by Amy DuBoff
“Be calm,” the man in black said. “Don’t harm yourself.”
He grabbed a vial from the cabinet on the right and loaded it into a cylinder. He placed the device against her neck and she felt a slight prick followed by a cool tingle. While he stood next to her, she caught a glimpse of luminescent red eyes beneath the hood.
A sense of calm overcame Raena, quieting her mind as it numbed her hands and feet.
“Do you know Ryan Pernelli’s origins?” the black-robed man asked.
Despite her instinct to resist, Raena was compelled to tell him everything she knew. “He’s the lost heir to Dainetris. His father was the former TSS High Commander, Jason Banks—my brother’s namesake.”
“And who else knows this?” questioned the man.
“Just my parents and grandparents.”
“Are you sure?”
“That’s all I know,” Raena replied. You shouldn’t be telling him this, a voice in the back of her head tried to protest.
“What is your relationship with Ryan?” the man continued.
“I don’t know,” Raena said truthfully. “We cared about each other immediately, but it’s still new.”
“Have you had sexual relationships with each other?”
The bluntness of the question shocked her even in her dazed state. “No. We just kissed.”
“Have you had any other sexual partners?”
Whoa, this isn’t right, the voice in her head told her. This time, it was stronger. “No,” she replied aloud. I need to fight this.
“Have you experienced any abilities?” the man asked.
I can’t tell him. “No, my abilities haven’t Awoken,” she lied.
The man shook his head. “Be truthful, Raena. You must.”
No! This is all I have. “A false alarm,” she insisted. “They took us from Earth, but it was just a migraine. I don’t have any abilities yet.”
“Our tests say otherwise.”
“The tests are wrong.” They can’t prove it yet. My abilities might be the only thing that could get me out of here, if I could catch them by surprise.
The man frowned under his hood. “I sense you are trying to deceive me.”
“You’re the one lying to me. I’m not safe here at all.”
“Maybe we need to up the dose…” the black-robed man stepped toward the cabinet again.
“Your eminence, we won’t be able to test her if she’s under the influence anymore,” said the gray-robed man on the left.
The leader stopped. “Yes, you’re right. Testing them will be the easiest way to draw a definitive conclusion.”
Them? “Who else do you have here?” Raena questioned.
“That’s not your concern now.”
“My brother? Ryan?” she pressed.
“Right now, you should be more concerned with yourself,” the man said. “You have one chance to make this a comfortable experience.” He stormed out of the room with the two others in tow.
Raena’s heart raced. What are they going to do to me? I have to escape!
* * *
Ryan tested the restraints wrapped around his wrists. I might be able to break it if I—
A panel in the wall ahead of him slid open. Three figures stepped inside—one in a black robe and two robed in light gray. He immediately recognized them as associates of the Priesthood.
“Ryan Pernelli. Or, should I say Ryan Dainetris?” the figure in black asked.
Ryan glared at him. “The Priesthood has no right to manipulate people’s lives like this!”
“On the contrary,” the main replied, “so little would ever be accomplished without us. It’s our duty to advance the Taran civilization.”
“Not like this,” Ryan shot back. “You can’t just capture people in the middle of the night and expect them to cooperate.”
“We don’t need your cooperation. Whoever said we needed you conscious?”
Ryan hesitated. Stars! Can they just drug us and do anything they please?
The hint of a smile was visible beneath the shadow of the man’s robe. “Now you’re beginning to see your place.”
“I’d rather die than help you.”
“Oh, come now! That’s not in the spirit of progress.”
“You’re sick.”
The robed figure shook his head. “You’re just as belligerent as her.”
“Her”? Fok, no…! Do they have Raena? He swallowed his anger, knowing that lashing out at his captors wouldn’t get him anywhere at the present. “What do you want with me?”
“You have quite the genetic legacy, you know,” the Priest replied. “You can give us so much.”
“And what’s that?”
“Immortality.” The Priest turned around and headed for the door. “Prepare him for the test.”
“What are you—” Ryan convulsed as an electric shock passed through him, setting his nerves on fire. The world faded around him.
* * *
Wil expected his wife to be a little more enthusiastic about the plan he presented to her, but it did sound pretty simplistic when he said it aloud.
“You’re just going to barge in?” Saera questioned from the couch in their guest quarters.
He continued pacing. “Go in with a team of the Elites, there’s no way they could possibly have countermeasures. It’s the best chance of getting them out quickly and unharmed.”
Saera raised an eyebrow. “Couldn’t possibly have countermeasures? This is the organization that made you and the Bakzen. I think they know a thing or two about telekinesis.”
“I need to try, Saera. I won’t let them use her.”
“Neither will I, but we need to be smart about this. You’re our best asset—getting yourself captured would be a major setback. For all we know, this is a trap to lure you in.”
“That’s possible, but—”
“You’re approaching this like a father and not a strategist. I know because I’d rather be sobbing on the floor right now, but that would do nothing to help our daughter.”
