Chapter Five: Hunter and Prey
Olympica, Nasmus Lounge:
The pictures and paintings of the colony of Scorpia on the dark-wood paneled walls gave the the Olympica's Nasmus Lounge the feel as though it was situated in a picturesque area of the Demeter Jungle. To help add to the jungle theme the Colonial Line had a soundtrack of ambient sounds playing. A mix of river water running, birds chirping, and other such noises were on a continuous loop. The lounge's bar also served a variety of Scorpia liquors and even after eight months the manager felt no need to change the policy and include drinks from other colonies.
Amid the bustle of activity of the patrons few would have been bothered to notice the two men chatting in a corner that was away from where most of the crowd had gathered. If any of them had been able to hear the hushed conversation being carried on between them then there would have been first a sense of shock followed by one of horror at what was being planned.
One of the men, a dark-skinned man of Gemenese descent, looked nervous as he talked to his companion. The other person at the table had a sort of cool detachment as he heard the conversation. It was impossible to tell if the man in the exquisite Caprican suit either expected to hear what was being told to him or simply did not care.
"It has been done," Henri Faustin said when he felt certain there were no prying ears near the table where he and Dante Solis were sitting.
Solis could not help but smile. "Excellent, I take it that the entire Quorum has been wiped out."
Faustin nodded. "The news coming out has been somewhat hectic but if they have not all been eliminated then the majority are dead."
"That's one part of this operation taken care of. Now it's time for you to move on to the next part of my plan, but this one may be require more thought and planning on your part, because if you don't get it right the first time then I doubt there will be a second opportunity."
Faustin's gaze remained stony as he said, "Fear not, Mister Solis. When the time is right I will personally make sure that David Rush is dead."
"Excellent," Solis said as he took a sip of his drink, "I look forward to seeing the results of your next mission. Speaking of your mission, I want to do something different."
Faustin hesitated for a moment. "What would you have me do?"
Solis motioned with his hand for Faustin to take a seat, "Normally I would say leave the survivors alone but this day and age there is no telling how much power they could have with the public, especially with that damn sympathy vote. I want you to eliminate all of them and then when that's done I want you to go after Rush. For now lay low and find out who in particular has survived, then I will be happy to give you the order in which I want them eliminated. Better yet, now is the perfect time to execute Operation Tselios
Faustin queried, "What will happen to you?"
Solis was quiet for a moment before he said, "I have made arrangements to disappear until the time is right. You and the rest of the people involved will strike a blow for the cause that will go a long way toward achieving our ultimate goal."
"If I do not make it out of this then know that serving you has been the honor of my life," Faustin said before he stood up and left the room. He knew Solis would have nothing more to say; he was not exactly a man who would express sentimental statements at a time like this.
Solis watched Faustin leave and he allowed himself to smile. The old adage about good help being hard to find was certainly true. The man had served him well, and had proven to be adept at finding new recruits for his cause. There were plenty among the survivors who were disillusioned with life and felt as though they had nothing to lose. Then there were those who were had fallen through the cracks thanks to ineffectual background checks.
He took his mobile phone out of his pocket and sent a message to his most valued contact in his network of informants. The Watcher was someone he knew he could count on for reliable intelligence, and the information given about the raid on his ship, the Jauron, had allowed him to escape with most of his people and almost all of the weaponry he had stored. As for how getting them over to the Jauron he felt fortunate that even in a time when humanity was fighting for its life there were still those who would let personal greed triumph.
'The Quorum was bombed, is the time right to launch?' Solis said quietly as he read the messaged he had typed.
He took a sip from his drink, the brown colored liquor made its way down the glass and into his mouth. He recalled that the brand name on the bottle read 'Toria's Finest' and as he savored the burn of the drink as it went down his throat he had to admit it lived up to the quality its name implied. He knew that before the Cylons attacked he wanted to destroy Colonial society but with that already done now as his chance to take charge of the survivors and implement his vision for what their society should have been all along.
The phone beeped that he had received a message. He clicked on the button to open the message and saw that it read 'Now is the time.'
That was all he needed to hear. Throughout their association he still had no idea who the watcher was. They communicated through text messages but after all this time he had yet to hear The Watcher's voice. He did not even know if the person shared the same goal as he did. From the time he became disillusioned with Colonial society he had been firmly convinced that the decadent culture needed to be changed and taken back to a simpler time before technology had come along to bring its corruption to the people. He was not a believer in the gods, but he did feel a sense of thankfulness that fate had spared him the destruction of the Cylons so that he could carry out his singular goal of taking the remnants of society to a planet where they could abandon their sophisticated technology and achieve a purer form of living.
