Stephanie had told Solomon more than once how much her father, Gideon Malick, adored her after her mother's passing. In her heart, Gideon was a man deeply committed to family. Though he didn't always have time to spend with his daughter, he did everything he could to meet her needs throughout her childhood and adolescence. But Solomon believed that kind of upbringing only produced foolish girls—before he brought the Malick family to heel, Stephanie had been fanatically devoted to the many-armed creature her family had worshipped for centuries. He often teased her about it.
He shot her a questioning look, and the daughter of Hydra immediately handed him a tablet.
During the brief conversation between them, the agents of the Immortal City stationed at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters were systematically withdrawing, boarding assault transport shuttles bound for base. The NASA astronaut, Will, was sealed in a quarantine pod and loaded onto one of the shuttles using heavy-duty engineering equipment. Agent Coulson had wanted to stop them, but once he saw the Sisters' killing intent, his final attempt to keep Will was quickly shut down.
"I hope you'll urge them to get those test results," Coulson told Barbara Morse. "I'm sorry, Barbara, but we're stretched thin. We need Fitz and Simmons back. Also, May and Daisy are still drifting out in the ocean, and you're the only pilot we have on base. I need you to take the repair crew, retrieve them, and then swing by to talk to Dr. Garner. We need to conserve our resources—S.H.I.E.L.D. can't build more Quinjets. Stark Industries can't produce them either without Congressional and DoD approval. Every damaged Quinjet is one less asset we can count on."
"I can't do all that in a single day, Coulson," Barbara replied, feeling the dull ache in her injured knee. "Have you considered recruiting new agents?"
"Unless we can rebuild the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, these are the only people we have." Coulson shrugged. "Have you been to the Academy?"
"I have," she said quietly.
She would never forget the sight that greeted her at the ruins of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. After the Hydra mutiny aboard the helicarrier had been quelled, Agent Weaver returned with a team, hoping to rescue the young and loyal cadets. But Hydra's infiltration into the Academy had run deeper than anyone had suspected—especially within the tactical division. The moment a command was issued from Triskelion, a massacre unfolded.
Many loyal cadets died. By the time Weaver's team arrived, the Hydra rebels had already fled. The Academy's once-vibrant quad had been turned into a massive pit filled with the corpses of over a thousand trainees. It was one of the worst mass killings in modern history. Weaver couldn't identify who had survived, nor determine which survivors were loyal and which were traitors. So after a hasty retreat, Commander Gonzales chose not to contact the Academy survivors again.
"As much as I disagree with Solomon on many things, I do agree on one point: we need well-trained agents. Even Daisy lacks sufficient experience. No wonder Solomon thinks entrusting humanity's salvation to her is utterly irresponsible," Coulson said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Compared to the old S.H.I.E.L.D., we've lost more than just discipline. Training should've been handled by the Academy, but it's gone. We'll have to do it ourselves. I want you and Mike to become instructors after this mission is over."
"If Mike finishes checking all the aircraft, he might just agree," Barbara said. "Before you even issued the order, Mike had already organized a rescue team to assist May and Daisy. Their last transmission said they're not in danger, just cold."
Coulson sighed. "See? That's how it is."
Up above, far from all that, the magus knew nothing of Coulson's thoughts—and even if he did, he'd probably just scoff and say, "I told you so." All he cared about was that his operations were proceeding as planned. That was enough. His curiosity about the NASA astronaut would have to wait until the quarantine pod reached the Immortal City.
For now, he had other matters to attend to.
Solomon had once cast a detection spell on the only student at the Hydra youth camp worth noting: Ruby. Her mother was General Hale of the U.S. Department of Defense, herself a Hydra agent. According to Stephanie and the records left by Whitehall, General Hale had once been a student at that very same school—and had excelled among Hydra's younger generation. Due to a deal between Alexander Pierce and Dr. Whitehall, Hale had undergone artificial insemination and given birth to a daughter—Ruby. Ruby's performance at the academy even surpassed her mother's in physical and cognitive metrics. As a product of Whitehall's eugenics program, she had proven exceptional.
To compensate Hale, Alexander Pierce had placed her within the U.S. military establishment.
But before Pierce could make use of that asset, Solomon swept in and claimed the spoils of the Hydra uprising—taking even the sky carrier for himself, leaving Pierce with nothing.
Solomon intended to have Ruby, his "ruby," trained under Stephanie's tutelage. As for her mother, General Hale would be granted a personal audience with him. Though the general lacked practical battlefield experience, Solomon still needed a military leader—not just to help Stephanie infiltrate the Department of Defense, but also to amass soldiers and resources for the war to come. Solomon wasn't arrogant enough to think he could save the world alone. To reach that goal, even poorly trained soldiers with formal instruction were worth recruiting.
General Hale would arrive in an unmarked armed helicopter, leaving no trail behind.
After the CIA's headquarters at Langley was attacked, the entire intelligence community became hypervigilant. The CIA—unlike MI5, which once let a terrorist walk in and launch a missile—began quietly purging domestic Hydra cells, despite FBI reluctance. This was Hale's cue to defect to the Immortal City. The U.S. internal climate had grown increasingly tense, even the military was conducting silent audits. Through her own network, Hale had received early warnings.
That was the unintended benefit of Solomon's prior orders to Natasha Romanoff and other assassins to infiltrate Langley—stealing intelligence and performing targeted eliminations. He hadn't anticipated that one mission would so effectively reinforce his power base.
Though Solomon knew that so-called "internal investigations" rarely yielded real results, Hale didn't know how deep this purge might go. To avoid being rooted out and imprisoned, she turned to former World Security Council member Gideon Malick. Though anti–death penalty advocates had grown loud in the U.S., it was largely posturing for liberal appeasement. Escaping execution was not a luxury Hydra members could expect.
But that was a few days away. For now, Solomon still had to pick up the Cheshire Cat from the vet and have a serious talk about its weight-loss plan. The cat was genuinely too fat—last time Solomon saw it, the flab on its belly was nearly dragging on the floor.
(End of Chapter)
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