“It is I who should be honored,” Mar-Safi said. “All friends of Kaltha are brothers of the Belethi Clan.” She embraced Tony, and Thomas saw how she sniffed behind each of his ears in the manner the Belethi did when receiving a cherished friend. Tony did the same in keeping with her… their traditions. Thomas was also a Belethi now, and he understood everything about their traditions, customs, and even language. It wasn’t part of his Cypher abilities—it had been the gift imparted by Mar-Safi when she had saved his life.
“Thank you.” Tony stepped back and headed toward the exit. “I will wait for you outside.”
Mar-Safi nodded.
Thomas smiled and once again said thank you to Mar-Safi for saving his life.
“You are welcome,” Mar-Safi said with a smile. “I have some great news, and I know that you will appreciate my news more than you would have when I’d first met you . . . now that we’re family.”
Thomas loved the sound of the word. It gave him hope and a sense of belonging. Since he’d joined the Guardians, he considered the Doctor, Bolswaithe, Tony, and Elise his family. And Grandpa too. Even though Grandpa was absent from his life, he would always consider him family. He loved and cherished his Grandpa, and he wished he was here.
Mar-Safi smiled, then brought her hands to her abdomen. She didn’t say a word, and Thomas was getting anxious for her big news.
“Well?” Thomas asked. “What is it?”
“It is with great happiness, that I bring you this great news.” She paused for a moment and rubbed her belly. “I am with children!”
Thomas was stunned. Pregnant? Although he had met Mar-Safi a couple of times, and, under dire circumstances, he felt so connect to her, that she was kin. And the news of her pregnancy brought so much joy, he thought he would cry.
“That means. . .” Thomas muttered.
“That our clan will continue,” Mar-Safi exclaimed.
Thomas ran to Mar-Safi and gave her a big hug. “This is great news!” he shouted. “I can’t wait to spread the good word!”
Mar-Safi gently smiled. “I have great hopes for the future,” she said.
After a couple of minutes, Thomas stepped outside the tent. Humans and fauns were celebrating together. The snow had almost stopped falling, but it had covered the base of Mount Nyragongo and created almost a winter wonderland among the jungle.
The armies, who were ready hours before to tear each other to pieces were mingling and shedding their anger. It was a wonderful sight.
He saw friendly snowball fights break out among teams composed of human and fauns. It was strange for him to see such spirit of happiness and friendship. From what he’d gathered, Fauns had always kept to themselves and relations with humans had always been strained. This spirit of camaraderie was a miracle brought on by him, and he hoped that it would last and spread beyond this camp.
“You okay, Thomas?” Tony asked.
“Yeah,” Thomas said. “Please tell Bolswaithe to prepare a suitable room for Mar-Safi. She is coming with us.”
“Sure thing. Are you sure everything’s okay? Is Mar-Safi in trouble?”
“No, not at all.” Thomas smiled. “She’s great!” He grabbed Tony by the shoulders and let out a laugh. “She’s pregnant Tony!” he shouted. “We’re going to be a Clan again!”
New Horizons
“Pregnant? Really?” Tony asked for the third time as they walked through the Mansion’s corridor. They had stayed at the party until it had quieted down and Tony had landed a snowball in Chief Gratsat’s face.
The gorilla faun had bared his fangs and growled so loudly that the party had actually stopped for a second. But with all eyes on him, he had grabbed a huge amount of snow, and after a short, playful run, he’d covered Tony’s head proving that even the great Chief Gratsat knew how to play.
On Bolswaithe's advise they had kept Mar-Safi's pregnancy a secret. Thomas had wanted to tell the fauns, to yell the news, but Bolswaithe and Tony had convinced him to wait a little longer. In the end he, and Mar-Safi had agreed.
For the moment.
They had crossed over to the Mansion using a mobile base that had a door connected to the Mansion’s system. Cuthbert had received them and led Mar-Safi away to the apartment he had arranged for her.
She looked proud, so unlike the first time Thomas had seen her in the Halls of Remembrance. There she had been ready to write the last chapter of the Belethi Clan and then die. Thomas had stopped her by taking all of Mneme’s time for himself, and without the muse’s power, Mar-Safi had to stop and wait for her to return.
Mar-Safi had hated Thomas so much for that. So much that she had even resented him for saving her from the robot dragon inside Mount Nyragongo’s caldera.
She had been defeated, hopeless, and lost.
Now she was radiant, ready for a new beginning. One full of hope for her and all other Clans.
“Twins,” Thomas said, grinning. He couldn’t really express how he felt. Mar-Safi had told him that she was pregnant with twins. A male and a female. The news had just blown his mind. Mar-Safi would live on, and the Clan that had been ready to disappear would be renewed. It was wonderful news, and more so for him, because he was, after all, a Belethi.
“And you are going to be?” Tony asked.
“Their mentor, their protector, their friend…”
“Their father?”
