The Post-Humans (Book 1): The League (27 page)

“This stuff blows my mind.” Athan rubbed at his eyes. “Okay, so what are these old pre-human experiments about? And why do they concern me?”

“Only some are a concern. The Shadow Folk, the things that go bump in the night. They have have lived alongside humanity since the beginning, some were destroyed by humans long ago, some still thrive. The dark ones are always so much more shy. They are called dark for a reason. goblins, vampires, wolfmen and trolls. Simple names that western civilization has tagged them with, but they are everywhere in many forms. Some without names. Entire races that live in the shadows of your own.”

“That’s fantasy stuff, surely not…”

“Where do you think the stories came from? They disappear into the dark crevices of the world and when the Gemini are born they are drawn together where your power makes the fabric of reality shiver. They are real, Athan. Those things you saw in that picture were cabalus. Goblins.”

“They looked like junkies.”

“These creatures hide in plain sight sometimes. You may have seen them, ugly and deformed in an alley amongst the homeless, or living amongst the poverty stricken. They feed on the street people when it is dark, and people that were forgotten, disappear. Vampires are similar, but they can look very human, and prey on people the same way. Humans are a food source. They were made with the expectation that these things would die off after awhile and be forgotten by the evolving race of men. But they held on, and found they could live alongside you if they fed off you.”

“Oh, gross.” Athan shook his head. “Don’t the authorities track these things down?”

“I guess. They used to, when people were more aware and fearful of such things. The Post-Humans were always the hunters of these creatures. Van Helsing was a famous Post-Human hunter of these creatures and Jack Lorde of course. He began hunting them during a Gemini Anomaly. That’s when most Post-Human groups have assembled to hunt these things. It’s the only time when the creatures gather in numbers.”

“So, let me summarise. Me and this other evil guy are part of something called the Gemini Anomaly, and it involves the universe being pulled out of shape, so I have to get rid of this guy. Also, everything in every dimension feeds off humans.”

“Check. I mean…what? Not everything.”

“The Blind, the goblins and vampires…you.”

The secretary held up his hands defensively. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. That isn’t true. We are sustained by your memory and imagination. It’s a symbiosis. The Blind are physically affecting the people they feed off and the others… Well, they are in your plane and they like the taste of your meat. Far more threatening.”

Athan blinked at the secretary who smiled back.

“Right then.” Athan sat back and closed his eyes. “So the evil guy has made a deal with soul sucking demons so that he gets rich and leaves the population of earth weak and pathetic. And this means demons getting through into our universe will ruin everything between multiple universes. So we have to plug this gate.”

“Yup.” The secretary gave him thumbs up with a reddish skeletal hand.

“And not only are we contending with the PHC and an evil corporation, but there are vampires and werewolves and goblins too! I don’t even know how you kill these things. Silver, stakes, crucifixes?”

“I think the usual ways should be okay. It’s been a while since people were out to kill them on purpose. They were a little more paranoid and wrapped up in tradition and mythology back then.” The secretary said crossing his bony arms.

“But aren’t creatures like these the source of mythology?”

“Touché.” The being smiled his weird toothy smile again. “We would be so grateful.”

“Yeah I bet. How am I going to get the other guys to believe any of this? You do realise that I will be going back wounded to meet the people I’m working with and telling them a whole lot of mythological mumbo jumbo.”

“Well thanks to our friends here, you are not wounded anymore…”

Athan looked at his bandaged arm and torso. He shrugged and rubbed the sore spots.

Nothing.

There was no pain in his wounds. They were completely healed.

“Well, okay. I am impressed now. Thanks,” Athan said smiling.

Just being healed made his odds of rescuing Furnace and destroying his evil double a hell of a lot higher.

“I don’t know how you did this, but I’m grateful. At least we have a fighting chance if I’ve got no broken bones. Who
is
this double I have? My apparent opposite in this Gemini Anomaly How do I find him?”