He sent out a message to the mobile phones of his operatives that read, 'Tselios is ready' and he smiled at what was to come. He could stay out of the initial fight but the thought of being there on the front lines as his people fought was going to be too much of a temptation for him. He had come to think of what was about to come as 'Judgment Night' and to him it was a very appropriate title. It was going to be a night of judgment for either him or those in power.
Battlestar Achilles, CIC:
The Combat Information Center on the Battlestar Achilles was quiet since the aftermath of its fall to the Cylons over forty years ago. In the room were two people who had the job of making sure all of the battlestar's systems were properly shut down upon its arrival in the mobile drydock Vestal. Commander Benjamin Adar and Colonel Shauna Willis looked at the stations that required to be checked before main power could be transferred from Main Engineering of the Achilles to the Vestal.
In its brief time back in the Colonial Fleet there had been those who served on the ship or even stepped onto its deck for a visit that swore the ship was haunted. There had been reports of a general unease while on board, some claiming that it was as though there was some unseen presence watching them go about their duties. The discovery of the veteran battlestar along with these reports of the ship being seemingly haunted had given the Achilles the nickname of 'The Ghost'.
"The first time I stepped onto the hangar deck I thought to myself 'This bucket looks even more wore out than the Athena!', but after a while I began to take a certain pride in her antiquated look," Willis said as she walked over to Command and Control to put down her checklist.
"When I found out I was being made the Commanding Officer, my first thought was whether or not I had pissed Admiral Tolan off during my brief tour as XO on the Victorious," Adar said as he reached down and produced two glasses and a bottle of an amber colored liquid.
"I know we haven't had much of a chance to talk about it, but do you think he's really dead?" Willis asked.
"I honestly don't know but if I had my way he wouldn't be. I know it may sound crazy but I learned a lot from him on how to command. I thought it was crazy when I got moved to XO, but I was going to make the most of it," Adar said as he poured the liquid into the two glasses and handed one to Willis.
"What is it?" she asked as she held the glass to her nose to get a scent of the liquid.
"Hisarlik Whiskey, I picked it up during that visit to Libran we made."
Willis thought about it. "That was when the Vic went for its post-overhaul shakedown, right?"
Adar nodded. "One and the same, and truthfully I had been saving it for a special occasion and this seemed as good as any."
"Is there something that makes this occasion so special?" she asked.
"We took a Cylon War era battlestar into a heated battle with the Cylons and we managed to escape with our lives and our ship still intact. I don't know if you remember but this ship was already damaged and hopelessly outdated compared to the other ships in the fleet when we found her. Even the Athena had been modernized over the course of its career. I also believe we acquitted ourselves as the CO and XO of this fine ship," Adar said and then he held up his glass, "To my XO and the crew of the Achilles, may fortune continue to favor us."
"To my Commanding Officer and the fine ship he commands, may the Achilles continue to be blessed by the gods," Willis said and then she clinked glasses with him and took a sip of her drink.
"What do you think?"
"It's got more of a burn than I thought it was going to have," she admitted and then she sat the glass down and looked around the CIC, "How do you think she'll look after the modernization is done?"
"She'll be as much of an asset as the Victorious and the other modern battlestars, I think she'll be a mix of classic and modern when it's all said and done. That goes for the interior and exterior, we could return to find the Achilles a completely different ship from the one we're standing in right now."
"What do you think of the rumors that the ship is haunted? Think about what happened in this very room during the Battle of Cosmora. We are standing where Commander Rigel watched as his ship fell to the Cylons and he ordered the jump out past the Red Line so the Cylons couldn't use his ship against the Fleet. I've wondered if an event like that leaves its mark on more than a physical level."
Adar thought about his response before he said, "I think that if there are ghosts on this ship, they see how their ship is being used and are glad that it's in the fight against the Cylons. I'm sure they see what we're doing as exacting revenge against the Cylons and giving meaning to their sacrifice."
"When you put it like that, I'd rather go with what you said instead of thinking that the ghosts are like the ones my older sister made me watch with her when I was in elementary school. I think she took pleasure in giving me nightmares! With the way you put phrased it, I think you have your father's gift for speaking."
"Thanks, I know my father was no friend of the military but he was proud of me for making a go of it as a Viper pilot. He always said that people tried to spin it as him using me as a campaign tool for his election, but I could tell he was genuinely proud of me. My Uncle John was the same way; he was a career Fleet officer and made sure he pinned my Viper wings on me when I graduated from Abry and had finished my training."
