The Sapphiri

by R Gene Curtis

  “It’s time,” she says, and then she runs out the door and down the street.

  “Sir, sir!” I hear her yell before the door slams behind her.

  Well, nothing for me to do but to follow.

  When I get outside, the man has stopped and is watching Pearl approach him. He wears a confused and wary expression. And, unfortunately, he looks an awful lot like a Sapphiri.

  “You dropped this,” Pearl says, extending her hand when she gets close to him.

  He reaches his hand out, but instead of getting something from Pearl, she zaps him with her stunning tool-thingy. I could use one of those. The man’s body goes stiff, and she shoves him into the alleyway. His eyes flit back and forth before widening in recognition.

  He recognizes her. I shine a light in his eyes. He’s wearing colored contacts.

  How can it be? This guy is Sapphiri.

  There’s no way Cassi could be involved, though. It was just a lucky guess on Pearl’s part that had nothing to do with Cassi. Just a strange coincidence that led us to the needle in the haystack. Cassandra Enterprises? Yeah, definitely coincidence. Nothing to do with Cassi. If I went back to her house right now, I’d find her there, getting ready for bed.

  If only Pearl would let me do that.

  Pearl gives the man a shot of something in his left arm vein. He’s asleep within seconds.

  “Put him behind that dumpster. Make sure no one can see him from the street. Then take his badge and get back here.”

  I don’t dare disobey Pearl when she’s on a mission. This girl is as tough as nails and not to be trifled with. Sheesh.

  It’s dark in the alley, and no one is going to come back here. I leave the man lying behind the dumpster and go back to Pearl. “Howard,” I say.

  She barely nods in recognition.

  “Okay, let’s go eat at that burger place down the road. I want to give them more time to clear out before we go in. Maybe in another hour.”

  “I hope that drug you gave our friend Howard lasts that long.”

  She nods absently. “Of course.”

  Of course.

  * * *

  In the end, we spend two hours at the restaurant, and so it’s almost ten when we scan Howard’s badge and enter the quiet building.

  Lights flash on as we walk down the hallway towards the main elevator.

  “Shouldn’t we have covered our faces?” I ask. I’ve never seen so many security cameras before. Not in a banking software facility. Not even in a bank!

  Pearl shakes her head and keeps walking, her eyes forward and her brow drawn into a scowl. “No way. That would only alert security to the fact that something is wrong. You look Sapphiri, and that will slow them down. We don’t have a prayer of ever coming back here, so it doesn’t matter if they see our faces or not. They’ll either find us and kill us, which they already want to do, or they won’t.”

  “I’m voting for the latter,” I say.

  “I’m voting for the elevator,” she says.

  Very funny.

  She hits the elevator button and studies the listing. Cassandra Enterprises is located on the 27th and 28th floor.

  “Which floor are we going to try first?” I ask.

  “I’m guessing we’ll only have the chance to try one of them. If I were the leader of a secret society and I wanted to take over the world, I would put my office on the higher floor.”

  That sounds reasonable enough. I’m suddenly nervous, though. Pearl thinks we’ll have visitors with us right away. How is she thinking we’re getting away when we’re on the 28th floor? Surely whatever we learn will be more valuable if we’re alive to do something with it.

  We step out onto the 28th floor and find ourselves in a small enclosed room with white walls and two doors. A sign on a far door reads, Please proceed to the 27th floor.

  “We’re in the right place,” Pearl mutters, and motions to me to scan Howard’s badge.

  I do, the light turns green, and the door opens.

  We’re in.

  Pearl starts running. I follow behind her, not quite sure what we are looking for. I am sure that I should have been exercising with her for the past few weeks. I’m strangely out of breath. It’s probably the altitude of being up so high. But still, it doesn’t seem fair that I got out of shape so fast.

  Halfway through her first lap around the office, Pearl finds what she is looking for. A large office with a blue sign on the door. She dashes over to it, and I push myself to try and keep up with her.

  The sign over the door doesn’t look good. In fact, it makes me sick.

  Cassi, CEO.

