Pandora (Book 3) (The Omega Group) (2 page)

Mirissa watched the sky through the picture window of the
conference room. What started a few hours ago as a couple of red clouds, had
stretched past the horizon and, according to CNN reports, affected the entire
globe. It was almost beautiful in its artistry—deep red orbs pierced by
swirling black tendrils of smoke against the crisp blue summer sky.

She instinctively grabbed the key that had been hanging on a
chain around her neck for more than three months. It had been passed down
through generations of her Amazon ancestors with the sole purpose of ending up
in Mirissa’s possession. She’d been told it was meant for her, and that she
would know when the time came for her to use it.

And she definitely knew that time had come.

Earlier today, on their flight back from Arizona, the Omega
Group’s pilot had been forced to make an emergency landing fifty miles short of
their Jacksonville airstrip. He didn’t want to risk flying through the unusual
cloud-like formations he called an atmospheric disturbance. But it wasn’t the
clouds that grabbed Mirissa’s attention. It was her key, glowing red-hot
against her chest.

Once they arrived at their headquarters, a seven thousand
square foot building surrounded by six acres of wooded land just north of
Jacksonville, the key underwent a thorough inspection by Julian, the team’s
computer genius. He found several etchings that hadn’t been there before and
was currently researching their origins and meaning.

Mirissa not-so-patiently awaited instructions from her
mother, the leader of the Omega Group. Her mom, currently on a conference call with
CIA Director Finley and his counterparts worldwide, would hopefully produce a
plan of attack for whatever might be causing these clouds. For now, all Mirissa
could do was wait.

“You doing all right?” Greco stood behind her, wrapped his
arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Leaning into his chest, Mirissa felt the tension drain from
her body. Greco had been her guardian for over a year, but her boyfriend for
less than a week. The dichotomy of their relationship still proved difficult
for her to make sense of, but the comfort and support he provided more than
made up for any confusion. She’d never been one to need a man to make her feel
whole or protected. She was the most powerful Amazon warrior to ever walk the
earth. But she couldn’t deny the feeling of safety he gave her, as though his
presence would keep all the world’s ills at bay. “I’m fine. Really. Just a
little anxious.”

“I know the feeling. We went straight from Savannah to
Arizona and now this. It’s like someone’s trying to wear us out.”

Mirissa turned to face him and planted a light kiss on his
lips. “Promise me that when all of this is over, we’ll take a few days off.
Just you, me, and Henry.”

Greco laughed. “Henry? You want to take your pet turtle on
vacation with us?”

“Why not?” she asked with a coy grin. “He’s been stuck in Julian’s
office since we left for the Grand Canyon. He probably needs a break more than
we do.”

Behind them, the door to the conference room opened and
Mirissa’s parents walked in, followed by the rest of the team. “We have a
possible lead in Greece,” Myrine, Mirissa’s mother, said. “The first reports of
the clouds came from the ancient city of Pella. It looks like that might be ground
zero. We’re still waiting on confirmation.”

Asteria, another Amazon in the Omega Group, asked, “Why does
that name sound so familiar?”

Julian stumbled into the room holding his laptop in one hand
and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. “Sorry, but you guys should really
see this.” He connected his laptop to the console on the table, and the flat
screen monitor on the wall lit up. “I’ve been researching the symbols that
appeared on Mirissa’s key after it went super-nova, and they’re old. I mean
really old. Somewhere around five thousand years.” He looked around the room as
though waiting for applause but, when he received nothing but raised eyebrows
in response, he continued. “At least some of them are letters from the Greek
alphabet. Not the linear alphabet, of course, but the classic one.”

Mirissa tried to appear interested but had some difficulty
finding the excitement in the history lesson which had clearly enthralled
Julian. Obviously this information corroborated the Greek connection, but it
still wasn’t earth shattering. “I know my IQ is probably half what yours is,
but I’m not seeing what the big hullabaloo is all about.”

Julian’s jaw dropped. “Haven’t you been watching the news?
They made a discovery near some ancient city in Greece—Pella, I think—that has
these same symbols all over it. It’s got everyone talking. Geez, have you been
living under a rock or something?”

