Free Shadow Fall (The Shadow Saga) by J. L. Lyon Page B

Captain,” Alexander fixed on 301 with an icy stare. “The woman who was your slave, who escaped from this palace under mysterious circumstances and was able to rejoin her father, now commands the Silent Thunder rebellion. From the outside your improprieties with both Sawyer and Aurora would seem to point toward treason.
    “However, we have already been down that road, haven’t we? You delivered Jacob Sawyer to me. Now you will put any misgivings I have about your relationship with this woman to rest, and deliver his daughter to me as well. Failure in this case would not be wise. Do you understand me, Specter Captain?”
    301 nodded immediately, though he was unable to fully suppress his reluctance, “I do, sir.”
    “Good,” Alexander sat back in his chair. “Perhaps your intimate knowledge of her will give you an advantage. If possible, I want her alive. Joyous though her father’s death was, it did disappoint me that I could not witness his final moments. I’d prefer not to be so disappointed again.”
    301 clenched his jaw and decided now was not the time to speak. No matter what he said, he could never be sincere about agreeing to deliver Grace into Alexander’s hands. He knew what that would mean for her, and he would die first.
    Why did she have to go and put him in this position? Hadn’t he asked her to leave Alexandria? That if their paths crossed again he could not be so cordial? He gritted his teeth in frustration. If events continued on their current course, Grace would be dead soon. A person did not survive long once they became Napoleon Alexander’s primary target. What if he came face-to-face with her again? What would he do?
    My job , was the first reaction of his mind. But then he recoiled from that thought. He could never play a direct role in her death. It would destroy him.
    “Thank you for your time, Specter Captain,” Alexander concluded. “You may go.”
    301 rose and bowed slightly in respect, then withdrew.
    -X-
    Napoleon Alexander watched the Specter Captain leave, and smiled to himself. The man truly was a champion. Young, passionate, full of dreams about his future glory…he had been like that, once. He sighed and opened the top drawer of his desk, where two objects lay atop several notes and reports. The first—an old, tattered Spectral Cross—brought a sense of satisfaction. Jacob Sawyer had sent it to him three months before as a warning, a subtle taunt that retribution would soon follow. But now Sawyer was dead, and his opportunity for retribution gone forever.
    The second object was one he had stumbled upon earlier that morning. It had been out of his mind for so long that he had nearly forgotten he had it, and seeing it again gave him pause. To the eye it was a simple ring set with a round blue stone, but to him it was so much more than that: a gift from a man who at the time he had respected above all others…a bastion of nobility, valor, and leadership.
    A man whose world, even then, was fading.
    In the beginning, Alexander had thought he could fill the man’s shoes. But leaders like him weren’t born every century, and once he figured out there would be no measuring up, Alexander forced himself to become something else. Something stronger. It took more to rule a world than to lead a country.
    He had become more than that man could ever have been.
    A beep sounded from his laptop computer, still open from when he had shown 301-14-A the shot of Grace Sawyer. He spun it back around to face him and saw a small red window in the lower right corner that read, Incoming Transmission. Origin: Unknown. His blood pumped with anticipation. There was only one person who could possibly have gotten a transmission straight to his personal computer.
    Alexander sat up straight and masked his expression with the usual calm indifference, and then touched the window on the laptop screen. Premier Sullivan appeared, smug and confident, the very picture of all the emotions he had been hiding