The Ultimate Vengeance Part 5
"Dr. Quest?"
"Yes, Hadji?" said Benton, wiping a tear from his eye.
"It appears there is no way to access the system. I suggest we
re-create Questworld."
Benton regarded him.
"That's a pretty big job." commented Benton.
"There is no other way." replied Hadji. "We must have access to
Questworld, and the only way to do that is to completely re-create it, and
enter the old system through the new one."
"Let's get to it." said Benton.
Benton and Hadji immediately left for one of the larger computer
research buildings.
Meanwhile, in the main house, Miana was keeping up with the news
broadcasts, long after everyone else left the "lighthouse". It was
finally dawning on her that she might not ever be able to leave there, and
she was growing alone and scared. Jessie was sitting and watching the
news with Miana, and grew puzzled when Miana got up without a word and
went up to her room. Jessie followed her, knocked on her door, and stuck
her head in.
"Miana?"
Miana was crying and turned around.
"Miana..."
Jessie went up to her and embraced her.
"I'm so scared... and I feel so... so alone."
"You shouldn't. You have a family that loves you, and most
importantly, a husband that loves you. Now should be the time that you
should be turning to him. He needs you as much as you need him. Think
about it."
Jessie then left Miana alone.
That night, everyone retired early-- that is, except for Hadji.
He had Miana on his mind off and on all day, and it made him restless. He
left his room, and stepped into the hall. He cracked Miana's door open,
and looked in on her. A tear ran down his cheek as he watched his love
sleeping soundly. Hadji shut her door, and found a set of stairs that he
thought corresponded to the attic. He went up, and was happy to discover
that Benton included a studio for him here as well. Hadji started a yoga
workout, only to end up falling asleep on his mat.
Miana herself was restless that night. Her back was turned to the
door when Hadji looked in on her, and she felt his deep gaze upon her.
The flash of his presence then was reminiscent of when things were better
between them, and those piercing, almost- black eyes would look into hers.
She tried for a few hours after that to get to sleep, but it wasn't
happening. She kept seeing his face in her mind to the point she couldn't
handle it anymore. She crept out of her room, and quickly found the steps
that went up to Hadji's new studio. She snuck up quietly, and cracked
the door open when she got to the top. She saw him there fast asleep, and
couldn't resist going in. He was so beautiful-- his lean, muscular body
was half-nude in the dim light. His turban had unwound in his sleep, and
his ponytail had loosened, so there were large strands of wavy black hair
that fell freely about his shoulders. She looked at him and wondered how
could she ever have doubted him-- even through the questionable
circumstances she had found him under. His back was to her, so she
crawled around to where she could see his face. His face was still
contorted d like he had been crying, and she could tell by the way his skin
looked where the tears dried on his face after he fell asleep. Tears came
to her eyes as she regarded him. She layed down next to him, and gently
moved his arm and curled up with him on the mat. He started to stir, and
awoke to find her there lying in his arms, with tears streaming down her
face. He cupped her face in his hand, and pulled her into a deep,
passionate kiss. No words were exchanged as they settled down in each
other's arms, and fell asleep together in a slumber that was the deepest
and best that each had had before their marriage started to fall apart.
Benton was up early the next morning, and when he didn't find
Hadji in his room, went up to check the studio. He cracked the door open,
and smiled as he saw Hadji and Miana asleep in each other's arms. He hated
to wake them.
"Ahem." coughed Benton.
Both woke simultaneously, and the first sight they each saw were
the eyes of the other. Hadji stroked Miana's face and proceeded to kiss
her, but was interrupted.
"Ahem!"
"Oh, I am sorry, Dr. Quest!" apologized Hadji.
"That's ok, Hadji. I'm glad to see the two of you are on the path
to reconciling. In the meantime, however, we have a lot of work to do."
Hadji got up and stroked Miana's face as he got up to leave. He
and Benton went back to their work, with which they were making decent
progress.
