Olympus: The Agency (Book One)

16: The Value of Trust

Tartarus opened his eyes and sat up with a groan. This was not the rooftop he had lost consciousness on. It was a makeshift cell jury-rigged from an old office and a portable plasma field generator. His hand shot to his head, and he breathed in relief. Alice was still in his brain, she was just offline for unknown reasons.

Sitting across from his, backwards on a chair, was the woman he had fought on the rooftop. Abigail was smiling, though her bandaged chest told Tartarus she too had not escaped the fight unscathed. Good. She would remember him.

'Why is the Agency here?' she asked simply, tapping the chair. Tartarus shrugged.

'They don't tell me anything. I'm here because I can use a rifle.'

'The A.I in your head says different, Tartarus,' she said with a smirk.

She knew his code name and that he had an A.I implantation. What else did she know? The plan? He needed to warn the squad in the sewers.

'Someone did their homework,' Tartarus said, trying to be aloof. 'But knowing me is only a fraction of your problem.'

Abigail stood and kicked the chair into the plasma field. It disintegrated before them both, and Tartarus now knew not to touch the field.

'We have your leader, Zeus, and the medic woman. They sung like lyre birds, Tartarus. We're just verifying.'

Tartarus smirked. 'Now I know you're lying. Zeus would rather shoot himself in the face than tell anyone what he's planning, and Epione is Irish. Getting her to talk is impossible.'

Abigail knew that she'd been caught in a lie, but Serenity had tasked her to verify what Zeus had told her. People responded under pressure.

'Right now, Alice is deactivated,' she started, and Tartarus leaned forward. 'But an E.M.P would kill her out entirely. Kaput. Dead... Unless you answer a question.'

'So far, all you've done is threaten me,' Tartarus quipped.

'Why did the Alliance attack us?'

Tartarus cocked his brow. 'As far as I know, we didn't. Our dossier said Selene attacked first.'

Abigail had confirmed what Serenity had said. Either this squad was grossly misinformed, they were set up, or they were lying. But he wasn't lying, she could see it in his eyes, and his vitals hadn't shifted one iota as he talked. He was only scared when she threatened Alice.

Abigail turned the field off and Tartarus cautiously stood up. She jerked her head for him to follow, and the two assassins joined Serenity, Zeus and Epione in the next room.

Epione smiled and hugged Tartarus, an action he wasn't sure how to respond to, so he awkwardly patted her on the back.

'They said you were wounded. Are you alright?'

Tartarus nodded, and felt a click in his brain as Alice, and his H.U.D, came online.

'-never going to! -... Oh, what happened?'

'I'll explain later. Link with Zeus and Epione, and the others if you can.'

Alice complied, and Tartarus noticed the lights on his H.U.D turn on one at a time. Zeus. Epione. Enyo. Kurt. Minnie. He waited, then the lights turned orange for Dionysus and Marcella. Thanatos' light flashed red.

'Zeus. Dionysus and Marcella have dropped out of contact, and Thanatos's vitals are registered as dead. Should we break radio silence?'

'No,' Zeus said, then turned to Serenity. 'Our squad's in the sewers trying to root out the gang. If my squad members are in trouble, we must go and help them. We could use some help, though.'