Gemini Ecliptic : : Chapter 7
The ancient religions taught that all we do should be evaluated by one simple metric: would we want someone else to do the same to us? An elegant test, but easily corrupted. I find the majority of the sins of men, to the perpetrator’s mind, hold to the rule, but the flaw in the logic is clear: the sum total of action is not what should be measured, but every individual action, be it thought, word or deed, leading to that sum must pass the test. Means to an end invariably prove to be unethical, and worse, an anesthetic on the soul. By this lie of omission do humans become monsters.
- Excerpt from the High Court’s decision re: Tamnagar v. The Republic, written by Consul Legate Laristar Atwon in 1157 AT
The gentle clink of the crystal as it made contact with the glasslike surface of the table chimed unnaturally loud in their ears. The chemical in the wine was meant to work very slowly, presumably to reach full potency well after dinner had ended. The world around them slowed, it seemed seconds lasted minutes. The strong, loud, measured beats of their hearts echoed in their ears. They felt the drug in their guts, sluggishly trying to seep into their veins, to begin moving through their bodies. It would moment by moment make them drowsier, finally bringing them to excuse themselves from the banquet, and return to their quarters.
They could feel the very shape, the structure of the poison. They could feel how it broke up, and began to spread through their stomachs. Enzymes moved to counter, acids boiled, but the alien chemical did not slow. A certain type of enzyme seemed to impede it, particularly when it attacked a specific end of the molecule chain. If only the enzymes could coordinate, attack every molecule of the poison at the weakest point. And then, that was precisely what happened. The molecules, weakened by the assault began to break apart, exposing new weaknesses. As the new flaws in the chemical appeared, different enzymes latched themselves to them. Finally, the last remnants of the drug disappeared.
Their attention moved outward to the people surrounding them. The first thing they saw was Morgan looking at them with a mix of curiosity and concern. They smiled reassuringly at him, reorienting themselves to the chatter. The last of the dishes had been cleared, glasses filled and they guessed they had about ten minutes before they needed to feign tiredness and excuse themselves to their quarters.
They threw down all psionic barriers between themselves and the other guests, trying to get some sense of who present had tried to drug them. The chemical did not appear to be lethal, but undoubtedly had been intended to knock them both unconscious for an extended period of time. Someone wanted them out cold, and they needed to find out who. Unfortunately, even the blocked dignitaries seemed to be unaware of the plot. Fayon, who had instinctively been their first guess, displayed none of the emotions of someone who had just witnessed the execution of a difficult plan. It made a level of sense: whoever wanted them incapacitated would most likely not want anyone near them who might give the plan away. It did not, however, help them understand precisely what game was being played.
They both methodically displayed signs of fatigue, yawns and eyelids drooping. Finally, they rose, begging their host’s forgiveness and asking his leave. Jeffrey rose as if to go with them, and they assured him that they only sought their beds and he should remain at the gala. Hartley followed them out.
As they navigated the large, empty corridors, they meditated on what they had learned tonight. In addition to what they had discovered with Chad, powerful, shadowy figures worked from the periphery and their reach extended into the halls of highest power. Now, they found themselves in the very center of the web. As they neared their quarters, they knew a spider would come for them shortly.
They bid Justin good night, and went about their normal pre-bedtime activities. Finally, they climbed into bed, wrapping around each other, and waited. They tried to slow their heartbeats, make their breathing shallow, while trying to maintain a level of consciousness. They silently thanked Misha for his extensive training.
Drifting in that limbo between wakefulness and slumber, they couldn’t be certain how much time had passed, but they heard the door latch unlock. The door mechanisms throughout the residential wing of the palace would never release the lock without the proximity sensor chiming, to alert the residents of a visitor and without receiving a command to unlock from the inside. Even for maintenance, the chimes would sound and no entry would be allowed if the room held inhabitants. Overriding this without triggering a palace-wide security alarm would require an extraordinary effort and considerable finesse.
The large wooden doors slid open, the nearly silent hiss loud in the room. They felt their unwelcome visitors enter. There were of them, large, male and moving with remarkable stealth for their size. They split, one taking each side of the bed. With little effort, Jensen and Jared moved to full consciousness and their assailants flew to opposite walls of the room, pinned high above the floor, their arms and hands spread wide and motionless.
