Kheree watched her walk away. “I will not condone the murder of my brothers and sisters,” he said to himself, then sat back down on the ground.
Daye watched on, mortified by what he had just heard. While his body was still descending the large hill and heading back to the city, his illusion had remained behind and listened to the frightening conversation. Clearly there were large fractures in the Tianzu, further complicating the already delicate situation.
His dispelled his illusion and returned to his body. The situation was bleak, he thought. It seemed that Kheree might be willing to reason with White Shadow and Black Dawn, but convincing Huangdian not to engage in war with them was a far more challenging task.
It had been two decades since the Tianzu last went to war, but those peaceful times were now over. Daye had to take immediate action if he was to put a stop to it before it began again.
Worse still, if matters were not handled properly with Raien, the Tianzu may just find themselves fighting a war with each other too.
Twelve
Guard Two knocked on the door to the deputy president's office, then stepped inside. She saw that Veronika Gunawan was already present with Arabella, both of their faces grave.
“What can I do for you, Two?” Arabella Tennant asked, concerned.
“Madam, I need to speak with you at once,” Two said as she closed the door behind her. She nodded politely to Veronika. “Perhaps we should speak privately though,” she requested.
Veronika rose to leave, but was stopped by the deputy president. “It's fine, Two. You're authorised to speak in front of Ms Gunawan.”
Guard Two walked further into the room, taking a seat at the desk. “I believe President Denning may be under duress.”
Arabella and Veronika exchanged worried glances. They were just discussing the same delicate matter when Two walked into the room.
“We feel the same way,” Veronika agreed. “What information do you have?”
“The president's acting out of character. He promoted a man to the rank of head guard, but this person has never served in the Presidential Guard before. It's the same man I identified as a potential bogey three days ago.”
Veronika buried her head in her hands. “Something's definitely wrong. I have a bad feeling about all of this. I don't trust that man, Nicholas Sweeney. He didn't appear to be competent as chief counsel, and now he has vanished.”
Deputy President Tennant gazed around the room. “We need to find Sweeney. I believe you're both right—he's a threat to the president, and to Athenia. Adam and Karen both felt the same way. We authorised Sweeney's impeachment from office, but Adam, Karen, and several members of the Guard wound up dead in the villa.”
“I asked the president about that earlier,” Veronika said. “He said that Sweeney was with him at the time of the attack, but I don't believe a word of it.”
“Nor do I,” Arabella agreed. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to think of a logical explanation for everything, but knew deep down that something far more sinister was taking place.
“Our intelligence suggests that the Guard were killed late at night,” Two explained. “Other than that, the military has no other useful information at this stage. All surveillance footage has been erased from the villa.”
Veronika looked down at the carpet. “Which means this was all done from the inside.” Her eyes became distant as she thought over the weekend's horrible events. “I noticed blood on the walls when we were recording Archibald's speech. I asked Sweeney about it, and he told me there was an attack on the villa and that it was classified. I had no idea what had taken place until yesterday afternoon. I was so busy working on the inauguration ceremony that I didn't even realise Adam and Karen were dead.”
“It's not your fault, Veronika,” Arabella said. “None of us knew. I asked Guard One to update me immediately after Sweeney was impeached, but in the midst of the ceremony it had slipped my mind. I just assumed it all went smoothly. Sweeney appeared to be an eccentric man, but none of us would have suspected him of being so dangerous.”
Veronika agreed. “It's safe to assume that Sweeney is involved in all of this. But the biggest unanswered question for me is how he was able to take out the Guard. They were all trained military personnel.”
Guard Two tried to push the image of her colleagues being slaughtered from her mind. It wasn't her place to show emotion. “These people ...” she began, hesitant of what she was about to say, “I suspect they may possess unnatural abilities.”
Arabella cocked her head. “I'm sorry?”
Two swallowed hard. “I've already informed Minister Li of my findings, but no one else knows what I saw.” She took a short breath. “One of Sweeney's people summoned what looked like ... energy.” She looked at Arabella and Veronika, who both stared at her with confusion. “I can't explain it,” she continued. “But whoever they are, they're powerful. And dangerous.”
“I don't understand,” Veronika said.
Two shrugged. “Neither do I. I don't know if what I saw was real or not. Minister Li said she'd look into it.”
Arabella looked back and forth between the pair, baffled by what she was hearing. The situation seemed to become increasingly perplexing with every passing hour. “Regardless, I've never experienced a crisis like this within the Athenian government before,” she admitted. “Like yourself, Veronika, I believe that Sweeney has carefully orchestrated everything. It's the only thing that makes any sense.”
“We should share this with the minister of defence,” Veronika suggested. “She may have information on Sweeney's whereabouts. If he has left Athenia, we need to know at once.”
“Absolutely.” Arabella pressed a button on her large desk communicator. “Jen, please call the minister of defence and send her to my office at once.”
“Yes, madam,” her counsel acknowledged.
“We need to find out where Sweeney is,” Arabella continued, “and we'll also need evidence to try him for treason. I spoke with the Ministry of Security the other day, and they informed me that Sweeney is now a permanent resident of Athenia. Therefore, he can be tried as such.” She paused and glanced out her window before speaking again. “We'll also need to determine if Archibald is directly involved in any of this. If he is, the only way we can override his authority is with strong evidence and cabinet approval.”
