Chapter 70

THE BIG LIE

Alexander made it back to the estate without further incident. The walk from the lake gave him time to process what had just happened. A bounty on their heads, big enough to motivate even the cautious. The kind of wealth that could turn anyone into an enemy.

He found most of the team in the kitchen, far enough from the living room where alien laughter mixed with Barkforce’s dramatic soundtrack. With a look, he managed to pull Annie away, joining the rest of the team.

“Got it,” he said, pulling the vial from his pocket and setting it on the counter in front of Talia.

She picked it up, holding it to the light. “Just one?”

“Two million credits for one. The supplier mentioned the corporations have clamped down on supply since the System’s launch.”

“Two million?” Augustus raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not the worst part.” Alexander glanced toward the living room, then back to his team. “Santiago put a bounty on us. Eight hours ago. I nearly got ambushed on the station.”

Talia winced, setting down the vial. “I should have been monitoring the news. I’m sorry, I was focused on keeping our guests calm and—”

“It’s not your fault,” Augustus interrupted gently. “We’re all equally responsible for keeping tabs on things. I certainly didn’t expect retaliation this soon.”

Alexander nodded. “I didn’t think he’d say anything, given what we retrieved. The aliens alone should have kept him quiet.”

Talia was already reaching for her tablet. “Let me find it.” Her fingers moved across the screen with practiced efficiency. “Here. Gabriel Santiago, emergency press conference, almost nine hours ago.”

She set the tablet on the counter, turned the volume low so their guests couldn’t hear, and hit play.

Gabriel Santiago stood at a podium bearing his company’s logo, looking every inch the concerned corporate statesman. His suit was perfectly pressed, his expression grave but controlled.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, citizens of Earth and our colonies, I come before you with a heavy heart to report a devastating terrorist attack on our facilities.”

“Terrorist?” Annie muttered. “That lying piece of—”

Augustus placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, shushing her.

Gabriel continued. “Last night, the group calling themselves Grimnir launched a coordinated strike on our superhuman containment facility in Argentum. Using stolen credentials and inside knowledge gained from a previous attack against Santiago Systems, they were able to locate and seize control of an experimental gateway system linking a base in Europe and the prison in Argentum. From there, they launched an assault to replicate the horrors of Skybreaker’s attack four months ago.”

Alexander’s jaw tightened. The man was building his lie on the foundation of real tragedy.

“The casualties are still being counted. Over three hundred security personnel in Europe, murdered in cold blood. Dozens of inmates, killed in the crossfire as Grimnir attempted to recruit them to their supervillain organization.”

“We didn’t even go to the prison!” Annie hissed.

“Shh,” Augustus murmured.

“Most disturbing of all,” Gabriel’s voice dropped, perfectly pitched for sympathy, “they kidnapped a diplomatic delegation of alien observers who were touring our facility. These dignitaries had come to Earth to witness firsthand how seriously humanity takes the superhuman threat, how we manage those who would abuse their powers. Instead, they became victims of exactly the kind of terrorism they came to help us prevent.”

Talia’s fingers gripped the table edge. Alexander felt his anger building, cold and steady.

“The galactic community already views humanity with suspicion after our development of superpowers. This attack will only deepen their mistrust, potentially setting back diplomatic relations by decades. What’s more, I personally fear what the traitor, Talia Kim, might be doing to them, with her powers over the mind.”

Gabriel paused, letting the weight of his words settle.

“As you know, recent events have compromised the STEPs bounty program. Therefore, Santiago Systems is offering personal bounties for information leading to the capture of these supervillains. Five million credits for each member of Grimnir, dead or alive. Ten million for their leader, Alexander Rooke.”

The press pool stirred, cameras clicking rapidly.

“Furthermore,” Gabriel continued, “to whoever successfully returns our kidnapped diplomatic guests, and any stolen materials, Santiago Systems offers lifetime corporate support and full ownership and development rights to an entire continent on Celestial Garden, our newest paradise world under development at the edge of human space.”

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“Celestial Garden?” Annie scoffed. “Could he be more pretentious?”

Gabriel raised a hand to quiet the growing murmur. “Leading the manhunt will be Star Titan, currently stationed at the Argentum facility where this heinous attack occurred. His familiarity with the prison and its security makes him the ideal choice to bring these terrorists to justice. We look forward to hearing from the local community at Argentum, and anyone who may have knowledge of Grimnir’s whereabouts.”

The conference room erupted. Reporters stood, shouting questions while cameras flashed. Talia paused the video there, frozen on Gabriel’s satisfied expression.

Silence settled over the kitchen.

“Star Titan,” Talia finally said. “That’s not good.”

“Not good?” Annie asked, incredulous. “He’s one of the strongest heroes. Tier 3, maybe even Tier 4. He has flight and durability along with plasma powers. He’s like a flying artillery platform!”

Augustus frowned. “And he’s based at the prison, which sells the story perfectly.”

