“I know,” Theo said, turning to his little sister with a serious expression. “But we don’t need to take own Venus. Only her messenger.”
Kailynn’s eyes shot wide, terrified.
“What?”
Theo took Kailynn’s shoulders.
“I was not going to tell you this,” he said. “I did not want you in any danger. I know I screwed up last time, but this time is going to be different.”
“Theo, what the hell are you talking about?” Kailynn choked.
“We’re going to win, Kailynn,” he said confidently. “The Golden Elite, the shining star of the Altereye System. We are going to send a message to the entire system that the people are the true source of power and that we will not be ruled by some computer and her army of genetically-altered freaks.”
Kailynn’s breath was caught in her throat and she was sure that she was choking. She could only stare in horror as the words continued to cut through the air and pierce her ears like daggers, their meaning slicing open her chest over and over again.
She backed away from her brother in horror.
He smiled and nodded.
“That’s right,” he breathed. “We’re going to kill Golden Elite Isa.”
Chapter Twenty
Kailynn wandered around Trid in a daze for over an hour while the words processed. It felt as if there was a knife in her belly that she could not rid herself of and each step and every breath made it dig deeper into her flesh.
She went to her own home, unable to face anyone with the words rattling in her brain. She sat heavily on her bed and stared at the wall.
The conflict within her made her feel ill.
She tried to find her breath, running her hands through her hair and closing her eyes. She focused on calming down and getting her thoughts under control.
She could not.
If she told Isa about yet another plot on her life, then it would go without question that Theo would be arrested and likely killed. It would be the second time that he went against the Syndicate and Venus in such a brazen manner, and she was sure that, this time, there would be no hesitation in killing him.
However, if she said nothing to Isa, it was possible that the Golden Elite would be killed. All she could think about for several hours was the way Isa’s body convulsed in the NCB chair when the Pulse Virus hit, and how sickly she looked when she was lying in the hospital. When she thought about the way the Elite looked when she was home once more, tired but smiling, the thoughts of the Elite made her heart skip a beat. She remembered the way Rek whispered to her that she was key in killing Isa.
To have become witness to three plots on Isa’s life was enough to make her feel like she was losing her mind.
If she had heard about any of these plots one year previous, she would have laughed and celebrated, excited to think that the Elite Syndicate could be dismantled and the Trids could become equal to those in Anon, even if that meant that the citizens of Anon would be forced to live as the Trids lived.
Now that she had been close to the Elite, her perspective on everything had changed.
Isa was not the enemy.
She still remembered vividly the day that the news of Caroie had been announced. She remembered the pain that creased Isa’s face, the way she blamed herself for being unable to maintain peace in the Crescent Alliance, the way she stared into space, lost in what she believed to be her failure. The look pained Kailynn. That had been the moment she understood that Isa was trying to mend everything broken in the Altereye System and was faced with opposition wherever she turned.
Kailynn did not want Isa to die.
She also did not want to lose her brother, the only family she had left.
She fell sideways on her mattress and cried quietly into the blankets, waiting and praying for sleep to take her to a less-confusing world.
She woke from a gentle shaking of her shoulder. She blinked her eyes several times, forcing her pounding head to focus on Raphael’s face above her. He smiled gently, his eyes sad.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey…” she responded, her voice cracking.
“I didn’t see you all day,” he said, running a hand over her hair. “I was worried about you.”
“Sorry…”
“Why are you sorry?” he chuckled lightly. He tucked some hair behind her ear and leaned close. “What’s wrong? You’re acting like the fate of the world rests on your shoulders.”
Kailynn closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her head. She wanted to tell Raphael everything—her relationship with Isa, Theo’s plan to kill the Golden Elite, how confused she was at how easily she had changed after meeting Isa—but she knew that he would not understand. She was sure that he would remind her of her Trid heritage and that getting rid of the Elites and Venus would be the best thing for their future.
But Raphael had not spent time with Isa.
He was just as ignorant as Kailynn used to be—ignorant and fueled by anger.
Raphael leaned forward and kissed her.
“Talk to me,” he murmured. She turned away, trying to keep him from being able to kiss her again. “You haven’t been yourself.”
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“Kailynn, please, tell me what’s wrong,” Raphael begged. Kailynn stood, leaving Raphael sitting on the mattress, watching her walk across the room and search through her minimal belongings for different clothes. “I want to help you.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle, Raffy,” Kailynn assured, giving up on the search for clothes, deciding she would go back into Anon and change at Companion. “I just need time to deal with it, alright?”
Raphael searched her expression, worry creasing his face.
“…alright.”
“Thank you,” Kailynn said. “I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Where are you going?”
“I have some things to take care of.”
Kailynn walked out of her disheveled apartment, knowing exactly where she was going.
