They spoke for hours and Adam unburdened himself to his wives, who listened carefully and sincerely as he unfolded his future plans, vented at his betrayals, and waxed philosophic about his impending death. They asked pertinent questions, and when they were done, there was quiet
Niona said, “As usual, you are an idiot. You should have spoken to us long ago. But, thank the Lord our God, we can fix this with Alana’s help, of course, which will be indispensable. Now, you fool, promise you will never, ever keep things from us again. Speak to us when you are burdened and the weight is heavy. We are your wives and love you. And we can help with anything if you include us. Now promise!”
Adam felt shame, maybe for the first time in his life. His wives had almost always given wise counsel and had kept him safe when he was unable to protect himself. They would die for him, and each other; keeping them away from danger was not possible so, they reasoned, they should be involved in some way in all that Adam considered. Even if it was only tending to him and his emotional needs, he was not alone and should not ignore the support his wives wished to freely give.
“I promise.”
“To?”
“Both of you, of course. And to Hecate who is no doubt present, listening, yet uninvited.”
Hecate appeared. “Good, glad that’s over. Now, what’s the plan?”
***
Niona said, “First, I will go find and collect Paulo from wherever he is hiding and drag him here. Once accomplished, we will set a date to end this leg of our journey. Finding him won’t be easy, but dragging him here will. We should begin immediately; I’ll assemble a team and get in the field.”
Hecate said, “Can’t we wait? Can we not delay this a while? I understand we need to find Paulo, but we will find him. I do not wish to hasten my Master’s fate. We can use the time to plan our course for after Paulo is dead. Let’s not be in a hurry.”
“Worry not my young one. I will manage that too.”
“He will live?”
“Perhaps. I can only try; that’s all I can say for now.”
Niona, now schooled in the ways of the three species, continued.
“But we must still move with haste, as support may begin to fall away from Adam if Paulo is not found within the year and brought to his end. Otherwise those straddling the fence to watch events might decide that it is Adam who avoids facing Paulo. Paulo must die within the year, and in front of the whole world. He will not come to us voluntarily; he will need to be dug out of his hiding place like a flea on a dog.”
Niona said, “Hecate, you shall accompany me. I shall need your help.”
Chapter 3
Hecate was excited about an adventure with Niona, but less enthusiastic about a quick discovery of Paulo’s whereabouts. She dreaded the prospect of what she would be forced to do next, and Niona’s lukewarm assurance to the contrary did nothing for her peace of mind.
Hecate said to Niona, “Where shall we go first? Somewhere exotic?”
“No, first we’ll visit Alana in her lab, then begin our hunt when she has something concrete for us to look into. Our expedition will be organized, use all our resources, and we will find him as quickly as we can.”
Hecate said, “We should discuss the time line with all concerned; even Adam will want time to plan the after party. Let’s not rush this unless it becomes urgent.”
“No worries; I say we find him and watch him, pick our spot, kidnap him when we decide, and prepare for the inevitable. We have time, Hecate; we just don’t have an infinite amount of time. If She decides we’re dragging our feet, She may decide to act on her own. We can’t have that.”
“I know. I just wish we had a better idea of what She wants; it seems like She is changing the rules as we go. I’m not sure what time we have, and what we should be doing every day.”
The two met Alana in her lab filled with computer screens and advanced electronics. “I’ll use the DL Main to track the possibilities and have some answers soon. Just be aware that as Paulo likely digs in, it will become increasingly difficult to locate him. No doubt he will be way off the grid, so tracking his moves will be time consuming and tedious. Get ready for the long game; this will not be fun. I will get all my crew, not just me, involved. Beata, Lia and Verna are ready to step up. Please encourage them with your attentions.”
Niona, not one to push, asked if she could help.
“Of course. You’re a whiz. But be prepared for the methodology we will use.”
Hecate asked, “Like what?”
“Researching corporations, trusts, other legal entities, some buried within others and deeply hidden in secrecy jurisdictions that do not open their records to the public. Same for bank and trust arrangements. I will be looking for recent activity, within the last few of years, and evidence of even more recent activity in the last few months.”
“But how?”
“Go back to the basics, follow the money, make good assumptions and narrow the search. That’s how.”
Alana said, “You will be travelling … how?”
Hecate said, “Air Immortal. Fast and no paper trail.”
“You taking on Niona as a passenger?”
“Of course.”
“I though her Highness prohibited that?”
“For mortals from Earth, yes. But Niona? We don’t even know what she is. So, by definition, I can help her travel with me and I’m not breaking the rules. None that I know of anyway. Ignorance is bliss.”
“You sound like a lawyer.”
“I can dress like one too. Oooh, I wonder if daddy would like that?”
***
Two months later.
“Here’s my team’s research memorandum. The best leads are on top, then these, and these and these on the last page. But this one here is tops on my list. Not everyone involved agrees. I have dictated a memo explaining why I think he’s in, or will be in, this location. Study my memo, then contact me with questions, if any.”
Niona scanned the memo, then told Hecate, “Alana has found a unique place in the deep wastelands of the Amazon. Let me read her memo out loud.
