sarcophagus and left.”
“Good point. And by the way, Sergeant, I’m bisexual—not a lesbian. Although the government still encourages homosexuality as a means of population control.”
“Let’s go,” Barent replied.
Why did I feel so compelled to point that out to him, Tana asked herself. Get it together, ‘thief’. This is neither the time nor the place to lose focus.
She leaned in to help Barent push the heavy sarcophagus aside, and as it slid across the floor they saw the darkened stairway hidden beneath it. They gave the pedestal one final shove, and the base of it cleared the opening leading deeper underground.
“Are you armed?” Barent asked Tana.
She smirked, pulling a pistol out of her backpack and throwing the safety off.
Barent nodded his approval, and then the founder of the Wardens pointed his own pair of weapons straight ahead and began moving down the steps.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered. “Just in case it’s a trap.”
Tana started to inform Barent that she didn’t need his protection, but then thought better of it and just silently trailed down after him. He was the Great Betrayer, after all, and accustomed to bossing people around. Did she really expect him to act any differently with her?
She grinned as they descended further underground; the expression lost in darkness as the light above them faded in the distance.
So he’s handsome, heroic, and chivalrous?
Oh, you’re in trouble, Tana.
Big trouble.
And then they both disappeared into the black.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Collective
The door opened abruptly and one of the Collective’s junior representatives rushed into Minister Golen’s office. The leader of the Collective, and by extension, all of Le’sant, noted the anxious look on the man’s face. He suspected that Jacob was bringing news he didn’t want to hear, but Golen put the document he was reading away and stood up from his chair, placing his hands down flat on the desk in front of him.
“You’re in early today,” Golen remarked. It was only 4:30 in the morning, and still dark outside.
“Yes, Minister. I was called in by one of my assistants.”
Golen himself had arrived at the Ministry building around three—to read the minutes from the Collective Assembly meeting he’d missed the prior evening, and to make a list of potential enemies in this latest iteration of the five-hundred-year-old governing body. He’d expected problems from the powerless members from the Outland and the Common Ring, but a few Middle District rabble-rousers had surfaced to join them in their moaning. Golen intended to teach those troublemakers their place in the greater scheme of things, and explain to them just how tenuous that place could be.
“Well, what is it, Jacob?” he said impatiently.
“The informant we placed with the editors of the Vade Mecum copied this message sent to the Wardens. It makes an astounding claim, Minister.”
Golen motioned Jacob forward and he handed over the report. As he began skimming through the document for any hint of importance, Golen absentmindedly read a few snippets from the message out loud.
“New algorithm…errata lines…decoded the dying words of Corporal Ennis. See attachment…” Minister Golen was starting to lose his patience; he was a busy man, with much to do.
Why is Jacob wasting my time with this nonsense? he asked himself.
And then he saw it.
The Final Testament of Caol Ennis
The Vade Mecum: Chapter 104. Verse 11
Original Version:
(Errata) elll ardens
Nt Ileum
Rent siva
Lee eeps
Ey O Sus
Decoded Entry:
(Revised) Tell the Wardens.
Didn’t kill him.
Barent lives.
He only sleeps.
Cryo-suspension.
“I want General Malves in here now,” Golen said coldly, not looking up from the document.
“Yes, sir. I saw him entering the building at the same time I did.”
“Now!” Golen barked, and then his head snapped up to give his subordinate a withering look.
“Yes, sir.”
As Jacob ran out of
“Good point. And by the way, Sergeant, I’m bisexual—not a lesbian. Although the government still encourages homosexuality as a means of population control.”
“Let’s go,” Barent replied.
Why did I feel so compelled to point that out to him, Tana asked herself. Get it together, ‘thief’. This is neither the time nor the place to lose focus.
She leaned in to help Barent push the heavy sarcophagus aside, and as it slid across the floor they saw the darkened stairway hidden beneath it. They gave the pedestal one final shove, and the base of it cleared the opening leading deeper underground.
“Are you armed?” Barent asked Tana.
She smirked, pulling a pistol out of her backpack and throwing the safety off.
Barent nodded his approval, and then the founder of the Wardens pointed his own pair of weapons straight ahead and began moving down the steps.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered. “Just in case it’s a trap.”
Tana started to inform Barent that she didn’t need his protection, but then thought better of it and just silently trailed down after him. He was the Great Betrayer, after all, and accustomed to bossing people around. Did she really expect him to act any differently with her?
She grinned as they descended further underground; the expression lost in darkness as the light above them faded in the distance.
So he’s handsome, heroic, and chivalrous?
Oh, you’re in trouble, Tana.
Big trouble.
And then they both disappeared into the black.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Collective
The door opened abruptly and one of the Collective’s junior representatives rushed into Minister Golen’s office. The leader of the Collective, and by extension, all of Le’sant, noted the anxious look on the man’s face. He suspected that Jacob was bringing news he didn’t want to hear, but Golen put the document he was reading away and stood up from his chair, placing his hands down flat on the desk in front of him.
“You’re in early today,” Golen remarked. It was only 4:30 in the morning, and still dark outside.
“Yes, Minister. I was called in by one of my assistants.”
Golen himself had arrived at the Ministry building around three—to read the minutes from the Collective Assembly meeting he’d missed the prior evening, and to make a list of potential enemies in this latest iteration of the five-hundred-year-old governing body. He’d expected problems from the powerless members from the Outland and the Common Ring, but a few Middle District rabble-rousers had surfaced to join them in their moaning. Golen intended to teach those troublemakers their place in the greater scheme of things, and explain to them just how tenuous that place could be.
“Well, what is it, Jacob?” he said impatiently.
“The informant we placed with the editors of the Vade Mecum copied this message sent to the Wardens. It makes an astounding claim, Minister.”
Golen motioned Jacob forward and he handed over the report. As he began skimming through the document for any hint of importance, Golen absentmindedly read a few snippets from the message out loud.
“New algorithm…errata lines…decoded the dying words of Corporal Ennis. See attachment…” Minister Golen was starting to lose his patience; he was a busy man, with much to do.
Why is Jacob wasting my time with this nonsense? he asked himself.
And then he saw it.
The Final Testament of Caol Ennis
The Vade Mecum: Chapter 104. Verse 11
Original Version:
(Errata) elll ardens
Nt Ileum
Rent siva
Lee eeps
Ey O Sus
Decoded Entry:
(Revised) Tell the Wardens.
Didn’t kill him.
Barent lives.
He only sleeps.
Cryo-suspension.
“I want General Malves in here now,” Golen said coldly, not looking up from the document.
“Yes, sir. I saw him entering the building at the same time I did.”
“Now!” Golen barked, and then his head snapped up to give his subordinate a withering look.
“Yes, sir.”
As Jacob ran out of
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