When Kate learned Omari had plans to send her personal bodyguard, Eric, back to Earth she was furious. But she realized, since he was her mother’s former bodyguard, he might respond better to a diplomatic approach. So, she gave herself a day to calm down, a day to let the water stop boiling.
He had set up the new command center for her protection detail in the very room she tried to escape through less than a week before, with Eric’s help, of course. He was constantly moving his base of operations. He said it kept him on his toes, and his enemies guessing.
Kate opened the door to this office focused on her goal, getting him to allow Eric to stay. As she stepped inside, he was just finishing a conversation on his communicator.
“I’ll get back to you shortly,” he said. “I have a visitor.”
Kate calmly waited for him to end the transmission and look up at her. “I’ve learned you’re sending Eric back to Earth,” she told him.
“I’ve already sent him back,” he responded.
“What?”
“He left yesterday.”
“How dare you make personnel changes without speaking to me first,” she snapped.
“I felt it was best.”
“You feel nothing.”
“Actually, that is the best approach for a bodyguard.”
“How can a guard protect someone he doesn’t care anything about?”
Omari said nothing. He was placid, missing the natural tension that defined him. Kate was also silent, refusing to give in to her desire to wail and rage against him.
“He’s been my personal bodyguard for years, and I trust him,” she said stoically.
Omari stood up from his desk to face her. “I saw you kissing in the training room,” he stated.
Kate was silent.
“I know about your affair, and it complicates and compromises your security,” he added.
“I am not having an affair with anyone,” she lied. She had thought Omari was ignorant to her relationship with Eric. She thought she had fooled everyone.
As her mind began to wonder how many others knew, or if Omari was the only one, he spoke up. “I haven’t told anyone,” he said.
“I don’t care what you tell anyone,” she said.
“You used your beauty and power to manipulate him,” he stated, pointing at her like a schoolchild. “You even used him to try to escape my security in this very room. And, I already have someone else in mind.”
“No one else will have my trust,” she said.
“I will be your bodyguard.”
“I certainly don’t trust you,” she responded out of vengeance.
“I am the most qualified,” he barked. He then realized his emotions were getting the best of him, and sat down slowly. “It will make Eric’s departure appear less suspicious. Besides Io arrives tomorrow with four additional guards.”
“Io arrives?”
“Of course.”
“Io is coming here?” she asked.
“She will be joining us for the Odyssey’s arrival,” he told her. “I thought you had been informed.”
“It seems I’ve been kept in the dark,” she said. “Just how you like it.”
Without waiting for a response, Kate stormed out of his office, heading back to her quarters. As she walked down the corridor, she whispered to herself. “This is war.”
•••
Sun stood on the balcony of the council chamber, looking out across the compound. Her hair was tied back, without a single strand out of place. Her posture was straight, her shoulders back and her hands rested on the railing. She looked like a soldier standing watch, not a family matriarch enjoying an evening breeze.
William walked up beside her, and placed his hand over hers.
“It’s a beautiful evening,” he said.
“Out here, yes, it is,” she responded.
“We must talk about it,” he told her.
“Very well,” she said, taking in a deep breath. “He is conspiring, isn’t he?”
“It’s true, he is,” William admitted.
“I thought he might be. Is it power he seeks?”
“Perhaps,” he answered. “But, it may be something more.”
“It’s about me.”
“And your decision to choose Kate.”
“He’s never accepted that.”
“I don’t believe so,” he said.
“And Ceres has taken advantage of his weakness.”
“It’s in her nature to take advantage.”
“How long ago did you see it?” Sun asked.
“I was only convinced recently,” he told her.
“I noticed the time they spent together could be a problem,” Sun admitted. “Perhaps I chose look away.”
“And there is evidence he was involved in Yori’s death,” William admitted.
“There was no sorrow in his face,” she said. “What would you suggest we do?”
“For now, we can only watch, wait and prepare,” he told her.
“Very well,” she said, dropping her chin and closing her eyes.
“Unfortunately, my son’s betrayal is not my greatest concern.”
“How could it not be?” Sun turned to face him.
William stood and stretched out his hand to her, “come with me.”
Sun placed her hand in his and followed him out of the council chamber. The two headed toward the library.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked as they crossed the vestibule.
“To my office,” he answered.
“It’s forbidden for anyone except the Curator of the Library to enter that room,” Sun reminded him. “There’s a reason for that rule, William.”
He stopped in the center of the vestibule to the library, taking both her hands and looking her in the eyes. “Things have changed,” he said.
Sun could tell by his tone and expression something was different. Something had shifted in their world.
For William, it was time for the Curator to step outside the solitude of the library and begin to gather his troops.
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