The Break (The Aesir Saga Book 1) (12 page)

              Gabriel woke up to a knock on his door. Last night happened in such a blur, they had gotten back to the farm and he went straight to bed. "Yeah?" He called, hoping whoever it was would just open it so he wouldn't have to get up. The door opened and Madison stuck her head in, checking first before opening it up completely. 

"Get dressed," she said before realizing he had slept in the clothes from yesterday. "Or just put on different clothes, you and I have a mission. Be ready to go in five minutes. I'll meet you outside by the car." She pulled the door closed as she left.  

              Gabriel got dressed and headed down to the kitchen, grabbing a granola bar before he went outside. Madison was already in the car waiting. He hopped in, buckling his seatbelt as Madison started to pull out.

"So where are we headed? I didn't see anyone else up, and it’s really early to go destroy another warehouse." Gabriel asked as they sped down the road.

"Something much more important." she responded without even looking at him.

              After about five minutes of silence Gabriel grew tired of waiting, "So are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?" he asked as he played with the radio.

Madison looked over at Gabriel quickly, a smile on her face, before returning her gaze to the road ahead. "We have the great honor of going grocery shopping for the house." 

"Wait, we are going grocery shopping? That's the big mission?" Gabriel looked at her, his confusion clear on his face.

"Hey, somebody has to do it, and I figure it will give us some time to hang out. I'm still trying to figure you out."

Gabriel sat back in his seat, leaning his head back his eyes naturally looked at the roof of the car. "Nothing much to figure out, I was a normal high school kid, then this happened to me. That’s about it." He didn’t want to make eye contact right now. The one thing Gabriel didn’t want to talk about was himself. 

"That's not what I mean,” Madison chimed in, breaking his attempt at a bad mood. “People take the whole power thing in different ways. Some people abuse it and use it to do horrible things. Others will use it try and better those around them. A lot of people hide it, not wanting to ruin their lives by being labeled as a freak. Since I’ve met you, you have gone through all of those. You started out trying to hide it. Which worked until you exposed yourself, which wasn’t even the bad part. You killed that kid when you could have just walked away. But you let your emotions make the decision for you. And I understand you were remorseful about it later, but I don’t think you want to talk to me about it." 

"Not one of the best points in my life so, no, I don't really want to talk about it." Gabriel replied, now shifting his gaze to looking out the window.

"Right, well if you ever do want to talk about it I'm here. I have this idea in my head of who you are, I mean I've seen how you react to things. You take everything to an extreme. Caleb wanted to teach you how to use your power, so you know what you are capable of, and you almost killed Stephen. I'm sure that guy you killed did something to deserve it; at least I hope he did, and you didn’t just do that because you were upset. I saw the whole thing happen, he was walking away, and you said something to bring him back."

              Gabriel snapped his head around to look at Madison, "You were there watching that whole thing? And you didn’t come to help me? If you had been there I might not have done what I did. What the fuck?!"

              Madison slowed the car and pulled onto the shoulder of the road. "Gabriel, it’s not my job to make sure you don’t kill someone. That seems like a pretty easy thing for you to figure out on your own. And to be honest with you, I probably shouldn’t have gotten you when I did. One of the first things you did was kill someone that you could have avoided. I didn't then, and still don’t know you that well. I had just met you, talked for maybe twenty minutes and I'm supposed to jump at the chance to get involved with whatever was happening to remind you that murder is bad?” 

Gabriel felt like he had been hit in the gut. "Then why did you come get me after?”

She looked him right in the eye, "I don’t know. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because you had just ruined any chance you had at a normal life and I felt bad for you." 

              Madison put the car in drive, pulling back out onto the road. "Maybe it’s because of your power.” 

              Gabriel threw his arms up in the air. “What does that even mean? Caleb told me my power is a curse, and now you’re saying it’s why you helped me.”

              Madison didn’t say anything for a few seconds. When she did speak, Gabriel noticed her voice had lost its edge. “I don't know. Maybe it's because the last person with a fire power did so much to change the world. I mean, not for the better or anything, but he still made it change. And maybe that’s why you’re here. Maybe your destiny is to make changes too. And maybe if I’m near you when they happen, I can help steer those changes. I think deep down you could be a good guy. I just want to make things better for people like us."

              It was Gabriel’s turn to not say anything; he just stared at the road ahead. “I’m not trying to be anybody special. I like having a place to live, and people who know what it’s like to be me. I have an anger problem, but I’ve been working on it, and I think I have it pretty under control.” “And …” Gabriel hesitated.

“Yes?” Madison asked, her face losing the grim look it had before.

“If anything you’ve helped me to keep myself in control. You were honest with me about how you felt in the kitchen, and since then I’ve tried to show you that I am a good guy. You told me I needed to work on my self-control, and I did. And now I can use my power without being angry. So really I owe you for helping me get past that.”

              She perked up after he was done, “Well then, you’re welcome. But now it’s time for us to go shopping.” She pulled the car into the grocery store parking lot, giving him a big smile before they both climbed out of the car and went inside.

