Apotheosis (Song of Sophangence Book 3)

by E. I. McAllistair

  “Did you have someone with you on your first mission too then?”

  “Of course, it is protocol.”

  “Who took you on your first mission?”

  “Phavian. For a while we were kind of a two-man cell. Eventually I started getting other missions separate from him.”

  “Is that how you two… got together?”

  “No, it was more like because of our relationship it just made sense. He is the best the school has to offer after all.”

  “What was your first mission like?”

  “Lots of bullets, Phavian almost died. We almost failed it.”

  “Why did I not get anything like that?!”

  “Did you want to get shot?”

  “Well no, but why was I given something so…”

  “Elementary? Likely because you aren’t exactly a combatant. Even though your abilities are good for taking people by surprise because they don’t expect someone your size to be able to utilize martial arts to such a degree, it still doesn’t make you big, strong, or bulletproof. Missions are chosen based on your skillset. I wouldn’t plan on getting lots of dangerous missions.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair.”

  “In what world does that seem unfair? Would you send a surgeon out onto a battlefield? A technician on an excavation? Well, maybe if there is a lot of equipment that needs to be serviced, but you get the point.”

  “So people like you get all the glory.”

  “Glory? Do you know how many people actually ask about the details of my missions?”

  “I would presume everyone.”

  “Make it like two people. Phavian and Maggie are the only ones who ever care what it is I am actually doing. Everyone else just knows I’m going on a mission. Trust me, it doesn’t matter if you are in a gunfight or just having a conversation. For most people, a mission is a mission, don’t go trying to get yourself killed.”

  Peter had never thought about it in the manner Anaar was describing. He was surrounded by people, but only the ones the closest to him seemed interested in the details. Would it be the same for him? Was he begging for danger unnecessarily? From what he knew, Anaar had been on a wealth of missions. It only seemed sensible to trust his words.

  When they arrived at their destination, they were debriefed and properly equipped. Though he did not ask, Anaar made sure to explain to Peter how much better it was they would have a Transporter to the actual mission. According to him, sometimes the transit was longer than the mission itself if there was no Transporter. They were brought to a rather ominously secure looking complex where they were escorted in.

  They made sure to wear long sleeved shirts to hide their Vizers, and had developed a code for signaling one another, mainly for when the person in question was lying. Now that he was finally on the mission, Peter found himself extremely nervous and sweaty, something that caught Anaar’s notice. Before commencing with the interview, Anaar pulled him to the side to give him a pep talk.

  “You look like you are going to melt away.”

  Dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief, “You never told me there would be this overwhelming pressure!”

  “You are crumbling under this pressure and we are simply talking to someone? You should be thankful this isn’t a dangerous mission. That kind of thing could easily get you killed.”

  Peter’s anxiety did everything but abate in response to Anaar’s words. “That was very unhelpful, do not become a therapist.”

  “Hadn’t planned on it, let’s go. If push comes to shove, I can take over, just make sure you are paying close attention for the responses.”

  Peter nodded his head warily, dabbing his drenched forehead once again. Once they sat down with the woman in question, Peter immediately felt some sense of relief. In his mind he had imagined some tough mob boss, smoking a cigar, with a look in his eyes ready to kill. Seeing the woman before him, well made up and not unattractive, he knew his fears were unfounded. Before he could get into his questions, the woman stopped him and asked one of her own.

  “How much do you think Sophangence would pay for two of their students?”

  “Excuse me? I am not sure I understand.”

  “That is the school you attend am I correct? What high school students would have any interest in my business? Not only that, we have done some digging, and it appears these aliases, while airtight, were not quite good enough to stand up to my scrutiny.”

  “Ma’am I think you have us mistaken…”

  Anaar was hit with an overwhelming wave of unease which did not make him feel very good. If he interjected it would be clear Peter was a weak link and he could be pressured. If he let things continue as they were, he would end up saying something that would put them in a tougher situation than they already were.

  Hobb is there a way you can get schematics of this complex? I need to know how to get out.

  “Negative, it seems this complex you are in is much more fortified against such external attacks. There are a multitude of plans, and without any data, I cannot extrapolate which would be the accurate one.”

  Shit. I think it is best we play this cool for now. I am guessing we will be taken captive soon. Whatever happened, they were ready for us, which makes finding out if their organization was seedy easier, but now we are trapped. I’ll let them take us wherever they plan on holding us and see if you can make some sense of the plans from that. If they keep us here, we will work it out on the fly.

  “Understood.”

  “This interview is over. If you would please be so kind as to follow these gentlemen, they will escort you to more, secure accommodations while we make a deal for your lives. Also, if I were you, I would not attempt resisting. My men have no problems taking you down if it becomes necessary.”

  As Peter was left without words, his body evidence of his panic, Anaar simply stood up and outstretched his arms. The woman looked at the large man amused, and with a motion, had one of the men zip tie them together at his wrists.

