“She still sounds nice,” Stockham said, leaning back in his chair, the playful joke and look in his eyes doing little to alleviate the tension in the conference room.
Isaac slumped in his own seat. Only a few hours had passed since the attack, and while the shower and short cultivation session may have cleaned him up and steadied him, he still felt dour on the whole. People were dead, not soldiers or revolutionaries in the line of fire, but people with no stakes in the conflict. They were living their own lines and got caught up in the machinations originating in conference rooms across Arcadia such as this one. He rubbed his temples and frowned, the sight of the radio in the center of the table doing little to improve his mood, either.
In one minute, Chief Amien would speak over the radio about the recent attacks. Based on the news flowing into the conference room brought by scurrying couriers and operatives, there were at least seven other attacks today, many in similar scope and size as the one in downtown Narragansett. Combined with the scattered murders of bank officials and junta figures the night before, Arcadia had seen its worse days of internal violence since the nationalization and airship armada.
And to think, that was only a month or two ago. Isaac sighed. Out of the oven, into the frying pan.
Without further ado, the radio broadcast began right on time with the triumphant playing of the Arcadian national anthem, complete with blaring bugles and trumpets. All the men in the conference room paid close attention - Stockham ashed his cigar, Admiral Broadhurst of the Combined Fleet with his neat buzz cut closed his eyes in concentration, spectacled Chief Leyton of Naval Intelligence took notes, big Osip stood in the corner of the room with his massive arms crossed, Bell sat with his plain-faced smile, Reed idly picked wax out of an ear, Isaac leaned forward with tented fingers on the long table with its rich maroon color.
“Good evening, people of Arcadia,” Amien began. He spoke calmly, crisply, a smooth voice made for radio. “Our beloved nation finds itself under attack from those who would do it harm once more. Under the guidance of Supreme Commander Pulaski and those who toil on his behalf, Arcadia serves as a beacon of light in a valley of darkness - it is for this reason that our enemies continue to dare strike us so. In a series of dastardly terrorist attacks, lives have been lost, children’s futures have been taken, and flames of life have gone out. The enemy wishes to decapitate our government and destroy our very way of living. This I will not allow.”
The last time Amien made a speech like this, he ordered the nationalization of all Zhanghai assets in the country. Isaac glanced around the room - everyone waited with baited breath to see what would come next.
“Thanks for the tireless efforts of the members of the State Police - soldiers, law enforcement, emergency responders, paramedics - the bleeding has been staunched, and many lives have been saved. But we should not rest on our laurels. We have repeatedly come under attack from those within our borders who wish to destroy Arcadia. We cannot allow this to continue.”
The radio crackled while Amien paused for a moment. “We will be commencing an ambitious plan of efficiency and rationalization to construct what I refer to as the National Security State. There are no bystanders in our fight against those who wish us harm. All civilian organizations, be it charity, hunting, unions, will be brought under the control of the State Police. All districts, all neighborhoods, all towns, all villages - every locale from the biggest city to the smallest shire - will be required to establish political associations of their own which will also be brought under the control of the State Police. Furthermore, youth leagues will be created for both boys and girls. Participation in all political associations and youth leagues are mandatory. All of us have a vested interest in Arcadia - there can be no onlookers or fellow-travelers.”
There were a few glances around the room, none of them good.
“Effective immediately,” Amien continued. “Travel is restricted to the following cities, with State Police issued-passes required to either enter or exit.”
Amien listed several cities and towns, some of which Isaac recognized. Most noticeably, Arcadia’s three biggest cities - Narragansett, Acushnet, and Androscoggin - were left off the list. The cities that did make it to the list were scattered across the country, many of which had their economies centered around natural resources and refinement centers - nickel mines, cobalt mines, magnesium mines, the usual coal and iron, steel mills, weapon factories, heavy industry.
