“Talk about always picking the losing side. No wonder he decided to stick to geeking. So what is this all about? Is this Gregory person Yol as well? What does all this mean?”
Read the blue sheet.
Roen picked up a blue document which bore an official-looking seal and a signature at the bottom. “By the order of Keeper of the Prophus Command, Tao is to provide the immediate release of Yol from his host Gregory Blair and to assist with the integration of Lieutenant Paula Kim and Yol.” Roen frowned and leaned back in his chair. The orders were straightforward enough. He didn’t quite understand why he or Tao had to be involved. Couldn’t any of their other agents overseas do it? Something didn’t smell right here.
Sonya came up from behind, leaned on his back, and looked over his shoulder. “Any questions?”
He handed the paper to her. “I don’t get it. Why do I have to be the one to kill this Gregory?”
“Not you,” she said, “but Tao needs to free Yol.”
“Because?” Roen was getting a headache.
“Because we don’t know where he is,” she snapped. “Tao’s been hiding him from us for years now and with things this bad, we need him back. Edward and Tao have refused to disclose Yol’s location, and now the Keeper is forcing matters. Look, Tao, you’ve made your point, and we respect that. But more urgently, a systematic controlled lockdown was initiated on a quarter of our European safe houses. Half of our monitoring system went down, and we lost contact with at least a dozen field agents.”
“So they want me to hack in? I don’t know anything about hacking.”
“You’re not going to do it,” she said. “Neither is Tao. He’s passable, but not exactly a qualified expert. That’s why you’re going to Dublin first. We need Yol.”
“And Yol’s in Dublin? Why can’t he just log in and take care of everything?” Roen threw his arms in the air. None of this made any sense. It had never even occurred to him that there were disagreements between the Prophus. “Well, how does Tao hide someone anyway?”
He is in a mental institution.
“What?!” Roen exclaimed aloud.
Sonya picked up a red document. “Three years ago, Gregory was injured on a mission with Edward. Gregory was pronounced brain dead and disappeared soon after.”
Roen frowned. “So Tao kidnapped a brain-damaged Gregory. Why would he do that?”
I refuse to kill an injured host simply because his usefulness is at an end. Would you like us to kill you if I ever decided you were no longer of use?
“Good point. Forget I asked.”
Roen leaned back and scratched his head. “I still don’t get why he would hide Gregory from the other Prophus.”
Look at Gregory’s last name again.
Roen looked at Sonya, horrified. “That’s Edward’s brother, and you want to kill him! And you’re forcing Tao to do it!”
“We need Yol.” Sonya sat down in front of him and clasped his hands. “Tao needs to understand that. Our ranks are thin, and Yol’s a high-value operative. Command isn’t oblivious to his situation. That’s why they didn’t force the issue earlier, but Tao, it needs to be done.”
There was a long silence before Tao spoke. Roen could tell these were words he didn’t want to say. I will visit Gregory, but no promises.
Roen relayed the message.
“Thank you,” she said, and gave his hands a small squeeze. “Baji says she knows you’ll do the right thing.”
“So, that’s the mission then?” Roen asked. “You want to take Gregory out?”
“That’s the bulk of it,” Sonya continued. “There are two parts to this mission. After you establish contact, assuming we have no choice but to eliminate Gregory, we’ll need to move Yol to the new host. Paula Kim is already standing by in Dublin. We’ll get the details once Tao lets us in on them. It could be as simple as walking in and checking Gregory out, or it could require a complicated infiltrate and eliminate scenario.”
“Infiltrate and eliminate?” Roen clicked his tongue.
Infiltration is one of my specialties.
“Is that a fancy word for breaking and entering?”
Semantics, but if this mission is to go through, there are a few things we need to do. We have some loose ends to tie up.
“When do we leave?” Roen asked.
“When you get your butt to the airport,” Sonya replied. “The rest of the team is already on their way there.”
Tell her I need some time to take care of an important matter.
Sonya frowned and checked her watch when he told her Tao’s request. “Don’t bail on us, Tao. I know you’re thinking about it. 1500 hours at the airport. You better be there.”
Roen nodded and turned to leave. “What do we have to do, Tao?”
You will see. Prepare yourself, Roen. This is not going to be pleasant.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: LOOSE ENDS
I made my way to Spain. By then, the Black Death had passed, and a rebirth, a Renaissance, was sweeping over Europe. I ran into an old Quasing friend, Chiyva, who I thought shared my ideals. Together, we searched the land and found Rianno and Francisco Cisneros, two brothers who would be suitable hosts. The four of us were close, and it was here that I connected with other dissident Quasing, disillusioned with the decisions of the Council. It was time for a change in our approach toward humans. We began to nurture the seeds of that change.
Roen left the safe house shortly after and made the long walk back to his apartment to clear his thoughts about ending Gregory’s life. In a strange way, it felt like fratricide. His head ached and it was difficult to keep his emotions in control. He just didn’t know what to think.
Neither Tao nor he exchanged words as he went home. Roen spent the rest of the morning taking care of personal business. He told Jill that he was being sent to training for work by his new job and would be back in two weeks, declining her offer to pick him up at the airport. He felt guilty for giving her such short notice. She herself was only back for a month before having to head back to Frankfurt in February. Now, the few precious weeks he had planned to spend with her were cut in half. As always, Jill was understanding and supportive. Roen called his parents that he was going on a last-minute vacation with a few friends. Once he had everything packed, he stopped by Antonio’s room to give him the rent check and to tell him to pick up the mail.
Antonio raised an eyebrow at Roen’s explanation when Roen told him about traveling for work. “Again? You were just gone for almost two months. How can you be home only a few days before you have to leave again? These Bynum people seemed to be working you to the bone.”
“It’s a new job,” Roen mumbled, his eyes wandering as he looked at everything but Antonio. “I want to start with a good impression.”
Antonio scrunched his face as he studied Roen. Finally, he leaned back and shook his head. “You got a flush and you’re trying to sell me deuces. You’re bluffing about this trip.”
Guy reads you like a book.
Roen didn’t respond. He knew Antonio was onto him.
Antonio grinned. “You’re trying to think of an excuse to lie to me right now, aren’t you? I can tell. You freeze up like that every time. So spit it out, what’s the deal? Where have you been traveling to?”
“Oh hell Tao, I’m just going to tell him.”
We do not have time for this.
“It’s Tao and the Prophus,” Roen blurted out.