Coeus?

by Andur

  Oh, so the reason why she is calling him is that she can't track him. “I think there is a reason when a person refuses to talk to someone. Whoever you are.” I've to point out that she didn't introduce herself. There is also no need to give away that I got a very detailed story on her person.

  “I am sorry. I am Gideon's creator, so to speak. You are Cyla Estene, you shared the bed with him for the last month. What did you think of my handywork?” She asks, but I don't give her the satisfaction of betraying my expression. I am very sure that she is trying to get a hint on how we stand towards each other.

  “Yeeees, I think he mentioned you once or twice. Always in connection with some kind of curse.” I answer slowly. “He got very creative the second time.”

  She claps her hands together. “That's so like him. It's good that I got to talk to you. And you didn't even deny my idea of you two sleeping together.” She starts pacing left and right in front of me. “Ah, it feels like I am learning so much, just by talking to you. But if you are in Sol and the Coeus is in Sol, then that means that Gideon is also here. But I can't find him, so he is somewhere without connection. That means he is on Earth? But he shouldn't go there until much later.”

  She happily continues rambling on until I have enough of it and interrupt her monologue. “So what's the deal, bitch. You want to tell me that you don't even care to track what happens to your own relatives. I don't think that Gideon is the one who needs a psychiatrist. You do.”

  Her expression tightens for a moment as if she intends to lash out at me, then her eyes start flicking left and right. “Oh... Galia... the experiment I left on Earth!”

  Without another word the connection is terminated. I didn't fully believe Gideon's description of her, but Sadina is really messed up.

  But if I put her last words into context with what Gideon told me about Galia's report, then it makes sense. I shudder as I dial Gideon's number to tell him the most likely reason why the humans on Earth suddenly have the means to hunt mages.

  Sol, Earth, Australia

  Rob

  I enter my bedroom and sigh in relief. My days are very tiring since these bastards took Samantha. They probably did it to show me that they can get anyone. I still don't believe that she really was a mage.

  If there was something that I could do. Anything! But I don't have anyone I can trust. It feels infuriating to be the representative of earth and yet I am completely powerless.

  I approach my bed, but suddenly it feels like I am falling. “What? Aah...” I am floating? What's this? I want to puke!

  “If you scream, I kill you. If you put your hands somewhere where I can't see them, I kill you. If you don't answer my questions, I kill you.” A voice whispers right next to my ear.

  “Who?” No. It's a mage! There is no doubt about that! I am floating freely in mid air.

  “Who took the person called Samantha?” The voice asks.

  “I- I don't know. You can kill me, but I really don't know.” I answer. “Please let me down. I am too old for this. I won't scream.”

  Slowly I am lowered into the chair beside the small table right next to my bed. I look around, but I still can't see anyone in the room. “How?”

  “Magic! And now start answering questions. I want the names of the people behind all this.”

  A file appears out of nowhere in front of me and drops into my lap. I take it and start reading, it's a detailed report on that horrible secret facility. Oh, my god. If the world finds out. “Only Samantha and me could have known about this. It's written from our point of view, so she was a mage!”

  I lower the report in shock. “I can't. They threatened us. I don't care about myself, but I have a brother and he has family!”

  “Mr. President. I was sent by the society of mages. Many are still thinking that we should stay away from Earth. But certain parts of our society are thinking that enough is enough.”

  I hear steps wandering through the room, but I still can't see anyone.

  “I was allowed to take steps against the people who orchestrated this incident.” A pen drops into my lap. “So you'll start writing the names of those bad apples, or I'll pluck the information directly out of your brain. And that... is a very unhappy experience. Don't you want your secretary back?”

  “I... what will you do to them?” I ask. “Don't you know everything you need from that report? I don't know anything definitive. There is only one man whom I know for sure to be involved and he is just a middleman.”

  “Making an example out of them of course. And no, I want them all! They broke the contract. If you don't know for a fact, then guess. Give me the names of suspicious people. I'll do the rest once I get my hands on someone who is involved. I'll even allow you to choose a few names of your own agenda. We'll call them collateral damage, what do you think? Whom do want to permanently remove from a position of power.”

  I gulp. “This proposal isn't right. There are laws!”

  “What are laws worth if they protect evil? Sometimes a tumour can't be cured without cutting it out. I thought you worked as a ranger. Haven't you seen the sickness of human society. Earth has the chance to unite under a good government. Nobody will know that you wrote those names.

  Sometimes a single person has to decide the fate of the world. Right now you are the one who is given that chance by writing the right names onto that paper.”

  My eyes wander to the pen and the file.

  “All you need to do is to choose. I'll be watching the outcome of your decision.”

  “Can you do it?” I ask.

  “You are talking to someone who walked past fifty guards, right into your bedroom. Without triggering the security system or being recorded by any of the surveillance cameras.”

  With a shaking hand I start writing names.

  31. ~Dispatched.~

  “

  The Zeen are one of the oldest and most advanced known races. They are holding the position of a chairman among the collective of intelligent races.

