The Plan: Part 1 Read online

  Griesen jerked back at his words. “What?”

  Something serious must have happened in order for the letters to have not arrived in time. For centuries, this was the rite of passage that every Acruvae anticipated from the time of they began their schooling.

  Yonas shook his head. “I don’t know. I just heard rumours from the others that something bad happened last night, the Deliverance got interrupted. I’ve been here for about an hour and some of the others for longer… and nobody’s answered the door. At a time like this.”

  Wow. Griesen could only shake his head.

  "Attention, attention!" a voice boomed, louder than the din of voices from the students. Silence quickly dispersed the chatter amongst the graduates. It was Damus standing at the front of the iron-wrought chamber doors.

  "The Council is aware you are all here for the serious matter that lies before us." Damus held a distinctly commanding presence in his dark green robes. As always, his visage was a grim one; never once had Griesen seen him crack a smile. Only today, the seriousness of the matter was fitting.

  "The Council will see you all, one by one, to address the matter of foremost concern. Please form a line. We will take you in to address the situation around your missing letters and inform you of your appointments." His tone was abrupt, and he disappeared behind the chamber doors once again and two Sentry guards took his place, signalling the students to form a line.

  Griesen held his breath as he lined up behind Yonas, his thoughts churning. Strange things were happening… nobody spoke any further. The line was quiet as they all waited their turn. Mercifully, the line was moving quite quickly.

  Finally, it was Yonas' turn, as the doors opened for him. He turned back to look at Griesen. Good luck, he mouthed, as he walked quickly inside.

  Griesen watched his retreating figure as the doors closed behind him. At least they were all going to get sorted today.

  Long minutes passed and he stopped his mind from playing tricks on him. He forced himself to stay calm. Yonas had finally gone in. How long had it been already? He was next. Be patient, he told himself.

  And then the doors opened for him, and he strode in as the doors quickly shut behind him.

  A voice pierced through the heavy silence. "Stop right there."

  What? Griesen knew that voice, and froze at the sound of it. It was Ana - the High Priestess. He looked around, slightly confused.

  He found her not in her gilded High Chair at the centre of the room, surrounded by the Council - what he had expected. She was beckoning to him with one hand, standing beside a stairwell which curved away from the main chambers. Her eyes looked tired.

  Don't say a word. Just follow me.

  Her words reached him through telepathy. Her hand briefly beckoned to him as she turned down into the stairwell. He followed her green robes which managed to shimmer even in the dark, illuminated by the flickering of the candles which lit their path. Her bejeweled crown with onyx and sapphires glinted as he followed her, wordlessly, down into an almost-black corridor where he tried not to stumble. The tunnel lost light momentarily as soon as Ana shut the stairwell door shut behind them. She relit the candles through her psychokinesis and suddenly Griesen felt a sudden magnetic pull.

  A moment later, he noticed the walls around them had changed slightly in color. It was brighter here. She had transported them to a different hallway, closer to wherever she was intent on taking him.

  They returned to walking with greater ease. They walked for minutes in a discomforting silence.

  He nearly stepped onto her long emerald train when she suddenly halted; passing her hands in a motion to open the doors. Where are we? He squinted against the bright lights that flooded his vision when the doors opened.

  My private council chambers.

  She turned to look at him. "Now… we can speak freely. Come. Sit.” She gestured at the small bank of long wooden benches that faced the windows. She folded her arms, walking over to stand in front of the floor to ceiling window overlooking a panoramic view of the Institute’s skyline. Shuttles dotted the sky as they flew to and from below them.

  Her crown glinted brightly from the light; the sharpness of it contrasting with the sudden change in her demeanor.

  "Alright," he said, feeling the sudden shift in her energy. He moved towards the benches, but did not sit. He stood on the other side of the window, mesmerized by the steady patterns of the shuttles beneath them. They were geese flying in formation. How small we all are, he thought.

  In all the time as her understudy, he had never seen her act like this. She seemed...distracted. That was the best word for it.

  She continued to look out the window as she spoke. "Griesen, I will not mince words. But you will have to keep this to yourself under the strictest orders. I debated with the Council as to whether or not to inform you. I chose to overrule them." She looked at him then. "Do you understand?"

  He nodded as his throat went dry.

  "The Werlocks were delivering the letters as planned yesterday. All was going to plan.”

  The Werlocks were the Acruvae lineage which hand-delivered all the assignation letters to each Acruvae.

  "One of them – yours was the last scheduled delivery for him. And -" her voice stopped for a moment. "You know it didn’t make it.”

  “I know.” He felt a coldness overtake him. His hands tightened reflexively into fists before he realized it. He remembered Yonas’ words. Murder.