Wil sat down on the couch next to his wife. “So what do we do?”
“You contact the High Priest and start making demands.”
“That won’t work.”
“Of course not,” Saera replied. “But if he’s smart he’ll at least take your call. And you can—”
“—pinpoint his location on the island, of course.”
She smiled. “Now you’re thinking.”
“That gets us one person, though.”
“But a very important person. I don’t think we could realistically get to the lower levels of the island where any prisoners would be being held, but his office might be somewhere more accessible. If you could apprehend him, we’d have leverage for a trade,” Saera clarified.
“They’ve been working on these two genetic lines for generations—probably a thousand years. They’re not going to trade those two people for one, regardless of how high-up he is in the organization.”
“But it will serve as a distraction and bide time.”
Wil nodded. “And that might be enough.”
“We’ll get her back, Wil. Your family has a good record of beating the odds when it comes to this sort of thing.”
“We do… But how are you not freaking out right now?” he asked her.
“Because I believe in her and us. Meltdowns and tantrums don’t solve problems. We need to buckle down and act smart.”
“You’re right.”
She took his hand. “I know you can do it because you’ve done it before.” She paused. “We didn’t have a chance to talk after your big reveal.”
His heart skipped a beat. “You mean about Cambion?”
She nodded. “I want to clear the air so we can focus on finding Raena.”
“Saera, I—”
“You don’t have to explain,” she said. “I would have done the same thing for you.”
“That doesn’t excuse my actions.”
“You did what was neces
sary in the moment to make sure you’d have a chance to address the real enemy.”
“Yes, but…” …my internal motivations were far more selfish.
“Wil,” she swiveled to face him, “dwelling on your past actions now doesn’t change anything. That was a tough time for all of us—you need to move past it. For good.”
The Priesthood’s corruption needs to be ended. That’s what’s important now. When his parents began laying the groundwork for a coup decades before, the actual methods of such an overthrow were only a vague idea. However, as the time for action neared, it was crucial that they not only had a clear tactical approach, but could also mitigate the Priesthood’s countermeasures several steps in advance. The potential partnership of Raena and Ryan would provide the very leverage they needed—and the Priesthood probably knew it.
“All right, so we open a dialogue with the Priesthood. How do we know truth from fabrication?” Wil asked. “No one knows if the Priesthood possesses military power outside the TSS or how far-reaching their control stretches beyond the main organization. For all we know, one of the other High Dynasties is operating fully under the Priesthood’s orders.”
“Right now, none of that matters. This isn’t about removing the Priesthood from power just yet—it’s about gathering information.”
Wil rose from the couch so he could resume pacing across the living room while he thought through the innumerable details that were still major unknowns. He massaged his eyes, trying to ease a growing headache. “We need to know what they’re trying to achieve…”
Saera stood up and began to pace next to him. “Well, all of their original plans seem to revolve around physically augmenting current Tarans.”
Wil nodded. “Really, we have no reason to believe those plans changed. They tried one route and failed with the Bakzen. Then there was me—us.”
“Do you think they started another genetic line?”
“Not out in the open,” Wil mused. “But all of those disappearances… that was for something deliberate. It’s too close to the other experimentations that we know about for us to ignore the potential implications.”
Saera’s face drained. “I was afraid of that.”
“But the question is, what are they trying to accomplish? A new vessel for enhanced abilities… there has to be more to it than that.”
“Maybe, or maybe not,” Saera replied. “Thinking about all the selfish acts they’ve performed over the years—those that we know about, anyway—I wouldn’t be surprised if all their plans were just extreme means of self-preservation. They’ve already shown that they’ll stop at nothing to perpetuate their own existence. Regardless of how it may have started as a quest to better Tarans as a whole, now it’s about the Priesthood making things better for themselves.”
“My conclusion, as well.”
Saera frowned. “But what would make things the best possible outcome for the Priesthood?”
“Absolute power,” Wil suggested.
Saera frowned. “That’s a bit nebulous.”
“Whatever they’re after, it must be a means to ensure their continued position of power. Something that would give them unquestioned authority over all others.”
His wife stopped. “God-like powers.”
Wil realized where she was going. “Abilities on a scale most have never witnessed. Like what I can do, but within their control.”
“No wonder they wanted Raena,” Saera said, slumping against the couch at the center of the room.
“I think we need to have that chat with the Priesthood.”
CHAPTER 20
Attendants wheeled Raena through an endless maze of hallways. From her reclined position on a wheeled gurney, she could only see the ceiling and upper segments of the walls. Based on the lack of windows, her best guess was that they were underground—most likely beneath the Priesthood’s island.
She still felt dazed from whatever drug they’d given her earlier, though it didn’t seem to be as potent as the Priesthood expected. My abilities are more advanced than they expect. How can I use that to break free?
