The Second Renaissance Series Boxset

by Paul Heron

  ‘Well, we'll just have to make sure we out-smart them then,’ Carolina said. ‘They know we're coming for them, but they can’t stop us from going in there and taking the president.’

  Carolina was right, there was too much at stake for them to tread lightly.

  ‘Okay, so tonight we get the president and the fragment. Tomorrow we return the Spanish fragment to Ireland,’ Eduardo said. ‘It’s that simple.’ His voice shook on the last few words.

  ‘We need to pull Guillermo out before we move in. At Moncloa Palace, Mancini will be everywhere. We need to ensure he’s safe. They’ll know it was him that is working with us,’ Sofia said.

  ‘That’s right,’ Michael said. ‘We don't need another rescue mission when somebody else gets caught.’

  Ten minutes after midday, Michael’s phone went off. ‘Great, it's Guillermo.’ He looked at Sofia, hopeful eyes. ‘What’s happening then?’

  ‘The president is on his way to the meeting now. He was delayed.’ Guillermo sounded nervous.

  ‘What’s with the voice, Guillermo?’

  Guillermo cleared his throat. ‘His security was acting very strange. They weren't very welcoming. I felt more like I was being addressed by maximum security prison guards. If they're being cagey, it means he’s got something he doesn’t trust. I’m worried they may suspect something.’

  ‘Okay, Guillermo. We're here to back you up. Call us if you suspect something is up. If you feel in danger, don’t stick around.’ As Michael said this, he received another text message from George.

  Michael, there’s a story on the BBC. The world is still hunting you and they know you’re in Spain. Michael, be very careful. I want you to calculate every move you make. If something doesn’t smell right, I want you to get the hell out of there.

  Michael looked at Sofia. ‘Fancy a long holiday, somewhere remote and away from all this?’

  ‘Of course.’ She looked at him. ‘But I don’t understand?’

  Michael jumped up from the rear passenger seat and turned down the radio volume so everyone could hear. ‘George has just said the authorities know we're in Spain. They're looking for us here. We need to get this done as soon as possible. It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘I knew we'd literally be jumping from one country to the next,’ Mohammad said.

  Ajit shouted for everyone's attention. He’d just checked in on the listening device and could hear Guillermo being invited in to see the president. They all sat there quietly. It was nail biting for them all to sit there listening to Guillermo put on the act.

  ‘Just keep it together, Guillermo, just keep it together, amigo,’ Eduardo chanted as if somehow Guillermo could hear him.

  Chapter Nine

  MICHAEL AND SOFIA LOOKED at each other, while listening to the small-talk pleasantries between President Perez, Rodriquez, and Guillermo. Michael was a bundle of nerves. As it stood, the entire mission was in the hands of someone else, someone he wasn’t sure was being authentic. They listened to Rodriquez ramble on about how his organisation – Mancini Corporation – was in possession of something that would re-shape the world. He spoke proudly of the fact that the people he was representing were lucky enough to have discovered it.

  When the president ignored Guillermo’s question about the fragment, and instead invited him to join them at an evening gathering, they all listened to Guillermo stumble over his words, trying to find the correct answer to give. Guillermo was caught off guard. He didn’t want to be around the president and Mancini agents any longer than he had to. Anyone who knew of Mancini Corporation and it’s ties to the Fomorians, and the God of Gods – Donn – would know Donn was not someone to cross. Those who had done, were said to have lived to regret it. Pain and suffering, an inhumane torture was what awaited anyone who crossed him. And Guillermo’s tone was evident of that fear being very real.

  Eventually, he composed himself. Clearing his throat, he made up a story about how he'd love to see the fragment and get an exclusive. An exclusive story would be enormous for his career. But the president didn’t say anything without having Rodriquez chirping something in his ear. It was clear the president wasn’t the one making the decisions, but rather Rodriquez. Of course that way if something was to go wrong, Rodriquez could simply shrug his shoulders and leave the president to pick up the blame.

  Something none of them were expecting, which got them on the edge of their seats, as if watching a penalty shootout in the world cup final. Rodriquez, quite boldly asked Guillermo a direct question.

  ‘Guillermo, what can you tell me about the Sirani Foundation?’