Three years ago, an investment trust affiliated with a group of Fortizi-related companies located in non-US treaty countries held interests in a Delaware LLC. Most of the offshore companies were tax and financial havens for all sorts of criminal activity and a way to hide illegal cash for all sorts of dubious enterprises. In the end, most were conduits which flowed cash through one small institution with only a few customers; a Swiss financial institution, though not registered as a bank, thus not regulated as such, and therefore not subject to the US Swiss Treaty on disclosure of American held assets.
In any event, this Delaware entity and the Swiss company ended up as Trustees of another Panamanian Trust which held a one-hundred-year lease in Brazil on twenty-five thousand acres of, essentially, swampland populated with one hundred-fifty-foot non-coniferous trees, snakes, insects and water. But records show that the trust also sank twenty-eight five-foot diameter cement columns deep into the swampy ground to bedrock, then found some odd way to anchor and level them. Over them were placed five-inch thick, coated steel pipes. Attached to each pipe and column was an industrial hydraulic pump to raise and lower a platform secured to and built atop the pipes and columns. The platform could be raised and lowered above and below the treetop canopy, seen or unseen by passing planes and helicopters.
On the platform was built and secured a series of modular buildings; housing and labs and who knows what else. This information comes from the contracts and records of the people who did the construction work; their workplans on file with authorities in Brazil, though the engineering was done in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
When completed, nobody used the facility, which was represented to Brazilian authorities to be for research; however, no one visited for several years except for an annual engineering firm inspection by the company that built the massive structure.
Power is derived from sophisticated solar panels
on the platform and structures and hidden amongst the tree canopy, hundreds, maybe thousands, with batteries and capacitors for storying vast quantities of energy, backed up by compressed natural gas and generators; redundant systems.
The ownership leads back, indirectly, to Paulo and Bio-Gen.
He’s there, I know he is. Or he’s on his way.
Safe travels.
Alana
Niona looked at Hecate and said, “Never been to Brazil. Let’s confirm that Paulo’s where we think he is and, if he isn’t in residence, we can spend a few days in Rio on Ipanema Beach mingling and tingling with Brazilians. Any questions?”
Hecate said, “None. Now hold my hand and we’ll be there in a few seconds. Don’t worry, we’ll be completely invisible. We can go hunting for company once we arrive.”
“You’re very naughty.”
“I know, Saint Niona. I’m so ashamed of myself.”
***
Niona and Hecate landed on the platform in the Brazilian jungle, four hundred miles in any direction from what could even be called civilization in its barest terms. As a hideout, it was better than most; it was extremely isolated and costly to maintain. Though lacking in medical and other services that Paulo probably did not consider necessary, it was well constructed and probably laden with the latest armaments, radar and other gadgets. The place had recently been loaded up with food and new tech, along with other essentials and toys he would need. Apparently female companionship would also be regularly provided when requested, there being rooms and accessories hinting at nocturnal fun; however, the trip by the ladies for entertainment was, unfortunately, only one-way.
Paulo Fortizi was not then in residence when Niona and Hecate arrived, but according to his men, who the women overheard, the bigshot Paulo himself was on his way within months, if not weeks. The men were an advance crew of technicians and suppliers getting the place ready for a long-term stay. The condition of the facility was now pristine; one or two men would remain behind as security to ready the premises for full occupancy. The Argentine crew was more than happy to be going home as they did not like either the security men or their boss, who they had only met briefly in Buenos Aires.
The crew was leaving the next morning, leaving behind security to do final walkthroughs and prep, then await Paulo who would arrive in his private helicopter, at the stick himself, then take control of the facility from its Ops Center. Paulo had not yet finalized the decision whether to eliminate his security detail as a precaution; he was still trying to decide what use they were.
A small helipad had been erected, not far from his main residence module for the transport and comfort of his female companionship, supplies and tech. However, the trip home would acquaint his ladies with toxic gas, their bodies dumped into the waters below. Creatures ranging from alligators to scavenger birds, fish, and snakes, not to mention insects and microbial life, would finish up their meal within twenty-four hours.
Paulo thought he was assured of a life of safety and ease for an indefinite stay, and the need never to confront Adam St. James. He liked his hideaway, thought himself secreted safely and would follow events on his massive big screen TV’s connected to his huge array of satellite dishes. He had lots of money safely squirreled away, and no need to ever leave his compound.
He was wrong in so many, many ways.
***
The girls were, however, delighted because time was on their side and it meant Rio, Ipanema Beach, and cocktails with little umbrellas on the tops of refreshing beverages sitting poolside. They would gather local intelligence on the young women plying their tanned asses to the men and women of the district.
Hecate had no use for such corporeal indulgences or drinks, but Niona thought she did.
They met her quite by accident. Both were instantly in love, or was it lust?
Corazon “Cori” Marquez was a maid cleaning their room when they arrived. When she turned to greet them, they later said they saw the Morena version of the Roman goddess Venus.
Cori was about 5’4”, lithe and with the looks and body of what surely had to be the most beautiful of the angels in Heaven. Her smile illuminated the room, and her look of innocence was almost erotic. They each stared at the other for a few moments saying nothing.
