“Where does that leave Kricket?”
“In the middle of a war. Her future is liquid.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kricket’s future takes the shape of the glass you pour it in.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Pour her into time with a certain set of circumstances and she becomes a world ender. Give her a different set of circumstances and she shapes time in a whole other way. One thing is clear about Kricket, though: she’s a catalyst. Events start and end with her. She’s the person who can ensure that the worst-case scenario will happen or that it won’t.
“We tried to hide her on Earth, knowing that she’d trigger the fight between the Houses on Ethar. Her keeper, Giffen, was assigned to her to prevent her from ever returning to Ethar. Giffen tracked the Alameeda who came to Earth to find Kricket. There have been several teams sent to search for us over the years even before Kyon Ensin.”
“What happened to the ones who came looking for her?”
“Giffen killed them. He was tracking Kyon and his associates. He didn’t realize that Rafe soldiers were also dispatched to Earth at the same time. You slipped through and he missed you.”
“What would’ve happened had he known we were there as well?”
“He would’ve tracked you and killed you.”
“And if he was unable to kill us, what then?”
“He would’ve killed Kricket before she crossed over into Ethar. That was our preemptive plan. The worst has happened, though. She slipped through, and the House of Rafe has paid the price for my inability to control the events that led Kricket here.”
“You mean because you didn’t kill her, this is your fault.”
“If I had killed her when she was a child, Rafe would’ve survived.”
“Do you really believe that? Do you think Excelsior Ensin would never conceive of a plot to gain power if Kricket hadn’t come here?”
“Of course, we don’t know. We only know that if I had been able to eliminate her, she would no longer play a role in it. Now we prepare for the events that are coming. Kricket’s role in the future isn’t finished. There’s still a chance that we can shift the events to the best-case scenario.”
“How do you propose doing that?”
“Kricket will have to get close to Excelsior Ensin.”
“For what purpose?”
“Assassination.”
“Kricket is not a killer!”
“Then we’re all dead. Excelsior knows about the threat to his future from Arissa. She gave him the information when she was a child. He was like a nice uncle to her. She had no idea who he was until later.”
“And who was he?”
“He was Arissa’s creator. How much do you know about Amster?” he asks, looking around the beautiful Gothic cathedral-like building they are in.
“It’s been a ruin for around a thousand floans—ever since the Black Math plague swept through most of Ethar,” Trey says.
“That’s right. What most people don’t know is that the plague had its origin here . . . in this building. Did you know that this used to be an institute that was founded and run by Excelsior Ensin?”
“No.”
“He worked extensively in genetic enhancement. He also dabbled in germ warfare.”
“You’re suggesting that Black Math was not an accidental mutation?”
“It wasn’t. It was a well-designed plan to rid the world of masses of people while he secretly worked on an enhanced race. He and his team designed and perfected genes—powerful genes and deadly viruses. Working in conjunction with a small group of leaders, Excelsior and his extensive connections administered the plague to their own populations and held the antidote aside only for those who they deemed worthy of it. This building is the place where the virus was conceived. Here—”
Pan stands up and pulls an orb from his pocket that’s no bigger than a large gumball. He touches the top of the orb. It glows golden and lifts from the center of his palm to float in the air above his head, casting soft light around them. Pan walks to a nearby pillar and uses his shirtsleeve to rub a brass plaque on the wall and wipes away the dust from it. The plaque now clearly says: ENSIN INSTITUTE.
Pan straightens and says, “The headquarters that you awoke in after you were brought here is Excelsior’s ex-residence. I enjoy irony, Trey. I thought it would be fitting that the very place that spawned him would also be the place from which to stage his demise. This city was his domain. He owned it, but he grew tired of it, so he decimated it. That’s who he is.”
“Give me a team. I’ll take Excelsior out.”
“You’d have a difficult time getting close to him. Even the gifted men I have ferried out of Alameeda aren’t able to get close to him. Priestesses guard him. Kricket is in a much better position to assassinate him, because she won’t even have to try. He’ll bring her to him.”
“When?”
“Soon. Excelsior grows malcontented. He wants another New World Order with just himself at the helm. He’s finished with the shared power of the Brotherhood. He’s willing to seize it all from the very people who were his allies a thousand floans ago.”
“Why not use germ warfare again, since it worked so well last time?” Trey asks.
“He can’t risk it. Two plagues? Too many leaders who were involved in Black Math are still alive to realize the similarities in the situation. No, he needs a distraction from what he plans. Kricket is that distraction. She’s the prophecy, come home to her people. He can use that to his advantage to keep the focus on her while he devises a way to take the throne from her. There’s still one small problem for him, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Kricket is fated to kill him.”
“What happens if she succeeds?”
“We’ll use New Amster’s military to place Astrid in control of the four remaining Houses. She’s also the daughter of Arissa—she’s a priestess born of two houses and two worlds, as the prophecy indicates. They’ll accept her as their leader.”
“Why Astrid, why not Kricket?”
“Astrid has been raised to be empress her entire life.”
“Still, why not Kricket?”
“She won’t survive,” he says softly. He has enough decency to show regret.
“So you’re saying that because I brought her here to Ethar, I killed her.”
“You couldn’t have known.”
“Where’s Kricket’s mother—Arissa? I have to speak to her! I have to find a way to change the future!”
Pan shakes his head. “She’s gone. She died on Earth,” he says honestly.
“I don’t believe you! Someone with her advanced knowledge, she’d see it coming!”
“She did see it coming! She begged me to take her life so that no one could find us.”
“What?”
“Excelsior has Nezra, Arissa’s first daughter. Nezra is an ingenious tracker. She would’ve found us eventually, when her skills advanced, like they are now. It was just a matter of time before Nezra located Arissa. Arissa wanted to protect Astrid, so she begged me to kill her. Nezra couldn’t track us then because she didn’t have a connection to us. Without ever having met her sisters, Nezra couldn’t picture them in her mind.”