"I never recall you mentioning your uncle. Do you know if he survived the Cylon attack?"
Adar shrugged. "I can speculate but I stay hopeful about it. Unfortunately, I know my parents died in the attack. Strange as it may sound, I drew strength from that when I was starting to feel weak. I know there are a lot of high-minded ways I could phrase why I want to fight the Cylons, but when you get to the bottom of it old-fashioned revenge seems to be as good of a reason as any."
"You won't hear me complain about that, my family was home on Aquaria. They had moved to Port Leopold to be closer to my sister and her husband. My sister and brother-in-law were expecting their first child and my parents wanted to be close by when their first grandchild was born. I don't know for sure that they died but as heavy as our losses were; I haven't exactly had a reason to be optimistic. I know you're an Abry man and I went to Aquaria Military but I think we are both using revenge as our driving force against the Cylons."
"We're going to be on the sidelines for the next few months as they work on Achilles, but when our ship is ready to join the fight again I know we'll be able to inflict some pain on the Cylons."
"I'm sure the workers are going to take good care of her," Willis said before adding in a teasing voice, "If they don't then you can use that tone of voice your father used on his opponent during the last presidential debate."
"The Adar Anger, he only used that if he was dealing with a person he didn't like, and I knew it was going to come out when he faced Harold Alban. After all the years of being political rivals it was safe to say he really didn't like the man."
"Yeah that kind of came across during the debates…seeing as how we've finished making sure everything is in order, I think it's time we caught our Raptor over to the Olympica. It's going to be interesting working at Fleet Command," Willis said as she downed the rest of her drink and passed the glass over to Adar.
He took the put the lid back onto the bottle and finished the contents of his own glass, "I suppose nowadays that's the equivalent of shore duty. We'll secure these in my quarters and then Boxer can fly us over to the Olympica."
As they walked out of the CIC Willis teased him by saying, "Don't forget to turn the lights out."
Adar rolled his eyes, "Yes Aunt Renee, I'd hate to drive the power bill through the roof."
Willis turned and faced him, "Your aunt, she was the one the Erebea and the Sagitarron Liberation Army kidnapped."
Adar nodded, "That was a little over six years ago if I remember correctly. My Uncle John offered to lead the task force that was sent to rescue her but my dad wouldn't hear of it. He said something about having one sibling in trouble was bad enough but putting both of his siblings in a dangerous situation was something he couldn't allow."
"Do you know if any of them survived?" Willis asked and a part of her was afraid to put the question to him.
"In complete honesty I have no idea. Dad sent my uncle on some mission that required him to be gone for a while and my aunt was making an appearance on Picon to help quell some of the discontent among the teachers in Gray."
"Do you think she was going to be given a tour of the MoI's headquarters?" Willis asked. Gray served as the headquarters for the Ministry of Intelligence and the intelligence agency usually arranged for a dignitary visiting the city to tour their facility in an attempt to improve their image among the public.
Adar laughed, "It was probably on her agenda, she would always tell me that she found the MoI to be a fascinating group."
"I know what you mean, especially when I think of all those spy movies involving the mysterious Ministry of Intelligence, I wonder if the lives of their operatives are anywhere near that exciting."
Adar shook his head, "It's probably exaggerated to a ridiculous degree, but it does make for a great movie."
Olympica, Jarrell Conference Room:
The scene around what had been the Jarrell Conference Room was something more akin to a war zone than an executive conference room. Rubble from the destroyed walls and fixtures was strewn about, mixing in with the remains of those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast. The oxygen in the air fed the fires caused by the explosions and it caused them to grow in heat and intensity until they finally triggered the fire system. The sprinklers undamaged by the explosion began to cascade water onto the deck below in an effort to extinguish the flames and large metal fire doors slammed down in order to keep the flames from spreading. Amazingly enough, was the fact that in this hellish scene of death there were in fact a small group of survivors.
Brooke Bowman slowly regained consciousness, turned her head to the left, and saw that Marian Sanders was groaning in pain but was very much alive. She turned her to the right and saw that Alfred Newton's head bent at an odd angle with his lifeless eyes seemingly staring at her.
"Is anyone alive?" Peter Halle asked as he struggled to move from where he lay.
"I'm here," Sanders said.
"Me too," Brooke said and felt relief that she was able to find her voice.
"Is there anyone alive out there?" a man's voice called out from somewhere off in the distance.
"There are three of us alive here," Brooke called out. As she tried to sit up, her body was wracked with pain all over. She tried to find something to compare it to but nothing came to mind.
