The Gathering Storm
Augur stood stock still starring at the man who'd just stepped out of the lift into his subterranean home frozen in complete and utter astonishment. For one of the few times in his life Augur was at a complete loss for words. How? How can this be, he thought, it can't be Liam. It can't. We saw him die – at least we saw Mount Karmenikov erupt and Liam isn't volcano proof at least I don't think he is. He can't be here. He can't be. I'm dreaming.
"This cannot be I'm dreaming," Augur whispered to himself.
Liam had better hearing than most humans and always had and therefore he heard what Augur said. Liam could understand Augur's sentiments perfectly – if their positions were reversed he wouldn't believe his eyes either.
"No your not dreaming Augur," he said to the cyber wizard. "I am here. And no I'm not a ghost or a figment of your imagination."
Augur was still disbelieving. The man before him certainly looked and sounded like Liam Kincaid, albeit a very dirty Liam Kincaid. His clothes were stinking dirty and his normally light brown hair had gone black from the soot in it, and his skin wasn't that clean either smudged with soot. But his green eyes were alert and clear.
Coaxing his legs into motion Augur took a couple of quick steps over and cautiously reached out a hand to touch his friend. He had to be sure that it was Liam and that he wasn't hallucinating. Liam allowed the contact. Pure joy flooded through every fibre of Augur's being as he realised that however impossible it seemed the man before him was not a hallucination – it was Liam.
Without hesitation he pulled Liam in a bear hug. As he hugged Liam Augur became aware of a difference in him. Liam felt different, he felt stronger and something else, something Augur couldn't quiet put his finger on. Yet at the same time he was unmistakeably Liam.
"I thought we'd lost you kid," Augur said softly in Liam's ear before pulling back. "When we saw Karmenikov erupt the way it did we thought that…"
"…That the regeneration chamber had been destroyed," Liam finished. "No it wasn't destroyed Augur. Multidimensional force fields prevented the magma from entering the chamber. The chamber was damaged by the earthquakes and it was unbelievably hot and noisy but aside from that we were fine." What does he mean we, Augur thought, could he mean the Taelons and the Jaridians?
"What happened with the rejoining? Did it work?"
"Sort of," Liam replied. "The Taelons genetic flaws have been repaired so their no longer barren and they now have enough core energy to last them for another few million years. The only Taelon who's not okay is Zo'or. He tried to take energy directly from the Atavan pool. It destroyed him, painfully."
"So Zo'or's dead," Augur said. Liam nodded. "Good bloody riddance if you ask me. What about the Jaridians Liam did they survive?"
"I'm afraid not," Liam admitted. "Ma'el underestimated the incompatibilities that now exist between Taelon and Jaridian DNA. But their sacrifice has not been in vain and may yet save the rest of their race as well as the Taelons."
"Somehow I doubt the Jaridians will see it that way."
"Maybe they will maybe they won't."
"What about you Liam," Augur asked. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Augur, nothing broken or anything. The energy pool did have some effects on me that I didn't anticipate. But you can bet that my father did."
"What kind of effects?"
"To be honest I'm not entirely sure," Liam admitted. "At least not yet. Though I do know that it reactivated my Kimera DNA strand. I'm a hybrid again."
Augur blinked startled by that revelation. Yet he also noticed something else, something in Liam's tone of voice when he said that he was a hybrid again. Liam sounded almost relieved to be a hybrid again. Which was something of a surprise, especially when you considered how Liam – like any youngster – had always somewhat resented being alone in a sea of beings who looked like him but weren't like him.
"You don't sound unhappy about that," he commented. "I thought you liked being fully Human."
"I did but at the same time I didn't," Liam admitted. "After I gave up my Kimera heritage to save the mothership from that dark matter asteroid I didn't feel like me anymore. You know what they say you don't appreciate something until you lose it. When my Kimera side vanished I suddenly realised just how much a part of me it had been. With it gone I did feel like me anymore. Now that my Kimera side is back I feel like myself for the first time in months and for perhaps the first time in my life I'm comfortable with it."
"Yes I can see it in your eyes," Augur replied with a wide smile glad that Liam finally seemed to be accepting that he should be what he was and not what others wanted him to be.