“Padalecki to Morgan,” Jared said loudly. The intercom system chimed in response to the command.
“This is Morgan,” their commander answered, his voice deep and gruff from interrupted sleep.
“Sir, we need you in our quarters immediately. We’ve been attacked,” Jared answered him.
No response came through the system, but they heard voices and slapping of bare feet on the stone floors of the hall, through the still open doors of their room. Hartley ran through the doorway first, wearing the standard-issue form-fitting trunks and t-shirt. Morgan followed moments after, looking much the same. They gaped at the two large men suspended above the walls. A small contingent of guards arrived. They bore the insignia of the Consul Executus, but Jared and Jensen recognized immediately that they were also Adepts. Four guards surrounded each of the assailants, their weapons drawn and fixed.
Once everyone was in the room, the cadets restored the door mechanism, the closed and locked doors giving them some privacy. They had a few moments to act and hopefully get some answers. Unfortunately, their would-be assailants appeared to suffer from the same mental tampering as their attendant at dinner. These two men were now highly confused, disoriented, scared and trying to figure out where they were and what the hell was going on. With a nod from Morgan, they lowered their captives to the ground, where the guards waited to restrain them and escort them out of the room to the brig.
“I’m bringing in an interrogator,” Morgan said authoritatively. “No one is to see or speak to these men before she arrives. If anyone asks, this incident is now solely in the jurisdiction of Psi Min.”
The captain of the guard saluted and the eight guards and the two attackers left the room silently.
“Are you alright?” Morgan asked, his face a conflicted display of emotions, concern, anger, fear, rage all warring.
“Yes, sir,” Jared answered.
“The wine served with our dessert was drugged.” Jensen explained. “We knew it was, but we also knew we were being watched. If we didn’t drink it, we would tip our hand too soon.”
“You knew it was drugged and you drank it anyway?” Morgan very nearly yelled.
“Yes, sir,” Jared replied. “We felt certain that we could diffuse the chemical and lay in wait for whoever was sent to collect us.”
“What do you mean, you could diffuse it?” Hartley asked before Morgan could interject.
“Jay’s a healer,” Jensen explained. “Whatever the drug was intended to do, we felt we could counter it.”
“And obviously you did,” Morgan said flatly.
“Yes, sir,” Jared answered. “It was odd, different than anything else I’ve ever done as a healer, but we handled it. The drug was meant to slowly put us to sleep and then induce a coma.”
“So someone was trying to get you out of the main hall, get you in here and then come and take your unconscious bodies.” Justin said, as he tried puzzle together what exactly was going on.
“There’s more,” Jensen said, and explained to Morgan what they had learned at dinner.
When he had finished, Morgan looked at Hartley. “You sensed this as well?”
“Yes, sir.” the young man answered. “I would have missed it completely too, if Jensen and Jared hadn’t called it to my attention. The very strange thing is this was done to them, not by them.”
Morgan raised an eyebrow, a cue to explain.
“None of these people are Adepts. They have little to no psionic ability. These blocks were put in place by an extremely gifted empath. This isn’t even something they can summon or dismiss at will. These blocks are there, and as far as I can tell, permanent.”
“We have a rogue empath,” Morgan said gravely.
“Sir,” Jensen interrupted. “Our attendant had no idea the wine was poisoned. Someone planted a suggestion in his mind, and he kept fixating on it. All he knew was that he had to get the wine in front of us, and we had to drink it.”
“Also,” Jared continued, “The two men sent to kidnap us, when the plan went off the rails, they had no idea what was happening. They didn’t know where they were or what was happening.”
“All of this is forbidden,” Justin softly responded. “None of this is permissible for an empath. These are first order offenses.”
“First order offenses?” Jensen asked.
“Just like your disciplines have ranked offenses, so do empaths.” Morgan answered. “Empaths are expressly forbidden from doing everything you’ve described here. Using their abilities to force others to do their bidding is the highest offense and is punishable by death.”
“What about the blocks?” Jared asked.
“It’s never been done.” Hartley answered. “We’ve never seen anything like this, but the fact that it was done to high-ranking officials, the implication is this is treasonous. At least finding the empath shouldn’t be too difficult. There are very few capable of this.”
