New Olympus Saga (Book 3): Apocalypse Dance (6 page)

Kiev, Dominion of the Ukraine, March 28, 2013

After surviving the grueling selection process, where half of the participants had died or suffered crippling injuries, as often as not inflicted by their fellow candidates, he and the rest of the winners had undergone four years of intense training. Each student had been assigned two servants, one male, one female, a year or two younger than themselves. Those servants had served the students’ every need, from fixing meals to satisfying them sexually. They had been the only human contact he’d enjoyed, outside the other students and their taciturn and brutal instructors.

The servants had become friends, confidants, lovers.

On the final day of training, just before being granted the Sigils of Power that would turn the students into Celestial Warriors, he had been handed a long knife and given a final order: kill his servants. Some students had hesitated, and in doing so, failed the ultimate test. He had taken the knife and followed his orders. The last remnants of humanity and compassion had been bled out of him on that day, had died along with his dear companions.

Chastity Baal woke up, the images of a life she’d never lived still flashing before her eyes.

Sleep had become a chore this last fortnight. She’d unwillingly fallen asleep on the bullet train connecting Lutsk and Kiev; the false memories had ensured she gained precious little rest from it.

She straightened up in her seat, aware of some odd-looking glances from her fellow passengers. At some point during the nightmare, she must have cried out, very likely in Mandarin. That was terrible fieldcraft, something she would have never normally done. Not since she’d been a child had she fallen asleep without wishing to do so.

The soul she’d stolen via Daedalus Smith’s cursed dagger was slowly destroying her mind. The mysterious weapon had saved her life, but at a price she would have never willingly paid.

Chastity looked at the scar on her right palm, where the dagger had burned her and left an indelible mark. Far from the first time, she considered getting rid of the weapon. Once again, she dismissed the idea. Alone in enemy territory, she would need every advantage she had.

Yev’s story had added more pieces to the puzzle even as it provided more questions. His boss, the Neo smuggler known as
Akula
, the Shark, had been apprehended and forced to rejoin the Iron Guard he’d once served in. Much of his network had been rolled up, all in a frantic effort to capture one target: a young woman. By her description, she could very well be the mystery woman linked to Ultimate’s strange behavior in Chicago two weeks ago, a woman wanted by the US authorities as well as the Legion itself. Chastity had learned the hard way not to believe in coincidences. Her investigation had put her in the right place at the right time.

She had come to the Dominion prepared for a deep infiltration mission. Contacts developed over decades of clandestine work served her well. After getting off the train at the busy Kiev station, she made her way to a bakery owned and staffed by a Russian family which had long done far more than serve food. A casually-mentioned code word had gained her passage into a room behind the store, where she was provided with a secure space to work in.

Not many women served in the Galician Rifle Regiments, the elite units that guarded special facilities in the Dominion, but there were a few, and one of them was due to return from leave the next day. Chastity’s wrist-comp had hacked into the Dominion’s service records. Later that night she would pay a visit to the guard’s home. By the time somebody discovered the woman’s unconscious form, Chastity’s mission should be over.

Her new, self-appointed mission was simple: infiltrate the facility where the prisoner was held, try to learn as much as she could about her, as well as any information linking Daedalus Smith to the Dominion operation, and escape.

She was taking insane risks, operating with no Legion support and relying solely on her personal contacts, some of which involved the grandchildren of people she’d befriended over the decades. During her long and checkered career, Chastity had learned to trust her instincts and intuitions, however, and every fiber of her being urgently felt she needed to be inside that facility the next day.

Something major was at hand, and she had a role to play in it, even if that meant serving as a sacrificial pawn.

Beijing, Republic of China, March 28, 2013

“The Empire is finally mobilizing,” General Xu reported. “The First and Second Golden Horde Cavalry Corps are deploying to the Wall. Once the evolution is complete, they will be within striking distance of the capital. War is at hand.”

Nobody was surprised. The Republic of China had been preparing for this very moment within hours of the attack on Freedom Island. Even if the Empire had been wholly innocent, the troop movements within the ROC demanded an equivalent response. The two Chinas had been drawn inexorably towards this moment.

“The Empire still denies having any knowledge of or involvement in the attack on the Legion,” Artemis stated. She’d returned from Guangxi Province now that intelligence reports indicated the war was more likely to start near Beijing, as it had happened twice before.

