by Larkin, Matt
“Yup, yup,” Rachel said, imitating Phoebe, then laughed. “You can be kind of dense for a Psych, Mac.”
“Aye.”
Leah returned a few minutes later, leaving Phoebe and Knight on the other side of the room. Her doubt was almost palpable, threatening to choke Rachel. She could so easily lose herself in such emotions. She tried to block the feelings out, tried to focus on Leah’s face.
“What happened?”
Leah frowned. “He was tortured by Galizur. They injected some kind of retroviruses into him, apparently trying to ignite dormant genes. The process triggered a severe biological reaction—it sent most of his organs into overdrive. I think you were right about the Nephilim bloodline.”
“You’re not serious,” David said. “That’s a myth. I admit the lad is fast, faster than anyone I’ve ever seen, but Nephilim?”
Leah nodded, starting to point at Knight, then jerked her hands behind her back. “When active he’s got adrenaline levels that should kill a man twice his weight, but his body seems to be processing it. Meaning he’s even faster than before, and a lot stronger. Adrenaline can let a body do some pretty amazing things—so imagine what it would mean to get a constant super-charged dose of it.”
“Is that going to hurt him?” Rachel asked. Galizur—Raziel—had tortured and experimented on Knight to create some kind of super soldier. And if it harmed Knight, she swore, whatever it took, she would kill the Angel for it.
Leah sighed. “I honestly don’t know. He’s undergoing some kind of cellular regeneration that seems to be keeping his organs functioning properly, even letting him heal injuries must faster than a normal human. Bruises he earned down there a few hours ago are gone. A MAG round that grazed him is already just a small scar. The truth is, we have no way to know what the long-term effects of something like this are on a human body. His whole system could give out tomorrow, or …”
“Or what?” Rachel asked.
“Or he could live forever. For all I know, that kind of regeneration would make him practically immune to age or disease. All I can say for certain is that Galizur has created something beyond any other Race.”
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
If that is the case, if the Angels plan to use the Nephilim as warriors, perhaps the Angels themselves are not capable of fighting. Perhaps they recognize humanity as having mastered the arts of war in a way they never could. Angels, with their advanced technology, could destroy enemy ships, but maybe they were never planning to engage a ground force. But then, what force would they need to engage?
Caleb lived in the penthouse of a condo in southern Sepharvaim City, a short monorail stop from his office at Jericho Tower. His wife started when he threw open the door, and he couldn’t blame her. He never came home early, even before he became Chairman.
Ayelet stood in the foyer, fooling with the color scheme again. Nanobot painters had spread lime green throughout half the room, a distasteful contrast with the vermillion shade of the rest. Knowing Ayelet, it would probably be a whole other scheme next week. Assuming she had a next week.
In two strides he took her in his arms and held her tightly.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, dear. I just missed you and the kids. Are-are they here?”
“James went out to the ball game, but Miriam is in her room.” Ayelet pulled away from his embrace. “What are you even doing here, Caleb?”
Caleb took a moment to look deeply into Ayelet’s eyes. He always tried to do that when he came. He hoped, one day, if he looked deeply enough, it would give him the strength to resist the temptation of other women when he left. So far, it had never worked.
“I have to go off world. It’s urgent. I wanted to see James, too … But I guess there’s no time.”
Ayelet chased after him as he headed down the hall to Miriam’s room. She had taken a great glass-encased sunroom on the eastern side and filled it with greenery. Miriam had fine taste in flowers, so Caleb often surprised her by importing exotic orchids and other treasures for her garden. He’d even had the techs design a custom orchid in the lab, a flower that shimmered with iridescent petals. Miriam had made it the centerpiece of her collection.
“Caleb, where are you going?” Ayelet said. “Why now?”
“It’s just important, is all.”
To say the least. Apollo had ordered him to retrieve the Ark at any cost. Ordered him. No one was supposed to give the Chairman orders. But Apollo had, and Caleb knew he had to obey.
“Your fortunes will considerably worsen if Jericho does not claim the Ark,” Apollo had said.
His fortunes.
He’d like to think Apollo meant he’d lose money. Maybe even his position as Chairman. But then, he’d seen an iridescent orchid on the man’s desk. The message was all too clear. Apollo was threatening him and his family. And Caleb had played along with the twisted fuck for too long to back out now, at least not without a plan. He should have had a plan, a way out.
But Apollo had been God-sent, or so he’d thought. The man was a genius—if possibly an off rotation one—and his inventions and advice had rocketed Caleb’s career into orbit. It had carried him onto the board, and into the Chair. And now it was nailing him to the floor.
Before Caleb could even think about betraying such a man, he’d have to secure his family and his position. He couldn’t afford to move until he’d had time to plan. Until then, he had to do whatever Apollo said.
His head throbbed as he opened the door to Miriam’s room. What a fool he’d been to let the man put cybernetics in his brain. God alone knew what that chip was doing. It was supposed to protect him from telepathy, but was it? What if Apollo had put that thing in his head for the opposite reason? To let him spy on Caleb’s thoughts?
No. He shook his head. He was becoming paranoid.
“Where’s my pumpkin?”
