No Darker Fate by John Corwin

Author:John Corwin
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Unkindled
Published: 2011-02-16T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Andre gathered Marissa, Thomas, and his other closest advisors in the conference room back at the Transcendist compound.

"I have a feeling Mikhail has other plans for Lucas Fowler and our initiate, Alexia."

Marissa frowned. "Like what? Even he can't want such a dangerous man to live."

"I think Mikhail puts more stock in the Cross legend than he lets on. When I met with him in North Dakota, I told that story to push him in a direction I thought best. Lucas Fowler can't be allowed to fall into Statist hands. I'd hoped the Cross analogy might convince him that a quick execution would be best."

Thomas broke into the conversation. "You're overlooking something here. Lucas Fowler has abilities that surpass anything we've heard of before. He shares core abilities with at least two classes of Scions. What if he's the proof we need?"

"Proof?" Andre asked.

Marissa's eyes widened. "You mean if an executor can become a seeker, what prevents a chum from becoming a Scion?"

"Exactly," Thomas said. "If we capture this guy, we can find out what neural pathways connect differently for him as opposed to others. It might take a few years of study, but our scientists would love it."

Andre shook his head. "It's an intriguing proposal, but completely unworkable. If this man can hop out of our detection radius, how can we possibly hold him for study?"

"He hopped somewhere without line of sight," said Whitney, one of Andre's experienced seekers. "Any seeker who's tried that has either vanished for good, or died outright."

"Who the hell tried hopping without line of sight?" asked Thomas.

"Remember Tyrone, that kid we picked up off the streets ten years back?"

"I thought he ran away."

Whitney cleared her throat and looked at her hands. "I lied about that."

Andre clenched his fists. "You lied? Tell me what happened."

"He and some other initiates were bragging about how far they could hop. Tyrone told them he memorized a spot and didn't need line of sight. He hopped and never came out of the Blight."

"You lied to your leaders," Andre said again, voice low. "This won't go unpunished."

"Please, Andre. I was ashamed and afraid."

"His death was his fault. Your fault stands with the lie. After this crisis is over, you'll be sentenced to one day of sensory deprivation."

Whitney blanched. "That's rather harsh. After all I've done—"

Andre slammed the table with his fist and stood. "You are a trusted member of my inner circle." His shout caused a ripple of surprise in the room. He glared at the group, his eyes raking each of them in turn. "I won't tolerate lies from anyone." He took his seat and gave himself a moment to calm down.

Whitney, her lips set in a thin line, nodded.

Marissa spoke up after a moment of stunned silence. "Maybe they met the same fate as Tyrone."

"True. Our problem might already be solved."

Someone rapped on the conference room door.

"Come," Andre said.

Dara poked her head in. "I've got a couple of independents wanting to speak with you. They say it's super urgent.

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