Blood of the Ancient - The Helix Rebellion saga #1

Chapter 15

"Yes sir, that's correct." Sainus Blackwood was speaking into his mobile, rapping his knuckles against the dark wood of his polished desk.

'And he survived?' President Malik enquired, sounding nonplussed. 'In a hidden shack...you say.'

"That's correct, sir," replied Sainus. "When they hadn't woken up within allocated recovery time at the lab, we discarded the bodies for Professor Crow in the diseased ruins of Kastor. He was adamant they'd be dead within a matter of days. My team observed the village for five months, and we had no reason to believe they were anything but dead. I've never known an Eridanian to survive for so long without any sustenance." He shook his head slowly.

'And it was the Marshal who woke first?'

"Yes sir. When my team received the request to eliminate them, we were shocked to find they had disappeared. We understand the Marshal buried his comrade in the floor of a derelict building, probably sustaining him on rain water whilst building his own strength." Sainus was angry that his team had disappointed the President.

'Go on.'

"One of my agents noticed a blood-trail...which turned out to be from an animal. When it was investigated further, he found a carcass. The Marshal, it seems, had been hunting through the night using a simple box trap. That was when we requested Malikan Troops to probe the village."

'Yes...my soldiers that were killed by two, near-death, failed experimental cripples.' There was a long pause from both ends of the phone. 'Can you explain to me how that is even possible, Sainus.' The President's voice was calm and collected, though his uncomfortable sounding voice forced the TIA leader to remove the headset for a moment.

"Well sir, it appears that they received assistance," he began. "I'm not really sure how to explain..." There was another long pause during their exchange of words.

The President interrupted as Sainus was about to speak. 'What sort of help are you talking about?'

Sainus began to fidget, a horrible old habit that he had and detested since childhood. He scratched his face and head, roughly. "Well," he took a deep breath. "We found a frozen man blocking the doorway to the suspect shack." He hoped this obvious description would help the President come to the same conclusion that he had.

'How in Lunis' great fuck could a frozen man assist the cripples?'

Sainus inhaled and exhaled long and slow; a gesture of defeat, he'd have to explain this very carefully. "Sir...we found a Malikan soldier encased in a tomb of ice, still standing upright, blocking the entrance to the shack. He held an axe in his hands. He was attempting to kill the Marshal and his young recruit before he was...stopped."

Sainus couldn't have delivered it any more clearly to his boss, there was only one person in the world that had such an ability, and Xander knew him very well.

'I see. That explains where Samiel disappeared to then.'

"Yes sir. I believe so."

'Great Lunis...why would Samiel help them?'

Sainus had no concrete answer, he'd been back and forth over a number of possible reasons, but every one of them had left him stumped. He replied with the only response possible. "We're working on it, Sir." He heard the President sigh on the other end. He hated giving him bad news, especially when it could have been avoided. He allowed himself a moment, wondering what his father would have done, in his time as a TIA operative. His thoughts were interrupted by the President.

'Work on it harder, Mr Blackwood, and faster!'

The phone on the other end died before he had the chance to restore some confidence with a response. He cursed as he cancelled the call, slamming the mobile onto the surface of his wooden desk, leaving a dent. He slumped heavily into his leather chair throwing his hands onto his bald head. He closed his eyes tight, trying to make sense of his team's failure and wondering how best to rectify the issue. A brief feeling of comfort washed over him as he thought of TIA's newest operative working out in the field, hopefully he'd be able to gather crucial intelligence from his assignment.

Sainus was allowed mere seconds to rest, before his mobile phone suddenly juddered over his desk, vibrating enthusiastically from an incoming call. He picked it up immediately and answered, registering the unknown caller status.

"Blackwood." Sainus announced into the handset.

'Boss, I have an update that I think will interest you.'

Sainus turned his head to double-check the occupancy of his office, answering when certain he was alone. "Go ahead, Hawk."

'Two updates in fact, Sir. Eagle has reported sighting a dark ninja, traversing the Alundra region. Even though there are over one-hundred members of Crow's security force in the village, I still believe we'll need to dispatch more.' Hawk paused momentarily, allowing the TIA leader a few seconds to decide on a plan of action.

Sainus scratched his head roughly. "Activate Axial and Hektor immediately," he ordered. "Let's hope that if it is Samiel, he just wants to speak with his father. But if things get ugly, I would rather our best was out there to protect him."

'Yes sir, activating now.' replied Hawk.

"Continue with your update, agent."

'Sir, we've intercepted a number of phone calls, and even interrogated a local man believed to have information that could lead to Logan's whereabouts. Whilst we are not yet certain of his current location, our intelligence leads us to believe that they will be attending a meeting in the south-east sector of Barlow-'

"A meeting?" asked Sainus, interrupting his colleague before he could finish. "What sort of meeting?"

'Well sir, the meeting is at a power plant," Hawk replied. "I believe we've recently witnessed a meeting of this type before.'

The west Barlow plant explosion had cost the Malikan empire almost a million gold in repair, and the reactor was still nowhere near ready for operation. Whether they knew it or not, Logan and his team had caused the President a severe headache with their antics.

"Timescale Hawk?"

'Imminent, sir. Personally I believe it'll happen in the next few days - but that's not guaranteed.'

"Thank you, Hawk. I'll make arrangements to gate-crash the party, anything else?"

'That is all, sir.'

The news brought a welcomed smile back to the face of Sainus. He needed something positive after all the bad news, he knew when it came to the crunch his agents wouldn't let him down. It was time to make arrangements, he decided, punching numbers into his mobile, hoping to receive authorisation from the President to deal with the power plant issue. He knew this phone call would be more enjoyable than the last.

'Malik Tower - Presidential Suite. How may I help you?'

The female clerk spoke with an overly-friendly voice, indicating that she worked for a caring and trusting organisation. It made Sainus grin every time he heard her.

"Hi Carly, It's Mr Blackwood - again."

'I'll put you straight through, sir.'

Sainus heard a beep and the phone rang for a second time. He waited patiently to give the President the good news.