"Stay there, I'm coming to get you," the man said. Over the noise, she could hear what sounded like wood and metal being moved out of the way.
"Little Tank, you check on the other two and see if they can be moved," he said and it was then that he hovered over her body, "Stay still for now, as soon as we can get these doors to open we'll move you and your friends out of here."
"Who are you?" Brooke asked, her voice sounding not quite like it normally would.
"Arthur Wallace. Over there is my friend Derrek Robinson but we all call him 'Little Tank'. Who are you?"
"Brooke Bowman, I'm the Caprican delegate to the Quorum," she said. As she spoke, she felt her mind starting to slip into unconsciousness.
"Whoa, stay with me…" Wallace said and then he asked, "So Brooke, mind if I ask if you're married or not?"
"I have a husband…his name is Artimus…commands the Battlestar Hermes…what about you?"
"Let's not worry about my relationship status, let's just classify it as 'Complicated' and leave it at that. You said you represent Caprica, what did you do when you lived there?"
Brooke blinked her eyes as if she was trying to focus, "School teacher…Wilson Elementary…where are you from, Arthur?"
"Aquaria, but I worked in the import/export business so you know what that meant…lots of travelling for me and my people. Your husband commands a battlestar…does that mean he has friends in high places?"
"You ask a lot of questions," she said. Her voice sounded slurred, as though she could easily give in to the darkness that seemed to want to take a hold of her.
"I'm a naturally inquisitive person; some say it's a character flaw. Little Tank, how are those two?" he asked to the man off in the distance.
"They're going to be okay if we get them some help soon, looks mostly superficial but there's no telling. How is your new friend?"
Wallace knew that if he said what he really thought about Brooke's condition, it could make the situation worse. "She's got minor wounds, nothing I'd be concerned with."
"Better get her some medical help, just in case," Robinson said.
"You should take that advice too. It looks as if you got pierced with some shrapnel from the explosion," Wallace said. Little Tank had taken more than few shards of wood and metal to his legs and torso, but like Wallace, any thought of trying to get help was superseded by the need to aid the survivors. As he had it figured, Little Tank had gone ahead of the group and it made more sense for him to have been injured in some way.
"Once they're tended to; I'll let the doc have a look at me," Robinson said.
It was at about that time that the doors to the corridor slid open and an emergency response team from Medical entered.
"We have wounded over here," Wallace called out.
"How many?" a woman's voice asked.
"We have four, maybe five wounded and one fatality," Wallace said.
The woman led the response team to where the group was located and began giving orders to the med techs. Like a well-oiled machine, the techs began to stabilize the wounded and tend to their injuries as best they could.
"Okay, people, let's get the wounded to Medical ASAP!" the woman called out; then she turned to Robinson. "Are you going to be able to make it on your own?"
Robinson nodded. "I'll be fine. You lead and I'll follow."
"Fine but no heroics. If you think you're not going to make it, let me know right away," she said to him and her tone of voice left no room for doubt about how serious she was.
"I'll stay here and help tend to the wounded, I received medical training from my employers," Wallace said.
"I doubt it would be good enough to help with trauma such as this." As she stared at his right leg she said, "You also have a decent-sized piece of wood sticking out of your leg."
Wallace looked down and saw a shard of wood sticking out of his pants where the pocket was. He reached in and saw that the shard had embedded itself in Admiral Stryker's journal. It had probably gone through his pants leg while he was traversing the wreckage of the conference room to get to the other side.
"It hit a book I was carrying; thankfully these pants have deep pockets," Wallace said in a tone that he hoped would lighten the mood.
"If you were too close to the blast then you may have internal injuries that need to be tended to. Now that I think about it, where were you given medical training?"
"I was with the Ministry of Intelligence. It was a standard course at The Ranch," Wallace said. 'The Ranch' was the unofficial nickname for the facility out on the plains of Leonis where the Ministry of Intelligence sent its newly recruited agents for training.
"Import/Export business, eh?" Brooke said from the gurney she had been loaded onto.
"I can explain…" Wallace said, but the gurney Brooke was lying on had been moved out of earshot.
"What's your name?" the woman in charge of the response team asked.
"Arthur Wallace…and you are?"
"Janine Moreau, I'm the Lead Med Tech of the Olympica's Emergency Response Team. And now, Mister Wallace, I want to let you know that if you find yourself in Medical because of an injury you hid from me, I will be very unhappy and I will find a way to share my unhappiness with you," she said as she moved in close enough so that only he could hear her.