Miana walked down the steps, and smiled at Jessie as she came out
of her and Jonny's room. Jessie came out and followed Miana down the
steps, and met Race, Jonny, and Benny for breakfast. Race turned on the
morning news in hopes that the family wouldn't be in for any more
surprises.
***********************************************************************
"The helicopter is ready, Jeremiah." replied Julia.
"Good. Lorenzo, assist Rage with the loading of his equipment.
Ezekiel, do you need anyone to go with you?" asked Surd.
"No. My vengeance must be completed by myself alone. This time,
there are no disciples and no followers-- and most importantly, no
warning. So sayeth the Book of Rage."
***********************************************************************
The news broadcast continued on in its usual, uneventful way--
that is, until it was interrupted.
"'The Ultimate Vengeance will sweep down from on high-- cleaning
away the heretics that pollute society-- justice and judgment come
swiftly, without warning on the non-believers', so sayeth the Book of
Rage!" announced the masked face that appeared suddenly on all channels.
The next image showed a small black helicopter dropping a device onto the
Pentagon, then an explosion that obliterated the building and an area of
five city blocks around it.
Hadji and Benton were working hard on the computer equipment when
Race came into the lab in which they were working. His face was
death-white with an expression of pure terror. In all the years Benton
knew him, he had never seen Race scared, let alone seeing him totally and
utterly terrified.
"Race! What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Benton..."
"Yes, Race? What is it?"
"Rage destroyed the Pentagon."
"WHAT???!!??" Benton asked in shock, as Hadji's mouth hit the
ground along with a computer power supply.
Benton, Race, and Hadji raced back to the house and watched the
news coverage that rushed to the scene, only to be held back by fire
fighters and men in radiation suits attempting to extinguish the blaze and
assess the area for risk of radioactive contamination.
***********************************************************************
Rage's helicopter disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and no
one was able to track it down or catch it. Rage arrived safely back at
Surd's hideout.
"Ezekiel, that was an amazing display. What are your intentions
now that the main people responsible for the death of your family have
been eliminated?"
"Now that vengeance has been served, I am going to save my family."
replied Rage in a soft, almost normal voice. "If I can save them, maybe
the rest of the world can be spared."
That was the first bit of emotion other than sheer anger and
hatred that Surd had seen from him.
"Julia-- prepare the Rachel program. Rage, you'll need to give
Julia precise information for your next trip."
Rage gave Julia the required information. Rage had Julia program
some equipment for his trip, and he sat down and put on a console. He
logged into Questworld once again. He anchored himself in the Questworld
matrix as he went through the time portal.
As soon as he went through the portal, he swung on a grappling hook past
the car right as it was going off the cliff. He pulled Abby and Carlo up
from the falling car, and the three of them were suspended from the hook
as the car plummeted to the bottom. The younger version of Rage had
blacked out and had not seen his older self coming, therefore had no
conception or memory of what was occurring-- thus unaffecting his memories
at the present time. He pulled them back into reality, and the three of
them materialized in the real world. Abby saw all these strange faces,
and immediately pulled young Carla into her arms and backed away.
Rage was in tears.
"My Abby, Carla-- my little girl! You're alive!" he cried as he
went to them.
"Who are you?!" screamed Abby.
"My dear, it's such a long story." said Rage softly, pulling off
his mask.
"Zeke? Is that you? What happened? Where are we?"
"Abby, you and Carla are about twelve years in the future. You
and Carla were killed when that car went down. I lived, but I was
mutilated. But I have taken vengeance on those responsible, and I went
back in time and saved you!" explained Rage has he approached them.
Abby still pulled back.
"This is a lot for me to absorb. You are so different. Who are
these people?"
"Jeremiah Surd, Julia, and Lorenzo made it possible for me to save
you."
Abby's brow knitted as she pondered the situation, and had a
growing feeling of foreboding all around.
Rage tried once again to approach them, and once again Abby pulled
back.
"Abby, please. Carla! My little girl..."
"Daddy... your face!"
"Zeke, a lot has happened. I need time to think. My God! Twelve,
thirteen, fifteen, whatever years in the future, and we don't even have a
place to stay!"
