Origin: Eternity's End

by Uneeb Qureshi

  “Lee says they now have a clear path to the Eri home world. He can push forward... But he wants to know what you want to do, order relays to his position will take about a day so we need to know now.”

  You knew about this situation the whole day?

  “Tell him to continue his campaign, I will travel to the senate later today and see what I can do.” The screen signed off and he stared blandly at the metallic cage he was sitting in.

  These last few days have been quite interesting…he won’t attack Earth…he knows he cannot win with such a small fleet…

  The pilot reported that they had just entered the atmosphere, still hot but able to land safely. Minutes later the craft hit the water. The characteristic skid of the craft on the surface was abrupt, he could hear creaks and moans in the craft’s exterior. Super hot metals against much cooler surfaces still caused considerable structural deformations.

  They were a few minutes from New York by water. His ship had landed just outside of the bay. He was here to personally clean up the mess he created. He should have known better than to let those two archaeologists go back so soon. But he still could not pinpoint the feeling…

  He shook his head, now was not the time for his internal monologues. He focused on the task at hand. FBI and White House reports indicated that Mekias and one of his legionnaires had been taken into custody for terrorist actions. Both agencies were now enroute to arrange an exchange, Sheppard would not be there in person it was too risky, if they knew about Mekias and the other immortal he would also be on their radar. Sheppard and his men would arrange another elaborate and forceful exchange.

  The craft eventually submerged below water as it approached the city. Several boats were in its vicinity made stealthy re-entry tricky. The pilot was no amateur however and eventually navigated through to docks near the Brooklyn Bridge. Sheppard promptly jumped into his wetsuit and entered the ship’s airlock, shooting out into the water in seconds.

  He resurfaced with his belongings strapped to his back. He pulled himself ashore and unsuited quickly to avoid hypothermia.

  He picked up his remaining belongings and strode through the streets, he loved the cities. No one cared who you were so long as you blended in.

  In the distance he eyed a federal motorcade. A small white limousine waving American flags appeared in front of the Costa Rican embassy. Sheppard entered and nodded at the escorts.

  The motorcade loaded up and moved quickly, making their way to an NYPD district office in New York. Sheppard placed several calls inside the vehicle. The Deputy Secretary of State sat across from him reviewing documentation fervently, she was just made aware of this transaction this morning.

  She was a tall blonde dressed primly in business attire. She was young and talented but her efforts today would be the most important in her career thus far. Most knew her from her days as Consul General of the United States, but her new post at the State Department was even more demanding.

  As Sheppard finished his call she introduced herself. “Good day Commander, my name is—”

  “Deputy Secretary of State Beuchler, thank you for meeting me on such short notice.” He smiled and shook her hands. He knew her predecessor years before. At first glance she looked much too young and inexperienced for the position. But upon closer examination she had both the brains and beauty to pull it off.

  The motorcade swung around the curves for several blocks, police motorcycles led the motorcade with their lights blaring. The stage was set for one of the Consul General’s greatest transaction of her career. She reread the report dozens of times.

  Whoever these people are they are quite well connected.

  “So the terms of this agreement are to extricate the Ethopian citizen…Mekias Yohannes into ICE custody?”

  Sheppard nodded.

  “And of the other?” She asked.

  “My men will take care of that.” He pointed to his phone.

  Throughout the city several traffic patterns seem to have been diverted, police vehicles blockaded certain intersections leading to the NYPD station. Security was on high alert.

  As the motorcade swerved in front of the entrance to the office Sheppard remained in the car. “If you need to, contact me via cell. This is my number,” he vocally repeated his number, “should any part of the negotiations break down my strike team will move in, we will get them out by diplomacy or force.”

  Beuchler cautioned him, “Let’s try talking first, I will call you if any part of the deal gets messy.”

  She walked outside of limousine and was met by secret service personnel. It was an unusually rainy day for late October. She had several personnel with her, an envoy from the Department of Justice was in the vehicle behind her. Though help was welcome she felt comfortable doing the negotiations herself. The demands were clear and Federal and International law was on her side.

  Beuchler smirked as she got out of the vehicle. She and the DOJ’s representative were old friends from college.

  “Alexis!” The representative waved. “This whole situation seems unnecessarily complicated!”

  She was carrying folios filled to the brim with documents.

  “I know, but let’s be at the top of our game, we are clearly dealing with something bigger than the U.S. government here.” Beuchler gazed back at the limousine and saw Sheppard smiling and waving to both of them for good luck. “Whoever these people are, the President is really going out of the way to make this deal happen.”

  “Do you know how much of a shit-storm we are in?” Barked the police chief to his lieutenants.

  “A big one.” Replied an officer.

  Many of them were agents present at the museum break in earlier. Others were unaware of what was happening.

  “Damn straight, we are…” His superior was brewing with intensity. “We have the U.S. consulate and State department making strict demands not to interrogate foreign citizens in our custody. Everyone involved in the raid last night is suspended until we can get this clusterfuck sorted out!” He slammed the conference table in front of them. The intercom on the table blinked and the secretary alerted the chief to the arrival of the State department envoys.