Alexander stared at Gabriel’s frozen image. The man had crafted a perfect lie, wrapped it in enough truth to be believed, and delivered it with the gravity of a statesman. The kidnapped diplomats angle was genius. They couldn’t reveal the truth without exposing the aliens, and even if they tried to keep their Dreamer status a secret, there would be just enough suspicion to wave the accusations away.

“Can we release the footage?” Alexander asked anyway.

Talia considered it. “There’s a problem.”

“What?”

She shared a glance with Augustus, who took over. “We’ve been discussing this while you were gone. We don’t think we can release all of the footage publicly now that we know the full story. Not with the System’s recent emergence and escalating tensions with our galactic neighbors. News that humans are kidnapping and torturing aliens might be the spark that sets everything else on fire. Not to mention the harm we might do by outing them.”

“Fuck!” Alexander growled under his breath while pacing. “So we just let Santiago win?”

“It’s not about winning,” Talia said quietly. “It’s about not being responsible for an interstellar war. One that we’d lose.”

“But we can release parts of it,” she continued. “I’ll cut together footage showing the infiltration and whatever else is clean. It’ll prove we didn’t massacre the mercenaries, and that they were all alive when we left. That Gabriel was there. We’ll look guilty about hiding the rest; they’ll probably assume it’s to hide the alien diplomats, but at least we can counter some of his lies.”

“She’s right about it being double-edged,” Augustus added. “But if we mess up and expose that the aliens are Dreamers, it will be even worse. It would show that what the Galactic Council calls the ‘superhuman infection’ is spreading beyond humanity. We need time for the UEG to handle the situation diplomatically.”

A few of the aliens glanced their way from the living room, perhaps sensing the tension despite the low voices.

Alexander’s jaw worked silently for a moment before he accepted the truth. “Fine. You’re right. We can’t be responsible for that kind of fallout.”

“So what do we do?” Annie asked.

They stood in silence, thinking.

“Release the cut footage, but do it after the quest,” Alexander said. “We need to focus on what helps us right now.”

Augustus nodded. “Right now, the estate isn’t safe anymore. Not with what’s being offered. Most of those who know where I might be won’t sell me out, but I can’t be certain about all of them. Not for that price.”

“I don’t have anywhere,” Talia said.

Alexander shook his head. “Neither do I.”

“Why not hide on Astra Omnia?” Annie suggested. “We just need somewhere to stash our alien friends.”

“There’s no way we could keep that completely secret,” Talia pointed out.

Annie shrugged. “So we tell the Queen. She likes us.”

Augustus and Alexander exchanged thoughtful looks.

“She might be able to arrange something,” Alexander said slowly.

“It’ll put us further in her debt,” Augustus warned. “And it may require that we share the truth.”

“I know. But we need to lay low until this dies down, and we have few people we can call friendly. We can work out any debts later.”

Augustus nodded. “I’ll go work out the details with her then, get things rolling.”

“I’m going to focus on preparing for the serum,” Talia said, picking up the vial again.

“Annie, can you keep our guests entertained?” Alexander asked.

She nodded, though her usual enthusiasm was dampened. “Yeah, sure.”

“I’m heading back to Astra Omnia with Augustus,” Alexander said. “I’ve got equipment to prepare. Start the move without me unless you need my help.”

Talia suddenly gasped. “Wait. I just remembered something. When I was in the director’s mind, I learned something about Star Titan’s brother.”

Everyone turned to her.

“He’s not dead, like everyone thinks. Santiago Systems Redacted him when they awakened his powers. He’s being kept sedated because his power makes him a living nuclear reactor. If he ever lost control, he could level everything within a hundred miles.”

Alexander’s eyes widened. “That’s...”

“Leverage,” Augustus finished.

“I can send Star Titan an anonymous message with the location,” Talia said. “I have his contact information from my time as the AEGIS oversight liaison at the prison. Back when all of this started.”

“Would he believe it?” Alexander asked.

“I could send him a sketch of the director’s memories. If I draw exactly what the director saw, with details only someone who’d been there could know? Yes. He’ll have to check, and when he finds out it’s true...”

“He’ll refocus his efforts on rescuing his brother instead of hunting us,” Alexander finished.

He paced for a few moments, thinking about the ramifications of releasing a nuclear-powered superhuman. In the end, the math was simple; they needed time to disappear, and the risk of a Tier 3 like Star Titan coming down on their heads was simply too great.

He made the call. “Do it.”

Augustus wiped his hands on a towel, then conjured his wand and began spinning up a portal to the lake. Even with the urgency, he maintained the thin bit of security keeping the estate a secret.

Talia retreated upstairs with the serum, already composing a message. Annie returned to the living room, forcing cheer into her voice as she rejoined the aliens.

Augustus and Alexander left through the portal. Augustus would handle the negotiations with the Queen, while Alexander found a workshop with the tools he needed to fabricate parts and equipment to prepare for the individual combat. They had five days remaining.

Time to get to work.