Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) (4 page)

Chapter Five: Internal Confession

And
God knew that His time was limited, so God created man in his own image after
the manner of flesh; male and female created he them. He didst infuse part of
His divinity into man that His legacy might live on in another form…

– Methuselah 5:7 –

Lily
Thatcher yawned in the early dawn light and threw on a bathrobe. She had gotten
in late after extracting Jason from MGE Headquarters. Her mind wandered as she
thought about how she should answer Allan’s proposal, and she felt a flutter of
excitement followed by a pang of guilt. She wanted more than anything to be
able to say yes, but she would need permission first from her commanding
officer. She cringed as she tried to imagine how she would approach the issue.
No matter how many scenarios she tried to play out in her mind, she knew he
wouldn’t be happy about the arrangement.

Entering
the study just off of the living room of her apartment, she sat down at her
desk. She reached under it and flipped open a small panel where she placed her
index finger on a scanner. With a beep, the wall before her slid to the left
with a whirr and revealed a large screen. With a click, a keyboard unfolded and
extended toward her.

She
entered her credentials, and the symbol for the National Security Agency
appeared on the screen. She waited in queue as other stragglers completed their
morning reports. After several minutes, the screen flashed and her commanding
officer appeared.

“Agent
Wilson.” he acknowledged, referring to her real name and title.

“Commander
Arlington.” she nodded, “I reprogrammed Allan’s phone yesterday as you instructed.”

“Good.”
he nodded, “His GFID Nano-chips just fried again early this morning.”

“Again?”
she stammered, “How many times has it been this month?”

“Too
many.” he sighed heavily, “I just don’t understand it. We were monitoring his
vital signs this morning and the Nano-chips reported a state of anxiety. Right
before he woke up we tracked a huge surge of energy just before all six Nano-chips
fried simultaneously. You have to get this problem under control. We’re quickly
running out of excuses to inject him!”

“I’m
sorry commander, but I don’t understand it either.” she cringed as she thought
about the likely reason why Allan had woken up in a state of anxiety, “I’ll
make sure he gets scheduled an appointment for a ‘forgotten’ vaccination. What
about Timur though?”

She
could hear him clicking away at his keyboard, “No, his are fine. For now.”

“When
is Allan’s meeting with Timur?”

“Still
at 9:00 AM, as we planned.”

“Let’s
make sure that nothing gets in the way of their meeting. It’s crucial that we
monitor any exchange they might have. We need to find out how they are
disabling our tracking devices.”

“Yes,
sir.” she agreed.

His
eyebrow then furrowed, “Agent Miller told me about your encounter last night.”

“Yes.”
she nodded, “I was able to extract Jason without difficulty.”

“I
was referring to Allan’s proposal.”

She
fidgeted only slightly, “You don’t need to worry about me. My emotions are in
check.”

He
eyed her suspiciously, “Did you accept?”

“No
sir. I deflected the question until I received further instructions.”

“Good.”
he nodded, “Now go back and accept.”

“
Sir?
”

“We
think he’s testing you. He may be on to who you are. If he thinks you’re one of
us, he may question your commitment to the relationship.”

“How
far do you want me to go?” she pressed.

“As
far as it takes.” he explained, “Try for a later engagement, obviously. But for
now, go back and tell him that you had a rough day at work and you are sorry.
Maybe plan a make-up dinner date or something. Propose back to him.”

“Yes
sir.” she forced herself not to smile.

“We
anticipate that this case should be wrapped up in the next few months.”

Lily
was confused, “But sir? What about the wedding?”

His
eyebrows furrowed, “There won’t be one, of course.”

Her
stomach fell and her mind went blank. She opened her mouth to speak, but no
words came out.

Commander
Arlington raised his eyebrows as he observed her reaction, “Is there a problem,
Agent Wilson?”

“No,
no…” she stammered, “Of… of course not.”

He
eyed her suspiciously, “Have you developed romantic feelings for your subject?”

“No
sir.” she shook her head adamantly, “You hired me for my acting skills,
remember?”

