The First

by A. Claire Everward

  He spent the rest of his time in Serena testing its security. Four times he managed to get from outside the property's vast grounds all the way into the cottage and to Aelia's bedroom, and four times he sat in conference with Ahir, Rolly, and the techs as they adjusted the settings of the security layout, they from Aeterna and him at Serena. The fifth time he couldn't get anywhere near the property, no matter what he tried. Still, although he then approved Serena's preparedness, he would not rest confident. He trusted his experience and instincts to lead him to think and rethink his moves until he would find a way to get to her. And if he could, he had to assume others could, too. And he would not allow that to happen.

  Still, there was nothing to stop him from bringing Aelia here, to her new home away from Aeterna. Which would finally allow her to do what she wanted, take the next steps into her destined role in her people's life.

  Adam stood looking at the cottage, then turned around slowly, looking around him as the sun rose high over the peaceful horizon. Finally he nodded to himself, satisfied, and returned inside. He walked through the living room, skirted the kitchen and got into the elevator. As it descended, the cottage locked down above him, sending data to the designated handheld he had with him.

  In the underground parking, he got into one of the secure SUVs that were now parked there and drove out and up to the road that would take him to the village. Several miles later he passed the newly installed gate that was only there to be seen, his eyes flickering to where the real security measures were installed that would make sure no one would go back the other way, into Serena, unless his command permitted it. As he drove away, the chirp from his handheld confirmed that Serena was in full security lockdown. Despite appearances, meant to preserve the tranquility of the place, nobody would be able to get in.

  He drove through tranquil, solitary landscape, heading for the airfield. As he drove through it to the hangar, he noticed there were more people than usual around. This didn't surprise him—the new private jet he’d arrived in a few days earlier and that was now closed in the hangar had been noticed. That, and its official registration. It was registered to Serena. And then of course there was him. If on his earlier visits he had taken some care to disguise his identity and they had thought him to be one of the workers who were there to prepare the Keeper's new home, this last time that he landed, in this official jet, ready to take full charge of everything Serena, he disembarked as himself, in full daylight, and he knew that the secret would begin to unravel. By now they would all know he was the Protector. Which meant the speculations were probably at their height—they also knew whose Protector he was.

  His phone registered an incoming call, and as the voice on the other end of the line spoke he thought, well, they're about to have a bit more to speculate about. He parked beside the closed hangar and got out of the SUV. A flash in the sunny sky drew his attention, and he looked up as one of Aeterna's jets descended. It taxied toward him and stopped, the ground crew already moving toward it. The door opened and Sonea peeked out curiously. Adam smiled. Sonea had been adamant that she would be the one to come to Serena with Aelia and him. She would have it no other way. She had looked after Aelia since she had come to Aeterna, had taken it upon herself to make her comfortable, behaving much like a doting aunt. She quickly came to care about her, so much so that she no longer took notice of the fact that the younger woman was the awaited Light. And Adam knew that Aelia liked Sonea, and trusted her care.

  An unexpected incentive for her moving here appeared in the form of Nolan, the caretaker of the cottage and its grounds, and the son of the previous caretaker. Adam found that he liked the shy, kind-hearted man, who took his responsibility very seriously. His obvious familiarity with the property appealed to Adam, as did the fact that despite knowing early on who Adam was, and guessing that the cottage was being prepared for two young people, one of them Adam himself, and not the Keeper, Nolan never breathed a word of this to anyone. So when Nolan expressed his wish to continue maintaining Serena, Adam had readily granted the man's request. And then, when Adam brought Sonea to see the place, so that she could prepare better, and introduced her to Nolan, whom she would be working hand in hand with, the two were obviously taken with each other, as was quite apparent in the calls the two had held since, after Sonea had returned to the Aeterna. A few days earlier Nolan finally dared offer that she move in with him into his house at the edge of the village, and Sonea took the offer enthusiastically. Things, Adam thought then, sometimes worked out so well, so unexpectedly.

  Sonea saw Adam, and her face broke into a wide smile. She waved at him and came down the stairs energetically, and before Adam could move Nolan came running from across the runway and met her, extending a helping hand. Yes, Adam thought, unable to stop his own smile. These two would be just fine. And he trusted them for what he needed. Sonea would take care of Aelia and him, and would be responsible for all housekeeping duties. Not a difficult job considering the size of the cottage. And Nolan, he would help her and carry on his job as caretaker. They would not even have to commute to Serena every day, there was no need for that. And Adam already had a new SUV waiting for them at their home this very moment, a surprise present for them both.

  The jet didn’t take long to unload. Sonea's belongings had arrived earlier, and Nolan already had them in the house she would be sharing with him. This load contained mainly Aelia's and Adam's things, mostly clothes, from Aeterna. Neither Adam nor Aelia had been at Aeterna long enough to have accumulated much. Adam himself had nothing left from his life before, it was all in the organization's hands, and Aelia did have the couple of boxes brought to her from her old apartment, but she chose to leave them at Aeterna for now. And so there really wasn't that much for them to bring from Aeterna, and a short while later Adam was driving back to Serena, Sonea beside him and Nolan lounging in the back seat. A loaded SUV driven by a member of the security detail, Milen, was following them, and Aeterna's jet was already back in the air far behind.

