by R. E. Graham
The Inquisitor limped further inside the inn as he said, “Marth, I need another exit.”
Up on his HUD the artificial intelligence tagged a door at the end of a hallway next to the laundry room. After shooting the doorknob, he kicked the door outwards and once more poked his head out into potential danger. Voices could be heard coming up closely behind them as they entered the inn. The Inquisitor limped as fast as he could down the alley.
As they entered the foyer of the inn, the new attackers noticed the fire as it began to spread.
“He probably went out the backdoor. You two follow him, I am going to get help to deal with this fire before the whole inn goes up in flames” said one of the men. The other two charged for the backdoor and found it open.
Varius stopped at the edge of the alley and checked for enemies. He could see the edge of the town and made for a dead tree line that lead up a hill. Turning around to check if anyone was following them he saw the two large columns of smoke reaching up into the sky. The fire must have found some good kindling somewhere in the inn because smoke began to billow out of the structure.
As they continued their escape, Varius realized his leg was bleeding badly from the injury. He stopped behind a fritzy tree trunk. The branches were all withered and there wasn’t a single leaf in sight.
After placing his rifle on his back, he set Lilly down once more. He pulled out two black patches from the medkit on his belt and placed one on both the back and front of his leg to stop the bleeding.
Noticing Lilly staring at the growing trails of smoke he asked, “Are you okay?”
She kept staring at the glow of the fire back in the town. Varius leaned from behind the tree to see two red glowing silhouettes of the men following them up the hill. He barely had time to grab Lilly and pull her back before they began opening fire. The bullets burst chunks of wood from the tree trunk.
“Lilly, run up the hill. Go now!” Varius shouted as he grabbed his rifle again and removed it from his back. It slid back into active mode and he fired three shots at the man in front. The attacker didn’t have a chance to do anything but die as all three pierced through his torso. The other dove to the sloped ground for cover.
Varius turned to look up the hill and didn’t see Lilly anywhere. He quickly looked around to only find her still standing right next to him.
“Lilly, run!”
Several more bullets hit around them.
“Gah!” the Inquisitor grunted as he fired several more bolts at the other attacker. One shot hit the man in the head killing him before his mind comprehended the flash.
Varius groaned in pain as he lifted Lilly up again and made the arduous trip up the sloped terrain heading for a hill that was well outside the town but would give them a good vantage point below.
It seemed like an eternity before the Inquisitor and the child finally made it to the top. They hadn’t been followed by anyone else, and Varius saw why when he turned back around. The fire had completely engulfed the inn and had now spread to two other buildings. He struggled to set Lilly down once more, this time though so he could use the scope of his rifle to see a magnified version of the town’s effort to fight the growing fire.
A team of firefighters fought valiantly to spray other nearby buildings with water so that they would also not burn while citizens brought in buckets of water to try and assist the first responders. Varius could see Mayor White frantically ordering people about.
The Inquisitor lowered his rifle and took a moment to think about the events that had unfolded. He looked at Lilly who was intently watching the fire blaze on with her one good eye. The orange-ish glow illuminated portions of her face even this far from the town in the dark. Her bruises were more obvious and jarring in the glow of the flames below. He shook his head in disgust and activated his comm system again.
“Inquisitor Varius to operator.”
“Go for operator” came back the familiar female voice.
“Tell the fighters to fire bomb the town. Burn it all down.”
“Roger that.”
Varius and Lilly watched as the town continued to burn for several more moments before the roar of the approaching aircraft could be heard. The four fighters flew overhead and dropped several bombs on Alachua and her citizens. Tremendous bright fireballs exploded throughout the town. Each fire bomb was filled with a sticky liquid gel that would explode and splash the liquid gel on everything nearby. The explosion would cause the gel to simultaneously ignite as it spread in the affected area creating an intense and extremely difficult to extinguish fire.
Even from this far away from town Varius could hear the screams of the citizens who survived the initial explosions but now were either trapped by or covered with flames.
Looking down, Varius noticed Lilly was holding his left hand, and that his daughter’s bracelet had slid out from under his sleeve. The heart shaped charm reflected the glow of the fire.
For a moment he wondered if this was symbolic for anything but instead shook his head. He looked up in time to see that the fighters were swinging around to make another pass and drop more bombs on the town. The two continued to watch as the next wave of bright fireballs ignited and consumed what remained of Alachua in flames.
Chapter 6
Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 8
Prefecture: Core
Planet: Foundation
Location: Headquarters for Bureau of Central Intelligence
Inquisitor Varius’ boots echoed off the walls of the hallway as he approached the large blast doors of the center of the Bureau of Central Intelligence’s secure internal structure. A small black sphere rested above the thick layered doors. There was a slight buzzing sound that could be heard as a thin blue line of light emanated and scanned the Inquisitor up and down. While it was quick, the specialized scanner checked the internal skeletal structure, finger prints, retina and several other unique identifiers while simultaneously confirming with the bureau’s extensive database.
