Chapter 44: The High Council

The admin wing was equally a madhouse. Multiple conference rooms filled with people talking to and over each other.

Storm and Kitara encountered Alasdair in the hall, barking instructions into his communicator and trying to maintain some semblance of order. When he saw them, he broke off mid-sentence to meet them.

“How is the Commander?” he asked grimly.

“Not good,” Kitara said as Robert disappeared into a conference room. “They’ve got him sedated. I don’t know…how long he’ll be under.”

The Engineer rubbed his forehead wearily. “I was afraid of that. Head of security becomes acting Commander if the sitting Commander is incapacitated, and I’m suddenly getting a lot of phone calls.”

“You’re acting Commander?” Kitara whispered.

Alasdair nodded.

“Guess it’s a good thing I debriefed you, then,” she muttered.

“And I knew the extenuating circumstances well enough to know what to share…and what not to,” the Engineer said. “Yeah.”

“How can we help you, ’Dair?” Storm asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

The Engineer managed a weary smile. “Not sure yet, but I think I’m about to cash in on those IOUs.”

Kitara didn’t understand, but Storm nodded. “Whatever you need.”

Declan and Zayne appeared in the hall.

“High Council meeting?” Zayne asked.

“’Dair’s acting Commander,” Storm informed them. “Commander Kasama…” He trailed off.

Declan grimaced. “Yeah.”

“Where’s Devika?” Kitara asked him.

“In the library. I told her to go back to her quarters, to take it easy, but she’s…”

Kitara shook her head. “Not after seeing Kenric like that. She’s like us. She needs to be doing something.”

“Let’s go,” Alasdair said, nodding to the conference room.

They headed inside.

Kitara only had a second to register a dark head of long hair before Phoebe wrapped her in a tight hug. “Kitara,” the High Emissary breathed.

Out of instinct, Kitara melted into her embrace. “Hi, Phoebe.”

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Phoebe whispered in her ear. “Dios mio, Alasdair debriefed us a few moments ago. Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” Kitara replied. “Just…a little shaken up.”

Phoebe finally released her and greeted her son and his friends. “Hello again, mijo,” she said, hugging Zayne next.

“Hi, Ma.” He gave her an awkward hug.

She focused on the others. “Declan, Storm,” she said, turning to Storm and touching a gentle hand to his arm. “How are you? Doing all right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The rhythmic sound of a cane hitting the floor heralded Cornelius and Tyrrell’s arrival.

“Please, sit,” the High Councilor said as Tyrrell shut the doors behind them. Cornelius’s gaze flickered between Storm and Kitara, but his expression remained impassive.

Chairs squeaked across the floor as everyone found seats. Tyrrell sat down last, per usual.

“Thank you everyone, for coming so quickly,” Cornelius said.

For an immortal who looked no older than a man in his prime, he appeared to have aged a century. Storm wondered if he’d overreacted to the High Councilor’s actions the day before.

“The information I am about to share is top secret, eyes only.” Cornelius shuffled the stack of papers in his hand. “Approximately sixty-five percent of our military has been compromised. Incapacitated. We’re at an almost complete standstill.”

Silence met the announcement, followed by murmurs of shock and horror.

“How?” Declan exclaimed. “How is that possible?”

Cornelius’s gaze hardened. “A simultaneous, unexpected assault on nearly every topside facility we own. Ostragarn has developed a new weapon system. Our most experienced Engineers are working to decipher how this was accomplished—” he gestured in Alasdair and Robert’s direction “—but they haven’t found anything concrete yet. Our knowledge so far indicates the weapon rendered facilities and mainframes totally useless. Any personnel inside at the time lost consciousness. Anything topside was devastated. Hundreds of casualties, thousands of injuries.”

“But they didn’t target headquarters?” Zayne asked. “Why not?”

“Our anti-portaling shields appear to safeguard against it,” the High Councilor replied. “An unexpected blessing. But they require massive amounts of energy and a direct connection to Valëtyria—we can’t equip them everywhere. There’s only a handful of sites with the technology enabled.”

“We did receive intel that a raid was coming, but despite increased security measures, we were still overpowered,” Robert said.

“There’s more,” Cornelius continued. “We lost one of our own in the heat of things. Seems Ostragarn knew we had Sleepers deep in their ranks: they released information indicating they planned to target Cairo, when, in fact, it was one of the few facilities left untouched.”

“Who did we lose?” Declan asked.

“Saoirse,” Phoebe answered this time, her voice breaking. “We lost Saoirse.”

The room spun in Kitara’s mind, and she clutched the table to keep from listing sideways. “Saoirse?” she whispered. “Saoirse’s…?”

“I’m so sorry, Kitara,” Phoebe said as tears swam in her eyes. “We thought the raid was on Cairo, she told us it was Cairo, but…”

“They used it to root her out,” Kitara rasped, dimly aware of wetness streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t care if the High Councilors realized her friends knew about her job now.

