Chapter 9
Pleasantly surprised to find his belongings unpacked and organized, Edward spends his days off making minor adjustments to his new home. A full issue of black uniforms hang in his closet. The silverware is put in a different drawer, a chair is moved to the other side of the living room and the house quickly becomes comfortable. With little to do, he finds himself reading the collection of books he's never finished.
Edward recognizes the peculiarity in the act. He typically spends his time watching TV or browsing the Internet, but finds no desire for it. He fights the temptation to research Lilim and the creatures assigned eating at him. No presumptions, he tells himself.
On his second day off, a text comes in with a report time for the next morning. He doesn't sleep that night.
Colonel Cullen meets Edward in the lobby as he arrives.
"Good morning, Colonel," Edward says.
"Good morning. I hope everything was accounted for," Colonel Cullen says, immediately heading across the open room and down the hallway.
"It was, sir. Whoever you use is really good."
The Colonel brusquely moves from the small talk. "Are you prepared for today?"
"I am. I'm excited for it," Edward says, working to keep up.
The Colonel says nothing as he presses his hand against the brick wall. A bright blue outline of a hand to appears, revealing the camouflaged biometric reader. A door, hidden by the seams of the cinder-block walls, opens to a library.
Shoulder-high shelves, labeled with different regions of the world are filled with leather-bound tomes and plastic binders. Large maps and black and white images of unrecognizable creatures hang above the shelves. Alice sits at one of two, four-person tables in the room's center.
"Good morning, Captain," Alice says in her bright, warm tone upon seeing Edward.
Edward smiles. "Good morning, Alice."
Colonel Cullen clears his throat. "I will be at the Pentagon for the next few days. The next several days are intended for you to research and gain an understanding of the creatures you may interact with while with Lilim. Agent Adele will assist in answering any questions you may have. There is no need or expectation for you to interact with your team, outside of her, prior to my return."
Edward strains to keep an impassive face at the Colonel's statement. Of course you don't expect me to interact with the team, he thinks.
"Get some coffee," Colonel Cullen continues, vainly attempting a relaxed demeanor. "There is a lot of information in this room and despite how outlandish it may seem I will assure you it's all true."
Edward finds himself at ease with his task, a feeling helped by the Colonel's departure and that he has the agreeable Alice as a tutor.
"I'm sure I'll be fine," Edward says.
"Agent Adele knows how to contact me in the event I am needed," Colonel Cullen says. "And you have my number."
"Yessir," Edward says, nodding.
"Do you have any questions before I leave?"
"No sir."
"Okay," Colonel Cullen says, his lips pursing in thought. "Agent Adele."
Alice briefly stands as the Colonel exits. "Sir." The door whispers shut behind the Colonel. The moment it closes, Alice visibly relaxes and turns to Edward. "How were your days off?"
"Good," Edward says, finding himself immediately at ease. He takes a moment to scan the books and binders surrounding him. He suddenly realizes their number. "This is a waste of time, isn't it?"
"It seems that way," Alice says. "But when you're here as long as we are, you have the time."
Edward sits. "How long have you been here?"
It's a simple question but not one Alice has been asked by her previous leaders. They typically just read the team files. "Just over four years," she answers with a smile.
"How much longer?" Edward asks, instinctively continuing the conversation.
Alice smiles, demurely. "Until we die."
The flatness of her answer surprises Edward and he immediately regrets the question. He ponders how long that can be for someone like her. But that's not a question he can ask now.
Alice quickly shrugs off the dour moment and smiles, standing and walking to one of the shelves. "Would you like to get started?"
"Sure," Edward says, appreciating the change of subject.
"Obviously, this is our library," she begins, relaxing as she speaks. "It's actually the most secure room in the facility. Any of the information in here could change the world. Colonel Cullen, Bella and myself are the only individuals who currently have unrestricted access. You'll get access in about a week."
Alice says, anticipating Edward's question. "You'll be good once it gets use to you."
"Why not Jacob and Emmett?" Edward asks. It strikes him as odd that the entire team aren't authorized to be in there alone.
"They don't like reading?" Alice says, with a laugh. "The room learns the mannerisms of authorized personnel as an additional security precaution. You don't have access if the room doesn't know you. Jacob spends most of his downtime playing video games and Emmett is Emmett. They just haven't been in here enough for the room to learn them."
Edward can't help but smile. "So what all is in here?"
"Bestiaries, spell books, official government records and eye-witness reports. Everything in here is a copy. We keep the originals at our off-site archival site."
