Free Alliance by Timothy L. Cerepaka Page A

skills, good sir.”
    The sarcasm is evident in Rozan's voice.
It does not irritate me, but I do find it a waste of time, as he
does not tell me anything new about the Foundation.
    “ What Rozan means is
that we have indeed treated you well,” says Konoa. He gestures at
my legs. “We repaired your leg, for example. If we had ill
intentions for you, we would have scrapped you or thrown you out
for the public to destroy. We know you are innocent of any crimes
accused of you, which is why we have brought you here.”
    Konoa sounds quite sincere, far more
sincere than sarcastic Rozan, but I am still suspicious. After all,
as Konoa himself says, the Foundation does not exist in the
Database, which instantly makes them suspicious to me. It is
impossible to trust someone who I know nothing—and can know
nothing—about.
    But the fact is, this is exactly what I
have been waiting for, so I say, “Okay. Please tell me more about
the Foundation. Or what you are allowed to tell me, anyway.”
    “ All right,” says Konoa.
He glances at the papers before him, like they are note cards he is
reading from, before returning his gaze to look at me. “As I said,
the Foundation is an ancient, but benevolent, organization. We have
existed for eons and have worked behind the scenes for many years,
with very few ever knowing of our existence outside of the
organization itself.”
    “ Are you affiliated with
any governments?” I ask. “Do you work with King Waran-Una, for
example? Are you allied with the Knights of Se-Dela or the Just
Order of Witches and Wizards?”
    “ We are associated with
no one but ourselves,” says Konoa. “I mean, of course, we have
agents in all of those organizations who keep us up-to-date on the
various happenings within those groups, but officially we have no
allies. It is the only way we can do what we do, as our secrecy
allows us to do things that public organizations
cannot.”
    Konoa speaks in a way that makes it seem
like he expects me to agree with him. The other agents are nodding
along, as if to confirm what he is saying, but I find the lack of
accountability that this Foundation has to be problematic, to say
the least. He may claim that his organization is benevolent, but he
offers no proof or evidence to support that claim.
    Still, logic dictates that this is not a
good time to argue with these agents about the morality of their
organization. First, I must gather information; then I can act.
    “ What type of threats
does the Foundation typically battle?” I ask. “Criminals?
Terrorists? Out of control wildlife? Natural disasters?
What?”
    “ A little bit of all of
that,” says Konoa. “But our true conflict is with another
organization that is as old as ours. It is that organization that
Jornan ah Kona also belongs to, the same group that has framed you
for the murder of all of those innocent Knights you were working
with.”
    “ What is this
organization called?” I ask. “Can you tell me that?”
    “ It is one of the few
things that the Head approves of us answering, so yes,” says Konoa.
“The name of this other organization is Reunification. And unlike
us, they are actually up to no good; no, I would say they are even
planning to do evil, which is why we fight against
them.”
    As I always do, I run the name
'Reunification' through the mobile Database, even though by now I
am starting to suspect that this is a pointless chore. And it is,
because the term comes up with no results.
    So I say, “What evil is this
'Reunification' planning to do?”
    “ That's information we
can't give you at the moment,” says Konoa. “But rest assured that,
if they succeed, it will cause untold suffering for billions of
people on both Dela and Xeeo. Trust me on that.”
    I do not see how I am supposed to trust
someone who refuses to give me the full and complete facts about
this, but I decide that I will do more investigating later. Who
knows, maybe I will even get a chance to speak with an