Revelation

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

               

                Because Niki had been paying attention to Ruslan’s movements, the Anitreh had a pretty good idea of where they could run into him. Or where Niki could run into him. The rest of the Anitreh were not planning on going anywhere near him but were instead waiting in convenient areas from which they could observe the interaction.

                Darius was standing with Arwa on top of a building. They each had a pair of binoculars, but Darius wasn’t using his. He was keeping his eye on Niki, who was easy enough to see with the unaided eye. She was across the street, sitting outside a coffee shop that conveniently had no other patrons outside. They had Barton to thank for that, who was subtly influencing all the civilians in the area to cross the street or stay inside.

                The other two Anitreh, Zach and Justice, were on the ground level. One was supposed to be in the parking lot next to the building Darius was on, and the other somewhere across the street, but Darius hadn’t seen either one of them. He wasn’t too concerned, however. If Niki did get into trouble, Darius knew he could handle Ruslan himself.

                “I think I see him,” Arwa said, looking down the street through her binoculars. Darius picked his own up and looked in the same direction. He scanned the street quickly until he saw him.

                “Yeah. That’s him. And he’s alone. Good.” He dropped the binoculars and watched him walk closer. He had been certain Ruslan would be alone, as he had told Erik to not accompany him on their daily walk. Every day, they patrolled the area around the Anitreh base together, but Darius told Erik to meet him on the other side of town.

                “Incoming,” Arwa said over their radio. “Solo.”

                After a moment of silence, there was a click over the radio – that was Niki checking in, confirming she heard the message. Shortly after, Justice and Zach both checked in as well, although they were able to do so verbally. When Barton didn’t respond, Arwa looked at Darius, unsure of what to do.

                “What do I do?” she asked. “Do I give him more time?”

                Instead of replying to Arwa, Darius turned on his radio. “Commander, do you copy?” Once again, they were answered by nothing by silence. “Starkey, Ibanez, either of you got eyes on him?”

                “No,” Zach replied.

                “Nothing,” Starkey said.

                “What do we do?” Arwa asked.

                “Can’t use the radio now,” Barton’s voice came inside Darius’ head. “Continue as planned. I may not be available to help.”

                “Did you get that?” Darius asked Arwa.

                “What?”

                “Got him in my head,” Darius said over the radio, realizing that he was the only one Barton had communicated with. “Continue with the plan.”

                “What’s going on?” Arwa asked.

                “No idea,” Darius said. “We’ll worry about it later. The commander can take care of himself. If he needs help, we’ll know. Not that we have time to worry about him. Target’s almost there.”