Hey guys! I just came back from...um...sry that information is classified, but anyway, I brought you Chapter 14!
To Kyparissia: Well yup, Bae is more rational. However, with the past changed, who knows how were the life and personality of the characters influenced? Maybe it's Alistair, maybe it's Bae or a third person... We'll see! ;)
Chapter 14
The weather in the evening turned windy and it was freezing outside, preventing the Shark from taking off.
Everyone in the Lucian stronghold were disappointed by the delay of Operation Firestone except for Amy Cahill.
At the moment, she was sitting on a bed in the warm, little room she received after getting released from hospital. Althought it was about 1 am, the girl couldn't sleep: she was deep in her thoughts, trying to find the answers to her questions, but couldn't succeed.
Suddenly she heard a knock on her door and walked there reluctantly to open it.
She expected Ian or Nikolai to come, but from the snoring next door she lately supposed, that it's not so likely.
Then, before Amy could touch the handle, Nataliya rushed in, shutting the door behind her as fast as possible.
"Good evening!" were the only two words the surprised girl could say. But there was no need for her to talk – Nataliya did it instead.
" Amy, listen! Maybe you hate me now because of Isabel, but you must understand that her plan had a point. With it, we cannot only win the fight against the Vespers, the Outcast or anyone else, but we can also get back the people we've lost. Just think of Irina or Nikolai or… " The woman took a long breath. " your parents."
The girl's eyes widened. " Mum… and dad? Are they alive? Is it true?"
Nataliya nodded silently. " Yes. Half an hour before, I talked with Fiske. He assured me, that both Arthur and Hope were fine and so was Dan. They are safe with Grace in her mansion." She was wishpering the last sentences, but Amy payed no attention to this – the fact that her whole family was alive made her wax euphoric. Her anger she felt about the woman disappeared.
" Call them back, please! I MUST hear their voices!" She shouted, but then she felt Nataliya's finger on her mouth.
" Ssh, you're giving me away!" She murmured anxiously. " Don't forget, that the Lucians and Madrigals are still enemies. If they figure out who I work for…" She paused this time, looking around, as if someone had attended the room while they let down their guards. " The walls have ears down here!"
Then she gave a sheet of paper to Amy. There were names of different locations on it with the elegant handwriting of the woman:
St. Petersburg
New York
Boston
London
Boston
Cahill Island.
" The Fuegpiedra has to be taken to the right place, where it will provide an hour to its user in the past and when it's done, it'll bring them back to the same location." She explained. " The list you're holding includes the places Isabel visited or planned to do so."
" Then why is Boston two times there?" Amy asked.
" As far as I'm concerned, the first time Isabel got there was to save your parents." Nataliya laid her hand on the table next to her." Then she took her way back to London to meet Vikram. From there she should have gone to the Cahill Island for some reason she'd never told me, but instead, she went back and faded away. I suppose she wanted to get some help from Fiske, who was also informed about the plan. The Madrigals had been searching for her the whole day, but found nothing." Suddenly the colours started to merge before her eyes. She was fainting, but before falling, Amy caught her.
This time the girl looked worriedly at the woman.
" Nataliya, are you all right?" She asked her as she ran for a glass of water.
" It's OK, don't be afraid." Nataliya tried to calm her down. " It's usual. My immune system is just not the best."
Then she stood up. " Getting back to the point, if you want to find the gem, you must follow Isabel's route. Tomorrow, Alek will lead you to the Inca temple, where the stone was originally placed." Amy was wondering if she'd really seen blush on the porcelain face of the woman as she pronunced the name of the man.
"You must drop hints to make your team go to one of the locations on the paper. But don't let them know more or both of us will be killed. If I were you, I'd start in London, because that was the last place where the things planned went normally. " She said with a serious expression. " And take care of yourself. " Her face softened as she hugged Amy and said goodbye.
Then she started sneaking back to her office.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Three rooms away, Nikolai was swallowing some vodka with his uncle.
" Your parents have put their trust in you." Alek Spasky said. " You cannot fail this time. You must be ready to pay as big price as you have to to complete the mission."
" Of course… I understand." The boy rolled his eyes.
" Nyet, you don't." The man looked at him, right into his eyes. " By the 'price' I meant anything, really. Not just getting wounded for the aim… But also giving your life for that."
Nikolai closed his eyes, trying to absorb the words he'd heard. He got them before every affair, so how could they differ so much this time?
The look of his uncle was the one bothering him, making sure, that the fatal sentences weren't empty sayings…
They were clear orders.
And it wasn't Alek who gave them.
The same thoughts were echoing in Nikolai's head as he walked back to his room:
Mum, Dad, could you frankly do that to me? Could you sacrifice me for… for… more power?
That's it for now, hope you like it! Cheers!