He
studied her for a few minutes before responding, “Good, because you should
consider him as the potential threat that he is. Now, once we wrap up this case
I have a special mission that I’ve been considering for you.”

“What
kind of mission?”

“It
would involve you leading a task force, but it would require your relocation
across state lines.” he explained, “So obviously I can’t endorse a wedding that
would restrict you to Chicago.”

“I
understand your concerns, sir.” she saluted, “But my loyalties are with the
Agency. If you feel the need to reassign me, please do. I don’t want you to
have any reservations.”

Commander
Arlington studied her for a few more minutes before he let out a sigh. He
returned her salute, and the screen flashed the NSA symbol.

She
looked away from the screen, and the implications of this conversation finally
met her at full force. She was ecstatic about the idea of leading a task force,
but at the same time she didn’t expect how hard the guilt would hit her when she
found herself alone. This assignment had been a particularly difficult one.
Though her training had taught her never to get attached to a subject, she
could feel her heart aching with guilt. She knew she had truly fallen in love
with Allan, a fact that she could never reveal to her commander.

A
tear rolled down her cheek unexpectedly as she signed out of the console. She
wiped her cheek as the keyboard folded itself and the wall whirred back into
place. Memories flooded her mind from the past three years of their lives
together, fused with emotional pain. Allan not only loved her, but he trusted
her. Sometimes she feared that he trusted her too much.

She
wanted nothing more than to imagine that her life with Allan over the past
three years had been influenced by fate and that they would live happily ever
after, but she knew better.

There
were so many lies she had told him; too many obstacles they would have to
overcome if she ever told him the truth. She wished she could take it all back,
that she never had taken the assignment in the first place… but she was in far
too deep now.

Chapter Six: Attorney-Client Privilege

When
the Leviathan discovered divinity within man, it became desirous to subdue
them: for no creature had ever been endowed with such power or glory. But God
blessed the earth insomuch that the Leviathan was unable to penetrate the
firmament…

–
Methuselah 5:8 –

Allan pulled up to the
guard tower in front of the parking terrace in his obsidian Ferrari F430
Spider. As the gate lifted, Allan revved his engine a few times. The guard
delightfully held this thumbs up in approval as Allan screeched past.

Allan smirked to
himself as he circled up the ramp to the upper levels of the structure. After
climbing out of his car, he ran his hand along the sleek contours and curves in
admiration. She was his pride and joy, and his greatest fear was that he might
miss a payment and risk her repossession.

Though it had taken
several years to develop, today Allan would finally nail down his biggest
securities contract with Mr. Demyan. The residual income to follow would get
him back on track and he could give Lily the kind of life she deserved,
assuming of course she accepted his pending proposal. With all the massive
debts he owed, he needed this contract desperately to get him out of this rut.

It’s not like I’m lying
to her. There are just some things she’s better off not knowing.

As he parked, his
thoughts returned to Jason’s troubling message.

So he’s stumbled across
some disturbing information that involves one of my firm’s clients? What would
be so disturbing that he would need to immediately speak with me in private
after years of silence?

Curiosity getting the
better of him, he made his way to the elevator. Buckingham Fountain was only a
few blocks away. As he crossed the street and entered Grant Park, he could see
the first rays of sun beginning to reach into the sky. The lights of the city
still glowed brightly behind him as he approached the lit-up fountain.

The park was eerily
silent. Not even the snore of a vagabond disturbed the early morning air.
Despite the silence however, he couldn’t help but sense that he was being
watched.

Cut it out. You’re
being paranoid.

He continued through to
the center of the park, briefcase in hand. Just past the bushes to his right,
he thought he saw movement. Stopping in his tracks, he stared into the dark.

“Hello?” he spoke
warily, “Is that you, Jason?”

Silence.

Shaking it off, he
continued with a brisker step toward the fountain. The visions of the previous
night were coming back to haunt him. Every night this past week he had felt
trapped as he struggled to escape from similar nightmares.

