by Doug Felton
Raisa stretched, took a deep breath, then opened the heavy metal door and began her ascent. An image of Elliot falling to the floor and landing perfectly replayed in her mind. Raisa had fought her many times, and unless Elliot had been holding back, that strength and agility was something new.
Fifty steps into her run, Raisa’s breaths became shorter. Running upstairs was more grueling than running on a flat surface, but Raisa pushed upward, wrestling with the stairs and the thoughts racing through her mind.
Maybe Elliot had had these special abilities in a latent form all along, and Zeke helped her discover them. That sounded reasonable, but how did he do it? And do I have the same potential? Raisa thought. She’d been working out for two years honing her skills as a fighter, and she had experienced no extraordinary speed or strength. And if the stairs knocking the wind out of her were any indicator, she still hadn’t.
Somewhere past a hundred steps, Raisa’s calves began to burn, and after sixty more, the pain spread up her back. That didn’t stop her, though; Raisa welcomed the pain. A little too much, she thought. After her father had died, Raisa blamed herself for not protecting him. It was worse when Ben died. Alexander held her when she cried, eventually, the crying stopped, but the pain never did. The only thing that would quiet the pain in her heart was hurting her body. Her collision with the Summerhouse wall wasn’t just about winning the race. Raisa justified it by telling herself she’d heal fast; no real harm. But somewhere in the back of her mind, a warning bell rang. Raisa wasn’t ready to pay attention to it, so she turned her thoughts back to Elliot.
Was it possible that Elliot didn’t have latent abilities waiting to be activated? Maybe Zeke found a way to change people, making them faster and stronger? If so, could he change everybody or just immortals? And what about the healing power; was that him too? She’d never seen anything like Hudson Phoenix’s recovery from the knife wound; it had to be Zeke’s doing.
Raisa reached the terrace level of the dome, more than halfway up the stairs, and stepped out onto the walkway through a small hatch-like door. Zeke’s dad was the CEO of WellPharm, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. If anyone had access to pharmaceutical research, it would be Zeke Wellington. Raisa pulled the pieces together in her mind, but she still didn’t have the whole picture.
With hands on her hips, she watched the twinkling lights of the New World capital. Each light looked like one of the thousand unanswered questions piling up in her life. What was Zeke up to? Did he share his secret with Elliot because they had something special together, or was his move more calculating? And would Zeke offer Raisa the same chance to become superhuman? Now there’s a thought. If he were going to, why hadn’t he already? Maybe he’d tried the night of the state dinner. Raisa felt a twinge of jealousy; Elliot had something she didn’t. It was an unpleasant feeling that Raisa had had little experience with, but she couldn’t shake it.
Raisa started back up the stairs toward the top of the dome. Putting her feelings aside, she focused on the more important question. Raisa was curious about what was going on with Zeke and Elliot, she wouldn’t deny it, but finding the mole in her government was the bigger issue.
Thankfully, Penly had a plan. She had compiled a list of everybody who had the access necessary for all three breaches to take place — the names of the Ten Thousand, the route she took in Pittsburgh, and access to her plate at the state dinner. It was a long list that included all the council members and their staffs and her staff.
The plan was simple; Penly would pass along false intelligence to each office on the list. But each one would get a different bit of false intel. If Tom Cruise used any of it, they’d know which office leaked it. From there, they’d be able to narrow it down.
Raisa reached the top of the dome and stopped at the door leading out onto the walkway below the Tholos. On the other side of that door, Ashwill had shot Alexander. It was the worst moment in Raisa’s life, but at least back then, she knew who the enemy was. Ashwill had the decency of putting his name to his twisted vision for the country. Whoever she was fighting now hid behind the winking, smiling mask of Tom Cruise.
Raisa looked at the handle as if it were a snake about to strike. She reached for it when her comm displayed a notification before her. The image startled Raisa; she was still getting used to the forward optical display feature of their new comms. It was a call from Alora. Raisa took it.
“Your Majesty,” Alora said. “I’m sorry to contact you so early, but I have something for you to see.”
Raisa was tired of hearing those words from her. She let out a sigh. “I think I’m going to block you from my comm link. I’ll be right there.”
Alora was waiting for her in the residence. “We received this forty-five minutes ago.” She handed Raisa a tablet with a video cued. The paused image was the smiling face of Tom Cruise. Raisa tapped the screen.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty. You managed to get most of them rounded up in a timely manner. Lucky for you, your staff had a plan already in place, huh? It’s almost as if they knew this would happen.”
Raisa wanted to slap the smug look off of his digital face. “How the hell does he know all of this?”
Cruise continued. “And Raven Rock, good choice. They should be very comfortable there. Although, if something unforeseen should happen, say a nuclear attack, your government will have a hard time finding a place to hide. Oh well, let’s hope that’s unnecessary. Now, the real reason for this little communique. Unless I’m mistaken, and I’m not, six residents of Raven Rock have yet to move in.”
“This is why I didn’t wait to show you this,” Alora said.
“Your Majesty, besides you, I believe five other women on your staff have conditional immortality.” He leaned into the view and spoke with feigned regret. “You all need to join your fellow mutants at Raven Rock.”
