Path book 1 Igor chapter 10-2

We're flying home on our flyer. Denis is driving, Leshka is next to him, I'm with Nasar, Lina and the girls, with Cassia in the back seat. Aunt Kasia hugs me and asks softly:

"What's the matter, Igor? You weren't yourself at the spaceport, did something happen?"

"Aunt Kasia, I've been having bad feelings for a week now. And the further you go, the stronger. Sometimes it's just unbearable!"

"And the dreams? Did you have a new dream?"

"No. Only my terrible dream where I can't find you all — I dream about it again almost every night, and I hardly sleep."

"You know, I've been having some kind of concern for a long time — we've been well trained in using intuition in the training regiment. Although we girls were trained more as technicians and engineers with doctors, the basics of survival were firmly hammered into us. And you know, intuition just screams to me that danger is coming!

"Aunt Kasia, what have you heard from Grandpa?"

"Arthur writes that he brought up all his contacts in the intelligence and counterintelligence of the Alliance, connected Steve. But there's something strange there-it feels like half the corporations in known space are ganging up on us. Even the Salarians are involved, not to mention the Asari corporations from Illium and the Batarians."

"Has Cerberus surfaced?"

"But what about without him! After all, our existence is a direct challenge to their doctrine of racial superiority. Exo-Genie is heavily involved, and they are the offspring of Cerberus. Someone hired half of the famous pirate clans of Terminus and took them somewhere. And that's a few thousand scumbags."

"And what should I do?! It turns out that they are already preparing a strike!"

"Let them come — we have something to meet them with, Igor."

"Your grandfather did a good job with the population, even for mercenaries, today's Mendoir militia is a dangerous opponent, not to mention pirates, for this fraternity we can be a deadly surprise. Note that by order of the governor, the ban on the use of thermoclips in civilian weapons has been lifted, and if we consider that the majority of the adult population is armed with Mantis B, then we surpass even the regular army in terms of the quality of hand weapons. Add in the ultimate motivation, and you'll have an extremely dangerous opponent for any current Citadel Space army."

"So we're going to fight back?"

"Must."

"Should they?.. This is if you're preparing to punch — and you get hit with a baseball bat... or even a sledgehammer!"

"Pirates and corporations don't have sledgehammers, daughter... but there might be a bat. And then — keep us all safe, Spirits."

"Aunt Kasia, what have we done to stop them all? After all, all the races of Space participated in the creation of the colony. Even the Hanars have fish farms on the ocean coast. And a blow to us is a blow to all races at the same time. Plus, Mendoir is in Asari space, and the matriarchs are extremely sensitive to attacks on their worlds."

"The Republic's society is split, and in general, their entire civilization is at a standstill. Mendoir is an attempt to find a way out. Not just for the Asari, but for everyone else... and it was a good attempt. Many people in the Republic (and not only there) do not like this. It is a pity that the Hierarchy cannot openly intervene — our success has opened the eyes of many at home. But father contacted Primarch Fedorian, and he promised that at the first signal, several ships of our Fifth Fleet would come to the colony's aid.

"What?! Did your father just contact the highest head of the Hierarchy?"

"Well, it's not exactly easy... but yes, they know each other."

"Is you father familiar with the primarch?!"

"Igor, after all, Fedorian was not always the primarch — he was once the Spectr of the Council, then he and his father met."

"Unbelievable! It feels like everyone in this galaxy knows each other... or at least my friends do."

Cassia looks at me with a smile.

"Won't the Asari be outraged, Aunt Kasia?"

"Let them be indignant. In this case, the Hierarchy is in its own right, a fourth of the colony's population are Turians. Our people will simply reply that they are acting in accordance with the law on the protection of their fellow tribesmen. The main thing is to hold out for a few hours before they arrive."

"Let's hope we don't have to hold on."

My aunt hugs me tightly, feeling anxiety and fear.

"Let's hope so, Igor..."

Earth, San Francisco

Exo Tower, headquarters of Exo Geni Corporation, 220th floor

The office of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the corporation, Brandon Zhou

The dim office was an amazing mix of European, North American and Chinese styles, however, thanks to the talent of the designer, they did not conflict, but complemented and shaded each other. A young-looking man dressed in an expensive double-breasted suit stood at a huge panoramic window overlooking the Pacific Ocean and looked at the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge. His slightly slanted eyes revealed his Asian roots. Nearby, an old man was sitting in a wheelchair suspended in the air. The old man had a pronounced Asian appearance, and his brown eyes burned fiercely on his deeply lined face.

You're making a mistake, Brandon. An attack on Mendoir could be disastrous. If the Russians find out (and they will sooner or later), they will stop at nothing to take revenge. And you are the last of the Zhou family. The family has been moving towards today's power for centuries, and one mistake can ruin everything!

"Grandpa Ho, we have everything taken into account — the tracks will lead to Cerberus and hang on the Ghost. This mercenary, this arrogant Laowai, Jack Harper, has become too much for himself! He even dares to challenge the decisions of the board of directors! The impudent creature..."

"There are powerful people from Congress behind him, grandson."

"These "influential people" owe us so much that they'll even bark in unison at my first word. Nobodies who think they're masters. I hate it!"

"Russians are not like that. You know that all these corporations of theirs are a screen behind which the industrial machine of the Soviet Union is hiding, and this was done for the convenience of working with foreign markets."

"I know! But they need to be stopped, or at least slowed down, because they are already working on the creation of several more colonies of this type, only in the Hierarchy space. And no pirate will go there — it's certain death. If the Russians and the Turians come to an agreement, they will become the strongest in the Alliance and will be able to dictate their will to all of us. This is unacceptable!"

