Soul Meaning (Seventeen)

by AD Starrling

  ‘It will only lead to another war.’ Tomas Godard sat down heavily in an armchair, his face grey. He stared at Roman. ‘There’ll be no stopping the Crovirs this time. They will wipe out our very existence.’ Roman Dvorsky remained silent, his expression grim.

  Reid interrupted the sombre hush that followed. ‘Let me get something straight,’ he said with a frown. ‘Can they actually do any of this without Anna’s blood?’

  We all looked at Anna. ‘No, they can’t,’ she said quietly. She turned away from our stares and studied the rest of the information on the screen. Her eyes narrowed again.

  ‘What is it?’ I said.

  ‘There’s something on here that I don’t understand.’ Anna indicated the display. ‘They mention a vaccine that is to be administered a couple of weeks prior to the start of the transfusion process.’ She glanced at me with a puzzled expression. ‘I have no idea what it’s for.’

  Images suddenly flashed through my mind. I thought of the last file I had downloaded from Benisek’s hard drive. Dimly, I heard Victor say, ‘Is there no mention of it anywhere else?’

  ‘No,’ Anna replied. ‘Not that I can see, anyway.’

  I felt my blood grow cold as I remembered the title of the folder. ‘Reid, have you got the memory stick?’ I said in a voice that sounded strangely detached even to my own ears.

  Anna went still at my tone. ‘What’s wrong?’ she said, her green eyes widening anxiously.

  ‘There was another file on Benisek’s system. I didn’t have time to send it through.’ I took the USB pen from Reid and plugged it into one of the hard drives. A box opened up on one of the screens. I scrolled down the list of files and clicked on the one entitled “Red Death”.

  For once, the data within it was not encrypted.

  Silence fell across the room while we stared at the information streaming on the display. Even though most of it was in scientific terminology, the essence of the thing was horrifyingly clear.

  ‘Dear God,’ Anna finally whispered, her fingers rising tremulously to her lips. Her words echoed the palpable dread in the air.

  ‘What is it?’ said Reid, gazing in confusion at the fearful expressions around the room.

  Victor glanced at him. ‘Being the only human here, I take it you’ve never heard of the Red Death?’

  ‘No,’ Reid replied. ‘Enlighten me.’

  ‘Seven hundred years ago, at the time the Black Death was sweeping through Europe and killing millions of humans worldwide, another highly contagious and fatal disease called the Red Death wiped out more than half of the population of immortals on Earth,’ said Victor sombrely.

  Reid stared at him. His eyes slowly widened. ‘Wait. Are you talking about the plague?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Victor with a nod. ‘Although the bubonic plague killed many humans, it did not affect us immortals.’ He paused, his lips pinched in a bitter smile. ‘We had our own version to contend with.’

  ‘The Red Death was an extremely contagious form of a viral haemorrhagic fever,’ Anna explained. Her eyes darkened as she spoke. ‘Once infected, the end came within a matter of days. And that wasn’t the worst of it.’

  Reid’s eyebrows rose. ‘It wasn’t?’

  ‘No,’ Anna replied. ‘The worst part was that most of those who survived became infertile.’ She looked around the room with a troubled expression. ‘To this day, we are still nowhere near the number of immortals that existed prior to the plague.’

  ‘What exactly is Vellacrus planning?’ said Tomas Godard. He rose from his seat and stepped forward with a purposeful stride, a heavy frown clouding his face.

  Anna turned back to the monitor. ‘From the information here, it seems that Burnstein and his team isolated a strain of the virus sometime last year.’ She paused. ‘And they’ve been busy trying to modify it since,’ she said slowly.

  ‘Modify it?’ Costas grunted. ‘How?’

  Anna scrolled down the screen. ‘It looks like they genetically reengineered it,’ she said distractedly.

  The Bastian Council member scowled. ‘Why?’

  My eyes widened as I glanced from the complex information on the monitor to Anna’s pale face. ‘To make it more deadly,’ she stated dully, confirming my suspicion. She suddenly stiffened.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ I took a step towards her, tension humming in my veins.

  ‘This can’t be right,’ Anna whispered. The only sound in the room for the next few seconds was the clattering of her fingers on the keyboard. Her hands finally stilled. She sat back in the chair.

