Of Evil and Angels

Chapter 5

Heather Dulot was less than happy about the Scholae storming the fleshmongers’ Montpellier hideout. It wasn’t clear if the girl associated Badmash with her capture and they decided to keep it from her. Cole mentioned that Heather’s father was interrogating her—his own daughter. In Alyssalee’s mind, that was very f****d up. She kept replaying the snatch-and-grab mission. If there was more time—a lot more time—she could have convinced the teen of the downsides of serving the fleshmongers. Instead, the girl’s father forced her into compliance—exactly the way UNUM treated the masses.

The last few weeks of training were uneventful. Alyssalee graduated at the top of the class, which meant little in the end. She would work for the Undivine, and it wasn’t like they’d pay her more for the achievement. All Undivine received the same dijcoin, even the commanders. Positions of authority were based on merit and by demonstrating leadership—nothing else.

Some good came out of the Heather Dulot situation. UNUM and the Undivine knew fleshmongers were leveraging civilians to realize their evil plans, but none knew of the extensive network that they’d built. UNUM took the approach of imprisoning any fleshmonger conspirators. The Undivine’s approach was to rehabilitate. Alyssalee wasn’t sure about the potential success rate of this approach. How does one recover from greed and an all-consuming lust for power? In her mind, this was a fundamental problem with the soul.

Now that training was behind her, Alyssalee had free time, and she devoted every minute ‌to Sophie. She’d never felt anything like the warmth of Sophie’s love. It was sweet and pure and selfless. It flowed between them with ease.

And Sophie’s beauty took Alyssalee’s breath away.

The simple things about Sophie moved Alyssalee, like watching her deliberate over a simple decision, how she would slant her head to the side, her locks of pure gold falling in her eyes. And there was Sophie’s laugh. Without exception, it would clear away any dark clouds surrounding her. Alyssalee loved the girl, and Sophie loved her back with the force of a hurricane.

They lay together and Alyssalee brushed Sophie’s slight cleavage with her favorite flower, a Holy Ghost orchid. She lightly teased a n****e with the dove-like center of the flower. Alyssalee watched in fascination as Sophie’s n****e tightened against the feather-touch of the purple speckled wings of the dove.

Brushing away the titillation, Sophie said, “Lyss?” She raised her head from Alyssalee’s chest.

“Yeah, babe?”

“Is your life turning out the way you’d hoped?”

Alyssalee’s response was immediate. “No way.”

Sophie shot up. “What do you mean?” she asked, voice cracking.

Gently tugging Sophie back to her chest, she answered, “It’s far beyond what I ever dreamed it could be. You, the Undivine, my friends—I wouldn’t trade any of it. No regrets.” She kissed the top of Sophie’s head. “And I really owe that to you. I would have never stayed with the Undivine after the Sky City massacre.”

The mere thought of the ordeal risked a panic attack. All the paladins she killed that day because she sucked at being a mind hacker. Yeah, she saved the Undivine, but the cost was more than Alyssalee could bear to think about.

“We all owe you our lives, sweetie,” Sophie said, nestling her head into Alyssalee’s breasts.

That couldn’t happen again. Cole continued coaching her as she practiced her mind hacking abilities, and she grew more confident every day. It was all about channeling different forms of energy into the task at hand. Modulating the frequency, intensity, and focus under duress involved a level of discipline that, in the past, Alyssalee sorely lacked. She and Sophie explored new, creative techniques. Mind hacks that were out of scope for Cole’s training—like making love to Sophie while suspended in the air by an invisible cushion of air. This was a recurring request from her girlfriend.

“Why do you ask, hon?”

“I don’t know. I’m just worried you aren’t happy,” Sophie said.

“I am as much as I can be, thanks to you. I don’t know if I am good at being happy though,” she answered, rolling to her side. “What about you?”

“’Course I’m happy, silly. It’s just...”

“Just what, Sophie?”

Her girlfriend stared off into the distance as if contemplating her words. “I feel like I could be doing more. I feel like I am just the good-natured sidekick.”

“OMG, Sophie, I don’t mean to make you feel that way!”

She giggled. “Arrogant much? I mean a sidekick to the Undivine.”

“Sophie, you are an officer in the Undivine. You didn’t reach that position by being a ‘good-natured sidekick,’” Alyssalee replied, rushing the words.

