Read Activate The Ravagers Ep1v2 for Free Online

that some part of whatever had caused the unusual evaporation of a large building might remain behind at the site was further evidence of that skill.
    His footsteps clattered on the marble flooring. He’d exchanged the heavy boots worn to the site of the incident for a more casual shoe, and each step echoed like the sound of a far-off gunshot. He could smell the chemicals hanging in the air. The cleaning crews had already gone, but not before leaving their mark—or rather, removing them—from the office tower.
    He rode up the elevator. He’d need to get the box to the holding tank, because—
    He froze as he opened the door to his office.
    Sheila Clarke was there, head resting upon the table in the corner of his space. The deep breathing told him she’d fallen asleep, waiting there for him. After a moment’s pause to get over the surprise, he adjusted his plans. Sheila woke slowly at his gentle prodding, then bolted to her feet as she realized where she was… and who had woken her.
    “General!” She snapped a sharp salute. “Sorry, sir, I… I guess I was tired.”
    He frowned at her. “Why aren’t you at home, Sheila?”
    “Each time I tried to leave I noticed people looking at your office and… well, I guess it became obvious that people thought the warning to stay away was some form of reverse psychology, sir.” She offered a sheepish grin. “They love you, sir, and each of them wanted to be the one to stage the new piece of artwork in your office.”
    He tilted his head. “Artwork?”
    She nodded. “That was our cover. You’d bought a new piece of art, a sculpture, and would be opening, unpacking, and displaying it in a manner of your choosing. You’d insisted on being the one to open the box for the official unveiling.”
    “So you decided to stay and guard the box? Even though I told you it was dangerous?”
    “I…” She frowned. “I guess I thought it best I keep others away. At least I knew it was dangerous. The others? They’d unknowingly unleash some catastrophe if I walked away. So I stayed.”
    He considered both the loyalty and courage demonstrated by her actions, and decided to trust her. “I need your help, then, Sheila. We need to move the box.”
    “I’d gathered that, sir. I just don’t know where. I know we could move it… below. That doesn’t secure the box any more than it is here, though.”
    He nodded. “There are secrets you’ve not yet learned about what lies below. There is a place where I know we can store the box and sleep soundly, knowing that we’re safe from what’s inside.”
    “Well, that’s good to hear, sir, because—”
    “And once it’s in that storage space, we’ll open the box to be certain we know what’s inside.”
    She paused. “Wait. You want to open a box with contents that could… kill us all?”
    He offered her a grim smile. “Precisely.”

seven
Wesley Cardinal
    …lack of commercially available materials made explosive devices of any size rare outside the few active theaters of fighting among the two great global Alliances…
    The History of the Western Alliance, page 727
     
    H e sat up in bed , breathing deeply.
    The dream faded from his mind. He’d relived the embarrassing moment from six months earlier when Sheila Clarke had loudly called for his immediate termination, leading to more than a few laughs at his expense the next week. His memory had shattered years earlier; his mind could not recall what he’d done—or not done—to draw her condemnation.
    He only knew that he hated Sheila Clarke.
    That hatred was tempered only by the fact that he found her wildly attractive. The few wisps of the dream remaining in his consciousness suggested that the two of them had acted on the latter in that dream world.
    What the hell was wrong with him?
    The buzzing sounded once more in his mind.
    He scowled.
    His short- and long-term memory were both in tatters. He had some intangible, indescribable sense that he’d once possessed far more