While only inquisitors have access this deep into the BCI compound, leadership from long ago felt it best to take extreme cautions. The bureau understood it made many enemies across the Corre Republic in administering justice.
After confirming Varius’ clearance, the doors slid open to reveal a handsome female inquisitor dressed in the traditional black uniform of the bureau’s HQ. “Inquisitor Varius, welcome back from Assembly. Director Seneca would like to speak with you in his office.”
Varius nodded and headed down another hallway to his right.
On the shuttle down to Foundation’s surface, Varius had securely transmitted his detailed report on the crimes in Alachua. He was unsure of how he was going to explain the incident with the inn keeper and his eyes, he hated not having solid facts about the strange occurrence.
The Inquisitor wouldn’t admit it even to himself, but the thought of those black unblinking eyes still bothered him deep down. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.
Two other inquisitors nodded to Varius as they passed him heading the opposite direction. He noted that their armor was similar, yet different than his.
They must have volunteered for the upgrade.
He shook his head in disappointment.
Inquisitor Varius stopped in front of the metal door of the Director and knocked. The door whooshed open quietly.
Director Deetrich Seneca stood cross-armed near a holoscreen along the left side of the room. While he was not a particularly tall man, he gave off a very intimidating presence. The sparse gray hair that peppered his otherwise dark black hair helped to accentuate his appearance.
He motioned with his left hand to the brown leather chair in front of his desk. “Please be seated Inquisitor.” While most of HQ’s staff would wear the dressed down version of the inquisitor uniform, Seneca had always elected to wear the full armored version. It was a small gesture, but it was one of many that Varius admired about the man.
As Varius took his seat the Director walked around the
polished stonecrete desk and sat down. “How are your injuries?”
The Inquisitor rubbed his leg where the laser had sliced through. “I began treatment on Assembly before I left which repaired my broken rib, but the medical team onboard my ride back to Foundation were very knowledgeable and were able to accelerate the process on my leg and my other injuries. I am ready to return to active duty sir.”
Seneca nodded approvingly. “I read through your report Damien, I agree with your judgement entirely in dealing with the situation in Alachua. In your opinion, do you believe the child will recover?”
“Physically, yes. Psychologically, it will take quite some time to move beyond what happened to her” Varius said as he got situated in his chair.
“Were there any survivors from the town?” Seneca asked as he leaned back.
Varius’ face and body stiffened. “Negative, sir. I made sure that they all faced judgement. The town of Alachua is no more.”
The Director’s face turned somber. “I am…sorry to hear about Inquisitor Kopen.”
“Kopen was a skilled and capable recruit, he would have made the bureau proud” Varius said as his body sank down the smallest bit.
“Aye. You and I both know that the assignments my office receives are difficult, it is only unfortunate that we didn’t have better intel before Kopen went in search of the girl.”
Varius didn’t respond. He just kept eye contact with his commanding officer. Seneca nodded soberly. “I would understand if you needed some leave Damien…”
“No thank you sir. I remain ready for whatever you assign me. The loss of Kopen will not affect my work.”
“I do need to ask you about the whole incident with the black-eyed man in your report.”
There it was. Varius inhaled deeply then breathed out slowly. “I’m sorry sir that my report was sparse on details. I honestly don’t know what happened. It was as if…”
“…he was possessed by something else” Seneca said coldly.
The Inquisitor looked at him strangely, but the other man waved his hand. “That’s a discussion for another time.”
Director Seneca opened the top drawer of his desk and slid a tan colored envelope across the table to Varius. “I have a new mission for you Damien, if you’re up for it.”
Varius sat up straighter at the sight of the black insignia of an ouroboros printed on a foil sticker to seal the envelope. The text in the center of the insignia read, “Classified”. The only time the BCI used actual paper was when a mission was too secretive to allow digital files to be kept in the database. Being an inquisitor granted you access to all sorts of classified content. If it was this secretive by the bureau’s standards, it meant it was something very big.
Varius reached out to grab the envelope just before Seneca held up his hand to stop him.
“Understand Inquisitor, this assignment is…different” the older man said as he sat back in his chair.
Damien’s left eyebrow raised. “Sir?”
“I’m not going to say anything else unless you are confident you want this assignment. Just know, this may be more than you are accustomed to.”
Without a second thought Varius picked up the envelope and ripped it open. He was surprised to find only a single sheet of paper inside. As he slid the lone sheet out his eyes began to scan over it. He looked up at his commanding officer with confusion.
Director Seneca stood up from his chair and walked over to a waist high cabinet. He opened one of the old wooden doors and pulled out a small glass and a bottle of alcohol. Turning back to the Inquisitor he gestured if he wanted a glass of his own. Varius waved away the offer from the Director.
“Damien, I am going to be very frank with you on this one” the Director said as he poured a small amount of the brown liquid into his glass. “I don’t know if this lead is one hundred percent solid. What is confirmed is that an uprising on Eden went south when a local regiment of Keepers of Peace agents were dispatched to the capital. We had an informant involved that last reported the transaction of arms the terrorists were going to use were sold by a man who went by “The Shadow Man”.”