"Do you have a problem with this?"
"What! Of course I don't have a problem with you being a hybrid. I never have had a problem with it and you know it. Renee and Jonathan might have - but that was because of their own petty prejudice against anything that they didn't really understand. You should be who and what you are kid not what others want you to be."
Liam smiled slightly at Augur's words though he knew he shouldn't be surprised by them, Augur had never really minded the fact that he wasn't Human. Neither had Melissa Park, Juliana Bellman or Da'an truth be told. They'd all tried to teach him to be what he was and not what others wished him to be.
"You need a shower and a change of clothes by the looks," Augur said breaking the moment of silence and switching topics. "The showers are still working and there are some clothes in your size still in one of the spare rooms. Use those it would also be safer than going to your apartment."
"Thanks Augur," Liam replied and then he frowned as Augur's words registered. "What do you mean by safer?" Augur blinked startled before he realised that Liam didn't know about what Hubble Urick and the ANA were doing.
"That's right you don't know. Hubble Urick and his ANA cronies have completely lost it Liam," Augur said putting some anger into his voice.
"What do you mean," Liam asked a sinking feeling of dread forming in his stomach. He could see the anger Augur was holding back, and knew whatever it was couldn't be good since Augur was one of those people who didn't anger easily.
"The ANA has issued worldwide arrest warrants Liam. Anyone and everyone who's ever worked for or with the Taelons is to taken into custody for questioning and to await trial on charges of crimes against humanity teams of well-armed ANA militia are going around arresting everyone no matter who they are. And here's the really bad part their also arresting some people who have never worked for or with the Taelons. These peoples only 'crime' has been to criticise the ANA."
"What!" Liam exclaimed in shock and anger. Yet somehow he wasn't really surprised that Hubble was doing this, it would fit into the pattern of behaviour that he'd observed building in the arrogant former presidential advisor for the last few months. Behaviour that had worried him on a number of levels.
"And that's not all," Augur added. "They've arrested Renee."
"What!"
"She was going to go and see Hubble to see if she could talk some sense into him," Augur explained keeping a close eye on Liam's reactions, he'd suspected for sometime that Liam had feelings for Renee, and that she had feelings for him. But to his knowledge neither of them had acted upon there feelings. Probably because they were both to afraid of being hurt again.
"And?" Liam prompted.
"An ANA arrest team stormed her apartment. They jammed her global so she couldn't call for help and took her away in a stealthed transport destination unknown. I only learned of her arrest when I intercepted a signal on an ANA frequency informing ANA headquarters that she'd been apprehended. They've arrested her because she and Doors International worked with the Taelons and are therefore party to crimes against humanity."
"That's ridiculous and Urick knows it. Renee's fought for Humanities freedom for years."
"I know but that doesn't matter to Urick. I swear Liam the ANA's behaviour strikes me more of a dictatorship-style purge of opponents. There hiding it from the general population of course - most people would be appalled by what they are doing, the UN's not too happy either."
"The people would be even more mad if they knew what the ANA tried to do to the Taelons."
"Why what did the do."
"Remember Hubble Urick's threat to attack the Taelon mothership? Well he did. The ANA fired thermonuclear missiles at the mothership while the Taelons were with me in Ma'el's chamber. They were attempting to destroy the mothership and kill the thousands of Taelon adults and infants in stasis on board. They would have succeeded to if Sandoval hadn't accessed the motherships propulsion systems and pulled the ship out of missile range. As it is the mothership is damaged and holding position on the other side of the moon."
"He what." While he was no lover of the Taelons he would stop well short of actually attempting what amounted to an act of genocide against them. And the fact that the ANA had actually gone and used highly illegal weapons as well annoyed him even more. It also worried him. "How did the Taelons take that?"
"As well as you can imagine they are not happy. Fortunately with Zo'or gone the new synod leader has no intention of attacking Earth for any reason."
"So who's leader now."