“If that empath went through the academy.” Morgan said. “The scouting program is not flawless. And I have suspected for some time that since the war began, some Adepts are being hidden.”
“So, there could be more than one rogue Adept out there,” Jensen stated quietly.
“We have at least one working with powerful and influential people, and they are apparently intent on kidnapping the two of you,” Morgan said gravely. He sat silently, completely still for a moment, then rose purposefully. “We are leaving Celestus. Now.”
Optia Samantha Ferris stormed through the door scowling in fury.
“Where are they?” she demanded.
“With the physician,” Morgan replied calmly. “They are alright.”
“You initiate a site-to-point transport from the ConEx Residence, straight to the infirmary here and you expect me to believe they are alright?” she thundered.
“They were poisoned,” he answered. “But they did something, we don’t know what, and the poison was neutralized. I brought them straight here because I trust our staff and I want to get some idea of what the hell is going on.”
“Poisoned?” she whispered, her anger washed away in cold shock.
“Yes, Sam,” Jeffrey said gently. “Someone tried to poison or drug them tonight. We don’t know which, but they apprehended two men who broke into their quarters tonight.”
Samantha sat heavily in one of the chairs in the waiting area outside MedLab 1. She had been jolted awake by the security alert in her quarters informing her that the Justicar had initiated a STP transport straight to the infirmary. She still wore her sleep clothes and only took time to throw on a pair of boots and a coat. The com system intruded on the heavy quiet of the room.
“Justicar Morgan, sir,” a trembling voice spoke. “The shuttle of the Consul Executus is requesting permission to land.”
Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. “Who is on board?” he asked.
“Consul Executus Ryselle and Praetor Primus Andres, sir,” the voice answered. “No other passengers.”
“They are permitted to land, and have them escorted immediately to my location,” he ordered.
“Jeff,” Samantha said wearily. “You want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
“I will tell you everything I know, but right now, that isn’t a lot,” he said tiredly. “Justin, I want full scans the entire time they are here.”
Samantha startled, noticing the empath for the first time since her arrival. “Jeff, you are having Ryselle and Andres scanned?” Her shock left her voice sounding dry and brittle.
“Right now, no one outside of this room is to be trusted,” he said gravely.
What felt an eternity later, but may have been only a few minutes, two armed Academy guards escorted the two dignitaries into the waiting area.
“Jeff,” Ryselle nearly yelled. “Are they alright?”
Morgan raised a hand to pause the likely flood of questions. “I need both of you to know that you are being scanned. I tell you this only as a courtesy. Tonight, someone tried to poison Gemini. As you know doubt know by now, two men were seized from their chambers in the ConEx residence. As of this moment, everyone is suspect.”
A look of hurt flashed across the ConEx’s face, replaced quickly by understanding and sadness.
“We don’t know the type of chemical administered, but we know the boys overcame its effects, but there’s more you need to hear, so I suggest you sit.” Morgan gestured for Justin to approach, and the young man recounted the discoveries of the evening. The two most powerful figures in the Republic sat in slack-jawed horror. Samantha held a hand in front of her mouth, struggling to hold in her anguish.
“Of the 139 guests at the banquet,” Justin concluded, “17 had the block in place. Analyzing those individuals, there is one of them in each major committee in the Senate. Your staff, Consul, was not present in any of that number. . However at this point, I suspect that you both will find staff members who have been tampered with.”
Silence sat thick and weighty upon the room.
“I trust you both,” Morgan said. “But this is the most serious internal threat the Ministry has ever faced. Until Justin signaled that neither of you showed any sign of empathic tampering, I could not share this with you. Add in the fact that these conspirators infiltrated the Residence and it shows something far more sinister at play than I ever wanted to believe possible. The secrecy of this information is of course paramount.”
Before anyone could answer, the door to the MedLab opened and the physician entered. She stopped short, her mouth gaping as she took in her audience. She regained her composure and addressed the Justicar.
“Physically, they are perfectly healthy,” she stated. “I can find no foreign substance in their systems. However, their description of the compound they ingested matched no current records. Padalecki entered the structure into the computer and it matched something from our databases. I have no idea how they know what the molecular structure of this poison was, but it is called ‘chlorolaudnum,’ and it’s not been manufactured in the Republic for over 1,500 years.”
