Free Beyond Hades: The Prometheus Wars by Luke Romyn Page A

inextricably to the black plastic coffin containing the bravest man he had ever met in his life.
    Talbot wasn't special; not the sort of person heroes sacrificed themselves protecting. He was just a guy - pretty boring by most standards - and nobody should be dying to preserve his life, especially not a man like Chuck Benedict.
    The body bag lay there, in silent accusation.
    "Why?" croaked Talbot, unaware he'd said it out loud. "Why would he do such a thing?"
    "Captain Benedict did his duty," Colonel Wilson stated, his tone cold. "You have nothing to feel guilty for."
    "He was screaming," murmured Talbot. "He suffered in agony right up until he died, but he never stopped shielding me." Talbot raised his eyes, appraising the colonel in a blank, empty kind of way. Colonel Wilson was a large man, bigger even than Captain Benedict. He appeared around forty years old, but still extremely fit and muscular beneath his combat fatigues. Gray hair peeked around the edges of his Kevlar helmet and his returning gaze grew hard.
    "He died to protect you, sir ," snarled the colonel, "in order to save our country. He did his duty. He was a marine. Your approval isn't necessary, nor is your understanding. The only thing that really matters is that you don't make his death count for nothing. Look at that bag and know the man now lying in it was a better one than you, but he died to protect you in order to give you a chance to save the rest of this God-forsaken planet."
    Talbot dropped his gaze once more, shame filling him to the point of breaking his spirit, but he forced it away. Such fanatical patriotism terrified him. If they thought for an instant Talbot was an enemy instead of an asset, would they hesitate in destroying him? He doubted it.
    "It's time to go," growled the colonel. "The media will soon catch wind of this, and our clean-up crews need to begin getting things in order for the cover story."
    "Cover story?" asked Talbot.
    The colonel glared hard at him, his anger still evident but controlled under the brutal discipline of the military. "Every single incident which might come under scrutiny has to be covered up from the media; if not, the ensuing panic would threaten to tear our society apart. There's an entire team of political bullshit artists assigned to this incident along with every other incident which might come to the notice of the public.
    "For instance," continued Colonel Wilson, "the gryphon which attacked us on the way to Quantico - along with the subsequent deployment of Harrier Jump-Jets which fired missiles over US soil - was explained as a training exercise involving advanced, top-secret weaponry designed to combat terrorism. As such, any footage of the incident - including still-photography taken by civilians - comes under the Patriot Act. Anyone posting US Government secrets faces potential prosecution to the fullest extent in a court of law. Even online video sites will be forced to remove anything their pimple-faced uber-nerds post on the internet. It's a very effective way of controlling information leaks."
    "So the government basically lies to the people."
    "Would you rather the public know the truth?" countered Colonel Wilson. "Think back to the riots in Los Angeles, Doctor, or those in Vancouver and the ones in London. People need very little excuse to fall into chaos. The threat of monsters from another dimension coming here and devouring their family might be enough to tip society over the edge. Why shouldn't they succumb to anarchy if the world's going to end anyway?"
    "I had no idea things like this even happened in our country," mused Talbot softly.
    "They're in place to protect people from themselves, Doctor Harrison. The human race just isn't prepared to deal with a lot of what's actually out there. Remember the old adage, 'Ignorance is bliss'? Well it's never been so appropriate as during the current phase of events. For now, however, we really need to go." His fury seemed to have subsided, and