  Pearl has the lock picked in no time, and we’re in.

  The office is immaculately clean. And it smells like Cassi, which could be a coincidence. Filing cabinets line the walls around the room. Pearl ignores them and picks the lock on the desk. She pulls out a stack of manila envelopes and flips through them.

  “This is it,” she says. She throws the other envelopes aside and shuffles through the papers in this one. “The plan is to release the virus in three weeks.”

  I open my mouth to ask how she found the plans so fast, but the words don’t have a chance to come out.

  The door to the office swings open and we’re no longer alone. Cassi stands at the door. My Cassi. She has a gun trained on Pearl.

  “Maybe we should move that date up a few weeks,” Cassi says. Her voice is perfect. She looks great. Her hair is shorter than last time I saw her, and she’s wearing a pin-stripe suit that really looks classy. I can’t believe it. I didn’t realize how much I missed her until she got here. I mean, I knew I missed her, but I really missed her!

  “Cassi!” I say, and I take a step towards her.

  She shakes her head and points the gun at me. “You’re such an idiot Bob. What are you doing?”

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “Me? I’m running the Sapphiri, and you’re a double-crossing slime ball.”

  I stop advancing. She doesn’t look nearly as happy to see me as I do to see her. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were Sapphiri?”

  She laughs. “Why didn’t you?”

  I cock my head and look at her. The wild look in her eyes is not what I remember.

  Cassi glares at me and motions with the gun for me to move over by Pearl. “It’s good you didn’t tell me though, because then I would have killed you. You crossed lines repeatedly, Bob, but you never did enough for me to justify killing you. I lived with you for years, and you still never did enough for me to figure out how to kill you. You gave me enough information to manipulate the Sapphiri’s hierarchy, though. And all of that, without knowing where you fell in it.”

  “Why would you have wanted to kill me?” I ask. My voice is too shaky, too revealing of the emotions swirling inside me. “I love you,” I whisper, but it’s too quiet and only Pearl hears me. She’s gathered up the papers and the envelope while Cassi’s attention was directed at me.

  “I would have killed you.” Cassi smirks. “For no reason other than a little something about you being next in line to run the Sapphiri. Fortunately, I found a loophole in the code, got you sent away to Albuquerque, murdered the previous guy and all your siblings, and took over the organization. Your pure blood and position was too much for me to ever justify having you killed outright, but at least I was able to work my way around you. I am almost pureblood, you know. Just one 2nd great-grandfather out of line. But all the inheritance rules are complicated, so I’m not going to go into details. You were first, and now I am. And soon you will be dead.”

  I stare at her. How could I be next in line to run the Sapphiri? How could Cassi be my enemy?

  “You’re the mastermind behind this plan?” Pearl asks, her voice strangely calm. Now that we’re standing together, Cassi could shoot either of us without even moving her hand.

  Cassi smirks. It is, perhaps, the only look that doesn’t make her look beautiful. “Naturally. It’s time we stopped spending our time on a
nother world that doesn’t exist and take this one over instead.”

  “By killing everyone?” Pearl says, and her voice is sad, not afraid.

  “Hey, it’s not that hard.” She laughs. “I’ll start by killing you two, and then we’ll go from there.”

  Cassi fires her gun. The sound is deafening in the small office. Pearl doubles over and falls to the ground behind the desk. She must have been hit in the chest. I yell and duck behind the desk, my hand rushing to Pearl’s forehead. She opens her eyes and winks at me.

  A bullet flies and breaks the window behind us. Probably meant for me.

  “Pick me up with my back away from you and jump out that window,” Pearl says.

  “What?”

  “Do it!”

  Another bullet fires, and then footsteps. She’s going to come around the desk.

  I feel in my pocket. My gun is there. Do I dare try and shoot Cassi? Could I shoot her?

  “Do it!” Pearl yells.

  I grab Pearl and pull her against me as I jump up and fall out the broken window. A bullet hits Pearl’s back, which pushes us over the edge. I wrap my arms under her shoulders and feel her wrap her arms and legs around me. We are free falling, the cold night air whipping up our legs and through our pants.