  “You!” He pointed to one of his officers, the one who tracked Mekias’ call last night, “Stay here for this. You do the explaining…until then the prisoners will be kept strictly in our observation rooms.”

  The officer did not move, he was this close to obtaining the information he needed. As spies for the Eri his men were with the Mekias and the immortal in the observation cells.

  He and his superiors laid reports on the conference table as the Department of State team took their seats.

  “Good afternoon gentlemen, I am Deputy Secretary of State Alexis Beuchler. And this is the Department of Justice representative Alice Hartlove, she and I will both be coordinating the proceedings.” They all sat promptly and proceeded with the negotiations.

  Sheppard waited outside by the limousine for over half an hour. He knew the police had no jurisdiction arresting the two from the museum, but there was something else was happening inside. Time for plan B.

  He exited the vehicle covering his head with his sweatshirt’s hood. He signaled for the approaching vehicle and jumped in as it swerved by. A security company’s name and slogan was written on the side of the van.

  Behind the station’s office, the security company van rolled up to the loading dock. The driver flashed his ID and signed the inspection sheets before being allowed inside. The van was searched thoroughly, inside and out for any bombs. A canine sniffed the surroundings but found nothing important.

  “Routine check, we had reports of issues on the first floor.” The driver said as he handed them visitor badges.

  The patrol officer scanned each ID and motioned the van forward. A note was written on the visitor schedule. ArcamCo Security Van, Two personnel.

  The van approached the service entrance and the drivers promptly unloaded. The driver hit the side of the van twi
ce. An invisible sheet rippled and was thrown aside revealing Sheppard.

  He opened a bag and unveiled a business suit with an Department of Justice badge. He donned it quickly and repeatedly scanned a badge over, attempting to activate its magnetic strip. He dialed his point contact, “I need to activate this badge immediately with the following information,” He quickly surmised an identity from the badges he had seen already, “Get it up within the hour and input it into their database.”

  The computer team on the other end of the line worked tirelessly to hack the NYPD database, by the time they reached the access directory Sheppard had hung up the line. He straightened his tie and fixed his hair. He even popped open a pair of colored contacts for good measure, changing his eyes from a hazel brown to a forest green.

  He exited the vehicle and made his way inside the station without suspicion. He had to destroy any evidence of this incident.

  Elsewhere Sheppard’s two-man infiltration team had also gotten past security with a large crate in tow. A toolbox and a whole host of other devices were scattered inside. They made their way to the observation rooms and waited for the other investigators to leave. They could clearly see Krontos and Mekias through the one-way windows. They busied themselves fixing the lighting fixtures and the electrical panels in the hallway.

  A burly, bearded man was pummeling Krontos while he was tied down. They were desperate for the information he had on him. Krontos took the jabs steadfastly, not wincing once at the pain. He did not bruise easily, by the look of it the interrogator had been there all morning, exhausting his options. The security van driver pushed his compatriot aside, he would handle the big one himself.

  In Mekias’ room was a man hovering over an already drowsy Mekias. He was obviously heavily sedated. The second immortal took the opportunity to quietly slide open the door. The Eri agent heard the door and drew his weapon but was immediately disarmed with a quick jab to the throat and a quick jerk of the arm. After a flurry of other attacks his opponent was undone.

  Mekias could neither watch the rescue nor comprehend his escape. He was somewhere between reality and sleep, half conscious from the medication.

  Mekias’ rescuer dragged him out toward the crate they brought inside. The container was large enough to fit several hundred pounds of precious gems or currency securely from one location to another. He pulled out a small oxygen ventilator and turned it to its full capacity, giving Mekias nearly twenty minutes of recyclable air.

  After watching the rather risky rescue in Mekias’ room, the other immortal loosened his collar and unbuttoned his cuffs. He swung the door open wide, catching the attention of the large agent that towered before him.

  The tall Eri agent, obviously looking for a good fight unbound his firearm and threw it to the side. He took his time cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck before charging with his cumbersome figure. Sheppard’s man deftly dodged, launching extremely powerful jabs into the agent’s abdomen. The giant let out a few grunts as the pain shot into his kidneys and swung around his arms trying to get his lithe opponent out in the open. The immortal had already snuck underneath him and lifted the man with enormous strength, flipping him onto the floor with a large thud.

  Krontos looked at his immortal rescuer and shook his head. The immortal shrugged, savoring his victory against a larger opponent. The agent was not done however. His large arm outstretched and curled around the immortals back, locking him into a constricting hold. With his other arm the agent proceeded to punch the immortal senselessly in the jaw. The rescuer showed no pain but could feel his mandible nearly separated from his skull.

  He was now at the disadvantage. But while half his opponent’s size, Krontos’ rescuer had a few tricks up his sleeve. Quickly tucking in his knees, he pushed off his opponent allowing him to escape the deadly grip. He had a moment’s reprieve before he made a second attempt.