"It's not fully official yet. The Synod still has to meet to approve the appointment but unofficially Da'an is now the Synod Leader. And he has no intention of firing upon Earth." Augur gave a relieved sigh knowing that Liam spoke the truth. Unlike Zo'or Da'an would never fire upon Earth without a very good reason. Revenge for Hubble Urick's cowardly attack was not a good enough reason.
"So what does Da'an plan to do," Augur asked.
"At the moment the Taelons are more concerned with awakening their sleeping brethren and bringing the mothership back to full operational status for the first time in centuries. They do want to hit back at the ANA but in away that won't kill millions of innocent people."
"What do they have in mind?"
"The motherships sensors recorded the salvo's of nuclear missiles coming at her from US missile silos," Liam informed him. "If we can find information positively linking the order to fire them to the ANA then they plan on feeding that information straight into the media." Augur chuckled.
"Ohh Hubble Urick would hate that," he said laughing. "I take it you would like me to do some digging in the ANA's computer network to find that information."
"If you would and if we can also find information on what the ANA is doing to people who worked with the Taelons and those whose only crime is to oppose the ANA then we can feed that information to the media at the same time."
Augur grinned evilly at the young hybrids thinking. If all that information was released to the media the ANA's spin-doctors would have a collective heart attack - everything they'd been saying would be exposed as the lies they were, and the public outcry that would result from such knowledge would be immense. It could conceivably sweep Hubble Urick and his cronies from power and could even lead to the break-up of the Atlantic National Alliance. Which as far as Augur was concerned wouldn't be a bad thing - the ANA had been more trouble than it was worth since it had been created, especially with its increasingly aggressive stance and more extreme anti-Taelon rhetoric which for Augur had sounded danger warnings months ago.
"Then I'll start digging into the ANA database. In the meantime Liam I would suggest that you have a shower and get changed."
"Yes dad," Liam said playfully. Augur laughed and watched as Liam turned away and headed for the showers and spare sleeping quarters. Then he himself moved over to the computer and prepared to begin making some serious trouble for Hubble Urick and the ANA.
*****
ANA Detention Facility
Cascades Mountain Range
Renee Palmer paced back and forth in the small cell that she'd been thrown in. What the hell was Hubble thinking doing this, how dare he do this to her of all people. She'd supported him, helped him build the ANA into an effective force to oppose the Taelons. And how did he repay her? With betrayal and imprisonment. Yet at the same time she berated herself for not seeing this coming. The warning signs had been there for the last couple of months. She should have seen that Hubble was drunk with the power that he now had and was determined to hold onto it. And if that meant forging evidence against his political opponents or those who questioned him and his cronies then that is what he was prepared to do. Hubble was behaving like a dictator hiding behind a façade of democracy.
Renee stopped her pacing and settled down on the narrow uncomfortable cot. You better hope that you're made up charges stick on me Hubble, she thought angrily thinking of all the things she would do to Hubble Urick.
At that moment the force field door to her cell vanished and the object of her thoughts stepped into the room.
"Comfortable," Hubble Urick asked.
"What do you care Hubble," Renee snapped giving Hubble her best 'snow queen' glare. "And what do you want."
"Charming," Hubble said sarcastically. "I want some information Renee. If you give it to me then I will let you go and make certain that all charges against you are dismissed as gratitude for your past actions to protect humanity."
"What kind of information Hubble," Renee asked though she had no intention of doing this arrogant, ungrateful son-of-a-bitch any favours. She'd helped him build the ANA without her help and the help of Doors International the Atlantic National Alliance would have found no support in the business world which would have quickly rendered it nothing but a political talking shop without any real power and easy prey for Zo'or. No she had no intention of doing anything for Hubble Urick. She just wanted to know what it was that he wanted.
"Tell me about Liam Kincaid. Who was he really since I know Kincaid isn't his real name. Why did you never tell me that he wasn't Human?" At Renee's look of shock Hubble smirked. "Yes I know that 'Kincaid' was a hybrid. You brought an alien into the ANA without telling anyone and yet you claim to be on humanities side. Why did you not tell us?"
"You know perfectly well why," Renee snapped. "One it was not my secret to tell. And two you would have done to him exactly what Zo'or would have done if he'd learned that Liam was a hybrid." Hubble bristled at being compared to Zo'or. "You'd have either killed him or put him in a lab somewhere to be experimented on like some animal without any rights at all."
