by T. G. Ayer
Dressed in a black toga with a black cloak thrown over his shoulders, he glided inside, his expression as dark as his attire. His black hair encased his skull like a layer of ink, giving off an oily gleam.
Something told Allegra that this man was bad news, but even though she tried to cry out, to warn Xales, she was unable to say a word.
Allegra could barely hold her head up to watch the unfolding scene. As Xales charged his enemy, the man in black flicked his wrist.
Allegra watched, unable to breath as a shimmering golden net appeared above the boar, growing larger as it landed on the animal's head and shoulders.
Amid the shocked cries and moans of the terrified patrons, Allegra couldn’t hear her own gasp of horror.
Xales was her protector, but someone had found a way to subdue him.
What kind of magic was this?
She grunted as she desperately fought to get to her feet. She couldn’t stand by and watch these men capture or hurt Xales.
Inherited familiar or not, he still belonged to her.
Allegra looked around for Ignacio, hoping he’d be able to offer her a hand to get to her feet. To do something about Xales.
But when Allegra looked to her right, where he’d been just moments before, she choked on her shock.
Ignacio lay on his side, staring at her blankly, the hilt of a dagger protruding from his neck. Tears filled her eyes as she reached for him.
Even though she could see he was gone she still felt the need to shake him, had the odd sense that maybe if he heard her voice he’d wake up.
But she couldn’t move her hand.
She glanced back up at Xales, unable to do a thing as the net closed around him, expanding to cover him from snout to tail.
And then, in a shimmering of gold that was too beautiful to be appropriate for this horror, Xales and the magical net disappeared into thin air.
Frantic now, Allegra tried to struggle but she felt worse than numb. It was as if her head floated in a sea of nothingness.
A movement beside her drew her attention, but she was helpless to defend herself, couldn’t even turn her head.
Something dark covered her face, blocking off all light.
A bag?
Or had whatever the woman injected into her thigh begun to affect her brain?
Allegra felt rough hands wrap around her, lift her off the ground. She tried to kick and struggle, to elbow them away, but despite her panicked angry efforts, she remained immobile and helpless.
Blackness took her before she could devise an escape plan.
Chapter 27
The flight was bumpy this time, strong winds tossing the plane left and right among the gathering storm clouds, while lightning played havoc with the electronics.
From the barely subdued terror on the faces of the flight attendants, Max wondered if they’d reach the capital alive. It seemed that the gods were unhappy with him.
Or maybe with FAPA.
Whatever the reason for the bad weather, he was supremely glad when they touched down at last, relief easing the tense muscles in his thighs and neck as he gathered his things and left the small plane.
Despite the nausea and the bumpy ride, the privilege of using the agency’s private plane was a luxury he’d prefer not to trade in anytime soon.
As he entered the FAPA headquarters building, his deputy Marcus caught up with him, raising an eyebrow in mute question when Max did not even stop.
“Boardroom,” said Max, striding to his office.
He had nearly an hour until the meeting scheduled with General Aulus, and he planned to put it to good use.
After rifling through the reports on his desk, he was happy to note that Marcus had taken good care of the daily workload, leaving Max only the most important papers to sign. He did so quickly and threw the stack in the out-tray before hurrying to the meeting room.
His team was attentive and curious when he entered, and he got down to business right away.
“I’m sure you’re all aware that we’ve found the new Pythia.”
A chorus of assent rippled around the room, underpinned by curious murmurs. Max waved them to silence. “You have questions?” he asked before he continued.
Marcus sat forward, clearly the mouthpiece for the whole group. “We’re very eager to meet her, sir.”
Max nodded. “I’ll arrange it as soon as I can. I do believe you will like her.”
“She’s agreed to cooperate?” asked Corina, wiping her platinum hair out of her face.
Max smiled. “Yes, she has. We did obtain a little more information. She’s confirmed that the pathogen will originate outside of the New Germanic States.”
“Does that mean we’re going to lock the borders down?” Jerard asked.
Max shook his head. “It’s unlikely that anything we do will stop this virus. It’s far too virulent for that and increasing border biosecurity would merely delay the inevitable. What we need is to cut it off at the head.”
Marcus rubbed his chin, his brows scrunched. “It shouldn’t be too much longer, now. The Pythia will help us stop this before it’s too late.”
Max clapped his deputy on the back. “I’m glad we agree on that Marcus. Now, we just have to help her train a little faster.”
Max asked for a quick rundown of the team’s recently closed cases, and what they currently had on their plate. While he listened, he felt pride in his people for managing their daily tasks so well, despite knowing that in a few weeks all their work could have been a total waste of their time.
Leaving the team to continue the meeting under Marcus’s guidance, Max headed to meet General Aulus. He’d requested Max’s presence at a meeting of department heads.
Despite his own seniority, Max preferred to miss these meetings as much as possible.
At such meetings, heads were likely to roll, and Max hoped he wouldn’t be pulled off the case. Aulus could be unpredictable at the best of times.
The moment Max walked into the room he knew he was in for a trying hour. “Commander Vissarion, so glad you could make it.”