  Many races seek their advice when they are confronted with the unknown or first contact situations. The reason is that the Zeen's gift for languages and understanding gives them the ability to communicate with almost all known races.

  ”

  -Galactic History

  Sol, Earth, South Africa

  General Denize

  “What do we have?” I ask, sitting down in the conference room.

  “We only know that our opponents or opponent have to be professionals.” One of the three agents in charge of the investigation pushes a stack of photos to me.

  “There was no sign of someone breaking in. Nobody was recorded on camera. The bodies were found where they were working. The Guards were lying around throughout the house and the Chief Executive Officer was found in his bed, together with his wife. None of them looked like they saw anything coming. They were neatly executed.”

  A second agents huffs. “Executed is too nice to describe it. If you follow the probable sequence of events as it is told by the bodies, then the bastard started with slitting throats and got more creative with each victim. The chief was slit open like a pig from neck to belly and left to bleed out.”

  I try to wrap my mind around the new situation while I flip through the gruesome pictures. “Is there an organisation with the capabilities to do this? And how are the chances that our good old chief was interrogated before someone turned him into stuffed turkey?”

  The third agent shakes his head. “There is no way to tell that for sure. We suspect the guys from Russia, or an Australian agency. Nordas could have done it too, but we are fairly sure that they have no reason to interfere.”

  I squint my eyes at the pictures. “Position one of our enhanced soldiers close to each remaining politician who is backing us. This may have been for entirely different reasons, but I don't want to risk losing the people who are ensuring our operation.” And those old farts will start freaking out if they learn that someone found out about our proje
ct.

  “Yes, Sir.” The three agents salute me and I return the gesture.

  Sol, Earth, Australia

  Gideon

  “There is still so much work to do.” I scratch my head and tick another name off the list. It took quite a lot of time to gather solid evidence. A few people were indeed innocent, while others where just dumb asses who were used as possible straw-men.

  The people behind the facility in Africa are smart ones. They control the world parliament while giving their subordinates only information on a need to know basis. Many of those poor idiots don't even get the big picture despite having more than enough hints.

  I sigh and dangle my feet through the air. Four names remaining, then I am done. At least with those who infiltrated the world parliament.

  The facility and General Denize are last on my list. I would have liked to go there first, but I had to show them somehow that I am interested in their organisation and not in who they might or might not hold captive.

  If Galia is still alive then her life depends on the fact that those people don't realize that I want her and nothing else.

  Otherwise they would surely devise a stupid hostage situation and that's the last thing I want. I reach for the lock of the chest next to me and twist it off. A little body enhancement is more than enough to do the trick.

  I stole the chest from a nearby military facility. It wasn't a big deal to walk inside and carry it out.

  The normals have no way of dealing with the combination of electronic warfare and illusion magic I am capable of. It's easier than taking candy away from children.

  No, seriously! Children are holding onto their candy like drowning men. I tried it. You can't snatch a lollipop out of a child's hands without the child noticing that it got robbed. Then the screaming starts.

  I am sure that those guys from the military don't even realize that one of their rocket launchers is missing. Of course I manipulated their inventory list accordingly. The launcher is a big model with four rockets. Shouldering it isn't easy, but it's manageable.

  There aren't many people on the street since it's night. Hiding myself inside an information barrier is protecting me against discovery even in broad daylight, but I decided to attack during night-time to add another point of uncertainty in regards to my identity.

  I take the sheet with the instructions out of the box and study it. “Let's see... safety? Off. Hmm.” Seems like this thing was developed for being used by idiots. Soldiers in other words.

  I aim the launcher at the bedroom of Maven Rus, a top-ranking politician. The scope confirms that he is indeed in his bed, so I don't waste time and press the trigger to send the rocket on its way.

  An explosion ends the night's silence and I nod satisfied. Killing the targets with conventional weapons reduces the chances of them realizing what's going. It would be nice if they keep thinking that they are up against another one of the countless human factions.

  Suddenly a person breaks through one of the many windows in Maven's house. He drops to the garden below and crosses it in three big leaps. I whistle through between my lips as he leaps onto the lantern beneath the four story penthouse on which I took position.

  The next leap carries the human powerhouse upwards in my direction. If my mind wasn't so freakishly fast I surely would've been impressed by the display of speed and physical powers. No, let's correct that. I am impressed. What this guy is doing is beyond human.

  But he lacks in the brain department. I tilt the rocket launcher slightly and take aim. Whoever this person is, he doomed himself in the same moment as he decided to leap up to the roof in a single big jump. I've no doubt that he would've been able to dodge the missile if he had a solid hold on something.

  As it is now he is just a big target on a predictable ballistic trajectory. I press the button and send the second rocket on its way.

  The strange human attempts to grab the rocket, which would've been successful if I was unable to interface with the detonator. Why should I steal the stupid rockets if I can control the smart ones with my mind?

