“It’s a lie sir. The damage will be irreparable.”
“Do as you’re told, or you’re fired.”
Brough said, “Sir, I agree with your approach 100%, but there may also be another way to get this terrorist out in the open.”
“I’m listening.”
“Word has it that this maniac St. James wants to duel two of my operatives.”
“So?”
“Let’s call him out. Bring him somewhere where we can isolate him, bait the mouse trap with one of these two operatives, then throw a net over him. It’s a mixed metaphor, of course, but you get my meaning.”
“A mixed what?”
“Metaphor, sir. Never mind. We’ll close in on him, and then we send him to somewhere offshore. No muss, no fuss.”
“I like it. Will these two yahoos go along with it?”
“I’m counting on it, sir. Counting on it.”
***
The three men met in a suite in a swanky Georgetown hotel, late at night. They all used false names as if they were spies hiding from the old KGB. Everyone in town knew who Brough was, so the Paparazzi’s were snapping pics like crazy. No matter that the other two were unknowns and the pictures would disappear almost as fast as they were snapped.
The Fed said, “OK, gents, the wheels are in motion and I have approval to do the plan I outlined to POTUS. Now there are two matters we need to clear up before we get started.”
“Which are?”
“Numero uno is money. Promising me $500,000,000 and delivering that amount are two vastly different enterprises, so let’s talk progress payments.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal.”
“That wasn’t the deal you proposed. I never said yes to anything since I had no idea whether I could deliver. Now talk is cheap, and I want half in escrow within forty-eight hours and the balance when we deliver St. James to you alive. Or dead, up to you.”
“Just like that.”
“Yep, just like that.”
“You have zero fucking idea who this guy is and the powers he possesses.”
The Fed said, “What is he, an action hero? I’ve got tech and highly trained killers. We’ll deliver him on time, but I need to know you’re for real.”
“Get me the escrow details, and I’ll arrange for the transfer. How do we confirm release?”
“Encrypted live pic, facial recognition. Proof of life.”
“OK.”
“The balance?”
“On neutral territory; you get the perp, I get the rest of the cash by wire transfer. I’ll provide details on the day of the exchange. If you show up with no money, you’ll both be dead. So please don’t fuck with me and waste my time.”
“Agreed. What’s the other item on your list?”
“I need to talk to him. Make sure he’s still alive.”
“Can’t say he’ll talk to you, but we can ring him up if you want a chat.”
Paulo dialed the number he had for Adam, untraceable and routed a hundred places through secure servers until it arrived at a local restaurant in Amman, Jordan, where it was rerouted using a local number.
The voice answering was feminine and friendly.
“Why Paulo, you old snake, how you doin’? Still stealin’ lunch money from school kids.”
“Ah this must be the delightful Mrs. Dr. St. James. Still a wicked tongue I see. I look forward to the day when I have you on my rack and begin slicing you up. I’ll do your kids first, of course, just so you don’t misinterpret just how much I hate you and your tribe.”
“Why Paulo, you silver tongue devil, you make me positively wet with all your sweet talk. By the by, just out of courtesy, Bella and the girls are fine. Remarried human style. Bella’s very happy to finally be getting some quality sex. But, I stray from whatever brings you to us today. How can I help you?”
“I need to talk to your husband if you don’t mind.”
“Oh, but I do. He’s unavailable and on assignment. Not sure which. He may be hunting you, in which case I’d get a move on if I were you. Or he’s trying to find that piece of shit brother of yours. Is he still around or hiding in a cave in Pakistan?”
“Right here Misti. Can’t wait to play with your privates before my brother does the slicing and dicing.”
“Yes, sounds fun. Unfortunately, I must report the demise of your former mate Helena. She switched sides again and, unfortunately, got caught. Lost her head over the whole matter. But on the bright side of things, her kids are doing really well. New Dad. All cool.”
Misti paused.
“I assume the third guy in the room is Brough. I’m here with Alana McCarthy and boy oh boy is she unhappy with you. If I just mention your name, she’ll shut down your NSA systems just for fun. Or punishment, or something like that.”
“Yeah, right. That’s what’s going to happen. I’m certain it’s all her doing.”
“Up for an experiment? We’re going to shut down your server farm in Utah for a day. That way you’ll learn to trust us and not piss off my friend any more. That way you’ll have proof we’re not just tickling each other’s clits in our spare time. There, all done. Call your Director to confirm, or I can patch him through.”
Brough’s phone rang.
The man on the other end, the Director said, “Cap, we got a problem. The whole damn thing has crashed. Don’t know how. And the screens all have a screenshot of you naked, assfucking the President. What do we do?”
“Hold a sec.”
Brough switched phones.
“You made your point. Can I please have my server farm back?”
“What are the magic words?”
“Sorry, Alana. Please turn the servers back on.”
The servers were on moments later.
Paulo said, “I’m still going to kill you both, but it doesn’t mean we can’t still be civil.”
