Eternity's War

Book 1: Chapter 13

"Juliet will have to take over," Ren said, walking away from the table with Skye right behind. "We need to start preparing for tonight."

Roman sat at the table, even more wide-eyed and bewildered than before. "Wait, you want to ... kill the president? Have you lost your mind! You're no better than the people trying to kill me!"

"That's not true," Juliet said with a smirk as she walked over and sat opposite Roman. She looked reassuringly into his eyes, trying to convince him that everything will be alright. "I didn't really believe them at first either."

Roman began to calm down. He found it easier to trust someone from his generation. "Your accent—you're Athenian?"

She nodded. "I was born here. My parents emigrated from Lanesia."

"Mine too." It brought Roman even more comfort to know that he was in the presence of one of his compatriots. Everyone else he'd met that day were foreigners. "How long have you been here? With them, I mean. In this warehouse."

"About three months," she said. "Black Dawn almost killed me too." She turned her gaze momentarily to Ren, who was busy studying her monitor. "White Shadow came to my rescue."

"But why do you want to kill the president? I thought you said you were vigilantes."

"Of course. But the president is corrupt and dangerous."

It took Roman a few seconds to react. He raised an eyebrow, wondering if perhaps she'd been brainwashed by these strange people. "You can not be serious. You're trying to tell me that the new president is dangerous?"

"Absolutely," Skye called from his office bedroom, overhearing the conversation. He appeared in the doorway. "Archie poses a huge threat to this country. And the world, for that matter. Trust us on this one."

Roman shook his head at the ludicrous accusation. "No. I voted for Archie. His policies are genuine, and I really can't see him being corrupt. He's always smiling on the news, and donating money, and helping people! He promised to make Athenia a safer place for everyone."

Silence filled the room as the others stared at Roman.

"What?" he asked innocently. "What did I say?"

"Roman," Skye said with a slight grin, walking out from the doorway. "I know Archie seems like he has good intentions, but that couldn't be further from the truth. If you knew what other policies he had planned, you'd feel the same way."

"What policies?" Roman frowned and crossed his arms. "Tell me why you don't trust him."

"Later. It's a long story. Oh, and be careful when you watch the news. The media is completely operated by the Athenian government. Archie makes his own news."

Roman buried his head in his hands. For a moment, he was actually starting to believe what these people were saying. But their fear of the new president suddenly dissolved a great deal of their credibility for the young man.

"You're conspiracy theorists," he finally said. "Please don't tell me that you're hiding from the government."

Skye took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. It had been a difficult topic for discussion when they first met Juliet too, especially considering that she, much like Roman, had lived a certain way for her entire life, and was only now being told the truth. Skye knew that they needed to get Roman up to speed quickly.

"We're not hiding from anyone," Skye said. "We were fully supportive of the former government; it's just Archie we don't trust."

"And so you're going to kill him?" Roman fired back. "You're going to stage some sort of coup?" He stood up and began walking to the door. "You people are crazy!"