“Oh no,” Daniel said under his breath, “Not him now!”
“Well, good to see you too Daniel!” said Erik as he walked up to them with his arms outstretched. “You had better learn to control your tongue and mind, especially around those you don’t like.” He gave a baleful smile.
“Why are you here?” Daniel wasted no time.
“Just came for some work the Council wanted me to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“To keep an eye on you. So shall we?” Erik gestured towards the elevator.
The elevator took them down to level 32. They exited into the hallway where many scientists in white coats and with clipboards scurried about. Instantly, Mikhail could smell a hint of silver nitrate.
“Isn’t this a little dangerous for us?” he asked, sniffing the air.
“No, of course not.” said Erik, “These gases have been tested upon and are absolutely harmless, as long as you don’t overdose.”
“But why is it here, sir?” asked Mikhail.
“Well, the scientists here are testing it on the soldiers, our Rebels, to see if they are immune to it. Inside,” he pointed towards the door, which had a radiation warning sign on it, “the dosage is lethal for us; that’s why we’ll have to wear these.” He pointed to three reflective hazmat suits that were by the entrance.
Once suited they strolled inside where they saw a small group of soldiers, glazed in bright silver and restrained to operation tables. Some of the scientists recorded data, while others put braces around the soldiers’ wrists. They took blood samples to check the level of silver in their systems. So far, there was no sign of danger for the Rebels. Daniel searched the room for his father and spotted another room. He entered it to find Nikolas encased inside a bulletproof glass container. There were many of these side rooms where wounded soldiers recuperated. There were tubes that had been injected into Nikolas’s body: two in the chest, two at the shoulders, four in the legs, and three in each arm. Through these tubes, Migra was being injected.
Migra, the name of the planet of the vampires, was also their name for iron. The vampires needed blood for iron. Because of a low hemoglobin count, vampires needed the iron for regeneration. They used vast amounts of energy in order to fight and use psychic powers. This energy transmuted from the iron in the hemoglobin. Therefore, it was necessary for them to have blood. But then they realized they could make artificial blood by extracting iron from the Earth and mixing it with other minerals and vitamins found in rocks. This is how they created the concoction known as Migra.
The tubes popped out of Nikolas’s body and retracted into a black metallic hive. The Rebel opened his filmy eyes slowly. Then a crimson color crept slowly back into the pupils. Daniel looked at him defiantly, and said, “Well, top o’ th’ mornin’ to you...father. Did you have a nice slumber?”
Nikolas got up and moved swiftly towards the glass. Suddenly his whole body turned to bright silver. With a supernatural strength he ripped apart the glass wall. All gasped and backed away except Daniel. “Everyone, stay calm!” The President shouted before anyone could call for backup. Nikolas hovered in the air like a silver angel as he approached Daniel.
“So, my son,” he said, “This is what you have done to me.” He pointed and Daniel backed away. “Oh, don’t worry. Though you may have thoughts of patricide, I nonetheless love you, as I always have and I always will.” He hovered back down to the ground. The silver layering of his body dissolved, revealing his pale muscular body and face. Nikolas smiled.
“Oh, my dear father,” Daniel said, “how much you try in vain to persuade me to join you. But look now who is the victor and who is the fallen. I have finally squashed your Rebellion, and now you will work for me!”
“Or rather for your king? Is it not so?” Nikolas looked at Erik with disgust. “I should have killed you when I had the chance. Perhaps things would have been different.”
“Do you really think the humans would have let you all stay inside the Regnum?” Erik scoffed.
“Never mind that!” Nikolas’s voice reverberated through the room, “I know for sure what General Howe would have wanted and what he still wants.”
“General Howe is nothing but a rogue human who couldn’t even control his own battalion!” Erik laughed in Nikolas’s face, his sour breath hitting Nikolas’s nose like a punch.
“You cannot judge him,” said Nikolas, “because of that one battle.”
“Why must you always talk of the past, both of you?” Daniel said. “Mikhail,” he turned to his secretary and snapped his fingers. “Are the ships ready?”
“Another four minutes and twenty seconds, sir.” He said, checking his watch.
“Alright, get these soldiers ready,” Daniel said loudly to the scientists. He addressed his secretary once more, “And I want you to get the others ready and send a report to the council.”
“Right away, sir.” Mikhail bowed and hurried to do his superior’s bidding.
“You know this will mean war,” said Nikolas.
“Precisely father,” said Daniel, “Your mission will be to get the Falsifier. After that, there will be war, but with the Falsifier on our side, we will have destroyed everything even before Anaxagoras comes.”
“Lord Anaxagoras,” Erik corrected him.
“Yes, Lord Anaxagoras.” Daniel said, glaring at the vizier coldly in the eyes.
Nikolas laughed, “You have no idea who the Falsifier is, do you? You think it’s some mutation in the genetic code of the vampiric DNA. Well, it isn’t. The Falsifier is vampiric and he’s something else as well.”
“What? Human?” Daniel laughed back, “It’s impossible to have a Vampiric Human.”
“All things were possible with Aidan,” Nikolas said, his eyes glazing in the light.
“What do you mean by that?” Erik said, almost baring his teeth.
“Oh, you shall see. You want this mission completed, so be it. But you’ll soon discover that all this time you were wrong. Imagine, a vampire in the Regnum,” Nikolas spat.
“Well, it’s possible. Everyone knows the Falsifier will come from the humans but behave like a vampire. Besides, we have found a vampire in the Regnum.”
Nikolas’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Yes.” Erik said. “Our ships were near the spatial border a few hours ago. They were taking thermal imagery of the Regnum, when they spotted a life-form. The being they saw didn’t have normal human heat. Its temperature fluctuated due to an innate part of its structure. It’s the Falsifier.”
“You may be right. You may not.” Nikolas said. “But you still don’t know the whole truth.”
“Just imagine.” Daniel said. “When we find the Falsifier, we will be able to be like him. We can splice his DNA with ours and become truly immortal.”
Mikhail hurried in and reported, “Sir, all the soldiers have been transported into the ship. We are ready to launch at your command.”
“Good. Go outside and wait for me,” Daniel said, turning to the vizier, “And Erik.”
Erik turned to face Daniel.
“Please leave with Mikhail.” Daniel gestured. “I have something to tell my father.”
Erik responded, “Whatever you tell him can be said in front of me.”
“Erik,” Daniel said looking into his eyes, “I’m requesting you. That’s not something I usually do.”
“Are you flattering me? Do you think I need that? I’m the vizier of the King! You can’t talk to me like that.”
Nikolas interrupted, “This can wait. I have a mission to go on. I am sure there will be time for this when I get back.”
Nikolas walked to the elevator with Daniel, Erik and the twelve Rebels that had survived the tests, their neck restraints turned on just in case anyone tried to escape. The elevator descended a hundred and fifty feet below helipad eight to helipad six. They took an air-transport to the hangar, where the ship awaited them. The hangar, located nearest to the volatile ocean, stretched half the width of the command center. Inside there were thousands of fighters and transport tankers. Some of them were being replaced or repaired by mechanics and aviation technicians. As Nikolas walked to his ship, Daniel stopped him and whispered in his ears, “Remember. If you try to contact John Howe or do anything to compromise the mission, our three hundred soldiers are on guard.” Nikolas flashed a quick smile and left him.