Thomas stopped walking; he hadn’t thought about that. He pursed his lips. “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe that too. I am the only male of the Belethi Clan. You know?” Maybe he would be their father figure. It was funny how the prospect didn’t scare him in the least. He had all the knowledge of the Belethi to rely upon. He would pass onto these new Belethi as much as he could.
“You’ve changed, Thomas,” Tony said. Thomas had already explained him how all the Clan’s knowledge had been passed onto him the moment Mar-Safi had cured him.
“Bad change or good change?” Thomas smirked.
“I’ll tell you when I know more,” Tony laughed.
Thomas knew he had changed. He had grown, but he didn’t feel older. Wiser? Yes, much more. He had the knowledge of Clan Belethi. Stronger? Not really, he had passed the Aesir’s test and now the power of Alstara was his to use, but it didn’t make him stronger. It was a power made to serve, not to command. It made him feel more focused on what he needed to do. More secure.
He felt that he had matured.
So long he had fought and rebelled against being the Cypher. So many times he had been reluctant to take the mantle that had been given to him.
He chuckled. A crybaby. That was what Mrs. Pianova had said about him. He had tried so hard to free himself from the responsibility of finding the Book of Concord, to shy away from being a Cypher. It made him want to hit his head against the wall.
Mr. Pianova had told him in the engineering bay that Guardians Inc. existed because of him. It hadn't sunk in at that moment, but it did now.
The most powerful, largest corporation in the world, with universal reach, seven thousand years of history, and almost limitless resources had been created for him, for the Cyphers before him, and the Cyphers that would come after him.
He was the reason those thousands of people worked and created, maintained and perfected all the technological advances at the company's disposal.
At his disposal.
It was all clear now. As powerful as it was, Guardians Inc. was merely a tool to help him find the Book of Concord. It had been a tool he had not fully comprehended, or used, until now.
He had squandered the legacy the Cyphers before him had tended and passed onto him.
But not anymore.
“Yeah, things have changed,” he told Tony with a mischievous smile as he paused outside Doctor Franco's hospital bedroom.
He knocked twice on the door and waited until he heard Mrs. Pianova calling him in. Before opening the door he winked at Tony. “And they're going to change even more,” he said. “We are going to find that book.”
/>
Thomas was sure of that now. He held the knowledge of uncounted generations of Belethi within him. Knowledge that he could access at will. He couldn't claim to know everything, but with the knowledge came power, and that power would be the strength necessary to accomplish his mission.
And there was the other mission he needed to accomplish. He was anxious to review the videos from the cameras he had left in Versoix with his grandfather. He was sure that Gramps would finally get the message.
The memories.
His parents were alive, he was sure about it, and Gramps would also be sure. Thomas had made it clear to him this time.
He didn’t say it aloud, but he was also going to use all of Guardians Inc.’s resources to search for his parents.
And he was going to find them.
Epilogue
Necklen Resource Corporation Headquarters
Timaru, New Zealand
“It will be just a moment, Ms…?” The receptionist smiled from behind his desk. He was very young and attentive, probably an intern who had just been hired after months and months of work without pay.
“Hannifin,” she answered, flashing a perfect smile. “Whiro Hannifin. Thank you.”
“Whiro?” the receptionist asked, feigning more curiosity than interest.
Oh, how many times had she heard that tone over the years?
“That's an interesting name,” the receptionist said. “Is that a native name?”
“Maori,” she said coldly as she opened her leather briefcase. Her hand searched inside for the little mirror she had brought to the meeting. She had felt a little pinprick on her right cheek and was afraid her makeup had been ruined.
“It's actually a very pretty name,” the receptionist said.
Give me a break! she thought. The last thing she needed now was a boy ogling over her.
“It means the moon on the first night of the lunar month,” she told him still smiling. He stopped typing on his keyboard and leaned in toward her. She tightened her smile and hardened her gaze. “It was also the name of an atua associated with all things evil, darkness and death...”
The man gulped involuntarily. “An atua?”
“An ancestor who still has influence over my family,” she said with an edge to her voice. “A supernatural being....a demon.”
The man reclined back, and then she saw his eyes looking at her cheek where she had felt the pinprick. She covered her cheek with her hand and smiled again. “My parents,” she told him. “They liked the word and never checked for its meaning.”
The man just nodded with a feigned smile.
“Miss Hannifin?” a heavyset man in his sixties said as he approached from the elevator hallway. She stood up from the couch and extended a hand; the pinprick was under control, for the moment.
“Johan Necklen,” he said, shaking her hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Mr. Necklen.” She took a quick glance at the Necklen Mining Corp. sign above the receptionist. She already knew who this man was, what he owned, and how much he was worth, but she still tried to keep the appearance of someone new to the corporate scene.
“Please follow me,” Mr. Necklen said, guiding her to the elevator. A suited guard had held it for him and he nodded as they entered. As soon as the doors closed, Necklen turned to her. His excitement was apparent and nearly overpowering his judgment. It had been one of the reasons why she had chosen him among the other myriad companies she had access to.
“May I be blunt?” he asked.
