Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 21 - A Return to Form - I

  "Do I believe she was a good leader? I cannot say. Certainly whatever goals she held went unfulfilled. At the end of the Omega epoch, Rachel DuValle saved my life. Some may argue she allowed it to occur, by not taking more decisive action. More ignorant voices will say she herself set events in motion. This is foolish. A leader should not be blamed for events they could not have foreseen. His power was beyond our comprehension. The true measure of leadership is in the unexpected. In that, Rachel reacted as best we could hope: by stopping the threat. I do not know what means she employed to accomplish that end, but since that evil man is now a pillar of smoke in the sky, I trust she made the right choice."

  ~Cinza, The Rallsburg Diaries

  Jeremy snapped his phone shut and walked back into the bedroom. "Well, we're fucked."

  "I knew this would happen," Rachel sighed, after he explained what he'd just learned from Hailey.

  "Really? Is that a magic thing?" asked Maddie.

  "No. But it happened last time too. As soon as I feel like we might actually have a chance to prepare, it gets torn to shreds anyway." Rachel sighed. "How much time do we have?"

  Jeremy was already scrolling through reports on his phone. He didn't bother with the news, going straight to his email box and news feed from work. "Jesus, even we don't fuckin' know. They're deploying a team to the damn publisher's office right now."

  Maddie laughed. "Bunch of clowns."

  He shook his head. "Nah, this is everyone in the Bureau. Even the good ones. How the fuck..."

  Rachel had a laptop open as well, scrolling through pages of material. "It looks like it was presented as a trashy exploitative fiction novel. They didn't publicize it at all until the last minute." She shook her head. "It's to be released on Tuesday."

  "Four days?" Jeremy asked, while Maddie swore violently.

  "Yeah." Rachel kept tapping away at the keyboard. "Looks like Hailey made a splash, too. She's front-page news."

  "Well, we gotta get in there," said Maddie.

  "What?"

  "If you want to take control of the story."

  Rachel shook her head. "We're not ready yet. We don't have a plan for handling integration, or for new laws to deal with the awakening process, misdemeanors, felonies, anything. The economic impact. There's so much we need to plan for."

  "And this motherfucker just threw your whole plan out the window," said Jeremy with a shrug.

  "He's banking on the idea that the first person to reveal themselves is gonna have control of the whole story, and he's probably right," Maddie continued. "Everyone's gonna remember the first couple awakened. The more there are, the less notable. Hailey's gonna be immortal at this rate, and whoever did this is gonna be right behind."

  "Who is it, anyway?" asked Jeremy. "Any ideas?"

  "No need," Rachel answered grimly. "Hailey and I came to the same conclusion. It's Nate Price."

  "The rich kid?"

  "Formerly rich kid," Maddie corrected. "After that whole business reclaiming his family's estate."

  "Oh, I loved watching that."

  "What?" asked Rachel.

  "Courtney ate a ton of shit for it," Jeremy explained, grinning.