  If this is it, at least I’m wrapped up in the embrace of a beautiful woman. I look up and wish it was Cassi I was embracing. Twenty-eight stories. This is it.

  But, it turns out the bullet-proof jacket isn’t the only thing Pearl is wearing. She’s wearing a parachute, and it’s enough to slow us down before we crash onto the street below.

  The street is silent, and Cassi is several floors above us. Well, like twenty-eight floors above us. Pearl stands up and pulls a knife out of her pants, slashing furiously at the ropes and getting rid of the chute.

  “Run!” she says, as soon as she’s free.

  I’m alive!

  I run behind her. We run until we’re out of sight and sure no one tracked us. I’m not sure why I run, or why I stay with Pearl. I would rather go back and let Cassi shoot me. Living without her, that’s what is going to happen now. And it’s a daunting thought, one that I’m not sure I can live with.

  “That was successful,” Pearl says, as she hotwires a car and starts back on the road to West Virginia.

  “Successful?” I cry out. Cassi is gone. My world is shattered.

  “Yes, Bob. Successful. We got all the information we needed. Now we just have to figure out what to do with it.”

  I stare into space. Successful, in my mind, looks a lot different than this.

  21 Angelic

  Lydia

  The snow castle isn’t as elaborate as it was last winter, but it’s still beautiful. We didn’t build it as big because there aren’t nearly as many people. It’s a somber thought, and yet no one complains. The people here, for the most part, are just relieved Arujan seems to have stopped hunting them for the time being. With me here, they’re starting to plan again. Starting to dream of a future. Like me. I’m dreaming of a future, and it starts with a tall man with a sincere smile.

  I had hoped we would give the people in Sattah a future, too, but that’s not what happened. In their minds, I was just as much a monster as Arujan was to the people here. It’s a consolation prize to be able to help someone, though. I’m glad we helped the people here.

  Most of Keeper’s surviving citizens will spend the winter season sleeping in the fuma skins. Not me, though, and not the people who came with me from Sattah. We’re going to spend the winter studying. Po and Tiva can read almost fluently now, and even Quint and his soldier friend Sant are making progress. We’ve brought every book from the cave, and somehow Karl even found the hidden fairy tale book about Azureans and Sapphiri, and so it came, too.

  Still, when we unpacked, I managed to hide that one.

  And so, we’re spending winter here. I’m glad to be back in mountain garb. I’m glad to be away from people who are trying to kill me, and I’m glad to be here with Karl. The last six weeks have been amazing. Karl is so sweet, and he’s even more caring now that he knows his feelings for me are returned.

  I’m still in shock from it. I couldn’t believe it when I kissed him. He isn’t just my friend, he has feelings for me. Me! Karl. Quiet, strong, determined, smart, and kind. He loves me, and I love him. And I’m going to marry him.

  Every day I kiss him, just to feel that same desire for me go through him. He’s consistent in how he feels about me, and I feel it for him, too. We fit together. We complement each other. I want him to know what I’m thinking about, and he wants to listen and understand. When he approached me a couple weeks ago with a crudely bent piece of metal, that was definitely not copper, I let him put it on my finger. Today we’ll make it official. Arujan killed all the village elders, and so Quint’s going to marry us. Most of the people are asleep, and the village is buried in snow. We’re not going anywhere for a honeymoon. But that’s okay with me. I got the perfect man, we’re safe for the winter, and I’m thrilled about it.

  Karl Stapp. Will I be Lydia Stapp now? Ria Stapp? Not Princess Ria anymore. I’m not sure, and I’m not sure it matters. I know I want to be with Karl, and I know he wants to be with me.

  Somehow, for today, that’s all that seems to matter.

  Though, as Somrusee’s reminded me at least three times, I’m going to get pregnant right away. It’s one of those Azurean things that makes me blush when I think about it. And I’m thinking about it now, standing in a little hut, out of the way of everyone. This is where Karl and I are going to sleep tonight. I get nervous every time I think of being in here alone with Karl, but I’m excited about it, too. He never lets me kiss him very long, the desire he feels grows with each moment he kisses me.

