Dahlia and the Garden of Light - Chapter 49: Chapter 49
You are reading Dahlia and the Garden of Light, Chapter 49: Chapter 49. Read more chapters of Dahlia and the Garden of Light.
Location: Echelon Transport Command – 31,000 Feet Above the Pacific
The transport plane’s cabin was cold and gray, filled with the hum of servers and the faint static of radio chatter.
Agent Kessler stood near the main holo-table, eyes scanning a glowing topographical map. A blinking red signal—sharp and steady—pulsed from the coordinates Dahlia’s team had unknowingly triggered hours ago.
“She’s exposed,” Kessler muttered, jaw tightening. “We can’t lose her again.”
Beside him, Director Elen Thorne, one of Echelon’s two remaining senior field leaders, paced anxiously. Her gloves were off—a rare tell. She never let herself appear rattled.
“Kessler, we need to slow this down,” she said under her breath. “Morris and Camara walked for a reason. You’re throwing everything we have at a girl with flowers and a boy who talks to foxes. What do you think she is?”
Kessler turned slowly. “I don’t think, Elen. I know. You saw what happened in Morocco. What she did to those mercenaries without even touching them.”
“She didn’t kill anyone,” Thorne snapped. “She healed them.”
Kessler’s voice lowered to a dangerous hiss. “Exactly. And the right hands could weaponize that healing. Turn it on, turn it off. You think this is about saving the world? No. It’s about controlling it.”
A young technician near the consoles, Kano, muttered under his breath to his partner. “They keep saying she’s a threat, but if you ask me—she’s just trying to run.”
His partner, Jenn, shot him a warning glance. “You want to get reassigned to Antarctica? Shut it.”
Overhead, the intercom crackled.
“Incoming secure line. Priority-One clearance. Stand by.”
Kessler stepped into the communications bay. The screen flickered. The Leader—an anonymous figure known only through a voice-changer and a sterile mask—appeared in grayscale.
“Agent Kessler. We’ve reviewed your proposal.”
Kessler stood straighter. “Sir. We have a clean pulse. Confirmed floral resonance, pulse return. Unnatural energy spikes. They're exposed and vulnerable.”
“Then proceed. Full capture authorization. Targets are Dahlia Anderson, Derek Cade, Markus Hale, and Mira Cade. Lethal force is permitted if resistance is high. Do not lose them again.”
Elen Thorne, listening from the doorway, paled. “You’re authorizing lethal force against a twentyseven-year-old girl and a kid?”
“This is no longer a containment protocol. We believe the Anderson girl is no longer neutral. Her abilities are escalating—environmental manipulation, biological reconstruction. The project was clear: if healing reaches mass influence without control, it undermines everything. Religion, medicine, power. Governments fall. So yes—she’s a threat.”
The transmission ended.
Kessler stared at the blank screen for a moment, then turned to Thorne. “Gear up your team. We move in twenty. If she resists, I want her unconscious and tagged. If not… put her in a box.”
Thorne didn’t move.
Kessler narrowed his eyes. “You got something to say?”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Camara was right. You’re too afraid of her to see what’s worth saving.”
She left.
In the Hangar – Pre-Mission Chaos
The squad mobilized fast. Unit Echo-Seven, Falcon Division, and the Tracker Drones were prepped. Soldiers checked tranquilizer rifles, sonar grenades, DNA-stealth dampeners.
Kano slid on his headset and muttered to Jenn again. “I’ve read every log on her. She’s not a weapon. She’s a healer. Why are we treating her like a bomb?”
Jenn whispered back, “Orders come from the top. You want to end up like Camara, buried in a ‘natural gas leak’? No thanks.”
They fell silent as Kessler entered the hangar.
He raised his voice.
“We drop in three waves. First wave disables the wildlife perimeter. Second wave contains Mira Cade. Third wave captures the girl. Hale is expendable. Derek is low priority but should be neutralized if he intervenes. Dahlia is the prize. Get in. Get her. Get out.”
The room was still for a beat.
Then the whir of helicopters filled the air.