Miriam looked up from her tablet and smiled. She was beatific. She was twenty—Caleb had been only a couple years older than she was now when Miriam was born. She had started at university on the other side of Sepharvaim and was earning accolades in almost every subject. Her true love was biology, especially botany, so he imagined he knew what focus she’d choose next year.
“Hi Daddy, what’re you doing home early?”
“He’s planning a trip off world,” Ayelet said. “All very sudden.”
Caleb didn’t like the suspicion in his wife’s voice, but he had no time to diffuse it.
“Yeah, sorry pumpkin. Come give Daddy a hug.”
Miriam did so, and Caleb held her for so long she began to squirm. “Come on, Dad. Seriously, it’s not like you’re going away for long, right?”
“No, no. Hopefully just a few days, maybe a week. I have to go to the Milky Way. Maybe make a few other stops.”
He prayed it would be no more than a week. Angels alone knew what Apollo was really planning. He clearly had planned further ahead than Caleb. Which was never a good position to be in. Ask Joseph Lucius. One ill-planned interlude with Caleb’s assistant had cost him the Chairman’s seat.
No. To get ahead, you had to plan ahead. Caleb had made the mistake of putting far too much trust in a man he knew far too little about, and he’d been played. But now he knew the game, he was starting to learn the rules, and sooner or later, he planned to come out ahead.
No one threatened his family.
He kissed his wife and left the condo, then took the monorail to the spaceport. Jericho Corp would have their fastest ship and their best pilot standing by for him. Rebekah was waiting there.
“The Empyrean Throne is in orbit,” she said.
The Jericho flagship. Good. He’d asked for the closest ship he’d be able to lead into battle. The Throne would go a long way to making a statement. To Jordan and Apollo both. He would take the damn Ark. And then he would reevaluate his relationship with the scientist.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
December 6th
The question about the Angels, or at leas
t Raziel and his motives, brings me back to the Adversary. I know now the Adversary existed, and used the same technology as the Angels themselves. Could that be why Raziel would want someone like Knight? As a warrior to fight such an enemy?
“We can’t do anything locked in this damn lab,” Rachel said. It had been more than a day, and other than some QI troopers bringing them food, they had seen no sign of their captors.
She could tell they’d jumped to the Conduit not long after Knight came aboard, and that they’d dropped out again before long. But from inside this room, she had no idea where they were. It didn’t seem likely Raziel had taken them to another galaxy, not with so brief a jaunt through the Conduit.
“I’m sure they’ll bring us food and water again tomorrow,” David said. “We can take them out then and escape.”
Waiting another day didn’t sound like much of a plan to Rachel. It seemed likely Raziel would have accomplished whatever he meant to by then. And while she had no idea what the Angel planned, she suspected it would be better for her—and probably everyone else—if he failed. Perhaps she judged him too harshly. He’d manipulated her, but he hadn’t really harmed them, either.
Knight and Phoebe appeared from one of the back rooms. She wondered if she should tell them their emotions clearly penetrated the walls, leaving no doubt about what they were doing in there. But then, she doubted anyone else had a doubt what they were doing, either. Still, the rest of them didn’t have to risk getting caught up in the lust themselves. Rachel found herself constantly flushed, and barely able to resist pulling David into the back room herself the moment it was free.
Which left poor Leah to take her turn last, and no one to help her with it. She laughed out loud at the thought, and everyone turned to look at her. Especially Knight, who frowned. He was surprisingly self-conscious—yet another emotion Rachel had to work to keep from getting overwhelmed by.
“Knight,” she said, pulling him aside. “I’m happy for you and Phoebe. Really.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m serious. I told you to go for it.”
“I think your exact words were ‘fuck her and get it over with’.”
Right. “Yeah, well. Okay …” Maybe best to change the topic. “I guess Galizur—Raziel—led the Lazarus Group to you. I’ve been trying to figure out why.”
Knight grunted. “At first I thought they were torturing me for information, but when I realized they were really trying to alter my genetic structure—”
“Not alter it, I think. Activate latent genes you already had from your parents. And, if I had to guess, they probably didn’t have too many viable test subjects. The Angels obviously didn’t create many Nephilim; they would have been a threat. So when they located one potential bloodline—your parents—it must have been easier to just track it and experiment on it than try to dig up another one.”
“Fine. So let’s say they succeeded and gave me super-charged organs and telekinesis. What the void am I supposed to do about it?”
“Wait, what?” Telekinesis? That was impossible. Knight wasn’t a Psych. Unless that had been latent the whole time, too. And if he had TK, chances were he had at least some degree of other psionic potential, even if he didn’t realize it. She’d have thought a Nephilim would have all four psionic gifts. “You never told us about that, Knight.”
“I … Never give up all your secrets.” His smile looked forced.
“How strong is your TK?”
“Strong.”
“Anything else? Can you feel my mind? Can you feel the Ark?”
Knight shook his head.
“Okay. Close your eyes, Knight. In fact, sit down on the ground like you’re going to meditate.”
He did so. By this point, the rest of the group had gathered around to watch the spectacle. Let them.
Phoebe opened her mouth and Rachel shot her a glare.
