Legacy Of Korr (15 page)

Noah shook his head. “No, but we have the designs and we can increase the rate tenfold.”

“What are you waiting for?”

“Funding,” Noah said. “I have teams ready, and with your approval, they will duplicate the enhancement and manufacturing facilities in other army divisions.”

“I’ll get you what you need. The opposition can hang me if they want. Is there anything else?”

Noah gazed at the wall across as if he could see through it. “We need to neutralize Queen Carilia.”

The PM raised his eyebrows. “Are you wasted?”

Noah shook his head. “I gathered intelligence that proves she’d been compromised.”

“Even if it’s true, we’re not going to war with the aliens.”

“Not if we enlist her daughters’ help.”

Jackie’s eyes lit up at the mention of the daughters. “Mara?”

Noah nodded. “She is our best shot.”

Jackie examined Noah for a long while. “I’ll see what I can do.”

The PM raised his hand. “Not so fast. What do you know?”

Noah explained everything he found out about Carilia. When he finished, doubt, distrust, and skepticism replaced their outrage. They realized, as he did, that to be on the safe side and neutralize her was the wise choice.

Once everyone was on board, the real question resurfaced, were they able to subdue Carilia without huge losses?

“Get cracking,” the PM said, and the meeting ended.

*****

December 27, 2030

The training area next to the military base was busier than usual. Hundreds of enhanced soldiers lined up in front of Mara for the weekly exercise. At first, Mara split the soldiers into two teams, battling it out under the harsh sun with no weapons or machinery. This week there were four teams, fighting two different battles.

General Gabriel Wu exited his vehicle and strolled in her direction. His facial expression was similar to the one he had this morning when he learned about the infiltration.

“We have a problem,” Gabriel said.

“What’s wrong?”

He took a deep breath. “Queen Carilia was right.”

Mara smiled. “That is a problem.”

“The retrieval team I sent out this morning hasn't returned. Any chance you can track them down and bring them home? And if possible, capture the intruders, too?”

Mara’s eyes lit up. She loved fighting, and aside from training the enhanced soldiers, her last combat situation was the Tasman Battle. She was getting rusty.

“Ok.”

“Is there anything you need?”

“A place to start.”

“A warehouse in Sydney,” Gabriel said, and pulled out his phone. “Here.”

Mara looked at the screen for a second. It had a map with the last known location of the team. She’d flown by that area when she’d confronted the East Coast Invaders. “I’ll ask my mother to take over training.”

His tension eased. “Thanks.”

Mara made her way back to the base. She was disappointed the enhanced team couldn’t retrieve the intruders. They needed further training. And whoever captured them was smarter and more calculating than they thought.

Taking the soldiers was an interesting move. She thought the intruders would elude the hunting party. They were after the Korran designs, and they had them. Unless…

The Queen was in the reconditioning hall. She supervised the officers who ran the enhancement process.

“Mother, can you please take over the training?”

Queen Carilia stopped what she was doing and hovered toward Mara. “The soldiers didn’t make it back?”

“No.”

The Queen’s eyes dimmed. “We should stay out of this.”

“Gabriel asked me to help,” Mara said, but a skeptic look on her mother’s eyes had her continue. “And I want to sort this out.”

The Queen smiled. “Where are you headed?”

“Sydney.”

“Do not destroy it.”

Mara chuckled and hovered to her ship. She climbed in and took off, heading east to where the team last contacted the base.

Five minutes later, Mara arrived at the same industrial area in Sydney. It was quiet after sunset. She exited the ship and activated the cloaking shield to hide it.

Mara decided to start at the warehouse ahead. The paint was burned and part of the front wall was demolished. Unless an industrial fire broke out this morning, this was the building she was after.

Judging by the level of damage, the soldiers put up a vicious fight. They were better than she thought. Mara activated her defensive shield and entered the warehouse through the open door. She hovered forward into a large hall.

“Hello, Mara.”

With her hands raised in anticipation and her eyes glowing, she swung to face the source of the voice.

