Curse of Soulmate--The Complete Series
Page 65
In the capsule, after the wound healed, Ciaran had verified himself at the control panel in the capsule. It alerted the central robot, recharging the capsule and sending them straight to Sciphil Seven’s office.
Ciaran surveyed the long hallway and spotted possible locations of surveillance cameras—and possible escape routes in case things went badly. Gaia looked up at the ceiling and narrowed her eyes at a blinking surveillance camera and a strange-looking light in the area. She pointed her tiny finger at the light and flicked her fingers, giggling when the light went off.
“Gaia,” Liam warned her in the dark.
They heard the rumbling sound of someone talking at the other end of the hallway and then footsteps. The light came back on.
A group of three guards walked past. Ciaran quickly glanced at Madeline and got an approving nod, letting him know she sensed no danger from the guards.
A screen flashed on the wall, and text ran across. “Please approach the verification chamber.”
Ciaran glanced around and saw a screening chamber, similar to the scanner doors used at airports. When Sizx proceeded toward the door, Ciaran said, “Wait. Is this typical when you enter Sciphil offices in civilian districts?”
“Yes,” Sizx responded.
A thick American-accented voice came out from the speaker, “Should I escort you up here? Follow the computer prompts please.”
“Who are you?” Ciaran asked.
“The person you’ve come to see,” the voice answered.
“How do I know you are who you say you are?” Ciaran asked.
“How do I know you are the people I am supposed to receive?”
“Verify yourself first,” Ciaran said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Ciaran turned around. “We’re leaving.”
“All right, all right . . .” A stream of muttered profanity erupted from the speaker. The screen flashed the credentials of Sciphil Seven, Ralph Durant.
“Is this authentic, Sizx?” Ciaran asked.
Sizx nodded.
Ciaran verified his palm prints on a control panel. The green light flashed, and the security door pulled open for the group. Green arrows hovered in the air along the corridor to give them direction.
A short moment later, they entered a round room with multiple screens and control panels.
Sciphil Seven was a tall man with a sturdy face, short brown hair, and honest eyes. It was hard to gauge his age. But time reference seemed to be irrelevant here, Madeline thought. He approached and shook Ciaran’s hand, glancing at the whole group.
Ciaran pulled out a chair and sat down without an invitation. He waited for everyone on his side to do the same. Sciphil Seven saw the tension. He strode to the other side of the round table and seated himself.
“Well, given Ayana and Pete made a big deal of this, I’ll arrange a capsule and take you back to the Sciphil zone,” Ralph said.
“Well, it is a big deal. Madeline will go through her officiation and will be Sciphil One soon. Unless you consider your Sciphil position isn’t important, I think this is a very big deal,” Ciaran said.
Sciphil Seven smirked. “She’s your wife.”
“I wouldn’t take her any other way. She’ll soon be my first councillor. I’d imagined we’d be sitting around the same meeting table.” Ciaran leaned back in his chair.
Ralph sighed. “Whatever. I’ll take you to the Sciphil zone. Consider my pitiful duty done. Like I don’t have anything else to do, such as governing a district of more than seventy million citizens. But I won’t take civilians to the Sciphil zone.” Ralph pointed his chin toward Sizx, Liam, and Gaia.
“It might be against policy, but Liam and Gaia will go to Sciphil Central with us,” Ciaran said.
“You’re not king until after your coronation. Don’t try to order me around.”
Sizx’s hiss was audible. Sciphil Seven glanced at her and could see that she was clenching her teeth as if wishing she could grind him into dust.
“You’re actually quite glamorous when you’re not angry, civilian,” he said to Sizx.
Ciaran gestured Sizx’s silence as he could tell she was about to fly over the table to tackle Sciphil Seven.
“Sizx is not a civilian. If you care for your government, you should know she is the head of the central intelligence, which could not only overtake your district’s system but also overwrite everything if she found your system to be inferior and inefficient.”
“Her? Head of the intelligence system of Eudaiz? I don’t think so,” Ralph said.
Sizx sprang to her feet and shrieked, “Who are you to say? You are the one who tipped off Ciaran’s capsule’s position to the Black Rock. You’re the mole!”
Ralph stood. “You’re the mole, lady. I’ve been in my office, and I’m verified and have full access. On the contrary, no head of the intelligence system would run around in civilian areas. Plus, you’re Eudaizian. Ayana wouldn’t appoint natives to take on such important positions.”
“She is eighty percent Eudaizian.”
Ralph smirked. “It’s the twenty percent that counts. Bad news for you, sweetheart. I’ve just spoken to the central intelligence system. And I’m sure it wasn’t you I talked to. Now, do I have to beat the truth out of you, or will you volunteer the information about who hired you?”
Ralph approached Sizx. Ciaran kicked his chair so it skidded out from under the table and stopped right in front of Ralph.
Chapter 19
The ground floor of the District Seven civilian office shook with footsteps. Eudaizian soldiers and robotic soldiers rushed toward their bunkers. An officer shouted into the communicator, “Sciphil Seven, please respond, sir! Emergency!”
