Chapter 315: The Time For Bold, Decisive Men (1/2)

“Twelve hundred kilometres is the best you can do?” Miranda complained. “And you have to wait an hour between portals? That’s pathetic.”

“Pathetic?” Remy asked incredulously. “Let’s see your portal power, bitch.”

“Remy, calm down,” Sebastian said, then turned on Miranda. “And you keep your damn mouth shut. You don’t like it, go catch a plane.”

“I though we’d be portalling straight to France,” she said. “Where even are we?”

“Kakadu National Park,” Remy said. “We’re in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and you complain. One of the most iconic locations in your own damn country and you don’t even recognise it. How self-absorbed are you?”

They were atop a high rock formation, overlooking a river forest gorge. In the far north of Australia it was still scorching hot despite the season and the winds blowing across their high vantage offered pleasant relief.

“There isn’t an essence user in the world that can portal sixteen thousand kilometres,” Sebastian told Miranda. “There’s only a handful of people that can do a tenth of that.”

“I’ve heard the Chinese have someone they’re trying to get to category four who can do a few thousand at a time,” Remy said, “but that might be just a rumour. Maybe a category four could do sixteen thousand, so feel free to leave and go find one.”

“So much for the great portal master Barbou promised,” Miranda said. “Nothing but excuses.”

“Ellis,” Sebastian warned. “One of us is going to keep your mouth shut. I recommend it’s you.”

“I got you out of that place and this is how you treat me?” Miranda asked.

“You got me into that place.,” Sebastian said. “When you told us about the outworlder, you failed to mention that he was a god damn monster.”

“It’s not my fault a category three can’t take out one category two. You even had the jump on him and you messed it up,” Miranda said. “I’m starting to think I’ve joined a ship of fools.”

Sebastian and Remy shared a glance. Remy nodded and Sebastian shrugged, before raising his arm in Miranda’s direction. Tiny metal hummingbirds were conjured all around him, buzzing forward to plunge their needle beaks into Miranda’s flesh. Sebastian followed up by dashing forward and kicking her square in the chest, sending her sailing over the side of the rock formation, bouncing off it time and again as she tumbled.

“She was right,” Sebastian said. “It is easy to take out a category two.”

“It’s for the best,” Remy said. “No way we’re hopping all the way across Asia and Europe without killing her. A personality like that is practically a suicide note.”

“Adrien won’t be happy about losing her contacts still in the Australian branch if the outworlder survives,” Sebastian said.

“You think he will? The EOA sent a dozen guys, armed up with drones and those silver-rank tracker rockets. And that’s for after his plane gets blown out of the sky.”

“That little prick is a survivor,” Sebastian said. “A hundred says he lives.”

“I’ll take that action.”

“We should let Adrien know about Ellis,” Sebastian said.

“I don’t think he’ll be worried,” Remy said, pulling out his phone. “The only thing he really wanted out of her was getting you free.”

Remy held up his phone, peering at it.

“No signal,” he said. “Can you give me the sat phone?”

Sebastian looked at the spot Miranda, who had the satellite phone, had gone over the edge.

“Uh…”

When Jason answered the satellite phone, he didn’t have a chance to speak before the person on the other end started speaking in French.

“Why haven’t you checked in?” the voice on the phone end demanded.

“I’ll tell you all about it when we meet in person,” Jason said.

There was silence on the other end for a long time until the same voice spoke again.

“Am I speaking to Mr Asano?”

“You are,” Jason said. “Am I speaking to Mr Barbou?”

“So you got them to talk. I would have much preferred you just slaughter them all.”

“We don’t have to take such drastic action, Mr Barbou.”

“Is that so?”

“It is,” Jason said. “Now that I’m alive, your prisoner is of little use to you, if any. Whatever you might force from her, the Network will get from me quite freely. I’m going to make you an offer, which I hope you take.”

“And what’s that?”

“Give her up to me, as soon as I arrive in France. I won’t retaliate and I’ll make sure that the Lyon branch doesn’t get shut out from all the things I’ll be providing the Network.”

“That doesn’t sound like something the other branches or the International Committee will sign off on,” Barbou said.

“I don’t care,” Jason said. “I have what everyone wants, which means I get what I want, so long as I’m willing to share.”

“That’s a peaceful offer from the man who killed a bunch of people on television.”

“I’m trying to do things better. Less killing, more diplomacy.”

“What’s to stop you from coming after my head the moment you have her?”

“My need to make a deal ever again. However all this plays out, word is going to get around about what happens between you and me. If I turn on you immediately, my word becomes worthless. That puts my arrangement with the Network under threat, along with any other deal I might want to make in the future.”

“So, you offer forgiveness?” Adrien asked.

“Call it what you like. I’ve been trying to teach myself to let go of the past so it doesn’t poison my future. You and I can go at it, but I don’t care about taking you down. I care about getting her away from you. If letting you go gets me that and coming after you just endangers her, I’m happy to take her and never see you again.”

“You do remember that I tried to have you kidnapped, then I tried to have you killed. Minutes ago.”

“You’re not the first on either count,” Jason said. “I’m still alive and have a new boat, which is how it usually goes. It’s not always a boat, just whatever valuable stuff they have on them. Look, give her up. She has no value to the Network while I’m in play, which is why you’re trying to kill me but that isn’t working out. I can’t speak for the Network, but as you said, you’ve come at me twice now and you’ve seen the results. I think you’re beginning to understand what happens if you don’t turn her over to me.”

“I have to say that your timing is unfortunate.” Adrien said. “The truth is, Mr Asano, that if you made me this offer as little as three days ago, I’d probably have taken it. Unfortunately, the pressure coming down from the International Committee forced me to take steps I can no longer walk back. Otherwise, I never would have risked making these arrangements personally and you and I would have never had this scintillating chat. The Network won’t let me go, even if you do, and I’ve made promises I need your fellow outworlder to keep.”

“There’s no place you can hide that I won’t find sooner or later, Barbou. There’s no place you can run that I can’t follow.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Adrien said. “Some things are beyond even your abilities, as wondrous as I’m sure they are.”