“What is it?” Jeffrey asked.
“It is technically a drug and a poison. Its purpose is not to kill unless administered in very high doses. It was a powerful barbiturate used to induce coma, but the substance was time-released, so that the effect would be a slow onset and once the individual reached a coma state, it would continue to release for an extended period of time. Usually lasting for a period of weeks.”
“There was no trace of it in their systems?” Samantha asked.
“Not per se, however, given their description of the way they metabolized it to negate its effect; I found traces of that process in their systems. I have no doubt that they were drugged, and that whoever administered the drug sought to keep them comatose for a month at minimum.”
“So the two men in my brig were sent to kidnap them,” Ryzelle said numbly.
“Given the extraordinary powers of those two young men, I could think of no other method to abduct them,” Dr. Bell answered. “If you have no other questions for me, I would like to get back to my patients. I will be keeping them for observation.”
Jeffrey nodded, and she turned and left the room. The quiet snick of the door lock echoed loudly in the waiting area. Morgan stared in the empty space where the physician had been standing for a long moment.
“I invoke Secernere,” he said quietly.
“Jeffrey,” Ryzelle cried out, “no one has invoked Secernere for centuries. You can’t expect…”
“I not only expect, Tomis, I demand it by right of office. You two are bound by oath to comply. You will leave here and do nothing of any sort regarding the information you have heard here. That goes for everyone!” he barked, turning a fierce gaze on Samantha.
She returned it unflinchingly.
“I will handle this personally, and only the resources I so choose will be involved in the response to this act of war.” he said coldly. “I place the blood of those who will fall during this response on my office.”
Hollis watched him closely, appraisingly. Finally, he said “My oath stands.”
Ryzelle gaped back and forth between them. “You can’t be serious?” The stern looks he received answered the question for him. “We need to take action! We need to launch a complete investigation and find every party involved in this attack!”
“I knew that would be your response, Tomis.” Jeffrey answered. “And that’s why I called your oath. This will not be handled publicly. We will not show our hand. I want to know who is involved, and what their plans are. If we bring this public, they will run to ground. We can’t afford that.”
“Tomis,” Hollis said softly. “I know that it angers you that this happened when the boys were under the shield of your hospitality, but Jeff’s right. This goes deep and forces are arrayed that we do not understand yet. No facet of government is better equipped to deal with this than Psi Min. My oath stands.”
Ryzelle rubbed his hand down his face, exhaling loudly. He sat stock still for a full minute before straightening, looking into Jeff’s eyes and saying “My oath stands, as well.”
Jensen stood ramrod straight in front of the enormous glastinium window. From this vantage point on the seventh floor of the upper classmen dorms, the entire campus unfolded below him. Heavy clouds rolled across the valley, already a brilliant white from snow, with the promise of more snow to come. Out there, in the circular complex of buildings, Jared went about the business of working in the MedLab. Jensen could see the building clearly, could sense Jared within it, and the distance between them ached. They had not been so far apart from each other since before the Corridor, but they both knew they needed to work on this. For any number of reasons, they had to be able to separate, and that would take perseverance and no small amount of pain.
Jensen forced himself to relax, feeling his fingernails cutting into his palms. He worked through the meditation techniques Misha had taught them, knowing that if he could achieve a physical calmness, his mind would follow, and that would help Jared. The most unexpected and bizarre effect of this forced parting was the uneasy feeling of being two places at once. He could see and feel and hear everything Jared did, felt or thought. For now, he needed to do nothing, just relax and transmit that calmness to his other half.
He had completed two rounds of full-body relaxation exercises when he felt her. She had entered the building far below with her mind set on finding him. He waited patiently, continuing to forcibly relax muscles that seemed to automatically tense, until the door opened behind him. He stared unmoving out of the window, but greeted her softly.
“Hello, Alona.”
She didn’t reply, only moved across the observation room to his side. They stood there for several minutes unspeaking.
“You were supposed to keep him safe,” she said, her voice quiet, but her tone accusatory.
“We do,” he answered. “We keep each other safe.”