There was no signal on his machine. He angrily smashed it into the wall and hurried toward the stairs. He pushed the door in, but his body was carried back out, dangling on the claw of a gigantic crab-like creature.
Madeline pressed her sword against Ralph’s throat. “There is no need for a fight. And there is no need for my husband to move a finger, either. He’s your king, and you are to do what you’re told. Your district is a huge mess, and still you sit here with noses in the air, accusing people.”
“Lady . . .”
“I’m not a lady. I am a Sciphil One-to-be. And as Ciaran’s wife, I’d consider myself your Queen-to-be. If you don’t have such a position in Eudaiz, let’s create one.”
“The mole is the blue hair behind you. You’re making a big mistake,” Ralph said.
“Well, we haven’t seen any evidence of her betraying us. On the contrary, she almost died saving us. And while we were out and about in your civilian area, we found concrete evidence of Black Rock spies . . . and chaos,” Ciaran said.
“That’s total bullshit. Nothing came across in my reports,” Ralph snarled.
Ciaran continued, “In those glowing reports of yours, I speculate that there is no information on the number of guards marching around the streets in the name of Eudaizian protection who are actually Black Rock creatures. We killed more than twenty of them on the way here.”
“That’s a lie.”
“The bodies of those Black Rock creatures evaporated and can no longer be found in your system, but Niw Hance’s body is still at a rail station behind a side wall. Why don’t you go see for yourself?” Ciaran pointed at Liam and Gaia. “He lost his father, and she lost her grandfather. In the blink of an eye, right in the center of the place that you say promises happiness. What do you say to that?”
Ralph stood up. “That’s not possible.”
Ciaran snatched Ralph and spun him back to where he had been. Gaia tried to subdue her crying, but tears still rolled down her face.
Before Ralph could say anything further, sirens and alarms rang throughout the building.
“What the fuck is that?” Ralph yelped.
“Now you’re under attack. Call your head of security,” Ciaran said dryly.
Ralph ran to the control panel at the
corner of the room, yelling, “Security! Answer me! Security!”
No response.
Ciaran took his beam-proof vest off and shoved it at Liam. “Wrap Gaia up.” Then he rushed to the doorway, glanced down the corridor, and closed the door. He checked his guns.
Ralph frantically worked the control panel. “None of my staff are responding.”
“They’re dead,” Sizx mumbled.
“Not possible,” Ralph protested.
An explosion echoed up from downstairs, shaking the building.
“How many guards do you have here?” Ciaran asked.
“One hundred and eighty.”
“Why don’t I hear any movement?”
Ralph pulled at his hair. “Don’t tell me they’re all gone!”
Ciaran shook his head. “Is this room sealed?”
Ralph nodded.
“Where’s your capsule? We have to get out of here.”
“Upstairs. But I’m not going anywhere until I sort this out. My guards are heavily armed. I have to check on my people.”
“All right, you lead the way. I’ll back you,” Ciaran said. “Madeline and Sizx, please watch Liam and Gaia. And please stay in this meeting room until we’re back.”
Ralph pushed the side door open and stormed out into a long corridor. Another explosion came from the far end downstairs, rattling the building again. They scanned the corridor and found no one. Racing through it, they turned a corner into a wide wing that appeared to lead to a capsule station. In front of them, the doors to compartments and chambers had been flung open, and dead guards littered the floor.
Ralph darted toward a body sprawling on the floor, half in and half out of a compartment.
“My head of security,” he sighed.
The upper half of the officer’s body was covered in holes, steam still escaping the wounds.
“Black beams. I took one this morning. It wasn’t pleasant,” Ciaran said.
“What’s that?” Ralph asked.
“They have the properties of laser beams but are made up largely of dark energy.”
Ralph pulled officer’s body out of the compartment. “Seriously? My people have been killed, and you’re telling me they were shot by magic bullets? How the fuck am I supposed to deal with that?”
“It’s not magic. It’s dark matter, a relatively unknown substance in the multiverse. You’re a Sciphil. Haven’t you ever questioned how you can travel between universes or what they’re made of?”
“I don’t really care.” He continued to drag the body. Ciaran pulled him away.
“We have to leave,” Ciaran said.
“There are others. Down at the guard center. I have to check on them.”
“They didn’t respond to your call. They’re gone, Ralph,” Ciaran said.
Ralph swung toward a wing on their right. Ciaran grabbed him. “Where’re you going?”
“Control room. Weapons and access to the capsule terminals are in there. We have to clear it.” He shrugged Ciaran’s grip off and ran. Ciaran followed him. They found two flying bugs waiting for them in front of the control room.
“Get down.” Ciaran flew at Ralph and squashed him down before the two robots sprayed black beams at them. The beams punched holes in the floor, and two of them cut into Ciaran’s shoulder.
Ciaran pulled his guns and shot at the flying robots. The guns had no effect. The robots were approaching Ciaran and Ralph again.
“Withdraw. Hurry!” Ciaran said. He stood up and retreated.
END OF SAMPLE
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Curse of Soulmate
The Multiverse Collection
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