  ‘Anna?’ said Tomas Godard worriedly. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Anna’s voice, when it came, was low and horror-struck. ‘This virus has the ability to cross species.’

  ‘Cross species?’ Tomas repeated with a frown. ‘What do you mean?’

  Understanding exploded in my mind as her words sank in. An icy chill ran down my spine. ‘It can infect humans? Non immortals?’ I said stiffly, staring at her ashen face. I knew the answer even before she returned my gaze unflinchingly and nodded once. Shocked murmurs erupted around the room.

  Victor pointed at the screen. ‘Do they know this?’ he barked.

  ‘You mean the Crovirs?’ A mirthless chuckle escaped Anna’s lips as she stared at the monitor. ‘It looks like they intentionally designed it that way.’

  There was a moment of stunned silence. ‘Vellacrus is mad,’ Victor finally said between gritted teeth. ‘If this virus is set loose—’ He lapsed into abrupt silence.

  ‘Not only will it wipe out the immortals,’ Anna said bitterly, ‘it’ll take out more than half of the world’s human population with it.’

  Reid scowled. ‘What’s she hoping to achieve by this?’

  ‘No one knows the working of that woman’s mind,’ said Tomas Godard. The old man had turned pale again. ‘This only goes to show how crazed she has become over the centuries. Even the Crovir First Council appears to have no control over her!’

  I thought of the woman I had met earlier that evening and felt a chill at his words.

  ‘She must be stopped,’ said Roman emphatically. The Bastian leader’s tone was edged with steel.

  The ensuing silence was broken by a hesitant voice. ‘I’m sorry to point out the obvious here, but didn’t someone just mention a vaccine?’ said Anatole.

  Anna frowned and glanced from the immortal to the screen. ‘Yes. It seems they're still in the process of manufacturing it,’ she said slowly.

  My eyes narrowed at her words. ‘Do you think you could make another one?’ I said, voicing the unspoken question in the air.

  Anna let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. ‘I’m afraid it’s an area I know little about,’ she said. ‘I would need the help of experts in the field of Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, not to mention Immunology.’ She paused and stared at us with a defeated expression. ‘Even if I could get my hands on a sample of the virus, it could take weeks, if not months to produce another vaccine. Although—’ Her voice trailed into silence. Eyes widening, she turned to the keyboard and started to type quickly. The monitor flickered and data from a scientific website appeared on the screen. ‘There is this relatively new technique called reverse vaccinology,’ she continued with a quiver of excitement. ‘It uses the pathogen’s genetic information instead of the usual method of culture to identify immunogenic antigens that can be targeted for vaccine development.’ She looked up into our blank expressions. ‘It could halve the time taken to produce a vaccine,’ she explained animatedly.

  ‘So, we have to destroy this virus and steal or make a new vaccine,’ said Victor after a thoughtful silence. He looked enquiringly at his father.

  ‘Don’t forget. We need to stop them from getting their hands on Anna,’ said Tomas Godard. ‘Their plan of true immortality won’t work unless they have a sample of her blood.’

  Roman Dvorsky returned his son’s questioning stare with a brief nod. Victor smiled faintly and turned to the Bastian Council membe
rs. ‘We should talk to Reznak,’ he said steadily.

  I frowned at the unfamiliar name. There was a stir among the senior immortals; they glanced at each other uneasily. It was Costas who finally spoke.

  ‘That old fox?’ he said with a scowl. ‘What makes you think he’d be willing to help us after all these years?’

  Victor sighed. ‘The man is barely a hundred years older than you,’ he said. ‘Besides, he was a key figure in forging the truce that ended the first immortal war. I doubt he would want to see a second one.’ He glanced at his father. ‘And I’m sure he’s not the only Crovir who will want to stop Vellacrus,’ he added enigmatically.

  Costas grunted. ‘Still, I never thought I’d see the day when a member of the Bastian First Council would request assistance from a Crovir.’

  Roman’s eyes narrowed at these words. ‘There is far too much at stake here for our pride to get in the way,’ he said coldly. ‘We’re talking about the mass genocide of an entire race of immortals.’

  ‘Hey, let’s not forget the puny mortals, shall we?’ Reid said wryly.

