“I thought she’d gone to the Doyen?” Nikolaj interrupted.
“Guess that didn’t work out so well for her.”
“And you have to go there, why? You’re still injured,” Nikolaj pressed, motioning to KJ’s stained shirt.
“Because I’m the only one who can, man.” KJ exhaled out resolutely. “If I can get hold of the orb Victoria has, maybe I can reach them. Maybe I can save them all. If you guys listen to me, maybe they will too.”
Nikolaj stared deep into KJ’s eyes, his mind gently testing KJ’s for the truth. “You’re serious,” Nikolaj said, finally. “Not playing hero. You really want to do this.”
KJ just nodded.
“You’ll need help,” Nikolaj said. “Remember not all the Phalanx have Huahuqui. Some are made up of the Militia of Russian orphans. You might not be able to reach them.”
“We’ll go with him,” Igor offered.
His brother bowed in agreement.
Nikolaj pursed his lips then gave a curt bob of his head. “Merry, Lex, and I will get the jamming signal down. We might at least get a message out to Alpha Base.”
KJ clambered to his feet and turned to leave, when Nikolaj grabbed his shoulder.
He stared at KJ for a long while before offering out his hand to shake. “Good luck.”
KJ frowned, then did something he knew he should have done a long time ago. He lunged into Nikolaj and hugged him tight. “We got this, man. Let’s get it finished.”
Nikolaj, apparently taken aback, patted KJ on the shoulders then released him and without a word took off toward the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, his crew in tow.
“We ready?” Catherine asked.
“Let’s go,” KJ said.
Sweat dripped from KJ’s face as he and his band of friends made their way to the Pyramid of the Sun. Without the need to lurk and sneak from building to building, KJ simply kept in the shade as much as possible, jogging a steady pace to the courtyard. As they neared, the murmuring of the Phalanx could be heard, but above all was another voice. Svetlana’s voice.
KJ ducked behind a wall. His crew followed suit, K’awin rubbing up against his leg. He peered around the corner. Rows upon rows of the Phalanx filled the area, human and Huahuqui alike. Intermingled with them were the orphan soldiers. He followed their gaze to the naked form of Svetlana high above.
Arms spread wide Svetlana near shouted her sermon to the crowd below. “My brothers and sisters. Soon the Sixth Sun will be upon us, and a new time for our planet will have arrived. Apophis will free the world from tyranny!”
A murmur of agreement washed through the crowd.
“We must sacrifice ourselves for the greater good! For the will of God! I will show you what sacrifice means, and in my giving see yourselves and your place in history! You must find and stop the Stratum!”
The crowd grew louder.
Victoria stepped forward, holding the orb aloft. It glowed and pulsated in her bony fingers. “In your hand you hold the Eye of God, the final key to breaching the Ninth Veil,” she shouted. “Take it and see Svetlana’s soul leave her corporeal shell for a higher plane!”
KJ watched the Phalanx lift the syringes in their hands, a movement of such co-ordination, and then push the needles into their necks before pressing down on the plungers and draining the fluid inside. Each member began to shake and convulse on the spot, as if the holy spirit had entered them. High above, Svetlana lay on the curved stone, her chest forced outward, and allowed the young man to tie her arms and legs so that she was splayed—open and vulnerable.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” KJ exclaimed. “It’s a fucking sacrificial ritual. He’s gonna cut out her fucking heart.”
“What?” Catherine exclaimed.
The monk brothers peered out from behind the brickwork to snatch a glance.
“It’s a Mayan sacrifice. They cut her open!” KJ pushed off to sprint to Svetlana’s aid.
Catherine grabbed him by the shirt. “What are you doing?”
“I have to save her!”
“How? By fighting the whole Phalanx? Think, KJ. Think!”
KJ’s breathing quickened. “How do we do this?”
“You need the orb to do it right? If they are under her influence they won’t listen to you,” Catherine confirmed.
KJ nodded.
“Then we distract her. And them. You sneak around the back, come up the other side of the temple, and take that skinny bitch by surprise,” Catherine suggested, her eyes burning with hate for the woman.
