by Martin, CJ
“Yes, but first, we need to visit the president.”
Harrison nodded as he pulled out his cell. Marcus put a hand on the lieutenant’s arm, lowering the phone. “I’d prefer to keep our meeting unexpected and under the radar. We cannot be too careful.”
“I’ll get the car.” Lieutenant Harrison said, returning his cell to his pocket and moving toward the door.
★
As Marcus turned and followed Harrison, Sam touched Suteko’s shoulder and pointed to a corner. Once out of earshot of anyone else, Sam said, “We need to find out what our guest knows and fast. It doesn’t like Ian and me. I can’t be sure that Catherine is with us. I was wondering…”
“If I could talk to it?”
They had left the Nephloc more or less alone since its arrival the night before. Sam constantly monitored its thoughts and occasionally one of them left food or drink for it, but they had decided to wait for Marcus before questioning it. Until now.
“Yes. I can go in with you just in case.”
“No,” Suteko said with a sigh. “I’ll go, but I’ll go alone. If I can show him I mean him no harm, he may trust me.”
“Him?”
“Yes, him. Marcus believes most Nephloc were once humans who eventually wholly succumbed to evil. But while it still has flesh, there is hope.”
“And by its stench, I guess there’s plenty of hope.”
“Sam...Anyway, entering with a bodyguard might scare him away. Just...monitor his thoughts”
“Remember, it…”
“He,” said Suteko, interrupting.
“He feeds on fear. Go in without fear.”
The door opened slowly. The noise seemed loud to its ears. In an instant, it scurried to the corner that it deemed to be the farthest from the door, the noise, and the light that had filled seemingly every inch of the previously dark room.
“Hello.”
It was a woman’s voice. There were two female Temporal that it knew about. It wondered which one was entering the room. It didn’t look up. It still had its head buried within its arms and its cloak tight over the round of its head. But the voice sounded kind. The voice almost made it want to lift its head.
“My name is Suteko.”
It was the female they had come for originally. Its eyes darted left and then right within the cloaked darkness. Surely she was here to torture it, it thought, to revenge the evil they had been sent to do. And yet her voice was soothing, totally lacking in anger. The Nephloc risked cracking open a single eye. It lifted its head just enough to see the figure of the woman speaking.
“What is your name, little one?”
It opened its other eye and lifted its head an inch more.
“Iiits lies,” it whispered. “Do not truust—saays sheee.” The creature’s voice was soft and to itself; it did not think she could hear, but the room was small and sound carried.
“I won’t lie to you, little one.”
The head went buried again. The woman had heard. It shuddered at the thought of what was to come and hardened its shriveled body against the inevitable blow.
The Temporal walked over to the creature and instead of the expected strike, it felt her hand rest on its shoulder with the softness of a woman’s touch.
But it was more than just a woman’s touch.
Warmth flowed through it. The sensation was frightening. It knew fire would kill it and its first thought was that the woman was trying to kill it. But then it calmed down. She wasn’t filling it with warmth from a deadly fire, but of a different kind—something soothing and comforting like moonlight; not the burning heat of direct light from the sun. For the first time since its changing, the Nephloc felt almost comfortable, at ease.
It lifted its head to meet her eyes. “Taank you.”
“You are welcome. What is your name? What can I call you?”
It was silent.
“Well, is there anything I can get for you?”
“Let usss walk.”
“You may either stay in this room or else we send you back to Kaileen.”
At the sound of that name, the creature rolled over to a different corner away from the woman. Few of the Nephloc knew the High Lady’s name, but it had been touched by Kaileen after the other three were killed and for the briefest of moments, it had seen forbidden knowledge. It knew the High Lady’s name, her secrets. Its head was once again buried within his cloak.
“It is okay. You may stay here. We won’t hurt you, little one. And we won’t speak of her.”
The creature lifted its head to look at its adversary. She stood and backed away, but she had not moved far. She was toying with it, it reasoned. She pretends to be peaceful.
“I have a favor to ask,” it heard the woman say. “If you are to stay with us, we really need your help. Some friends of mine have been attacked. I need to know how you learned our locations.”
“Weee knows nothing.”
“Surely, there is something you can tell me that will help my friends.”
“No.”
She started to walk toward the creature when it exploded.
“Do not come! Go! Go away!”
It felt its eyes burn, not daring to blink. It kept them on her while trying to keep everything else covered by the cloak.
She nodded, backed up, and exited without a further word.
It waited a full half hour before extending its right arm outward. Pulling the arm of its cloak back to its shoulder, it looked at the patches of skin and exposed bone that made up its arm. It was grotesque, even to the creature itself. The skin was gray with blotches of dark brown where the last traces of blood had left its body, staining it. Its left hand’s fingernails were long. Far longer than its right hand’s. It had grown them for a reason, for this moment.
It let out several calming breaths before digging flakey fingernails deep into its right arm’s flesh. It was strange how painful it had been to insert the communications device. As dead flesh rotted, it simply fell off without the slightest pain or sensation. But when the woman inserted the device, it had been extraordinarily painful. And digging it out now had brought back that same intense pain.