“You have seen him, though you won’t know it. You know his name, and you have suspected he may be at the top of your suspect list. He is called Dereck Lucas.”

“Really? He’s the son of one of the founders of Lucas and Associates. How is that even possible? I mean…what are the chances of that?”

“No. Grandson. He is the same age as you Athan. And as for possibility…” The secretary shrugged. “It is how it is. Fate I guess.”

“Was he the figure in black? The one that wanted to kill me up there in the landscape above?” It made sense that these two could be the same person.

The secretary nodded. “He has the same ability as you, pretty much. We call that place the Plain of Souls, because when you are in a human mind, it is like swimming in their soul, feeling what they have felt, learning what they have learned. The mind is the soul’s data bank or storeroom. Every good and bad experience filed for later. It’s marvellous.” The being smiled, nodding.

“What do you mean
pretty much.
That doesn’t sound confident.” Athan said sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Well, he is yet to learn things about himself, as you are.”

Athan nodded thoughtfully.

“You and he are still developing. Who you are will depend on the action you take toward each other and the company you keep.” The Secretary smiled reassuringly, and Athan wondered how any of this was going to make sense to him later.

“Okay. Is there anything else these Gods are keeping from me?” Athan said sternly.

“Everything, but you have all the information they want me to give you. And it is time you got back to your friends. Just follow the stairs straight up, and we will place a useful exit.”

Athan ran his fingers around the, now empty coffee cup and the back of the wooden chair. The objects felt so real, yet they obviously didn’t belong.

He faced the odd looking being sitting behind the desk.

The secretary simply watched his movements with curiousity.

Athan took a deep breath.

“Thank you, secretary. It has been really weird and I may have a breakdown contemplating all of what you have told me, but right now, as you said, my friends need me.”

“We will see you again, Athan Harper,” the being said ominously. The being’s narrow pink face took on an air of seriousness.

“When? You know that I live through this?” Athan crossed his arms.

“Not yet.” It shrugged its bony pink shoulders. “Go. You will have time later for questions.” The secretary said, making an ushering gesture with his hands and shaking his head.

“Fine. Thanks,” Athan said to the strange being before he set off up the bony steps, leaving the secretary sitting happily at his desk. This time when he returned, he decided he had better not tell Brad everything. Describing this would sound like the gibberish of a crazy person.

For now he would keep this to himself.

Either way, their target was the same. The CEO of Lucas and Associates.

KIRANDA’S CELL WAS about the same size as Nadya’s, the only difference was that Nadya was kept strapped to a bed with computer monitoring her at all times. There was an opaque plastic curtain between their two glass cells, which made communication impossible.

Her cell was similar to the glass box she had been in for two days when they first caught her.

It was glass all over and very thick with tiny breathing pores in the floor. Everything about her cell was a deliberate joke, the breathing pores were on the floor and very small, so she couldn’t use her fire in the cell. There just wasn’t enough oxygen.

The bed was made out of highly flammable cardboard, the chemical toilet contained flammable chemicals, and the only thing they gave her to pass her time was old newspapers.

All paper and chemicals that burned.

They wanted her to lose her temper for their amusement, so everything she had would burn, and she would suffocate.

On the opposite side of her cell there was another cell with, presumably, another Post-Human, but she could not see them and couldn’t hear much either. The prisoner was concealed from her by another opaque plastic curtain.

Today’s paper fell through a slot.

“Great. More depressing news about the world going on as it always does,” she muttered as she pushed it about with her foot.

The facility was clean and white, with about ten staff she could count, not including the various security staff.

Recently DPHR officers were patrolling around inside the facility. She didn’t know what the place was used for before the DPHR took possession; it may have been a brewery or a food-packaging factory. Some of the machinery seemed excessive for what was happening. Silos and vats were visible, but there were also operating tables and computer consoles everywhere.

If Kiranda had even a chance of signaling for help from within her cell, she could not begin to describe where, in Melbourne, she and Nadya were being held.

