||Series Removed|| OTB

32 - Conference Call

  "Remember what I told you." Elizabeth stationed us around the circular conference table, high above the city of Las Vegas. We'd been guided into the uppermost floor of the hotel, with the twinkling night sky pouring in through its wall-sized glass panel.

  "Don't repeat undocumented intel during the call," I sighed with a nod.

  "Don't ask any invasive questions," Blessing added.

  "Don't make fun of his ugly mug," Tomás folded his arms and leaned back in his creaking chair. Out of the four of us, including a timid Charlotte, he was the one who would be the most difficult to control. Elizabeth requested our audience for a conference call, with a man he despised more than anyone else.

  "Why am I doing this again?" I asked Elizabeth, who strained the gap between her eyes with pinched fingers.

  "Because, we're backed into a corner here. Telos have known about our location for at least a week, and yet they haven't made a move. There must be information that we're missing... We need an alliance."

  "But... Why us?"

  "You know him well, don't you? Some friendly faces might make the negotiations easier. I'll do most of the talking, all you have to do is nod along. Understand?

  "Yes, Ma'am." We 'nodded' in unison, wondering how we'd gotten into this sticky situation. To think that man would be our only salvation...

  In the centre of the massive conference table, the cameras flicked on and three monitors lit up with a ringing tone. After a brief second or two, a gentleman in some kind of armored vehicle glared back at us with a piercing stare. It only took him a small tilt of our video-recording room to lift his cheeks in a menacing smile.

  "Miss Boudica, radiant as always. To what do I owe the pleasure?" James Burkley's gravelly voice slithered in through one ear and out the other with a deep shiver. Elizabeth raised herself from the table, and began pacing behind each of us as the O-Saints' leader watched carefully.

  "James. You once told me, that your objective was to unite the world under one blood type. Now your intent is to access the Ark. Would you like to clarify?"

  "My dear, you do realise that we stand as enemies? Our truce has long since ended," his gaze glossed over Blessing, "ever since you took my doll away. Didn't you want her dead earlier?"

  "I wanted to keep my family safe," she countered, "but circumstances change. I'm sure you of all people understand that much, with the sacrifices you've made."

  "Ouch, Boudica. That was almost cold," he chuckled to himself as his vehicle hit several bumps. Wherever he was, it must've been off-road somewhere. "Was there something you wanted, or did you just call to crack jokes about dead wives?"

  He left a tense silence in the room, and my eyes flew between him and the resistance leader. I hadn't considered that Burkley once had a family to care for... He never seemed the type. Was that how Telos forced him into their employment, threatening them before all of this started?

  "You know I would never," Elizabeth seethed with impatience. "I've recently come into some knowledge... through a high-ranking defector of your organisation." The Swede, I thought to myself as Burkley smirked in my screen's direction.

  "Ah, yes. The nameless brat. I figured that he might try and align himself with Walker. He was a big fan of yours, bless him. Must've had a little crush."

  "The Ark," Our resistance leader continued blindly, "is a state-of-the-art compound of unknown origin and volume, pre-dating Telos' occupancy. Rumor has it that the First One is contained within its walls, along with countless other inhumane projects. Potentially, a cure for the Shezmu virus is being held there as well."