After changing her clothes at Companion and being sure she looked as professional as possible, she hailed a car and went to Syndicate Intelligence, her heart choking her as it threatened to crawl out her mouth.
Kailynn tried to keep calm. She tried to remind herself that she was in a very dangerous world now, where her close proximity to the Golden Elite could mean her death. If she let on that there was a problem to Rayal, she was sure that the former caretaker would take any measure necessary to protect Isa’s life without understanding Kailynn’s connection to the attacker.
She took a deep breath as the car slowed in front of the door.
The Significant got out of the car and walked to the door of the Intelligence Agency, stepping through the automatic doors to the security desk. The building was far quieter than it had been on her previous visit, and that made her nervous.
“May I help you?” one robot guard asked, rolling in front of her when she tried to walk forward.
“I’m here to see Rayal Teleta.”
The robot extended its arm and she had to force herself not to back away when the sensor on the end of the arm pressed into the space at the back of her ear. A few seconds passed before the robot moved its arm away and spoke again.
“Follow me, please.”
Kailynn fell into step behind the robot, which rolled slowly through the halls. Already knowing the way to Rayal’s office, she was tempted to pass the robot and walk on her own, but she remained behind the robot, her eyes on the ground, focusing on keeping calm.
When they finally reached the door, the robot stood to the side as the door opened. Kailynn walked in, surprised to see Rayal waiting for her.
“Kailynn,” he greeted, motioning her in. “I was surprised to hear you were here. I did not expect you.”
“Sorry to just drop in,” she said, walking forward as the door closed behind her. She took the seat that Rayal motioned to. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“What ab
out?”
Kailynn looked at her lap, nervously.
“Nothing discussed here will leave this room, right?”
“No, of course not,” Rayal assured. “If there is one thing I pride myself on it is my discretion.”
“You said that Isa has had eighteen attempts on her life,” she started. “Why do people want to kill her?”
Rayal sighed heavily, thinking about how to answer.
“Everyone has their own motivation,” he started carefully. “When a young leader comes into power with big ideas about change, people get nervous. Change is uncomfortable.”
“What has she changed, though? She said herself that she did not think she mended the Alliance.”
“She has mended it far more than she will ever take credit for,” Rayal corrected, shaking his head. “The Altereye System is in a better state since her rise to power.”
“But there are still people who want to kill her.”
Rayal took a deep breath, his eyes lowering.
“The reasons have changed over the years,” he admitted. “This latest strain of plots is related to Gihron and everything that happened five years ago.”
“Why would that make people want to kill her?”
“Because one of the planetary leaders of Gihron died while visiting Tiao,” Rayal said. “And Gihron wants revenge.”
Kailynn hesitated. “…how did he die?”
“He was assassinated,” Rayal said. “But he was under Isa’s care as a foreign leader when it happened. Therefore, Gihron blames her for what happened to Colonel Amori. And they want her to pay for their loss.”
“Why does Gihron hate this planet so much?”
“The same reasons that the other planets not in the Alliance hate Tiao,” Rayal explained. “They hate Venus. They hate the Elites. They think that Elites are dangerous and should be destroyed. They feel the same about Venus. It also has to do with many of these planets being crushed under taxes and trade embargos and all sorts of other economic problems that come from being outside the Alliance. It was better for those planets when the Alliance had disbanded.”
“…sounds a bit like the Trids.”
Rayal let out a broken chuckle.
“Yes, I suppose it does.”
Kailynn sighed heavily, looking at the ground again.
“Finding that man upset you a great deal, didn’t it?” Rayal murmured. Kailynn glanced up at him, her mind taking a few moments to realize he was talking about her client, Rek.
“It just kind of seems like everyone is out to kill her, and it’s scary.”
“I know,” Rayal agreed. “And many people are out to kill her. We’ve found many plots over the years. Most of them do not develop far enough to be considered an attempt on her life, but there are a few that we miss.”
“Miss?”
“Well, we do our best to monitor everything for the safety of the Elites, but we are only human. We make mistakes. And the computers and Venus don’t always catch everything, either.”
Kailynn was silent for several moments, looking around the office, trying to decide how best to voice her question. When Rayal saw the worried look on her face, he leaned forward.
“Kailynn? Are you alright?”
“Can Venus hear everything we say in this room?”
“No.”
“Do you…you were in Isa’s service for a long time, right?”
“Yes, since I was fifteen.”
“Did you ever…in the time that you were with her….think that, maybe, things would be better without the Elites? Without Venus?”
Rayal was silent for a few moments, looking over Kailynn’s expression carefully. He finally took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together, trying to think of how to answer.
“I think that’s a normal thought to cross everyone’s mind,” he said. “Yes, I did occasionally think that things would be better without Venus.”
“And the Elites?”
Rayal hesitated. “That’s a little more difficult,” he said. “The Elites are a complicated system. I’m not sure I can adequately explain. They’re not usually dangerous. Most of them are made to obey, and they obey without question.”