She saw a familiar face.

“You’re an agent. I saw you in that meeting after the battle.”

“I’m Noah,” the agent said and pointed to five people on his side of the hall. “This is the infiltration team you’re after.” Then he waved to the far end of the hall where the enhanced team lay on the ground—unconscious. “Your soldiers are over there, but first…” Noah strolled toward a table in the middle of the hall and placed a folder on it. “Take a look at this.”

She moved her eyes between him, the infiltration team, and the folder on the table. She recalled her thoughts in Western Australia. If they were after the Korran designs and the technology, they had them. Why did they hold enhanced team hostages? Maybe they’re bait.

Mara glided to the table in one swift move. She picked up the folder and flipped through the pages. A scientific report, about her mother. She was the catch. Impressive how they detected the second core and realized the implications. They’d come a long way since her last visit. Now, the tough conversation.

“You took a big risk,” Mara said, looking through the folder. “I could’ve saved you a lot of trouble if you asked.”

“Now, it’s your turn.”

Mara didn’t comment. She flipped through the pages for a minute. Nothing she didn’t know.

“The emergency protocols dictated that Alissara, Shara, and I warp first and make sure the road is clear for the Queen. Until we left the battle area, she was safe.”

“Safe?”

She ignored his question and continued reading through the report. “Do you know why we didn’t see the invasion coming?”

“Infiltration?”

“Yes, but not in the conventional, double-agent sense you have on Earth. Our Internal Security arrested a group of high-ranking officers when they violated surveillance rules. They seemed normal, but they had those bursts of pure rage. Their bodies flushed with a shade of blue.” Mara lifted her eyes off the report for a moment. “I saw that same shade in my mother’s face in Egypt.”

“Did you find out what happened to them?”

Mara waved the folder in his face. “This.”

“Second cores.”

“Yes, we didn’t connect them to the Manakaris in time to save our world. They were clever. They landed on Korr, operated on our officers, and covered their tracks.”

“What do you know about the core?”

Mara put the folder on the table. “It documents and reports everything the host experiences, and it can push its own agenda.”

“Can you help me remove it?”

Mara shook her head. “We removed the cores from our officers after they had died. There is no telling what would happen if it’s removed from a living body.”

“The Queen will not be herself until we remove the core.”

“You’re asking me to risk my mother’s life,” Mara said, her eyes glowing. “You’ve infiltrated your own army camp. How do you expect me to trust you? Leave it alone, agent.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Leave it?”

“Leave it, not ignore it, until we figure out a way to get rid of it safely.” She turned around to leave.

“Is that what you’d tell me to do if my Prime Minister was compromised?”

“Someone in your ranks is compromised,” Mara said, her back to him.

“I’m working on that.”

Mara spun around to face him. “She is my mother, and one of the five people left from my world.”

“I know,” Noah said, and lowered his gaze to the floor. “Please listen. Our scientists studied the second core, and they can remove it, without harming the Queen. More importantly, they think it’s killing her. Your sister, Shara, showed me a vision of the battle, and I saw your mother when she was young and strong. She aged a thousand years in weeks. Leaving it inside your mother is an option, but it’s not without consequences.”

Mara stood still, considering what to do. She understood the implications of removing the core and the consequences of not removing it. She had no good options.

“If you kill my mother—”

“I won’t.”

“Give me time to discuss it with my sisters. And whatever you do, don’t try to help again.”

Noah nodded. “What are you going to tell Gabriel?”

“That’s your mess. I suggest you send the soldiers to their base and own up to what you did.”

“You coming to my funeral?”

“Only to get my dagger back,” Mara said, with a smile that soon faded. She had to do the same thing he’d done—upset everyone for the greater good.

Mara looked past Noah before she headed to the infiltration team. The young woman and her team watched from the other side. Mara stared into the curious eyes for a moment, then she skimmed the young agent’s brain.

“I like you,” Mara said and placed her hands on Violet’s temples. “My mother likes you, too. That doesn’t happen often.”