He made it to the
fountain without incident, and circled around the grand structure. The center
spring shot high into the air and sprayed upon the cascading turrets. Light
fell on the carved statues of fish and jumping seahorses that stood out from
the water. Not too far ahead of him, he could identify the silhouette of a man
sitting on a bench closer to the lake.

Allan approached
cautiously, “Jason?”

The man stood, “I’m afraid
Jason won’t be joining us today.”

Allan immediately
recognized the cane and slight limp in the man’s step.

“Mister Demyan?” Allan
stammered in confusion, “I thought we were meeting in a few hours?”

“I’m afraid we’ll have
to postpone that.” Timur spoke as he cocked his handgun.

Allan threw up his
hands in shock and staggered backwards, “Wha...”

“What else did Jason
tell you?”

“He didn’t... didn’t
tell me... didn’t tell me anything.” Allan stammered.

“I don’t like people
who lie to me.”

“All he said... he said
that one of my clients...” the realization dawned on him, “You?”

“That’s what I was
afraid of.” Timur sighed heavily as he aimed his handgun, “It’s a shame I have
to kill you now.”

“Wait!”

But it was too late.
Allan heard the hiss from the silencer and his body was thrown backward with
the piercing bullet. Allan sucked in a rasping, painful breath as his hands
instinctively covered the gaping hole in his chest. As he lay there on the
pavement, he became aware of a silver aura of light surrounding him.

Still conscious, Allan
looked up in horror at the sickly green light emanating from Timur’s horrendous
eyes. The pain was excruciating, and his breathing slowed with each raspy gasp.
From the tip of the pistol Allan saw a spark as another bullet fired from the
weapon. He closed his eyes in terror. He heard several more bullets pop off,
and yet Allan didn’t feel them pierce his body.

“Impossible!” Timur
shrieked as he shot off the remaining rounds until he heard the audible click
of unsuccessful attempts.

Allan knew he must be
dead when he opened his eyes. Multiple spinning bullets hovered in the air just
inches away from his face. When Allan registered the look of confusion on Timur’s
face, the bullets clacked to the ground as the silver aura of light surrounding
him dissipated and the pain in his chest began to recede.

Timur tossed the gun
aside in frustration. He raised one arm in the sky toward the rising sun and
aimed the other at Allan. The green glow of his eyes burned brighter, and with
a flash, a beam of white light burst from his extended fist. Allan shrieked in
pain with the searing of his flesh.

As the smoldering heat
washed over him, Allan felt a different kind of warmth emanating from his core.
An aura of silver light ballooned around him, shielding him from the inferno
blasting from Timur’s fist. The excruciating pain subsided and he stopped
screaming. Timur however began to shriek in rage.

The blinding light stopped
flowing from Timur’s fist, and he instead raised both hands high in the air.
Shadows all around them began to stretch and grow ominously. Several tentacles
reached out from a shadow behind the bushes to Allan’s left. The shadows had
taken tangible form, and the dark tentacles grabbed Allan by his ankles.

Allan screamed in
terror as he kicked uselessly against his attacker and the tentacles dragged
him into the heart of the shadow. His stomached dropped as he felt himself
falling into a thick darkness. He tried to scream, but he couldn’t find his
voice.

He landed violently on
a thick floor of concrete. He shook his head, feeling disoriented in the large
dimly-lit chamber that was fitted with a mass array of plumbing. Wandering
around the chamber were about twenty cloaked men.

They turned their
attention to Allan’s crash landing, and then they all made a humble bow when Timur
appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.

“Rise!” he shouted and
pointed at Allan, “We have a problem.”

“Who is this, your
holiness?” one of the cloaked men spoke up.

“An abomination.” he
seethed in fury, “Take him to a cell.”

Rough hands seized him
from all sides. Allan uselessly struggled against the overpowering force as he
was dragged deeper into the chamber. He tried to scream for help, but his voice
was cut off by a massive hand. He thrashed about, and bit as hard as he could.

He felt a loud crack
hit the back of his head, and a searing pain followed. That was the last thing
he remembered before he was knocked out cold.