Varius scanned the paper again but remained confused. “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t understand why this is classified. Seems like an arms deal to terrorists that was thankfully stopped in time.”
“There is more to this than is immediately apparent” Seneca said as he sat back down in his chair. He took a sip from his glass and savored the warm feeling as the alcohol rushed to his stomach. “In your report you mentioned a strange symbol on a crate in the cellar of the inn and in the slaughterhouse. That same symbol has been in reports from various other Inquisitors on multiple other Republic worlds the last several cycles. I remember seeing it only a handful of times, but I do remember it clearly. So, on a hunch, I had our intelligence division scour through trillions of data cubes and mysteriously nothing turned up. Not even in our own database.”
Inquisitor Varius’ face turned very serious. “Sir, do you mean someone tampered with bureau files?”
The Director nodded before taking another sip of his drink.
“I thought that deleting BCI data was impossible?” Varius asked as the weight of the situation sunk in.
Seneca set his glass down on the desk, leaned forward and steepled his fingers. “Damien, this is a very problematic predicament. I have reason to believe someone in the bureau is involved in whatever is going on to cover up Eden, Assembly, and other worlds. This is much bigger than smuggling some illegal weapons around the Republic. I need you to go to Eden, investigate what really happened with those rebel terrorists and get to the bottom of this.”
Varius stood up from his chair and looked the Director intently in the eyes. “I will not fail sir.”
“I need you to understand though Inquisitor, that you are alone on this mission. I cannot provide you with any assistance with this while you are on Eden. No one will know your assignment and I can’t even begin to brief you on what to prepare for. This may reveal much more than either of us want to know.”
“We have to know the truth sir” Varius said steely.
“Then go knowing you are fulfilling your purpose for the greater good” the Director said.
“For the greater good!”
Chapter 7
Cycle: 412 Month: 7 Rotation: 11
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Eden
Location: Outside the atmosphere of Eden
Beams of soft daylight illuminated the homely kitchen through the small windows. Damien Varius opened a cabinet and pulled his favorite teal colored cup from its home. He shuffled his feet over to the countertop brew machine and placed his cup underneath the spout.
“Beverage?” the machine chirped with a mechanical voice.
“Kava. Dark” Damien said groggily. He rubbed his hand through his short hair as he opened his eyes wide to help wake up. His mouth couldn’t resist the sensation to yawn as his body urged him to return to bed.
The delicious aroma of kava filled his nostrils as it began to brew and dispense into his cup. As the task was finished, the machine beeped.
Damien lifted up his mug and took a deep breathe to enjoy the captivating smell. He blew some of the steam away before taking his first sip.
“Mmm…” he said as he walked out of the kitchen and entered the living room. Large glass windows overlooked a well-kept yard with various flowers and hedges strategically placed for visual appeal.
He would never tell anyone, but this right here was his favorite place to be in the morning. Probably out of all the worlds he had ever visited.
Suddenly he was jolted from his serenity as two slender arms reached around his waist. “Good morning my love.”
Varius turned around and smiled at the sight of his beautiful wife. “Good morning Sara” he said as he leaned in to kiss her on the lips.
“How did you sleep?” the husband asked his wife as she embraced him further.
Sara exhaled happily. “
Wonderfully. I’m so happy that you are home for good.”
Varius looked at his wife with loved filled eyes, “So am I. Now I can finally take care of the two most important people in my life.”
Sara reached up and gracefully took the mug from her husband’s muscular hand. She took a sip and a smile spread across her face. Suddenly her face changed to shock and her posture turned serious.
“What is it?” Varius asked as he turned around to see a hooded man that stood in the hallway. He gripped a large black pistol in his hand. Small trails of smoke lifted up from the end of the barrel of the handgun.
Why is it smoking?
The husband looked down to see blood covered his right hand and that his robe was soaked in blood. His blood.
Was I shot?
Sara dropped the mug and ran out of the room and headed for the stairs. The teal cup exploded on the polished stone floor sending shards of the mug and kava splattering across it.
Varius tried to scream out, tried to fight, but he could do nothing. He was completely frozen, no, paralyzed. The attacker laughed cruelly as he holstered his handgun and drew a knife from his boot.
The husband did everything he could to move his body, but it was impossible. He watched in horror as the masked man walked passed him and followed after his wife.
A moment later Varius could hear Sara scream as something broke in the other room. “No! No! Nooooo…aaaaaaaah…”
“Raaaaaaaaah!” Varius growled as he woke from his nightmare. He breathed heavily, like some kind of vicious beast.
The Inquisitor looked about his small quarters as his brain identified that he was aboard the ship taking him to Eden. He slumped back down against the wall of the bunk and wiped a tear away from his eye. Several more moments passed as he forced his body to calm down. That was when he realized he was covered in sweat beneath his inquisitor uniform.