“At this point, does it matter?” Xu replied. The Chinese Legionnaire had switched from his earlier aversion to any conflict with the Empire to a shocking eagerness to fight. Olivia suspected that the reversal reflected a change of mood in the Republic’s government. “The Emperor was merely biding his time before striking again. Even if this conflict is not of his making, we have an opportunity to put an end to this cancer in my country, once and for all.”

“Wars are chancy things, and their outcome is never certain,” Darkling said; the Korean Councilor’s face was hidden by her mask, but her eyes twinkled with anger. “The millions doomed to die in this war won’t thank you for the opportunity to perish in a conflict that is just as likely to end in yet another draw – or worse, in defeat – as in the victory you think is inevitable, General Xu.”

“Things have changed,” Xu insisted. “The Republic’s Ten Thousand Immortals have never been stronger. President Lao has authorized me to reveal to you that the Immortals now include twelve individuals rated at Type Three in the Parahuman Ability Scale. They represent a concentration of power of unparalleled and unprecedented levels.”

Artemis fought to hide her surprise. If Xu’s words were not an empty boast – the Republic of China had historically been given to exaggeration, if not outright fabrication – that was the largest grouping of Type Threes in history. The Legion itself had only seven of them; five, actually, now that John Clarke was on trial and Cassius Jones was a fleeing fugitive. There were perhaps another seven or eight in the US, and half a dozen in Europe. Her files on the Republic’s Immortals mentioned only four of its members were rated at that power level, which meant the other eight had to be recent additions. They would be young and inexperienced, unaccustomed to wielding power on those scales. The devastation they might inadvertently inflict was enormous.

Her husband was the first to break the silence. “Are they out of their ever-loving minds, Xu? You have recruited eight new Type Threes, and they have to be brand-spanking new, or we’d have heard about this before now, and you want to send them out into a war?”

“The heroic Immortals have all undergone basic training over the last year.”

“So that’s the reason for all those seismic events that have been happening all throughout China, isn’t it?” Larry Graham continued, a sneer in his face. “You know what kind of damage a Type Three can do, Xu, even after years of experience learning to minimize collateral damage. Twelve of them – you could end up depopulating the Dragon Empire!”

“I think the servants of the Republic will do their duty with as much diligence and restraint as we Legionnaires, actually,” General Xu said. “I understand the concerns with which the world will view the Republic’s power, but I have been assured such power will be wielded wisely, as befits the oldest continuing civilization in human history. The West’s inflated sense of superiority to the contrary, my people know what they’re doing.”

“For a Legion Council member, you sound a little too much like an ROC propagandist,” Larry snarled back.

“How dare you...?”

“Legionnaires!” Artemis broke in, and her commanding voice stilled the argument. “We don’t have time to bicker. If the ROC’s claims are true, then the balance of power favors us. That still doesn’t mean a war won’t unleash untold destruction upon both Chinas and all their neighbors.”

“Indeed,” Darkling said. “The Empire can deploy some six hundred Celestial Warriors, possibly more, and at least five Type Threes, not counting the Emperor himself. They can lay entire cities, entire countries, to waste, and even if we have, what, sixteen or twenty Type Threes available, they can’t be everywhere at once. We’re talking about megadeaths here.”

“Once things reach a certain point, there is no turning back,” Xu countered sourly. “The sooner we accept it, the sooner we can ready ourselves to deal with the inevitable.”

The inevitable. All their findings continued to point directly at the Empire as the source of the initial attack. Even the Dominion, a traditional ally of Imperial China in the United Nations, had voted in favor of the near-unanimous resolution condemning the Dragon Empire. Chastity Baal, one of the few dissenting voices, had gone AWOL when her opinions had been disregarded. Even if the rogue agent discovered the truth, it would likely be too late.

Larry’s posture sagged slightly, and Artemis knew her husband had surrendered as well. “All right, Xu,” he said tiredly. “If both Chinas are insistent in having it out, I guess we’ll all have to join the dance. If you don’t mind sharing the capabilities of the new Immortals, we and the UN contingent can make final dispositions. I take it you’re not planning on launching a pre-emptive strike, correct?”

“Of course not,” Xu replied. He used a kinder tone now. Why not? He’d gotten what he wanted. “The Republic would never start a war of aggression. The Empire will make the first move, as it always has. We’ll merely strike the final blow in this war.”

As the talk of war continued, Artemis made an unexpected decision. Like Chastity Baal, she would go off on her own. There was still one man who could stop all of this.

She had to speak to the Dragon Emperor.