The Days of Tao Read online

  “I wanted an easy ‘A’.” Cameron replied, crestfallen.

  Yet you got a ‘D’ last semester.

  “Art is hard!”

  Cameron finished canvasing the front half of the bar and went down a small set of stairs to a lower level. It was even darker and smokier here than the front. A dozen pairs of eyes zeroed in on him and he felt tingling down the back of his neck as he walked by several clusters of people. He saw the glint of a knife and heard the scrape of a chair being pushed back. He tensed.

  Relax. It is nothing. You acting tense is making everyone else around you tense.

  “What? You’re saying this is my fault?”

  Undoubtedly. This is where a theater degree would have come in handy. Being a good actor is integral to being a good secret agent. I found our contact anyway. He is in the back right corner.

  “How do you know?

  See that suit he is wearing? It is wrinkled.

  “So? Half the guys in this dump are wearing wrinkled suits.” Look more carefully. Most of the suits here have seen better days. Now look at his: modern cut, tailored, high quality wool. Look at his face. That is the look of someone staring too intently at his drink, but his attention is focused on everyone else in the room. See how he reacts, just a little, when someone gets close?

  In this low light, Cameron couldn’t tell if the guy was wearing a bathrobe or a suit so he just had to take Tao’s word for it. He made his way to the back corner and sat down opposite the contact. The man, early fifties by the look of it, had alert eyes and carried a tinge of nerves about him. His right hand caressed a glass of wine while his left was tucked under the table. A handgun perhaps?

  “Tao, what’s the pass phrase?”

  You need to learn to listen better and not blank out all the time.

  Here.

  Cameron annunciated each word carefully. “Always remember that you are unique.”

  “Just like everyone else,” the man replied. He squinted and sized Cameron up. “You are younger than I expected. A host?” Cameron nodded. “Well, Command is a little short on operatives in the region so they had to dig me up from auxiliary.” He stuck his hand out. “Nazar Sajjadi.”

  Cameron shook it. “Cameron Tan.”

  He is not a host.

  “Ooh, I outrank him.”

  Nazar raised an eyebrow. “Tan, Tan. By chance are you…”

  “Her pride and joy.”

  The older man grimaced. “Now I’m not sure if I should be taking a bullet for you or the other way around.”

  “How about neither of us take a bullet.” Cameron countered.

  “What’s the job?”

  “I have time-sensitive information that needs to be safe guarded. Your mission is to escort me to Greenland.”

  Cameron managed to keep his face neutral, but inwardly, he groaned. He had hoped this was a short and easy assignment, and that he could make it back to his study abroad program. “How much heat is on you?” he asked. “We can’t just book a flight?”

  “I murdered the Russian Quartermaster General. I assume the entire country is looking for me right about now.” Cameron drew a blank. “Well then, uh…”

  “Unfortunately, I have a distinguishing feature that makes me easy to identify.” Nazar raised his left arm and put it on the table.

  “The Genjix and the local authorities will definitely be tracking the airports, transit systems and roads by now.” The older man reached forward and gripped Cameron’s hands tightly. “We have to hurry. Lucia’s birthday is tomorrow. An attack is imminent!” Cameron frowned. “Wait, what’s imminent? Who’s Lucia?”

  “It’s a code, a signal.” Nazar leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. “Listen, boy, war is about to break out. If we don’t get out of here right now, we’ll be behind enemy lines soon.” Cameron’s stomach twisted tighter into knots as Nazar briefed him. Since humanity had discovered the existence of the Quasing some sixteen years ago, the countries of the world had taken sides with either the Prophus or the Genjix. For the past five years, after the IXTF, the Interpol Extraterrestrial Task Force, had allied with the Prophus, the two factions had been on a collision course toward open conflict, with both sides daring the other to make the first move. The rest of the world had gotten used to their posturing after a while, and most believed it was simply shaping up to becoming another Cold War. Now, if what Nazar said was true, they were on the eve of World War III. And it would start any day now.

