House of Dolls 5

by Harmon Cooper

  “Now I’m ready.”

  Ava and the teleporter appeared at the border in an authorized teleportation zone for members of the Centralian Intelligence Agency.

  She saw that a tent had been erected and noticed a few familiar faces.

  As she made her way over to it, passing a crate of wrist guards, a Centralian soldier with dark hair smiled at her. Joining her was a blond female Ava could have sworn she’d seen before.

  “Plume?” the woman with dark hair said, something flashing behind her blazing yellow eyes.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m… I’m a big fan.”

  “Me too!” the second woman said, licking the front of her teeth.

  “Good to know,” said Ava, trying to smile. “Would you like an autograph or something?”

  “No,” the first female soldier said, tilting her head to the right a bit as she took Ava in. “Just meeting you is good enough for me.”

  “Right, well, nice to meet you both,” Ava said as she made her way under the tent to find Jess, Rafner, Naomi, and other agents seated at a round table.

  Once she sat, the environment around her started to change until they were in another space entirely, an enclosed room without windows, the walls blank.

  “It’s better for us to speak here. It’s more secure,” Rafner said, smiling at Ava. “Is everything okay?”

  Ava blinked twice, reminding herself to act sober. “Why do you ask?”

  “You’re a bit late. You’re usually on time.”

  “I got caught up with something.”

  “Okay,” Rafner said, a stern look coming across his face as he turned his attention back to the people seated around him. “To continue, we believe the rebels will be making their attack in the next twenty-four hours. Likely at night. We have captured and interrogated several of their members and sent them back to the ranks with their minds wiped. Once they arrive…”

  Ava tuned him out as he went over the plans for their non-exemplar troops, a Centralian military general taking over at some point and going into further detail.

  They then moved to another general, one in charge of exemplar forces who had his assistant, a woman with short purple hair, use her power to create a three-dimensional image of what they planned to do and how they planned to execute it.

  This interested Ava, only in the fact that she found the woman’s bizarre, almost useless power fascinating to observe.

  She got this from her sister, who taught her that while all powers weren’t equal, many were equally useful.

  “Is there any intelligence on the whereabouts of Roman and Nadine?” Ava asked once there was a pause in the conversation.

  “No. They ported away from Verne using multiple teleporters, but there is a chance they will be at the battle set for tomorrow. I wouldn’t doubt it.”

  “I’ve had the same feeling,” she said.

  “And if they are seen, streamlined removal is crucial. Especially with Roman Martin. His powers, for those of you that may not have read the briefings, are how the Eastern Province has been able to develop the tiaras that allow them to animate inanimate objects. He will be stronger than any of the soldiers wearing these devices.”

  “Rebels,” the military general seated next to Rafner corrected him.

  “Correct, rebels.”

  “We are going to fight a bunch of rebels who are wearing tiaras like princesses?” Jess asked. “If that’s already been covered, I’m sorry for bringing it up again.”

  “I don’t think they’ll look like the device that was presented to us,” Rafner said, not at all bothered by her question. “I believe it will be smaller, more streamlined. If they are wearing helmets of sorts, which they should be, the devices may also be hidden beneath. From what we have seen of the rebel groups, they have a…” He briefly considered how he should phrase this. “A very loose concept of uniform. Most wear black, but there is nothing too standard, and that’s why I mention some will be outfitted correctly while others will not.”

  “But they should still be taken seriously,” Ava reminded everyone at the table. “While they will not be as powerful as Roman, they do have devices that allow them to replicate his unique abilities. Coming from someone who has seen his power in action, this is troubling indeed.”

  Both Jess and Naomi nodded in agreement.

  “And the ones that have helmets will likely have other technology built in that prevents telepathy,” one of the female generals added. “So our best bet will be to hit them from the sky with exemplars who can already fly, and hit them quickly. Our strongmen can make the first ground-based attack, as that has worked in the past when it comes to border conflicts. The non-exemplar troops should allow the exemplar forces to thin the herd a bit while continuing to prepare their wrist guards and other weapons for the inevitable charge.”

  “It’s not going to be a fair fight,” Rafner reminded everyone, “even if the rebel groups are partially funded by the government here. So our goal is to make it swift. As many casualties on their side as possible. To quell any hope they have of breaching the wall or defeating our forces. If we do this right, it will be the only conflict. We will let the diplomatic branch of our government take over from that point, once the Eastern Province has been reminded what we are capable of. What I’m trying to say here is to continue to not only think of this as a fight for our own country, but a fight to prevent a prolonged war. Eastern Province casualties are our second goal after preventing a single rebel from crossing the border.”

  Ava nodded. She could already smell the burning bodies, hear the screams of the people she would inevitably torch.

  She wished in that moment that she had another glass of wine so she could swallow their terrible cries down and erase the images that would come next, the blackened soil, the people reaching up for her, flames licking off bodies, the heat of the fire, the pain-stricken terror playing out across her eyes as the raging plumes consumed them.