"Julia, please provide our guests with lodging." ordered Surd.
"Yes, Jeremiah."
The Ultimate Vengeance Part 6
The Quests continued to watch the grim news coverage, and there
were even speculations that the Quests themselves were in league with
Rage. They all sat in silence as they watched the newscasts, totally at a
loss for what to do next.
"Dad?"
"Yes, son?"
"What are we going to do? We just can't sit here and let Rage
destroy the entire planet!"
"I know, son. Our only hope is to finish the re-creation of
Questworld and to reclaim it from Surd and Rage permanently."
***********************************************************************
"Mommy, what are we going to do?" asked Carla. "What happened to
daddy? Mommy, I'm scared."
"So am I, sweetie." said Abby. "Zeke is changed. I have watched
the news, and I have been listening to daddy's conversations the last two
days. Carla, this is going to be hard for you to understand. Your daddy
has become a bad man, and we can no longer trust him. We have to get out
of here. The only thing I can think of is to find someone who can help
us. Surd and Daddy have talked a lot about a family called the Quests,
and a man among them that Surd and your daddy both know-- a man by the
name of Race Bannon. I need to find a way into the computer system--
maybe I can find something out."
"But mommy, you don't know anything about computers."
"I know, honey. I'm just going to have to find a way to learn."
Over the next few days, Abby started an acting job in which she
pretended to grow closer to Rage, while all the time staying close to the
computer system in an attempt to learn as much as she could, as quickly as
she could.
"Hello, dear." said Abby, coming up to Rage.
"Hello, love."
"What is happening here?" asked Abby.
"I'm glad to see you are taking an interest in things, Abby.
Julia, could you show her some things about the system?"
Julia looked at Surd.
"Rage, Abby has seen quite a bit of the system in the last few
days. I think she has seen enough." answered Surd.
"Are you saying you don't trust my wife?!" asked Rage angrily,
grabbing Surd by the collar.
"Not at all, Rage. Not at all."
Surd looked down at Julia.
"Keep an eye on her." he whispered to her.
Over the next few days, suspicions of Abby's sincerity grew among
Surd's people, but Rage was too blind to see it. This caused Surd and
Rage to become at odds over it.
"Rage, I am telling you-- she is lying to you! She despises you,
and she is going to betray all of us!" exclaimed Surd to Rage when they
were alone.
"Surd, you are evoking my wrath." warned Rage. "Abby would never
do that."
The argument continued and tension rose, and Abby sensed this. She
knew she had to act fast. Late that night, Abby snuck into the computer
room. She was totally intimidated by the equipment around her, but she
knew she had to contact someone soon-- for the sake of her daughter's
safety and for her own as well.
Abby fumbled her way into the internet, and came across the
webpage for Quest Enterprises. Her only option was to send an email. She
found the option to send mail to Benton Quest, which she did-- summarizing
the situation and begging the help of Race Bannon. After it was sent,
she switched off the computer without proper exit, hoping that no logs of
her tampering were recorded. Abby then went and packed what few things
she and Carla had, and left. She hoped that Benton would be able to find
them before Surd and Rage did.
***********************************************************************
The next morning, Hadji went to make the routine mail check
through an undetectable back door into the system. It was there that he
found Abby's message.
"Dr. Quest?"
"Yes, Hadji?"
"I think you should see this."
"What is it?
"A letter from Abigail Rage."
"Abigail Rage? My God! Rage went back in time and saved them,
and now she is scared and wants our help! Hadji-- we need to get in touch
with one of our contacts and have her brought here."
Hadji proceeded to get in touch with one of the pilots who took
food from the complex back to the mainland, and instructed him to
covertly recruit the help he needed to bring Abby Rage and her daughter
to the underground complex.
***********************************************************************
"Jeremiah, there has been tampering in the system."
"What? Find out who did it and of what nature. Rage!"
Rage came into the room.
"Go find your wife!"
"Jeremiah, Abby sent mail to the Quests asking for help. She said
she left, but gave no indication where."