“There, I like you more than I did before, but that wasn’t much above zero before, so at least we’re headed in the right direction.”
“May I please talk to him now?”
“Nope he’s busy, but he says to say he will meet Enzo somewhere that Brough can arrange. But you, Paulo, you must meet at the place and time we agreed upon. You know where, and the date will be within the next year.”
“Longer than I hoped, but acceptable.”
“You failed to mention your special training with your new friends, which was very naughty. But the two you were closest to are now dead, at least as dead as they can be under the circumstances, and the others are in confinement.”
“When can I talk to him?”
“Call back in two months and we can have tea and cookies while you and Adam threaten each other. Should be fun!”
“OK. We’ll talk then.”
***
Paulo said, “He’s hurt or sick. We need to find him now before he gains his strength.”
“How?”
“We need to kidnap one of his women. He’ll come after her. Then we finish this.”
“How do we do that?”
“I have an idea. Let’s see what we can find as bait.”
Chapter 42
Alana was seated in front of her desk, her various computers arrayed around her in a semi-circle. She was in a “mood”, something extremely rare for her. Adam was now in one of her guest rooms, so that she could watch over him or in case he woke up suddenly. The waking, she was told, would be sudden and traumatic and would require a few days of adjustment. He may need to be restrained and soothed.
Hecate suddenly appeared before Alana, sitting across the desk, peering at her between computers. Hecate was in human form, though not in physical form.
“I have been watching you, Alana, and I thought I might appear and have a talk with you. About you, Adam and the future.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, no, far from it. In fact, quite the opposite. You are stressed abnormally for a human, as is the little one who sleeps on your couch every night, and you wo
rry about the health of the man you love every minute of every day. You may not be aware that I am always here too carefully monitoring the progress of his repairs and alterations. He’s fine and should revive very soon. Not to worry.
“But when he wakes he will need you more, more than ever, and that is why I want to talk to you now. There are things you must know.”
“Like what?” Alana was tense. She assumed the news would be bad.
“He is in love with you. Has been for a very long time.”
“I know he loves me. I love him too. Very much; sometimes to distraction.”
“I know. But what I mean is he loves you. The others in his life he loves in a way that fits how they love him. But none are like you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Misti is his first, and primal mate. Their souls are fused. But Misti and Adam need each other in a physical way maybe once a month. It’s love + therapy. It keeps them from doing really bad stuff to other people.
“Noki is … well Noki needs him to complete who she is, and she admires and loves Adam as best she can. Emotional support, understanding his burdens, not so much. Her world is colder, more ethereal.
“The little one has some sort of thing where she cannot be far away from him physically. She, and to some extent Misti, are his guardians. The little one has no clue what the attraction is; she feels it for no other male. But she is wise counsel for him, and steps in only when he’s about to do something really stupid. She a moderating influence on his more extreme nature.
“Hannah is in love with an Adam that does not, nor ever did exist. She wants kids, a home in the suburbs, a garden, a career with doting grandparents while being married to a guy who leaves every morning at seven and returns every evening by six.
“The other women are important, and he will have more wives and mates but are only important for one practical reason or another. Beata, Verna Lia, Lady Cia, Lady Eene and Queen Caroline are in that group. They will eventually rule and will need Adam as a mate.
“But you are the woman who he wishes to come home to every night; who fills his mind with happiness. You are in his thoughts not daily, but at every waking moment of every waking day. He looks forward to opening your front door and getting what he most desires from you; a big hug and a long kiss. Then just sitting and watching while you do anything. That’s how much he loves you.
“Don’t get me wrong, he loves congress too, but it is you, your physical presence that he craves. Liara told me this and that she found this room, this place in his mind where he goes to think and relax, unburdened by the cares of the day or the world. When you enter that room, you transform into something, a substance that fills that entire space and he breathes you in like air. And he feels only peace and tranquility, because whatever it is, you are in his mind and it calms him, reassures him that while you are with him, nothing can ever go wrong. I don’t know how to describe it, but you are everything to him, not just one in a collection of physical playmates.
“If he had to choose one, it would be you, and only you. Do not discuss this with him or the others, only know that he loves you, so much, his life would be lost if you ever were parted from him.”
“I never dreamed …”
“Then dream. To him, you are the one. The only one. Just be yourself, because that is why he loves you. When he wakes, we will all be tested. His new reality will be on overload and he will be hard to handle for a few days. Then he will be back to being Adam, just Adam.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Liara discovered much in Adam’s mind when she dwelled within him. She shared some of her discoveries with me. And, while I can’t enter his mind, I can enter yours and feel what you feel. And I do. Every night. You should try it sometime; it’s great fun.”
“Oh.”
“And invite the little one to your bed. You’ll both sleep better. She wants to help you. Around the house and with whatever is difficult for you while you are pregnant. She’s really is a sweet kid. You should commune with all the wives who are pregnant; you’ll find peace in community.”