  “It seems one of you is a veteran at this. At least this will make things easier.”

  Anaar nods to Peter, indicating he should do the same. Millions of thoughts were racing through his head, most of them questions he had no answers to. He did not understand why Anaar had given himself up so easily, as he could have just taken out everyone in the room. He used his ability to figure out what to do in a crisis situation, but everything kept telling him to firstly remain calm. How was he supposed to remain calm when he was being held hostage?

  The two men were escorted through the building down a number of winding passages and electronic doors. After walking for what felt like twenty minutes, they were finally brought to a chamber that was completely solid with the exception of the entrance, which was covered by a field. One of the men escorting them swiped a badge and the field disappeared, the two being roughly pushed in afterward. Once the field had been reactivated and the men left, Peter burst into a flurry or questions.

  “What are you doing?! Why would you just surrender like that? Couldn’t you just-” Catching the severe look from Anaar, he abruptly stopped talking and did his best to settle down.

  Anaar bent down to Peter’s ear and whispered one word very quietly: Surveillance. Peter’s eyes went wide, and he immediately understood what Anaar was trying to tell him. By discussing things, they would be giving away any advantages they had, which would be detrimental. Anaar gave him a weak smile, which seemed to say “Trust me” and they sat down on the bench in the cell.

  Though Peter could never have known, Anaar’s calm, quiet demeanor was nothing but an act to distract from the work he was doing. As they were taken to the cell, he spotted over twenty tiny cameras watching them, though the trained eye would never have detected them. He could not be certain, but his conjecture was the surveillance in the cell itself at least provided audio, even if the others were only video. Because of that, he knew it was imperative to keep Peter in the dark until they could discuss his plan.

  Hob
b, how are we doing on narrowing down those plans?

  “There is an 89.31% chance I have them narrowed correctly down to four plans. I require more data for further analysis.”

  Hmmm, the mission was to get evidence of shady dealings. Though attempting to ransom us is definitely not what an upstanding citizen would do, it is not enough, and will not be substantiated, especially since we plan on escaping. I have an idea.

  To prevent detection, Anaar had begun very gradually increasing the humidity in the area. He was able to condense enough moisture to short out the cell once he pushed on it, but he needed something to distract them once his cover of the cameras dissipated. Taking a dangerous gamble, lamenting he was not with Phavian or Maggie, he made his move.

  With a surge he was able to simultaneously obfuscate the cameras nearby and short the field trapping them in the cell. The moment the field went down, he immediately clamped his hand over Peter’s mouth, stifling the yelp that came from him. Jerking his head toward the door with his finger to his lips, he beckoned Peter to leave with him.

  Though they could not reactivate the door, if his plan worked, whomever was watching the cameras would not be paying close attention to notice it was inactive until they were long gone. The key to that was the gamble he took after pulling Peter from the cell. Far from his best work, he rushed two masses of water that generally resembled himself and Peter. Taking care to make sure Peter did not go back to see what he had done, he hurried them down the hall toward his destination.

  Hobb, do your best and give me an overlay to whatever control room they have. If I am lucky, we will be able to get data on the organization’s dirty deeds so we can successfully complete the mission.

  “And how exactly do you plan on gaining access to those records?”

  You let me worry about that. I just need you to get me there.

  When the two had made it far enough away from the holding cell, Anaar pushed Peter into a closet where he broke free of his bindings. Doing the same for Peter, the younger man could not help but finally explode with questions.

  “What are we doing?! How did we get out?! Aren’t they going to find us? Oh dear we are going to die. Why did I want a dangerous mission? This wasn’t supposed to be dangerous!”

  “Yeah well, shit happens sometimes. This wouldn’t be the first time I was setup. Whether the employer knew or not will be determined by others later. For now, we need to complete this mission and get the hell out of here.”

  Peter nearly shrieked in the darkness. “Complete the mission?! Are you mad?! These people are trying to kill us! The mission was to talk to people! What are we going to do? Waltz in and let them know their containment was ineffectual and then proceed with our interview?!”

  “No, the intent of the mission was to get dirt on this place and expose their crimes. The recorded interview would have been the easiest way that would raise the least suspicion. Our cover is already blown so we will go about a much more thorough way of obtaining it, which will likely net us a significant bonus depending on what we can find.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just be quiet and follow my lead. If I were you, I would download some combat skills and marksmanship skills. First gun we find you are getting it. Let’s go.”

  Before he could protest, Anaar had scanned the hall and ducked out quickly. Scurrying behind him, he found Anaar’s familiarity with his ability quite useful and refreshing considering that to do what he asked, it would be far more difficult to manage at a moment’s notice. Preemptively making himself combat ready would allow him to be much more effective.

  Once he was prepared with enough skills, he realized Anaar had been leading them somewhere as if he knew where he was going. Initially he had hoped it would be the exit, but remembered Anaar had some scheme to complete their otherwise failed mission, so that was unlikely. As he lamented having such a completionist for a partner, their first encounter with someone antagonistic had occurred.

