Chapter 1

Mike Grines, the new director of the Terrestrial Defense Force, sits behind his desk with his arms across his chest and a frown set on his face. Sitting on the opposite side of the desk are the newest members of the team. With everything that has happened over the last few months, especially with the loss of Samantha Roberts, he has been trying to replenish ranks while combating new threats. The journey getting here has been difficult to say the least though. Part of that difficulty is the woman standing off in the corner of the room with her arms similarly crossed across her chest.

The woman is Julie Branon, an agent of the Black List. It is not necessarily the woman that he has a problem with, but the organization she comes from. Roger Cornelius, the former head of the TDF, kept his secrets. One of those was his working as closely with the Black List as he was. He saw the importance of having such an ally in the corner, and it was something he passed on to Mike. That doesn’t mean that Mike has to like them.

The Black List has technology no one else in the world has, which right off the bat is one damn good reason to have them on their side. They have more assess and people at their disposal that anyone could imagine, even if that number has been dwindling at a rapid rate over the past few years. In a way they need him as much as he needs them. Still, it doesn’t quell his distaste of having one of its agents in his office.

The silence of the office is enough to unnerve anyone, but it doesn’t bother him. He is just ready to get the meeting over with, just as soon as Spencer Reeds shows up. And no sooner does this thought cross his mind, does the man walk in. “Good to see that you decided to grace us with your appearance, Reeds,” Mike says.

“Sorry, I was doing some follow up work,” the man says.

“And I told you to take some time off,” Mike grinds out. “But since you insist on disobeying my orders, you can at least make it in here on time.”

“Until I find out what happened to Sam, you know I can’t,” Spencer says with a sad look of guilt.

“Yeah, yeah,” the director says, waving his hand dismissively through the air. His expression hasn’t changed, and probably won’t. He liked Samantha, as did many in the organization. She was a good agent.

“You said that you had something important,” Spencer prompts, eager to get back to his search for his former partner.

“Yes, I did,” Mike nods. He then gestures to have the agent take a seat, but Spencer respectfully declines and instead chooses to remain standing. Mike grins. “You know Agents Stone and Dupree,” he says, gesturing to the two agents sitting.

“Yes, two of our newest members,” Spencer says with a nod, barely tossing either agent a glance.

“And we have a special guest from the Black List,” Mike says, looking over toward the corner.

Spencer follows his gaze. “Julie.”

The woman abruptly pushes away from the wall and walks over to Spencer. She leans in to give him a hug while whispering into his ear, “I’m sorry.”

Spencer clears his throat in response as she releases him and steps back. It is words he has heard for the past three months and ones he care to not really hear anymore. “I wouldn’t expect you to be here, let alone say those words.”

“Because of that stunt you pulled, leaving me unconscious behind enemy lines?” she asks.

“Anyhow,” Mike says quickly and with minor annoyance before the situation progresses any further. “I initially planned for you to accompany Stone and Dupree in the investigation into True Group, but Agent Branon is running a similar case that you will be interested in hearing about.”

“That’s correct,” Julie says, taking over. “We have been following True Group as closely as we can, but it has been rather difficult. From what we suspect, the company is legit in every way, but is headed by a group known as the Ternion.”

“Never heard of them,” Spencer remarks.

“And I’d expect that many haven’t,” Julie asserts. “They are the only three Sura on the Goji council of Winter and the three most powerful of the Sura.”

“The ones we faced in Argentina?” Spencer asks.

“That is correct,” she confirms. “And because the Goji and everything that goes on has been kept hidden from the rest of the world it has made it a bit difficult to remove them.”

“That isn’t something that has stopped the Black List before,” Mike interjects.

“True,” Julie says nonchalantly. “But in this case, if we did, it would cause a lot of suspicion and investigations. The situation with the Goji is tense and True Group is helping the world, which in turn provides the perfect cover. Plus they have funding from many sources.”

“Kind of strange to be helping when all they do is destroy everything,” Spencer comments.

“Which is why it is the perfect cover,” she continues. “You can become the savior of the world in the eyes of the people while blinding them from what you really are doing.”

“So what does it have to do with us?” Jonathan says, speaking out for the first time. Then he clarifies. “I mean, if we can’t bring them down.”

“Exactly,” Melissa agrees. Her voice is surprisingly authoritative. “No matter who takes them down, it is still going to raise questions.”

“That is true, but a terrorist group called The People’s Hope have been rallying against True Group, protesting against them and accusing them of polluting the planet and even being terrorists. They are even suspected of attacking the cargo vessels.”

“Then it sounds like we can slip in and finish them off, no questions asked,” Spencer remarks.

“If only that was the end of it,” Julie adds, continuing. “About the same time these protests and attacks began, the Black List has fallen under attack. We have been losing agents at an alarming rate.”

“With the recent events, I don’t find that at all surprising,” Mike remarks a little harshly.

If Julie is offended by the tone the man takes, she certainly doesn’t show it when she turns toward him. “I could say the same if it happened to you, but these are agents that hold positions—high positions—from law enforcement to government.”

“And you’re not thinking that it’s random,” Spencer states, leaving the statement hanging and beginning to see something of a pattern coming together.

“When you look at the terrorist attacks compared to the militaristic attacks on our agents, they do not look even remotely related. But both attacks started at the same time and only our members in those positions are being targeted.”

“And if it were random, any Black List agent would be a target,” Melissa surmises.

“What is it you need from us that you cannot solve on your own?” Spencer asks. He knows she wants something and he is growing tired of guessing at what it is.

Julie pauses long enough to stare the man down before saying, “Samantha is alive.” She tries to keep as much of the disgust out of her voice as she can muster. Julie didn’t like the woman even before she met her. Since Samantha was partially Goji, Julie immediately held no love for her.

Spencer doesn’t have words for the feelings that suddenly well up inside him. His first thought is that the woman is playing some kind of cruel joke on him, yet when he looks into her eyes, he knows that she is telling him the truth. Still, there is a motive behind her words. She doesn’t like Samantha, so what would be the point in letting him know this?

“How does she tie in with the rest of this?” Mike asks, seeing that it is odd to only now mention Samantha in any of this.

“A better question is: what happened to her?” Spencer asks in an almost demanding tone.

“She was reborn a Goji,” Julie says with a look of sadness in her eyes. She feels for Spencer. “And she is now under the control of Typheryian, the leader of the Ternion.”

“What do you mean under control?” Spencer demands.

“More manipulated than controlled,” she corrects. “We think that somehow Typheryian found her and has begun to control her through manipulation.”

“To what end?” Melissa asks.

“We don’t know, but it cannot be a good thing,” Julie answers.

“So how do we handle this then?” Jonathan questions, beginning to feel a little pumped about their first mission as part of the TDF.

“You won’t.” Julie says curtly. “This is a mission for me and Spencer. Your task is parallel to ours.”