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in
Remembrance, The Third
062: Veil
 Post:
12.26.2005
Date: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Veil
“Where's Lattis, dad?”
“I asked him to run an errand
for me.”
“What?”
“Something important.”
The two figures walked along
quickly. One was a middle-aged man. He had dark-brown hair that was tousled in
every direction. He wore a simple, but clean, dark grey jumpsuit.
The other seemed to be either a
younger man, or an older adolescent. He stood a few inches taller than the older
man. He had equally messy bright blonde hair and wore a more stylish green
jumpsuit.
The two made their way down the
small dirt path, through a small wooded area on the outskirts of town. To the
right, a large patch of sickly-looking trees filled the view. On the left,
skyscrapers ate into the sky. Straight ahead, strange rock formations jutted out
of the earth. The path they were on slithered through some of them.
“This is it,” the older one
said. In a moment, the two disappeared behind a rock.
The older one set down a pack
that he had been carrying. He pulled out a pair of black binoculars.
“Here, use these,” he said,
handing them to the younger man. “Keep an eye on what happens.” He handed him a
small rectangular black device. “You can hear what's going on with that. Just
watch and listen. In a few minutes, it'll happen in that clearing down there.”
He pointed to a small clearing.
The clearing had a single tree,
but was devoid of the boulders that littered the rest of the landscape.
“Why do I have to hide way back
here? I want to be where the action is--with you.”
“Sorry. It's just too
dangerous.”
“Deals are always dangerous,
but you still always let me help out.”
“Not this time.” The
middle-aged man gave a firm glance. His son dropped the argument.
Something beeped. The
middle-aged man looked down at this watch, which was flashing red. He shook his
head and pressed a button to silence it.
“Glitch it. Out of time.”
He took his son by the shoulder
and looked him straight in the eye.
“Now, listen to me, son. Watch
closely to what is about to happen. If things go badly, then run, and never stop
running.”
“But dad--”
“And remember,...I love you.”
* * *
The man’s son peered though the
binoculars and watched the scene unfolding below.
In the clearing, his father sat
alone on a rock. He tapped his foot nervously, and looked around as if searching
for someone. Time drew on.
He pulled a small, flat,
hand-sized device out of his pocket, looked at it, tapped it a few times with
his fingers, and put it back. More foot tapping.
Suddenly, the air all around
him seemed to flicker. Instantly, there were five figures standing around the
man. Each of the new figures was dressed in a pure white robe. Three were male,
two were female.
His father stood up. “You
always knew how to make a flashy entrance,” he said.
“And you always knew how to
make a flashy exit,” the female, who seemed to be the leader, said. “In fact, a
flashy exit was the last I saw of you, Josef,” she said, “disappearing into the
night...taking the artifacts and stealing my child.”
“Our child.”
“My child. Speaking of
which,...how is A--”
“He's fine!” snapped Josef.
“I'm glad. I want to see him.”
“Well, you can't.”
“Yes, I can, and I will. I've
been searching for him and you for sixteen years now, you know.”
Josef laughed. “I'm just...touched
at your concern, but, well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You want to stop running from
me?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, The Circle
welcomes you back with open arms.”
“Like hell it does. 'The Circle
cannot be broken; it can only be purified by death.' I took the same oath that
you did...that we all did. Only death awaits me.”
“I see you remembered
something from before you threw your life away. What do you propose, then?”
“Stop chasing us.”
The woman smiled, obviously
amused. “Or you'll do what?”
“This isn't a threat. It's a
deal.”
The woman thought for a moment.
“The artifacts?” she asked.
Josef nodded. “The artifacts
for our lives. I'll return them to you, and you leave us alone. I just want a
normal life for me and my son...that's all.”
The woman seemed to think it
over. “So, you'll just hand over the Phase Raven?”
“Yes.”
“And the genome resequencer?”
“Yes.”
The woman looked impressed.
“And what about the Heart of
Elijah?”
“Impossible.”
The woman raised her eyebrow.
“I destroyed it.”
“Destroyed it? That's
impossible. The archives clearly discuss impenetrable shielding that--.”
“It did. I found a way.”
“I see. Well, there's nothing I
can do about that, then. So, all we have to do is leave you alone, and you'll
take us to the remaining artifacts, then?”
“That's right.”
“All right. I suppose we have a
deal,” she said with a smile.
“I suppose we do,” he said,
nodding.
“Then lead us to the artifacts.
Our aircraft is this way.” She gestured towards a small path off to one side.
Josef shrugged and started
walking. The woman smirked and reached beneath her robes. She drew a pistol-like
device, aimed it at Josef and fired.
A bolt of energy flew through
the air and landed square in Josef's back. His body went completely limp, and he
fell face down on the ground.
With great effort, Josef
managed to flip over on his back. The look on his face was one, not of rage, but
of disappointment and disgust.
“How could you--?” Josef
gasped, laboring with each breath.
“We've already managed to
recreate most of the artifacts. The genome resequencer? We built a new one. The
only thing we couldn't recreate is the Heart of Elijah. I don't believe you
destroyed it.” She smiled. “With, or without your cooperation, we'll know
exactly where it is very soon.”
“I...I trusted you,” he gasped.
The smile disappeared. “Well, I
trusted you!” she screamed. “I guess we both learned our lesson, then,” she
said, flatly.
“Never trust a woman,” Josef
spat.
The woman smiled and shook her
head.
“Josef, you fool! Never trust
anyone!”
The woman, threw her head back
and let out a loud, high-pitched, yet full laugh. As she did, she started to
raise her pistol-like device.
The air flashed blinding blue,
several times. Just as the pistol reached eye level, Josef's head exploded in a
shower of red and purple. Blood splattered all over the woman's face and robe,
leaving crimson stains. She wiped some of the blood off her cheek and looked at
it. She glanced back at Josef's lifeless, headless body. She shook her in rage
and finally kicked his corpse. “I’ll have the last laugh,” she said through
clenched teeth.
Turning, she snapped her
fingers, and within seconds the entire group vanished.
* * *
The dead man’s son flew around
the corner. Blinded by his tears, he smacked right into the Technomancer. The
Technomancer barely moved, but the boy bounced off, stumbling backwards and
knocking an oversized pulse-rifle out of the Technomancer's hands.
“They—they killed him, Lattis!”
“Yeah, I know. I saw,” Lattis
said, quietly. He picked up the rifle from the ground.
“You…you saw?”
Lattis sighed. “Your father
wanted me to watch what was going on, and if something went wrong...he wanted me
to help you escape.” Lattis slid it the rifle into a gigantic holster on his
back. “We can't let them catch us. Let's get going.”
The two clamored into a
hovercar barely large enough for the two of them and sped off.
The cabin of the hovercar was
silent, except for the sound of air slipping past, and the sound of quiet
sobbing coming from the passenger seat.
Lattis sighed. “I'm sorry,” he
said, finally.
The boy nodded.
“I mean, I can't tell you how
much I'm sorry.”
“Thanks,” the boy said.
Lattis sighed again. “Yeah,” he
muttered. |