"It is where he would have belonged," Hubble growled. "He was an abomination that should not have existed. You know it is a pity that he is dead. I would have taken great delight in observing his 'questioning'." Renee snarled at the image that conjured up and leaped to her feet and backhanded Hubble hard.
"For someone who wasn't fully Human Liam acted far more like a decent Human being than you Hubble," she snarled. "He fought for Humanities freedom from the moment he was born while you and your cronies were still playing nice to the Taelons and burying your heads in the sand where it came to the Synods machinations." Hubble rubbed his cheek where the back of her hand had contacted.
"I see that you don't want to cooperate such a pity," he said. "Though I have never liked the Taelons we did learn a couple of things from them Renee. Like how to encourage someone to talk." As Hubble spoke his last words two very muscular men in combat fatigues stepped into the room. "Take her for interrogation," Hubble ordered them.
Renee didn't bother to struggle as the two men grabbed her and started to guide her from the room.
"You won't get away with treating people this way Hubble," she said in warning.
"Oh but I already have Ms Palmer," Hubble responded. "The people only see what we want them to see. As far as they know you're traitors to Humanity. Which means I can do what I like to you and others like you."
"Mark my words Hubble," Renee yelled back at him as she was led away. "What you are doing will backfire on you and the ANA shall be destroyed."
"Somehow I doubt that," Hubble yelled back in response just before Renee left earshot. There was no one who could stop him now; he had built up his power base to well. The only thing he had to fear was a public backlash if they found about what was going on and about the firing of nuclear missiles at the Taelon mothership. And he'd already made sure that that would never happen.
*****
Augur's Lair
A Couple of Hours Later
Augur grinned widely as the last security blocks on the ANA computer network dissolved before his icebreaker program. Augur glanced over at Liam who was lounging in a chair nursing a steaming cup of fresh coffee – and looking much better after having a shower and changing clothes.
"I'm in," he called out to the young hybrid. Liam climbed to his feet and walked over.
"Then lets see what exactly Hubble is up to," Liam said. Augur smiled and initiated his search program looking for anything within the rather broad parameters that Liam had given him and those, which he had added himself.
Almost immediately they hit the jackpot. On the screen before them was a replay of a conversation between Hubble Urick and Admiral Justin Roberts - the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A conversation in which Hubble gave the orders to launch thermonuclear missiles at the Taelon mothership with the goal of destroying it while their were no Taelons on board to defend the ship and or to return fire.
"Jackpot or at least part of it," Liam commented. "Hubble Urick must be really confident in himself to put such information in the ANA's computers where certain people can get at it." Augur grinned.
"Knowing his ego I wouldn't put it past Urick to think that the information is untouchable. The guardian programs that the ANA use are pretty sophisticated - nothing to match me of course but most hackers would be stopped. For me getting around them was easy. But don't get to excited yet," Augur replied even as he transferred a copy of the information to a disc. "We still have much more digging to do if we are to find enough ammunition to destroy Hubble Urick and his pals."
"Then we best keep at it," Liam agreed.
"Oh don't worry I intend to," Augur replied. "We've all fought too long and hard for Humanities freedom for me to allow a dirty power-mad politician like Hubble Urick to take it away from us."
*****
Three Hours Later
Augur frowned at the information displayed on his screens. This wasn't good; Hubble Urick had gone right off the deep end for him to be doing this. On the screens before him were tables of information showing the numbers of 'traitors' that the ANA held in custody at special holding facilities - facilities that ironically used Taelon-based technologies in the form of force fields and ID portals. There were thousands of prisoners being held in those facilities - most of them innocent of any wrongdoing.
And then there was what was being done to some of the prisoners. There were a lot of video files in the database - video files showing people being beaten by their guards, and otherwise tortured while their torturers pretended to conduct an interrogation. There were also plans here for everyone interned to be placed in sendep for decades after they'd all been interrogated - those that survived the interrogation that was, their were already reports on the ANA computer system of prisoner deaths. Augur shivered at his own memories of sensory depravation, as his dead ex-partner in crime Max Pratt had said after the first hour of you would kill for a sound or any sensation at all - even if that sensation was pain. He'd only done a month in sendep but that had been enough to last him a lifetime. He could see why most people who endured long periods in sendep went experience mad after coming out and why some became Amoralists.