  Adam left Sonea to orient herself while he helped Nolan and Milen bring everything into the cottage. She began on the ground floor and then went up to each of their wings, inspecting what was done since she was here last. When she came back downstairs she was already ordering Nolan and Milen around. By the time Adam sent her and Nolan to their new home with Milen, intending to give them time to get settled, his closet was organized and his bathroom set out—which surprised him. She must have taken the time to learn all she needed to about him from Remi. A glance showed him that Aelia's rooms were ready for her, too, organized the way she was comfortable with at Aeterna.

  Once again he spent the night alone in Serena, and the sun rising over the horizon found him leaving it locked down and fully active, its systems and those of the control center below it seeing every particle for dozens of miles around, the eye of the Firsts' satellites constantly on it. Serena was monitoring itself, and as an added precaution for this newly activated site, it was also being watched from Aeterna. It was ready.

  The car Adam was driving this time moved silently and swiftly, and was a far cry from the SUV he'd driven around here until now. It was brought to Serena on a flight just four days before—a secure car, built especially for the Protector. It was also preferably the only car the First would be in while she was here, and preferably only when the Protector was also in it.

  All but one of the other newly sent vehicles parked under Serena, one of them the SUV he'd been driving, were vehicles nearly identical to those used by security at Aeterna, and would remain in the underground complex until they were needed. But the one he was driving now was a status car meant to be recognized as holding at least one of Serena's two residents. This was on purpose, in consultation with Ahir. In the village they would be among friends, Ahir had said when he placed before Adam the make and models he would choose from. Friends who should know who was among them. They would, he had said, learn to recognize this car, know who was in it, and would always keep an eye out for
it. And protect it if needed. The Protector had relented, thinking that yes, this car would be recognized. So that if the day came that the First was targeted, it would be easy to draw attention to it while getting her out of there another way.

  As he approached Serena’s hangar, the huge doors opened slowly and he drove through. He parked in a secure space inside, then embarked on the ready jet as the hangar doors continued to open. Inside he sat back, ready for the flight to Aeterna. It was time to bring Aelia home.

  Chapter Thirty

  Richards sat on the couch, legs crossed, staring at the drink in his hand as if mesmerized by the ice cube that floated in it, growing smaller as the seconds passed by. Like his hope for a peaceful resolution to this, he thought. Or that it would go away altogether, as if none of it ever happened. In the garden outside, beyond glass sprayed with stubborn rain, strong winds bent his wife's favorite rose bushes and he wondered fleetingly if the delicate plants would survive this winter, forecast to be another in a long line of violent seasons. Perhaps he should build her a greenhouse, it was a good idea for an anniversary present. God knows she deserved it. He'd been preoccupied these past weeks, barely home, and when he was here, he was hardly an attentive husband. Maggie didn't deserve this, the patient, loving woman that she was. He sighed. She was in Miami now, visiting their grandchildren, their son's kids. A reprieve for her from his worry-plagued, nowadays far too introverted company, no doubt.

  A greenhouse. The melting ice cube in his glass let out a burst of tiny bubbles of air, as if mimicking an ironic laughter. If only he could build a greenhouse to protect humanity, if only it were that simple. This legacy he had gotten, or rather, the legacy his predecessor got from his—that being of course the man who had headed the board when the truce was agreed with the Firsts—was inconceivable. And Jennison . . . the name alone was enough to send a ripple of rage through Richards, and his hand tightened around the cool glass he was holding. What a mess he had made of it all. And what made it infinitely worse was that Richards had no idea if this very minute the Firsts were planning a retaliation of some sort to Jennison's stupid actions, or to what they now knew—that the organization had stolen from them two children, the two children. If he were them, he'd be certain by now that the decades of quiet truce were a sham, that the organization had been ill-meaning from the start and had waited for an opportunity to destroy the Firsts. He'd be suspicious, angry. Vengeful—yes, that, too.

  What Kyle Rhys had done, though, bringing his captive to the board the way he had, gave Richards a glimmer of hope. He had understood immediately that the man was putting the ball in their court. Warning them about Jennison, because he wanted them—trusted them?—to act. Did that mean he was giving them a chance to uphold the truce, to make things right? But even if so, did he have any influence among the Firsts, could he stop a retaliation, if that was what the Firsts wanted?

  Richards sighed, exasperated. It was useless, he had no idea how these . . . whatever they were, thought. He didn't know nearly enough about them, information was so scant. He knew they had been the ones to approach the organization all those decades ago, that it was coexistence they had claimed to want, and that, despite the organization having turned their backs on them, they had remained peaceful all these years. Peaceful and unseen. But would that still be the case now?

  Richards’s predecessor had been stupid enough to actually honor the truce to the letter. True, the man had focused on strengthening the organization and had poured huge resources into it—it was thanks to him that the organization had a global presence and was so powerful. His aim had been to be prepared to protect humanity from the Firsts, if ever needed, and it was he who had approved Jennison's plan, it was under him that the two children of the Firsts were taken. But that was all he had done. After years in which the Firsts had retreated, never again making contact with the organization and virtually disappearing, he had felt confident that the truce would hold and hadn’t done enough to observe or find out more about them. As a result, the organization had no idea just what the Firsts could do.