  The explosion tears his arm off and maims the rest of his body badly, which is a second surprise to me. He took that relatively well. Could this be the project which my mother spoke about? Cyla warned me about the possibility. Up until now I didn't believe that the bitch was stupid enough to let her work on enhanced humans fall into the hands of Earth's government.

  Maybe it was an early stage of the project?

  The man's trajectory was altered by the explosion. He slams into the penthouse's wall and leaves a big red stain behind. Then he partly slides, partly falls down to the sidewalk.

  Not wanting to take any risk, I aim the rocket launcher downwards and send the third rocket after the falling man.

  Having accomplished that I level it again and aim at the freedom statue above the deceased Mr. Maven's house. I am doing it to make a statement to the world.

  With the fourth and final rocket on its way I push myself off the roof, relying on my gravity magic to slowly float away.

  A look to the ground confirms that the human powerhouse was blasted to pieces by the second rocket. His remains are littered across the road.

  Screaming people are rushing out of nearby houses. They are the perfect example of the stupid masses, fleeing in panic without even knowing where to run.

  Some are even slipping on the gooey innards which are distributed along the street. I drop the empty rocket launcher onto the street so that my opponents can find it.

  Then I soar off into the night sky.

  Sol, Earth, South Africa

  General Denize

  “They killed three more of our supporters and the enhanced soldiers. They are good. It's clear that they are trying to influence the government by replacing our people in key positions.” One of the agents informs me. “We've only the minister of defence left. He is bitching after finally finding out what's going on.”

  I glare the agent down. “It was already clear what they are after when they killed the second of our figure heads. They even got our men behind the scene! For god's sake! What about the president? Are you sure that he isn't the leak?”

  The agent shakes his head. “We've him under surveillance twenty-four-seven. There is no chance in hell that he is the leak.”

  “We shouldn't start hunting spies without reason. Three of the politicians were killed in a manner which allows for the possibility of interrogation. They surely spilled the beans. It would be smart to regard all our operatives in Australia as uncovered and not safe.” Another of my subordinates steps in.

  I hit the table and hiss, feeling rage welling up inside me. “Then why aren't they publicly throwing dirt at us. They surely could shut down the project if they wanted to.”

  One of the researchers at the table raises his hand. “That only means that they don't want to shut it down by going public. Either they want to take it over, or they want to end this problem without anyone knowing.” He narrows his eyes. “Or they are a faction which we didn't take into account up until now.”

  The mages? “Neither have they the organisation, nor the training to do this!”

  “Maybe not the ones on this planet, but what about the ones who flew off in their city?” One of the men asks.

  “It doesn't matter at this point. We've to force our enemy to reveal himself. Move all our remaining assets in Australia to cover the Minister of Defence.”

  Sol, Earth, Australia

  Gideon

  I rock back and forth while sitting in Rob's rocking chair. It's similar to my pilot's chair and somehow reassuring. The old man is sitting in his bed. He has dark shades under his eyes and looks very tired.

  “... Mathew Kenburu, David Reiner.” He ends the long list of names which I made him learn by heart. “Could you please stop sleeping in my bedroom? It's disturbing to have someone in here whom I can't see. And you snore.”

  I stop rocking in my chair. “Be glad that I am saving your stupid ass and trainin
g you to be the president you should be. It's safer by the way, just in case that they decide to kill you. One may never be sure. So tomorrow morning, right after I make a show of killing the minister of defence-”

  Rob interrupts me. “I take my personal guards, whom you confirmed to be loyal, then I seek out the people whom you suggested. First I go to General Ronwick and have him put together a force that's capable of defending me and my relatives. Then I go and make everything public. The solid proof is in a chest buried under the flag in the parliament's garden. Can I sleep now?”

  “No, recite the names once more and go through the plan in detail. I expect heavy resistance tomorrow.” I start rocking again.

  32. ~Evolution.~

  “

  The collective of civilised races assumes that its members have catalogued and visited less than two percent of the Milky Way's stars.

  ”

  -Galactic History

  Sol, Earth, Australia

  Gideon

  Maceo Luchini strolls out of the world parliament's main complex without a care in the world. Yet he is covered by ten body guards.

  My little killing spree is the main topic among all the news networks. They have all kinds of conspiracy theories going on. From an attempted coup to a war between secret agencies.

  My last strike is intended as a public statement to everyone who wants to watch. I've made preparations and instructed Cyla to give me a little aid from the shadows.

  While I was busy with killing people and gathering information, she hacked all the uncovered bank accounts and government facilities which aren't completely disconnected from the net.

  I sigh and wait while Maceo Luchini is walking across the plaza directly towards me. Ten metres in front of me one of the bodyguards raises his hand and stops the entire group.

  Astonishment causes me to stop my breath. I've encountered these enhanced soldiers several times by now. Somehow they are able to tell that I am there, but they can't see me.

  It must be either by smell or noise. The information barrier around me is covering everything else perfectly.