"Are you alright Augur?" Liam's voice startled him and Augur realised that he'd been trembling from the memories. Augur felt a hand on his arm and he looked over to find himself meeting a pair of concerned green eyes.
"I'm okay," Augur reassured him. "It's just… Urick's got plans to put everyone he's arrested in sendep for an undesignated number of years and…"
"…You were remembering your own experiences in a sendep cell," Liam finished. Augur nodded. "Come on you've been at this for three hours straight. The computer can compile the amount of information we've gathered so far and trill for more. You are going to have a sit down."
"Liam this is to important for me to stop now. Hubble Urick must be stopped."
"I know that Augur," Liam replied. "But the computer can do some of the work for a little while. Now come and sit down." Augur sighed.
Liam had the familiar stubborn look on his face. Augur knew from experience that Liam was impossible to move on something if he didn't want to move and it was clear from his expression that Liam wasn't going to move on this one. Augur sighed and issued the appropriate orders to his unique computer and went over to the lounge area.
Liam for his part disappeared into the kitchen for a couple of minutes, when he returned he was carrying a glass of what looked like warm milk.
"Here drink this," he instructed. Augur took it from him and cautiously sniffed it. The milk was giving off the faint smell of nutmeg and something else that he couldn't identify off the top of his head. Reluctantly Augur drank the glass and was surprised by how it seemed to immediately relax him.
"That was nice," Augur commented. "Where did you learn to make that?"
"I didn't," Liam replied. "I just remembered how. It's an old Beckett family recipe. It helps you to both relax when tense and stressed and to get to sleep whenever insomnia strikes. And it works believe you me. I've used it a number of times when I've been unable to sleep or if I'm really stressed about something and cannot go to the gym to release the tension."
"Yeah well it does work," Augur agreed leaning back and feeling the tense muscles in his neck relax, he hadn't realised that he'd gotten so wound up while reading the incoming files and the occasionally harrowing contents of some of them.
The computer emitted a sudden chime and his latest hologram pixeled into existence in her tube.
"Honey I've been detected," she reported urgently. "Someone at the ANA has begun a backtrace of our linkage to their system. Time to successfully trace one minute thirty seconds."
"Disengage the link," Augur ordered immediately getting up and racing over to the computer. "And run a full anti-viral sweep."
"Link disengaged. Only partial trace completed. Initiating anti-viral sweep." Augur's hands began dancing over the console as he began analysing how they'd been detected. "Anti-viral sweep completed no hostile virus's detected."
"That's a relief," Liam said coming over. "How were we detected Augur?"
"I don't know," Augur replied. "But I will in a minute. The dataprobe was about to enter the most highly restricted area of the ANA database; the section that dealt with their security authorisation codes and most restricted data. According to this we ran into an especially sensitive guardian program that immediately alerted ANA security to the data tap and began a back trace. Fortunately we cut the data tap to soon for them to get a fixed location. They will only know that it came from somewhere in the Washington DC area."
"Still Hubble Urick might suspect that you were behind the data tap," Liam warned. "And with the way he's currently behaving that would be enough for him to arrest you."
"Let him try. If his goons come looking for me I'll just activate the sanctuary protocol. They will have no chance of getting in here once that's active. Between the blast doors, force fields and booby traps this place is as secure as Fort Knox once that protocol is active."
"I hope your right," Liam admitted. "Now then shall we see exactly what we've managed to get out of the ANA database?"
*****
ANA Detention Facility
Cascades Mountain Range
Hubble Urick stood on the observation deck of the interrogation room watching the interrogation of Renee Palmer taking place below. The sound proof glass prevented him from hearing her screams - as pain bracelets and manacles stimulated her nervous system - for which he was actually grateful. It pained him having to treat Renee this way but what else could he do? He wanted information on that hybrid that had been hidden in there midst all this time - though that hybrid was now dead unless he was volcano-proof.