  Richards's grim thoughts were interrupted by a knock. The door opened, and the facility’s new director was shown into the den. He walked in with the arrogance of a man who knows he's got the upper hand, and Richards moved uneasily in his seat. He didn't like Rozner. The man was dangerous. Richards was well aware of his insatiable drive for power, and of his rather problematic views—this world belonged to humanity, that other species was too much of an unknown, it should have been brought under the organization’s control long ago or, if that was not possible, eliminated in its entirety, and humans were not capable of deciding for themselves and would eventually have to be controlled too. That was it in a nutshell, and he made no effort to hide these views from the board, all except that last one. That, he had voiced earlier in his years but had more recently stopped, knowing that the board was split in their opinions as to the when and how, and to what extent. But he had let it be heard enough for those who remembered to know what he would advocate when the time came.

  These views, and in such a man, made Richards wonder if the day would come when Rozner might decide that the organization‘s board was not acting decisively enough, and would seek to bring them down. Which made Rozner's recent commission, which placed too much power than Richards was comfortable with in the man's hands, rather ironic. The facility, of all places. Yet there was simply no other choice. They needed Rozner. If it ever came to it, he would be the right person to have at the organization's combatant front. And he was not reckless. He understood the need, considering recent events, to regroup, and position the organization where it could act against the Firsts at will in a way that would not allow them to respond. He wasn't the type to charge his prey—be it either the Firsts or humanity. He preferred to find a way to exploit its weaknesses and subdue it without a fight.

  “Well?” Richards finally asked, still staring at his wife's poor rose bushes.

  “We're clean, Sir.”

  “What have we lost?”

  “Department heads, some deputies. I kept all training personnel, I don’t want any delays in training new people. They have a good commanding officer now. I brought in a guy I’ve worked with for years to replace Larson, who chose to retire. It was a long time coming anyway.”

  “Field operatives?”

  “All trainees remain. We've got time to watch them before they become operational, see where their loyalties lie, but their involvement in the facility’s politics has been limited so it's looking good. All level operatives remain except those who participated in the kidnapping. I don't want them there.” Rozner’s tone was final. “There are still questions as to the loyalty of some of the remaining level operatives, we'll have to see if they’re Jennison’s or ours. Most of them won't go beyond level operatives anyway.” He paused. “Our problem is the tier operatives. We can’t afford to lose any. We lost Rhys and Semner, and Leaner and Joyce were injured in that botched kidnapping and are out. That's two tier-one and two tier-three operatives gone. I exchanged some tier operatives with other offices, brought instead some I trust not to have been loyal to Jennison. Plus I have some trustworthy level operatives ready to advance to tier, I've already put them into the necessary training.”

  “So what's the problem?” Richards asked, a tad impatient.

  “These tier operatives, tiers all over the organization in fact, they've all trained with Rhys. Worked with him. He's gotten quite a few of them out of a jam one time or another. They know him. Respect him.” Rozner regarded Richards. “Thanks to Jennison, we've got a whole Rhys-tainted facility. Hell, we've got a Rhys-tainted organization.”

  Richards closed his eyes. He was well aware of that. His mind went back to Melake and his security team, who had stood looking at Kyle Rhys and his captive at a respectful distance, right there outside his boardroom. If it had been anyone else, they would have shot him right through his captive, shot first to protect their board and asked questions later,
as they had been trained and ordered to do. Yes, the organization had a problem.

  “What do you suggest?” he finally asked.

  “Reposition him.”

  Richards raised a brow.

  “Other than a selected few, everyone else, everyone who knows Rhys, they all think he’s one of us.”

  “So?” Richards didn’t need to be told the obvious. “We took him as a young boy. Even those who grew up with him wouldn’t remember that far back, most people don’t. And we ourselves protected him, reinvented his past. No one has a reason to think he’s not one of us.”

  “Right. And he’d served the organization alongside them, so they think him completely loyal, to be trusted blindly.”

  “And?” Richards felt a headache coming on.

  Rozner thought it was rather obvious. “So what if we change how they see him?”

  “We’ve already told them he’s gone rogue. Didn’t do much good, did it?”

  “Because we didn’t give them a reason, we just gave them an order. This time, why not actually turn him from loyal to traitor? Think about it, our field people are out there protecting humankind, which includes also their own families, their friends. Their peers. Going against enemies that threaten their own. Human enemies, but still, it’s the enemy concept we’ve put in their minds. What will make them feel more betrayed than one of their own turning out to be one of those enemies? We can make them think he sold out to someone. And this time we’ll spin it through their commanding officers. Those who like them have served in the field, but now, in their current positions, are perceived as being more knowledgeable about the upper ranks’ decisions, about what we know, why we make these decisions in the first place. Like why we made Rhys rogue. They can pass his ‘treason’ down to the people they’re training and commanding, make it seem like they’re leaking info they got from above. It can stick. All we need is an enemy Rhys has joined.”