  "One of his family members made contact with him not half an hour after they were to coordinate another drop, but he failed to answer. Now, as you can imagine, on a day as important as this...it was his sister who tracked his whereabouts to his last known drop-off location."

  “They found him not two miles from you. Somebody…somebody had murdered him. A cold-blooded assassination. His sack was empty, and we checked the inventory and the students who had been delivered to, those who had yet to be delivered to. Your letter was the only one that had gone missing. We recovered the others.”

  Ana stopped then. "So you can see why my foremost concern was what to tell you.”

  Griesen was stunned. "If he was murdered… this is unprecedented. Is it not?”

  The Institute did not have murders; those were only occurrences that happened on Earth. The Acruvae prided themselves on their peace-keeping ways. They used their energy for the greater collective, to keep harmony and justice at the forefront.

  "Yes. It is unprecedented. Your designation as you know, is a Seeker. Even without your letter, you will continue with your case.”

  "Yes. I understand. But -" He felt his throat closing as he choked out his words. The letter was a token gesture after his years of intensive study. And now a murder. Any satisfaction he felt with the official title he’d worked years for was overshadowed by news of the murder.

  "This is a great honor for you, Griesen,” she said. "And with great honor... comes great responsibility. Which I am well aware you are capable of handling. Be cognizant of this fact as you pursue your Case. I will be doing my best to protect you and investigate further..." she paused for a moment, as if wanting to say more. Instead, there was silence. "Do you have any questions?"

  "I- I'm not sure how to continue on. Has this ever happened before?"

  She shook her head. “No. Not that I know of. This isn’t the easiest news to digest, I know. I can only gather that quite a lot of this has to do with your case.”

  Griesen sucked in a breath, staring down at the shuttles. There were hundreds of graduates from his class. And hundreds which had graduated before him. And yet it was his moment that had been marred by this. “This is difficult for me to wrap my head around.”

  She looked at him, her eyes roving over him. He didn’t know what she was thinking.

  “Of course. I understand. I could place you under the strictest surveillance. Have a security detail for you. But, this would be a scenario that would put you under unfair duress. I will try to get down to the bottom of t
his. Until then, I’d advise you to be very careful. My advice would be to keep this between you and I. You should continue as best you can. Your case is important.”

  “I can’t tell anyone?” he asked, his voice shaking. “With all due respect… The killer could be anywhere.”

  Her eyes seemed to sear into his. “Exactly. I would be very careful who you choose to share this information with.” She said it quietly. “My trust in this case has extended so far as to you, and the Council members. I cannot promise to protect you beyond this circle of trust.”

  Her words continued to seemingly knead their way into his hearing. I cannot promise to protect you beyond this circle of trust.

  “I understand,” he said stiffly. A question crossed his mind. “How many other people aside from the Council members knew of my earlier Assignment?”

  Ana shook her head. “Nobody. All Assignments are confidential to the Seekers and the Council members. Even the Masters do not know.”

  Even Master Thames hadn’t known. If nobody else knew, which Council member had leaked the information? His brow furrowed. What motive would any of them have in curbing his efforts? Was it the girl they were after - Halva - or him?

  “I need protection.” His voice grew louder. “Do you...does the Council expect me to pretend this never happened?”

  He felt her eyes boring into him as he felt himself grow hot under his tunic. He felt a new emotion on top of the gnawing confusion that had resided with him since the initial meeting at the Institute. Anger. Something was wrong...was it to do with the Human? Or something to do with him? Or was it all beyond that? There had to be a reason for the murder. And yet he had to proceed like nothing had happened.

  He paused a moment before his next words. “High Priestess. With all due respect, I need something.” There. He gulped at the words that had suddenly come out of his mouth. He hadn’t expected to sound so demanding.

  He felt her eyes boring into him as he waited nervously for her reply.

  “Very well.” As she uttered those words, she pulled out a small box.

  Griesen recognized it immediately - the gold embossed Acruvae alphabet on all sides glinted in the light of the room. The students were presented their Orbs at the graduation ceremony. This one was his.

  She held it between her hands, still looking at him. “For your protection, then. I will gift you with one additional energy unit. A thousand uelps. To use at your discretion.”

  As she said those words, she pulled out a small satchel from the side of her desk. She withdrew a ball of gold thread which glimmered in her palm.

  Griesen’s eyes widened. He had never seen that much gold thread in one bundle. That amount could last a Seeker down on Gaia for at least five Friels.

  She plucked a thread out, drawing it slowly from the bundle and tied it neatly with a bow on top of the box. The box was suspended in front of her as she did so. Moments later, the case began to glow a dark blue as the light expanded, illuminating the room with a flash of light before vanishing.

  She unclasped her palms. The thread’s energy had been absorbed into the box and orb.