Jets. Wings. Drones.
The sky was about to shatter.
The transport plane’s cabin was cold and gray, filled with the hum of servers and the faint static of radio chatter.
Agent Kessler stood near the main holo-table, eyes scanning a glowing topographical map. A blinking red signal—sharp and steady—pulsed from the coordinates Dahlia’s team had unknowingly triggered hours ago.
“She’s exposed,” Kessler muttered, jaw tightening. “We can’t lose her again.”
Beside him, Director Elen Thorne, one of Echelon’s two remaining senior field leaders, paced anxiously. Her gloves were off—a rare tell. She never let herself appear rattled.
“Kessler, we need to slow this down,” she said under her breath. “Morris and Camara walked for a reason. You’re throwing everything we have at a girl with flowers and a boy who talks to foxes. What do you think she is?”
Kessler turned slowly. “I don’t think, Elen. I know. You saw what happened in Morocco. What she did to those mercenaries without even touching them.”
“She didn’t kill anyone,” Thorne snapped. “She healed them.”
Kessler’s voice lowered to a dangerous hiss. “Exactly. And the right hands could weaponize that healing. Turn it on, turn it off. You think this is about saving the world? No. It’s about controlling it.”
A young technician near the consoles, Kano, muttered under his breath to his partner. “They keep saying she’s a threat, but if you ask me—she’s just trying to run.”
His partner, Jenn, shot him a warning glance. “You want to get reassigned to Antarctica? Shut it.”
Overhead, the intercom crackled.
“Incoming secure line. Priority-One clearance. Stand by.”
Kessler stepped into the communications bay. The screen flickered. The Leader—an anonymous figure known only through a voice-changer and a sterile mask—appeared in grayscale.
“Agent Kessler. We’ve reviewed your proposal.”
Kessler stood straighter. “Sir. We have a clean pulse. Confirmed floral resonance, pulse return. Unnatural energy spikes. They're exposed and vulnerable.”
“Then proceed. Full capture authorization. Targets are Dahlia Anderson, Derek Cade, Markus Hale, and Mira Cade. Lethal force is permitted if resistance is high. Do not lose them again.”
Elen Thorne, listening from the doorway, paled. “You’re authorizing lethal force against a twentyseven-year-old girl and a kid?”
“This is no longer a containment protocol. We believe the Anderson girl is no longer neutral. Her abilities are escalating—environmental manipulation, biological reconstruction. The project was clear: if healing reaches mass influence without control, it undermines everything. Religion, medicine, power. Governments fall. So yes—she’s a threat.”
The transmission ended.
Kessler stared at the blank screen for a moment, then turned to Thorne. “Gear up your team. We move in twenty. If she resists, I want her unconscious and tagged. If not… put her in a box.”
Thorne didn’t move.
Kessler narrowed his eyes. “You got something to say?”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Camara was right. You’re too afraid of her to see what’s worth saving.”
She left.
In the Hangar – Pre-Mission Chaos
The squad mobilized fast. Unit Echo-Seven, Falcon Division, and the Tracker Drones were prepped. Soldiers checked tranquilizer rifles, sonar grenades, DNA-stealth dampeners.
Kano slid on his headset and muttered to Jenn again. “I’ve read every log on her. She’s not a weapon. She’s a healer. Why are we treating her like a bomb?”
Jenn whispered back, “Orders come from the top. You want to end up like Camara, buried in a ‘natural gas leak’? No thanks.”
They fell silent as Kessler entered the hangar.
He raised his voice.
“We drop in three waves. First wave disables the wildlife perimeter. Second wave contains Mira Cade. Third wave captures the girl. Hale is expendable. Derek is low priority but should be neutralized if he intervenes. Dahlia is the prize. Get in. Get her. Get out.”
The room was still for a beat.
Then the whir of helicopters filled the air.
Jets. Wings. Drones.
The sky was about to shatter.
End of Dahlia and the Garden of Light Chapter 49. Continue reading Chapter 50 or return to Dahlia and the Garden of Light book page.