  Roman glanced at him and nodded brusquely. ‘You’re right. I apologise.’ He looked out of the windows of the study. It was still dark outside. ‘I propose we all get some rest. If I’m correct in my assumptions, I believe we’ll hear from some of the Crovir Council members themselves by morning.’

  Roman Dvorsky’s guess turned out to be more than accurate. Too restless to sleep after the events of the previous twenty-four hours, I was standing at the window of my bedroom and watching dawn break across the land when a knock sounded at the door. It was Victor.

  ‘Reznak just called,’ he said without preamble. ‘He wants to meet.’ He hesitated. ‘I thought you should come along.’ I studied him silently, nodded and gathered my weapons.

  The door to Reid’s room opened when we strolled past it. He paused on the threshold and yawned. ‘What’s up?’ he said. His eyes narrowed when he took in our attire and the swords at my waist.

  ‘We’re meeting with the Crovirs,’ said Victor. ‘I want Lucas with us.’

  ‘If he’s going then so am I,’ said Reid.

  Victor glanced at me. I shrugged mutely. He sighed.

  The sun was washing the landscape in shades of gold when we stepped out onto the porch. The grass on the lawn still bore the fading whiteness of an overnight frost and the chill in the air hinted at the approaching winter.

  Costas and a group of ten Bastian Hunters stood waiting for us on the gravelled driveway. We climbed into a pair of vans and drove away from the estate.

  The meeting point was the ruins of an ancient medieval castle several miles south of Prague. Situated on a low knoll between two villages, it was enclosed by a mile of heavy woodland. The only way to reach the deserted site was up a narrow, rutted track lined with thick undergrowth and crowded by trees.

  Branches and leaves scraped noisily against the doors and the underside of our vehicle as the driver negotiated the muddy, steep trail. Up ahead, fresh tire marks were visible in the dirt. The path finally levelled off and the vans pulled to a stop in front of a waterlogged field.

  The brow of the hill was dotted with the rubble of what was once an extensive castle wall. Some of the moss-covered stones showed signs of recent quarry activity and the tall grass bore traces of faded lorry tracks. The forest had encroached upon the boundaries of the fortress and trees and bushes proliferated wildly across the ruins. From amongst them emerged a group of men dressed mostly in utilitarian black.

  We made our way across the field towards the waiting party, Victor leading the way. He paused several feet from the silent figures.

  ‘Dimitri,’ he said, nodding to the middle-aged man in a dove grey suit at the head of the group. ‘It’s been a long time.’

  I studied the stranger Victor had addressed. Had he been wearing black like the immortals around him, Dimitri Reznak would still have stood out amongst his entourage. Although he was an inch shorter than Dvorsky, he was heavier set in the shoulders. His full lips, straight wide nose and strong jaw suggested a Slavic ancestry. His eyes were deep and dark beneath a pair of bushy eyebrows.

  ‘Same to you,’ the Crovir replied in a husky voice. ‘I must say, the years have served you well. You don’t look a day older than the last time I saw you.’ He paused and glanced over Victor’s shoulder. ‘Costas, on the other hand, appears to have aged by at least a couple of centuries.’

  The Bastian Council member frowned heavily. ‘As rude as ever, I see,’ he grumbled.

  Reznak smiled. The change to his countenance was surprising. ‘You just bring out the best in me,’ he said lightly. His gaze shifted and he stared at me with a carefully neutral expression. I gazed back at him steadily. ‘I see you brought Soul with you.’ His tone remained light while he addressed Victor. ‘Should I be concerned?’

  It was Victor who broke the tense silence that followed. ‘Lucas has a deeply vested interest in this matter,’ he said coolly. ‘After all, the Crovir Hunters have been trying to kill him for the last two weeks.’

  ‘You’re right,’ Reznak admitted with a faint grin. ‘I have to say, my section hasn’t exactly had a lot to do with that.’ He looked to my side. ‘Who’s the human?’

  ‘I’m with him,’ Reid replied, cocking his thumb my way. ‘It’s the eyes, isn’t it? It’s gotta be the eyes,’ he muttered under his breath.

  Reznak’s grin widened. ‘By the way, that was quite some stunt you guys pulled last night,’ he said to Victor. ‘It took Vellacrus by surprise. To be honest, we haven’t seen that kind of action since the days of the war.’

  My eyes narrowed at his words. There was something I needed to know. ‘How’s Thorne?’ I said.

