Paragon

Chapter 31:

The trouble began when the Prime Order refused to give us backup. Nikara spent over an hour in a video conference with Malcom's second in command, an agent named Anne Graves. The agent said that with the current chaos caused by the Prime Order's civil war and the fact that their Director was in the hospital, there was no way they can spare anyone.

"I don't think she believed me." Nikara said as the Paragons gathered on the deck of the yacht.

"So we're on our own then." I said.

"There's no way we're gonna have a chance." Camron said. "We're outnumbered twenty to one. There'll probably be three hundred Capricorns stationed on the first floor, blocking the door. We'd have to fight all of them off."

"Then we don't fight them."

"No, no." Weska said. "You are not suggesting we trust Morgana. She'll run to Falcom the second we're inside."

"You have a better plan?" Leela asked.

She didn't respond, and a few minutes later Morgana joined us.

"The engines are loud." She complained. "And the food here is terrible."

"You're lucky you're not in prison." Sasaki said.

She looked away from him, at me. "You've decided to trust the psychopath, I see. Have you all completely lost it?"

"She's not Xavia anymore." Marcus protested. "She's back to being Katana."

"Oh, sure. Well, when you wake up with her claws in your throat, don't blame me." She put an arm around him and I felt an odd surge of anger. "I know you love her, but love and trust don't have to be the same things. You know she'd never feel the same way about you. I should think that kiss would prove that to you."

Marcus stepped away from her.

"Kiss?" I asked.

"Moving on." Camron said uncomfortably.

"What kiss?" I pressed.

"Really not important." Weska said. "Come on, we've got a bad guy to kill."

"You're going to kill Falcom?" Morgana asked in horror.

"Not necessarily." Camron replied. "We're going to try to cure him first."

"No, we're going to kill him." Sasaki said.

"That's a bit harsh."

"If it's between him and the rest of humanity, you know what we have to choose."

"I guess."

"We're not going to ask you to kill him, Morgana." I said. "We just need to get past the Capricorns."

"I can't hypnotize 300 people at once." She said. "There's no way I can....unless..."

"What?"

"Alejandro is in charge of them, right? If I get him under my control, then the rest will be too."

"That could work." Mahlika said. "And while he's distracted, we sneak past them."

"I'll do it." Morgana said. "If you agree to my terms, that is."

"Terms?" Leela asked. "Listen, lady, you're in no place to asked for terms, you-"

"Let her talk." I interrupted. "What do you want?"

"10 million." Morgana said. "I want it transferred to my personal bank account by tomorrow. Then I want a passport and a plane ticket to the Bahamas and a guarantee I won't be bothered again."