  “Lucia’s birthday.” The words barely escaped his lips. He felt like the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. It is apt, if not imaginative. Nazar is right. We have to get him out of here at all costs. Tonight.

  “Who is Lucia and what’s the deal with her birthday? Lucia was Erwin Rommel’s wife. Her birthday marked the D-Day invasion.

  “Uh, so are you saying the actual attack is commencing tomorrow?” Cameron asked. “Like an all-out global blitzkrieg?” Nazar shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. All I know is that Lucia’s birthday is a catalyst to war. It will set everything else in motion. When Anton received the code, he ordered us to head directly back to Moscow, which means it’s happening soon. My life isn’t what’s important.” He finished his drink and pulled out a briefcase. “In here is an air drive that has detailed maps and information for the Genjix’s supply lines for the entire European theater.” What? Ask him if it includes tooth-to-nail ratio.

  “What’s tooth—”

  It is a military term. You would know what that is if you had enrolled in Sandhurst like I told you to. Just ask.

  Nazar nodded when Cameron brought it up. “Projected for the first six months of the theater, including warehouses, factories, depots, and projected inventories.”

  This information is vital to Prophus efforts. We have to do whatever it takes to get this into Command’s hands.

  “That’s why we have to leave as soon as possible,” Nazar stressed. “The information in here could determine the outcome of the war.”

  “When do we leave?” asked Cameron.

  Nazar held up his drink. “As soon as I finish this. We need to head to the town of Loutsa on the western coast and rendezvous with a Prophus extraction team. They will take us to Italy, and then the IXTF will fly us to Greenland.”

  Cameron’s mind raced. Things were moving faster than he anticipated. “I…I need to tie up some loose ends.”

  I know what you want to do. I do not recommend it. The smart thing to do is leave right now with Nazar. The sooner, the better. We will have higher chance of success if we travel with a small group. “Tao, I have to bring Seth and Emily with us. They are my best friends, and they’re Prophus. They’ll never survive behind enemy lines.”

  Nazar checked his watch and tapped the table impatiently.

  “We don’t have much time. I don’t know what happens once Lucia’s birthday hits.”

  “An hour is all I need,” Cameron replied. “Please.” This is a mistake, Cameron.

  “Maybe, Tao, and I may come to regret going back for them but I know I’ll definitely regret it if I leave them behind.”

  “Very well.” Nazar shook his head and sighed. “I hope you realize what is at stake. I am at the hotel Ira’s Hearth, room 262.

  Find me when you are ready.”

  “Thank you.” Cameron stood up and offered a hand. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

  Nazar shook it. “Hurry back. The fate of the war to come may rest in your hands, son of the Keeper.”

  The Plan

  Cameron left Perseus’s Prick moving at a brisk jog.

  Any faster, and he would likely have attracted the wrong sort of attention. Besides, this wasn’t the right neighborhood to run headfirst without looking where one was going. It could have been a trick of his eyes, but for some reason, everything seemed darker now, more ominous, as if the shadows were closing in and threats were coming at him from all directions.

  You are feeling nerves. This is nothing you cannot handle. You a
re young in age but long in experience. Empty your mind and focus on the job.

  Cameron imagined he was about to fight and suppressed his nerves. His training kicked in and he relaxed, the tightness in his chest loosening as he slowed his breathing. Time slowed and he felt aware and sensitive to his surroundings. Movements around him became a complex game of chess. It was up to Cameron to analyze and decide how to react. He was back in control.

  Good. Get to work.

  Tao had said Cameron had the potential to be one of the greatest hosts—the Prophus’s version of the Genjix’s Adonis Vessel—ever since Cameron was a child. Adonis was a term both he and Tao detested. While the skill comparison was apt, he was completely different from his Genjix counterparts.

