“Have a seat, Peter. I’ll be right with you.”
Peter obliged as Kevin handed the tray to his aide. “Thank you, Susan.” He turned and leaned his head back in the doorway. “Can we get you something, Sage Torrance? Coffee?”
“Uh—No, thank you, Paladin Wallace.”
Kevin noticed Peter’s hesitation. He thanked Susan and entered the room, closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath and leaned back against the door. The movement startled the young man slightly and he turned in his chair, craning his neck to look at his superior. Kevin looked back at him with an easy smile.
“Sage Peter. I wish you would not fear me so.”
Peter stammered to come up with an excuse. “Oh, I don’t fear you sir. I respect you!”
Kevin merely shook his head. “Peter, don’t lie.”
Peter’s eyes dropped.
“We are carrying out the most important mission in history. One that Summuh has commanded.
Our Sentinel, Brenin, needs all of us to support him and to make sure that our mission succeeds.” Kevin started walking back to his chair. He stood behind it now, looking down on the young man from a position of authority and power. “I sense a hesitation in your actions, Peter.” The easy smile slowly faded from Kevin’s face.
“No, sir! I am here to carry out the will of Brenin. To complete the vision he has received from Summuh.”
The look of panic in Peter’s eyes was intense. Kevin had to fight the urge to burst out laughing.
Don’t lose it, Kevin. They already think you’re nuts.
“I believe you, Peter.” He sat down and faced the younger man across the desk. Peter looked ready to bolt. “Peter.” Kevin made the Sage meet his eyes. “Relax. I am not here to judge you. And I don’t think you stopped believing in what we’re doing.”
There was a pregnant pause.
“This is about you and me. I know that I have had problems with my temper lately. There’s just been a lot of pressure on me. I don’t want those incidents to affect your behaviour around me.” He leaned forward slightly. “We both want the same thing, Peter. I just need to know that I can trust you to be honest with me. Can you promise to always overcome your fear and be honest?”
Peter nodded, not trusting himself to say anything.
Kevin looked at the younger man for another moment. Then he nodded as if he had made a decision. “Very well, Peter. Let’s get to work. What news do you have for me from the outside world?”
The Sage fumbled with the documents he had placed in front of him and started updating Kevin on the state of things.
Most of the news was good. Satellite locations that had gone dark were back online. Several military units had made contact, including another Captain who was previously thought lost. Another two Optios had called in, although one of them was wounded and needed help.
The news wasn’t all good, though. Optio Ben had failed to make contact. Kevin knew that he was on a risky and probably violent mission.
He thought about Ben for a second. Optio Ben had shown tremendous skills and was well-liked and respected. Losing him was a blow. It would be quite a blow to Brenin, personally.
“We have to assume that Optio Ben has failed and also perished.” Kevin kept his voice devoid of emotion despite the deep conflict he felt inside.
It made him think of the other more critical failed mission. He put his head down for a moment.
Fuck. We should have prepared better. We should have had more of our people embedded. We should not have underestimated the old man.
The report was vague about what had happened, but he knew that there had been a battle. And Sykes had lost.
Years of preparation ... So much time and wealth invested to get Sykes elected to the Senate.
He gave voice to his thoughts. “If only Sykes had not failed. All the might of the military would have been ours. But now...” He shook his head.
Peter looked confused. Kevin resisted the urge to lash out at the man.
Fucking keep up, will you?
Kevin decided to switch gears. If you can’t keep up, I guess I’ll have to slow down. “We’ve lost Shaw and his men, and now Optio Ben. It didn’t have to happen that way. It could have been so easy. One missile. Or one drone attack. But now...” He let his words trail off. “Summuh help us. Without control of the military assets, we are going to have to handle this the old-fashioned way. We need to send in a team and take them down.”
Sage Peter nodded. “Yes, sir. I understand.”
Kevin wasn’t done. “Make no mistake, Peter, these people pose a direct threat to our plans. We cannot allow a seed of resistance to exist. Especially now that we are so compromised!”
“Yes, sir,” the Sage repeated.
I am surrounded by cowards.
“What other assets do we have in the area?”
The Sage popped open his laptop. A minute later, he had an answer. “One of our satellite locations is near their position. Less than fifty miles away. Satellite Xavier. You might recall this satellite, sir.”
Right. The spy. Kevin nodded curtly, indicating that Peter should continue.
“Just over two hundred members remain there, with ten associates of the ministry. This Satellite had suffered several breaches of security and lost over a hundred members. The losses included the Captain present there. There are still seven soldiers left: two Swords and five Shields. The resident Sage has promoted one of the Swords to Captain.”
“That’s not enough. Captain Shaw had ... what? Eight men? And none of them made it.” Again, he shook his head in annoyance. “Besides, the folks at Xavier will need every one of those soldiers to keep the place safe.”
And there might be more spies there.
“No ... That’s not going to work.” He frowned as he thought. Then looked up as the answer came