Her opposition to what he and the ANA were doing puzzled him. Those who had worked with or for the Taelons had to be punished for their crimes - they'd sold out their own people to the Taelons. And as for Liam Kincaid – or whoever he had really been – and any other hybrid abominations they would have to be killed before they polluted the Human gene pool with their hybrid DNA. Why couldn't Renee see that what he was doing was the only way to secure Humanities future? Yes there was going to be pain for a time. But it was necessary to weed out those who would collaborate with aliens to enslave their own people.
"Hubble Urick to control room," a voice said abruptly over the intercom. "Hubble Urick to the control room." Hubble frowned. Now what, he thought as he left the observation room.
He entered the control room a couple of minutes later to find the place in complete pandemonium. Wallace Williamson the head of ANA security saw him enter and immediately came over.
"What's going on," Hubble demanded.
"Sir our securities been breached," Williamson reported with deceptive calm. "Someone broke into our main database and have downloaded many classified files."
"What!" Hubble exclaimed in shock. "You assured me that our computer security was impregnable."
"It should have been," Williamson responded. "The guardian programs were written by our best computer security experts. Nothing should have been able to slip by them."
"Yet someone did penetrate our security."
"Yes. Some kind of search program slipped through the guardian programs firewall without being detected. It was a highly sophisticated program. It had to have been to break through the firewall without being detected. It was only detected when it tried to access the most restricted areas of the database."
"How much data has been taken?"
"We don't know yet. The database appears to be intact. Nothing seems to be missing. It is possible that the search program merely copied the files. But we've seen no evidence of that. If it did copy the files then it's left no signs behind."
"Can you tell where the program came from?" Hubble asked. He had a pretty good idea who could be behind it. There were only about a dozen people who could create a computer search program as sophisticated as the one that had broken into their database.
"Not exactly," Williamson replied. "The program deleted itself a few seconds after it was detected and blocked any attempt at a full backtrace. We only know that it came from somewhere in the Washington DC area." Augur it has to be, Hubble thought, though why would he want to break into our database in such a manner? Augur is generally more concerned about his own financial situation. He doesn't just break into databases like ours for fun.
"I think I know who might be behind it," he said softly.
"Who?"
"A hacker who sometimes worked with the resistance. He calls himself Augur."
"The Seer?" Hubble nodded. "But why would he want to break into our database?"
"I don't know," Hubble admitted. "He generally only works for his own financial benefits. He only worked with the resistance when it suited him usually if there was something in it for him. He's good, very good."
"We should bring him in for questioning."
"Yes. But that will not be easy. He lives in a fortified former resistance base given to him by Jonathan Doors after he ran for the presidency. The base is located under St Michaels Church. Getting access to it is nearly impossible. But we can try. Send an arrest team to St Michaels. Tell them to get access to Augur's Lair by any means necessary. They are to arrest Augur and anyone there with him - someone has to be paying him for him to do this - and bring them here for 'questioning'."
"Yes sir I will send the team personally."
"Good. Then get me a full assessment of what information was stolen from the database if that's possible."
"Yes sir."
Hubble left Williamson to do his bidding and went to sit in his office. After closing the door behind him he sat down in the chair behind his desk. This was a dangerous development. The fact that someone - presumably Augur - had hacked into their database was bad enough - there was so much sensitive information there. But if that person were to feed that information to the media then the repercussions for himself and the ANA could be catastrophic. It simply couldn't be allowed to happen. But he couldn't do any damage control or prevention until he knew precisely what had been stolen. And by then it could be too late. I'll get you for this Augur, he thought angrily, if you are the one behind this and I don't know who else it could be. When I get through with you, you shall be begging for a quick death.
*****
Augur's Lair
Half Hour Later
Augur finished transferring the last of the downloaded data to a high-density memory disk. There was now enough information on that disk to spell the beginning of the end for Hubble Urick and the Atlantic National Alliance. Some of the data was horrific - detailing the interrogations being done on the prisoners, interrogations that could better be described as torture sessions. And some of the torturers were using methods that made Sandoval at his worst look benign in comparison.
