In which Thane shoots someone, Nihlus declares it to be the apocalypse, and Irikah gets angry. Nihlus can see the future. *creepy music*

Chapter 10 – Truth

The next morning, Thane got back to the hotel just in time to prevent his family from panicking. Irikah was still miffed. One hand rested on her hip. "You're wearing that jacket again. You were at the base, weren't you?"

"Yes. I needed to let my commander know that I'm alright."

"You couldn't have left us a note?"

"I… didn't think of that."

"You oaf." She hugged him.

He smiled. "My apologies."

Kolyat crossed his arms. "So now that we don't have to file a missing persons report, weren't we going on a walk?"

"We were, and we are. Are you both ready to go?"

"You're going in those clothes?" Irikah looked him over.

"Yes. I don't see what the matter with them is."

"That's what you wear to work."

"Others don't know that, do they?" Thane looked at his hand, where the sleeve of his jacket turned into a half-glove. "It's a perfectly acceptable outfit."

"Can we just go?" Kolyat was obviously excited to get a taste of the big city.

"I'm with Kolyat on this, Irikah."

She sighed. "Men… Fine, let's go."

Thane smiled and led the way. They went north first, simply taking in the sights and the general atmosphere. Kolyat was wide-eyed, trying to look at everything at once. Irikah was pointing out places she'd like to go at some point, both she and Thane making note of them. Thane had to grab his son's arm several times to keep the younger man from drifting away and getting lost in the crowd.

They found themselves in a plaza with a large sculpture of Amonkira at its center. Irikah and Kolyat immediately went to look at the statue, but Thane lagged behind. He felt eyes on him. He found the eyes quickly – brown, belonging to a young man in a red jacket. A jacket just like his. But that look was anything but friendly. The man's hand went to his hip, and Thane shouted, "Get down!"

Confusion turned to terror as the gunshot sounded. The crowd dropped, leaving only Thane and the gunman standing. Thane was already on the move. The gunman fired at him again, shouting, "Damn you, Krios!"

The shot missed entirely, and Thane grabbed the shooter by the throat and slammed him into the ground. "Where's the transmitter?" Thane snapped. The gunman shook his head, raising his gun again before Thane's free hand grabbed his wrist and pushed it to the ground beside his head. "Where is the transmitter?" Thane's tone was utterly hostile.

"…Collar… Sewn in…"

Thane felt along the collar with the hand previously at the shooter's throat, brushing over the beacon. His fingers found another device on the opposite side of the collar, and he grabbed it and spoke. "That was a bad move." He snatched the gun out of the shooter's hand and held it against his head.

The young man's eyes went wide. "No, please, don't, don't kill me! Mercy!"

"Let Kalihira take mercy on you, traitor. Go to the Sea." Thane pulled the trigger.

Dead silence.

Thane didn't skip a beat. He shot the transmitter, then left the gun on the ground and stood. He looked out over the terrified crowd. "…If you want to go, then go. You've no reason to stay."

At his words, they all rose, rushing to escape the plaza – but giving him a wide berth. The place was soon deserted, save Thane and his family. Irikah was staring at the body, Kolyat at Thane. "…Dad? What just happened?"

"An assassination attempt. Likely spur-of-the-moment. The odds of him knowing that I was in the city are astronomical. Kolyat, do you have your phone on you? I need to report this."

Kolyat silently handed over his phone. As Thane dialed, Irikah spoke. "Assassination? You? Thane, what's going on?"

"One moment." Thane waited as the phone rang, then as the one who picked up spoke. "It's Thane, sir," he replied. "I've just brought a situation in Ikhan under control, but I could use some help cleaning up the mess. There's a body." He paused and listened. "…That would be perfect, sir. I'm at the plaza off of 13th. I'll wait here." Another pause, then he hung up and handed the phone back to Kolyat. "My thanks."

"Seriously, Thane, tell me what's going on. Why did you shoot that man? He was begging for his life!" Irikah's demeanor grew more and more hostile.

"I was doing what's expected of me. Besides, why show mercy to a traitor?"

"Even traitors deserve trials, not vigilante justice!"

"Not in this case, Irikah. A double-agent is too dangerous to live. My actions will be accepted as due course. I have the authority to act as I did."

"Double-agent. A spy working for us who turned around and started spying for the enemy. You're saying he was one? How can you be sure?"

"There was a transmitter in the collar of his jacket."