  The Adonis Vessels were bred in the Genjix eugenics program to be lethal instruments serving their Holy Ones. Cameron’s link with Tao went much deeper. Tao had joined Cameron when Cameron was five years old, and after decades of training in Tai Chi and being together, the two had developed the most symbiotic relationship ever seen between Quasing and human.

  To be fair, whenever he got a big head about it, Jill would remind him that Baji—Jill’s Quasing—had thought that about Sonya, her previous host, as well. It seemed every Quasing at one point in time had believed their new protégé could be special, so Cameron took those high praises with a grain of salt.

  Actually, no one ever thought Roen was going to be the greatest host. He surpasses my expectations even to this day.

  Cameron weaved through the busy crowds, keeping his head low and watching for anything suspicious. The city was on edge, but that had always been the case on the border countries. He had just never noticed until now. Perhaps it was here all along, but he was just too self-involved to notice. For years, everyone predicted the eventual outbreak of war between the Prophus-backed and the Genjix-controlled countries. Now it was actually happening.

  The very thought of a global war terrified him.

  We need to discuss this mission’s parameters and prioritize our goals and risks. You have a big heart like your father. That is commendable, but it will get you killed one day.

  “It didn’t kill dad.”

  Technically, it did. How else do you think you got me?

  “Well, I’m going to start calling him a zombie from now on then.”

  He is starting to move as slowly as one.

  “Ouch.”

  I know you want to take your friends with you, but the stakes are high. Let them work through the Prophus extraction protocols.

  Cameron shook his head. “It’ll take at least thirty-six hours to mount an extraction. You heard Nazar. It’ll be too late. Greece may be a contested region by then. The university is fifteen minutes away. I’m already here on the ground. I can fetch them and be back to Nazar in no time.”

  This is the wrong choice.

  “Duly noted. Look, Seth’s family invites my folks over for Hanukah every year. Emily’s mom comes to all our Thanksgiving dinners. They’re practically family. How can I face their parents ever again if I know something bad is happening, and I just abandon them? This is my wrong choice to make and I’ll face the consequences.”

  No, Cameron. When you make the wrong choice this time, it affects me, Nazar, and all of the Prophus.

  For a moment, Cameron’s inner calm collapsed and panic once again seized his chest. Could this guy really be the linchpin for the war, and was he being a dumb kid screwing everything up because he didn’t want to leave his friends behind? Was he just selfish and stupid? At that moment, he nearly turned around and headed back to Nazar. However, the instant that urge reached his brain, he knew he could never live with himself if he followed through. He gritted his teeth and moved on.

  Cameron reached the University of Athens campus twenty minutes later. It was early evening and the rust in the sky was washing over the landscape. He found most of the students hanging out in the rec room of their dormitory. Some watched television, others played pool, and a group was nesting on the couches gossiping. Two students were hovering over a table in the corner pro-actively working on their finals project.

  Six of his classmates were couples at the moment, although that number fluctuated by the week. Cameron waved at Emily, who was currently too preoccupied cuddling with Chris, the son of an American professional golfer, to notice him.

  Chris was the blond good-looking guy most of the girls had crushes on. He also was the most boisterous and usually the center of attention. He was a nice enough guy, but Cameron could tell he had lived very few hard days in his life. Personally, Cameron thought Emily could do better but he didn’t dwell on who she dated too much.

  Cameron involuntarily snuck a peek at Negin. She was sitting in between Seth and Annelie, the Swedish graduate student. That made him feel a little better. Everyone knew he liked her, but that meant little unless he actually asked her out. He was too shy to make a move, so he lived in fear of seeing her with another guy.

  One day, your puberty will end and I will sing praises to the Quasing gods.

  “You blobs have gods?”

  Not exactly. The Eternal Sea on Quasar tends to consider itself a living god of sorts although the interpretation is not exact.

  “Hey Cameron,” Annelie called out. “When are we going to start on our project? We’re not even halfway done.”

  Annelie had blue hair and was the most studious in class. Unlike Cameron, who tended to rely on Tao to finish things at the very last second, she liked to get things done ahead of schedule. Most of the partnered teams hadn’t even started working on their projects yet.

