“It’s a Saint Alphonsus ambulance, all right,” Elias said, handing the binoculars over to Marco.
“They’ll find out he’s a host once he checks into the hospital. It’s standard protocol now in most Western countries to scan all patients,” Marco said, looking at Roen. “I hope you know what you’re doing, mate.”
“I hope so too,” said Roen. “At least we save Prie’s life. We can worry about breaking him out of jail after he is stable.”
“What if we can’t? We risk Pri.”
Roen shook his head. “It’s a tough call, but I don’t subscribe to the belief that a Quasing’s life is more valuable than a human’s. We’ll get both of them back after they discharge him. Maybe bust him out of the hospital or intercept the transport when they move him.”
“That’s a big maybe,” Chase said.
“Well, I made the call. It’s a burden I’ll just have to live with,” Roen said. “You can worry about court marshaling me later.”
“Weren’t you already court marshaled once?” Marco asked.
Roen shrugged. “Yep. Lot of good that did, huh? Come on, let’s get back to the motel.” He looked at the rest of the group and sniffed. “We’ll probably have to get more rooms. We only have one shower.”
The group walked to the station wagon they had parked down the street. Roen was glad he got that old behemoth instead of the other options. Clown car-ing six people would be tight, but better than trying to do that with a Rabbit or a Bug.
“I’ll need a report on what you have so far on that facility you’ve been reconnoitering,” Marco was saying to the group. “The sooner we get caught up, the sooner we can make the assessment, bust Prie out of the hospital, and get back to a place that serves proper tea.”
“We were infiltrating one of the recent shipments when Prie was detected,” Elias said. “He brought a sample back.” He handed Marco a windowed metal cylinder filled with clear liquid.
Marco hefted it in his hand and peeked through the window. Then he flipped it upside down and looked again. “It’s like a Magic 8-ball with no fortune. What is it?”
Roen saw a hint of black and snatched it from Marco’s hand. He stared at the smooth black rod swimming inside the container. He had seen this before. An image long buried came flooding back as if Tao had just flashed it into his head. His recollection of the mission in Taiwan was spotty. His injury on that freighter was so severe it had joggled his memory to the point he could only recall bits and pieces of what had happened. However, he remembered holding a similar-looking container with a black rod sitting in liquid.
“Oh shit. I know what this facility is.”
Marco raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Well, spit it out, so we can call it a wrap and go home.”
Roen closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. This was bad. He faced the group and shook his head. “It’s a catalyst reaction rod. That Genjix building you found is a Quasiform facility. They plan on using these things to blow up the world.”
18 Takeover
The Black Plague swept across most of the known world, decimating half the known population. It was a world-killer, unleashed by us gods to usher in a new dawn of innovation and creativity. It was a resounding success, for the Renaissance was born from the depths of the Dark Ages.
It was then that I dedicated all my efforts to fulfilling the destiny of the Conflict Doctrine and feed that engine of change by constantly perpetuating war throughout the known world.
Zoras
Enzo helped himself to a glass of President Putyatin’s vodka. Hard liquor wasn’t his drink of choice, but someone of his stature only drank the best. If the Russians were renowned for their vodka, that would be what Enzo drank. He made a face as he sipped the spirit, then he walked across the president’s office to the wingback chair in front of the fireplace. On the two televisions above the mantle, a rare joint session of both the lower State Duma and the upper Federation Council was convening.
Today would be a glorious day. Both chambers were voting to extend a permanent alliance with Enzo’s faction and declare Vinnick a traitor and enemy of the state. It had taken marathon negotiations by all his people, but through a series of bribes, blackmail, and threats, they had wrangled the votes they needed from both houses.
The tricky part was playing to the president’s greed and fear, and then playing good cop, bad cop. It took a few more meetings with Putyatin before he came around. After he had played bad cop by sinking the Martynin, the man had dared summon Enzo to demand an explanation. He laughably threatened war. The next day, Enzo demonstrated his goodwill by having an agent give everyone in Putyatin’s immediate family a Chinese red envelope, a symbol of luck, but mostly a demonstration of just how far Enzo’s influence reached.
Enzo then played good cop by adding the regions of Calais and Champagne along with hereditary titles to the initial offer of Germany. Once the man realized that allying with Enzo would prove a much more fruitful relationship than the one he had with Vinnick, he acquiesced to the terms.
Once the Russian president was on board, the rest of the government fell in line. This vote tonight was nothing more than a formality. It was a blitzkrieg of sorts. Enzo wanted to sew them all up before Vinnick had a chance to counter his offers. The old man had moved too slowly, and now it was too late. The Council Power Struggle was finally over after all these years, and Enzo hadn’t even had to fire a shot.
“Mr President,” Enzo called, holding up his glass. “Why don’t you come join me? It is a momentous occasion, after all. A victory for us both.”
Putyatin, barely able to hide his disdain, didn’t even look up from his desk. “No thank you, Mr Enzo. There will be many changes occurring in my country over the next few weeks. I have much to do for this transition to be successful.”
Enzo nodded and turned back to the television. The man might not like him, but his friendship was unnecessary. All that was required was that he deliver Russia to Enzo. Once the continent was fully under his control, then maybe Enzo might even allow him to keep his station. No, that would be foolish. A vessel would be needed to occupy such an important position.
Azumi is the logical candidate.
“She has the most knowledge, but her skills are too valuable for the Russian presidency. I will put one of my brothers of lower standing. Matthew perhaps.”
Conquering a kingdom is always the easy part. It is keeping it that is difficult.
“Azumi will be needed once we start the global war. Besides, we won’t have to keep it for long once Quasiform is initiated. I will need her on the front line.”
Again, your confidence will be a downfall. You cannot win a global conflict without Russia firmly behind you. A strong hand will be necessary.
Enzo put his drink aside as the voting began. Each television showed a live feed of the State Duma and the Federation Council respectively with a tally of the votes on the floor. As expected, the voting began with nine straight yay votes on the Federation Council and sixteen on the State Duma for the alliance with Enzo.
He grinned as he picked up his glass and toasted the televisions, and then threw back the vodka in one shot. He was pouring himself another when the first couple of nays came in. Enzo frowned. That was to be expected; his people weren’t able to get through to everyone. However, one of the Federation Council members who voted nay – the Krasnoyarskiy Krai – was someone Enzo had wooed personally.
The news became grim as more votes were tallied. Enzo stared at the screen in disbelief as the number of nays climbed. His pollsters had assured him that everything was squared away. In fact, they had confidently stated that the vote of the State Duma would be a dominating landslide. However, by the time both the upper and lower houses were done, he had lost by over forty points.