Rage came back in tears.
"She is gone!" he cried.
Surd grabbed Rage by the throat.
"You have brought trouble down upon us! She may well be our
undoing!" With that, Surd threw Rage to the ground.
"Why, Abby? Why..."
***********************************************************************
Abby managed to keep on the move without being detected. She
found her way to some distant family that Rage did not know about, and she
found a place to stay among them in the mountainous regions of New York.
Hadji worked hard to track down likely places that Abby would go.
There were not many likely places, but one of the places found was her
great aunt in the Adirondacks. Hadji sent people to check all the places,
putting special emphasis on the Adirondacks since they were so remote.
A few mornings later, there was a knock on the door of Zelda
Collins, Abby's great aunt on her mother's side. Abby was reluctant to
answer the door.
"Who is it?" she asked softly.
"I represent the help of which you asked-- of Benton Quest and
Race Bannon." said the voice.
Abby opened the door to Raymond Steele, Benton's chief pilot.
Raymond quickly explained the situation, and he took Abby and Carla with
him back to the underground complex. The windows on board the plane were
darkened so they could not see where they were going, and saw nothing but
the insides of the plane until they safely disembarked underground. Race
met them as they got off the plane.
"Abby Rage, I presume. I'm Race Bannon."
"Thank you so much for your help! We had no other place to turn!"
exclaimed Abby.
"I'll take you to the lab where Dr. Quest is working. He and his
assistant Hadji are the main ones trying to get us out of this mess, as it
almost totally revolves around Questworld."
Jessie came up with Benny just then.
"Mrs. Rage, if you like, we can take Carla inside and get her
settled." suggested Jessie.
"Please, call me Abby. And you are?"
"Jessie Bannon Quest."
"Nice to meet you. Yes, by all means, please take Carla and get
her settled. Thanks a lot."
"No problem. This way, Carla."
Jessie took the children back to the house, and Race took into the
lab.
"Dr. Quest, I believe we are finished." replied Hadji.
"Ok, Hadji-- please take a seat and a console, and we will find
out shortly."
"Questworld logon: Subject: Hadji Singh. Going hot."
Just then, Hadji was pulled into a new and enhanced version of
Questworld, and both he and Benton knew they had succeeded. It was then
that Race came in with Abby.
"Is it finished?" asked Race.
"Just now." Benton looked at Abby. "Mrs. Rage?"
"Abby, please."
"I am Benton Quest, and this is my assistant, Hadji Singh."
"Nice to meet you."
"No, nice to meet you! You are the help we have needed for a long
time. With your inside information, we will be able to set things right,
and be able to continue on with our lives."
Benton directed everyone out of the lab and back to the main
house.
Once back to the house, Abby sat down with everyone and told them
her story, including how she had to pretend to get close to Rage in order
to be able to learn what she needed in order to escape. She also
explained how Rage's sentimentality started to cause problems both
between him and Surd, and problems for their plans all together. She also
told them how Surd had planned to get the Quests out of hiding, and then
doing away with them permanently.
"This information you brought to us is invaluable, " replied
Benton. "No doubt your escape totally messed their plans up, and gave us a badly
needed break. Now that Questworld is re-created, we should be able to
regain control of the original, and go from there. Race, anything
newsworthy?"
"The riots are country-wide, and are worse than ever. Benton,
what do we do? Do we go back in time and undo Rage's and Surd's damage?"
"It's not that simple. If we did that, Rage would never have
rescued his family, and we would be denying them their existence. Since
they are here among us, we cannot do that. What we must do is take over
Questworld, and destroy the technology Rage stole. We must also
imprison Rage and Surd, and find a way to clear our name, as well as a
way, if possible, to stop the fighting."
"When do we start?" asked Hadji.
"No time like the present." answered Benton.
***********************************************************************
"Jeremiah!" screamed Julia.
"Yes, Julia?"
"Someone is connecting to Questworld!"
"What?! How..."
"It seems someone is gaining access through a parallel Questworld
system."
"Well, shut it down!"
"I can't..."
