Chapter 27

Back at his mansion, Ven summoned everyone in the library while telling Ms. Agathe to make sure no one disturbed them until they were done, this included Frank. Ven sat quietly in a chair observing everyone as they introduced themselves to each other, the whole team had never been in one room together before. He was about to drop quite the mission on a group that barely knew each other, he couldn’t blame them if they wanted out. Rejecting the mission wasn’t an option though, that much was clear.

“We’ve been handed our first major mission, so I thought It was a good idea if everyone got to know each other. Hopefully over the following weeks we will have a little bit of time to arrange a training session so we can learn to work with each other when we are in the field. I’ve never really been trained in drills like the way you guys have been, so I am hoping one of you will volunteer to plan some drills for the rest of the squad,” said Ven.

“I can take care of that, I’ve been training long enough to know how to set up some team building drills,” said Nikita from the corner where she was leaning against a bookshelf.

“That’s good, I’ll leave it up to you,” said Ven, “Now our first mission isn’t a standard one, it’s a mission I’ve gotten directly from Knight Captain Rendall and Lady Lilliana.”

“Our first mission is directly from those two!! Wow, this is going to be awesome!” said Agni as she leaned forward in the chair, she was sitting in.

“I doubt you’ll be saying that after I tell you what it is,” said Ven with a sigh, “We are to assist in the assassination of Lady Vassillissa.”

A silence fell amongst the group after those words as they looked at each other with dumbfounded looks. Eric was the first to recover from the shock.

“You can’t be serious; she is His Majesty’s betrothed!” said Eric.

“Both Knight Captain Rendall and Lady Lilliana believe Lady Vassillissa is a spy planted by foreign forces in order to assassinate His Majesty,” said Ven.

“And what do you believe?” asked Natalie.

“I believe we don’t know enough, but it doesn’t matter, they believe she is a threat to His Majesty and it’s enough for them to take these measures. If we refuse to help, I can promise you all of us will suddenly meet some very unfortunate accidents,” said Ven as he paused to let those words hang in the air.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, they would do that to their own?” asked Brutus.

“You weren’t there when they asked me if I would help them, it wasn’t a question,” said Ven, “Be ready over the next few weeks to work alongside them to this end, we strike at the end of next month.”

“What if we run?” asked Agni.

“I am sure they already have someone observing us, we have to help them, there is no choice in this mission,” said Ven.

“But why us?” asked Natalie.

Over the next few minutes Ven retold them the facts that he had been told by Rendall and Audrey, everything from Samundar to the secret project to Bill and his team going missing. They didn’t interrupt him as he spoke, whether this was out of respect or fear, he couldn’t tell, but he kept going until he was done explaining about the assassination plan which was to be carried out at the wedding rehearsal.

“And that’s all of it, now you know everything I know,” said Ven.

“I don’t like this plan, Boss. Seems like we will be the ones to take all the blame if anything goes wrong, and if somehow everything goes right, they could still have us executed for high treason, after all they need a culprit,” said Eric.

“I know, the thought has crossed my mind too, we need dirt or evidence to have some leverage in case they turn things around on us. Problem is I haven’t figured out how to do that yet,” said Ven.

“I can help you there, I took the liberty of recording your conversation with Knight Captain Rendall and Audrey,” said Vikram in Ven’s ear.

“Wait what? You have all that?!” said Ven as he raised both his hands in jubilation while everyone looked at him in confusion.

“No one said anything,” said Eric.

“I wasn’t talking to you, but looks like we have some leverage after all,” said Ven as he pulled out his AI Assistant from his pocket, “Play back what you recorded earlier.”

After listening for a minute, Ven asked Vikram to stop the playback as he looked proudly at everyone standing in the library. They were no longer on the backfoot in this fight, they didn’t have to do whatever they were told and take the fall if everything failed. He had evidence against them!

“Keep quiet about this, we only use this if we have to, I don’t want them to find out about it too early. For now, we work along with them, and we wait,” said Ven.

“I would really recommend getting better equipment for everyone, we won’t stand a chance with what these guys are using,” said Natalie.

“I’ll get it sorted as soon as possible,” said Ven as he nodded, “If there aren’t any other suggestions, get back to whatever you were doing. I need time to think and clear my head.”

Back in his room, Ven asked Vikram to call Ravi as he patiently waited until he answered, he still had not decided what he wanted to do, but if Ravi wasn’t honest with him, he was going to completely back off and not do anything.

“Hi Ven, did something happen?” asked Ravi as he answered.