“Or they tortured it out of her,” someone else muttered. “No one is unbreakable, not even Saoirse…”

Kitara swallowed hard. “There was evidence they tortured her?”

Phoebe grimaced. “Yes.”

The images of Landon’s mutilated body rose in her mind, and she had to swallow twice to control her nausea.

“All we found in Cairo was her corpse,” Cornelius bit out.

“A message,” Robert added.

“We’re bringing all our Sleepers in,” another Councilor said. “Given the circumstances, we don’t know what intel is true and what isn’t.”

“They knew we would focus on Cairo quickly if we thought an attack was imminent,” Cornelius said.

“Cairo,” Declan said slowly. “What’s in Cairo?”

Another uneasy glance between the Councilors.

“Phoenix Dyaphine resides there,” Phoebe finally said. “We were told they planned to abduct him.”

Kitara’s gut clenched with anxiety.

“Is there any truth to that?” Alasdair asked with a frown. “Any reason to believe they might target him another time?”

“If so, it wouldn’t matter,” Cornelius replied. “We’ve moved him already.”

“Then what was the point?” Storm asked, frustrated. “Why the attacks? Why mutilate our angels, rather than kill them?”

“Another message,” Alasdair said wearily. “Considering their goal.”

“Which was?”

“They stole something,” Phoebe said. “From one of the facilities.”

“What did they take?”

Cornelius glanced at Robert. “A batch of…Fallen formula.”

“Did someone specifically claim responsibility?” Kitara asked, still preoccupied with the method of Saoirse’s death.

“No, but given the…butchering of our people, it’s in line with their methodology so far.”

“Did they take anything else?” Storm asked, reaching for Kitara’s hand under the table and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“A few things from various labs, but nothing of real importance,” Tyrrell replied. “Some materials, but unrelated to the Fallen.”

“We’ll have a difficult time identifying everything before all systems are back online.” Robert typed on a tablet even as he spoke. “Which could take some time.”

“How much time?” someone asked.

“Also unclear,” Alasdair replied. “Could be hours, days…weeks…”

“Where does this leave us?” Zayne asked.

“We don’t know what else they’re capable of,” Tyrrell said, “but we do know our anti-portaling shields protect us. They have not been able to use their own portals to infiltrate us here, either. For now, that must be enough. Our Engineers and Technologists will work to make our shields more lightweight, while the best of our Healers will tend to those…impacted.”

Heavy silence fell as everyone reflected on how the injured immortals were “impacted.”

“For now,” Cornelius finally said, “it’s imperative to remain vigilant, now more than ever, and not take any…unnecessary risks. Captain Seanste,” he addressed Declan, “that will, unfortunately, mean you’ll be pulled from your patrols. Ambassador Dragić” —he turned to Zayne— “that will also curtail any trips to other facilities you may have had planned. And Major Avensäel, I trust you’ll remain in the facility moving forward.”

Storm tamped down on his embarrassment-fueled flush and nodded. Zayne and Declan wore equally unhappy expressions, but they too indicated their acknowledgment.

“Captain, you’ll be assigned shifts of the ambassador and admin wings,” Cornelius continued. “And Ambassador, you’re welcome to participate in any communication we have with other facilities—of which there will be plenty, I’m sure.”

“Of course, High Councilor,” Zayne replied.

Finally, Cornelius addressed Kitara. “I understand your lineage has made you a target as well, Kitara.”

Kitara nodded, grateful for Alasdair’s discretion.

“Stationing you anywhere else would be moot, I think,” he continued. “So for now, it’s best you remain here. Perhaps you and Robert can collaborate to understand what, exactly, makes the Fallen so important.”

Kitara didn’t look at Robert, but she did notice Phoebe watching the High Councilor with narrowed eyes. If she had to guess, Cornelius would rather have sent her somewhere else, anywhere else.

“I’ll help however I can, sir,” she said flatly.

“Any questions?” Cornelius asked the younger immortals. When they shook their heads, he nodded once. “Good. We will update you with new intel as we receive it, but for now, you are dismissed.”

All but Alasdair rose from their chairs and filed into the hall as the Councilors continued the discussion behind closed doors.

“Now what?” Zayne asked once they stood outside.

Declan shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I need to hit something. I’ll probably go to the gym.”

“I have to make a phone call,” Kitara said, glancing up at Storm. “Can I meet you back in your room?”

Storm raised an eyebrow. “Sure, who are you calling?”

“Baylen.”

“Are you nuts?” Declan asked. “What if he’s part of all of this?”

“I’m not giving him any information,” Kitara muttered. “But he might know what’s happening.”

“She knows what she’s doing,” Storm tried to reassure the Guardian as Kitara pulled out her phone.

“I’ll see you in a few.”

She scrolled through her list of contacts and meandered down the hallway before holding the phone up to her ear. Storm and his friends adopted a leisurely pace in the opposite direction.

It rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Once more.

Then…

A click, and the shrill sound of a voicemail tone. No message, no automated voice telling her the number was unavailable. She left him a five-word message. “It’s me. Call me back.”