Of course, she’d never actually used her abilities and had no training in where to begin, but if her grandfather had been able to fight back against the Priesthood when his life was on the line, then maybe she could, too. She’d need to be perfect with her timing. With any luck, an opportunity would present itself.
Eventually, her gurney passed through a door with an electronic lock.
Something felt different in the new corridor—like there was a hum to the air. As she focused her senses, she realized that it was the same feeling as when she was surrounded by a group of Agents. There are people with abilities nearby.
Then, she saw them. Rooms with transparent walls lined either side of the hall, and inside each was a single woman. They varied from early-twenties to forties, but every one of them had the same blank expression of defeat and acceptance. Some of the women wandered in aimless circles around their cell and others lay back on the single bed in the small space. When Raena looked closer, she realized that most of the women had distinctly swollen bellies showing through their loose-fitting shirts.
Oh my god… They’re all pregnant! Raena realized. Her heart pounded in her ears as the pieces began to fall into place. The Priesthood wasn’t just interested in her genetic code, but the forced continuation of the line.
She fought the impulse to struggle against her restraints. If she was going to escape, she needed to pick the right moment—wasting strength now wouldn’t get her free.
The attendants wheeled her into a room at the end of the hall, past at least three dozen women in their cells.
The destination was a rectangular room with two freestanding stations set up in the center of the space. Each station was equipped with a holographic display with placeholders for vital readouts. Above each station, a spotlight illuminated the floor.
Standing behind the equipment, three figures robed in black were accompanied by seven others wearing light gray robes. They stood in silence with their hands clasped in front, their faces hidden in shadow in the dim light beyond the bright spotlights.
Raena was wheeled under the spotlight on the left, facing toward the entry door with the ten robed figures out of sight behind her. She blinked in the bright white light shining down into her eyes.
As her eyes adjusted, she saw another gurney rolling into the room. After a moment, she realized that it held Ryan. He appeared to be unconscious. So I’m not alone… but what are they going to do us?
When Ryan’s gurney was in place under the other spotlight, footsteps sounded at the back of the room, approaching Raena.
She turned her head to her right to see one of the black-robed figures pacing around the stations. He wasn’t the same man who’d interrogated her before, as far as she could tell, but his face was obscured under his deep hood.
“Why are we here?” Raena asked him. “And who are you?”
“I am a High Priest, and you will be the mother of a new generation,” he replied.
Yeah… no. Raena glared at him. “How about Option B—you let us go and forget about this little breeding program of yours?”
The man chuckled—an unnatural sound for his raspy voice. “Breeding? You misunderstand. We are the caretakers of the Taran genetic legacy. But what the Archive cannot provide, we seek through other means.”
“Are you talking about the Genetic Archive?”
“Of course.”
They never collected a sample from me for the Archive, and probably never got one from Ryan, either. “If that’s what you’re after, then take it and let us go.”
“There’s more to life than just two genetic donors coming together,” the High Priest replied. “We need you.”
Raena’s mouth dried. “What for?”
“We’ve tried artificial gestation, but the abilities of the offspring were never as powerful as those carried by a mother with telekinetic gifts.”
Raena’s stomach
turned over. “You want me to have a baby for you.”
“Oh, not just any child,” the High Priest replied. “In only two more generations, we will have the template for a perfect vessel to give us eternal life.”
A template? Raena’s brow knit, trying to figure out what he meant. As she studied his face, she began to see a resemblance between him and one of the acolytes dressed in light gray that she had seen earlier. “You’re clones, aren’t you?”
“Ah, very good,” the High Priest nodded. “You see, one person can only gain so much knowledge in a lifetime. To truly become an actualized self, we must perpetually study and grow.”
“Are you talking about transferring consciousness to another body?” she asked. “Isn’t that illegal?”
The High Priest’s lips twisted into a sinister smile. “We couldn’t allow such imperfection to perpetuate. For just anyone to live forever would destroy our civilization. We needed to be selective about who maintains the knowledge and power. Those deemed worthy are drawn into the Priesthood and made whole. All others will die, and eventually we can reshape this civilization to fit our image—once we have the right vessel for our continuation.”
Raena took a shaky breath. “If you’re already cloning yourselves, then what do you need with me?” She glanced at Ryan, still unconscious on his gurney. “With us?”
“Our original attempts were flawed,” the High Priest stated. “We knew we needed a new vessel. Your union holds the key—a new genetic line that will enable our continuation without degradation. The Bakzen were incomplete, and for generations their broken design is all that we’ve had. But with your progeny, we will finally have a purely Taran line with clean enough genetic code for endless replication. With such perfection will come true enlightenment.”
“What makes a culture great is individual differences,” Raena shot back.
“There can only be one expression of perfection. Any deviation is corruption.”
Raena shook her head. “There’s no such thing as ‘perfection’! It’s all subjective.”
“Not to those who’ve had a thousand years to define their vision. The many forms I’ve taken have taught me what is needed and what is superfluous. Soon only the ideal will remain.”