KJ looked to the monk brothers and their Huahuqui, then back to Catherine. “I can’t risk losing you.”
“If we don’t do this, we’re all lost anyway.”
She was right of course, and KJ knew it. He’d dragged them all this far. Now it was crunch time. “I have an idea,” he said turning to the monks. “Boys, can you still do that thing you learned in the monastery? I know you took a vow.”
“What thing?” Catherine asked, eyes narrowed.
KJ focused his attention back on the reporter. “They can temporarily sever the bond between Huahuqui and humans. It’s pretty draining for them and devastating for the bonded pair. Used it once in a training session. The... sparring partners were hospitalized for a week. Imagine like a really painful feedback loop—static that squeals in your head, but covering your ears does nothing. Trust me, it’s shitty. They vowed never to use it.”
Catherine shuffled uneasily on the spot. “There’s gotta be a hundred pairs out there, easily. More maybe. Can they interfere with that many minds at once?”
KJ stole another glance at the ritual playing out. Victoria was ranting about something. Svetlana was still alive. “Not all the minds. One. Hers. We can’t get into her head, but maybe you can block the orb, the telepathic signal, she’s putting out?”
Igor and Leo looked to each other, then their Huahuqui, before giving only a curt nod.
“Okay,” KJ said resolutely. “We’re running out of time. Let’s go.”
He turned to circumvent the crowd but was once again yanked back. “What now?”
Catherine searched his eyes, with handfuls of his shirt clutched tightly. She drew him close and pressed her soft lips against his. KJ’s heart skipped. He’d wanted to feel that forever. But he knew he couldn’t linger in the moment. He pulled away, held Catherine’s gaze for another moment, and then darted away.
Catherine took a sharp breath and then stepped into the harsh sunlight.
“Stop!” she screamed.
The man high up on the temple halted his downstroke of the blade. The Phalanx around turned as one, every pair of eyes fixated on her.
A shrill laugh broke out from atop the pyramid.
Victoria.
“Stupid girl!” she said, clasping the orb in one hand while taking purposefully heavy strides down the stone staircase that ran the length of the temple. “Here I am rallying my Phalanx to find you, and you deliver yourself to me alone and unarmed?”
“Stupidity and bravery... it’s a thin line,” Catherine replied.
The monk brothers and their symbiotes stepped out from the shadows, flanking Catherine. Their stance remaining one of serene calm. Meditative even. In a strange way, they gave her confidence too. Their years of mental training transferred to her. Perhaps it was emanating from them and their Huahuqui. Perhaps she just really wanted this woman dead.
Victoria laughed, again. “I see you brought Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. Where, pray tell, is your boy toy?”
Catherine ignored the question and focused on the Phalanx. Some were already wearing battle gear with machine guns slung across their chests and side arms strapped to their hips. Others seemed to be clothed in civilian attire, yet still wore an expression of war. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but you don’t have to. None of you have to,” she called out.
“They do as they are commanded, because they understand I am their Mother,” Victoria snapped. “Their reason for being. Without me, they wo
uld not exist.”
“Yes, they would. They’d just be like the Stratum. Working toward a better future for everyone. Humans and Huahuqui,” Catherine yelled back.
“You’re a puppet for the powers that be. Everyone is just a puppet. Soon that will end.”
“The asteroid? You don’t think we’ll stop you?”
Victoria paused, halfway down the stairs. “You really are just a fan girl. A good reporter would have found the signs. Dug for the evidence. Seen what is to come.”
“Dug for what? Seen what?”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed, her head swiveling on her shoulders, searching. “You’re stalling.”
“Whatever you’re going to do, do it now,” Catherine said under her breath, but loud enough for the monks to hear.
Victoria held the orb high and screamed into the air. “Kill them!”
Igor and Leo took another step forward while Jin and Xue stood fast like stalwart guard dogs. All four closed their eyes in concentration. A topaz haze formed around them, engulfing Catherine too.
