Chapter 4 Silas Kidnapping
SILAS: BEFORE THE STORM
The Crimson Leviathan's brig. Rain slashed the reinforced viewport. Silas traced the rivulets with a trembling finger.
"Exile," he scoffed. Father's mercy.
Atticus had sealed him in his room "for his own protection." He paced the room floor. Three days ago, Estelle's blood soaked Aris's velvet drapes. He'd aimed for Aris. Always Aris. The golden heir.
The obstacle to hiding his treason—selling Thorn cyber-cores to the highest bidder. But the nanny stepped into the shot. That singing, soft-handed woman who always played with him when they were both seven.
A guard's boots clanged outside. Silas flinched."Coward," he hissed at his reflection on the steel wall. A restless Silas took a shower and wore a new Onyx black three-piece suit to relax on his soft bed after taking a sleeping drug from the med cart in his room unknown to him, when he dozed off.
Sometime later he woke up with a searing pain in his neck. He saw a cold steel pressed over his neck. Aris. Eyes like Arctic flint. No helmet. Rain dripped on his curly hair."Neuro-blocker, Uncle. For the trip." he said HISSS. Fire flooded his veins—then nothing. His legs vanished. His arms hung like a dead fish."N-no—" He tried to scream. A wheeze escaped.
CRASH!
The door exploded inward. Two guards charged, rifles sweeping. Rook's diversion worked so well.
GUARD 1: Lunged, Gun aiming at the black figure in front of him
ARIS: Whirled, ducked, throwing is tanto at the guard.
CRACK! His tanto's dull spine hit the guard's Head knocking him out.
GUARD 2: Fired wild bullets sparked off the cell's far wall.
SILAS: Moaned, crawling toward the end of the room.
Outside, rain lashed the deck. Wraith crouched beside each box, tapping the circle at the center, revealing a Fulton balloon canister. Mag-clamps locked the canister to the deck. Harness straps whipped like angry snakes. Nyx's voice shrilled in her ear:
"Ship's AA guns arming! 30 seconds!"
"Aris—NOW!"
Wraith screamed into her coms. A rifle roared. Bullets sparked off the steel walls. Jenkins! The second guard tried to kill Aris but. Aris moved like liquid—kicking the med cart, jabbing Jenkins with the same needle. Jenkins collapsed, drooling. Alive.
Useless. Aris grabbed Silas, hauling him toward his back as he dashed up the stairs back to the deck to meet Wraith. She attached the Fulton and then slammed the activation switch.
WHOOSH! The neon balloon bloomed, yanking Silas into the storm.
TOO SLOW.
The AA gun turrets whined, tracking the balloon. Meanwhile, Rook was pinned down by the guard firing. Using micro-balls that release smoke that shrouds the deck. The rain creates mist in which rook use to escape the guard firing shots. And while escaping, he sees an AA gun turret aiming at a Fulton balloon that is rising.
He throws his micro-balls that turn into an EMP but because of how small they are. It only affects the gun.
FZZZT-BOOM!
The guns died in a shower of sparks. Silas soared a puppet on a string into the C-130's waiting jaws. Aris stood at the shattered viewport, rain stinging his face. As rook and Wraith join him as they fight off the guards. Wraith tossed him a Fulton harness. "Our turn."
As their balloons inflated, Aris watched the Leviathan's crew drag Silas's would-be saviors to cover. His nanny's locket felt warm beneath his suit as the storm sighed, its fury spent. Rain softened from needles to mist, and the wind's scream faded to a low oceanic hum.
Silas hung limp in the Fulton harness, the balloon's neon orange a violent stain against the softening gray.
The neuro-blocker kept his body numb, but his eyes burned with lucid terror.
Below, the Crimson Leviathan dwindled a dying ember swallowed by dark waves. Tracer fire had ceased; only the crackle of dying AA gun sparks echoed upward. Aris rose beside him, harness straps taut, rain dripping on his curly and long hair. He didn't look at Silas. His gaze was fixed on the C-130's ramp—wide as a steel jaw. They ascended fast, reaching the moving plane thanks to the GPS and auto control of the balloon. Silas tried to curse as Aris's gloved hand grabbed his harness, yanking him toward the ramp.
Nothing emerged. His tongue was clay. Cold fluorescent lights replaced storm gray. Nyx stood at a console, fingers dancing over holograms. "Package secured. Zero casualties." Silas was dumped onto a shock-absorbent net. Straps snaked over him, locking him down. Aris unhooked his harness, rainwater pooling in his boots. He walked to the open ramp, staring down at the shrinking sea. The Leviathan vanished
A scar swallowed by healing waters.
Wraith handed him a thermite charge remote.
"Burn the evidence?"Aris pocketed it. "Not yet. "He still talks." Rook laughed, popping a stim-patch on his neck. "Da! Now comes the fun part!"
Silas paralyzed, receded like a tide, leaving fiery pin-needles in its wake. He strained against the straps. Above him, Estelle's locket dangled from Aris's neck—a tiny.
"Wh-where…?" he rasped. Aris did not care much and just left for the cockpit to rest, while the remaining crew were told to watch Silas.
TWO HOURS LATER
The C-130 touched down on a rain-slicked airstrip carved into mist-shrouded mountains. Dawn bled gold over pine forests, glinting off the private jet waiting like a coiled serpent on the adjacent runway.
Aris stood at the ramp, watching his team secure Silas in a reinforced transport pod.
Rook clapped him on the shoulder, grinning. "Khorosho, boss! Drinks on me aft—"
Wraith scanned the tree line, fingers resting on her blade. Nyx yawned, stretching as her holographic displays flickered out. The ramp was lowered.
Six black SUVs idled on the tarmac. Twelve guards in unfamiliar gray tactical gear stood at attention—no Thorn insignia, no family colors.
Aris froze." Whose detail is this? "Rook frowned. "Your grandfather's new hounds?" The guards parted. A path opened to the lead SUV. Aris's instincts screamed.
Wrong stance. Wrong rifles. Wrong silence. He reached for his tanto— and then chaos ensured
CRACK.Rook's skull exploded.
Brain matter painted the pod's window. His massive frame crumpled like felled timber.