“And this is why you end up in the infirmary so often,” she snapped back.
“If you are seeking assurances that we will never come to harm, I can’t give them to you.”
“Then what good are you?”
“The only way to achieve your end is for us to leave here, flee to some distant location where no one would ever find us and even then, there aren’t guarantees. We don’t take any of this lightly, you know, and we sure as hell didn’t ask for it.”
“And this? You being here and him being on the other side of campus? How is that helping him?”
“It’s helping us because we have to be able to separate from each other. We are done answering your accusations. We are finished allowing you to scapegoat one of us and coddle the other. You have two choices. You either accept that we are and will forever be joined.”
“Or?”
“Or, you let us go. This can’t go on, Alona. Not for any of us.”
She didn’t respond, just stood there staring blankly out of the window.
“I know I haven’t been fair to you.” she whispered.
“Are you in love with him?” The laughter he got in response shocked him.
“For all your super powers, you really don’t get it.”
“We have never scanned you, you know that.”
“When I first got to the Academy, I was just like all the other new cadets. Terrified, alone and desperate to go home. Jared found me, took me under his wing, and became just like family. He made me feel safe, but you? We were something completely different.
“Granted, I didn’t get to see you much what with age differences, different schools and different social circles. But I saw you. Everyone saw you, Jensen. You were the legendary Jensen Ackles. The golden boy. Damn near everyone on campus wanted to bed you or be you or both. You were my first crush. My unattainable dream. You and Jared never paid any attention to each other. I’m not sure why even now, but I knew. Even all those years ago that you would never be mine. That you belonged to Jared.
“The mind is a strange thing. I couldn’t be angry at Jared, because he was the most indispensable part of my life. You, on the other hand? Aloof. Inhumanly attractive. Powerful. You I could hate. And then you had the gall to be a nice guy. I thought I could accept it all if you could keep Jared safe, but we’ve seen how that worked out.”
For the first time, Jensen looked at her, examined her profile. He would not scan her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t search her expression for any trace of a lie. He found none.
“And what about Raidon?” he asked. She turned to meet his gaze, her eyes kinder than he had ever seen them.
“I love him. He’s an extraordinary man. He’s why I came here today. It was time. Just like you said, this discord isn’t doing anyone any good. I needed to unload on you, and frankly, I couldn’t do it with Jared here. I know, I get it. He’s here in everything but body. He’s listening to every word, but I wanted to say this to you alone. The past is passed, and it’s time for me to let it all go.”
“Just that easy, huh?”
“No, not that easy. It’s gonna be hard, but I’ve already started. It seems as though the second you and Jared merged, you’ve been in danger. I don’t think that will change for as long as this war is going on, so I can bitch about it all, or figure out a way to help.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“For one, I can quit acting like I want to cut out your guts with a spoon. But most importantly, I can support both of you. I can accept both of you. And I can do everything in my power to make sure this wild strategy of yours works.”
They stood, closer than they had ever done before, staring out the giant window. Huge, fluffy snowflakes had drifted lazily toward the ground. The snow seemed to grow heavier with each moment. The campus was a picture of serenity.
“Thank you,” Jensen whispered. She did not answer, but they moved closer together, their shoulders touching, watching the snow fall.
Misha walked, stiff-backed, into the Justicar’s office in the Academy. He had been summoned a quarter of an hour before the rest of the mentors and the Optia were scheduled to arrive for the meeting. The door slid open at his approach and he entered silently.
Morgan sat implacably behind his desk, his attention focused on a scroll. Misha didn’t buy the act for a moment. Clearly he had been expected. He stood at attention until his commander set him at ease and directed him to one of the chairs.
“It’s been a week, Misha,” Jeffrey said, his voice and countenance tired. “When can I expect for you to let me off the hook?”
“I should have been called,” Misha said through a clenched jaw.
“That is your perspective. You were not called not out of oversight but intent.”
“And that is somehow better?”
“I’m going to forget, for now, that you are directly questioning my decisions. I give you leeway because I know what those boys mean to you, but don’t you ever assume for a moment they don’t mean as much to me. You weren’t summoned because I had something vitally important to do and neither you nor the other mentors could be in the room.”
