Dahlia and the Garden of Light - Chapter 46: Chapter 46
You are reading Dahlia and the Garden of Light, Chapter 46: Chapter 46. Read more chapters of Dahlia and the Garden of Light.
Location: ECHELON Command Center – Undisclosed Coordinates
The digital hum was constant. Machines blinked under red-filtered lights. At the heart of the room, a sensor panel exploded in color, spiking like a heartbeat gone wild.
Agent Kessler burst into the room, lab coat flaring behind him, eyes bloodshot from sleepless obsession.
“Talk to me!” he barked.
A junior tech turned, trembling. “We got a surge. Stronger than anything since Bhutan. It didn’t just bloom—it screamed.”
“Location?”
“South Pacific. Island sector—off Japan’s southern drift. Unregistered landmass.”
Kessler’s hands gripped the desk. “Pull satellite visuals. Immediate atmospheric displacement, any plant irregularity—”
Another screen lit up. A scan revealed a glow beneath the treetops—unnatural, pulsing.
“It’s her,” Kessler whispered. “It’s both of them.”
He turned sharply. “Assemble the field team. No mistakes this time. I want a live sweep. This is no longer observation. This is extraction.”
The room buzzed into action.
Location: Moss & Camara – Underground Refuge, South Africa
The alarm blinked once. Then twice. Then went solid.
Camara was the first to is feet. “She’s active again.”
Moss, still recovering from a fractured mission in Cairo, straightened in his chair. “Not a pulse. A flare. Did something go wrong?”
Camara shook his head, checking the calibration. “No. She healed someone. She used the full bloom. Look at the curve—it’s deliberate. She chose to shine.”
Moss’s brow furrowed. “Then Kessler’s already on the move.”
Camara was typing fast, lips tight. “We send her the shadow signal.”
“You think she’ll still remember how to read it?”
“She will. If not—Derek will.”
Moss nodded. “They’ll be afraid. But if they trust it, it might buy them two hours. Maybe three.”
Camara hit send.
Location: Vancouver – Thomas’s Hidden Operations Lab
Snow fell quietly outside as Thomas leaned over his cluttered desk. The monitor beeped—a ping from the South Pacific registered in the energy lattice.
He stared at the data. “That’s not weather.”
He ran the signature through three filters. It returned the same origin: Dahlia.
He didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the secure satellite phone.
“Patch me through to President Monroe.”
Location: Ottawa, Canada – Prime Minister’s Residence
Prime Minister Annalise Monroe stood at the tall window of her office, overlooking the wind-swept lawn of 24 Sussex Drive. The maple trees beyond the gates swayed beneath a rising storm front.
Her secure line buzzed once—an encrypted, direct frequency only Thomas ever used.
She answered immediately.
“Thomas. Tell me.”
His voice crackled through the line, urgent. “She bloomed. South Pacific island. The signal lit up half my grid. This wasn’t subtle.”
Monroe turned from the window. “Dahlia?”
“Undoubtedly. Full-spectrum flare. Sustained for over three minutes. She healed someone—maybe Derek, maybe… someone else. But that kind of signal? It means Echelon’s already moving.”
She was silent, calculating. Then:
“Kessler?”
Thomas confirmed. “His teams will be airborne within the hour. I estimate six to reach the island, max.”
Monroe’s fingers drummed the polished desk. “Then we don’t have time to debate jurisdiction.”
Thomas added, “The old Anderson line is still intact. Antonio will have felt this, no question.”
Annalise nodded. “Then we activate the international treaty clause. The one we swore we’d never use.”
“You’re calling the protectors?”
“I’m calling the family.”
Location: The Anderson Estate – Bloom Room
The air inside the Bloom Room was still and sacred.
Antonio Anderson sat cross-legged at the center, surrounded by golden vines and bioluminescent petals. The room flickered softly—until the wall of flowers shivered.
The vines around him coiled tighter.
He opened his eyes.
A blue iris opened near the window—its petals trembling with a whisper only he could hear.
He stood, fast.
“Dahlia…”
Fifteen minutes later – Anderson Estate War Room
Christian stood at the screen, arms folded, expression hard. “You’re sure?”
“I felt it in the bloom itself,” Antonio said. “She healed someone with everything she had. Either Derek’s in danger… or he found her.”
Eliot rubbed his face. “Markus?”
Amy, leaning on the back wall, stiffened. “I thought he was dead.”
Jack shook his head. “Not if she used the full bloom. She would never do that unless it was for someone who mattered.”
William, frail but alert, coughed from his chair. “Then we begin the signal sweep. And prepare the retrieval team.”
Theo entered, winded. “I’ve got satellite access rerouted. I can fake seismic interference, buy her time—but we’ll need to move fast.”
Amy glanced at Antonio. “You trained her for this. Did you ever expect she’d choose to bloom like this?”
Antonio’s voice was quiet but steady. “I trained her to be more than a protector. I trained her to love. And love… can’t always hide.”