              Williams stood, looking over Kyle’s shoulder as the surveillance video played. It wasn’t long before they were at the night of the fire. 

“So there are our little fire starters. Zoom in and see if we can get a good look at their faces.” 

              Kyle hit a few keys on the keyboard and a click of his mouse, the picture zoomed in to the group of three. They watched as the guard confronted them, and was knocked out by a floating rock. When they reached the locked door, one of them turned to run back to the guard. 

“That’s him!” Williams exclaimed, pointing to the screen. “That’s that Gabriel kid. He’s still here.”

“And I’m pretty sure that girl…” Kyle was opening up other windows, pulling up a video from a crowded mall. Fast forwarding and rewinding the video, Kyle finally stopped on a guy and girl walking together. “Yep, same girl from before.” Williams sat down, steepling his hands and placing them under his nose. Kyle had seen this look before; he called it Williams’ thinking pose. 

“How does an eighteen year old kid, who has no connection to any Aesir, end up in a Spartan resistance group in the span of five days?” Williams thought out loud.

“By going to the same place everybody goes when they don’t know something, the internet.”

              Williams’ eyes perked up, a smile spreading across his face. “You’re a genius.” Williams rose from his chair, “I’m going to the kids house, get me a warrant and the local police to meet me there.”

“Of course, I do all the work, you get to look good.” Kyle called to Williams.

“And get Marcus to meet me there, he hasn’t had any fun in a while.”

              Thirty minutes later, Williams was standing in front of the Daniel’s residence. Looking behind him, he could see the local police that had been requested with the search warrant, all equipped with tactical gear. Behind them, stood the Maiden, more than as an intimidation than anything else.   

              With a final thumbs up from the police sergeant, Williams knocked on the door. 

              Mr. Daniels opened the door, a look of shock at the group in front of him. Williams stepped inside the house, forcing Mr. Daniels back, as the police began moving throughout the house. 

“Hey, you can’t just come in here like that.” Mr. Daniels said, looking from the police rushing in to Agent Williams. 

              Williams reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Actually I can, Mr. Daniels. And this piece of paper,” Williams handed it to Mr. Daniels, “says that I can take anything I need from this house for my investigation.”

              Two police came down the stairs, one carrying a computer tower. “We got it sir, from the boy’s room.”

“And that’s what I needed, thank you Mr.

Daniels.” Williams turned to the officer carry the computer. “Place that in my car, and then I am through with your men for now.” 

              Mr. Daniels stood there, in shock about what just happened, as Agent Williams pulled away, and the COSMOS flew off. 

              It was only a few minutes before Kyle had the computer set up and was through the kid’s password. Williams watched in amazement as Kyle was able to pull up the history, and find the website that the kid had used. They both sat, looking at the white background with the black lettering, asking why they were special. 

“Well,” Kyle said, his gaze affixed to the white screen. “I guess it’s time to see where this goes.” He began typing, trying to locate the host of the website. After a few minutes with no success, Williams was getting impatient. 

“Can’t you get through this?”

“Yeah, this isn’t like the movies where I type a couple words and say I’m in”

As Williams watched Kyle continue to try and find the host of the website, his phone began to ring. Pulling it out, Williams saw the phone number was from Mr. Thoth. Unsure of his reason for calling, or how he even got his number, Williams answered the call. 

“Hello Mr. Thoth, how did you get this number?”

“Sorry to reach you like this Agent Williams. Very important though. I don’t know what you are trying to do, but stop it, now.”

“I’m sorry sir; I don’t know what you mean.”

“On the computer, Agent Williams, stop it now.”

Williams looked down at the screen Kyle was still typing away at furiously. “Mr. Thoth, do you know something about this website?”

“I’m sorry Agent Williams, I must go now.” The line went dead, and Williams put the phone away. How did Thoth know they were doing something with a computer? Before Williams could follow that train of thought, he heard Kyle slam his hands on the desk. 

“Tell me you got in.” Williams said, looking to the computer screen.

“Not even close. The CPU overheated, and started a fire on the mother board. We just lost everything.”

“That son of a bitch. That was Thoth on the phone, telling me to stop what we were doing on the computer.”

              Kyle leaned back, looking at Williams, “So you think he did that somehow?”

“I think that was his website, and I’m going to go find out what he is doing. Tell Marcus I need him in the air and ready around Thoth Industries.”

******

              Williams arrived at Thoth Industries, parking his car at the roundabout in front of the building. Instead of meeting resistance from the security at the front, they treated Williams like they expected him. As he entered the elevator, Williams plugged his earpiece in. 

"Can you hear me Marcus?"

"Loud and clear boss. But I don't know what I'm doing here. Isn't Mr. Thoth a friend of the NGC?"

"As of right now, I am not fully clear on that. I need you outside the thirty-second floor, west side. Wait for my call."

"Will do boss." The link with Marcus cut off as

Williams stepped out of the elevator. As soon as Williams made the turn around the corner, he made eye contact with Garret. Garret was up and moving, taking a place in front of Thoth's door. 