"Log me on! I'm going in."
***********************************************************************
"Dr. Quest-- Surd has logged onto Questworld."
"Race, you and Jonny go in. I'll stand by. Hadji, while Surd is
occupied, regain access to Rachel, download her, and delete her from the
remote system. After that, upload the virus we engineered, and that
should do away with their access."
"Questworld logon: Subjects Jonny Quest and Race Bannon. Going
hot."
"So, we meet again, Bannon!" sneered virtual Surd as Jonny and
Race materialized before him.
"So we do, Surd! However, we are going to put some wrinkles in
your plans! We have Abby, and she told us everything you had planned!"
Just then, Surd accessed some weaponry.
"A minor setback, Bannon. As for now, I will finish you off in my
own way."
"Activate hoverboards and laser gatling guns!" shouted Jonny, as
the desired apparatus appeared before them, and the battle was on as they
sped through cities and desert landscapes, playing cat and mouse-- both
for the purpose of diversion, and a battle for survival.
***********************************************************************
"Hadji, trace the original Questworld signal, and send the
coordinates straight to Commander Bennet via scrambled satellite link.
Encode a message explaining what is happening and attach it, and send it
through the undetectable link. Authorities should already be on the trail
after the first message we went after Abby told us where they were, but
this will serve as confirmation."
***********************************************************************
Not that much time had passed since authorities had received their
anonymous task, and the local authorities had Surd's hideout under
surveillance. Once Commander Bennet's orders came thorough, the FBI
became involved, and reached the site with amazing speed.
"Jeremiah! Someone is downloading Rachel... and uploading..."
"Uploading?" screamed Surd between battle blows.
"Bannon, I must leave for now, but we will meet again!" screamed
virtual Surd. "Julia, log me out!"
Surd was pulled out of Questworld right as the system totally
self-destructed.
"And this is your idea of vengeance?" asked Rage.
"None of this would've happened if you would have controlled your
emotions over your traitor wife!" screamed Surd.
Just then, the authorities busted in and arrested them, and
confiscated all the anti-matter devices.
***********************************************************************
"We did it!" screamed Jonny as he and Race returned to the real
world.
"Dr. Quest, a message is attempting to penetrate Quest
Enterprise's systems." replied Hadji.
"Tap in and bring it through."
"Good job, Dr. Quest. Somehow I knew you could not have done all
that of which you were accused. As of now, all charges have been dropped,
and a news bulletin will be broadcast to that effect. One other thing--
when our men took Surd and Rage into custody, a number of small devices
were confiscated..."
"Anti-matter bombs, Commander." interjected Race.
"What you must do," started Benton, "is to get them all into space
and detonate them. There is no other way. And commander?"
"Yes, Dr. Quest?"
"Thank you."
"No-- thank you."
As promised, the Quests were cleared, and were able to return to
Maine. The family assisted Abby and Carla with housing and employment,
thus giving them a start on a new life. The antimatter bombs were
detonated in space, and the threat of worldwide destruction was over.
***********************************************************************
"Benton, even though the charges against you were dropped and
the anti-matter technology destroyed, Surd and Rage still did a lot of
damage that we couldn't undo." replied Race.
"If you are referring to the riots and revolts, that is a problem
the government created for themselves. It is unfortunate that this
happened, but any enlightened individual would know it was just a matter
of time. The global threat is over, but the fighting continues. And my
guess is it will continue until either one side gives up, or the
government negotiates change. This was not started by us, therefore, it
is not our place to finish it."
Even though the outside world was in torment, things were quiet
and returning to normal at the Quest compound. Hadji and Miana, even
through the action at the complex, managed to work things out, and Miana
moved back into her and Hadji's room. The Quests made new friends in
Abby and Carla, as Benton saw to Abby getting a good job in Quest
Enterprises taking over Miana's position working under Jessie. They also
moved into a quiet, safe home away from any areas of rioting. The Quests
had thus overcome the greatest challenge over posed to them, as they
successfully thwarted Surd and Rage's "ultimate vengeance".
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