The Grey Area (Book 1)

The Begining of Time

Primi Capitis

 

            "I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."  - Leonardo da Vinci

 

11th September, National 9/11 Memorial, present

Sometimes, even the simplest thing was breathtakingly beautiful.

Lieutenant Colonel Alameda B. Pendragon, M.D gazed into the footprint of what once was a beautiful skyscraper, once the tallest in the world. She looked up through the new trees to the construction beside her, soon to become the new World Trade Center. Looking down, she ran her hand over the cutouts in the bronze. Kieren Abrona Arrachtaí-Desdemona. That was the name the girl she grew up with was using when she died on Flight 175.

"Ten years, Ali. Ten years, and this is my brother's grave. How can anyone do this to thousands of people?" Siobhan O'Rourke, red bob dangling over her face, looked deep into the hole where the water disappeared in the enormous fountain in the footprint of the old World Trade Center.

Ali turned to face her old friend, her own dark hair blowing into her face. She still walked with a limp. "The mind of a killer is complex, Sib. Nobody knew what made Jack the Ripper tick, and nobody will ever know what made Bin Laden tick." Ali winced at the memory of the evil man who had ruined her life. "I never met a killer that I understood, never in my experience with Project Inferno. Killers kill. What I find most amazing is the way that people can pull together, through tragedy and triumph; war and peace; hate and love; joy and sorrow; and become a great, indestructible force of a nation that the world sees in awe."

Ali stared into the chasm for a moment, studying the water in the memorial. "We've come so far in ten years, my friend, but at what cost, at what cost to our souls? Are we staring Armageddon down the mouth? Will the terrorist standing at the other side of the fountain open fire on us? We will never know, my friend, never know until it is shown to us."

Startled, Siobhan looked where Ali had glanced with the terrorist comment. All she saw was an exhausted-looking young man with what looked like scars on his face, and who moved as if he was in pain.   

Ali shifted her weight. This new leg was taking some getting used to. At least she still had a good position as at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"Alameda."

Ali's heart skipped. This voice did not have Sib's slightly Canada-like Northern New York accent. This voice spoke English with a slight British accent, similar to...no. It was impossible. A hallucination of things past.

"Two, you're supposed to be dead. Stop coming back."

"My name's Severino Kieron Arrachtai now, I go by Sev. If I were dead, would I know you think this is possibly a Unit trap to capture you? Besides, who else knows your real name, the one I gave you, Alethea Jun Shinobi?"

Ali turned to snap at the new ghost. The hallucinations since the war had lessened some, but the most painful memories had never quite faded. Ali stopped dead with the vividness of the figure next to her. It was Two, a little older, but Two just the same.

"Siobhan, can you see what I see?"

Sib turned and her jaw dropped. "I thought Two died eleven years ago."

"He did, Sib."

"Then why is he standing next to you?"

I narrowed my eyes. Sev narrowed them back. I slapped him across the face.