“I need you to be honest with me, I am only going to give you one chance, if you lie or try to hide anything, I am going to hang up and you will never hear from me again, and with that you’re going to lose your best chance at getting to Ravendra,” said Ven.

“But what happened? Why are you behaving like this?” asked Ravi nervously.

“It’s a yes or no question, can you be honest or not?” repeated Ven with a finality in his tone.

“I am not quite sure what has happened to make you behave in such an extreme fashion, but yes, I understand I’ll be completely honest,” said Ravi calmly.

“Why did you hide Natalie’s arrest from me?” asked Ven.

“Since you left us, things have changed around here. Zacharias and his goons have taken over the whole base. You have no idea how difficult it was for Vikram to sneak that message about Natalie to you. We are almost always under surveillance,” said Ravi.

“Wait, so you’re telling me you had Vikram send that message? Why should I even believe anything you say, you seem to be talking to me without any problems,” said Ven.

“We’re having this conversation while I am hiding in the toilet, it’s one of the few places they don’t bother me,” said Ravi.

“Just what is going on?” asked Ven.

“Zacharias has been growing more and more impatient over the years with the Simulation Project. He considers it a waste of time and resources. You were essentially our last chance to make the project work and since it became public knowledge you weren’t gifted. Well, let’s just say Zacharias was probably the happiest person on the base to hear that particular news,” said Ravi.

“You let him take over without a fight?” asked Ven.

“Don’t be stupid, just what kind of fight do you expect scientists, engineers and doctors to put up against trained soldiers? That’s not to say we haven’t been delaying them whenever we can. At the end of the day, they need us to keep things functioning, which I am guessing is the only reason they haven’t locked all of us up,” said Ravi.

“Why didn’t you tell me all this when we spoke last time?” asked Ven.

“What was the point of telling you? You couldn’t have done anything to help us, and it would have been an unnecessary source of worry,” said Ravi.

“What’s Zacharias planning?” asked Ven.

“The same thing he’s always wanted, Ravendra’s assassination,” said Ravi.

“Can he pull it off?” asked Ven.

“We have a lot of agents in the Capital, but no one close enough to perform an assassination. Maybe a surprise attack or ambush, but not an assassination,” said Ravi.

“Have you heard about Ravendra’s plans to get married?” asked Ven.

“Of course, who hasn’t,” said Ravi.

“Is this Vassillissa lookalike one of yours?” asked Ven.

“No, she isn’t. We have no idea who she is or where she came from. Zacharias actually has people in what was formerly known as Bangara trying to figure out who she is,” said Ravi.

“Could she be part of some other rebel group?” asked Ven.

“There are smaller groups of rebels throughout Nagiri, but most of them answer to us. So, while it isn’t impossible, I would say it’s very unlikely she’s a rebel,” said Ravi, “I got a message from Vikram telling me of the predicament you’ve found yourself in.”

“And do you have any suggestions?” asked Ven sarcastically.

“As a matter of fact, I do. You’ve been given the perfect opportunity, everyone trusts you, use their trust against them and kill Ravendra instead of Vassillissa. I am sure even Zacharias will do everything to support this plan,” said Ravi.

“If I say no?” asked Ven.

“Well alternatively you could always follow the original plan and kill the real Lilliana. The result will be the same albeit it will take more time,” said Ravi, “I could probably talk Zacharias into supporting that plan.”

“You know, you’re not better than Zacharias. The only thing the two of you think of is murder,” said Ven.

“Having killed so many people in your virtual life, I can sympathize with your aversion to killing. But I’ve lived in the real world far longer than you have, if the death of one or two can save the masses, I won’t be shy about supporting it!” said Ravi, “I can’t pretend to be in the toilet forever, so I am going to hang up now. You have two options in front of you, pick one.”

“Wait!” shouted Ven but when he didn’t hear anything knew Ravi had ended the call.

“Sorry, he’s hung up,” said Vikram as he stated the obvious.

“Why do they think things will magically be better when Ravendra dies?” asked Ven.

“We know there will be challenges and problems, but we are ready to face them for a better future which isn’t dependent on one man,” said Vikram.

“I need time to think and clear my head,” said Ven as he pulled out the earpiece.

We are starting to see the ripple effect of the mission thrust on Ven, as well figuring out other things which have been happening around him.  

I enjoyed writing this chapter after the last few chapters, it was a lot easier to write and for one of the rare times the words were just flowing onto the page very smoothly. Hope you will guys will enjoy the chapter as much I did :)

As always stay safe out there.

Anderoth