The Selfless Gene

Chapter 32

Paimona basks in her penthouse as the sun rises, overlooking over the city. She'd arrived a day after Thame had escaped her clutches. She hadn't foreseen Ormr's rebellion; there was a love and bond between them from when he was just small. But perhaps he'd needed longer in the cave to cook. A begrudging respect blossomed for Thame. After all, he was the perfect vessel for her boy and all was not lost. What she couldn't predict in temperament, she could easily make up for by basing her schemes on his human drive and ego. Her plan was in action, but she preferred to be close to call any audibles. A knock on the door breaks her morning ponder.

"Let her in." She screams to her security. You can never be too careful when in enemy territory.

"Ma'am. You wanted news when we had it one hundred percent confirmed." Her Executive Assistant enters, clad in similar business-like attire.

"Well get on with it, girl." Paimona says, her back still to her. Easton was still new and earning her stripes. Her polite pauses come across as tentative and weak to Paimona, and she nonchalantly waves her hand to instigate her debrief.

"Ah yes, ma'am. So we confirmed the killing of Mbozi at his holiday quarters. It was almost certainly Ormr, given the neatness of the scene. House was empty, the security only knocked out and just the target fatally hit. He killed him with a knife thrown through the skull from a distance. No human arm could throw so hard and accurately. Stranger still, he threw it through his ceremonial mask into the skull. I think he meant it as a message to The... "

"Thank you, Easton." Paimona cuts her off, knowing the rest. As lovely a message it was, Mbozi wore that mask when making his own kills. Quietly, to herself and the city she overlooked, she murmured, "Ormr, you never learn. So easy to lead on. I tested you to see whether you'd torch the world or nudge it into your favour. Both of you, still children after all."

She turns to Easton. "If my list is followed, he will hit the facility next. With the severity of Mbozi's death, we need to save Lohikaarme. Else I'm afraid Ormr will rip right through it."

"Yes ma'am."

"Bring forward all the planning. Ormr will take the facility and destroy his brother. He's never had a victory, and I fear Lohikaarme's temporary weakness will be too sweet for him not to feast on. We need to save Lohikaarme and then level the rest. It's not working anyway and The Intern's folly will eradicate the stocks. You'll see Ormr at the facility and if not at the next, no, final meeting of The Order. Let him do what he will. Track him - we know we'll see him at the final location."

"We will do. Are you sure he'll turn up there?"

"I can guarantee it. My boys will come home to me."

"I'll place our insiders at the event for intel as well."

"Good. Don't intercept, just watch. I predict he'll cut the heads of The Order off and in his strength they'll fall in line. Listening to him, the new generation of leaders will ignore the cult history. They're all about business."

"Should we increase our share in their business affairs?"

"Yes. Take my direct holding to 35 percent and 16 percent with our partner businesses. Make sure the rest are in Thame's and our next project's name. Let's attack from all sides."

"And the same with Lohikaarme's businesses?"

"The same."

"Very good ma'am. Lastly, if we are upping the pace of the plan, you need to choose." Easton taps away at her tablet and passes it to Paimona. Paimona looks at three profiles and begins swiping between them.

"Are we fully prepared?"

"We're ready to take one at your behest. Everything is prepped."

Paimona looks deep into the face of a woman on her screen. It had strength, poise and grace. She was perfect.

"Her." Paimona orders and passes the tablet back to her Executive Assistant. "Tell me her status."

"University sports science student and decathlete at Loughborough University. No family."

"Tell me more."

"Definitely a strength candidate. Very strong without being obsessive in the gym. No history of illness. Experienced rock climber. No major health concerns either. No tattoos and only ears pierced. Could be extracted to us within twenty-five hours following a track meeting in Birmingham."

"Make it so. And clean. She must not be ruined before we make our attempt."

"Yes ma'am. We're all prepared."

"Thank you Easton. Leave me now to prepare. We will proceed with the operation tonight at eight.

Easton takes her leave and Paimona turns back to the now-established morning. For all the planning, she has to rekindle the love between the brothers. By blood they bond until one destroys the other and continues the line. It was how their world worked. She needed to play on their soon-to-be-shared humanity and experience of this world to connect them and stop the war. But how? It was the only thing she hadn't mastered on this earth, and the single thing that now mattered.