NewU Pt. 15

"Yeah, and I wanted to be a pilot."

"So, now what?" I said after taking a deep breath and leaning back in my chair.

Uri drummed his fingers against his clean-shaven chin as he thought for a moment. "Perhaps it is time we involved a few of the other knights. Marco, Fiona, and Jerry would be valuable assets. They also share the belief that there is a mole within the Conclave, and all were supportive of your quest."

"Do you trust them?"

"Trust is a rare commodity these days."

"Mmmmm," I leveled a gaze at Uri. For some reason, I still couldn't bring myself to trust him, I could tell that nothing he had said had been a lie, but just like I had withheld the information about Charlotte and the Sect from him, I had a feeling there were things that he wasn't telling me either. I knew he didn't like me, and I still didn't care, but it was more than that. Just like Charlotte had said about Marco, there was something about Uri that just set me on edge.

I looked around the diner as I rolled my neck. A face in the crowd stood out to me. A man, probably in his forties, hunched over his table as he nursed a cup of coffee. With graying hair, he had far too many wrinkles around his eyes to be considered normal. I briefly thought there was something familiar about him, but I couldn't quite place it. I was about to reach for his mind when Uri started rifling through his wallet and distracted me. More than that, I was eager to get back home to Faye. It was already strange how quickly her presence had become normal to me. The feeling vanished as quickly as it had arrived. With my perfect recall and that overriding sense of paranoia in my chest, I shrugged it off as mistaken identity and a case of my senses looking for threats in every shadowed corner. I turned my attention back to Uri. "I think my next step is to start looking into a certain plane crash."

He nodded. "Be careful," he added. "Try to find the information from here, but If you need to go there, make sure you talk as little as possible. Enter the minds of humans, find the information you need, and then wipe any memories of them ever seeing you. Leave as small a footprint as you are able."

"And if I find something?"

"Don't make a mess. I also would like to be informed if you hear anything else from Miguel. I am sure the Inquisition leadership would like to meet you, and I doubt I will be invited."

"Yeah, you got it."

"I will see you soon, Pete." Without another word and without waiting for my reply, he stood from our booth, tossed a bill onto the table, and left the diner.

I sighed heavily. The last few weeks had been exhausting on a level I hadn't felt in years. I needed to go home and spend a few hours in my bunker sleeping. Then Jeeves and I would spend the rest of the day with the computer, digging up everything we could about the plane crash twelve years ago that supposedly claimed the lives of the entire Montreaux branch of the Royal Inquisitors.

I picked up the notes that Uri had left, snorted when I realized that he had grossly overpaid, and took them to the cashier to pay. Yeah, that sort of service, where you leave your money on the table, isn't really a thing in the UK.

********

The winter air was brisk and surprisingly refreshing. I hated winter. I didn't like being cold, and I didn't like being wet, but I quite liked the snow. The British weather in the wintertime, however, provided more than enough cold and wet without ever making enough of an effort to provide the snow. Just like the food and our overall attitude toward customer service, it was half-arsed. With clear skies and a light wind, though, this early afternoon was surprisingly pleasant; it could almost be called a nice day. I shoved my hands into my pockets and started the short walk toward home.

********

And that's a wrap for chapter 15.

After being reunited with Faye, things take a sudden and dramatic turn in the next chapter for our hapless hero. Stay tuned for something that not even an all-powerful Evo could have seen coming.

Thank you for your comments and feedback. It never ceases to amaze me how supportive and receptive the readers of lit can be. I look forward to hearing what you think of this, and my other story - The Island - in the comments or on the Discord Server.

Stay Awesome.

Nova