As they had read some of the downloaded files both himself and Liam had been horrified, especially when they realised what Hubble could be doing to Renee. At one point Liam had been angry enough that Augur was sure that he would have blasted Hubble Urick to vapours if the man had been in the same room as them.
As it was Liam's shaqarava had glowed like tiny suns, it had taken Augur nearly ten minutes to calm the enraged Kimera hybrid down enough for Liam to get a grip on the fiery Irish temper that he'd inherited from Siobhan Beckett and to stop his shaqarava from glowing.
"I'm finished," he said softly turning to look at the young hybrid as he picked up the disk and gave it to Liam. "Here's all the information that we've been able to acquire."
"Thank you," Liam said taking the disk from Augur. "I won't forget this Augur."
"Skip it. Hubble Urick and his cronies have to be stopped before they destroy the very thing that we've all been fighting for. Giving the information on that disk to the Taelons and them then releasing that information to the media and causing a public outcry is the best chance we have of stopping him. I admit I am not thrilled by the idea of the Taelons getting some public sympathy back but it will be a fair price to pay if Urick and the ANA are stopped. I just hope Da'an appreciates the hard work I've put into getting that data."
"I'm sure he will Augur," Liam replied with a smile. Then he gave his friend a brief hug before moving towards the entrance.
"Be careful Liam," Augur cautioned the young hybrid before Liam stepped through the doors to the small antechamber that contained the lift to the surface. "The streets are even less safe than normal at this moment in time."
"I know Augur I'll be careful," Liam reassured him and then he smiled. "After all I don't want to be captured by the ANA. Aside from the fact that I'm a Companion Protector the fact that I'm not Human is not going to sit well with them."
"No it won't so be careful."
"I'll be fine Augur. My shuttles cloaked and parked on the grounds behind the cathedral. It's only a short walk. I'll be okay."
"Just watch your back kid," Augur said.
"I always do Augur. I always do." With that Liam stepped through the doors to the antechamber and crossed the short distance to the lift.
Augur watched him leave then he turned and went back to his computer. He was going to redesign his search program to try and get into the ANA database again, without any of their guardian programs detecting him this time. He had to know exactly what the ANA was doing to Renee. He just had to.
*****
Liam Kincaid emerged from the rear entrance of St Michael's Church and moved quickly to the point where his shuttle safely hidden behind a cloaking shield was parked. Removing his global from his pocket he keyed in a command and the air rippled before resolving into the bug-like form of a standard Taelon personnel shuttle.
Within seconds he was inside the shuttle. He had just settled down in front of the virtual interface when the shuttles short range sensors picked up a radar stealthed military transport approaching. Quickly Liam engaged the shuttles cloaking device so that he would be safe from the ANA arrest squad and he was about to lift off when a vision of the arrest squad breaking into Augur's Lair and arresting the cyber wizard exploded into his awareness.
Quickly Liam yanked out his global and called Augur.
"Augur theirs an ANA arrest squad about to land outside the church. Hubble must have figured out that you're the one who broke into their database. Because they want you."
"Okay thanks Liam," Augur said from the small screen. "I'll activate the sanctuary protocol immediately. Theirs no way Hubble's goons are going to get in here."
"Good luck Augur."
"Same to you kid." Liam closed the global and clipped it back onto his belt. Then with a familiar graceful gesture lifted the shuttle off the ground and set a course for the Taelon mothership safely hidden behind the moon.
He engaged the ID drive just as the transport came in to land on its VTOL thrusters. The shockwave of air created by the shuttle jumping into ID space buffeted the transport knocking the team of well-trained personnel inside around but otherwise not harming it.
As soon as the pilot re-established control of the bucking craft he brought it in to land. As soon as it set down the rear ramp lowered and a team of ANA militiamen dressed in black combat fatigues charged down and headed for the church. Little did they know that they would never achieve their objective of capturing Augur and that even if they did it would gain the ANA nothing, for Liam was already on his way to the Taelon mothership with the evidence.
Evidence that could wipe away the Atlantic National Alliance and its leader Hubble Urick.
That's the end of this second episode. The story continues in episode three coming soon.