  I guess that won’t be what happens today.

  “I finished your dress,” Tiva says as she pushes open the door and enters the little room. The dress in her hands is red. I never pictured myself in red at my wedding before, but Tiva designed the dress herself and has been working on it for weeks. If she hadn’t put so much work into it, I would get married in my mountain garb. It’s more comfortable, and I want to feel comfortable right now with all the anxiety I’m feeling! I slip off my mountain garb and let her slip the small dress over my cold body. The fabric is surprisingly warm. The long sleeves go down to my wrists, and though the dress stops at my knees, it isn’t as cold as I worried it might be. I look longingly at my mountain garb, and then I twirl and Tiva claps.

  “I’m so glad it fits you so well, Ria!” she cries, and she hugs me. “I want to be the first to give you my congratulations. This is such a wonderful moment.”

  I hug her back, willing the butterflies in my stomach to settle. I want to be with Karl. This is the right thing. I let Tiva take my hand and lead me out of my room.

  * * *

  Everyone is waiting when Tiva and I arrive in the central building. This is the largest building we hollowed out this year, which means it doubles as our communal area, study area, and bedroom for Somrusee, Tiva, and Po.

  Karl watches me as I come in, and my eyes meet his. He’s wearing clothes from the valley for tonight—he told me there was no way he was getting married in mountain garb. I guess he doesn’t feel the same way about it as I do. He’s slicked his hair back, and he stands straight, his broad shoulders strong and sturdy. Such a contrast to my shaky legs.

  I stand next to him and try to smile. I can’t get the smile into my eyes. I concentrate on keeping my legs steady instead.

  Karl shakes his head. “It would be easier to breathe if you weren’t so beautiful,” he whispers into my ear. My left leg buckles, but Karl’s strong arm catches me before I tumble down onto the ground. I keep both hands on him after he pulls me up next to him. It’s nice to know he’s nervous, too. Feeling his nervousness makes mine seem less severe.

  “Are you ready for this?” he asks. I look into his glowing blue eyes. They’re confident. Those eyes tell me everything is going to be o
kay. Those eyes tell me Karl loves me and that he’ll do everything he can to take care of me.

  The look in Karl’s eyes tells me I’m ready for this.

  I nod, grateful he can’t feel my nervousness like I can feel his. “Yeah.”

  And then he smiles. It’s a genuine, real smile. The kind that makes my stomach flutter. The kind that makes me want to kiss this man I adore, to feel the feelings he feels when I kiss him.

  Quint steps forward and smiles at both of us. “My dear friends,” he says. “I’ve never married anyone before, and neither has anyone in this village. Yet, I take courage being here with you. You two are pioneers. You were pioneers when you came to us, and you were pioneers when you stayed with us after defeating Wynn. We are all grateful to know you.”

  There are soft murmurs of agreement around the room. I smile at everyone, try to show them how happy I am that they’re all here. Somrusee meets my eyes when I look at her, but she doesn’t return my smile. I turn my gaze back to Quint, wishing I hadn’t looked around. I can feel her eyes on my back now. I can’t think about her today—not when I’m the one with Karl. I can’t imagine what she must be feeling, seeing me stand here in this bright red dress next to this dream of a man. A man she wanted. A man she had for a while.

  A man who is mine.

  Or who will be if Quint ever finishes his speech.

  “Azureans have hated Sapphiri and hunted them since the beginning of this world,” Quint says. “At times we thought the Sapphiri were extinct, only to find one more. Karu knew Buen, and he and his children were the last Sapphiri born in this world. Today, something happens that legend says never would. An Azurean will unite herself to this handsome Sapphiri.”

  Finally, Quint stops talking and turns to Karl. He holds out his right hand.

  “Karu, trained of Buen, do you take the hand of this fair young queen? To love her as your own self and to be hers always?”

  I wish he wouldn’t call me a queen, but to ask Quint to stop calling me queen would be like asking the snow to stop coming to these mountains. I force a smile and look at Karl.