Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter Seven: Incriminating Evidence

And
God blessed man, and God said unto them, I have fortified this world against
the influence of the Leviathan. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over every living thing that moveth
upon it…

–
Methuselah 6:17 –

Modeled after the Medieval
Era, Timur’s entire penthouse reminded him of his earlier livelihood. Every
expense had been made to beautify and perfect it with handmade crown moldings,
hand sown curtains, and carefully crafted furniture. Every room was decked out
to look like a palace fit for a king.

He stared out at the
brilliant orange reflection on the water as the sun continued to rise. It was
about 7:52 AM, and the morning traffic was just beginning to fill the streets
below. It wouldn’t be long now before someone would find Jason’s body, and the
police would begin an investigation. Having stepped through his own shadow, he
was able to return to his penthouse instantaneously. At any moment he knew that
his Chief Operations Officer would be arriving with the company’s Daily Brief.

As
he sat on his porch, he booted up his laptop and inserted the thumb drive that
he had taken from Jason. It was of a peculiar design, with little patches of
blue that had been painted on the white background. It was shaped like a trash
can with a half-spherical lid and feet sticking out the bottom. Now that he
studied it, he realized that it looked like some silly robot from the nineteen-eighties.

He
opened the contents of the thumb drive, and to his relief the drive hadn’t been
password protected. There were two files. The first was a surveillance video
taken nearly five years ago. Timur watched the scene in horror.

How
did he get this?

As
he watched the old footage, he recognized himself aiming his gun at the late
NSA agent Michael Thornton.

“But
I did everything you asked!” Michael panicked with his hands raised high above
his head in surrender, “I presented your blueprints as my own, and they took
the bait! We’re in the Beta testing stage now!”

“Yes,
you served your purpose well.” Timur watched himself smile as he cocked his
gun, “But I can’t take any chances. I’ve worked too hard for this. Letting you
live is too much of a risk.”

Michael
turned to flee, but it was too late. A gunshot rang out, and Michael’s body
spun from the force of the bullet and he collapsed in a bloody heap.

Timur
stared at the blank screen
in shock
for several minutes.

Who
else has seen this footage?!

He
was irate as he
opened
the second file stored on the thumb drive. As he had suspected, they were the
blueprints he had drafted many years ago for the Gamma-Frequency Identification
(GFID) Nano-chips that the National Security Agency (NSA) had developed under
the guise that Michael Thornton had invented the technology.

The
technology was similar in nature to Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID),
however these Nano-chips had a much greater frequency range and the technology
was microscopic in nature. What disturbed him the most however was the
timestamp from when the file had been pulled. It indicated the author as Timur,
and it had been accessed from his company’s primary server last night.

Having developed the
world’s largest data and web encryption agency with his bare hands, eight years
ago Motif Global Encryption, Inc. (MGE) dominated and monopolized the entire
commercialized encryption industry when they introduced their newest software
that implemented a previously considered impossible technology called “Rotating
Cleartext Encryption” (RCE). For the past decade, hackers around the world
seemed to disappear off the face of the planet. Timur’s RCE code had been
labeled ‘unhackable’.

This new RCE technology
entirely crippled the directives of the NSA, thus forcing the US Government to
adopt MGE as a pseudo security agency. Meanwhile, several public outcries
against the NSA’s more recent actions had also put them under heavy scrutiny.
As a result, the US Government publicly announced that it would be dismantling
the agency. Timur’s sources however told him that the message to the public had
been a lie and that in truth the NSA had instead gone underground both
literally and figuratively.

How
much does Allan know?

He stood with his cane
and approached the railing with a slight limp. Timur Demyan was both insidious
and intelligent. After multiple mergers and acquisitions, he had created MGE
with hard work, multiple lawyers and a lifetime’s worth of deceit and treachery
to rise above corporate America. Now that he was so close to accomplishing his
most sinister of plans, nobody was going to stop him. Especially not an
insignificant washout like Allan Young.

I
can’t let this information get out. I’ve worked far too hard for this. I don’t
care how many lives I have to take!

In a different time he
was once a very powerful man in Persia where he was revered and simultaneously
feared by thousands. Donned with the most expensive of apparel, his many
conquests had caused the deaths of up to seventeen million people. He intended
to conquer the whole of China as well, but just before he could make his move
he was dragged away to another world.

