It revealed another blue sphere.
“Am I missing something?” He asked before looking back down at it.
I wasn’t sure. It certainly looked to be the same size and color, but how could it be another one of the orbs? Unless my math really was that bad, there should only be one left after we destroyed one of the two. Where did this third one come from? Where was the sense of compulsion and draw like the other one?
“You think Agrippina got it to work?” Santino asked. “Made a second one just like we did?”
“Maybe,” I replied, unsure. “Bag it and tag it. Might as well bring it along.”
“Wilco, boss,” he said, securing the orb.
I left him alone and went to find Bordeaux, who was pulling something big from his bag.
“How big is that bomb?”
He looked up at me. “Big enough.”
“Big enough to bring down the entire building?”
He smiled. “Just remember that it would be best to not be here when it goes off. I’m setting it for forty five minutes.”
I looked at my watch. 0230. We’d only been in the building for about twenty minutes. Plenty of time. I watched as he buried the bomb beneath a pile of treasure.
I watched as he worked but turned when I heard Titus’ voice from atop the treasure room ask, “What’s this?”
I finished my turn just in time to see him open the gold box Santino had been eyeing earlier.
“Don’t touch tha…” I started, but never had the chance to finish.
As Titus opened the small box, a small spark ignited within. When the spark touched the contents of the box, a simple bowl containing a white, glittering powder, a flash of light as bright as a flashbang went off and engulfed the room. All I could see was white, and even my ear protectors had trouble dampening out the sound it had created.
I groped at nothing, seeing nothing, the only thing my delirium allowing me to view being the abysmal white nothing. When I finally heard a clinking and clanking noise around me, I immediately wondered who had fell into the gold.
Still unable to see anything, I felt myself trip and fall onto a gold pile of my own. I tried to push myself up, but before my hands could find purchase on anything stable, I felt a horribly sharp pain in my head, and instead of white, all I saw was black.
I’ve been knocked unconscious quite a few times in my life. A few more than the average person I would think. Normally, when these lovely episodes of rest and relaxation were presented to me, hallucinations always seem to manifest themselves. They tended to revolve around loved ones or personal relationships, and were generally ambiguous as to their tone and meaning.
But not today.
Today I saw nothing, and as I came around I wondered if the lack of a hallucination meant something ominous was lurking. All I felt was a horrible throbbing inside the back of my skull, as if a construction worker had placed his jackhammer against it and was having his way with me.
When I regained consciousness, I did so tediously, my eyes attempting to regain focus. As always, my first visual was nothing but a dense haze. I blinked a few times and shook my head to clear it, cringing as the motion doubled the amount of jackhammers on duty.
Despite the pain, I knew I had to come to my senses quickly. I fought through the pain and fog and my eye sight started to clear. I found myself lying on my side with my hands tied behind my back. All my MOLLE combat gear had been stripped away including my thigh holster and my eyepiece system, and I realized that my shirt and boots had been removed as well. I laid their bare chested, unable to move my head, at least not without risking yet more pain, but I found that I could at least move my eyes.
Titling my eyes downwards, I saw the legs of one of my team members. Based on the size and clothing, it could have been Wang, Santino, Titus, or Vincent. I had no idea which. Tracking my gaze upwards, I saw another body, this one lithe and shapely, also having been stripped naked from the waist up. It had to be Helena. I could see her hands were bound behind her as well, but blood dripped from her fingertips.
Adrenaline coursed through my body, fear for Helena and my unborn child manifesting itself. It drove me as I struggled against my restraints, but before I could make much progress, I found myself manhandled by two men. I fought against them, but I was too weak to put up much of a fight and they maneuvered me into a kneeling position, my hands still bound behind my back. It made my head swim agin and I struggled to stay conscious. With a jerk of my head, the pain ever persistent, I grunted and breathed heavily before everything started to clear.
I looked up, hoping to better understand the situation. It didn’t take long to come to an assessment.
We were pretty much fucked.
The room we were in was large, easily twice the size of the treasure vault, but was only a single level room. It was rectangular in design, had no windows, one door that I could see, and only a single chair. There were no decorations in the room, merely torches hanging from the ceiling and attached to the half dozen columns supporting the ceiling. Lighting was negligible. The room was dark and there were deep shadows in the corners.
Arrayed around the solitary chair stood dozens of armor encased soldiers, Praetorians if I had to guess. Most had his right hand on his gladius and none appeared friendly, familiar or sympathetic. They stood at attention, arrayed in a semicircle around us, ready for anything. There were also a dozen or so Praetorian ninjas scattered about in a much more disorganized fashion. These men still wore their concealing facemasks, some leaning against pillars, others crouching in the shadows, but each was just as ready as his soldier counterparts.
Those who were not standing at attention were manhandling our weapons and gear. I immediately identified Penelope by the numerous gadgets and tools attached to her. A pair of Praetorians was fondling her roughly and I felt my rage continue to grow.
Finally, seated upon the simple chair was none other than Agrippina. Clothed, for once, she wore a simple dress, cut in a fashion more akin to modern day gowns. As was normal for her, it was low cut and had a long slit along the left leg. She looked elegant, if not evilly so. I had to give her credit. She had a shtick and she kept with it.
She was seated with her right leg crossed over her left, her hands resting in her lap, and her light blond hair was tied up in an efficient bun with strands dangling to either side of her face. As opposed to the last time I’d seen her, when she had been completely naked and exposed, this woman could almost pass for regal monarchy.
I continued to kneel, unable to quantify the rage that boiled within me. Only Agrippina could bring out hatred like this and I knew learning to fly would be easier than calming myself at this point. But I had to try. Anger had led me down a dark path last time. The only thing I could rely on was my old self, the one that could stay calm in time of crisis, no matter how forgotten that man was.
“Agrippina,” I said hoarsely. “How’s the ass?”
She smiled unexpectedly. A mischievously alluring one. She stood and slowly strolled to where I knelt and I almost expected her to fling herself sexually at me, but she merely leaned down and tilted my chin up with the tip of a fingernail, forcing me to gaze into her eyes.
“It is quite perfect,” she said quietly, “but you of all people should already know that, Jacob Hunter.”
I gritted my teeth and tore my head away from her hand. As was the case with my anger, only she could make me eat my own words like that. She continued to smile and walked to my left, glancing down at Helena as she passed by. Thankfully, she didn’t touch her, and simply made her way back to her chair and sat down.
“Why do you continue to bother me, Jacob?” She asked. “I offered you access to the orbs once, but you denied me. Are you here to steal them for me now?” She scoffed and tilted her head up to look down on me. “Is it that you have seen me naked and now wish for more? Is that why you brought your Amazon this time?”