AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s exactly how the Kindred High Council feels, Detective Deen,” Commander Sylvan said, nodding. “We believe this male who calls himself a ‘prophet’ is a sham and should be exposed before he can convince the World Council to let him plant a colony on Earth.” He cleared his throat. “We’ve heard rumors of some…extremelyquestionablepractices. Things which run counter to everything we Kindred believe in.”
“Would that have to do with the males ‘taking their females in hand?’” Sev asked dryly.
“I’m afraid so,” Sylvan nodded. “And I’m sorry if this touches on some sensitive points from your past, Detective Severith, but I think you’d be better equipped to deal with this kind of system than most of my warriors would be.”
Sev saw Mia shooting him a look and knew there would be questions later, but his partner wasn’t one to ask personal things in front of others.
“Well…” He sighed and ran a hand over his horns—a habit he had when thinking hard. He still didn’t like the idea of going into a situation that reminded him so strongly of his past, but he couldn’t deny that something had to be done about the PPP—beforethey sank their claws into Earth.
“How long would we be in there?” Mia asked, giving Sev more time to think.
“Not too long, we think,” Commander Sylvan told her. “We want you to go in posing as a couple who want to join the PPP. From what we understand, new converts have to go through a couple of days of initiation to see if they’re a good fit with the rest of the group. That should allow you enough time to see their intimate doings firsthand and—if possible—find out what power ‘The Prophet,’ as he calls himself, has over them.”
“He’s probably just a charismatic asshole,” Mia said, scowling. “One of those bastards that can trick gullible people into believing everything he says—like some politicians can.”
“Yes, but we believe there’s more to it than that,” Sylvan said, frowning. “You see, we’ve done an extensive background search on ‘The Prophet’—whose real name is Chud Brumpkin, by the way. And we found that up until a few years ago, he was nothing but a janitor at one of the major universities on Chakioun Prime.”
“Chud Brumpkin?” Mia exclaimed. “What kind of a name is that?”
“Not the name of a galaxy-renowned prophet,” Commander Sylvan said dryly. “He no longer goes by that name of course—now he’s simply ‘The Prophet’ or ‘The Prophet of the People.’”
“He’s clearly taken a step up from menial cleaning services, too,” Sev said thoughtfully.
“Yes, and what we want to know iswhy,”Sylvan said, frowning. “We speculate it might have something to do with that shiny piece of jewelry he was wearing in the ad.”
Sev remembered the shiny object he hadn’t been able to make out while they were watching the ad for the PPP.
“You think it’s some kind of artifact, giving him the power of persuasion?” he asked.
Sylvan nodded.
“That’s very possible because it’s certainly altered his appearance—he looks much different now than he did in his past. So I’d ask you to be on your guard around him—if that object or artifact really is what’s giving him the ability to control other people’s minds, it’s dangerous.”
“You want us to try and steal it? I mean, if it is what’s giving him his charisma or power or whatever you want to call it?” Mia asked.
Commander Sylvan shook his head.
“No—I would say the best thing would be to destroy it, if you safely can. An object powerful enough to raise a male who isn’t in any way qualified to rule over so many is too dangerous to be handled by anyone.”
“So youdon’twant us to bring it back to you?” Mia looked confused.
“So that I could make myself into some kind of idol or false god?” Sylvan shook his head again, firmly. “No. I believe you humans have a saying—‘absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ I wouldn’t want even the temptation of that kind of power.”
“All right—so we go undercover and expose this bastard for what he is andtryto destroy the source of his power,” Sev said slowly.
“Only if you can safely do it—I don’t want the two of you putting yourselves in unnecessary danger,” Sylvan cautioned him. “This mission is mainly about gathering enough information to prove to the World Council that theydon’twant the PPP anywhere near Earth.”
“Will we be wearing wires or, uh, listening or recording devices of any kind?” Mia asked.
Sylvan shook his head.
“I’m afraid the PPP does a very thorough search of anyone who seeks to join them—if they found any such devices on the two of you, you’d be thrown out before you could even start the initiation period.”
“So we’re going in there under deep cover with no backup and no communication,” Sev asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I’m afraid so,” Sylvan said apologetically. “But I wouldn’t be sending you if I thought you were going to be in danger—I imagine you’ll have to deal with a great deal of social pressure but no life-threatening scenarios. And if the situation gets too intense for either of you, please know you have my permission to end the mission early and come back to the Mother Ship.”
Mia frowned.