I won’t let it happen
again.

“Master Tamerlane?” his
butler called out suddenly.

Timur cringed. He had
always despised diminutive alterations of names, especially the modern form of his
moniker ‘Timur the lame’.

“I thought I told you never
to call me that!” he snapped.

“My apologies, your
Holiness.” the butler bowed reverently, “Lily is here to see you.”

“Send her in.” he huffed
and closed the lid of his laptop.

He had initially hired
Lily Thatcher nearly five years ago as a summer intern for his cryptology
department. She was young, intelligent, and exceptionally attractive. After she
had demonstrated her prowess and analytical skills, he offered her full time
employment with the company. She graciously accepted, and had proven herself
over the years through multiple promotions. Today, she now stood second in
command of the company.

“Good morning.” Lily
stepped out onto the patio and her eyes fell on the laptop, “Well, well. Would
you look at that! I never knew you were a Star Wars fan?”

“Star wars?” a look of
confusion crossed Timur’s face as he tightened his robe around him, “What’s
that?”

She pointed, “Your
thumb drive. It’s shaped like R2D2.”

“Oh, that.” he uncomfortably
unplugged the thumb drive from the USB port and snapped the robot’s head back
on, “It was a gift.”

After exchanging
pleasantries, she launched into her report. She announced the company’s
continual rise in stock values, recent mergers, and overall company wealth. As
she began to droll over statistics and charts, Timur found himself drowning out
her words as he took in her slender build. Once again he had become distracted
by her alluring beauty.

“My, you look stunning
this morning.” his mind refused to focus as he stared at her ample bosom.

She caught his eyes and
stood abruptly, “Stop it Timur. We’ve been through this already.”

“Can you blame me?” he
huffed, “You come here all dolled up, and really expect me not to notice? Come
on now, Lily! I’m a man.”

Though he had attempted
many times to lure Lily into a romantic relationship, he learned quickly that
her intentions were strictly professional. This frustrated him to no end, for
she seemed to be the one and only woman in the world who wasn’t attracted to
him nor to his wealth.

“I’ll see you in the
office.” she seethed as she packed up her briefcase.

“I’m sorry Lily.” he
sighed, “Please continue.”

“Only on one condition.”
her eyes narrowed, “Going forward you must keep your eyes locked on mine.”

“Are you really going
to throw a fit over his?” he rolled his eyes.

She stared at him for a
moment in decision and then slid a small stack of paperwork and a pen towards
him, “This is the Jackson-Stanley merger. I need you to read over it for
accuracy, and then sign the last page.”

Flipping to the back he
signed it absently, “As thorough as you are, I’m confident that you already
reviewed it for me.”

“Yes, I did.” she
sighed in disapproval, “Do you want me to come back later? You seem rather
distracted.”

“No, no. I’m fine.”

I just don’t know what
to do about Allan.

Killing him was
obviously out of the question. The moment the first bullet dislodged from his
gun, Timur envisioned Lily crying into his shoulder seeking consolation. That
dream however was suddenly aborted the instant he saw the silver aura of light
enshroud his opponent and protect Allan from the attempt. Timur was seriously
troubled by this new development, for he had been under the impression that
only he possessed such powers, and that he was the last of the line of Seraphim.

Unless that pathetic old
man lied to me.

Tucked away
in his personal dungeon was an elderly man who had plagued his efforts his
entire life. It was he who had obliterated Timur’s efforts to conquer the world.
After dragging Timur away to the other world and trapping him there, the old
man had returned to Timur’s empire in Persia and falsified his death. Soon
thereafter, Timur’s eldest sons replaced him and corrupted his plans with their
laziness and greed. It was many years before Timur managed to escape, and by
then all of his efforts had gone to waste.

“Moving on,” she
stammered, “Let’s review today’s agenda...”

“Actually, that reminds
me.” he interrupted, “I need you to cancel my appointment with Allan.”

“But...” suddenly her face
fell as she struggled to remain professional, “...I don’t think that’s wise.”

“Don’t even start with
me.” he huffed, “You’re too close to this to have a true opinion.”

She stared at him
indignantly.

“I know he’s a close
friend of your’s...”

“Boyfriend.” she
corrected.

“Right.” he seethed.

“Like I said,” she
continued, “I don’t think...”