Assuming the location of the site is still confidential to him, Edward decides not to ask for details.
Alice rests against a shelf. "So what would you like to start with? It's mostly a research library, and typically leader's start with Lilim's historical record."
"Start with yourself," Edward says. It's a unique opportunity to begin getting to know the team as people, not strictly the monsters Colonel Cullen insists they are. The books will be there, and he has plenty of time to read them.
"Sir?" It's apparent Alice was not expecting Edward's request.
"Tell me about yourself. I can read whenever."
"There's an immense amount of material." Alice would rather follow her orders. "You can start with anything."
Edward shakes his head. "Colonel Cullen said you're a psychic. So you can read minds and see the future?"
The fact that Captain Masen remembers the detail pleases Alice, making her more willing to ignore the Colonel. She bites her lip.
"I'm not a psychic. I'm an oracle. Colonel Cullen calls me a psychic because it's a more accessible term, I think."
"You're an oracle? Like from mythology?"
"Um-hmm." Alice grins like a smug teenager.
"You can see the future?"
"I see visions but they're not exact." It's an admittance she is self-conscious of. "Because of the dilution in my bloodline, what I see isn't as strong as it could be. My visions are like having two dreams at the same time. They're not easy to decipher. And sometimes I'm completely wrong."
Empathy wells inside Edward. "It's still a lot more than what I can do."
Alice thanks him for the complement.
"Is it genetic?" Edward asks.
"Yep." Alice pulls a binder from European shelves. "'Oracle' is a general term for a variety of seers. The official term for me is Delphinian Hereclid. I'm a direct descendent of the Delphi Oracle and Hercules." She flips to a profile with details and various images from different time periods and slides it in front of Edward.
"Hercules?"
"He got around," Alice says, grimacing at her implication. "There's millions of Hereclids in the world. It's just that most of them are so far removed from his supernatural blood they don't have any noticeable abilities. Since both the Delphi oracle and Hercules were supernatural beings, the abilities in me are naturally stronger. There's a bunch of Hereclids and Delphinians in my family tree, so the powers have remained a dominant trait."
Edward finds her self-confidence infectious, as if his selection to the team is cosmically remarkable. A satisfaction that he took the time to get to know Alice creeps over him. They are people, he thinks and he can't wait to learn more.
"How'd you end up with Lilim?" Edward asks.
"My grandmother encountered them in, like, Fifty-Four. She was part of a gypsy camp that was being attacked by a flock of Stymphalians in France."
Edward cuts her off. "Stymphalians?"
"Oh, right." She grabs another binder from the same European shelves. "Nasty, carnivorous birds that can throw their feathers. A Lilim team, Theta I think, was brought in to eradicate the animals. My grandmother had a vision that the team members were supernatural and revealed herself as an oracle.
"When my powers started developing, she told me the story about the Lilim. I knew that's what I wanted to do: use my powers to help people. Somehow, she was able to contact Lilim and here I am." Alice gazes at the photograph of the Stymphalian in the binder.
"Do you get to talk to your family?" Edward asks. He hopes she does.
She shakes her head, a hint of regret crossing her face. "That's why my grandmother never joined. She couldn't leave her family, especially my mom. My mom was pissed when I left. She's a single mother and I'm her only child. I couldn't just hide the visions like they did though, and Lilim does amazing things. My grandmother understood because she saw Lilim. I think my mom thought it was a fairy tale until I told her I was leaving."
"I'm sorry," is all Edward thinks to say.
"My grandmother passed about a year after I left. I can't imagine my mom letting it go."
"Alice," Edward begins, unsure if he needs to console her, "We don't have to talk about it."
"It's fine, sir," Alice says, forcing a smile. "I find this way more enjoyable then watching you read."
"Call me Edward," he says. A massive weight fills his gut at the nonconformity of the request. Sergeants don't call officers by their first names. Edward prefers no one call him by his first name when he's in uniform. But the realization that this team will be all he has, likely for the rest of his life, means his strict adherence to militaristic protocol needs to crack some.
"Okay Edward," Alice says easily.
Hearing his name said so casually, like Alice has been a life-long friend sends a euphoric rush up his neck. It's exactly what he needs. He scans the library, relishing the sudden sense of belonging. Hundreds of books, thousands of creatures, he is responsible for knowing, fighting. He thinks of his team.
"Okay, Alice," he says. "Where do we begin?"