Veronika leaned forward in her chair. “Wait, are you suggesting the president is actually involved in all of this? Do you think he willingly ordered Adam's and Karen's deaths?”
“I couldn't say, Veronika. For our sake, I hope he is not. I've known Archibald for many years now, and I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. But for the time being, we must be vigilant, and we can't share this information with anyone other than Minister Li.”
“I'll keep this information confidential from the Guard,” Two said.
“Yes, thank you. If there's an internal conspiracy, we need to be mindful of who may be involved. I'm praying that the president is under duress, but until we're certain, we need to assume that anyone in Government House may be involved.”
Twenty minutes later, Li Xu was standing in the deputy president's office. The trio relayed to her all the information they had on what was happening inside the government. Xu listened carefully and intently, hardly surprised to hear any of it.
“None of this information is to leave this room,” Arabella instructed.
“Of course,” Xu agreed. “This needs to be dealt with carefully. If there's any truth to it, the president may just be the beginning. If these rebels have found a way to infiltrate the Athenian government, it wouldn't be hard for them to launch an internal attack against the Union. It might also explain why the president overruled my orders on Friday to have the bogeys eliminated in Shangwu.”
“What would you recommend, Ms Li?” the deputy president asked. Veronika and Two both turned and looked to Xu, eager for her input.
“I'll have my top security analysts track Sweeney
down,” she said. “He shouldn't be hard for them to find. After all, there are only so many places on the island he can hide. Also, I want to find out exactly who Sweeney is. If we're going to find any useful information on him and whoever else is involved, we'll need an expert who we know is both effective and unable to become corrupted.”
“I take it you have someone in mind.”
Xu nodded. “There's a woman I served alongside in the military. She works directly for the Union, specialising in intelligence; mostly in hacking operations. I'll speak with her immediately and have her on the next train here.”
“And you're sure she can be trusted?” Veronika asked, not wanting to damage the situation any further.
“Absolutely. She's very discreet, but none of you will be communicating with her. She'll report only to myself.”
Guard Two stood up. “What am I to do about that man posing as Guard One?”
“For the meantime, you'll need to follow his commands,” Xu said. “We can't risk having them suspicious of us, or any other staff. From this point onwards, no more questioning the president or his decisions. After all, he may be innocent in all of this, and you've all sworn an oath to serve him.”
The deputy president nodded. The prospect of a deep conspiracy was a real and terrifying thought, and had to be treated as serious as any other threat against the nation.
“What about the woman I saw?” Two asked. “The woman who summoned the energy.”
“I have an analyst searching through the surveillance footage outside the convention centre. It might take them some time to find what you're referring to. If I hear from them, I'll be in touch. If you find anything else, report it to me directly,” Xu instructed. “And please remain cautious. Don't underestimate the dangers we may face.” She opened the door and left the room, not wanting to waste another second in putting a stop to whatever was secretly taking place in Athenia.
“I still can't believe any of this is happening,” Veronika muttered to herself, disturbed by the situation at hand. “Yesterday morning I arrived at the villa for the inauguration and saw Sweeney still on the premises. I just assumed that his impeachment hadn't yet come to pass.” A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about how many of the deceased were present inside the villa at the same time as her. She had no reason to suspect that anything so horrific had taken place.
“Please don't blame yourself,” Arabella reminded her. “You were in my office when I spoke with Adam and Karen about Sweeney's possible impeachment, but you weren't to know if and when it was proceeding. We kept it as classified as possible.”
“Don't worry, Ms Gunawan. My duty is to protect the president,” Two said, her voice serious, “and I'll do whatever it takes to put a stop to Sweeney.”
Veronika smiled. “Thank you, Two.”
“We all will,” Arabella added. “We all have a duty to protect our nation and the Union, and we need to get to the bottom of this at once.”
Thirteen
Tahlia stood back by the window, peering out at the city. She was unable to sit still knowing that Sierra was only a few hundred metres away. “She's coming this way again.”
Nikolai let out an annoyed grunt from where he sat. He was busy teaching Romeo to meditate in order to calm his mind and harness his abilities. “Stop worrying. I told you, she'll never find you.”
Tahlia had tried to take his advice several times that afternoon, but the thought of Sierra slaying her was unbearably frightening. “I don't understand. She never came looking for me when we were in Athenia.”
“She's keen, my friend. She's keen to exact her vengeance after what you did to her. And rightfully so, in my opinion.”
Tahlia spun around and glared at the callous Nikolai. “Rightfully so?”
“Most definitely. You know I'm against that ridiculous war. You betrayed your own people by siding with the enemy.”
Her eyes grew dark. “I'm not waiting here to die. I'm going to find her.”
“No, you're not!” he roared, appearing in front of her. “I told you, I don't want you out there. I need you to train Jacinta.”
“No, I can't,” Juliet protested in between pants. “I'm exhausted.”
Nikolai smiled. “Very well. Perhaps it's time for a break.”
Romeo opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for a short reprieve. He stood up and stretched his arms above his head.