“Of course, Mr. Necklen. That's why I came to speak with you in person, so we can be blunt with each other.” She felt the urge to kill him now, but she sensed the elevator security cameras overhead.
“What are your expectations in this deal?” he asked. “Surely you know just how valuable your sample is. My company doesn't have the resources to mount an operation of the magnitude you're suggesting.”
“Mr. Necklen, your mining operations are small in comparison to other companies, but your commercial reach is very large. What we want from your company is distribution. We already have a mining operation in place, but we don't have marketability.”
“Surely other larger companies have more commercial reach than us,” he said. “I'm sure you know that too.” The old man seemed suspicious, even when offered the deal of a lifetime. That actually was the most powerful reason she had come to him. Necklen had always been in that special list of companies that Caelum Mining Group had wished to annex as part of the Guardians Inc. But, Necklen had been left alone by the Guardians because of the honorable disposition of its owner.
That would change, of course, once Necklen agreed to join forces with her. She would have a clear shot at Caelum and then at the Guardians Inc. network.
“Other larger companies don't have your reputation of fairness,” she said. That at least was true, and Necklen’s smile spoke more than a thousand words.
“Thank you very much.”
The elevator doors opened and he bade her to walk into his office.
Again the urge to kill overcame her, but she stopped. Two men and a woman were seated at a conference table with stacks of papers before them.
“So, I guess we are ready to sign?” she asked with a genuine smile. The old man had just been curious about her motivations. He had been ready to sign the deal the moment she walked into his building.
“I am if you are.” Necklen escorted her to the table, and after introducing her to the lawyers, he sat beside her.
Necklen had been very thorough. It took a little more than three hours for them to come to an agreement about percentages and quantities, obligations and deliveries. She had almost forgotten how long and tedious business negotiations could be, but also how satisfying it was to complete and sign a contract. Then, and only after she had signed the last copy of the contract, Necklen began to really talk in earnest about the future.
“We’ve already identified more than a dozen applications for the material,” he said. “From heat shielding to telecommunications. We think that it might even be a good medium for printing circuits, but we are going to need more samples to test.”
“I also came prepared,” she said and pulled out a little metal box from her briefcase and handed it to Necklen. “I'll send you more samples, but you can start with this.”
The man took it like a greedy child and opened the latch. “You're going to love this,” he told the lawyers. With utmost care he pulled out the sample. It was a small brick made of a black material, almost like obsidian. The surface was perfectly flat, but it distorted the lawyers’ faces in its reflection.
“An amazing material,” Necklen said.
“Quite magical,” she told him with a smile.
“Do you really have as much as you say?” he asked without looking at her.
“I have enough to build a city if we need to,” she replied.
She felt a pinprick again on her right cheek; this time it was stronger and it extended all the way to her temple. She couldn't linger anymore. She placed her hand on her cheek and stood up from the table.
“I'll take my leave now,” she said brusquely.
“Is something wrong?” Necklen said, standing up. The others were mesmerized by the object.
“Toothache,” she said. “It’s been bothering me all week. I'm sorry.” She felt the back of her head sag a little. “Can I use your restroom?”
“Sure, use my private.” Necklen said as he pointed to a door.
She hurried, careful not to make her head wobble as she walked. What would Necklen say if he saw her scalp falling down her back? She entered the bathroom and locked the door. As she approached the mirror she let go of her cheek and it sagged down, pulling on her lower eyelid.
It almost looked like molasses.
She concentrated in another form; she couldn't use her true form because the bathroom would not contain it, so she chose another one, one more familiar than that of Whiro Hannifin.
Her skin contracted
and changed color, from the darker tan to a clear, pristine white, and the auburn hair turned blond.
Her eyes took on the green hue she had been so fond of and her lips thinned. The more she held this shape, the more she would be able to hold on to Whiro Hannifin, so she turned on the water and allowed it run freely for a minute while she checked her image in the mirror.
The perfect smile, the bright, luminous, emerald eyes, the shining hair, the perfect body.
Yes.
Tasha had to accept that she had been quite a catch before she joined the Wraith and became a Goddess, and soon, very soon, little pieces of her new empire would insinuate themselves into Guardians Inc.
To be continued in
Guardians Inc.: The Four Legged Prophet (Book three of the Guardians Inc. Saga).
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Guardians Inc.: The Four-Legged Prophet.
(Book three of the Guardians Inc. Saga)
The Lion
Mrs. Pianova was standing beside the Doctor's bed when Thomas entered the door. She opened her arms to greet him, and her usual stern demeanor was lit up with a smile.
“Welcome home,” she whispered, glancing back at the Doctor, who was sleeping in the hospital bed. Thomas looked around; he had last seen Killjoy when he was out of phase with time, but she wasn't in the room anymore.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “How is he?” He looked at the Doctor, expecting to hear terrible news. When he had been displaced in time, the scene had been ominous.
Guardians Inc.:Thundersword (Guardians Incorporated #2) Page 35