"When you put it like that, how can I not understand," Wallace said as he hoped he really did not have some kind of injury that needed to be tended to.
"Good, there are more teams on the way to assist and if you think you can lend a hand then you're more than welcome to," Moreau said before turning her attention to her med techs, "Let's get these people moved to Medical!"
With the emergency response teams beginning to move into the area he made his way back to where the conference room had been. Perhaps there was a chance that someone was still alive. It was a slim hope but he felt it was better to hang onto that thought.
Somewhere on the other side of the room, the other two Robinson brothers were undoubtedly searching for survivors. Fortunately, both David 'Heavy' Robinson and Darrell 'Tank' Robinson were here on Olympica with him. If there was danger about, he felt more reassured about his safety knowing that they were there.
"Heavy and Tank, are there any survivors?" he called out.
"We found a few; the response teams are tending to them," Tank called out.
"How's Little Tank?" Heavy asked.
"He got dinged in the explosion but I think he'll be fine. He's been taken to Medical to be evaluated," Wallace said.
"I guess this means we won't be meeting our Quorum representative after all," Tank said dryly.
"I know we could have been killed in this explosion if we had been here sooner, but that is kind of funny," Heavy said and the three men managed a short laugh.
"Let's go meet with Governor Rush, I think the longer we stay here, the more likely we are to just be in the way," Wallace said.
"I agree, he's going to want to know about this," Tank said.
"This could be the beginning of something bad," Heavy offered.
Wallace nodded. "Now that I think about it, it's probably a better idea for us to go meet with Admiral Kronus. I know that if this is some sort of attempted coup or terrorist attack then he's as much of a target as Governor Rush is."
Battlestar Stryker, Flag CIC:
"Jump has been completed," Lieutenant Celestine Corday announced from Tactical.
"Excellent," Admiral Naomi Sakura said before turning her attention to Communications. "Mister Kendrick, connect me to Commander Cyprian."
"Right away, ma'am," Ensign Luther Kendrick said as he opened a communications channel between Sakura and Cyprian.
"Admiral Sakura, I take it you're calling to tell me you have a plan," Commander Jerome Cyprian said. As the Commanding Officer of the Stryker, Cyprian's place was in the ship's CIC while Sakura directed the battle group from the Flag CIC.
"I read your reports and saw that you tapped a Cylon communications buoy in this area. Do you know if the tap was discovered?"
There was a pause before Cyprian said, "According to Communications that tap was never discovered. Do you have a plan for it?"
"If we can access the buoy, we can figure out the Cylon movements and coordinate a plan of attack. At least, that should give us a starting point," Sakura said.
"Are you sure that's the way you want to proceed? Wouldn't you rather just go where we encountered the Cylons before and work from those areas?"
"That is a surefire way to invite disaster; I'd rather take the time to prepare a strategy instead of going off into the unknown. Get me the data from the buoy and I'll let you know when I'm ready to meet with you and the other two commanders," Sakura said before she placed the receiver back into its cradle.
"Do you think we'll get anything of value?" Commander Chiuske Shimomura, Sakura's Chief of Staff, asked.
"If the Cylons haven't discovered that the buoy is tapped then we might get an intelligence gold mine that we can exploit. Besides, I think getting even the smallest bit of intelligence is better than having none at all to work with," she said.
"If you don't mind my saying, I don't think the crew trusts us just yet."
Sakura had to admit her curiosity was piqued. "You have any evidence to back that up?"
Shimomura moved in so that only she could hear him. "It's the way they act around us, as though they have some sort of guard up. You're the flag officer here and I know that most of them would give you a wide berth since you have just come on board recently, but this is different."
Sakura thought it over. "For the past eight months they've been on their own, thinking they were the only survivors of the Colonial Fleet. Perhaps it's all new to them to find that a larger group survived and they are still trying to decide what to make of us."
Shimomura shook his in disgust. "It was not that long ago when we were not only part of the Colonial Fleet but we would be on the same side and not have issues. Did the Cylons change us that much?"
"They may very well have; everything we knew before has been practically tossed away and we're starting anew while still trying to hold on to what we can of our past. I know it's not the ideal situation but I think in time we'll gain the trust of the crew and maybe even once again act as though we're all on the same side. To be honest with you, right now it feels like we're two countries grudgingly working together against a common enemy."
Olympica, Icefish Grille:
"The tables are a bit full; mind if we join the two of you?" Mitchell Cain asked the two officers sitting at the table overlooking the plaza.