“Isa doesn’t seem to obey,” Kailynn murmured.
Rayal chuckled. “Isa has always been a special case,” he admitted. “According to many, Isa was different from day one. She was the youngest Elite to ever come into power. She’s also one of only two Elites to ever jump classes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that Isa was made to be a Bronze Elite, but she jumped to the position of Golden Elite.”
“They even determine the type of Elite before they’re born?” Kailynn asked, startled.
“They determine everything before they’re born—class, hair color, eye color, height, absolutely everything about the Elite is determined before they are born. That is one of the reasons Isa has always been special. She broke through everything she was made to be and became something far stronger. Because of this, you can imagine, she has seen more pain in her life than most. And that is how she gained so much favor in the inter-galactic community. She may not be able to feel emotion, but she can understand it.”
“You spent years with her,” Kailynn whispered. “You really think she can’t feel emotion?”
Rayal smiled mysteriously.
“Kailynn, I must confess something to you,” he started. “I’m sure you recall when I told you to stay away from Isa and to never return after you left.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think you fully understand why I said that.”
“Because we are risking both of our lives and you want to protect her.”
“It’s more than that,” Rayal admitted. “Apart from Remus, I may know Isa better than anyone. When she first came to power, she was ambitious and driven to change things. She had strength within her that enthralled and empowered everyone. She had such enormous plans, but…time progressed, she got older, and she faced more challenges in her job. Then, when she had the accident five years ago, that strength almost disappeared.” He looked down at his hands and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. “For many years, I truly believed that her relationship with Remus was diminishing her strength. Having to keep that relationship secret from Venus and other planetary leaders and the people…I was sure that that was wearing her down. And when their relationship began to fall apart…”
Rayal trailed off, closing his eyes briefly and shaking his head.
“Anyway, the point is, I was worried that her already-diminished strength would disappear, having to keep you as a secret,” he said, looking at her seriously. “Now, I have to apologize for thinking that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe you give Isa strength,” Rayal said seriously. “I think Isa needs people, just as everyone else does, if not more so. You are a Significant, so I’m sure you understand how lonely everyone on this planet is. I think it’s far worse for Isa. She has been working herself to death since she was a child, and it has been seared into her very being that she is there only to serve the people and Venus. But, just like everyone else, she needs someone to care for her, and see her as more than just the Golden Elite. She takes care of the planet, but I think you take care of her in a way that no one else can.”
Kailynn stared at Rayal, unsure how to respond to the words. They struck a part of her soul that made her mind go blank and her chest tighten.
Rayal smiled gently.
“I’m sorry if that puts some kind of pressure on you,” he chuckled. “I know that this is a dangerous relationship for both of you. That is just how I see you and Isa.”
Kailynn let out a long breath and closed her eyes.
“I just…I would have never thought that my life would take this kind of turn,” she tried to joke.
“I’m sure it’s a lot to take in,” Rayal said knowingly. “But I think you are very good for Isa.”
“And you think Is
a is good for the planet?”
“I think she’s regaining the strength she needs to change things for the better,” Rayal said with a nod. “She can do great things, Kailynn. She just needs the right support.”
Kailynn returned to Companion, unable to face returning to Trid immediately after the conversation with Rayal. Even though he had joked about putting pressure on Kailynn, she felt a new weight settle on her shoulders.
She had to choose between what her heart was telling her to do, and the loyalty she felt to her family.
Feeling anxious and a little sick to her stomach, she reached for the phone and told it who she wanted to call. She paced around her room, listening to the monotone beeping sound three times before cutting off.
“Are you back on the radar?” a gentle voice asked.
The tone seemed to soothe Kailynn’s fears, if only for that moment when the words washed over her ears. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath.
“Yes.”
“Are you alright?” Isa asked, her voice turning worried.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kailynn said quickly, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall of her room. “I’m just tired. I didn’t really sleep last night.”
Isa hesitated, clearly not convinced.
“Am I going to see you soon?” Isa asked, her tone betraying her concern.
“Yeah,” Kailynn repeated. “I just have a few things left to do and I’ll come see you.” She swallowed hard. “Should I call you beforehand or just surprise you?”
“Either way,” she said. “You have an open invitation.”
Kailynn fell silent, trying to hear Isa’s breathing on the other end of the call, but she could not.
“Are you still there?” Isa asked quietly.
“I’m here…”
“Kailynn, what’s wrong?” Isa pressed. “You’re upset. I can tell.”
Kailynn sighed and lifted a hand to her face.
“I’m confused,” she admitted. “I feel like my life is spiraling out of control.”
“How so?” Isa asked. “What can I do to help?”
Kailynn tried to suppress her confused sob behind her hand. She took several moments to calm down, worried about blurting out the truth to Isa.
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