Cori spoke first. “Neither of you are …”
“You’re correct, we aren’t. Neither are you, for that matter.”
“Are you here to help me? Have you come to save me?”
“We were not sent here to save you, but if you wouldn’t mind explaining, save you from what?”
“Not your concern. I’ll be on my way.”
“As you wish,” said Niona, indifferently.
Hecate intervened, not wanting the conversation to end on a low note. “Maybe we can help. Would you be comfortable telling us what kind of trouble you’re in?”
Cori said, “I traveled here to Sao Paulo with my parents to escape persecution in my home village and country; my parents no longer thought it safe for me back home.”
“Home is where?”
“Paraguay. But it doesn’t matter; we’ve lived in many places, always leaving just ahead of mobs or the police. We even took refuge with the Church, but they turned us away after a while too.”
“Why?”
“I’m different. Mom and Dad have protected me all my life; keeping me at home and never letting me out of their sight. But I break their rules, and I was the cause of all the sorrow in their lives; I wasn’t an obedient daughter, though I should have been.”
“Are your parents like you?”
“No. My parents couldn’t have children of their own. I was taken in by them as a baby. They are the only parents I know. My birth parents are unknown.”
“You said you’re different. How?”
“I’d rather not talk about that now. Except to say I can do things, things I can’t always control, especially when I’m frightened or scared. It’s self protection against men who would … try to use me. Mother said I was justified in using my gifts, but she didn’t know how to help me control them. Daddy just kept his gun handy.”
“Where are your folks now?”
“Dead. Six months ago. That’s when I was taken in by my daddy’s friend, Alejandro Castro. Mi patron. He takes care of me, gives me a place to stay, makes sure I’m protected and fed.”
Niona looked at Hecate. Hecate had no idea what any of this meant, but Niona did. She sensed Cori, just as Cori sensed Niona and Hecate. Humans, Gens and Nobilus didn’t sense exotic beings; exotic beings sensed other exotic beings. Cori was just such a being, though what exactly what she was eluded Niona.
Niona said, “We can help you, but you need to trust us, then we need to get out of here fast. If you think you’re in trouble, well I agree. And while we weren’t sent to help, we will. We both will. But right now, you’re vulnerable, and I sense that your patron is about to do something you won’t like. You’re in danger, though with our help, we can teach you to defend yourself. But you need our help.”
“If you’re right, I have trusted the wrong man. I thought he was my friend; now I know he’s not. But, why should I trust you? Maybe you’re worse.”
“You sense me. On some level, you know I’m like you, and you can trust me. You certainly know by now what is likely in store for you, if not today, then soon. You don’t know how you know, but you feel the pressure mounting to an event, a terrible event that will harm you, physically and mentally. I can’t promise anything other than we will protect you, if that’s what you want. If you want to avoid bloodshed and anguish, come with us.”
Cori looked at Hecate, then back to Niona.
“They’re coming. If you can get me out of here alive, we need to go. I feel the presence of darkness and cold. It’s coming for me.”
“Hold my friend’s hand and we’ll soon be gone.”
“You’re scaring me. How will holding hands solve the problem of the scary men who will soon be breaking down the door of your
room.”
“Stop talking. You’re not the only one in this room who’s different and a little scary. My friend Hecate is a warrior and so am I.”
Niona’s Blade suddenly appeared. “You see, this little steak knife can kill on its own, just by my command. Hecate can kill everyone in the hotel in minutes. Trust us.”
“Whatever you say.” Cori started toward Hecate as did Niona. Just as they were about to come together, the door burst open and in poured three men, three others blocking the hallway and room entrance. Dressed in black leather jackets, they spoke in a language that wasn’t Portuguese.
It was Russian, and they were not wearing smiles; they wore expressions of disdain and brutality. They were on assignment, not from Cori’s patron Alejandro, but from his boss way up the line. She had plans for Cori, who would be flown out of Brazil that day and taken to Europe. All the best flesh markets were there.
Cori was about to be sold.
“Cori, the boss says you are to come with us straight away. Now, by force, if necessary. Please come; we do not wish you any harm.”
“And my friends?”
“They shall remain behind.”
“Dead, I suppose?”
“We have our orders. No witnesses.”
Suddenly, six heads imploded all at once, and the three women were gone; vanished from sight as if by magic. Guests in the hallway and those who later saw it on CCTV told the same story.
Chapter 4
Adam turned his attention to the issue of the genetic makeup of the hoped for “novo beings”; he sensed his time was drawing near for his final combat with Paulo. Some of his geneticists and Lab techs knew a few puzzle parts of the entire research project, but only his wives and family knew the big picture. In reality, only Adam and Alana knew what this project entailed; Beata and her sisters were now likewise informed and working on specific parts of the project. Their task was to game out genetic combinations necessary over the next thousand years to achieve what Liara originally intended. It was an exercise designed to keep people focused on the tasks to be undertaken after Paulo was dead and to identify the sacrifices and challenges the three species would have to accept afterwards. If Adam lost, Liara would destroy the planet; if Adam won, the important work would then just begin.
Resolution Page 76