"We wouldn't mind the extra company," the man said as he motioned for both Cain and Karin Briggs to take the two remaining seats.
"Thank you…" Briggs said as she left the end of her comment open for introductions.
"I'm Major Mark Hunter and this," Hunter said with a theatrical motion of the hand, "Is Captain Alisa Stark. We are both pilots from the Ark Royal; we were just having a drink with Leon Delroy until someone who he said was his agent pulled him away from us. Now it's your turn."
"I'm Karin Briggs and my companion is Mitchell Cain; we were taking a break from our work and thought we'd get something to eat," Briggs said as she and Cain took their seats.
"What kind of work do you do?" Hunter asked.
"I work for Olympica Security; we're the police force here on the Olympica. It's our job to keep you safe while you're a guest on the ship."
"That's a big job nowadays, how does the boss handle it?" Stark asked.
Briggs smiled. "Oh she handles it well enough; she has a lot of great people working for her."
"From the way you're talking I take it that you would be the boss," Hunter said.
Briggs gave him a nod. "That's correct. I was placed in charge of the Security division three months before tickets for the maiden voyage went on sale. That gave me time I needed to personally vet every person who works for me."
"Your turn, Cain; what do you do?" Stark asked.
"Me…I work for the government and at present I'm a consultant with Olympica Security," he said.
"Sounds like an important job," Hunter said and then he asked, "What did you do before the Cylons attacked?"
Cain thought it over for a moment and then said, "I worked for the government then too."
He was going to say more when his mobile phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He knew Olympica had its own phone network, but the number had not been used in some time. "If you would be kind enough to excuse me."
When he was outside the restaurant, he hit the 'Accept' button and put the phone to his ear. "Who is the stranger calling me?"
"Mister Cain, forgive me for not meeting with you face to face. It's sort of an occupational hazard. I heard you were looking for me. The attack on my ship was really uncalled for."
Cain's heart raced at that last piece of information. "Dante Solis, how did you know to reach me at this number?"
"I have sources at my disposal; that's really all you need to know."
"The Watcher," Cain said matter-of-factly.
"A useful person when you're in my line of work. Cain, I'll be the first to admit that I admire you and your work. A pity I did not have the chance to recruit you to my side before the Cylons attacked. If we had been allies in another life, you would have made an excellent criminal."
"Where are you?"
Solis chuckled. "Someplace safe where you cannot find me, not that you'll have much of a chance to do that."
"You realize that I'm not going to stop until I've brought you to justice or killed you, whichever option seems the best one at the time."
"I have to ask, are you sure you're going to be able play this game on my level? I'm afraid you're going to lose," Solis shot back.
"You do realize you're trapped here. The only way you can contact me by phone is to be here on the Olympica. The traffic coming to and from the ship has been put on hold until you are stopped. Even your friend The Watcher cannot get you out of this trap. What do you have to say about that?"
"I will say this; you are perhaps the one adversary who most reminds me of myself."
Cain snorted with derision, "Solis, you and I are nothing alike."
Solis chuckled, "Of course we are! You and I are both killers. It's just that I kill for power while you kill for peace. We are two sides of the same coin; each of us heroes to our own causes. Think about that before you answer."
"Enough trying to play games with my mind. I am going to hang up. I want you to know that I am going to do everything in my power to bring you to justice and there is nothing you can do stop me. I will use all of my training to bring you down once and for all!"
"I see there's no other place for this conversation to go. It's time for you to get a taste of the power I can still wield. When this contest between us is over and the clock has stopped ticking we will see who the winner is. When the end has arrived…we'll see who gets the parade."
Cain was going to respond but the call ended. He had a bad feeling about what Solis' next move was going to be. He did not want to admit it but the man had struck a nerve with his comment about how they were both killers but from different sides of the coin. In his time with the Ministry of Intelligence, he believed that all the people he killed were a part of the master plan to keep the Colonies safe. Even now with the worlds destroyed, he was still plying his trade in order to keep the government from being toppled by men like Solis.
He walked back inside and took a seat. "Sorry about that; had a business call that I needed to answer."
"Anyone in particular?" Briggs asked.
Cain shook his head. "Nothing that can't wait until we've had a decent meal."
"So, according our friend Archangel," Briggs said with a motion of her head towards Hunter, "his friend was practically hanging off of Leon Delroy. It sounds to me as though she smitten with the man."
Hunter was about to say something but the window exploded from the impact of the bullets that had been fired into it. The four of them went to the ground in time to avoid being hit by the volley of gunfire that was aimed in their direction.