The first row of Phalanx marched forward a few paces, weapons trained on her and the monks, but then slowed. Their gait became clumsy, their weapon-bearing arms weak and unable to hold a good aim. Deep in her core Catherine could feel a swelling of energy, something not of her making, but seeping into her from the blue miasma in which she was now immersed, obscuring her view.
The ball of light, as that is only how she could explain it, grew and as it did the silhouettes and shadows of the Phalanx beyond the blue cloud stumbled and collided with each other and the soldiers. In the distance, she could hear Victoria screaming orders to murder all five of them.
And then, as if the very limits of her physical being to contain the sphere of light had been reached, she convulsed. Catherine stretched out on tip toes, arms spread wide, as the energy exploded from her being and out into the courtyard. The monks roared long and loud, their Huahuqui warbling in unison. The Phalanx cried out, clutching at their heads, weapons clanging to the floor. The militia looked to each other in confusion.
Catherine fell to the ground, panting. Her limbs were weak and her mind fuzzy as if her very life force had been spent. On hands and knees, she looked up through the dissipating iridescent fog to high up on the temple where Svetlana laid spread-eagled. There was a scuffle, and Catherine could only hope KJ was winning.
The temple was a lot damn higher than KJ had anticipated. Especially when trying his best to be stealthy. Shielding his mind as best he could took energy. Energy that wasn’t available to climb. Out of breath and tired from schlepping himself up countless stone stairs, KJ reached the summit. He peered carefully over the heavy, dusty, brickwork. Just a few feet in front was the young man wielding the blade, hovering it over Svetlana’s naked chest. Ribka paced in a circle around the stone alter on which she lay. He peered a little further, over the top of the pyramid out toward the Temple of the Sun. There, climbing the outer wall was Nikolaj, Merry, Lex and their Huahuqui. Unknown to his friends, a patrol of guards walked the upper quadrant of the temple. They were about to be met with force and there was nothing KJ could do about it.
He cursed their damn plan, then refocused on the blade-wielding man ahead. KJ couldn’t see Victoria, so had to assume she’d descended the other side and was making her way down to Catherine and the boys. That would mean he would have to get past knife-boy and down the other side. But, that was it. As far as he remembered, she had no guards with her on the temple. He just had to wait for the monk brothers to do their thing.
KJ closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and tried the meditation technique Igor had attempted to teach him. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Control the heart rhythm. A dragonfly so large it’s buzz nearly deafened him whizzed by his face. He swatted it away and readjusted himself, but K’awin nuzzled his arm which made KJ open his eyes again. He rubbed his symbiote’s head softly. “It’ll be alright girl, we got this,” he whispered. “You take Ribka, and I’ll get the machete-wielding maniac there. We untie Svetlana and then I go get the orb from her royal bitchiness.”
K’awin ruffled her gills in response.
The corona of a blue haze lifted above the stonework. The monks were about to unleash their weapon. KJ grabbed K’awin. “Disconnect from me. Now! Just in case. They’re messing with the orb, but just in case.”
K’awin cocked her head and stared into his eyes, her expression and consciousness suggesting he’d just asked her to jump off a cliff. She’d never break the bond. She’d die first, and he knew it.
Screams echoed out from the courtyard on the other side of the temple. Svetlana shook and convulsed on the stone table; Ribka dropped to the floor writhing in pain. The man with the knife took a few steps back, seemingly confused. KJ launched from his position and tackled the man from behind, sending him sprawling into the stone and nearly off the top of the summit. The blade clattered away.
Without thinking KJ repeatedly punched Svetlana’s would be killer in the face, bloodying his nose and mouth until he lay unconscious. KJ turned to check on K’awin who had pinned an incapacitated Ribka face down. KJ grabbed up the blade, the metallic scraping ringing out as it dragged from the floor and raced to free Svetlana. She struggled against the ropes, thrashing in pain. Sawing as quickly as he could, without accidentally cutting into her flesh, KJ cut through her bonds. She slipped from the alter to the ground and stopped moving.