It smiled through the ordeal. The Temporal had searched his cloak and patted his skin. But they had not looked under the skin.
That carelessness would enable him to become Perazim, that is, if he survived the Temporal.
Pulling it from under its skin, it quickly hid the device within its cloak just in case one of the Temporal was to come. It needed to catch its breath and calm down before making contact.
After several minutes, it retrieved its precious contraband. She had given it precise instructions. The power source had to be connected and then a code entered before the device would work. The lady didn’t want the device to be activated until it was inside and had made contact.
After making the report, it would once again disconnect the device. It was told to reinsert it into its bone and flesh, but the Nephloc would not do that. Not even the High Lady could make it do that—at least not while she was far away. It would hide it within its cloak; the device would be safe there. It was a minor show of independence and one the High Lady would never learn about, but for the spy, it gave him the feeling of absolute freedom.
With the device powered, it pressed the buttons in the order that the woman had instructed and waited. After a few minutes, a green light came on and it spoke in whispers, “Laady. Weee is here.” It held the box to its ear.
“You took an inordinate amount of time to make contact.”
It was the lady’s voice. Hearing it even with the knowledge that she was not present caused it to shudder.
It was doubly frightened. Speaking to her was frightening enough. Doing so within the Temporal’s lair made the task far more unpleasant. One wrong word or rash action and either side would end its life.
“Is the woman Suteko there?”
There were noises in the background; wind was blowing into the microphone. She was ab
ove ground and on the move.
“Yeesss. Shee spoke to uss.”
“Remember, she is a liar. She is a witch that can cast powerful spells to make you believe lies. You must not fall victim to her charm—be clever and gain her trust.”
“Yesss.”
There was an explosion in the background. The creature waited, unsure of what was happening.
“Well? What do you have to report?”
“There are at least five Temporal here. Wee is in small room. Wee hear nothing more.”
“Report again when you learn something important.”
“Yesss.”
“Remember, if you fail me, you will lust for the release of death. I’m risking much on you. Remove the power source and don’t contact me again unless you discover something useful.”
“Yesss.”
The Nephloc quickly disconnected the device before she could say anything else. As dangerous of an assignment as it was, a part of it felt safe. Yes, the Temporal wanted it dead and would kill it if it proved to not be useful, but death from her was far more unpleasant. At least here, it was safe from her. She would not dare attack it while the Temporal were around.
Chapter Fifteen
Sam’s still form was huddled over a world map. Beads of sweat rolled from his brow. As his fingers and eyes moved from country to country, Suteko occasionally swabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. Ian, who was standing next to him, ignored the huge map sprawled out over the table and looked directly at Sam’s face.
Sam’s appearance intensified—like the perfect determination of an Olympic athlete just prior to taking the gold.
Since Marcus disappeared an hour ago, he had not called or responded to repeated attempts to reach him. Their military contacts also were not able to find him.
There was a problem. Sam had sensed the attacks were not over. Even with the planes recalled, he knew Temporal were being tracked on foot by the enemy. People needed to be warned, but Marcus had the phone numbers and it seemed he had failed to warn some to stay away from their rendezvous locations. Sam sensed several Temporal were simply waiting unaware and expecting their flight.
Marcus had the complete list, but in his absence, Sam had begun working on reconstructing it including, when possible, each contact phone number. Suteko worked the phone as Sam discovered a new one. Just watching the Temporal was draining; Sam had already spent hours in intense concentration and this latest task took him beyond exhaustion.
Sam’s face paled as he spoke to those around the table. “I see her. I see Kaileen.” He looked up. “Suteko, try to get Marcus again.”
As Suteko lifted the phone to her ear, she asked, “Where is she?”
When Sam worked, it was like the mysterious and unknowable moment when the waking world gives way to sleep, but unlike a dream, he was fully cognizant of this transitional period. He could see images, people, and places far away as if he were viewing it in person. The incredibly vivid colors and heightened spatial depth made him wonder which reality was true.
He pointed to the map. “Northern Italy, I think. She’s moving fast. She is hard to pin down, but it is her.” Sam was back looking down, but Suteko could tell he was not merely seeing the paper map before his physical eyes. “She is above ground and in the open.”
As the third ring fell unanswered, Suteko’s features turned downward. “Kaileen could be attacking someone now. She wouldn’t risk being in the open for any other reason.”
“Yes. I see someone near her, one of ours. It’s...Maro. Maro is his name.”
“Italy...Yes, that will be Maro. And I’m sure Amato is with him. Can you find Marcus? I don’t have Maro or Amato’s contact information.”
Sam closed his eyes and focused his attention to a tighter radius. “I see...Marcus, he is here in DC. I don’t know what he is doing, but he is fine. Here is Maro’s contact info,” Sam said with his eyes still closed and head up. His hands scribbled numbers in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a pen to the map.
Suteko dialed Maro and waited. After the fifth ring, she felt a growing sense of helplessness. Marcus had the contact information and also the knowledge and connections to make warning and the gathering of Temporal possible. He was off with Lieutenant Harrison to see the president and wasn’t responding to her constant calls. Her resolve was crumbling, but upon seeing the weight of guilt and pain evident in every line on Sam’s face, she forsook all self-pity and caressed Sam’s shoulder. She watched as some color returned to his face. “It will be all right, Sam.”