“I assume this has something to do with the secretive arrival of ConEx and Praetor Primus.”
Jeffrey raised an eyebrow at that. “Not so secretive it would seem.”
“No one knows but you, me, whomever gave them clearance to land, their two escorts, and whoever else was in that room.”
“Very well, I’m not going to question how you came by this information, but yes. It involved both Tomis and Hollis.”
“So you knew they would make a mad dash for the Academy as soon as they knew what was going on.”
“Yes. I know them both very well. I had no doubt they would do precisely what they did. I needed them there to hear firsthand all that had transpired that night. I needed them to understand the stakes. Only then could I invoke Secernere.”
Misha stared at his commander dumbstruck.
“And make no mistake,” the Justicar continued. “I am not informing you of this because I in any way owe it to you. You have a role in this and you must execute it perfectly.”
Samantha, Jager, Sasha and Misha sat silently as Justin Hartley explained what he and Jensen and Jared had learned in Celestus. He related the meetings with Chad, the revelations at the banquet and finally what he knew of the events late that night in the boys’ chambers. Jager looked murderous, Samantha not much better. Sasha looked as though she would be ill. Misha sat strangely quiet.
Morgan watched them all closely. He was taking a tremendous gamble letting these people know of his plans but he trusted them implicitly, especially where the well-being of Gemini was concerned. He needed each of them for this to work. He let silence reign for long minutes, watching the shock wear off and the truth settle into the minds of each person present.
“In truth, we have very little idea what is going on here,” he finally said. “We know that a group of individuals has set up a secret hyperspace relay system for communicating. We know that we have a rogue empath of considerable skill out there with no regard for the ethics of the craft. We know that strategic and high-placed officials within the government have had their minds altered. The extent of which, we don’t know. Whether they consented to this, we don’t know. We have some person or persons intent on abducting Jensen and Jared, but to what end, we have no idea.”
“As if the fucking silicates weren’t enough,” Jager snarled. “Now we have to worry about our own species? Please tell me you are hunting these bastards down in the streets?”
Morgan smiled. Jager’s passion made him an extraordinary warrior, but a less than effective operative. “No, we are not. We are actively hunting down every piece of information we can get our hands on without drawing attention. The perception to those not intimately involved is that Psi Min has shut itself up like a fortress. We want them to think our response is isolation. What we are doing is anything but. Come.”
At the command, a panel in the back of the room slid open and a petite but lovely blonde woman stepped out. She wore the type of finely-tailored clothing seen in the halls of power in Celestus.
“This is Allison Mack,” Jeffrey said. “I believe you know Misha and obviously Optia Ferris.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and then turned to look at the others present. “And I know of Centurion Nevartus and Legionnaire Archon.”
“Allison was my operative in Senator Martel’s office up until he ran into some trouble,” Jeffrey explained. “Once Martel left Celestus, she was very fortuitously snapped up by Princeps Fayon. She has been keeping a very close eye on him and his associates.”
“I have reported my findings to the Justicar, but given the events of the past two weeks, it was time to come here and work with all of you to form a plan.”
“Isn’t that a dangerous risk?” Misha asked.
“To my cover? To a degree, however, after the debacle at the Residence, Fayon made a show of working for a few days, and then went on holiday. The members of his staff have been granted the same luxury. The only trick was getting here unseen, and making it appear I was quite visibly somewhere else the entire time. At this point, I think the risk is minimal. Particularly given what I need to share with you.
“Fayon is not what he appears. He has always been vocal about fighting the prejudice against psionics, but I have reason to believe it isn’t as humanitarian as he wants it to seem. Fayon will run for ConEx, everyone knows that. The question is only when. I know that he has no desire to run so long as the war is on, and he publicly admits he is not a military leader and would not serve the Republic well during a time when it needs a military mind. However, given a few documents I’ve copied and some of his correspondence, as soon as the war is over, he will run. There is little doubt he will be elected. He’s handsome, charismatic and has supported all of the right things. He’s very popular and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ran unopposed.