"A jacket that looks a lot like yours." Irikah crossed her arms. "That's the real reason you know he was a spy, isn't it? That getup is your uniform. You and he are cut from the same cloth."

"I'm no traitor."

"No, but you are a spy. It all adds up. I just didn't want to admit it. That the man I love is something I hate with a passion."

Thane looked away.

Irikah continued, ignoring an increasingly stunned and confused Kolyat. "Using spies is cowardly and underhanded. I despise the very idea."

"Being underhanded is half the point." Thane watched people hurry past the plaza to continue on their way. "Let's not talk about this anymore."

"I'm not letting it go this time, Thane."

"Then don't talk about it here. It can wait until we're back in our room."

"Police are here," Kolyat said weakly. The sirens made his statement moot.

Thane pulled out his I.D. Irikah saw. "What's that?"

"Authorization." He held it out to the first officer who approached.

The officer eyed him with suspicion, but took it. "Military identification?"

"This matter needs to stay out of the hands of the civilian police. The proper authorities are on their way."

The officer was still dubious. "Are you sure you have the authority to be making a decision like that?"

"I'm not sure you're in a position to question that. If you like, secure the plaza to keep the general population out and wait for my comrades to arrive."

"I suppose…" The officer turned to his companions, who'd been hanging back and watching. "Alright, let's hang around and keep this place secure." He looked back in Thane's direction, then at Irikah and Kolyat. "Who are they?"

"My family." Thane glanced at them. "Go wait by the statue, you two."

Irikah gave Thane a look, but ushered Kolyat off to the side and stood by him. The officer nodded and went to help his companions.

After about ten minutes, a field ambulance silently arrived. Two people got out. One was an officer in normal uniform. The other wore a long, dark green jacket with a high collar. The officer went to the back and grabbed a stretcher, while the other walked past the police and stopped in front of Thane. "You did make a mess, Thane."

"A fairly clean mess. Thank you for picking up after me, Liza."

She smiled. "Hey, s'what I do. Now move so we can get that poor moron out of here." She went to help the officer with the stretcher.

Thane moved to stand with his family. Irikah was watching Liza. "Who's she?"

"My protégé. Why?"

"I'm just starting to wonder what other secrets you're keeping."

Thane looked at her, alarmed. "You don't really think that I would…"

"…No. Not really. I'm just giving you a hard time. Part of me thinks you deserve it."

"And the rest of you?"

"The rest of me is confused."

"We'll go back to the hotel as soon as everyone's left. Then, we can talk."

"Thank you, Thane."

"I love you, Irikah."

She looked away. "I love you, too."

Thane hid his distress and turned to Kolyat. "Are you alright?"

Kolyat looked away from the scene nearby and at his father. "I think so. Everything just happened all at once. I don't know what to think."

"You can be there when your mother and I talk."

"…Thanks, Dad."

"Of course."

By then, the ambulance was pulling away, and the police officers were getting back into their cruisers. Thane looked everything over, then looked at his family. "Alright. Let's go."

"Damn it!" Nihlus slammed the side of his fist against the wall. "The perfect opportunity drops into our laps, and then the idiot has to go and try something like that!"

"At least you proved to the Hierarchy that the SCIU exists." Septimus crossed his arms as he watched the other man pace.

"A fat lot of good that does me now. That could have turned the tides! We're losing, Septimus. We're losing badly." Nihlus' metal carapace let out a slight clang as his forehead met the wall. "The southern front is completely lost. Terra's withdrawn all support since the drell figured it out and started attacking them. The incessant bombing raids are forcing us to choose between salvaging the northern front and protecting our homeland with what's left of our air force. We're being decimated, Septimus. They're annihilating us. And they won't stop until they get an unconditional surrender."

"Don't look at me. I'm still reeling from the fact that they're dropping nukes on Palaven. The chemical weapons are bad enough."

"Oh, please. I'm not surprised. Drell don't settle for 'good enough.' They go all out, all the time."

"Surely they can't keep it up indefinitely."

"They can. Trust me." Nihlus put his hand over his eyes. "We're dead."

Septimus watched him. "Do we have any chance, then?"

"We did, until our inside man decided to try and kill Thane Krios. Of all the…"

"Is the SCIU really so incredible?"

"It can be. Wars aren't won on brute force. The drell are outsmarting and outmaneuvering us. I'm willing to bet that more than half of the intelligence they're using to do that is coming directly from the SCIU. No, even more than that. That intelligence is what's winning the war for them."

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration."

