Dominion Over All (Chariot Saga Book 2) by Justin Alan

Author:Justin Alan [Alan, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Dominion

A ster leaned against the tall window overlooking the ocean. Jack and Aster, along with Nikaia, congregated in her formal study near the top of Gilded Sky. A smaller room, one wall was adorned with floor-to-ceiling shelving stuffed with books of different sizes and decorative spines, with a corner sofa made of brown leather, a high table stocked with choice spirits in crystal decanters, and a winged chair that looked more like a throne.

“We can’t sit around and wait for the next attack,” Jack told Aster. “If we want to keep the reputation of your agency as stellar as it has been in the past, we need to be proactive, not reactive.”

“Believe me, I know,” Aster responded in a hushed voice.

Their view gave them the perfect vista of the Anemoi, a set of four massive statues just off the eastern coast of New Devon Island. Each statue depicted one of the four cardinal wind gods. Boreas, the god of the north wind, had always been Jack’s favorite. At nearly six hundred feet in height, Boreas was constructed from bronze and copper in the shape of a bushy-bearded old man with two folded wings. His left arm jutted outward, pointing northward, while the right held a conch shell to his lips, a billowing cloak on his back frozen in time.

The Anemoi had been a gift from Greece after the Department of Defense, in conjunction with the United Nations, gave approval for ONIX to allocate several agencies to help stop an invasion of the country by a group of Sigma terrorists. That was nearly forty years ago, when New York City still outshined New Devon.

“Our membership is dwindling,” Aster said, drawing Jack’s full attention.

Nikaia, who had been lounging in the corner spot of the couch, lowered a tablet in her hand and said, “Dwindling?”

Aster flexed his hand against the window. “Micro informed me before I got here. Two of our newer recruits have transferred out. Five have put in for transfers. Applications for non-agent employment have dropped nearly seventy-five percent.”

“Oh my god,” Jack whispered to himself. An agency as large as the Syndicate couldn’t sustain or thrive with those kinds of numbers, especially if they trended toward complete desertion.

“Our new face, it would seem, is failing us. No one wants to join Psy Syndicate anymore and those who have already, want to leave.”

Jack recalled his telepathic conversation with Spindle. Would she be the next to depart? A senior agent?

Aster sighed, then said, “And that’s not all. Hale is having more Graywolves move in tonight. Micro told me that Hale’s also stacking our administrative wing with his own people. Accountants, human resources, even R&D.”

Jack shook his head. “The Syndicate employs civilians for those positions. What place does Hale have overriding that?”

“You are a fool,” Nikaia said, “for thinking anything other than the truth. We all know what is happening here.”

Aster’s words were quiet, but the weight of them seemed to amplify his whisper a hundredfold. “Hostile takeover.” Finally, he turned from the window.

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