  The Eri agent locked both of his arms around the immortal rescuer this time slowly squeezing the life out of him. The immortal coughed forcefully, his eyes were beginning to bulge as the blood rushed to his head. He only had one way out. He grunted in pain and began to head-butt the Eri agent with what motility he had left in his body.

  The agent’s grip was loosening with each blow. After two hits each of them became increasingly disoriented and the agent lost his grip. One final head butt clean into his opponent’s temple won the battle.

  A large crack and a final moan from the Eri agent signaled that the fight was over.

  The immortal wiped his forehead furiously, that blow had a vicious recoil on him as well. “God you freaking suck, less cue-cue more pew-pew man.” Krontos said while snickering.

  “Guess my skull is the thicker,” The legionnaire’s veins throbbed in his head but his skull fused back together very quickly. He untied Krontos and showed him to the escape vessel.

  “You expect me to get in here?” Krontos asked as he looked at the hollow metal coffin in front of him. He took one look and then realized how little he cared at this point. He activated the oxygen apparatus and squeezed into the upper safe. The two immortals freshened up as best they could and rushed the cart back outside.

  Elsewhere, Sheppard’s ear piece was abuzz with updates regarding the operation. As soon as he had heard that Mekias and Krontos were safe he abruptly ended his sabotage in the records room and took with him what he could.

  As his cell phone rang he spoke rapid-fire code into the phone, outside the records personnel knew little but assumed he was leaving.

  Sheppard rushed out of the room as quickly as he could. He texted Deputy Secretary Beuchler to prolong the negotiations for as long as she could.

  Lights flickered across the whole facility. Elsewhere power plant technicians were causing power grid fluctuations in that part of the city. The cover operation was working as planned.

  Sheppard eventually reached the lobby and exited out the building before the fire alarms went off. Out of the corner of the eye he saw the woman he met on the road two days earlier entering the building.

  Meanwhile the immortal rescuers were making their exit as well. The coffers they brought with them contained their two targets, safe and sound.

  They loaded them onto the van as quickly as they could and lined up behind a row of cars exiting the service lot. Guards were searching vans unusual activity amidst the power grid chaos.

  The immortals looked at each other, there might be a little trouble getting out of here.

  The gate guard grumbled. “What was your business on this site again?”

  Another security guard nearby perused the paper visitor logs.

  “Security system maintenance, in the central wing.”

  The guard cared less. He faced the rear of the vehicle and scanned the back.

  “Open the back.” The guard demanded.

  “Officer is this really necessary?”

  The canine started barking as the immortal driver exited the vehicle. He hesitated but obliged the officer’s demands. The two men they rescued might have exited the coffers already. At best he was prepared for a messy escape.

  As he opened the rear the guard noticed the two coffers, unopened. He asked the immortals to open it.

  Had their cover been blown?

  They both exited the vehicle and stood ready at its sides, ready for any altercation. Their muscles tensed and their eyes built up in rage ready for the inspection.

  “Open these containers, please.” The officer asked.

  The driver acknowledged and opened it slowly, first the top coffer. Nothing inside. He grew a little worried, what’s happening?

  The officer grew suspicious at the first empty coffer and demanded the next one be opened. The driver jerked the container and found it characteristically light as well.

  As the cover vanished the container was opened they saw it contained a few empty pairs of wires and tools but no person was inside.

  “Where are all your tools?” The officer asked. The dog became increasin
gly aggressive as the officer’s tone of voice tensed.

  “We didn’t have much time to finish you see…” The officer and the driver stared at each other for a moment, neither flinched.

  After a few moments the honking from vehicles behind them picked up. The officer ordered them off, satisfied with the search. The two immortals hurriedly rushed the coffers back inside and jumped into their seats.

  “Where the hell are they?” The driver asked the other immortal.

  His partner smiled and grabbed the shoulder of something in the darkness behind his seat. The characteristic ripple of an optically cloaked object disappeared revealing Krontos huddled with Mekias’. Krontos was covering his mouth the entire time, the cloak just barely concealed them both.

  “You both suck at locking those things; I got out just in time for that damn inspection with this fool.” He let go of Mekias’ mouth as the situation returned to normal.

  Beuchler and the rest of her attaché promptly exited the building, citing postponed negotiations per NYPD’s request. No doubt they realized their prisoners were gone.

  Her staff circumvented the main crowd and made their way to the motorcade awaiting them on the main road, as she entered the limousine she saw Sheppard fumbling with contacts in his eyes.

  “Negotiations took…longer than we thought.” She reported.

  Sheppard removed the contacts from his eyes and wiped the tears welling up before he responded. “It is quite alright, for you to come so far out of the way on such short notice is an honor. The President will hear only good things of your actions here I assure you,” he smiled and paused just short of turning away, “tell me Ms. Beuchler do you ever have the intention of running for President one day?”