Her eyes glowed, Violet’s, too. The young agent screamed. Her body trembled like a leaf in the midst of a powerful storm. She fell to her feet when Mara let her go.

“You’re not just enhanced. You bear the Mark of Korr,” Mara said and watched her stand up. “I want you and your team in Western Australia. Don’t worry about Gabriel.”

*****

Queen Carilia and Gabriel sat down in the command center when Mara walked in. They discussed logistics to speed things up before they had to leave for the US.

“They’re intelligence agents,” Mara said.

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Your intelligence agency wanted our technology to analyze it and duplicate it for other army divisions. But I don’t think the director knew.”

Her mother glanced at her. “Where is the extraction team?”

“They have them. I didn’t want to interfere in an internal matter.”

The Queen smiled. “Since when?”

Mara shrugged.

“You did the right thing. Come on, we have work to do.”

She followed her mother for a few steps, but before she exited the command center, she spun around to face Gabriel. “Does the name Noah Williams mean anything to you?”

His nostrils flared, and his face turned red. “It won’t mean anything to anyone once I get my hands on him.”

Mara smiled and followed her mother outside, leaving Gabriel fuming in his office. Nothing was more satisfying than a little mischief.

“Did you have to tell him?” The Queen asked, with her iconic, stern look.

Mara’s smiled widened. “No, but I don’t like the guy.”

She parted ways with her mother to see Shara in the geeky quarters. With her scientific brain, she was easier to convince. And Mara needed her help to convince Ms. goody two-shoes to join them or stay out of their way.

Shara was busy, supervising the manufacturing process. Her face lit up when she saw Mara approach. “Did you destroy the city?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

Mara used her serious voice. “An agent staged the whole thing to talk to me alone.”

It worked because Shara stopped what she was doing and strolled to a quiet corner with her.

“What are you talking about?”

She stared straight into Shara’s eyes. “Remember the defense surveillance officers, we convicted on Korr?”

Shara lowered her eyes to the floor in melancholy. “Mother?”

“Yes, the agent thinks they can extract the secondary core without hurting her, but they need our help.”

Shara waved her hand to stop her and her eyes widened in terror. “She could die.”

“I know, but she will die if we don’t do anything.”

Shara didn’t utter a word.

“Remember what happened to the officers on Korr.”

“Do you trust the agent?”

Mara shook her head. “Noah? Not with my mother’s life. But we’ll be there.”

“I know him. He’s a good agent.”

“Okay, let’s talk to Alissara. If we’re lucky, she won’t kill us both.”

“If she doesn’t, mother will. Have you seen her fight?”

Mara chuckled. “Always the optimist.”

They hovered deeper into the facility to meet their sister. The second core weakened the Queen. They could take her without losing a sister.

*****

Next morning, Alissara strolled into the royal ship where her mother sunk in one of the comfortable chairs. She looked peaceful, almost asleep.

Was she and her sisters doing the right thing? Her mother could die and by the hands of her daughters no less. If they didn’t do anything, the second core would kill her or turn her against her own daughters.

Alissara cleared her throat. “I’m going to the demonstration. Would you like to join me?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Mara hasn’t told you?”

“No. I might demonstrate parenting afterwards.”

Alissara chuckled. “Please do.”

Within minutes, the ship hovered above the vast desert until it reached its destination. Alissara landed the ship next to her sisters.

“The soldiers aren’t here yet,” her mother said, and exited the ship.

“Forgive me, mother,” Alissara said, her eyes dim.

The Queen tilted her head, a questioning look in her eyes.

“You have a second core inside your body.”

The Queen’s eyes narrowed and a mixture of denial and anger seeped from them. Then she lifted off the ground. Her eyes opened wide and ignited. Her posture transformed into a more threatening one. And her face turned blue.

“That’s a lie.”

“I wish it was.” Mara’s voice came from behind her.

“You!” The Queen said, and swung around to face Mara. “I should’ve known you’re behind this.”