“I suppose I should pay my respects to Skye,” Nikolai said to himself. “I'm curious to hear his thoughts on Shizudera.” He turned to Tahlia. “Please stay here. We'll deal with Marion accordingly. Just be patient.” He then faced the young duo. “You two can wait here as well. Don't bother leaving—you won't get very far.” He walked across to the table and grabbed his sunglasses. In an instant, he vanished.
“I'm not staying here,” Tahlia scoffed. “I need some air.”
“He said not to go after Sierra,” Romeo said. Juliet shot him a perplexed glance, wondering why he actually cared if Tahlia obeyed Nikolai or not.
“I won't,” Tahlia said, rolling her eyes. “I just need to get out of this room. I hate sitting around all day with him.”
She disappeared into nothingness, leaving Juliet and Romeo alone.
“We need to leave,” she quickly suggested.
The idea caught Romeo off guard. “What? How are we possibly going to leave? Nikolai just said a moment ago that they'd find us.”
“Maybe we can call Sierra,” she said. “We can give her our location to come and help us.”
“I doubt that.”
“Well, we need to think of something,” she retorted. “We're not safe here.”
Romeo shook his head. “And do you really think we're safe back in Athenia?”
Juliet stared at him, unable to process his words. “What did you just say?”
“I said can we even go back to Athenia? Can we really trust Ren?”
Juliet's jaw dropped upon hearing his reckless thoughts. “You can not be serious. Why are you saying this? What did Nikolai tell you?”
“The truth, Juliet,” he said, looking at his junior with tired eyes. “He told me the truth about everything. He said the only reason he wants to control Athenia is to protect it and make it a safer place. But Ren and Skye had us believe that he was doing it for power. It makes me wonder if they can be trusted.”
She held her hands over her mouth and crouched to the ground, mortified by the conversation taking place. “Romeo, you've been brainwashed.”
“Have I?” He took a step closer. “Maybe you've been brainwashed by Ren. All Nikolai wants to do is rid the world of evil. Is that such a bad thing?”
Juliet stood up and shoved him backwards. “Listen to yourself!” she erupted, no longer able to keep her emotions in check. “This is exactly how he wants you to think!”
Romeo gritted his teeth. He felt his blood begin to boil with frustration. “Are you hearing yourself? You keep defending Ren, but what did she ever do to help you? She kept you confined to the warehouse every day, and then forced you to go into battle. She said she'd sacrifice any of us if it meant stopping Archie.”
She turned away, not wanting to look her friend in the eye. “What's your point? Nikolai ordered Black Dawn to kill us, so how can you possibly be taking his side?”
Romeo sighed with exhaustion, frustrated that she was unable to see things his way. “You obviously don't understand.”
“Of course I understand!” she shrieked, spinning around. “I understand that you've been a part of White Shadow for four days, and now you're trying to convince me that Nikolai is our ally. He's manipulating you, Romeo. He's turning you into his puppet.”
The young man groaned at the remark. “No more so than Ren turning you into her puppet. She used you as a tracker, and nothing more. She didn't seem to care that Echo and Tango were killed, so what makes you think she'd care if you were killed?”
The two stared at each other, both equally as agitated.
“Let's face it,” Romeo conceded, breaking the silence, “both groups are using us. There's no denying it. But at least Nikolai's training us and giving us purpose. If we go back to Ren, she'll just keep us hidden and criticise us. All she cares about is Archie, and nothing else.”
“But at least we'll live. If we stay here, we're both as good as dead. The Tianzu are going to kill everyone.”
“No,” Romeo said, stepping closer to her. “They won't kill us. We can train together and master our abilities. Nikolai told me that if you have enough ambition in life, you can accomplish anything. He believes in us, Juliet.”
She cringed and closed her eyes. They'd only been in Shizudera for a matter of hours, but Romeo was already becoming a clone of the dangerous Nikolai. “Please stop.” She walked across to the couch and slumped into it. “Coming here was a mistake.”
“Listen, I don't want to fight either. I just want peace. But sometimes you need to fight to achieve peace. What other choice do we have right now?”
Juliet buried her face in her hands. Romeo wouldn't have dared spoken as such two days ago. “I was right—you are just like Nikolai. I don't know what he told you on your walk, but clearly it was enough to brainwash you.”
“No one's brainwashing me. Have faith, Juliet. We can do this,” he continued. “We can't go back to Athenia. That's all behind us now. We have nothing to go back to.”
Juliet sighed. “Athenia's our home. We can always go back.”
“And we won't have a home if the Tianzu destroy it. Remember, they attacked us first. They're the ones who are instigating war. Whether we fight them here, or back in Athenia, they want us dead. The only chance we have of living is if we fight back. We need to learn to defend ourselves.” He knelt in front of her and looked her in the eyes. “Please stay. We need you, Juliet.”
She saw the ambition and courage in his eyes, amazed at how quickly he had changed just by being in Nikolai's presence. She didn't care to admit it, but she knew his thoughts on the Tianzu were correct; if they didn't stop them, they wouldn't have a home to return to.
Eternity's War (Books 1-3) (Eternity's War Boxsets) Page 51