She picked up the paper and tried to find a dignified way to sit on the cardboard bed in the paper gown they had given her to wear.

The usual rubbish greeted her as she swept though page after page of sports scandals and Hollywood break ups.

Nothing to peak her interest.

The real news from overseas was also familiar, vague and in very small print. How was the planet supposed to unite together against all these threats when civilized countries held these real issues in such a low regard? There was half a page dedicated to some bimbo telling the world about how she got on with her day and her favourite muffin recipe.

“We are doomed,” she said.

“
You
might be. Dunno ‘bout me.” The deep voice was one she knew.

She turned to see Cal at the front of her glass enclosure.

“I’m so glad to see you!” Kiranda squealed as she jumped off the flimsy bed. Cal look very smart in his suit and tie, and he had a very military haircut, which looked a bit more respectable than the unkempt hair and scruffy beard he had back when he was in The League.

She was never a big fan of Cal, he was always a bit rough and not very clever, but he didn’t need to be, he was the muscle.

“How did you get in here?” she hissed looking about the facility for the guards.

“Walked.” Cal said simply.

“You just don’t care do you? Who sent you?” Kiranda asked, her eyes still flitting about watching the guards.

“My boss. I’m gonna be takin’ care of things for a bit,” Cal said smiling.

“Well? Are you going to let me out or what?”

“
Or what
.” He said flatly.

Kiranda waited for him to do something helpful, but he just stood there smiling.

“You do remember me, Cal? Don’t you? I’m Kiranda,
Furnace
. We used to fight bad guys together!”

The big man shook his head and smiled. “They told me you were sneaky and they told me your name is Furnace. You know what else they told me?” he leaned forward so his face was against the glass. “They told me to
never
let you out.” He grinned at her victoriously.

Kiranda collapsed to her knees, she couldn’t believe what was happening. She was so sure this was her rescue; he was an old friend after all.

“Why am I here? What are they doing to Nadya?” She had to fight back tears, because with tears came losing control, and with that came fire, and a fire could kill her in this box.

“How should I know?” Cal screwed up his nose and shrugged.

“How do you not remember me?
The League?
Cynthia, Brad, Ian and Athan? They were your
friends
!” Kiranda pleaded.

“Shut up and show us how you can burn ya bed. Then you can sleep in the ashes if you don’t suffocate.” He laughed, stepped back and turned to speak to another security guard.

He was giving the guard orders.

Oh Terrance, what have they done to you?

Kiranda wondered what they had planned for her. Was she going to be turned into one of their lackeys as well?

Her stomach churned with anger.

“Let me out you bastard!” she screamed and beat with futility on the glass.

Cal glanced back with half surprise before continuing his conversation with the man outside, the DPHR officer.

She felt the familiar heat deep inside her body, and she closed her eyes to hold back the coming tears. The heat began to course warmly over her skin making her whole body shiver with what could have been mistaken for goose bumps. She felt it crawl up the back of her head and through her scalp, then down her arms to her hands, where it tingled and stung like tiny pin pricks.

She opened her eyes and stared at her palm, there was a slight shimmer of flame across the surface.

A flash of blue and a sparkle of gold.

She closed her hand and took deep breaths and slowly the heat subsided. She would kill them for what they did to Cal. How dare they take the past of a man who had been a hero and make him into drone?

She returned to her newspaper on the bed and flipped through the pages. Trying to force herself to read something mundane to subdue her aggressive feelings. Maybe there was an article she’d missed, something to calm her down.

The muffin recipe might be nice.

She’d always sucked at making muffins.

ATHAN WAS WELCOMED back with a cold burger, some deep fried chips and a hot cup of green tea.

Aadi pulled together a few of his most trusted in the team and brought them in for a debriefing.

Athan told them about the battle in the Lucas and Associates building with Evan Boothe and Cal. He neglected to tell them about going to the hospital and meeting with Dr Enstein and his journey into the metaphysical landscape.