The Day of Reckoning

Chapter 4--The Pillar of Government (Part 1)

Carsius paced the floor of the deserted Marketplace.

The scrounging trip had already taken far longer than necessary. They had found mattresses and various pieces of furniture to make the sparse area more livable, but food was a bit more difficult to stockpile. Only Atis, Scander, and Renata had the confidence to gather food from the stalls, while Barmier and Gorrmunsa went along as lookouts.

Carsius picked up a discarded contraption, marveling at how far from the established "normality" the people had come. But there were still a few fingers to pry loose from the planet, in order for them to be truly free of the Elitinati. Carsius let his mind wander, thinking of all the operatives just ripe for training; if this method worked, the Black Hand could essentially rid the universe of the Elitinati influence—or at least dramatically reduce the threat.

A soft beeping interrupted his plotting. Carsius immediately turned to the workroom entrance that served as their front door. A red light blinked above it. That meant someone was within minutes of breaching the perimeter of the factory walls. Carsius moved to the ramshackle "command center" and flicked a switch. The digital monitor before him lit up, and he could see five figures making their way through the factory grounds. That would be the foraging team, but why were they moving so fast?

Carsius frowned as three more figures appeared on the monitor, not too far behind the team. Soldiers! Instead of following the highly irregular zig-zag path of their quarry, the soldiers plowed straight ahead, and Carsius saw them stop abruptly. He couldn't make out just what happened on the crudely-constructed monitor, but the three forms did not move at all. Another alarm sounded, signaling that the outer door had opened. Twenty seconds later, Barmier, Gorrmunsa, Renata, Atis, and finally Scander poured through the doorway.

"Whoo!" Scander whooped, "That was a close one! I nearly thought we'd been caught for sure!" He punched Atis on the shoulder, "Neat traps, brother! Man, that was incredible!"

Atis' eyes danced as he looked toward Carsius. "Did the alert system work all right?"

Carsius pursed his lips and nodded slowly. "It functioned as well as it could, given the circumstances we had to go through to invent it."

Renata finished turning the last of the scrounged supplies over to Deej. She glanced at the monitor, with the immobilized soldiers. "Those poor men!" she cried. "What happened, did it kill them, Atis?"

He barely looked in her direction as he splashed water from the makeshift sink on his face and toweled off. "Nah, I think that was just a paralyzing snare. They should be fine in a day or two."

"A day or two!" Carsius roared, "Do you realize what a security risk that is? Three bodies in plain view of the street?"

"Look at the bright side," Atis returned hotly, "If the trap does kill them, I have a programmed incineration protocol running through the wires they're trapped in. The bodies will be ash before long!"

Carsius was so furious that he did not say a word.

Scander greeted Sverana and glanced to where Laurel huddled in a corner, rocking back and forth and staring keenly at the ground. "Is she okay?" he asked Augustus.

The operative sighed, "It's hard to tell any more. Who knows what kind of demons Laurel has swimming in her head that she cannot be rid of, or else this whole mission would fail."

"Council!" Carsius barked.

Scander glanced at Augustus. "Should we bring her over?"

Augustus shook his head gravely. "Carsius and I decided she was too much of a security risk. All that she can manage to understand at this point is the drive to fight the mother mind. That's all we need her for. The less she knows about our plans, the less the Elitinati can pull from her." He led the young boy toward the others, away from Laurel.