Chapter 21
The Veil
Michel popped his neck, his neck was stiffer than usual, grumbling that he rather sleep in the trenches than the office chair. Sarah was driving, but she kept looking at Michel’s face curiously, because Michel got a big fresh scar on his face.
“Please, eyes on the front,” said Michel.
“I’m curious,” said Sarah.
“What?” said Michel.
“The vessel gets attacked whenever it crosses the certain spot, as if they are claiming a territory,” said Sarah, grabbing starring wheel with one hand, and other hand freely expressing as the saying goes.
“Yeah,” said Michel, nervously looking at the front car.
“Well, and the cloaking didn’t work too, what is that mean?” asked Sarah, looking at Michel.
“Red light,” Michel muttered.
“What?” said Sarah, frowning.
“Red light!” he shouted.
Sarah suddenly stepped on the brake. Michel jerked his head up and down.
“I mean there is an island near that region, you know that, right?” asked Sarah.
“Yeah… I do,” said Michel, rolling the window down to get a fresh air.
“I did my research! It is a failed resort from some rich dude. And he disappeared there long time ago,” said Sarah, excitingly.
“I think it is bogus, the rich guy probably disappeared somewhere because he doesn’t want to pay taxes,” said Michel.
“Yeah if you have 8 billion ora, and you disappear because you don’t want to pay taxes? That is stupid, Michel, come on. By the way, the fact is that he failed to build a resort with that amount of money. I mean, what kind of resort was he working on?”
“Green,” said Michel.
Sarah pressed the gas pedal. Her pink lips twitched. Michel’s head bumped against the seat, his face turning yellow.
“Dunno, maybe he was building a Jurassic Park.” Michel murmured, his face turning green.
“I should’ve brought some vodka to help you with car sick, I didn’t know you had such a weak stomach,” muttered Sarah.
“Maybe for you only, why would we want to drink vodka when they are car sick?” asked Michel.
“Well, you empty your stomach right away,” replied Sarah.
“…I’m surprised you didn’t keep it on your backseat,” grumbled Michel.
“I did, the cop took it,” complained Sarah.
“Isn’t that great…” Michel sighed.
“So where did you get that scar?” asked Sarah.
“I slip and fell down the stair,” answered Michel
“Bullshit,” said Sarah.
“It’s the truth, Sarah, I really slip and fell down the stair,” said Michel, angrily.
“You are making that up,” sneered Sarah.
“What am I suppose to say then? What am I supposed to say!?” bellowed Michel.
“Shut up! You are no fun!” shouted Sarah.
Michel shook his head, groaning, his face went yellow again.
“So, how’s the robot Nina’s been working on?” said Michel.
“Act like some brain damaged junkies at the mental hospital,” answered Sarah.
“How about Nina? Is she all right?” said Michel.
“She’s fine. You know her, when she’s upset, she just eats bunch of candies and be happy. Although she got frustrated regarding the mission, I think she is doing well. But the problem is that Captain James got little paranoid,” said Sarah.
“What’s up with Captain James?” asked Michel.
“I think he fell for the assassin when during his operation, he is sitting at the receiver’s tower since that incident,” said Sarah, chuckling.
“But… they only met once, right? Or twice? Maybe…” mumbled Michel.
“Who knows? Probably because he pities her,” said Sarah.
“Yeah, right, why doesn’t he do the same for you?” said Michel.
“Good point, maybe he did fell for her.” said Sarah. “And by the way, fuck you.”
“So, falling in first sight huh? Young romantic love from the plumpy old guy,” said Michel.
“And she shall break his heart,” exclaimed Sarah, laughing, stepping on the accelerator,
Car boosted across the highway, toward the base.
At the base, Nina was hugging her monster cookie jar and talking to Captain Stein. Stein was complaining about James not leaving the tower.
“You can’t really blame James, Stein,” replied Nina.
“But admiral, it is unthinkable, why is he obsessed with the assassin who he hardly know?” shouted Stein.
“Well, maybe he is not, maybe he is looking for our men,” said Nina, eating cookies.