“Yeah, but I chalk that up to having a history of being dependable. You know, like steady and controlled.” Sophie turned on her side, facing away from Alyssalee. “Where are all my magnificent accomplishments? There aren’t any.”

Alyssalee was at a loss. She didn’t have a clue how to console the love of her life. So, she just spooned her as they lay in silence.

***

TODAY WAS ALYSSALEE’S first day of official duty. She was already a rockstar among her fellow Undivine, which differed from the normal trainee experience. If she was being honest, she relished her unique status. Her fingercomm alarm alerted her brain that it was time to wake, but she was already there. Alyssalee spent a moment caressing the mattress impression where Sophie lay, which was still warm. Sophie was an early riser and liked to start her day off with a run.

She rolled out of bed with vigor, which never happened at Sisters of Light unless it was holocade day, and donned a fresh set of shimmering synthleather leggings. Her trainee hoodie smelled fresh, thanks to Sophie. She zipped it up partway over her neon pink sports bra. The shin-high combat boots squeaked as she laced them, contemplating what to do with her hair. She went with twin purple ponytails that contrasted her jet-black bangs. Alyssalee slung the scabbard across her back.

Entering the command center, Alyssalee paused midway through the entrance. Everyone was staring at the central holotube. Archbishop Latimer was speaking.

“The rumors of a secret sect of demon worshipers terrorizing UNUM partitioners is simply untrue,” Latimer stated with a scowl. “The truth is that there are clusters of vigilantes spread across the globe that mistakenly believe they walk the only true path.” Staring at the camera, he added, “The most prominent of them go by the pretentious name of the Undivine.”

Murmurs spread across the command center. This was the first time UNUM had ever called them out by name.

“The Emissary has commissioned our paladins with the priority directive of bringing these philistines to justice. Effective immediately, anyone who conspires with this group will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, up to and including execution.”

The broadcast ended with the display of a commlink for reporting Undivine activity, including a fifty thousand dij reward for any tips leading to an apprehension. This sum exceeded the wages a typical layperson earned in a year. After the broadcast concluded, silence hung in the command center. Alyssalee made her way to where Cole and the command staff were.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked.

“It seems our collaboration has come to an end,” Cole replied.

“I gathered that. But why?” Alyssalee asked.

“That is the question,” Lightspeed replied.

Sarah was missing from the captain’s side, which was odd. His operations officer was seldom beyond arm’s reach to the point that Alyssalee wondered if there was more to their relationship than just work. Alyssalee asked, “What does Sarah think?”

“Sarah is not feeling well,” Lightspeed replied with a pained expression.

“Captain, not that any command center missed this broadcast, but advise the rest to move to THREATCON CHARLIE,” Cole instructed.

Each command center was autonomous, without an overarching command structure. This allowed for more agility when dealing with local matters. It was a leadership hierarchy built on partnerships. But Commander Cole was one of the most highly regarded commanders among the ranks of the Undivine. The other leaders took his insights into account.

A dark shadow loomed over Alyssalee, the excitement of her first day of active duty now evaporated. Cole took a few steps before turning his gaze to her. “This isn’t anything new to us. Before you joined, we were always at CHARLIE.”

“Yeah,” she replied matter-of-factly, but couldn’t hide the anxiety in her eyes. A knowledge she didn’t want to admit to crystallized in her mind. “He’s the boss.”

The group of Undivine huddled near Alyssalee all wore the same no s**t look. Cole was the commander of the Sierra Nevada Center. Looking up, seeing the misunderstanding, she added, “No. I mean, the FM boss has taken Latimer.”

One officer in the group guffawed at this. Cole chastised him with a stern look. “How do you know this?”

Her voice went quiet as she replayed memories. “The twitch,” she said in a daze. “When the boss cornered me in the alley that night, the body he occupied had this weird, twitchy tick. And then again when the archbishop showed up after the skeleton attack on us. I didn’t make the connection then, but I recognized the tick.”

Cole thought for a moment. “Lieutenant, have a team pour through recent footage of the archbishop. See if you can confirm this, twitch.”

“Don’t waste your time. It’s true,” Alyssalee said with a certainty that she couldn’t explain. There was something else tingling deep inside her. Some knowledge she had but could not put her finger on.

Cole nodded at the lieutenant, who quickly left the group with his orders.