KJ froze, his ears now pricked. The screaming had stopped. The boys had spent their energy. He placed a hand on Svetlana who lay, breathing labored on the floor. He removed his jacket and laid it over her painted skin, then stormed to the edge of the temple’s summit ready to charge down the other side and take out Victoria. But as he reached the edge, her greying blonde bob and angular face crested the final step.
“Foolish boy,” Victoria spat as she stomped up and into the platform. “You thought what? You could stop me? You have no idea the lengths I’ve gone to. There is no stopping it.”
“Watch me,” KJ fired back.
Victoria just gave a horrible knowing smile. “Kill him.”
KJ’s panicked stare flicked to where the blade-wielding man had laid. Still lay. His brow knitted in confusion, and only too late he realized Svetlana’s foot speeding toward his face.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Location: Southwest Rice Terraces, China
Jonathan handed the satellite phone back to Tony.
“Something up boss? The little lady okay?”
“She’s been better,” Teller said, looking to his friend. He considered relaying everything he’d just learned: Koa Brown being a mole, Freya making progress with the orb; Victoria McKenzie probably now part of the Nine Veils; but, most importantly, about the killer asteroid and Project Zeus. In the end, Teller decided that the mission would be compromised if his team had such worries on their minds. They needed to focus. He needed to focus. So instead he said: “The power stations may be retrievable. And the team at Alpha Base may have a way of getting friendly Huahuqui to connect with the Nine Veils, make them see sense.”
“That’s great news, boss,” Tony said, patting Teller on the shoulder.
Teller settled back into his chair and gazed out the passenger window. The sun was low in the sky, lazily creeping its way upward, dragging its yellow orange halo higher and higher to burn away the purple of night. High up on a peak in the distance were the silhouettes of several structures. Their distinctive shapes, step pyramids and square buildings—out of place and time—told Teller they had found what they were looking for. This is where the final battle would happen. Asteroid or not, he’d probably die here.
It was ironic, given his grandfather had died in Laos. Not something he talked about—mainly because he was ashamed—but Jonathan’s grandfather had been in the CIA and fought a covert war in Laos the the late 1950s, codenamed: Erawan. President Kennedy had refused to send more American soldiers to fight in Southeast Asia and instead asked the CIA to use triba
l forces in Laos to launch guerrilla operations in North Vietnam. It was the largest CIA paramilitary operation in history, spanning thirteen years. It also resulted in a civil war, with the CIA’s recruited Laotian forces fighting communist Laotians. More than half a million bombing missions took place in Laos during that time. Countless innocents died; all to fight an idea: communism. Was Teller now any different than his grandfather? World powers wanted to wage a civil war between two Huahuqui factions to fight an idea that the Nine Veils had been attempting to elevate for an age: restart the world with the Huahuqui as supreme beings.
But, fighting for the greater good was not why Jonathan was here now.
Throughout his career, Teller had worked on the premise that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Freya had always mocked him for making a Star Trek reference a guiding principle in his life. For him, it had just made sense. Until now. Now, he was here risking his life and those of his brothers in arms and the Huahuqui to rescue his sons from whatever lay ahead. KJ and Nikolaj were all that mattered. A whole country could burn as long as he got to save them—long enough to tell them he loved them, before an asteroid wiped them all out anyway.
“We’re coming up to it,” Lauder said over the radio from the lead vehicle. “Don’t wanna get too close though.”
The vehicle ground to a halt and Teller jumped out, cautiously taking in his surroundings. Tony exited the passenger side, while Lauder stepped down from his wagon and instructed the Laotian driver to stay inside. The Stratum fidgeted in the rear flatbeds.
“What’s the plan?” Lauder asked.
“Recon for now—”
“Boss!” Tony interrupted. “We got something here.”
Teller drew his Glock and cautiously stepped over to the grassy ridge where Tony was standing. Lauder stayed with the trucks, his men fanning out to protect the perimeter. Just below the ridge were a couple more vehicles of a similar make to those they had arrived in. Two Laotian man laid in one of the flatbeds, smoking.
Teller pulled his radio, keyed it up, and whispered to Lauder: “We have possible friendlies here, but I want to be sure. Bring your driver to me.”
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