Chapter 6

Arnost was pacing up and down his office while he waited for his head of security to arrive. He had summoned him because there had been a breach of one of the fields. His emissary, Tancred had confirmed that someone had managed to take video footage and had escaped. As Tancred looked out of the window, he said. “Your plan to leave those vines in the hope that someone would take them has worked.”

Arnost stopped his pacing instantly. He still had difficulty understanding Tancred’s heavy accent and asked, “When did this happen?”

“Today.”

“At what time?”

“That is hard to tell. Most probably this afternoon.”

Arnost sighed because it was so frustrating to deal with Tancred who didn’t have any sense of time.

He sighed and asked, “Okay. Can you tell me what happened?”

Tancred’s smile looked strange as if he had copied it from a comic book and he said, “They have been moved, and both vines managed to administer the initial compounds for integration.”

Arnost shuddered a little and asked, “Do we know where they have been taken?”

“Not yet we have sent two sniffers to trace the scent.”

“Does Haruz know about this?”

“No, but I assume we are waiting for him?”

Arnost growled softly with frustration. Since Tancred had arrived the quality and speed of communications, in general, had diminished considerably. The well-oiled system had practically ground to a halt, but since assuming the highest possible position of the Archon he had managed to repair most of the damage.

A sharp knock sounded at the door of the room almost causing Arnost to jump, and he yelled, “Enter!”

Arnost looked at the man who had entered the room. He always had envied Haruz’s spectacular muscles. The suit Haruz was wearing didn’t hide the well-built proportions of his body.

Haruz nodded to Arnost and said, “Sorry for the delay, but I was called away.”

Arnost grumbled, “Yes, yes, yes, the reason I asked you to come is to discuss what happened last night.”

“If you’re referring to the breach of field beta eleven I can tell you who did it.”

Arnost was stunned and asked, “You knew about it? Why didn’t you inform me?”

“I assumed that Mr. Tancred had informed you. After all, it’s his department.”

Arnost had to admit that Haruz was right, and he grumbled, “He did. But tell me who breached the field.”

Haruz cleared his throat and said, “It was a woman who is known by the name Miss Andena. She also had the audacity to return to the fields to retrieve the vines.”

“That is interesting. Did you arrest her?”

“Not yet. She has disappeared. I arrived at her place when the sniffers were waiting for clearance and oxygen masks to access an airlock opposite Miss Andena’s apartment. It seems that the vines were in an old storage room which is out of use. The sniffers have already confirmed that both vines were completely drained in the process. When we were finally able to access the storage room, we only found the vines.”

Arnost looked unfazed at Haruz’s beaten expression, and said, “I assume you have your men on it.”

Haruz sighed and said, “Yes but there’s strong evidence that the rebels took her.”

“You mean kidnapped?”

“No, everything points to her joining Lunn’s rebel group.”

Arnost started to pace around again and said, “Right. Lunn is rapidly becoming a serious pain in the backside. We need to eliminate him.”

Haruz said placidly, “We can’t.”

Arnost yelled, “I don’t care what you need to wipe this man from the face of the Earth, but just do it!”

Haruz sighed and said, “His quarters are based on top of the main energy source for the whole county. If we make an attempt to attack him, he will simply blow up the power exchange which will result in eighty percent of the city’s population perishing.”

Tancred chuckled and said, “He is harmless as long as he thinks he is in control of his little group.”

Arnost moaned, “How on Earth did he manage to get access to that property? I don’t like this!”

Tancred replied slowly, so as to calm Arnost down, “That might be the case, but you know that the situation will change soon. Best not to give him any unnecessary attention.”

Arnost commanded, “Haruz, I want you to keep an eye on this him and attempt to free the woman.”

He nodded and confirmed, “I’m monitoring the group already, but I’ll make it my priority.”

Arnost nodded, and Haruz left the room.

Tancred said, “That woman is far more dangerous than the leader of the rebels.”

“Haruz will find her.”

“I hope so.”

Haruz still didn’t like Tancred. He might look like a human, but the fact remained that he wasn’t, and his casual dismissal of Lunn’s power made him feel uneasy. Haruz knew it was a dangerous game they were about to play. He was convinced that Lunn would start to investigate those fields more thoroughly.

It had been mind-blowing when the small alien ship had landed on the secluded terrace of the high- security complex. He was the first one who made contact with Tancred. He had looked a lot different then but had still been able to make himself understood. The aliens had chosen to come to the Earth to help restore the atmosphere’s lack of oxygen. Arnost was interested and had happily agreed to the aliens’ offer.