“But, admiral; he is…” muttered Stein but Nina put the finger at her mouth,
“Shh…” she said, smiling, and spoke. “When we failed the operation, we managed to bomb the engine room so the outer forces cannot identify our involvement. It was our last resort which I only informed to few of our agents in the field. At least Veron won’t be suspicious about us. The peculiar thing is Veron’s reaction. It is too quiet concerning this event; normally he is shit scared of everything but he was particularly dull in this case.”
“Are you saying Veron is the one behind this, admiral?” asked Stein.
“Maybe, although I’m not sure about the reason, the other possible explanation is that Veron already know who did this and he can’t do anything about this man behind the veil,” Nina muttered.
“Yes, I’ve looked around the region and found an island near the crash zone,” said Stein. “According to the Intel, it is where the failed resort took place, directed by a rich man called Ricky Guido. He had a considerable amount of wealth, and he disappeared few years ago,”
“Do you know about this failed project?” said Nina, curious.
“Very few people know about the project. Simard talked to me in the past vaguely about the hideouts,” said Stein.
“Is this Ricky Guido helping Veron out?” said Nina.
“We do not know. All I know is that the rich man tried to build some type of shelter,” said Stein.
“A shelter?” inquired Nina.
“Yes, the people who have cut out from the rest of the world live there, free from the one pursing them,” answered Stein.
“If Ricky is against Veron and if Veron wanted that shelter in the island, the attack is more likely to be an accident or a byproduct of some sort,” said Nina, scratching her head.
“So, do you think Veron made those things to find the shelter?” said Captain Stein, skeptical.
“I don’t know,” said Nina, smiling, biting the almond cookie and melting it with milk. “I’ll contact someone to look at the island. I guess James would like to do it.”
Stein took his cap and walked toward the door.
“She has the same eyes,” Nina muttered to Stein’s back.
“Of what, admiral?” said Stein, looking back at her.
“Jame’s deceased wife, Captain, Sharine has the same eyes,” said Nina. At this, Captain Stein’s face eased a little. He nodded and went out the room.
“Yep, that is how it goes.” Nina licked the last drop from her glass.
One of the ghosts, William, contacted the base. He was floating around in the sea in the life jacket. His voice was full of panic; he rambled about what he saw. William said he had to hide in the metal closet because something abhorrent and hideous things ran toward them and started killing all the people abroad.
William said those things could see through the cloaking device. When he heard the loud explosion, he hurriedly got out of the closet, and swam out of there as ship was sinking. Sarah asked him whether there was another survivor, but he didn’t know.
Paul contacted the rescue squad. But when they sent them, they couldn’t find William anywhere so they returned empty handed. James was baffled, wanted to search more, but Stein rejected that proposal.
“It is to
o risky sir, to further the search,” said Paul to James.
“Did William contact us again?” said James, impatiently.
“We lost him sir, he haven’t contacted us since the last radio transmission. We followed the signal which marked in the middle of the sea, but we have found no one,” Paul muddled.
“Maybe others are near somewhere,” said James.
“Sir, this wasn’t a typical operation, if we send a squad, we will expose ourselves to the enemy, and Captain Stein has ordered strictly not to reveal this mission and that was the reason why we hired the assassin to aid this job,” said Paul, calmly. James covered his head and start pulling it out.
“No news from the assassin?” James inquired.
“No sir.” answered Paul.
James took a deep breath, getting up from his seat.
“Let me know if something comes up,” said James.
“Of course, sir,” said Paul.
James walked past the news broadcasting about the second attack of the vessel in the southern sea, focusing on the involvement of the Assassins’ Chamber to route the public attention to the assassins.
“…Sharine Pestice, the legendary assassin, happened to be in the lost ship that was sunk in last night. The authority is investigating of the involvement of the Assassins’ Chamber. The cargo ship left the Idalian dock carrying military artilleries and bombs; according to the authority, Sharine Pestice was on a secret mission concerning…”
James shook his head and closed his eyes, which were dry and stiffened due to lack of sleep.