Heirs of Planet Life 3 - The Battle of Gods

III - Back to School

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Mirov's spy, Dargan, continued to gather information about Merko's family, as he had been originally ordered. He had taken the shape of a German engineer, Hans Rethins, who worked in the same place as Nicholas, to be able to watch over the enemy.

As soon as he could, he investigated the young man's records at the Institute, and discovered that he married Zara and they had a daughter, Helen. With their surnames in hand, it was easy to find Merko through the human's primitive navigation system, the internet, and see that he had married the boy's mother, Lorena.

When taking the form of the German engineer, Dargan froze Hans to take his place and hid him, not imagining that Lorena's daughter had begun dating the true owner of the identity he had assumed. But as soon as she received Sophia's first e-mail, he saw a valuable opportunity there to catch his targets in a trap. To his full satisfaction, she, together with her mother and Helen, was returning home.

All he had to do was wait for Mirov's contact to set the next step. What he didn't know was that the former monarch was too busy running away from his pursuers in the earthly past, and that was the reason why he wasn't giving any news. Meanwhile, the spy was keeping an eye on everything, monitoring every detail.

While waiting for contact, he did his job at the California Institute of Cosmology. He was responsible for the giant telescopes that searched the skies for information about the cosmos.

The purpose of the institution was to search the thousands of celestial bodies and find habitable planets, as well as to prove the birth of the Universe by the Big Bang.

Dargan was a specialist in Cosmology and used the most advanced technologies to navigate the space battle cruisers. He had investigated all of Hans's past life and knew everything about the work he developed. Having already mastered those subjects, he only had to study more about the German's projects to take his place without raising suspicion.

Infiltrated in that place, he knew that he would find Nicholas and, consequently, Merko. So, he decided to work at the Institute of Cosmology, where he waited anxiously for some news from the Terran or his family. After researching the archives of the institute, he discovered that the German also developed a research project in the space engineering sector of another university campus and, even if he didn't wish to do it, he would have to visit the place and continue the project, not to draw the attention of the others.

During the night, he invaded Nicholas' family's houses and put some spy bugs and equipment that would allow him to see them with holograms. He also put trackers down the cars in the garage.

But all the training hadn't prepared him for something that would leave him weak and helpless: the heart. One day, while working, he met a beautiful young woman: Rachel. He was touched by this woman's presence since he first saw her.

That feeling made him lost. He didn't understand how he could be drawn to a human from the past. But it was impossible to resist her voice, her eyes and smile. She made him forget everything, even Sophia, Nicholas and the other humans he was supposed to deceive. The spy was experiencing love.

So, as soon as he could, he introduced himself to the brunette girl.

"Hi, I'm Hans, nice to meet you. If there is anything I can do to help you, just tell me", he was nervous to see her approach to use his department's telescope systems.

"Hi! Thanks, I am Rachel, the new intern here. My research functions are still not well defined, but with a little help from the more experienced colleagues I'll be able to engage. I'm a fast learner, you'll see. I thank you for whatever you could help me with," she seemed very excited to meet her co-worker.