Max smiled and bowed his greetings, then took his empty chair at the foot of the table. He waited as the general discussion was completed and they began to discuss the Pythia.
Aulus said, “I’m happy to say that there’s a very high likelihood that this Pythia is the key to averting the impending pandemic.”
Aulus crooked his finger at Max who rose and stepped to the general’s side, waiting.
“Our only problem is that despite every effort to keep her existence under wraps, the papers have gotten wind of it.” Aulus looked up at Max. “Have you seen them?”
Max nodded. “This morning’s papers. Splattered all over the front pages. They know a lot about her. They’ve withheld her name so far, but there’s enough information within those articles for anyone smart enough to follow the dotted lines and figure her identity out. Not to mention that people who know her well will immediately guess it’s her.” Max tightened his jaw. “I’d like to know who could have leaked this information, considering this was a top-secret project.”
Aulus’s eyes narrowed, but he didn't overreact. Instead, he nodded slightly. “I have my suspicions.”
A heated debate followed, and the departmental heads demanded to know more about the situation, and who the traitor might be.
General Aulus got to his feet. “I have a strong feeling it’s one of the Senators. I briefed some of them on the emergence of the new Pythia, but the papers have details I never gave them. They have enough fingers in different pies to have obtained such inside information by nefarious means.”
“That sounds a bit dramatic,” someone called out from the end of the table.
Aulus glared at the speaker. “Nevertheless, we know all too well that information has a way of leaking past even our own security protocols. The Senator involved likely has a mole on his payroll. Someone well-placed and trusted enough to know this much about the new Pythia. It’s still o
dd that her identity wasn’t revealed outright, so perhaps they don’t know exactly who she is.”
“Yet?” asked Max, knowing the path Aulus’s mind was taking.
After the last attack, the bodyguards knew she was more than just an ordinary seer. But Max hoped he could give them the benefit of the doubt.
Aulus faced Max. “There is only one thing we can do, Vissarion. Have her sign an ironclad contract that ties her gift and her personal services solely to FAPA. Make her an official agent if you have to. Have her sign a non-disclosure agreement as well.”
Max’s jaw dropped.
They wanted to trap Allegra into serving the NGS exclusively.
And they wanted to use Max to do it.
Chapter 28
Max tried to contain his fury.
He was appalled that they were treating Allegra like a commodity. But he could hardly voice his disagreement. Not here in front of all these people.
Aulus must have read his expression correctly because he clicked his tongue, irritated. “There is no time for scruples, young man. You’re doing what could be considered the most important thing you will ever do for your country. For mankind.”
Max hesitated and Aulus took a step closer to him.
“The news is out, Commander Vissarion. Time is of the essence. Governments around the world will be vying for the Pythia’s ear. Hundreds, if not thousands of petitioners will descend upon Las Suertes within days. Do you even understand the ramifications of that? For the benefit of the New Germanic states we must deny everyone her Sight. She’s far too vital a resource to lend out to all and sundry. You must move fast, Vissarion.”
Max frowned at Aulus’s tone, but was unable to ask him anything further as a commotion ensued at the threshold. A man entered, pushing his shaggy hair out of his face as he tried to explain who he was.
“Let him pass,” yelled Aulus. To Max, it looked like the general was losing his patience.
Max remained silent and watched as the thin, tall man stalked forward like a praying mantis, head held high, eyes large and nervous.
Aulus addressed the meeting. “Dr Kenji here has some vital information to share. He told me the barest details on the phone, so let’s hear what he has to say before we make any further decisions.”
The doctor dropped his papers on the table beside Aulus and gave Max a stiff smile. “I’m a virologist attached to the government's biosecurity division. We’ve studied the coming pandemic with the help of the strongest seers in our employ. We’ve verified that it’s based on a spontaneous mutation, which could occur in either human or animal. The species isn’t as important as the pathogen’s virulence. It’s extremely contagious.”
“So what’s the incubation period?” Max heard himself asking.
Kenji glanced at him, sending him a respectful nod. “It would have to be at least three weeks for it to spread so widely, so fast, as the seers are predicting. The scale of this pandemic is astronomical. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before.”
“And you used different seers to provide this information?”
The doctor nodded. “Including input from allied nations. They are all agreed.”
Someone stood up, but Max couldn’t see his face. “So what good is a Pythia who can’t see any of these details in order to help us eliminate the disease?”
Max leaned forward to identify the speaker. Commander Garson Laine, Head of Research and Development. Max wasn’t surprised.
Max sighed. “You have to understand that the new Pythia is like a baby learning to walk and speak. She’s never deliberately used her Sight before. And if we push her too hard she’ll self-destruct.”
Laine snorted. “We’re wasting time sitting around waiting for her to . . .” he sneered, “walk.”
Aulus fixed him with a basilisk stare. “Have you not heard of the Pythia Sofia?”
The man sat back and shook his head.
Max’s voice held a touch of ice as he spoke. “Sofia was a new, but extremely powerful Pythia. Robur the Great used her Sight to amass his conquests, but his generals became greedy. Wanting to impress Robur, they forced Sofia to use her sight too often. She went mad.