"Maybe it was worth agreeing and trying to work together?"

"I tried. But I was told that an indispensable condition for working together is to break off contacts with the Hegemony and stop supporting Cerberus. But I can't do that — too many projects are tied to Cerberus, and trading with the Hegemony brings us a third of the profits."

"An attack, then?"

"Yes. This will slow down the influx of settlers and strain relations between the races, because among the pirates we use, there are equally Batarians and humans."

"Arthur Hackett is on the Ground, and the old wolf is digging his nose into the ground. And due to the fact that half of the general staff are his friends and students, he can dig up a lot and create serious problems for us."

"The admiral will be taken care of, Grandpa Ho."

"You're striding wide, grandson, look — you'll tear your pants! Touch the admiral, and even a fool will know that his death is connected with the attack on Mendoir."

"There is no choice. The Cerberus command Council approved the operation. They even allocated mercenaries to capture several facilities. Money has been allocated, and M777 howitzers and their shells have been removed from long-term storage arsenals."

"It's an incredible piece of junk!"

"This junk is enough for the colonists."

"Anyway. It's a gamble, and a crazy one at that. Border guards may intervene, and all this dirt will surface, covering everyone around. The Asari, upon learning, will raise a cry in the Citadel Council, because this is their world."

"We agreed with the matriarchs — they will keep the talkative and loud ones. And the border guards won't budge-Admiral Raeder promised me that personally."

"Have you contacted Raeder? With this unfinished fascist? He doesn't consider all non-whites to be humans, but treats xenos like animals! I hope your contacts haven't been fixed?"

"No. I know perfectly well, Grandpa, that if my contacts with this fucking Nazi surfaced, the whole family would turn away from us."

The old man turned his chair around and quickly flew out of the office, but turned around on the threshold.

"This is crazy, grandson. I have a feeling that we're all going to regret what we did very soon. Is the operation definitely unstoppable?"

"No. It's too late — the ships have gone to Mendoir, they will attack in two weeks, and there will be no contact with them until the end of the operation."

"May the spirits of our ancestors protect us all. I hope this is the last such operation. The family doesn't want to get involved in this kind of filth, and Brandon, I hope you'll listen to our opinion.

The door clicked shut behind the old man, and the young man was left alone. He walked over to the luxurious leather armchair by the table and sat down in it. He folded his hands on the polished tabletop, clasping them, and thought about something.

"Mr. Zhou, you have a call from a Ghost caller. Connect it?"

The secretary's voice came over the intercom.

"Yes."

A hologram of a rather young blond man dressed in a modern light suit slowly appeared in front of the table. His eyes stood out unnaturally in his calm, intelligent face. It would not be difficult for knowledgeable people to understand that bioprostheses were used instead. The man held a lit cigarette in his hands and periodically inhaled, releasing clouds of smoke.

"Greetings, Mr. Zhou. The operation started successfully. But I am tormented by very big doubts about the success of its completion."

"Mr. Harper, I'm not interested in your doubts. When we hired you, we expected you to follow our orders accurately and on time, and coordinate the work of our departments to avoid duplication and waste of effort and resources. You are constantly challenging the decisions of the board of directors and my personal ones."

"With all due respect, sir, but if some of your decisions are wrong, then I, as a responsible employee, must warn you about this, and I am surprised by your irritation. Our organization doesn't have the best reputation as it is, and if it comes out that we were involved in an attack on the colony, I'm afraid to even imagine the consequences."

"Other people will take care of the possible consequences, Mr. Harper, it's not your concern."

"And one more thing, sir. I hope that you have informed your people among the mercenaries about the need for careful handling of the object."

"What kind of object are we talking about?"

"About the kid. He must be captured without causing any damage to his health and psyche. He is the key to the power of our race. Mr Shepherd death is unacceptable under any circumstances, sir."

"How important is it?"

"Very important, sir. But it will be possible to talk about the degree only after he is with us."

"What about his parents?"

"I've given the order to spare their lives if possible, but capturing the boy is more important than their fate."

"That's your problem, Mr. Harper. In general, I consider your attempts to improve human nature using the genes of unique representatives of our race to be a waste of time and resources. But it's up to you, try. Is that all?"

"Yes, sir."

The hologram goes out.

Kronos Station, Cerberus headquarters

He was sitting in an armchair in the middle of the construction debris — the station under construction was far from complete, but it was already clear that it was wonderful and extremely well located. He sat and smoked one cigarette after another, staring blankly into space in front of him. His lips moved soundlessly, repeating several phrases, and if only there was someone else around, especially someone who could read them... but everything was empty.

"That's how I repay my friends, that's how... Well, Jack, here you are! You betrayed everything you believed in, you betrayed your friends, and you will repay evil for saving your own life. Fuck, why didn't I listen to Mikhail? What, the rise of humanity, the power of the race, blah blah blah... what's next? Will you betray this very humanity? You've already betrayed yourself, yourself and your friends! Everything you believed in turned out to be a dummy — a beautiful picture hiding the greedy grin of corporations. And there is no way back.... They'll find you. If the Grayson pawn is being hunted like this, and sooner or later it will be found, then the whole galaxy will be looking for you. Bitch... fuck... Never mind, Jack Harper is still messing around! Did you decide to blame everything on me? No, it's not... As Mishka used to say, "Fuck you!" I'll dance on your graves and spit on the monuments! I'll be the master of Cerberus myself! By myself, single-handedly!