  Reznak shrugged. ‘He’ll live.’ He studied me curiously. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t finish him off.’

  ‘I had my reasons,’ I said quietly.

  Reznak gazed at me for silent seconds. ‘Let’s walk, shall we?’ he said finally.

  Chapter Twenty

  ‘Last night was the first we heard of Vellacrus’s grand plans concerning the immortality serum and the Red Death virus. Judging by the reactions of the Council members in the room, a number of them already knew the broader details of the scheme.’ Dimitri Reznak paused and frowned. ‘The rest of us were justifiably shocked and horrified, to say the least.’

  Costas scowled. ‘You’re on the list,’ he said grimly.

  Reznak glanced at him calmly. ‘You mean the one containing the names of the hallowed few Vellacrus has chosen to bestow the gift of true immortality upon?’ He sighed. ‘Trust me, it will give me no joy to be one of her army of eternal followers. Life as an immortal is long enough.’ He grimaced. ‘And can you imagine me swearing fealty to her, like in the old days?’ He removed a Cuban cigar from the inside pocket of his coat and lit up. ‘To be honest,’ he murmured after he inhaled deeply, ‘there are times when I really look forward to the final death.’

  The silence was broken by the squawking of a pair of crows as they lifted off the ground ahead of us. ‘She must be stopped,’ Victor stated flatly.

  ‘I couldn’t agree more,’ muttered Reznak.

  Victor frowned. ‘Who else will help?’

  The Crovir noble was quiet for a while. ‘I know of at least two other First Council members and several in the Second Council and the Assembly who will want to see Vellacrus’s plans fail,’ he said finally. ‘Their men are loyal to them, as are mine.’ He hesitated. ‘To be honest, some of us have been thinking that it was time to put an end to Vellacrus’s rule. Her actions will undoubtedly lead us to another immortal war. She never wanted the original truce in the first place, but since she wasn’t the leader of the Order of Crovir Hunters at the time, she couldn’t influence that decision.’ A humourless laugh escaped his lips. ‘It looks like she’s about to get her wish.’

  ‘Still, she has many faithful followers,’ said Victor guardedly.

  ‘Yes, she does,’ said Reznak with a nod. ‘H
alf of them do so out of greed and a hunger for power. The other half are just too afraid to face up to her.’ He paused. ‘But if another potential leader was to come to the fore and challenge her ...’ He lapsed into silence.

  A faint smile appeared on Victor’s face. ‘Are we in the presence of her proposed replacement?’ he drawled.

  The Crovir noble shrugged. ‘Who knows what the future holds,’ he said, a shrewd light gleaming in his eyes. He stopped suddenly and turned to face me. ‘However, the question still remains, Lucas Soul. If and when the time comes, will you have the courage to end it all?’ His gaze was curiously intense and his voice laced with steel as he spoke. ‘Will you really be able to kill your own kin in cold blood?’ The wind picked up, causing ripples to course across the grass. Dead leaves and twigs snapped and swirled around our feet in an unruly dance in the expectant silence that followed.

  The question hardly surprised me. After last night, I knew that the Bastians shared the same concern. Up until yesterday, I had had similar doubts. Then, for the fiftieth time in the last eight hours, I thought of the look in Agatha Vellacrus’s eyes. ‘Yes,’ I finally said in a cold and steady tone.

  Reznak’s stare persisted for several long seconds. Finally, he grunted and nodded at me with a strangely satisfied expression. ‘The vaccine for the new Red Death is being made at our lab in Germany,’ said the Crovir noble as we resumed our stroll. ‘Burnstein had the virus flown across from the States a month ago. From what Vellacrus revealed to us last night, they’re probably days away from the final product. The next step will be to carry out a short, accelerated trial on a group of volunteers to identify any potentially hazardous side effects. Once she gets the all clear from Burnstein’s scientists, Vellacrus will start the inoculation programme.’

  We reached the crest of the hill. Reznak stopped and studied the landscape stretched at our feet with a frown. ‘One more thing. Vellacrus intends to put all the resources of our Councils into hunting down Anna Godard. Wherever she is, she won’t be safe for long.’ He glanced at Victor. ‘Pinchter is not the only Bastian willing to betray you for the gift of true immortality. There will be others eager to work with Thorne and Vellacrus.’