Sam didn’t look up, but a quick raise of an eyebrow told her he was listening.
“Why can’t you see Kaileen all the time?”
“I...don’t know. It is like she isn’t there and then she is. I think...she may have come up from the ground like our Nephloc spy, and if that is true, I can only see her in her current form and above ground. I can’t explain it, but this is definitely her. Suteko,” Sam said through opened, but bloodshot eyes. “You need to get intel from your little friend. Our people are dying.”
“I’m working on opening him up.”
“See what you can do and then get back to the phones. I don’t know how much longer I can stay functional, and I’d really like to pass out knowing they are all safe.”
Suteko kissed his forehead and then turned to visit the Nephloc.
The Nephloc spy had been increasingly flirting with insubordination. First, he had disobeyed a direct order to reinsert the communications device. Now, he was actively trying to recall memories from when he was human—an act punishable by death. The time with the Temporal, and in particular the meetings with Suteko, had awakened individualistic urges within him. For the first time since losing his humanity, he was thinking of himself in the first person and as his own being.
He heard the door unlock and then crack open. Through a tiny space between his fingers, he saw it was the woman Suteko. She had returned and only hours after the last visit.
“Hello, little one. May I speak with you?”
He said nothing, but kept a curious eye on the woman.
“Have you given any thought to helping us?”
He still said nothing. The back of his dark cloak rose and fell in cadence with his breathing.
“Wait here. I have something for you.”
He watched as she walked to the door. His right hand pinched at some rotted flesh hanging from his neck. He remembered that this had been a nervous habit of his as a human. Another act of rebellion...Following the High Lady’s instructions, he had only to be helpful enough to keep him here. Perhaps he hadn’t been helpful enough? Would the woman return with an instrument of torture?
She reappeared, holding something covered by a white cloth. She set it down in front of him and pulled the fabric away, revealing a basket with all manner of food in it. Fresh fruit, cheeses, nuts, and various vitamin rich vegetables were beautifully arranged in a small wicker basket.
As she stood and backed away, she said, “I will visit you again soon. I will not require you to help us, but at some point, they will not allow you to stay without you helping us somehow. Of course, you will be allowed to leave freely and without punishment. I do hope you’ll think of something that can help my friends.” Before closing the door, she said, “Knock on the door if you need anything. Goodbye, little one.”
His first thought was that the fruit might be poisoned and, after staring at the basket a few minutes, he was sure that was the case. There was a red apple on top of a banana that looked unnaturally delicious.
He realized she had given him the poison foods to weaken him. No doubt that hard man, Ian, would come in a few minutes later to drag his helpless body out for questioning and then...torture. Once in a weakened state, he would be made to betray the High Lady; betrayal meant several painful deaths before total annihilation, at least this is what she taught. The High Lady had threatened him as such and he knew her threats were not empty. And that would be in addition to whatever the Temporal would d
o to him.
He learned that the eagle—the High Lady’s spy—had told her of how the man, Ian, attacked his comrades mercilessly. She had warned him of that hard man. He did not want to meet that Temporal, but braced himself for what he knew would be inevitable. He waited half an hour, all the while alternating his gaze from the basket to the door. He had not come in such close contact with real food for years. But it was a trap—he knew it! He waited for the hard man to come in.
But no one came.
Cameras. They must be watching with cameras, he thought. How foolish he had been earlier, making contact with the High Lady and not checking first for hidden cameras. Just the thought of the vile punishments they had in store for him made him shiver. And then the evil Temporal would tell on him. They would show the High Lady evidence of his disobedience.
After eyeing the deceitful fruit one last time, he got up and began feeling the walls for any bumps or crevices that might hide a camera or a microphone. He felt every inch he could reach twice, but found nothing. His eyes examined the ceiling; he saw nothing unusual and no place for hidden electronics.
Returning to the basket, he sat down utterly confused. With swift motions, he grabbed apples, bananas, kiwi, and oranges and threw them to the floor. Surely, something must be hidden underneath. In a moment, he held the basket upside down, empty. He closely examined each woven fiber of the wickerwork. There was nothing unnatural, nothing suspicious.
He looked at the fruit scattered around him. He grabbed the banana and, gripping it at both ends, ripped it in half. It was...a banana.
The smell was intoxicating. Sweet, mellow, and strong enough to weaken his resolve.
In the earth, deep where he resided, there were no plants, no vegetables, no fruits—only nutrients from the soil as well as stem and root tubers. In the semi-natural granular state, this was enough to sustain life, but pleasant it was not. All Nephloc food had the same brown-gray color and an earthy taste. Surfacing for the purpose of eating living green food was forbidden—but it was something many of the Nephloc did. The few that were caught were driven deeper into the earth, closer to the hot core. Since the temperature increased about a degree for every sixty feet in depth, punishment exceeding ten miles often meant death—a hot, painfully arid death.