“But beyond that, I think his primary goal as ConEx would be to scuttle Psi Min. He has kept his dislike for the rise in power of the Ministry mostly under wraps, but behind closed doors, and out of the range of any Adepts on his staff, he is furious that the Justicar Psionica has more power than anyone in the Republic, probably including ConEx. By advocating psionic tolerance and their key involvement in the war, he will say that Adepts have done enough, paid enough, and that Psi Min is not necessary. I think he will dress it up as a means of ensuring that Adepts never have a 100% draft rate again.
“If he eliminates Psi Min, he can reconsolidate its power under the executor. I can’t prove any of this yet. As to what his end game is? I have no clear idea. I think, ultimately, Adepts should be afraid of him. I don’t think he has their best interests at heart. From what I have gathered of his personality, those who have power of any kind that he cannot get access to, are ranked as enemies. The problem with Fayon is that it’s difficult to tell who he ranks as friends and who he sees as enemies. He’s that political.”
“So you think he was behind the kidnapping attempt?” Jager asked.
“No,” Allison answered. “He may dislike Gemini and their abilities, but he’s no fool. He knows they are the best hope we have of winning the war. I don’t have enough information of all the shadow play to guess who was behind this.”
She paused, clearly debating with herself. Jeffrey gestured for her to go ahead and say whatever it was she was thinking.
“Pythagoras,” she said quietly.
“The triangle guy?” Jager questioned disbelievingly.
“What about Pythagoras,” Jeffrey softly prodded.
“I have heard that name twice now,” she answered. “And only in the most secretive conversations that I was definitely not supposed to hear. I don’t know who or what it is, but I do know that Fayon and his chief of staff seem to be either afraid or in awe of him. Assuming it’s a person. My best guess, given the situations and the briefest readings of the two I could get off without revealing myself, Pythagoras is calling the shots, and he isn’t sharing information about the grand plan. I don’t know any more than that and even that is conjecture.”
Jeffrey stared intently at the table surface, his finger tracing unintelligible patterns on it. Everyone waited, watching him, as their commander processed what he had just heard.
“Pythagoras,” he finally spoke, “Was a mathematician from a very ancient period of Terra. That’s where you have heard his name before. But, he was also a mystic. His disciples formed a cult of his teachings. Much of what was known of his teachings has been lost to the ages, but we do know that he taught about reincarnation, among other mystical beliefs.”
“So you believe this a code name?” Samantha asked.
“The computers have no record of a ‘Pythagoras’ born at any point since the founding of the republic,” Allison answered.
All eyes watched Jeffrey, waiting to see if he had any clues that might unlock this mystery.
Finally, he looked up and said, “I am inclined to believe that the head of this shadow organization is this Pythagoras person, but what that means, I don’t know. Allison, I want you to do your best to secure information about this person. I am giving you full access to Chad to do whatever it takes to unravel this enigma. We need to know what it is they are up to, and any glimpse of their master plan. Whatever resources you need from Psi Min, you have them.”
“I understand, sir,” she answered. “If you have no other questions for me, I should be heading back to Celestus.”
“Dismissed,” he replied. She exited through the same hidden door through which she had entered and Jeffrey surveyed the faces around the table. “We are walking along the edge of a knife. We must protect Gemini, and we must not reveal to these conspirators that we know anything about their actions. The foiled plot in the Residence gives us a certain advantage. We can activate security protocols without betraying that we know anything of the actual plan. The other advantage, Gemini gave us themselves.”
“The rogue empath,” Misha uttered darkly.
“Yes, the rogue empath. Tracking him or her down will prove the most difficult task we have at hand. I have no idea where to even being the search.”
“May I suggest that the next time we encounter a corrupted mind, let me examine the person. I want a chance to see firsthand what has been done. I am certain from that I can piece together how it was done.”
“But not by whom?” Samantha asked.
“Not per se,” Misha replied. “However, I can definitely get an idea of the power and skill level required to do it.”
“Process of elimination,” Morgan stated. “Very well, if possible, I will try to find a way to smuggle you into examine any victims we capture, but it must never conflict with the core mission I have given you three.”
“So what do you want us to do?” Sasha queried.
“You will accompany Gemini throughout the day. They are not to be out of their quarters without at least two of you as escort. They won’t be happy about this, but it is standard protocol.”
“Yes, sir,” the three mentors answered.
“For now, your only concern is the safety of Gemini.”
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