"How did they find out about Terra, then? The humans were officially neutral, even though they were feeding us supplies under the table like mad. The drell didn't take notice for the longest time. Then, they suddenly started bombing the humans just as bad as they are Palaven. What is that?"

"How do you know the SCIU uncovered that?"

"What are spies for, Septimus?"

"…True." Septimus' eye ridges betrayed a frown. "…Thane Krios. You know him."

"I do. He's too good to be normal. That idiot should have known he wouldn't have a chance against Thane."

"You were never scared of the SCIU before. Is he the one who changed that?"

"Who said I was- …No, you're right. I'm scared. Yes, it was him."

"So are you scared of all of them, or just him?"

"He's the one I fear the most, but he's an example of what those people are capable of. I'm scared of them all. They have to go. If we want to win this war – no, if we want to survive – they have to go."

"And fear turns into determination. How do you suggest we take them out?"

"Their base of operations is Fort Genna."

"Which is not fifty miles from their capital. Do you really think they'll let us get there? That's what we've been trying to do since we invaded the north."

Nihlus was silent, hand falling from his eyes, but head still against the wall. "…We're losing. The Hierarchy won't surrender until it has no choice. I know Velarn won't allow it, if nothing else. How long will they let this war drag on? How many people have to die? How many cities have to be destroyed?"

"We can keep this up for two more months. Maybe three. It depends on how long it takes them to destroy our air force. Without air support, the northern front is lost, and we'll have no way to defend Palaven from their damn bombings. We need to pull something drastic before then."

Nihlus backed away from the wall and shook his head. "We're all doomed."

"If they keep this up, everyone but the drell is doomed. They're destroying the world with those bombs."

"…Then it's the end of the world."

"Tell me everything."

"You're mistaken, Irikah."

"I'm not, and you know it. You said we would talk. So talk."

Thane leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his legs and burying his face in his hands. Kolyat watched from the doorway, and Irikah loomed over Thane, arms crossed. The tableau remained for a good minute before Irikah's expression softened, and she put a hand on Thane's shoulder. "Thane… Just tell me it's true. That's all I need."

Thane looked up, staring straight ahead. One hand curled into a loose fist, and the other rested over it. To his family's surprise, his answer wasn't a simple yes or no. Far from it. "Including me, there are fifty-three of us – fifty-two, now – not counting the monitors or Razh. Just the agents. We're called the Specialized Combat and Intelligence unit. The SCIU. Few outside our ranks know that we exist, and we answer directly to the Council." He glanced at his jacket, which hung on the back of his chair. "…Yes, the jacket and outfit that goes with it are my 'uniform.' The jackets have devices in the collars. Break the trigger, and the device sends out a signal indicating the wearer's location. It also sounds an alarm, both when it's triggered, and if it is destroyed. It's an emergency beacon. That's why the jackets are so important. They're our lifelines when something goes wrong."

Silence.

Irikah broke it. "You didn't have to go into detail like that."

"What else do you want to know?" Thane still refused to look at both her and Kolyat.

"…How did you get these?" Her hand brushed the dark red scars on his bare arms.

"I was captured in Palaven. When I escaped, my arms were caught in barbed wire."

"Captured… So that's why everyone thought you were dead…"

"I very nearly was."

"Why didn't they just kill you?" Kolyat. "Isn't that what they do when they catch spies?"

"Not before trying to get information."

More silence, and Irikah was again the one to break it. "Trying how?"

"You know how. You just don't want to believe it." He sat up and sighed. "I still don't like thinking about it, and I'll probably never get over it, but at least I'm stable."

Her hand left his arm. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"I got angry with you for no good reason."

He looked at her. "You'd still be angry if you didn't know I'd been tortured."

Kolyat took a step forward. "Mom, Dad, don't fight…"

His parents looked away from one another. "When will you be going back to work?" Irikah finally asked, quietly.

"I'd say a week. I'm almost healed."

Kolyat forced a smile and tried to lighten the mood. "I like it when you're home, Dad, but do you really have to keep getting hurt to be here?"

Irikah sighed. "He has a point, Thane."

"At least I'm alive," Thane countered.

"There is that. You're in a dangerous line of work." Irikah looked at Thane again.

"I am. But I'll always come home safe." He looked back at her. "I promise."

A small smile. "Thane, change. There's still plenty of daylight left, and we have a lot of city to see."

Did they come out of that argument a little too easily, or is that just me? Mind you, Kolyat broke it up, and they didn't really want to fight, anyway, but still... Hrm. Ferret out.