Haruz wasn’t convinced that they had been told the complete story, and his gut feeling told him that the exchange wasn’t completely fair: replenish the air with oxygen for the chemical endorphin.

To him, it looked as though a group of addicted aliens who were short of supplies for their ever-growing population was using them. He sensed that there must be a catch, and it troubled him that up until now at least, he hadn’t been able to find one.

The alien ship had made the fields, but to Haruz’s relief had eventually run out of supplies. It was hard finding volunteers who were willing to give up a part of their life in exchange for a cure for their disease or disabilities. He had heard on the grapevine that recruiting willing people was a tough job. The rumours about people disappearing were getting more persistent which made the process of recruitment an almost impossible task.

Haruz hadn’t been surprised when someone had managed to escape the alien plants. He had seen the footage of the amazingly talented Andena cutting through the vines to free herself and had witnessed the moment that one of the plants had shot a flower at her. Normally the small needles would have been enough to disable a human in seconds, but she had apparently been wearing a protective suit.

He had searched for her in the archives and had been impressed by her skills. Everything she did looked so natural: as if she always had done it. He had seen how she managed to get the access code to section Gamma fifty-four, and he really envied the security guard. The Martial Art classes Andena attended were a pleasure to watch and the last time he had seen her sitting cross-legged completely on her own he’d had to fight the urge to walk into the hall.

Now she had disappeared, he had no idea where they had taken her. He had heard rumours that Lunn’s assistant had fallen out with him and that she had started her own little group. He knew that she had close connections with the owner of Bionex, and that troubled him deeply.

The CEO of Bionex was a powerful and ruthless man who didn’t take kindly to setbacks of any kind. Once he had set his mind on something it had to be done no matter what. It was nearly impossible to hack into Bionex’s secure systems, but Haruz believed that he had enough hidden resources available inside Danette’s quarters.

He had programmed his software to scan every face, and it would notify him as soon as Andena showed up. He had been awake for over twenty hours and was feeling incredibly tired. The boost pills only worked for a short time and could easily backfire on you at the most inconvenient times. He was pleased to be able to crash out for a few hours.

Danette grumbled when she was disturbed by the loud banging at the back door of her lab. She had no time to lose because she had to deliver the last android and she couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with it. Nothing had gone according to plan today!

She opened the door and was utterly surprised to see Lunn standing there with his arms crossed. When she realised that he had no intention of apologising, her anger quickly hit a critical level. She knew, considering his angry look and her sub-zero mood, it wasn’t going to be a friendly conversation, and she sneered defensively, “Why the hell are you disturbing me?”

Lunn pushed her aside and let himself into the hall of her laboratory as he shouted, “Where is she?”

“Hey! What the fuck is the matter with you, barging in like this?”

He totally ignored her accusing remark and bellowed, “Where. Is. She!”

Danette hadn’t a clue what he was referring to and screamed, “Where is who? Who the fuck are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to play dumb, Danette! You fucking well know who I’m talking about,” he spat.

Danette had never seen him so angry and she knew she had to calm him down before he exploded. She was racking her brains when it finally dawned on her that he was referring to the little slut Andena! Something must have happened to her, and now he was blaming her for it. Her anger suddenly evaporated and she sighed deeply. She said very calmly, “Lunn, why would I know where your little slut is? Are you sure she isn’t just out there somewhere?”

He snorted but had calmed down somewhat when he said, “Well, I would have believed that if it weren’t for the huge amount of drugs in her system. I found the vines that had been completely drained. So, where did you hide her?”

She snorted, “Why on Earth would I hide your fuck bunny? And besides how did you come to the ridiculous conclusion that I was involved?”

“She isn’t my fuck bunny! I know for sure you’ve been up there because you’ve been offline.”

Danette was starting to get impatient and retorted, “Yeah, right! Maybe I had switched the bloody thing off so I could work without being disturbed by a guy who only follows his dick! You know what? I want you to leave right now. I don’t have time for this. Go and do some more research before starting to accuse the wrong people.”

“I’m not wrong because it must have been you!”

“Oh Lunn, stop this stupid shit! I want you to go. NOW!”

“Where is she, Danette? You are the only one who knew she was involved! So stop lying to me and stop this stupid revenge thing right now!”

That was the final straw for Danette.

Her roar came from deep inside her, as she charged at him. Powered by the build-up of utter disgust and pure hatred she managed to push him out into the hall. As she slammed the door shut she screamed, “Fuck you, Lunn!”

She had the feeling he had just shattered the last bit of their brittle relationship and shouted at the top of her lungs, “How dare you to think I would ever do such a thing! Get lost! I’m out! Go fuck yourself with your pathetic little group!”