Chapter 4
927 Words
Chapter Four
The Impluvium, Purity Headquarters, Praha 1
Olesya lowered her Balerinka. The Impluvium was empty.
Under the white cupola and circular skylight, a fountain lay dormant, no water splashing from it. There was not a sound from anywhere.
On either side of the fountain were two black marble stands bearing old gold vases. Beyond their polished surfaces, more rooms branched off, antique rugs and wooden floors visible beyond deep archways. Past the fountain, a set of white double doors stood ajar.
Xiu steadied herself against one of the stands, breathing slowly. She could walk now, and her skin wasn’t affected by the glitching camouflage. It seemed her viral symptoms were easing.
Andrey, still dressed as a Purity soldier, closed a hatch in the floorboards and concealed it with a rug while Marina, also still in Purity uniform, checked the entrance to the Impluvium behind them.
‘The quarters are just ahead, yes?’ Gleb asked.
Xiu nodded. ‘This was our entry, in case our target came here.’
‘Your target?’ Andrey said. ‘And who was that?’
‘The General of the Fifth Column.’
Andrey swallowed. ‘Huh.’
Xiu had guided them here through the High Priest’s network of escape tunnels. The passageways had been here for as long as the castle itself, and made an ideal covert entry point into Purity Headquarters … and into the High Priest’s rooms.
Olesya aimed her weapon at the double doors and gave a nod.
Marina and Andrey approached from either side, opened the doors and aimed inside from their extreme angles. But it was Olesya who could see most of the High Priest’s quarters from where she stood.
In the center of the room, the High Priest lay on his back, one eye open, the other completely gone. His fleshy cheeks were dotted red and blood pooled around him, leaking from the side of his neck and deeper behind his collarbone.
Olesya paused just long enough for Marina and Andrey to stack behind her. Once she felt Marina’s elbow on her back, she rushed inside, weapon raised.
They went with her, aiming in opposing directions: the corners were clear. They kept moving until every part of the quarters had been checked, including the walk-in robes and behind the dead priest’s desk.
Olesya’s phone vibrated in her pocket. At first, she thought someone was calling her, but Andrey and Marina reached for their phones too. They all had the same message.
SPEAR BREACHED.
It referred to the Spear: the arcology building in the center of Prague with the transmitting tower at its core, beaming Purity messages to everyone with a chip. Someone had unlocked the Spear’s blast door. Which meant they could now get inside.
‘That could’ve saved us the trip,’ Marina said.
‘The question is, who did it?’ Andrey asked, glaring at Xiu. ‘Denton? Or our good friends, the Americans?’
‘They are not our friends,’ Olesya said.
‘And I’m no longer in contact with Denton,’ Xiu said. ‘My radio is…’ Her gaze fixed on Olesya ‘…gone.’
That came as no surprise to Olesya, who had thrown it onto the train tracks in the subway. Which meant Xiu no longer had any way of knowing Denton’s current whereabouts. But if he had the cure, he’d still be out there somewhere, and if the opportunity presented itself, Olesya would do to him what he’d done so effortlessly to her parents.
Gleb stepped into the room and grimaced at the sight of the High Priest. ‘Oh. Wonderful.’
Olesya glanced at her watch and was surprised to find more green dots on the map than before. She opened the phone’s larger map to check their position … but they were gone.
‘The master key is missing from around his neck,’ Marina said.
‘They took it and opened the blast door,’ Andrey said. ‘That door stays open, right?’
‘For twenty-four hours,’ Olesya said. ‘But whoever stole it is going to be in there too.’
‘And who might that be?’ Gleb asked.
‘Something tells me we’ll find out who that is soon enough,’ Andrey said, stepping into the walk-in robes. ‘Hey, there’s a safe in here.’
‘Find out what’s inside,’ Olesya said, crouching over the High Priest’s body. As well as stealing the master key and mutilating his face, his killer had severed one of his fingers. ‘One eye and one finger...’
‘Retina and fingerprint scan?’ Gleb suggested.
‘They don’t need that to breach the Spear,’ Olesya said.
‘No,’ Xiu said. ‘They need it to use the Spear.’
It made sense. Without Aviary’s skills at their disposal, Sophia or Denton or whoever else had done this would need direct access to sabotage the Spear.
Olesya turned to Xiu. ‘Is it possible Denton could use the Spear to turn everyone into his loyal followers?’
‘That would take months of imprinting,’ Xiu replied. ‘And both a government and a Fifth Column willing to allow it to happen.’
‘Also, he’s smarter than that,’ Gleb said. ‘He would piggy-back his own loyalties on Purity.’
Xiu agreed. ‘Denton’s aspirations don’t lie with the Spear, I can tell you that much.’
‘How can you be sure?’ Marina asked. ‘He left you for dead.’
‘That doesn’t change how he thinks.’
‘What if he’s inside the Spear right now?’ Olesya asked her.
‘Then I cannot guarantee your safety,’ Xiu said.
‘Good. If you had, I’d have been very suspicious.’ Olesya turned toward the walk-in robe. ‘Andrey—how long until you get that safe open?’
‘Another five minutes,’ he called out.
‘Marina, turn the lights out, then stay and guard him,’ Olesya said. Purity Guard weren’t issued with night vision as standard, so the darkness would give them an advantage. ‘We’ll clear the tunnel.’
Marina nodded, her fingers drumming the grip on her carbine. As Olesya led Gleb and Xiu back to the secret tunnel entrance, she looked back at her.
‘Don’t let him take too long,’ she said.
- Writer