  “Thank you,” he uttered. The additional energy unit would allow him to acquire at least several items that would come in handy for his own protection. At least he had that now.

  Ana said nothing as she slowly moved the box to her hands, opening it. The Orb gleamed a radiant, transparent blue as Griesen slowly pulled out his hands, kneeling down. It settled between his palms, still warm from the energy infusion.

  Blue Energy. He felt some of it transfer to him as it fused through his hand and into him quickly. The Orb itself was encased in pale moonstone with a carved pinhole on the top. A gold thread was fused through the pinhole, to which the other end would be joined to the rightful owner. Him.

  “It is yours now,” she said to him, as he attached the end of the thread to his tunic, where it fused seamlessly to his tunic pocket.

  “So the adventure begins,” he said, smiling faintly.

  “Indeed. And for your own sake, Griesen, you will hold this incident in absolute secrecy. This cannot be disclosed.” She paused, a shadow crossing her face.

  He caught it. “I understand. You needn’t worry,” he said, bowing his head slightly to her in deference. “I will continue with my duties as Seeker. I am grateful for your considerable gift.”

  And indeed he was. It was a significant amount of energy that he could not ignore.

  He looked at her again, and saw her gazing at him with a sad smile.

  He decided to ask. It was the only chance he had. “What Damus said back at the meeting with the rest of the Council…”

  Her eyes suddenly darkened. A slight tinge of red began to circulate in her irises as she acknowledged his half-finished sentence. “Yes?”

  He shivered at her sudden reaction. She did not hide her feelings back then, and similarly here. So there was some truth to what he had been asking?

  “He didn’t believe that the Human could be saved. Or was worth saving. Is there something about her that I need to know?”

  She did not answer. But rather, she walked towards him, closing the distance between them. He was still kneeling as he felt her cool hands press on his face.

  There was an immense sadness that passed through him. He felt it seeping into his tunic, turning it a dark shade of grey. She now knelt, coming eye to eye with him. He was surprised that she had allowed him to feel the strength of emotion coming through her. She had opened her telepathy channel to him and allowed him to see her in such a vulnerable state…

  “Forget him and what he said. Don’t be a fool like him. Doubt makes us all weaker.” Her voice hardened.

  “You know what you were meant to do. Complete your mission. You are my son,” she uttered. “It pains me to let you go.”

  Suddenly, she released her hands and the telepathy halted. The heavy sadness vanished as quickly as Griesen had felt it touch him.

  He blinked, and then, she was gone.

  He rose to an empty room. As he closed the door behind him, the candles dimmed once more. A moment later, he found himself transported back into the original corridor, in front of the main hall where he had met her.

  He felt the Orb, still warm in his tunic pocket. There were no more answers that could be found here. He had a job to do. And he wasn’t going to fail. He couldn’t.

  He had never known any of the Council members. His closest interactions had been with Ana. She was the one he trusted. As for the rest of them… he couldn’t say. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Dread. He realized, in a moment of clarity, that the feeling had never left him since the first day he had met all of them.

  CHAPTER 6

  Forty-eight hours to go before the Drop. The numbers were ticking on the clock that he had mounted onto his front door. He hardly needed the reminder; he was starting to wake up, much earlier than his typical sleep cycle. The murder, his missing letter, and the initiation ceremony gone sideways only served to make him more anxious.

  He didn’t have to twist Gretchen’s arm too hard for her help. She was busy, and grumbled, but being his best friend, it didn’t take her long to acquiesce.

  He was meeting her in a short half hour. Halva required a First Potion, and given the time constraints, he didn’t want to try and use anybody else. He felt a wave of gratitude towards his friend, the only person he considered family, after his parents.

  In the short time since their formal Assignations, Gretchen's work had already gained her a formidable reputation. Her growing number of cases had merited her travelling down to Gaia twice already, something in which Griesen found himself unexpectedly envying.

  Much of her work as a chemist involved the creation and administration of cocktails that she either aided the Seekers in or administered directly herself to the Case studies, as she was nearly as qualified as the other Seekers in the field. She had graduated as a Class 7 Chemist, the highest prior to official designation. And now
, she was quickly garnering enough case work to merit a Class 8 qualification. She had told him all this in excitement as she was taking a break between one of three cases.

  He received her incoming message:

  It’s READY. I’ve booked DU 3405. Meet me there.

  He felt a huge wave of relief pass through him. They were ready to dispense the first elixir to Halva. It was a Level 3 classification - a simple concoction which would dispense a form of healing agent in advance of Halva’s incoming news.

  Dispensary Unit 3405 was one of the hundred labs that dotted the mountainous region of Acruvae territory. The dispensary labs were small standalone half-domed huts that had existed for a few hundred years, all built on the ridges and crevasses of the Institute’s scaly mountain peaks.