  As Ava did her job.

  And hopefully, this was the last time.

  Hopefully, this was her last mission.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Snowball’s Chance

  Roman awoke to find Nadine sobbing.

  She was lying with her back to him, curled into a small ball.

  He placed his arm around her, bringing her in closer, burying his head in her hair and inhaling a hint of sweet peppermint.

  Roman knew what she was upset about and didn’t say anything, didn’t offer any words of encouragement or sympathy.

  He merely remained present.

  Roman had been in similar situations, not full-on sobbing but up in the middle of the night wondering about how his life had turned out, especially after his wife had fallen into a coma.

  There were even times when he’d looked to the women he’d slept around with for general comfort, never telling them what was really happening, of course, Roman feeling too guilty about it to really put words to what he was experiencing.

  But their embrace, especially the ones who’d actually liked him, had helped him through a rough time.

  He would do the same for Nadine, if necessary.

  Roman had a feeling he would never see his parents again, which saddened him, but he also knew it was to their benefit.

  Still, he couldn’t imagine having to kill them to protect them from his own government.

  While his parents might be monitored for a spell, Roman was nearly certain the Centralian government wouldn’t try to execute them.

  After all, what would be the point?

  And they weren’t even his real parents.

  The Centralian government would likely be frank with his mother and father, telling them Roman was a wanted fugitive and to reach out to them if he ever made contact.

  And knowing his parents, they would.

  They weren’t the type to disobey their government, both patriotic to some degree, as were many Centralians who had passed the age of fifty.

  No, they wouldn’t be execute
d. Roman appreciated but couldn’t fully understand what Nadine was going through.

  So he just held her.

  And eventually, he fell back asleep, waking up in the morning as light shone into their tent.

  Nadine was already up, seated on a crate and sipping from a cup of tea.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded as if nothing had happened.

  Celia came into the tent with two fresh loaves of bread, their smell reaching Roman’s nostrils.

  “They had meat, but it was all out when I made it to the front of the line,” she said with a frown. “Some of these rebels are…”

  “Animals?” Coma asked, Roman’s combat doll still standing at the entrance.

  “Yes. A little.”

  “Let them be animals,” said Nadine with a wave. “A good majority will be dead by this time tomorrow. Let them enjoy their last day alive.”

  “You think that many will die?” Roman asked her.

  “They aren’t trained, and as you mentioned last night, they barely know how to use the device. It’s going to be a disaster. They’re going against your country’s military, and I’m sure there will be exemplars there as well. It’ll be a bloodbath.”

  Roman considered this as the day progressed and he was once again asked by Marcus to show the rebel leader how to use his power.

  He instructed the man to the best of his ability, some of Marcus’s best rebels watching, gasping every now and then when Roman did something incredible.

  He showed them how he could use his ability to manipulate organic things, from rocks to trees, and how he could manage substances such as water and fire.

  Roman also showed them how to give an item life by animating a loaf of bread.

  He never told him that the two dolls standing near his demonstration, or the deactivated mouthy one quietly tucked in his pocket, were also powered by his ability.

  As far as the rebels knew, Coma and Celia were alive, Roman lucky enough to be traveling with three beautiful women.

  Nadine wasn’t at his demonstration.

  She was meeting with some of the other rebel leaders, discussing information she had gleaned during her time as an agent.

  Roman wished he could have been at that meeting, imagining the shocked looks on their faces as she told them some of the things she had been asked to do by her own government.

  But his current role was equally as important, Roman hoping to give the rebels a fighting chance.

  A chance he also knew was incredibly thin.

  As the day progressed, he had some of them practice raising pillars from the ground, a strategy he’d found useful.

  For the ones who seemed to understand the power a little better, he had them doing more complicated things, like trying to form spheres of fire, while he gave them strategies for taking control of their environment.

  It felt good to be able to share his knowledge, as Roman had always taken the role of a student when it came to studying his power, never the role of a teacher.

  And this inspired him to work even harder at educating them in the small amount of time that he had.

  Since there were five hundred rebels with the devices, he had Marcus pick his twenty best men, those that would lead the smaller squads.

  Roman gave them pointers and ran them through more drills, with the goal of those twenty passing this knowledge along.

  They were doing their drills in a glade of sorts, which Roman had made wider by pressing some of the trees back. It was about half a kilometer away from the rest of the camp, the abilities being practiced not quite secret considering the amount of noise they created.

  As his group of twenty trained their individual squads, Roman moved in and out of the ranks giving pointers, Coma doing the same.

  At first, the soldiers wondered why the combat doll was giving instructions, but then they saw that she could use Roman’s powers once she morphed her arms into blades and took control of an overturned rock.

  So they took her advice to heart as well.

  And so it continued until the sun started to set, casting blush-colored hues through the leaves still left on the trees, Marcus informing the rebels that they had five or six hours to rest before the journey to the border began.

