The Children of Zegandaria - Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (world best books to read txt) 📗

was extremely careful, for he was now coming for the sixth time. Four of the previous attempts had been unsuccessful, but the  one had resulted in some progress. He was carrying the promised eromonium seritinide, but would not deliver it to the sufferer until he had carried out the final part of his experiment.

Before they started the sufferer said to him:

- There is no hope for me. Thank you for being my only friend. Though he had a purpose of his own. You filled this last part of my life with happiness. Even if only for a short time.

He fell silent and stared into nothingness. His face was eaten away by some strange sickness. "Emvor Na" was a clinic that dealt with advanced diagnosis of such cases that no one elsewhere had an explanation for. Judging by the simple symtomatics, then, some of the scars that were visible resembled space plague, but Jonathan had never worn a special biodefense suit. He'd just gone as an ordinary visitor - albeit incognito.

Sacklin listened to his tirade in silence. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable, but he wanted it to be over sooner. Cut off from society, this patient was the only semblance of a friend he had ever had. Yes, the surroundings around him were full of sorrow and hopelessness, but Jonathan was determined to have the desired effect. And there was no power on this planet that could stop him!

- "I'd just like to ask you what you're actually sick of," Sacklin looked at his face somewhat strangely. "I don't remember you telling me."

At this question the sick man's face seemed to change and he began to squirm in his exanaran isolation capsule. This overmodern capsule was designed in a way to be able to withstand such rampages, but here, even Sacklin wondered if his life was in danger. Just in case this time, he'd shoved a small laser cutter into a compartment of his suit just in case.

He wondered if he should use it. But the exanarran capsule was still holding up, and it looked like it would do this time.

Then Sacklin heard footsteps in the hallway and was afraid he was going to be captured. He didn't like that, because in that case all his current work would go to hell. Not to mention he could also be sued for treason and unauthorized access to a heavily guarded skyscraper like the Emvor Na.

Jonathan Sacklin wondered where he could hide, because they would get to him very soon. So he decided to do the unthinkable. He flipped the sick man onto his back after injecting him with eromonium seritinide, which finished him off in seconds. Sacklin then straightened his spine with his laser cutter, which was capable of making completely bloodless incisions, and sunsequently ripped it out - it wasn't too difficult, because he was using his suit's hydraulics, which increased his arm strength many times over. He then quickly slipped into the capsule and hid under the thus torn corpse. From a distance, it was impossible to tell that there was a person hiding there, but Sacklin realized that if they got close, he would have to fight, and he didn't particularly like that prospect.

The footsteps stopped just outside the massive hydron door, and Sacklin guessed that someone's watchful eye was peering through the well-insulated bersonite glass that could withstand a blast from even a plasma weapon. A few moments of painful anticipation. Sacklin felt himself dying for fear of being discovered. Then the footsteps calmly continued down the corridor. Silence followed - complete and all consuming.

Sacklin slipped out of the hospital room with neither onion eaten nor onion smelled. It was very easy to just pretend to be mad, but this stunt wasn't going to pass. Unlike regular hospitals, here you didn't just go through a regular reception area, but through a controlled pass with three levels of security, and there were a dozen ghost warriors lurking around. Sacklin despaired. How the hell was he going to get out of this jam?

He figured if he stole a medical suit and the corresponding narenzianan chip of the person in question, he'd be able to fool the guards if there was no other way but to get through.

Of course, he had taken certain precautions before leaving his own and had made sure to hide the corpse accordingly. In every hospital room there was a georan bath, which by vacuum treatments dried the body of him who availed himself of its services. Sacklin had to take a quick 'shower' before leaving it.

Now he had to watch out for some other things as some of them were really dangerous - too much so even.

THE ARTUK BOARDING HOUSE

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE: THE ARTUK BOARDING HOUSE

 

It was a living hell for Namuro to go back to school where everyone made fun of him, but he had to finish according to the instructions given to him by Jail. There were two reasons for this. First, he had to do something to avoid attracting attention until he came of age. Next, he had to put in those notorious fifteen hours of community service that had been Enshrined since the days of Governor Gordon Elmbaum. Namuro felt bored as hell in the hours where he learned nothing new.

