The Prince's Wedding (The Erik Midgard Case Files Volume 3)

Chapter 14

"Aren't you supposed to be extinct?" said Titus. He set the flowers back down on the podium.

"Yes, they are," said Thor, who hadn't taken his eyes off them.

He was right. The last openly-practising members of the Cult of Infinity had died in a shootout with the Kupier Confederation's federal police in a warehouse on Pluto when they were caught in the act of stealing temporal generator components. That had been two hundred years ago, and the ChronOps file on the cult ended with it. There had not been a single hint that they had survived to add to the file since then.

"You should know, colonel," said Oannes, smiling. "Your brotherhood helped make it happen."

"Put the weapons down," I said, wishing that I had one of my own.

"Please, Erik. Don't embarrass yourself," said Oannes. "Start looking, Doug."

Fontus nodded and trotted off through the nearest arched doorway.

"That's an exaggeration," said Thor. "My brethren at the time informed the authorities anonymously that your sect was going to break into the warehouse. If they had surrendered peacefully, I'm sure they would have survived. And given what they were planning to attempt with what they were stealing, we were entirely justified."

"I know. You thought we were pushing the envelope too far, taking too big of a risk," said Oannes. "Typical hierophant thinking. You claim you venerate the time stream. The truth is you're afraid of it. And of us, because we aren't."

"We respect the time stream," said Thor. "It gives us the freedom to make mistakes, to learn and to grow into the best versions of ourselves. That's something you've always failed to appreciate. Assuming, of course, that you actually are the Cult of Infinity."

"Oh, we are," said Oannes. "We're not a bunch of revivalist wannabes who've picked the name out of the trash, colonel. We're the real deal. Cameron Mitchell Janus was my great-great-great-grandfather."

Thor frowned. He studied Oannes's face.

"I admit I can see some family resemblance," he said.

"I can hear some," said Titus, who looked considerably less pleased than he normally did. "Oannes."

"What?" I said.

"Come on, Erik. You're meant to be the detective," said Titus. "Oannes, the Sumerian god with two heads; one human, one fish."

"Correct," said Oannes. "Worshipped as Baal-Ianus by the Chaldeans, Belinus in Celtic Europe, and Janus by the Romans."

"The god with two faces," said Thor. "Which includes Isimud, now I think about it."

"And which was spelt Ianua in medieval Europe. The man who hired me," said Titus.

"If you want to be angry with someone, Titus, take look in a mirror," said Oannes/Janus. "You were the easiest part of this."

"Really?" said Titus.

"Of course. You're not on the path you've chosen in life for the money," said Janus. "You're trying to carve your name into history and leave your mark on the solar system. You're writing your own story and you want it to be thrilling. It wasn't hard to see how much you'd love the chance to make a tragic-but-funny-from-the-outside tale of unrequited love part of it."

"Right now, I'd like to make a gruesome tale of blood-soaked revenge part of it," said Titus.

"It was you?" said Chernobog, who looked green. "Everything?"

"Well, not entirely," said Janus, shrugging, but still looking smug. "How do you infiltrate the most heavily defended private residence in the solar system, which is guarded 24/7 and literally built like a fortress? You start by finding everyone else who wants to get inside; the J.R. breakaway faction, Free Martians who'd love to kill a Justinian, Endovelicus and his followers. They all have different pieces of the puzzle. Ways to subvert or evade some of the security measures, but not all of them. They can all get partway, but they'll never agree to work with each other. So you come in and steal a piece from one of them without them realising you've done it, and offer it to one of the others, posing as an independent contractor so they don't get suspicious. But to get it, the second group has to share their piece with you, which you then offer to a third group for their piece, and so on. That way, it's easy to build up the big picture and find all the weak points that will allow you walk in through the front door, hiding in plain sight, with the added benefit of all the diversions you could possibly need once they make their individual moves."