  There was a silence. Even in the car listening to the conversation, the atmosphere in the president's office could be felt.

  ‘What do you mean, Sirani Foundation?’ Guillermo responded, sounding defensive.

  Rodriquez laughed; a sinister tone in his voice. ‘Come on, Guillermo, a man with your connections, doesn't know who I'm talking about?’

  Michael looked at everyone in the car. ‘What the hell's going on?’

  The listening device was cut off. They lost communication with Guillermo. Maria tried to phone him but got no response. She tried again, no luck. She left him a voicemail. Ajit searched for Guillermo's tracking device. It was activated and flashing a green dot inside the palace.

  ‘Shit, what’s happening?’ Marcel said. ‘Has he been caught? Or has the bastard betrayed us?’

  ‘If he has, then we're sitting in this car park waiting to be scooped up!’ Sofia shouted. ‘Ringo get us the hell outta here, now!’

  ‘And plough through anyone in our way,’ Mohammad shouted.

  Just as Ringo started the engine, Michael’s phone rang. ‘Hold on, it’s him.’ He looked at his mobile, Guillermo flashed across the screen. ‘Guillermo, what...’ He was cut off.

  ‘I’ve had to ditch the device. You heard how the president was acting strange, like Rodriquez’s little puppet. He avoided any questions about the fragment. It was nerve wracking.’ He paused for a second. Michael could hear an alarm sounding, then a door closing, dimming the sound of the bell. ‘As soon as Rodriquez asked me about the Sirani Foundation, the fire alarm went off and the electricity was cut. Rodriquez just left the office. He must have thought it was you. I’ve just walked into the males. I need a shit. Michael, that was tense. But the device Ajit gave me to plant on the president is under his office desk.’

  ‘Tense? tell me about it.’ Michael half laughed, breathing a sigh of relief.

  ‘The good news is he’s invited me to the evening party and the Bull Fights.’

  ‘Are you still happy to continue?’ Michael asked, hopeful for a yes.

  ‘We're a team, right?’ Guillermo asked.

  Michael thought for a second. Something was still bugging him. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He didn't feel completely confident about Guillermo and the amount of trust they were placing on him, but on the other hand Michael had seen so much the last few days, he didn’t know what was real and what wasn't. ‘Yes, we're a team. Where are you now?’

  ‘I’m not sticking around. I'm going to head back to my office. The editor wants to speak to me.’

  ‘We'll speak later, then.’

  As soon as the call ended, the cars started. Nobody wanted to hang around in the carpark another second. They were trapped and if the authorities knew they were there, they’d have no chance of getting away.

  ‘We need to get back to the house,’ Scarlett said. ‘If the world's looking for us in Spain, then we need to stay off the streets as much as possible.’

  ‘Are we sure the president will be at this party?’ Mohammad asked. ‘What if it’s a trap to bring us there?’

  ‘Good point,’ Eduardo said. ‘But we've no other choice.’

  Michael smiled at Sofia, then Eduardo and finally Ringo in the reflection of the rear-view mirror. ‘Okay, then. If these fuckers want to play games, we'll play games with them.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ajit asked cautiously. ‘Do w
e need to remind you how big Mancini Corporation is? Don't forget it and stop being stupid, Michael.’

  ‘Don't forget what they’ve done. Don't forget they were going after our families.’ Michael's face and neck turned red. ‘I don't forget what the bastards did to my father in France. I haven’t forgotten his eyes when I knocked him out because of this mess.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Sofia said, trying to play the referee before Ajit and Michael bit each other’s heads off. ‘What are you thinking then?’

  ‘We play a game of global hide and seek with them. Even if it’s enough to make them drop their guard a little in Spain.’

  ‘How?’ Carolina shouted.

  ‘We use L'amico to shut down an area in Germany. We have our agents in Germany create a disturbance that makes the headlines. We need the world to turn its attention off Spain, at least while we're here. Then Mancini Corporation might drop it’s guard in Spain. We get the president and the fragment and off we go.’

  ‘We’ve got nothing else to try, we may as well,’ Eduardo said. ‘But why Germany?’