She’d never had to direct a latent Psych before. Knight was probably on the verge of an ascension. Usually a Psych would have their last ascension by the time they were twenty-five or so. Knight was twenty-eight, which meant he was older than most who experienced this.
David shooed the others away. He sat down in front of Knight, obviously realizing what she intended, and Rachel sat beside him.
“You know, lass, I kind of thought we’d be doing this for our children. Not this big lad here.”
Knight gave David the finger without opening his eyes.
“Listen to my voice, Knight,” she said. “Try to drown out all other sensory input. Don’t let any other thoughts distract you. There is nothing but the three of us here. Focus. One of us is going to try to touch your mind. Tell me if you feel it.”
She squeezed David’s knee to tell him to try it.
A moment later Knight opened his eyes.
“You felt something?”
He nodded.
“From which one of us?” she asked.
Knight jerked his head at David.
“Good. That’s very good.”
Knight closed his eyes again, clutching his head in his hands. “My eyes are blurry. I feel like … Gack.” He shook his head rapidly.
“Like gack, huh?” David said. “I’d say that about covers it. Buggers really did unlock some psionic potential in the lad. His psionic nerves are probably flaring all over the place.” He tapped Knight on the shoulder. “Right, lad, try to relax. You’re probably starting to get flashes of possibility, ESP insights, maybe empathic senses.”
Knight grunted, then pulled his arms up around his head. His breath became rapid. Rachel wondered if this had triggered those adrenaline surges Leah told her about.
And then Knight breathed out deeply. His face went blank, his posture slack, and he stood. He looked straight ahead, still as a statue, and Rachel caught herself scooting away from him.
“What happened?” she said. “You’ve got to keep practicing, Knight. You’ll get it.”
“I can feel it. The Ark.”
She glanced at David. Well, that was fast.
Knight walked over to the door and took out his staff. It telescoped to full length. He stared at the door for a few minutes. “I can feel it all. I can feel the psionic locks on the door. Waiting for the right order.”
Well … damn. Rachel couldn’t even do that, and she’d assumed David couldn’t either.
Then the door opened.
Knight ran out, charging straight for a pair of startled QI security guards.
CHAPTER NINETY
Is it possible the Angels were creating the Nephilim as a weapon to use against the Adversary? If so, they clearly didn’t consider the cost to the weapons themselves. Knight was denied any semblance of a normal life in the name of Angel experiments. I cannot begin to imagine what must be going through his mind at such times.
Rachel was used to seeing Knight leave bodies in his wake, but this was different. He’d swept through the Quasar Industries soldiers like a solar wind, undeniable and unstoppable. They could fall back or fall before him. Three times the Ark slammed doors on them, sealing the way forward with psionic locks.
Raziel had probably not expected Knight to be able to override his psychic security.
Now, her former bodyguard had paused outside the bridge door, eyes fixed on it like he intended to bore right through.
“Are you sure about this, lass?” David said. He had his pulse pistol in hand, but she could sense his doubt. David had been a believer in the Codex, in the Angels, in all their lies. It must have been hard for him to take a stand against all he had once followed.
She patted his chest and nodded. The others had formed up in the hall, guarding against any reinforcements Raziel might call in.
The door opened.
And Knight looked to her. He’d always looked to her. This man, a Nephilim, was a one-man army, and he waited for her word. Her call. She wondered if she deserved such devotion. But she was damn sure going to see this through.
She stepped inside, followed by Knight and D
avid.
Raziel stood beside the command chair, staring at her. His outstretched wings glinted in the light, casting a maze of shadows around the bridge. The being had an aura of majesty, she had to admit, and just gazing on his stern visage was enough to unnerve her. But then, that was probably the intent. For three thousand years Angels had indoctrinated humans to stand in awe of them.
“You have infringed upon my mercy, Ms. Jordan. I spared you and your crew despite all you have done, and this is how you repay such indulgence?”
Rachel swallowed, trying to keep her glower from faltering. Show a moment of fear, a moment of awe, and he had her. She had to fight against that indoctrination, the instinct to fear and bow. It was in her, too, as it was in all mankind, but she had one advantage. She knew it was there. “You locked us away. It is the duty of every prisoner to escape. Just as you have made all mankind prisoners to your ideology, your rules and doctrine. And now we must finally break those shackles, Angel.”
Raziel shook his head, almost looking sad. “You have no idea what is at stake here. Do you think the Angels imposed the Covenant on humanity on a whim? Do you believe we created such rules just to see if we could?”
Rachel could feel Leah and Phoebe had followed them into the room. And they stood behind her, waiting for her word. Somehow, she had become the leader of this off rotation mission. No, not somehow. She had cast herself into this role. She had made herself a prophet of a new age, and now she was obligated to carry it forward.
“I think you created the Covenant, the entire Codex, as a means of control. By limiting human evolution, by ensuring we had boundaries, you made sure we could never challenge you or your kind.”
“The doctrine which you so disdain was created to protect not only us, but mankind as well.” Raziel folded his wings behind his back and walked closer. His voice turned softer. “Humanity strives for greatness without ever considering the cost, the risk. There are laws of nature that, when broken, have severe consequences. Aspects of reality your race is not yet ready for.”