Fallout

[Marcus DuBois]

Alexandrova Vladislavovna - Leonid Bykov

Office of the Consul on Public Engagement, Propaganda, and Interdominance Relations

Office of the Consulate on Communications

The vibration of her wallet woke Alexandrova out of a deep dreamless sleep and her left hand slapped out to grab it. She squinted her eyes at the harsh glow of the device to read the message. Vibration and movement to her right told her Leonid was doing the same. Both of them? Suddenly her heart jumped. This had to be bad.

She read the report and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, the rush of blood momentarily making her dizzy. She needed to focus. Leonid looked at her, his face grim. "This is bad"
, he said.

Both of them got up and she rushed immediately to her private wash room to get ready for the day. Shit! Her heart pounded with worry and fear as she performed her morning ablutions as quickly as possible, trying to deal with this. Nikolai had been hurt and was in critical condition. Her mind reeled at the thought, almost unbelieving. Her friend of over 25 years was now being medivaced to the hospital. Nikolai! It seemed impossible. They were part of his inner Sphere, the true Sphere. With them alone did Nik laugh and relax, confident in their complete loyalty. That he could now be dying worried her.

But the colder side of her- the part that was constantly analyzing information, viewing them through other people's eyes, drawing conclusions- felt terror. Nik was the empire. He was the heart of the CCD. His strength was its strength. If he died...she knew what would happen. Very likely the Sphere would rend the empire into pieces as each Privilege vied and fought for dominance, the way Alexander the Great's generals had torn apart his once great empire after his death. What would come was chaos.

Just the whisper of this getting out was enough to send tremors across the empire. Especially after the display yesterday afternoon- a display that had cemented the loyalty and awe in the hearts and minds of so many people- could something like this seem downright unnerving. She suspected there would be many who would see this as some sort of divine judgement. The thought sickened her. No. It infuriated her, that people would think something so childish of Nik. After all he had done for them. She shook her head as she dressed and ran a brush through her still damp hair.

They were out of her apartment in moments, headed for the Propaganda Consulate offices. "We have to get ahead of this. We cannot allow word of this to get out."
She winced as she read over more detailed reports, including the fact that ambulances and helos were seen at the Kremlin. Worse still, no one had thought to cover Nik up or hide his face while he was being transported. She snarled. "Incompetent fools!"
she said under her breath. Heads would roll for this. Even if Nik survived, the damage from this to the empire could be catastrophic.

Leonid was looking over his own reports and his frown said it was just as bad. "I've got Stella monitoring social media. Already we're seeing posts from people who are in the square. A few videos and pictures. Nothing specific yet, but posts are only beginning to be put up..."
he shook his head. It was only a matter of time. He stopped as his wallet rang and he answered it. She could hear an anxious voice on the other end and Leonid only gave short gruff responses. He looked at her, though, and she felt the knot in her stomach tighten.

"Is he alright? Any change?"
, she whispered. Leonid shook his head, silent as he listened. When he hung up he gave her more.

"No. He remains in critical condition. Viktor is there now. The doctors have him prepping for surgery. He's been shot, has heavy burns over the top half of his body, including his face and head. There is some damage to his heart and lungs...maybe even brain damage...."
he trailed off, shaking his head.

She stared at him. Shock numbing her, making it hard to think. None of this made sense. "Do we know what happened? Who's responsible? How could this have happened. "


"So far, the intel is trickling in. The ZARs report they had been ordered to stand down and relax their guard and surveillance of the old tunnels. Nik obviously had been expecting someone."
He shook his head. "I don't know what he was thinking."


Alexandrova did. Nik was thinking what he always thought. He was immortal. She understood that. His perspective- his long life, the way he maneuvered into his current position, his own personal power- in all of this nothing had ever really threatened him. Oh, he sometimes spoke of the monastery, but that had been decades ago. Before. Now he was the Ascendancy. More than a man. Ah Nik. Please don't tell me you came to believe the image we crafted together. He was so determined. So dedicated. So earnest. And it had worked out. Almost as if the universe itself had determined his life course, had made all of this happen so easily. Of course he did. Poor Nik. She could see him in the hospital, tubes in his nose, lying there, fighting for his life. Suffering.

An idea came to her, a contingency. They arrived at the office and it was in a flurry, bleary tired eyes and steaming cups of coffee saying her team had assembled immediately. Without Marcus. Another casualty. Nik was the priority, of course. But she did not forget that Marcus was also fighting for his life. The boy was smart and determined. He had much to offer. And Nik had seemed to take a liking to him. That hadn't happened in a long time. Most Sigmas were in and out in their two years and only met with the Ascendancy a handful of times. Something about him, though,was different.

But Nik. Nik was the priority. One of her staff poked her head in her office and said "You need to see this." She came out to see a video monitor set to a news feed. Shit. This just kept getting worse. Somehow, the news had leaked. There was even brief footage of Nik's burned face. The sight shocked her to her core. Knowing and seeing were two different things. He looked terrible. She ground her teeth. "Find out who leaked this."
God help that person when she found out. She turned to Leonid. His face was stony.

She shoved away her emotions. Now was not the time. "We've got to fix this."
He nodded.

"We can spin this. We just need an angle"
She nodded and gave him a small smile.

She turned to Alyssa, one of her aides. "Get us some coffee please. we have much to do."
The girl smiled, but that was not what Alexandrova noticed. She was looking at the chain that was around her neck, the cross nestled against her collar bone. It wasn't just the normal t-shape by itself. The form of Jesus had been set against the metal, head hanging down, slightly off to the side. She'd seen larger versions and the image was always the same. Suffering was the key part of it.

Before the coffee was even in hand, she and Leonid and her team began to strategize and formulate a response. There was a way. It took time. The hours passed. But they would be ready. Just in time for the morning news.
Edited by Marcus DuBois, Sep 27 2016, 03:45 PM.