  ‘Germany would be a more believable location for us to be than in Brazil,’ Marcel said. ‘Let’s do it.’

  ‘Okay, great!’ Scarlett said. ‘Maria and I need to meet other Sirani agents. We'll discuss something with our guys in Germany. Perhaps a fabricated attack on someone important.’

  ‘The rest of you go back to Santander. Listen to the device, see if you can find something the president says that we can use.’

  ‘I’m listening now,’ Ajit said. ‘It’s just the president singing something from the Spanish radio and it’s terrible. I’m glad he’s a political leader and not a singer for profession.’

  ‘Right let’s get out of this...’ Ringo paused. ‘We’ve got company up ahead, guys!’

  Michael looked out through the windscreen. A group of five Mancini agents stood in their way, a vehicle behind them at the beginning of the ramp that led to their only way out, making Ringo’s chance of ramming his way through a bit more testing.

  ‘Shit, what are we going to do?’ Ajit shouted.

  ‘We’re going to get out and make them shift themselves,’ Michael said. He flung the door open and stepped out.

  ‘Oh, I like it when he talks dirty.’ Mohammad shouted, as he jumped out.

  The sound of the car doors slamming shut echoed around the room, bouncing off every wall.

  ‘We just want to take Michael for a little chat. The Dark One has asked for his presence.’ One of the Mancini agents shouted, his voice was deep and cold, as if coming from the deepest pits of the Otherworld. He stood around six and a half foot tall, surprisingly the shortest of the group. All of them were sporting the black Mancini suit. ‘None of you need to be harmed. We just want him.’

  ‘Michael get back in the car, now!’ Scarlett stepped in front of him, pushing him back towards the vehicle. She produced her pistol, looking at Enrique and Maria, both out of their cars, armed with theirs.

  ‘I’ve looked forward to the day I’d get to use these guns,’ Enrique said. He took aim. Maria did the same.

  ‘You can’t kill us with those pathetic human bullets,’ the agent said. He looked at Michael and spoke in a language only Michael and Sofia would understand. ‘Your friends will all die if you don’t give in, Michael. You will come with us. We’ve been told to take you by force if we must.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Michael said, stepping around Scarlett. ‘I’m right here, come and take me, then...’ Before Michael had a chance to say another word, the leader opened his hand, producing a fireball, spinning on his palm, the size of a football. He launched it at Scarlett, but Michael pulled her away, taking the hit from the ball, he grasped his shoulder, seeing the blackened skin of his shoulder through the hole that was burned through his clothes.

  Scarlett fired, but he dodged it. He produced another fireball, but before he had a chance to throw it, Michael produced one of the same, launching it at the agent, taking his head clean off. The rest of the agent’s body stood for a few seconds, swaying as if about to lose it’s balance. Michael held his palm out again, producing another fireball, he launched it at the rest of the agent’s body. It exploded into flames, then extinguished.

  Scarlett pointed her pistol at the other four as they closed in to just ten feet away. ‘Any closer and...I won’t miss this time.’

  ‘Michael, since when could you pull fire balls from your ass?’ Marcel shouted, sounding astounded. The Sirani Seven all bunched together.

  ‘No idea,’ Michael said, ‘maybe we should talk about it later.’

  ‘The Dark Lord has asked for you Michael,’ one of the agents said. He held his palm out as if asking for Scarlett to hand over her weapon. ‘I’ll take that, thank you very much.’ Scarlett’s gun flew out of her hand straight into his. Enrique’s and Maria’s flew out of their hands across the room. Scarlett’s gun crushed in the agent’s hand, the sound of the metal bending re-enforced the fact this guy had just crushed a gun like it was a sheet of paper.

  Michael looked at Carolina, then Marcel. ‘You two in the mood for a sparring session?’

  Marcel smiled and fixed his shades. ‘Was hoping you were going to say that.’

  Carolina ran at one of them, jumping five feet in the air, she spun in mid-air, taking an agent’s head clean off, she landed on her feet again and side-kicked the body into the concrete wall of the underground. The remaining three agents took a few steps back. ‘I like these odds a bit better now.’ Carolina stood beside Marcel and Michael, the three squaring off.