“Or something,” Mirissa answered in a less friendly tone.
“We’ve been kinda busy lately, in case you’ve forgotten.” Mirissa immediately
regretted her acerbic tone. Julian resembled a child trying to show off his
amazing artwork only to have his parents scold him for interrupting. “I’m
sorry, Julian. I get cranky when I’m tired. Please continue.”

“Okay, well, some archeologists found these symbols by
accident while on another dig. It’s unclear exactly what happened, but it
sounds like they found them in an area that had already been excavated. How the
original team missed them is beyond me, but these new guys have been following
them for over a month.” His excitement returned as he spoke. “They’ve been
super secretive, but you can’t keep this kind of thing under wraps for long, so
bits and pieces have been popping up all over the Internet. Conspiracy
theorists are running with the notion that the government is hiding the
discovery of an ancient race of aliens.” Julian chuckled.

“There must be something more to this, Julian. You are way
too worked up for this to be about old symbols,” Myrine said.

“There is. The three archeologists are Jonathon Stapleton,
Luke Campbell, and Rick Aresson.” Julian’s eyes sparkled as he looked from one
Omega Group member to the next. “Seriously? You don’t see it?”

“Holy crap,” Steve said. Mirissa’s father looked like he’d
seen a ghost. His reaction spread through almost everyone else as the
realization dawned on them.

“What is it?” Will Hancock, the newest member of the group,
was the only person in the room that still looked confused.

Myrine explained, “A few months ago, we went up against a
demi-god named Daedric. It’s a long story, but he was behind the attacks on the
oil facilities. He was secretly behind SeraTech, the company that now supplies
most of the world’s oil. SeraTech’s owner, Sera Maison, wasn’t a real person.
Her name was an anagram for I am Ares’ son. Daedric is Ares’s son.”

Julian continued. “I think Rick Aresson is really Daedric.
If I’m right, and I usually am, then he’s behind this weirdness. If that’s the
case, this is a whole lot more than some atmospheric disturbance.”

Myrine stood up and addressed the room. “We need a team on
the ground in Greece. I know we just got back from Arizona, and some of us are
running on fumes but, if Daedric has resurfaced, we need to be there to shut
him down. Orano, Beck, Mirissa, and Steve. You guys are with me. We leave in
two hours.”

A comically loud cough from the seat next to Mirissa caused
Myrine to smile. “Yes, Greco, you can come, too. Julian, get me everything you
can on Pella and Rick Aresson. The rest of you, be ready to move on a moment’s
notice, and get in touch with your brethren. This thing is affecting the whole
world, and we’re going to need every preternatural we know on alert. Is
everyone clear?”

Hancock looked around the room at all of the team members
nodding in agreement. “Um, when you said Ares is this guy’s dad, you didn’t
really mean the Greek god, did you?”

Myrick slapped the ex-soldier on the back and said in his
thick Scottish accent, “Don’t worry, lad. You’re new here. I’ll get you up to
speed on all of the real crazy stuff. For now, suffice it to say, the
super-soldier program we got you from was tame compared to most of the things
we’ve seen.”

Hancock’s eyes were still wide as he looked at Han. “And you
thought the whole Captain America thing was unbelievable?”

Mirissa, once again curled up in the luxurious leather seat
of the Omega Group’s private jet, readied herself to visit Tritonia. The flight
to Greece would be a long one, and her mother wanted to use the time to get as
much information as possible.

Tritonia, the island home of all Amazons, had been located
off of Africa’s northwest coast. When its volcano erupted almost two thousand
years ago, the island had been destroyed. Since then, it, along with the Amazon
queen at the time, existed solely in another dimension. All Amazons, with the
help of their rings, visited Tritonia by sending their consciousness there.

“This’ll be the first time I’ve been to Tritonia with my
mother,” Mirissa whispered to Greco. Although she’d been there several times,
she’d been either alone or with Greco, the only male Amazon ever born. “It
might get a little confusing talking to two Myrines.”

Myrine, the Amazon queen at the time of the island’s
destruction, became the namesake for all the queens since. When Mirissa’s
mother was chosen to lead their tribe, she changed her name to honor the
tradition.