“I’m not ready to sign
the contract.” he interrupted, “I don’t feel right about it.”

She stared at him a
moment, “And your reasoning is?”

“No reason.” he
insisted.

“All right.” she
steamed, “I’ll call and let him know.”

“Just leave the rest of
the Daily Brief.” he insisted, “I’ll see you downstairs in the office later.”

With a look of utter
consternation on her face, she stood without a word and stormed back into his
penthouse.

“Don’t be so hot-headed,
Lily!” he bellowed after her.

She slammed the door
without another word.

Chapter Eight: False Accusations

And
God commanded man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thine bodies shalt surely be corrupted
with blood and death…

–
Methuselah 6:18 –

Lily punched the button
to the elevator and fidgeted impatiently. She felt extremely agitated, and
desired nothing more than to throw something. When the elevator arrived, she
was relieved that it was empty. After boarding, she waited for the doors to
fully shut before releasing a shriek of frustration intermixed with anger. She
knew she shouldn’t let it get to her, but each time Timur postponed this
contract it caused several weeks’ worth of surveillance work to go to waste.

Her cell phone then
made a distinct chime and vibrated briefly in her pocket. She recognized the
sound, and quickly pulled it out and swiped the pattern for the security lock.
On the screen a short message appeared from a blocked number:

“NEW DEVELOPMENT: REPORT TO HEADQUARTERS IMMEDIATELY.”

After a few seconds the
message disappeared, having been remotely deleted after successful confirmation
of receipt. Lily stared at her phone in confusion as the elevator’s door opened
on level C of the subterranean garage.

They want me to go to
the agency? I haven’t been there in years.

Leaving the garage, she
pulled out onto Wacker Drive. A long shadow from the skyscraper followed her.
The building was much taller than the Sears Tower that had long ago occupied
the same address. Sears had been one of the first mergers Timur had ever
obtained, having promised to restore the crumbling company with all of their
subsidiaries. The instant the paperwork was finalized however, he immediately
set about tearing down the historical landmark despite a multitude of protests.
Two years later the headquarters for MGE was born, changing the Chicago skyline
forever.

After entering the John
C. Kluczynski Federal Building downtown, she took a coin and forced the
elevator’s keyhole labeled ‘Fire Service’ to turn past the ‘on’ slot to an
unmarked position. A panel then popped out, and she leaned her face forward to
allow the retina scanner to verify her identity. After the laser beam swept
past her cornea, a green LED light lit up with confirmation and the elevator
immediately plummeted to the
true
subterranean basement. Not even the
FBI Agents within the building knew it existed.

As the doors swung
open, she was not prepared for the sight she beheld. There were agents
everywhere reviewing schematics on large screens, conversing so heavily that
there was a general hum as she stepped out onto the floor. It was the busiest
she’d ever seen it.

From across the room
Commander Arlington sat at his desk staring at his monitor with a forehead
creased with worry. He looked up and met her eyes with a knowing look, and gestured
to her to join him. After closing the door, Commander Arlington didn’t even
greet her with the normal pleasantries.

“Have you spoken with
Allan since your report this morning?” he asked abruptly.

“Actually, no. I haven’t
been able to get ahold of him.” she explained, “What’s going on?”

He stared at his
computer screen absently for several minutes. The silence was disturbing.

He finally locked eyes
with her and delivered the news, “Allan never arrived at the office. We tracked
his phone and found it discarded at the scene of a crime.”

“What kind of crime?”
her eyebrows tensed as she leaned forward in her chair.

“First degree murder.”

“What?!”

“The suspect left with
the murder weapon, and all of the evidence indicates that Allan was there at
the time the victim was killed.” his voice was strained, “To your knowledge,
does Allan own a gun?”

“Yes, he does.” she
spoke concerned, “But I’ve never seen him carry it outside of the house.”

He spoke with a heavy
heart, “The victim was one of our agents.”

A look of shock fell
across her face, “Who was it?”

“Jason Bridger.”

The horror hit her so
hard that she felt like she had gotten shot in the chest. During her last year
of school she completed a year of covert training with the NSA. Jason Bridger
was in her training class, and they shared a common attraction for each other.
After a few months of dating however, she successfully infiltrated Motif Global
Encryption (MGE) by getting hired on as a cryptographer. Jason stayed in
California while she was shipped off to Illinois, so their romantic interests
had to be put on hold. She was young and devastated, but they promised to find
each other after they completed their assignments. As the years passed she
utilized all of her skills to move to the top of MGE and became the NSA’s
primary source of inside information. Her romantic arrangement with Jason had
all but been forgotten.