  One of the three remaining agents pulled a sword out from under his coat and swung it at Carolina, but Marcel grabbed the giant’s arm from behind. Snatching the sword he swiped the giants leg, then turned and swung the blade at the other.

  Michael ripped the steel bumper off the agent’s car and swung it at the final agent across the back. The giant fell to the ground, Michael ripped the steel in half, making two weapons out of it. He tossed one to Sofia, she caught it and the both pounded the giant, he was in pain, but it wasn’t doing him any lasting damage.

  ‘Michael, catch.’ Marcel tossed him the sword. The moment he caught the weapon, Michael swung down hard, taking the agent’s head off. The head rolled towards him, he swung his right foot at it, sending it across the room, Marcel swung a kick at the head as if going for goal, sending it splatting against the wall.’

  They all stood there, silent for a moment. Walking around the carpark, Ringo’s car still idling. Michael looked at the burn mark on his shoulder.

  He looked at Sofia, then Scarlett. ‘How the hell did I just do that?’

  ‘Michael, you just made a fire ball with your hands.’ Sofia said. ‘How did you do that?’

  ‘I have no bloody idea.’

  ‘We haven’t time to discuss it here,’ Scarlett said, as she ran towards the Mancini agent’s car. ‘All of you get back in the cars. I’ll take this one. More of them could be coming.’

  Chapter Ten

  SHORTLY AFTER THREE thirty, Michael finished his swim in the twenty-five-metre outdoor pool. He pulled himself out and sat on the edge catching his breath, panting after the final five speed lengths. With his feet and vascular calves submerged beneath the surface, he watched as the water's ripples caused the black Sirani logo in on the pool’s floor to dance.

  He rubbed his shoulder where he’d been hit by the fireball. But there was nothing there. He looked down at it, no burn mark, not even a redness. His skin had changed back to the normal colour and texture. He opened his hand, trying to will another fireball, but he couldn’t. What the hell was going on? The five Mancini agents were clearly sent to take him to the Otherworld, and he knew there’d be more coming. It was a frightful thought, but a real one.

  Still gazing into the water, he got a startling reminder of his first experience of Elisabetta the day he’d left Ireland. Something landed on his head, the claws of a seagull. Before he had a chance to react, Mohammad and Ajit bega
n to scream in laughter. Michael turned to find Mohammad recording the scene.

  ‘One for Facebook, chief!’ Mohammad shouted. ‘Just want the Sirani agents of the world to see how much old Elisabetta’s ‘toy boy’ loves his animals.’

  Michael couldn’t help but grin. He stood up, shaking the water off, joining the rest at the garden table. Twenty yards away, Carolina and Marcel were practising. Michael was still astounded at Carolina's flexibility. How high she could kick with those long, toned legs was unreal. Her and Marcel's speed and accuracy was certainly not of this earth. If they could ignore what was really going on in the world, they'd sure be stars of the martial arts world. But none of them could exactly go off and display their crazy skills. Not when they knew their world was on the verge of being destroyed. All the popularity in the world would mean squat if there was nothing left.

  ‘Any progress?’ Michael asked, eagerly. He sat down beside Eduardo.

  ‘Si, amigo,’ Eduardo whispered, not paying attention to Michael or anything else, focusing intently on his laptop screen. ‘We’ve shut down Berlin.’ Eduardo looked at Ajit, then Michael and smiled with a face full of mischief. ‘Man, I love Oisin for giving us this.’

  Michael looked at the screen. Sirani Maps was displaying Europe with a dark cloud over Germany. There was a control bar down the left side of the screen, allowing Eduardo to choose which electromagnetic waves to shut down, for how long, which location down to a twenty square miles radius. ‘So, we’ve already done it?’

  ‘Why not?’ Ajit asked.

  ‘Are you sure it’s worked?’ Michael looked at the two of them, drying himself off with his towel. ‘I mean, maybe we contact Sirani agents in Germany and find out if it worked?’

  Ajit snatched up the laptop. ‘Of course, it worked.’

  ‘I’ve spoken to Domenico Cipolla. He’s in Germany,’ Sofia said. ‘He said it worked when they hit shut down. You missed it while you were busy keeping fit.’ She blew him a sarcastic kiss.