  I can’t thank you enough, Marcus thought to Roman, the bearded man beaming a smile of true appreciation to him. What you have done will help us in so many ways.

  “It was my pleasure.”

  You are certain that many will die later tonight, are you? Marcus thought to him after a long pause in which he took a quick look inside Roman’s mind.

  Roman nodded as the black-clad rebels continued to jog back toward the main encampment.

  Coma was to his left, a half-smile on her face.

  Celia was there as well, telling Coma how great of a job she’d done instructing the troops.

  I suppose it is good to be skeptical.

  “I just hope you’re ready for mass casualties,” Roman told him in all seriousness. “You mentioned you had a plan to eventually move up in the government; I take this to mean you won’t be fighting along the front lines.”

  No, but not because I don’t want to, because I’m not allowed to. I’ve already been told by those above me that I am supposed to stay back, that there are plans to make me the face of this once it is over.

  “So you’re going to become a politician?”

  As much as it pains me to say that, yes, Marcus thought to him as they began walking back to the encampment, Roman returning the trees to their normal positions. Does that bother you?

  “It’s just…” Roman didn’t quite know how to phrase it. “Predictable? No, that’s not it. Sad? I guess that word oversimplifies it. I don’t know. To know that this whole charade is just a way for more rebel leadership to move into the government, that the government is behind this, and that the same government wants to start a war with my country for the sole purpose of changing its leadership structure is…”

  Unsettling?

  “Maybe that’s the right word.”

  Once Roman was back, he went to his tent to find Nadine waiting there, the former Eastern spy letting him know she had arranged for food to be delivered.

  “How was the training?”

  “Better than I thought it would be. But…” Roman shook his head. “So many of those men and women are going to be slaughtered.”

  “Yes, yes they are.”

  “And we have to get ahead of that mess,” he said. “My government isn’t going to let a bunch of rebels come across the border. If there aren’t already exemplars there, they’ll be teleporting to the fight in a matter of minutes once it’s started. Your country doesn’t have a device that gives someone superspeed, do they?”

  She chuckled. “Like a pair of shoes?”

  “With wings on them, yes.”

  “That sounds dangerous.”

  “So is giving five hundred rebels a device that allows them to animate inanimate objects. But that’s just me. Maybe I’m crazy.”

  “You definitely are crazy,” Nadine said as a woman entered their tent, a metal tray in her hands. Sitting on the tray was yet another loaf of bread and two bowls of stew.

  “I’m sorry,” the attendant said, looking at Coma and Celia. “I will bring your stew as well.”

  “We’re not hungry,” Celia told the woman. “But if you could bring them some tea, that would be great. The freshest tea you have.”

  “Right away,” the woman said, leaving. Roman and Nadine took their places on the hardened soil, their bowls of stew on the crate between them, Roman already tearing into the bread.

  “We get out ahead of it, and we use the cover of night to make our way across,” Nadine reminded him. “We don’t stop to fight; we only move forward.”

  “Move forward,” Roman said, nodding in agreement.

  “Yes, move forward.”

  Chapter Thirty: Buried

  Since they only had a little time to rest, Roman and Nadine deci
ded to take full advantage of it.

  “I don’t know if this is exactly what we should be doing,” Nadine said, Roman kissing her neck, both of them now nude. Celia was deactivated, Coma standing outside the tent, on guard as always.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Roman started to say, moving off her.

  Nadine reached down and grabbed his cock. “Maybe I’m wrong.”

  She guided him in, exposing her neck and gasping as he filled her.

  Roman got into a rhythm relatively quickly, beads of sweat appearing on his brow as he pounded harder and harder, Nadine digging her nails into his back, whispering his name, both of them finding an intense rhythm that threatened the integrity of the tiny bed.

  They fucked like it was the last time either of them would ever have a chance to be intimate with someone.

  It was possible that this was truly the case, that they wouldn’t make it across the border, that the Centralian forces would be too strong.

  Roman had to think this way.

  It was better to be humble and prepared than assume he would just tear through anything that stood in his way.

  And he translated these thoughts to his next thrust as Nadine’s fingers grazed against the wound on his back, Roman ignoring the sudden sting.

  It would heal.

  He forcefully turned her over, Nadine laughing as she whispered, “Make me yours.”

  Roman did just that, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling her head back as he slipped inside, Nadine letting out a moan. He was sweating even more now. A few drips made it to his chin, falling onto the small of her back as he continued to give it his all, the bed frame starting to give, Roman’s grunts growing louder.

  Eventually, Roman flipped onto his back and Nadine got on top, facing away from him this time, the former spy increasing her speed, using her hands on his knees for support.

  Every time it looked like he was about to slip out of her, the head of his cock kept him in, Roman letting her take complete control, not even guiding her ass with his hands.

  Nadine whispered that she was close.