A concerned look
crossed his face as he studied her reaction to the news, “Did you know him?”

A tear escaped and rolled
down her cheek, “Yes. I did.”

“Has Allan ever talked
about Jason before?”

“No, why?”

“Apparently they were
roommates in college. They were friends for years until they were both arrested
just before their graduation.” he leaned back in his chair, “I don’t know how
our analytics department missed that when we started Allan’s surveillance.”

“Why did they get
arrested?” she queried as she wiped her eyes.

“For brawling in
public. Apparently they got in a fight over the same girl.” he shook his head
in disgust, “From what we can tell, they haven’t spoken since.”

She met his gaze with a
blank stare as she forced herself to swallow her emotions.

“I had hoped that maybe
you might be able to shed some light as to why they met up today?”

She shook her head in
distress, “I honestly don’t know.”

“As I feared.” he
sighed, “Jason never turned in his report after his operation. We pulled the history
from Jason’s terminal, and his most recent activity was focused on the MGE
Surveillance Project.”

Her eyebrows furrowed
in confusion, “Does he even have the proper security clearance to access those
files?”

“No, he doesn’t.” he
shook his head, “His operation yesterday was a simple data extraction, but he
never turned in the crucial evidence we needed. We suspect that his killer must
have taken it.”

“Wait...” she scrunched
her freckled nose, “if he didn’t have the proper clearance, then how did he...”

“He logged in with your
credentials from his terminal.” his face grew tighter. “Something he should
only have been able to get from you. What exactly did you discuss with him
yesterday?”

“You’re not suggesting
I gave him my access codes, are you?” her shoulders squared.

He studied her reaction
for several minutes, and then relaxed his composure, “No. You wouldn’t do that.
I suspect he went rogue and was trying to tip off Allan to your true identity.”

“But why would he do
that?”

“Rage? Jealousy?” he guessed,
“We really don’t know.”

“You don’t really think
Allan killed him, do you?”

“I’m afraid we don’t
have any other suspects. His blood was also found at the scene of the crime.”
he frowned, “And suspiciously he’s nowhere to be found.”

“Allan’s wounded?!” her
voice shot up an octave.

“It appears he may be.”
he raised a suspicious eyebrow, “He did lose a significant amount of blood,
however he hasn’t admitted himself to any of the local hospitals.”

“I’ve got to go find
him!”

“I already have our top
agents on it.” he shook his head in disapproval, “And I need you to accept this
situation for what it really is. Allan is a dangerous fugitive. He
intentionally disabled his GFID Nano-chips this morning, and then killed one of
our agents. How much more does he know about us? About you?”

“With all due respect
sir,” she huffed, “how does that make any sense to you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Has it occurred to you
that Allan might be innocent?”

“I don’t follow. “

“What if there’s another
suspect we’re overlooking?” she suggested, “What if a third person killed
Jason, and then abducted Allan after wounding him?”

Arlington stared at her
aghast, “That’s a bit far-fetched.”

“But it is possible,
right?” she pleaded.

He shook his head in disapproval,
“I believe my original assessment was correct. You’ve gotten too close to your
subject and your opinion is skewed.”

“Just give me a chance
and I’ll prove his innocence!” she panicked.

“I’ve already given you
enough chances, Agent Wilson.” his eyes narrowed as he handed her a manila
envelope, “I am removing you from the MGE Surveillance Project. I will allow
you until tomorrow morning to gather what you need, and then you will report to
Gate C of O’Hare International Airport where you will be briefed on your next
assignment.”

She tried to protest
but he only pointed her to his door, “You are excused.”

She stood and saluted
him with a blank stare. Despite the agony in her heart, she had to stay the
course. She felt as though she no longer knew who she was inside. She had
adored her life as Lily, but in just a mere second it had suddenly come
screeching to a halt. She longed to be the woman Allan believed she was. She
longed to tell him the truth, but knew it would only put his life in jeopardy
and likely land herself in a federal penitentiary. It killed her inside to know
that Allan would never understand why she had to leave him.