Eliot nodded, grim. “Then we stop Echelon. One last time.”
The digital hum was constant. Machines blinked under red-filtered lights. At the heart of the room, a sensor panel exploded in color, spiking like a heartbeat gone wild.
Agent Kessler burst into the room, lab coat flaring behind him, eyes bloodshot from sleepless obsession.
“Talk to me!” he barked.
A junior tech turned, trembling. “We got a surge. Stronger than anything since Bhutan. It didn’t just bloom—it screamed.”
“Location?”
“South Pacific. Island sector—off Japan’s southern drift. Unregistered landmass.”
Kessler’s hands gripped the desk. “Pull satellite visuals. Immediate atmospheric displacement, any plant irregularity—”
Another screen lit up. A scan revealed a glow beneath the treetops—unnatural, pulsing.
“It’s her,” Kessler whispered. “It’s both of them.”
He turned sharply. “Assemble the field team. No mistakes this time. I want a live sweep. This is no longer observation. This is extraction.”
The room buzzed into action.
Location: Moss & Camara – Underground Refuge, South Africa
The alarm blinked once. Then twice. Then went solid.
Camara was the first to is feet. “She’s active again.”
Moss, still recovering from a fractured mission in Cairo, straightened in his chair. “Not a pulse. A flare. Did something go wrong?”
Camara shook his head, checking the calibration. “No. She healed someone. She used the full bloom. Look at the curve—it’s deliberate. She chose to shine.”
Moss’s brow furrowed. “Then Kessler’s already on the move.”
Camara was typing fast, lips tight. “We send her the shadow signal.”
“You think she’ll still remember how to read it?”
“She will. If not—Derek will.”
Moss nodded. “They’ll be afraid. But if they trust it, it might buy them two hours. Maybe three.”
Camara hit send.
Location: Vancouver – Thomas’s Hidden Operations Lab
Snow fell quietly outside as Thomas leaned over his cluttered desk. The monitor beeped—a ping from the South Pacific registered in the energy lattice.
He stared at the data. “That’s not weather.”
He ran the signature through three filters. It returned the same origin: Dahlia.
He didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the secure satellite phone.
“Patch me through to President Monroe.”
Location: Ottawa, Canada – Prime Minister’s Residence
Prime Minister Annalise Monroe stood at the tall window of her office, overlooking the wind-swept lawn of 24 Sussex Drive. The maple trees beyond the gates swayed beneath a rising storm front.
Her secure line buzzed once—an encrypted, direct frequency only Thomas ever used.
She answered immediately.
“Thomas. Tell me.”
His voice crackled through the line, urgent. “She bloomed. South Pacific island. The signal lit up half my grid. This wasn’t subtle.”
Monroe turned from the window. “Dahlia?”
“Undoubtedly. Full-spectrum flare. Sustained for over three minutes. She healed someone—maybe Derek, maybe… someone else. But that kind of signal? It means Echelon’s already moving.”
She was silent, calculating. Then:
“Kessler?”
Thomas confirmed. “His teams will be airborne within the hour. I estimate six to reach the island, max.”
Monroe’s fingers drummed the polished desk. “Then we don’t have time to debate jurisdiction.”
Thomas added, “The old Anderson line is still intact. Antonio will have felt this, no question.”
Annalise nodded. “Then we activate the international treaty clause. The one we swore we’d never use.”
“You’re calling the protectors?”
“I’m calling the family.”
Location: The Anderson Estate – Bloom Room
The air inside the Bloom Room was still and sacred.
Antonio Anderson sat cross-legged at the center, surrounded by golden vines and bioluminescent petals. The room flickered softly—until the wall of flowers shivered.
The vines around him coiled tighter.
He opened his eyes.
A blue iris opened near the window—its petals trembling with a whisper only he could hear.
He stood, fast.
“Dahlia…”
Fifteen minutes later – Anderson Estate War Room
Christian stood at the screen, arms folded, expression hard. “You’re sure?”
“I felt it in the bloom itself,” Antonio said. “She healed someone with everything she had. Either Derek’s in danger… or he found her.”
Eliot rubbed his face. “Markus?”
Amy, leaning on the back wall, stiffened. “I thought he was dead.”
Jack shook his head. “Not if she used the full bloom. She would never do that unless it was for someone who mattered.”
William, frail but alert, coughed from his chair. “Then we begin the signal sweep. And prepare the retrieval team.”
Theo entered, winded. “I’ve got satellite access rerouted. I can fake seismic interference, buy her time—but we’ll need to move fast.”
Amy glanced at Antonio. “You trained her for this. Did you ever expect she’d choose to bloom like this?”
Antonio’s voice was quiet but steady. “I trained her to be more than a protector. I trained her to love. And love… can’t always hide.”
Eliot nodded, grim. “Then we stop Echelon. One last time.”
End of Dahlia and the Garden of Light Chapter 46. Continue reading Chapter 47 or return to Dahlia and the Garden of Light book page.