              Williams kept walking toward the door and Garret. "Move out of my way Garret or I'll have you arrested for obstruction."

              Garret didn’t move, “I’m sorry Agent

Williams, Mr. Thoth’s schedule is full. Please do call ahead next time so we can make you an appointment.”

              Williams stopped a few feet from Garret, who held his position. “That’s not how this works Garret.”

              Garret just smiled back, “You’re right Agent Williams, please have your father call us to schedule an appointment next time.”

Williams was moving before he even realized it. His right arm swung forward, moving to connect with Garret’s face. But Garret had begun to slide to his left, throwing both arms to push Williams’ arm. As Williams turned with the momentum, Garret saw an opening, throwing a straight right of his own. The blow connected with the right side of Williams’ jaw, further twisting the agent and bringing him to a knee. The blow stunned Williams momentarily, but soon he was rising back to his feet, twisting to his right to straighten himself, his elbow leading the way. Williams gave a quick thrust as he came up, his elbow hitting Garret in the ribs, causing him to lean to his right, guarding the hit area. 

              Williams took the opening and threw a left hook, turning Garret, his balance thrown off, and causing him to land on the top of his desk. Williams took up a fighter’s stance, raising his fists up to protect himself. When Garret didn’t move, Williams took one step forward. Garret had been waiting for Williams to come in closer, turning to his side and sending a kick into Williams’ solar plexus, knocking the air out of him. Garret stood up, walking over to Williams’ side. Williams was bent over, trying to regain his air when Garret put his fists together, bringing them down into the center of Williams’ back, and dropping him to the ground. 

              Williams was waiting for the next strike when the office door opened. Thoth stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. “Looks like some time freed up, Agent Williams, please come in.” 

              Garret reached down to help Williams up, pulling him to his feet. Once Williams was standing he shrugged off Garret’s help, following Thoth into his office. 

              Williams adjusted his tie, taking a last look at Garret, who remained where he had been, smiling. Williams took another step into Thoth’s office, shutting the door behind him. 

              Thoth walked back around his desk, taking a seat in his chair. “So Agent Williams, what can I do for you today?”

“You know why I’m here Thoth.”

“Is it about that situation on the phone earlier?”

              Thoth playing coy only made Williams angrier. “You’re damn right it was about earlier! First off, how did you even get that number?”

Thoth began typing on his computer, not even looking at Williams while he spoke. “I asked for it, and it was given to me.”

              Williams didn’t even think Thoth might have just asked someone for the number. He had gotten Thoth’s number from his dad, couldn’t it work the other way? “Then why did you tell me stop what we were doing on the computer?”

“Because I didn’t want you to find anything, of course.”

              Williams turned his head to the side, as if he hadn’t heard what Thoth said correctly. “What didn’t you want me to find?”

“Did you find anything?”

“No, as soon as you hung up the damn thing caught fire, destroying everything.”

Thoth turned to Williams, a slight smile on his face. “Come now Agent Williams, if you didn’t find anything I’m not going to tell you all about it.”

              Williams walked to the edge of Thoth’s desk, leaning forward and putting his palms flat on the top. “That’s fine, I might not have found anything on computer, but I have a pretty good idea what I would have found.”

              Thoth leaned back in his chair, “Please Agent, I would love to hear about it.”

“I think I would have found evidence of you helping Spartan terrorists. I think you have been giving them information about government targets. I think you, Mr. Thoth, are a Spartan supporter.”

              Williams stood up, waiting for Thoth to show some sign of fear. But Thoth just laughed, “Agent Williams, you think I, Nathaniel Thoth, who has a government contract for surveillance, am a Spartan supporter looking to overthrow the government that has made me rich?”

“Yes I do”

“Well then, I admit everything….” Williams was thrown by Thoth’s answer.  “On one condition.”

“And what is that, Mr. Thoth?”

              Thoth leaned forward in his chair, looking

Williams in the eye, “Prove it.”

“I’m tired of your games Mr. Thoth, Marcus, move into position.”

              The previously sun lit room darkened as the Maiden lowered itself in front of Thoth’s office window. Thoth turned and saw the COSMOS hovering in his window, before he casually turned back to his computer and pressed a button on his key board. The window frosted over, obscuring the view. Thoth folded his hands back on his lap, looking up at Williams. 

              Williams’ ear piece came to life as Marcus contacted him. “Hey boss, I can’t see anything. Do you want me to remove the window?”

Thoth raised his finger in the air, drawing Williams’ attention. “Would you like to see what the next button does?”

“Negative Marcus, go ahead and return to the warehouse.” 

              Thoth returned to his computer, typing away. “Now if you will excuse me Agent Williams, I do have a very busy schedule.” As if on cue, the office door opened and Garret stood smiling. “Mr. Garret please escort Agent Williams back to his car outside.”

              Williams turned to leave, having no evidence to prove anything; he knew this was going to end nowhere. 

              Garret held the door open for him, “Right this way Agent Williams.”

“Shut up Garret.”