The teachers were also hell won and didn't do much to Endear themselves to him. It was around this time that he met Esodo, the same one who would later become the cause of his death, but he didn't know it yet. He had no way of knowing it either because he wouldn't meet him until the second semester. The days passed in a dreadfully monotonous and even irritatingly dull menner. Namuro walked around the huge campus of Artuk. As Charlie Tennow, who had been a former guard there before Boss recruited him and formed his team, had said, the place bred „aristocratic thugs.“ And, hell yeah, he was right! The children of these snobs, living in the well-insulated world of their parents, were willing to do a lot of things to fit into that world. Many of them failed and became depressed. Others simply shot themselves. Cases were not rare on campus, but things were not made public for fear of damaging the reputation of the institution. Teachers were allowed to carry quality weapons as anything could happen. There were cases of studEnt riots. Namuro might apply what he learned from Jail, but there was a high possibility of being found out, so he just pretended not to care.

The students here were selected in terms of what their parents' net worth[68] was, which was also part of their school success.

There were even cases of students being expelled just because of this fact no matter how well they did in their daily lives.

Learning science was also a priority and things like quantum mechanics, particle physics, intergalactic language and other oddities were taught. Very rarely did anyone graduate with full honors.

Namuro carried the intellect of Kenji Nolsuro - the genius Vice Admiral of Enzoria - and it was a beanpole job for him to handle most of the assignments. Still, he did his best to play the fool, for he was clearly aware that there would be a huge benefit to himself, if only in keeping his cover longer.

"Artuk" had a strange status - it was neither a government facility nor, on the other hand, a private school for snobs. It was sort of a protected area where whatever was going on was none of anyone's business.

Deep down, Namuro knew that sooner or later he would have to confront the school bullies. He didn't need to be told either, but until then he would do his best to stretch Esodo's nerves as much as possible.

Namuro was a subtle psychologist who was well aware of how far he could and couldn't go, and he never crossed the exact line he had drawn. This helped him a lot in communicating with others, and he took advantage of it with his whole being.

The futuristic campus was the refuge for so many scoundrels who had never, ever been in real life - they didn't even know what it was! It consisted of four main buildings, each one having a special function. One was where the classes were held, the second was where those for physical training were held, the third was what was called the dormitory section[69] and the last was for the administration of the school and support staff.

Namuro tried to cope with their dull whims and trust that he would be able to adjust to everyone in time, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

There was also more and more open talk among the students of an imminEnt exodus from this planet, due to rumors of demons preparing to attack it. It seemed extremely foolish to listen to their ramblings, but he still pricked up an ear every now and then, and little by little he began to believe that, exaggerated as it was, there might be some grain of truth.

Their daily routine was always pretty much the same - early breakfast, two or three hours of classes, and an afternoon game marathon in which Namuro always won first place.

Esodo was a sneaky little bastard, and he was clearly aware that to thrive in a place like this, he had to have protection from the bigger ones. Namuro and he were peers. But Namuro's gang ran this boarding house, and would continue to do so.

He couldn't wait for them to finish and deal with this insolent cure once and for all, but Jail had warned him not to draw undue attention. It was just going to have to last another year and a half or so - an eternity during which he just wondered how to kill the boredom.

Very quickly, he was joined by a couple of loyal boys who had his back.

Esodo wasn't causing any problems, but he was stretching Namuro's nerves to the limit with his arrogant attitude of being too much on top of things. They just had to teach him a lesson.

They trailed him down the hallway and attacked him in a group. Esodo hid in one of the rooms and tried to get out of there. And so it came to that famous window scene that Emborian himself had seen in his visions.

JAIL HUNTER

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIX: JAIL HUNTER

 

Jail Hunter had realized that he would have to wait a long time for what he had secretly hoped