“Or what?” Raisa asked the screen. “Everybody knows who the Ten Thousand are by now.”
“If you don’t, I’ll be forced to reveal more classified information,” he said. “Wait. You didn’t think knowing the names of the Ten Thousand are was the limit of my vast knowledge, did you? No, no, no. Besides being strikingly handsome, I am a wealth of information. For example, I know about the czar’s invitation to visit Russia in the fall, and I know why you two are getting cozy. You want to make a nuclear arms deal with him.”
Raisa’s face drained of color, and her skin turned clammy. That wasn’t just classified, it was sensitive, high-level information that few people knew. Two years before her father had authored the final vote of the U.S. Senate, the U.S. President signed the London Accords that surrendered control of America’s nuclear weapons to the United Nations with the promise of not rebuilding a nuclear arsenal. The U.N. took possession of the weapons, and the United States honored its agreement. But the New World was under no such obligation as far as Raisa was concerned. Her efforts to court Russia as an ally had as its end goal securing tactical nuclear weapons for self-defense.
She looked at Alora, who could only shake her head.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness,” Cruise continued, “I haven’t posted this video yet. This can be our little secret if you do what I’ve asked. As always, I won’t give you a deadline, so you’d better get moving. I could release it at any time.” He winked before the image faded away.
Twenty minutes later, Raisa’s staff had assembled with President Tate and top departmental officials at the Palace. The rest of the New World Council joined via video link. Stern faces filled the room as Raisa entered. Everyone stood and then took their seats as she did.
“I will not allow a terrorist hiding behind a mask to hijack my government.” Raisa chose her words with care. By saying my government instead of our government, she was sending a message; she would take any betrayal as a personal betrayal. “I demand that each office here conduct a complete and thorough investigation of your personnel. If there is a leak, you had better find it.”
Ev
eryone nodded in solemn agreement. They had never seen Raisa burn with anger like this, but she didn’t expect their internal investigations would turn up the leak. She gave the order as a diversion. Raisa would use Penly’s scheme to flush out the leak, but she couldn’t tell them that, so sound and fury it was.
“What will you do about his demand that you join the rest of the Ten Thousand at Raven Rock?” Barrymore, the council member from Pennsylvania, asked. He raised his thick, bushy eyebrows, punctuating his question.
“Do I have a choice?” Raisa said. “We can’t let anyone know that we want to rebuild our nuclear arsenal, not now. It would derail talks with Russia and have a devastating effect on our relationship with the CRA.”
“Has anyone considered what Cruise is doing here?” Alexander asked. “He’s herding all the immortals into a single location so he can kill them all at one time.”
The Secretary of Internal Affairs, who was overweight and balding, said, “We have. There’s no evidence of that yet, but we’ve considered it.”
“Evidence?” Alexander laughed. “What evidence has there been that any of this was about to happen?”
The secretary continued, “Even if that’s Cruise’s plan, he can’t pull it off. This is Raven Rock, after all. It’s built to withstand a nuclear attack.”
Alexander shook his head. “How about an attack from the inside? If he’s got somebody inside the government, maybe he can arrange an ‘accident’ to occur.”
“That would kill ten thousand people?” Barrymore asked. “Not likely.”
“He could put a toxin in the ventilation system,” Alexander shot back.
“Son, Einstein couldn’t get around the redundancies built into the air filtration and monitoring system at Raven Rock.”
Alexander’s face turned to steel. He opened his mouth to respond, but Raisa cut him off.
“Excuse me, but you’ll refer to Prince Alexander with the respect he deserves.”
Barrymore smiled and said, “Of course. My apologies.”
Raisa continued, “I agree that moving the Ten Thousand to one location has presented an opportunity for someone who wants to eliminate them, but we have nothing to suggest that an attack is imminent or even likely. So, as of right now, I am inclined to visit Raven Rock as scheduled this afternoon. I’ll make my final decision later this morning. In the meantime, I want every available resource directed at finding who’s behind this. If I go, I don’t want it to be more than a short vacation.”
As the meeting broke up, monitors winked off, and people stood and clustered in several conversations.
Raisa caught Penly’s eye and waved her over. She spoke softly, “Are you set to go with the false intel?”
“I am. The latest leak allowed me to narrow the list of potential suspects, and I’ve made sure the information I’m passing on looks legit.”
Raisa saw President Tate lingering, waiting to talk to her. She thanked Penly as she moved toward him.
“You know I wish you wouldn’t go,” he said. “We can find another way. You’re too important to risk your life.”
Tate’s gentle sincerity softened Raisa’s defensiveness. They didn’t always agree, but he had become her mentor and was her biggest ally on the Council. “It’s about more than the nuclear arms talks,” she said. “I have to do this, but you know that already. I’m responsible for the Ten Thousand. It was my choices that led to their discovery. I can’t just let them go it alone.”
“I know,” Tate said. “Be safe. We need you back in one piece.”
“I will, but I need you to watch my back. We’ve got a mole, and until we find out who it is, there are very few people I trust. You and Alexander top the list.”
