled the piece of paper up and grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “Who knows about this?”

“Only the doctors, immediate family, and a few of the men who were part of the rescue mission, sir.”

“You tell Commander Luis that no one but me is allowed to see him, and I’m leaving for their location immediately.”

The soldier nodded then quickly dashed back down the hallway. Frizen looked back into the charred lab next to him and let a small fountain of hope well up inside of him. As long as Todd Penn was alive, they still had a chance at fixing this.