Eternity's War

Book 1: Chapter 1

The First Day

A soft tropical breeze brushed against Skye's face as he stared toward the city. After another long and restless day for the team, they were still no closer to completing their mission. One by one, the lights in the skyscrapers began to turn off, as they did every evening in the inner metropolis.

His shoulder-length hair gently swayed back and forth in the warm wind. As he stared absent-mindedly at the towering buildings in the distance, he tried to forget about the dangerous deadline that loomed—one that would change the fate of the country forever.

A small nation, but an economic powerhouse nonetheless, Athenia was created with limitless funding from the wealthiest neighbouring governments, and countless years of land reclamation. Slowly, the lights in Shangwu Qu, the nation's business district, faded into darkness. Skye couldn't help but feel it was a relevant metaphor for what he and his group were experiencing—much like the evening's light pollution, their chances of success were quickly diminishing.

He rose from the steel-grated balcony, the unspoken place of solitude and reflection. He took a last look at the skyline, which always reminded him of his home back in Xiaguo, then retreated inside the warehouse, descending the spiral staircase back to ground level. The others had retired for the evening, leaving an eerie silence in their base.

The only other person still awake was Ren, a middle-aged woman from Shizudera. She didn't even notice Skye walk back inside; her attention was fixed on the two large monitors mounted on the wall in front of her. She sat at her desk uncomfortably, typing commands into her glass keyboard screen.

"Anything?" Skye asked hopefully, noticing her bloodshot eyes. While he knew their friendship had been horribly strained as of recent, he still admired her tenacity. Unlike himself, she never once gave up, determined to see their mission through to the very end, and at any cost.

"Nothing," she muttered back. Skye asked her the same question on an almost hourly basis lately, and she always offered the same curt response.

Skye was hardly surprised by the answer. It was not an easy task finding the most protected man in the country. He looked down at the glowing clock on his wrist communicator. "We're running out of time, Ren. We need to find him."

Ren ignored him and continued typing, needing no reminder that time was running out. She tried to relax her shoulders, which had been tense since the countdown to the inauguration began four months earlier.

Skye took a step closer. "We're cutting it close. If we don't kill him by tomorrow, we may as well give up."

Ren stopped typing and turned her attention to her comrade, shooting him an aggravated glance. "I know that. What do you think I'm trying to do?" She shook her head and resumed hacking her way into the government's internal system. Highly encrypted, breaking into it was an immense challenge, even for someone as skilled as Ren. It didn't help that the system was sophisticated enough to constantly lock her out, sending her back to the beginning. So far she had retrieved very little information from the president's ever-changing itinerary, but wasn't willing to admit defeat until the man was dead.

Skye leaned against the wall and surveyed his metallic surroundings. Though bland and drab, not unlike an oversized prison cell, he had called it home for little over a year now. He tried to distract his mind from dwelling on what the newly elected president would do to the country once he came into power. A fierce and unscrupulous individual, he had to be taken out at all costs.

A beep interrupted the silence. Skye jumped as his wrist vibrated, startling his paranoid thoughts. He looked down at his comm and waved his hand over it, opening the new email and letting out a disappointed groan.

"Who is it from? Nikolai?" Ren asked as she brushed her silver hair out of her eyes.

Skye glanced at her and raised an eyebrow, not bothering to respond. She knew as well as he did who it was from.

Despite her tired mood, a smirk crept across her face. "Does he want to meet up with you?"

"Of course he does," he moaned. The weekly meetings with Nikolai had become tedious at best. "I don't have time for this. I'll tell him I'm not going."

"You should go," she urged. "It might do you some good to get outside and clear your thoughts. Plus it's very distracting when you just stand there and watch the screen over my shoulder."

He knew she was right. The last thing he wanted was to hinder Ren's efforts in any way, but until she was able to tell him the location of the president, he could only stand idly by and wait.

Skye stroked his beard. "Fine, I'll go. Maybe this time he'll have some useful information to share."

"I doubt that."

Nikolai was wealthy and resourceful, but relying on him to kill the president for them was not an option. Nikolai hated Athenia's new leader more than anyone, and wouldn't think twice about having him executed, but no risks could be taken when the stakes were so high.

Skye let out a loud yawn. "I should get some rest. If you find anything, wake me."

"Shall do."

He headed for his quarters. Every day that passed was one day closer to anarchy for the Athenians. Skye had witnessed it firsthand last year, and was determined to not let it happen again. Killing the president, it seemed, was the only road to peace for the small nation.