***
Paulo said to Enzo, “We’re going to use the same strategy as Saldana Ri used in kidnapping Hannah Parker and Vera Capri. Adam will come after us to get back whoever we can snatch, and I think I know who that will be.”
“Who? A wife? Never gonna happen.”
“No, but an intended wife; in fact, two. We’re going to try to lure some ladies in residence back to Germany to a large village meeting for a believable and important reason we have yet to invent. Guest of honor maybe. We’ll capture them on route and then offer you, Enzo, as bait in exchange. You will fight him somewhere in America, controlled by Brough, then we will kill him before anything starts.”
“Thanks, brother. But you might be more enticing.”
“Yes, but the Prophecy says you must go first, therefore you must go first. Besides, I will fight him in Africa, on the Serengeti, according to the Prophecy. We need to catch him in America first. Adam will be dead on arrival assuming Brough doesn’t want a go at him first. We just need a reason. We need to pour through all that crap that Saldana sent us on who’s, who in Germany, then communicate plausibly using regular means of communication; a traitor in a village somewhere. Then we kill him too. No loose ends.”
“I’m all for it, of course, but what makes you think St. James himself will come, or that he gives a fuck about these two women. He and everyone else is going to know this is a trap. Let’s not try to be too cute here. Brough wants the tech; we want St. James dead. Not the same objectives. By the way, why don’t we know where he and his band of merry men and women are? Surely Saldana knew.”
“Saldana never knew exactly nor could she even guess. There were many who came, didn’t like the place and left; they returned home. Knowledge of their secret location is dangerous to the core true believers, so they all agreed to never ask until after we Fortizi’s, were both dead, and the world was no longer a threat to them. No one knows exactly where their home base is except St. James and a few others. And we’ll never get close to them.”
“If not the wives to entice out, then who?”
“According to Saldana, there is a new crop of wives, and mates not yet officially mated to Adam. They don’t know the location of HQ either, but I’m sure we can get one or two of them to come out of hiding and snatch them somewhere. I’m thinking Switzerland or Germany. Then we bait the trap, and goodbye Dr. St. James.”
“You sound awfully sure of yourself.”
“I am. He really, really hates us both, but Saldana said he really wants your head very badly. Not sure why. He’ll come. Mouse to cheese.”
The men returned to Paulo’s suite and began pouring through the notes and communications looking to find a potential mate that Adam loved or admired. Not that Adam didn’t have feelings for young Beata, but Paulo and Enzo focused on Lady Cia, Lady Eene and Queen Caroline.
They sent false messages to all three, but only the two ladies accepted the invitation to attend a special festival in a village not far from where Lady Cia grew up. It was remote, and large but required travel right away.
Adam was still not out of his fugue state, but had he been, and past his days of madness, he would never have allowed the two ladies to leave. It was an obvious trick, a deception and one meant to draw him out.
Adam awoke the next day and went into the rage that Hecate had warned about. As quickly as it began it ended three days later. He was different and not much training would be required of him; only some rigorous physical exercise. But his powers, his new brain and mind were powerful beyond even what Hecate thought possible for a human. Human brains weren’t made for the rigors of Immortality. His was.
Adam’s body/brain/mind capabilities were incredible when synced and controlled; his ability to control his environment and objects even greater.
At present, neither the enhanced Enzo nor the enhanced Paulo could defeat Adam. He would make shor
t work of them when they met, but still needed time to game out the future of the planet after the Fortizi’s were dead. He would stall as long as he could in preparation for the tasks to follow.
There was the Eighty-One to consider, the remnants of the Collective, the Nobilus Maximus, and of course, the humans. The humans would be near impossible to manage; too many with too many agendas, cultural quirks and long historical animosities to assuage.
There were a million moving parts, so when the news arrived that Lady Cia, Lady Eene, Akira and Tar had disappeared, Adam knew immediately what was up. He now only awaited the call, and then a new plan would be put in motion.
He was also made aware that preparations had begun for an assault on the Great Library in Alexandria, Virginia. That would have to wait; regaining the four plus their entourage was the priority; Adam would leave none behind.
Chapter 43
Lady Cia and Lady Eene left for Germany via Amman and Switzerland with Akira and Tar the day before Adam woke up. Though Adam wasn’t awake to opine on the wisdom of the trip, no one saw the harm in the entourage going home for a short while for a special event in Germany. The invitation came in the usual way, using the usual channels and in the usual codes. It was all normal, the Ladies wanted to go, and none believed any harm to them was possible in the Black Forest.
When Adam was awake and after being confined to a cell for three days, he calmed down, and was released on the fourth day.
“Sorry about that. I don’t know what got into me, but I can say I have a new sense of clarity about just about everything. If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about Cia and her entourage, then about Alexandria. After that we organize duties and assignments for after I take Paulo’s head.”
Misti said, “You’re that sure of the outcome? Not doubting your confidence, but the Fortizi boys have like thirty years of brain training experience on you.”
“Not enough compared to what I have now; they are to me what a bug is to you. Cute, but small, and not exactly a deadly threat.”
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