  Somehow Anaar had assessed the danger of the woman and deemed her a threat in the blink of an eye, because before Peter knew it, the woman was knocked out cold on the floor and Anaar was handing him a pistol. As he dragged the woman out of the hallway to prevent someone quickly discovering her, he turned the gun around in his hands, somewhat afraid he might actually be required to use it.

  “Don’t shoot unless I tell you to. That thing doesn’t have a silencer, and gunfire is not something that is easily ignored. Keep it for protection, but if you can, try to knock people out with martial arts so it is quieter. This is it. This woman’s badge will get us in, but be prepared for resistance inside.”

  Sure enough there were three people inside, however they did not look much like combatants, more like analysts. On his cue Anaar had Peter storm the smaller man on the left, while like a flash, he took care of the two men on the right before Peter could finish with the one. Once they were down, Anaar brought him to a center console and directed him to sit down.

  “Time for you to shine.”

  “What exactly does that mean?”

  “I need you to hack into the system and pull all their files, transferring them to your Vizer. Hobb should be capable of gaining enough access to grab them immediately as long as you weaken their defenses. Then you will need to breach their security and get everything they have.”

  “You cannot be serious! Since when am I a hacker?!”

  “Umm, since you have an ability that allows you to pretty much become whatever you want to be. Now hurry it up, we don’t have much time. I know just because you will get the knowledge of how, that doesn’t mean you have experience. Chances are you are going to set off all kinds of alarms so we need to do this quickly.”

  “I have never done anything like this before.”

  “Ok. Well, here is your chance. Time is wasting.”

  Giving Anaar an incredulous look, he realized the large man was serious, so he closed his eyes and let the knowledge flood his mind. Never before had he even thought of breaching a computer system, and he was flabbergasted by how watered down the movies made it seem. The things that needed to be done were so complex he was having a hard time focusing as the knowledge flowed into him. To make room for the skill, he forcefully pushed the martial arts knowledge out of his head, hoping what little was there permanently would do for their escape.

  Peter expected Anaar to hover and badger him, but instead he seemed engrossed with something else altogether. Setting his mind to the task at hand, he got to work trying to breach the defenses of the system. Though he did not have the context to truly understand it, he could recognize the system was well designed and it was fighting him. It took him almost ten minutes just to get into it so he could obtain the data. After that it was another fifteen to get everything as the volumes were massive.

  During that time, out the corner of his eye he noticed Anaar was doing something to the people they had incapacitated, while also checking outside the door for signs they needed to escape. He could not believe what he was doing, and Anaar was calmly securing the perimeter as if this was the most normal activity in the world. When the transfer was complete, Anaar gave him good news that he was sure where the exit was, but the problem was that it was now known they had escaped.

  “How are we going to get back?!”

  “Obviously we will just steal a car.”

  “Is that a joke?”

  “Not at all. I know how to hotwire it though so no need for you to do that as well. We will simply use that to get to the extraction point.”

  “What extraction point?”

  “While you were working on the data, I was busy securing our way out. I have half the mind to just destroy the building, but that isn’t very nice. It seems there are a lot of people who work here that have no idea the nefarious shit the company really gets into. These are the difficult times. Blasting our way out would be easier.”

  “Have you killed people before?!”

  “Oh yeah, tons of them. That’s why I t
ry to keep the collateral damage down. You wouldn’t believe how many people work for operations and have no idea what they really do.”

  Peter found himself shocked and utterly terrified of the man in front of him. He could be strict at times, but all he knew of Anaar was the warm, lovable, hopelessly unfashionable heartthrob that everyone adored. Now he was seeing a darker side as the man so callously talked about the people he had killed and their plans for grand theft auto.

  As they made their way through the halls toward their destination, Peter was constantly on edge. Any person they passed by, he was sure there would be a gunfight. Surprisingly there were a number of people they encountered in which Anaar simply smiled and continued walking calmly along. Finally they came across someone Anaar deemed a threat, and much like before, they were readily dispatched.

  Peter could not understand how he chose who he attacked and who he simply passed. It seemed arbitrary, but finally he caught a glimpse of something as Anaar took down a man not much smaller than he was. Perhaps it was due to their sizes being so similar, but Peter could visibly see the man tense and attempt to do them harm. It was only for an instant, because Anaar wasted no time taking the large man down. Could it be this had been happening all along, and the whole time he was missing the flash recognition that Anaar picked up on?

  Once at the garage, they passed many vehicles, with Anaar finally settling on one. With some fumbling, the door sprang open, but to Peter’s disbelief, the alarm did not sound. Just what kind of training had he been afforded in only a year’s difference in their tenure at Sophangence? With the car started, they proceeded out the garage, a pass in the console permitting them an exit from the facility.