“As a result, almost eighty years passed without a Pythia. That is not what we need in this emergency.” Max spoke, keeping his tone even. “What’s of greater importance right now is this new knowledge.”
Laine grunted. “Personally I think the best move we can make is to bring the Pythia in and figure out how she works.”
Max’s head began to heat up. “Are you suggesting we experiment on the Oracle of Pythia?” he asked in horror.
Laine smiled thinly. “I’m not suggesting anything. I’m saying it’s the smart, prudent decision. The Pythias are so rare that it’s only smart to study how they work and what they can do.”
Max quelled the desire to go over to the man and wring his sorry neck. Best to remain on point before he spoiled everything by ending up incarcerated for murder.
Max cleared his throat and waved a hand at the doctor. “We don’t have time for this inanity. We need to listen to Dr Kenji.” Max shifted his attention to the doctor and asked, “The incubation period you estimate is far longer than we had initially surmised. Which means we have even less time than we thought to find and stop this pandemic before it can spread. I should not even be here. I’ve lost a lot of time away from her side. Time in which she could have told me something more valuable to go on.”
Aulus nodded, his expression grave. “Go, Vissarion, and let us know-”
Before Aulus could complete his instructions, Marcus burst into the room. “You have to take this, sir.” He sounded frantic enough even for Max to feel his stomach tighten with fear.
Aulus glared at Marcus, but the expression of consternation on the younger man’s face must have held him back because he said nothing.
Marcus handed the phone to Max. “One of your men from the Pythia’s protection detail agent is calling from Barbarina Town. The seer has been kidnapped. From a bakery . . . in broad daylight.” The words spilled from his mouth, but he kept his volume low enough for only Max and Aulus to hear.
The departmental heads at the table leaned closer and despite Marcus’s discretion, within seconds the entire room was abuzz. Several agents rose to their feet in their consternation.
“How did this happen when we were so close?”
“We have to retrieve her.”
“Was she taken alive? Do we know if she’s still alive?”
Aulus faced the table, waving at the gathering to relax and to sit down. “We will get to the bottom of this.”
“Maybe if we hadn’t pulled Commander Vissarion off her detail we’d still have her in hand,” cut in the head of Bio-Weapons. Max bristled, even though the man was saying what he’d said himself.
The problem was he was referring to Allegra as if she was a mere object, a possession.
Aulus was nodding. “Perhaps you are right. But we can’t change what’s happened.” He turned to Max. “You will return immediately.”
Max snapped his gaze to Aulus. “The storm, Sir. All the airports are closed. Not even our planes will be allowed to take off.”
Aulus raised his eyebrows. “We’ll get you there. Even if we have to requisition a fighter-jet from the army.”
Max nodded, though his stomach turned queasy at the prospect. But he would face any risk if it meant he would be able to hunt for Allegra more quickly.
Aulus looked at Max. “Any resource you need . . . ask and it’s yours. No questions asked.”
Max had to force himself not to tell the man that it was a little too late for such a show of support, but he shut his mouth.
Aulus shook his head. “This doesn’t look good for us. The new Pythia goes missing the very day the press reports on her existence? The Senate is definitely going to hold us responsible for this.”
“Even though it’s likely one of them who leaked the information?” said the Bio-Security chief.
/> “Even more, because of that,” said Aulus.
Max took his leave then, tired of the back-and-forth and the worthless discussion. He needed to get back to Barbarina Town and find out what had happened. His stomach was a tightly-clenched ball of fear.
The reality of having Allegra ripped away from him, the pain of not being there to protect her, left him feeling raw. He was afraid.
The fear of what might happen to her in the time it would take for them to find her and rescue her, made him feel cold, and sick inside.
Max didn’t want to think about it. As much as he’d been trying to convince Allegra that she was in danger, he’d hoped at the back of his mind that he was wrong.
Leaving her side had been a mistake of epic proportions.
Chapter 29
Max had left the Capital so quickly he’d barely had time to talk to Marcus. He’d grabbed Corina Brava, his top seer, and Flavius Lex, his most experienced locator and taken the first flight out using one of the army’s newly-commissioned supersonic jets.
Max had had no clue the army had converted a jet meant for fighting wars and flying under radar, into a vessel to carry senior staff across the world. He wasn’t about to question the privilege, not when every minute counted and they needed to get Allegra back, not when the jet got him faster to the scene of her abduction.
The four-hour flight to the West Coast had been completed in under an hour and Max swore to himself he’d never fly supersonic again. Not if he could help it. He felt like he’d left his stomach and all his bones back in the capital.
From the dazed expression on Corina’s and Flavius’s faces, they were in absolute agreement.
A car was waiting for them on the tarmac and sped them off into the Fornia hills to Barbarina Town. Max paid little attention to the weather or the news as his mind filtered through the possibilities—which groups could be responsible for Allegra’s abduction?
Max had obtained more detailed information on the abduction, and couldn’t quell his rising anger and sadness that Ignacio, his most trusted man on Allegra’s detail, had been killed by her captors – and not only him. Aside from the casualties within his team, two innocent bystanders were also dead, and several wounded.