Tate nodded. “Until we find out who it is, our government is crippled.”
“I’m working on that,” she said in a low whisper.
Tate looked surprised to hear that Raisa had taken action on her own, but he nodded his understanding.
Raisa found Father Aasir waiting for her in the Palace's residence. “Thank you for coming, Father. I know it’s early.”
“I was up, praying for you, my dear.”
Raisa motioned for him to sit as she did. “That was providential. I need your advice.”
“It was not providence, I pray for you every morning.”
Raisa didn’t know why this man’s kindness surprised her, but it did. “I am humbled. Thank you.”
“What can I do for you, Jaime?” Aasir Jabari was the only person who called Raisa by her former name, and then only in private. It had become a subtle reminder between them of a story he’d told about another girl who’d been made queen against her will and given a new name.
“I need your wisdom. More than anyone, you convinced me it was my destiny to be queen.”
“And now you wonder,” he said.
“There are days.”
“No one who truly fulfills their destiny does so without passing through the wilderness of doubt.”
“Then I’m right on course,” Raisa said with the hint of a smile. “I have a decision to make. I can’t give you the details, but neither choice is ideal. On the one hand, I can protect myself and potentially put the New World in a bad position. Or, I can take a risk, maybe put myself in danger, but hopefully protect the nation.”
Father Aasir said, “How can putting yourself in harm's way be good for the New World under any circumstances?”
“There may be no danger, just someone’s speculation at this point.”
“And yet you are concerned enough to bring it up to me.” Aasir leaned forward. “Where does this speculation come from?”
“Alexander.”
“I see.” Father Aasir thought for a moment. “You haven’t been in the habit of ignoring Alexander’s counsel in the past, so why now?”
Raisa stood and walked to the window.
“What are you not telling me, Jaime?”
What was she not telling him? That she had a need her husband didn’t understand and couldn’t meet? That she felt trapped? That her heart was with a group of people she’d never met?
“It’s about the Ten Thousand,” she said. “It’s because of me they’re in danger, and now I can’t help them or even see them without risking my life.” Raisa thought about the ultimatum Cruise gave her. Maybe Alexander was right. If getting her to Raven Rock wasn’t a prelude to killing her along with the rest, what was the point? What could Cruise possibly gain? She turned from the window to face Father Aasir. “My crown,” she said, tracing a fresh idea. “What if he’s trying to discredit me? What if he’s after my crown?”
Chapter Twelve
Raisa and the five other ladies traveling with her barely fit in the small plane. In the cockpit, a man she’d never met piloted the plane with Jimbo Haynes in the copilot seat. Jimbo was the one person Raisa trusted who could pull this off, so she asked him to provide transportation for her to Raven Rock. Raisa made it clear that he wasn’t to talk to anybody in the government about the travel arrangements, which, for Jimbo, was no problem. He called in a favor from an associate and came up with a prop plane normally used for who knows what. At that point, Raisa didn’t care. The point was that no one in the government knew how she was getting to Raven Rock, which meant no one could leak her travel plans.
Commander Song and Alexander objected to the arrangement, but then they weren’t in favor of her going at all. But, once Raisa had decided, they worked closely together, establishing a security plan. They spent time together, separated from the others, talking in hushed tones. The leak had put everyone on edge, unwilling to share critical information. Raisa noted the irony, her staff was using the same secrecy that had angered them only a few days earlier. The leak had become like a virus, tearing apart trust and communication.
A flurry of activity preceded Raisa’s departure from the Palace as her staff tried to prepare her for possible scenarios she might face. Everyone agreed they could use more time, but they didn’t have it, so th
ey did their best. Without a deadline to work with, Raisa didn’t want to delay any longer than necessary.
While preparations were being made, Zeke granted an interview to a popular entertainment news outlet. He used a handheld video comm device with a camera to do the interview. It gave a shaky Underground Railroad feel to the piece that Raisa guessed was the point. He conveyed the hardship facing the Ten Thousand without sounding whiny. He remained optimistic and hopeful despite the struggles, just the way a sympathetic figure should. In what Raisa thought was a stroke of genius, he dropped a hint about his next album, which he’d get back to work on just as soon as he got home.
“That alone should do the trick,” Raven said as they watched the interview in the residence. “People may not care about the plight of others, but don’t mess with their entertainment.”
It was hard to tell how much impact the interview had. The intranet was blowing up with opinions about the Ten Thousand, and most of them weren’t favorable. Mayor Reeves from Pittsburgh was all over media feeds commenting on how unfortunate, but necessary the move to detain the Ten Thousand was. How would they ever untie this Gordian knot?
As the plane ascended, Raisa buckled herself in; small planes were louder and bumpier than airships. After buckling in, she put on the headset Jimbo gave her.
“You alright back there, princess?” The pilot asked through the hiss of the headphones.
Jimbo smiled at Raisa over his shoulder. “Don’t take it personally. He calls everyone princess.”
The plane bumped along, making Raisa grateful that Raven Rock Mountain wasn’t far from the capital. The rest of her team traveled on New World airships arranged for by her security detail and would meet them there.