Greco looked at his watch and then at the open cockpit door.
“I’m surprised your mom could convince the pilot to make this trip. He seemed
pretty freaked out by those clouds.”

“She can be very persuasive. Just ask my dad,” Mirissa
joked. Although all commercial air traffic had been grounded by the FAA when
the so-called atmospheric disturbances made their appearance, private flights
continued. The strange red clouds looked ominous but didn’t yet pose any real
threat to their safety. Other than the occasional bit of turbulence, the flight
felt to Mirissa like any other, as long as she didn’t look out the window.

“Are you guys ready?” Myrine asked as she took a seat across
the aisle.

Mirissa buckled her seatbelt and lay back, closing her eyes.
When she opened them, she stood in a clearing surrounded by lush trees that
filtered the bright sunlight. The jeans and T-shirt she’d worn earlier were
replaced by what she now referred to as her Xena Warrior Princess costume.
 
It looked like the ancient leather version of
a halter-top and skort.
 
The green top
wrapped around her neck and crossed over her breasts until it wrapped once more
around her waist.
 
The skort, a
combination of shorts and skirt, hung only a few inches past her hips and was a
rich brown color.
 

Greco, who stood beside her, wore nothing but the male
version of her leather skort. His broad shoulders and taut eight-pack abs were
drool-worthy, and Mirissa instinctively licked her lips.
I will never get tired of seeing that.
She dropped her gaze to the
ground like a schoolgirl when her mother cleared her throat from a few feet
away.

“We need to find Myrine,” her mother said as she led the way
to the statue of Artemis that towered over the clearing. The stone likeness of
the goddess wore a tunic that came down to her knees along with a quiver of
arrows strapped to her back. She sported a hunting knife at her waist and, in her
hands, she held a bow with an arrow at the ready.
 
Her long, braided hair hung over her shoulder
to her belt line.
 

As they approached, Mirissa was overcome with the same
sensation of being watched as she always felt on the island. On her first trip,
she’d thought it was Myrine she felt watching her. She soon learned it was
Artemis, the Greek goddess who originally endowed the Amazons with their unique
powers and still, to this day, shepherded them.

“It is good to see you all again,” Myrine, the Amazon queen
who’d lived there for the last two thousand years, said as she stepped out from
behind the statue, “even under these circumstances.”

“So, you know about what’s happening in our dimension?”
Mirissa’s mother asked.

“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you.” Myrine took Mirissa’s hand
and held her gaze. “I’m afraid you are once again being called upon, young
warrior.”

“Yeah,” Mirissa said. “I kind of figured that out when my
key turned molten. Any chance you know what I’m supposed to do with it?”

Myrine grinned at the question. “I think you know things are
never that easy, my dear. I do, however, have a message from Artemis. She
instructed me to tell you that, although she cannot get involved in this, she
will do her best to make sure you have what you need to succeed.”

“That’s it?” Greco asked curtly.

Myrine placed her hand on Greco’s cheek. “Patience has never
come easily to you, young one.” She turned to Mirissa. “Nor you. Rest assured,
I will pass along any information I get. Until then, you must rely on each
other.”

Mirissa smiled despite her disappointment at the lack of tangible
information. Something about Myrine’s manner always seemed to have a calming
effect on her. If anyone else had given her those kind of non-answers, they
would have found themselves at the business end of her blade. “Thank you.”

Greco asked, “Do you want to do some training while we’re
here?”

Mirissa looked at the other Amazons in the clearing. Most
were sparring, but several had stopped to stare at Greco. Being the only man to
ever visit the island made him a curiosity. Looking the way he did made him an
objective for aspiring young women. “Not today, Romeo. They’ve been checking
out your skort since we got here.”

Mirissa’s mother stifled a laugh. “We should be getting
back, anyway.”

********

Myrine stood next to the statue after her visitors returned
to their dimension. For the first time she could remember, her loyalty to
Artemis conflicted with her loyalty to her Amazons.

“I know that was difficult for you, Myrine, but it was the
only way. Had you told her the truth this soon, she wouldn’t be able to do what
is necessary.”

A single tear trickled down Myrine’s cheek, leaving a
shimmering path in its wake. “I understand what must be done, Artemis. I just
wish I could have said goodbye.”