  “Tomorrow,” he lied. “Promise.”

  She nodded, but didn’t look like she believed him. He ignored her squint and pursed lips.

  Now that you are here, what are you going to tell them?

  “I don’t know. Any suggestions?”

  This one is all you. I recommend pulling Emily and Seth aside and stealing off into the night, but what do I know? I am just an ancient and wise alien who is never wrong.

  That sounded like a good place to start. Trying to act as discreet as possible, Cameron tapped his two friends on the shoulders and asked them to meet him outside for a smoke. This was their agreed upon signal in case of emergencies.

  “What’s going on?” Emily asked as she handed out cigarettes to each of them. All three lit their sticks and pretended to take a drag. None of them actually smoked and were making a pretty poor display of it. Seth actually inhaled and began to cough.

  “We need to leave the country,” Cameron began. “According to one of our agents, the Genjix is starting a war any day now. Greece is about to become a battlefront.”

  Emily, the future medic, chef, clothing designer, didn’t take that news well. “Oh no! What do we do? I’ll start packing. Can I call my mom?”

  Seth was staring off into the distance. Cameron had seen that look on his face hundreds of times. The guy always thought before he spoke, and spoke before he acted. He was processing this information, and was already running a mental checklist and considering his options. Like a good future analyst, he began to ask the right questions. “How good is the intel? How much time do we have? Are the Prophus sending anyone to pick us up?”

  Cameron started with the easy answer. He grabbed Emily by the shoulder. “I have a plan to get us out. Sort of.” He turned to Seth. “Intel comes from a well-placed source. Not much, and there’s supposed to be an extraction team meeting us in a village called…called…”

  Loutsa.

  Cameron repeated that information.

  A long pause passed between them. Finally, Emily asked the question on all their minds. “What about the others? Do we tell them what’s going on?”

  “We shouldn’t,” Seth said firmly.

  “How can we not?” said Emily.

  They both looked at Cameron.

  “Tao says the three of us should just go right now,” Cameron replied, downtrodden.

  Emily crossed her arms.
“Well, I think we should invite them to come with us. Give them a chance to escape before it’s too late.”

  This should not be a democracy, Cameron.

  Cameron glanced at his two friends, and then thought about what Tao said. In his head, he knew that leaving now, with just the four of them including Nazar, was the smart choice. However, in his heart, he knew it would haunt him. After a few agonizing seconds, he reluctantly made his decision.

  “Pack your things. Meet downstairs in fifteen minutes. Tell no one.”

  Seth nodded. “See you soon.”

  Emily scowled and stormed off.

  That was the right call. Sometimes, it is impossible to make everyone happy.

  Cameron hurried after Seth and went upstairs to his dorm room. He didn’t have much to pack. It had been ingrained in him as a child fugitive to live minimally. These days, he practically survived out of a duffel bag. He stared at the small collection of relics and souvenirs he had slowly accumulated during his time here. Those would have to stay. Most of his clothes too. He just needed bare necessities, his few personal valuables, and weapons.

  He definitely needed weapons.

  Unfortunately, the only thing that could remotely serve in a fight was a dull steak knife he had smuggled from the cafeteria to cut fruit. It would have to do. He threw on a hoodie, hid the knife in his right sleeve, and slung the duffel bag over his shoulder. He checked the room one last time, the pile of things he was leaving behind already forgotten. Attachment to physical things was a luxury in his world.

  You need to head back to Nazar. It has already been an hour. You need to learn to pad your numbers better.

  “Not now, Tao.”

  Cameron hurried back downstairs and waited outside for the others. Neither of his friends had arrived yet. A few students passing by looked at him curiously. Cameron turned his back to them and pretended to be preoccupied with his phone. The fewer questions he had to answer, the better.

  Seth came out a few minutes later wearing his backpack. “We have a problem.”

  “What is it?”