Ghosts of Koa, The First Book of Ezekiel (69 page)

The "elite" unit... right.

He and Luke would be upgrading their offices tomorrow... upgrading a lot of things. And then came the big push: tracking down that rogue Azure. While also trying to piece together Morgan's murder, the train heist, fighting Koan terrorism, and finding the source of the Ninkashi. They'd do it all together-- Corporal, Druid, and Theosophist-- like one big happy fuckin' family.
 

Caleb rubbed the bridge of his nose and decided to sleep. It was the only way that he and Cotch weren't going to kill each other tomorrow.
 

But first, a call. He picked up his phone, dialing a number he hadn't called in months. She was probably worried sick, and like an ass, he hadn't even bothered to let her know he was still alive. When the person picked up, he smiled and opened his mouth to speak as softly as he could--
 

"She's not here," a cold voice, one that he hadn't expected, cut through the line.

Caleb frowned, his mood officially plummeting. "
Okasan wa doko da?
" --Where's mom?--
 

"Like I said, she's not here. But would it kill you to speak to your dear old Father?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Possibly. So was this your plan? Squeezing the last Civic Demesnes until they begged for annexation into the Alchemic Order? Seems to have backfired though, hasn't it? Instead,
 
the Civic Councilmen fled, and Koa told you to go suck it."

"I do not know what you're talking about," Lord Kojira replied, chuckling. "The Civic Order has not been able to keep a steady hand on its citizens. So we stepped in. The Halls of Deis had no choice but to put the necessary measures in place--"

"You're a snake, fork-tongued like the rest of them."

"--for the safety of our people. Of our children."

"Safety for all except your own son, ironically."

"The Azures of the highest priority have been evacuated. If you didn't make the cut, then that is no one else's fault but your own."

"Heh. Now it all makes sense. You couldn't kill me in the 52
^nd
, so you waited. You knew this was going to happen, the crumbling of the Protecteds. You purposely sent me here to die."

"The difference between coincidence and fortuitousness is... perspective."

"You listen to me, you miserable bastard," Caleb growled. "I will not die here, do you understand? And when I finally get out of the Protecteds, I'll make you regret the day you let mother bring me into this world."

"Too late, my son. Twenty-six years too late. Our disagreements aside, let me offer you some
 
fatherly advice. Very simply, if you do not hunt Koa, they will hunt you. If you want to live, I am sorry to say that you will have to play the game. Play... or die. It's your choice."

Caleb hung up. There was no point in continuing the conversation. It would just piss him off more and cost him sleep. Better to focus on what he
could
change: his chances at solving his cases. In the wake of the bombings, Koa had quieted down once again, but this wasn't the end. He could feel it. Something else huge and terrible was coming, and if he wanted to survive, he had to turn his inward battles outward and focus. He
had
to fight. Fight or die. Kojira was right about that much.

Right, Zeika?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the two close-ups he'd printed: the one of Zeika from the Lakeside Diner and then the one of the robber from the weapons cage. They looked different, for sure-- the robber's face was completely covered, little to no hair under his mask-- but they also looked so similar somehow. Maybe it was the angle, or the lighting--

"Or the gaze," Caleb whispered quietly. "A gaze that could melt rocks."
 

He wasn't sure if she was still alive, and recently, the realization that she might truly be dead had finally begun to take root. Yet as he looked at the photos, the nagging voice of guilt-- the voice that would never let him forget what he had done to her-- somehow eased, finally allowing him to sleep.

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If you enjoyed Volumes I & II of "Ghosts of Koa", then you'll LOVE
 

Coming in 2014,
 

Volumes I, II, and III of The Final Page, The Second Book of Ezekiel!
 

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right
now
? Read on!

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3. Continue to the next page for
a racy excerpt from Volume I of
 

"The Final Page: The Second Book of Ezekiel"
!

The hot air balloons lifted higher and higher, and Zeika stood on top of the closed basket of her own balloon, gripping its ropes to steady herself. Icy wisps of thin air whipped straight through her flesh and bones, piercing her lungs with bitter cold. The atmospheric gas mask warmed what air it could, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Ahead and all around her, loose clusters of nearly 100 balloons, all carrying metallic closed-top baskets, lifted into the sky, their pilots being careful to navigate the wind space beneath the Canopy 12,000 feet above the earth. Now 13,000 feet, and climbing. Zeika gripped her ropes, terrified. Bars of shining glory seeped down through the Canopy's holes as the sun's rays beamed through... and on the horizon, she could see the airship five miles ahead, a metal whale in the sky, gun turrets sticking out of its belly like flippers.
 

The team of balloons was at the tail of it, following closely behind. They had already gone about two miles west off course of the balloon race, and it wouldn't be long before
someone
on the ship noticed that the race had been brought to them in real time.
 

This is crazy. We're all going to die.

The thoughts were running on a loop in her head, becoming more frantic with every gust of wind that blew her about, with every second her fingers gripped the ropes. She had never been afraid of heights, but after this, she'd need some serious therapy. If she made it out alive, that is.

Bright dots floated out of the airship in the distance. Jets, or some other aircraft. It didn't matter. The Alchemists were on alert, and there was no turning back now.
 

"They're coming. Steady," Zeika whispered into her radio. Her porcelain mask began to spread across her face, locking into her skin. "Steady."

The dots on the horizon suddenly grew ten fold as the jets hit thrusters.

"NOW!" She shouted.
 

The closed basket beneath her feet broke apart, revealing that it wasn't a basket at all, but a glider locked in on itself with an aeronaut hidden inside. She dropped into the second seat behind her pilot as the glider hovered, unfurling to its full length, dropping engines and guns into place. With a monstrous roar, the machine revved up and took off, leaving billows of smoke in its wake. The other pilots followed suit, roaring off into battle, and the Alchemic jets began to fire.

She slammed back against her seat as the inertia hit her, her fingers gripping the pull handles of the ejection seat as the plane dipped, dived, and rolled in the air. The pilot evaded gunfire and collisions with a smoothness she had only ever seen in movies. Around them, the air battle had begun, and Koan gliders were already falling to the earth in balls of flame. The occasional Alchemist jet went down with them, but for the most part, Koa was outnumbered and outgunned.