Amien had more to say. “To further the rationalization of our great nation, we will begin the movement of specific populations within the country. Such movements will contribute to a state of national security and defense readiness, as well as increase the efficiency the economy. Seized Zhanghai facilities will be relocated to more productive locations, along with the laborers who work at them. For those who elect not to participate in our great nation-building project, alternative employment is available in the closed cities or up north.”
Up north. That could only mean the “logging camps” operated by the State Police in the northern wilderness. A person assigned there either came back broken, perfectly loyal to the State Police, or didn’t come back at all.
“We must stride, hand-in-hand, to save Arcadia,” Amien proclaimed. “Dissent is not an option, lest our own foundations crumble beneath us. The Skyfather has ordained us with a grand mission - to be the source of civilization in the new era dawning upon us. Our work is not finished. Nor will it ever be if we do not come together at the present moment. We must endure, citizens of Arcadia. By the sword, we seek peace. A quiet peace, under liberty.”
The bugles played again as Amien signed off for the night. The conference was quiet for a moment, filled with the militaristic orchestra of the Arcadian national anthem, until Broadhurst shut the radio off with a furrowed brow.
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“They’re not content with just seizing control of the Navy,” he said quietly, face deep in thought. “They wish to seek control of everyday life itself, until the State Police is embedded within the singular fabric of Arcadian society. Before, their agents observed and struck when necessary, silencing dissent where it appeared. But these political organizations, these youth leagues, these forced relocations of wholesale populations - they desire to infiltrate the lives of the citizenry until service to the State Police becomes the very nature of Arcadian living.”
Reed frowned, and even Bell’s face slipped down into a neutral look. After everything those at the conference had been through, the thought of continuing on in this life-and-death struggle with seemingly no end in sight was enough to sour the mood in the room.
“Complete and utter control,” Stockham summarized. He leaned forward in his chair, tapping a finger on the table. “Gentlemen, we are facing two concurrent crises here. First is the esoteric, this tale of Rebecca Kane and the events of five hundred years ago. The second is the here-and-now, the ambitions of the State Police and their allies in the Army. The two are certainly related, but not necessarily in lockstep. By pulling threads at one, we might be able to unravel the other.”
The calm thoughts of the general lifted the morale at the conference. Leyton, keeping down a sigh while adjusting his glasses, went through his files. “Let’s start with the esoteric. The entity known as the Mind is publicly known as Rebecca Kane within the State Police.” From his papers he slipped out a few black-and-white photographs and sent them around the room.
When they got to Isaac, he swallowed at the sight. The photo was of Emmitt Amien’s swearing-in ceremony as Chief of the State Police over a decade ago. A much-younger, though still elderly, Supreme Commander Pulaski shook his hand at a grand ceremony surrounded by dozens of officers. One of them, in the second row, had her eyes filled with ambition as she gazed at Amien - Rebecca Kane. Compared to how she appeared now, she hadn’t aged a day.
“The extent of Kane’s influence within the State Police is unknown,” Leyton said. “Does she rule from the shadows through Amien? Or does she nudge national politics along in the direction of her choosing to advance her own plans? We’re unsure. But, thanks to her conversations with Cadet Spallacio, we have a better understanding of her motives."
All eyes were on Isaac. He coughed and spoke. “She’s not human, but not quite divine.”
“A demigod?” Reed proposed.
Isaac hadn’t heard of the term, but based on the looks around the table, it seemed to fit. “Her demigod race, and our human race - she seems to think that only one can survive.”
“The extermination of human life,” Stockham mused. “How does that fit in with turning Arcadia into a totalitarian state? There must be more to this.” Then he looked at Isaac with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “And how does your child fit into this?”
When Isaac told the room earlier about Kane’s parting words, Reed had to stifle a laugh while the others frowned and pondered.
“Some sort of union between races,” Broadhurst said in the present, his voice articulate and clear. “Which would go against the theory of human extermination.”
“Unless she wishes to combine them in some way,” Leyton proposed. “Eliminate the humans by mixing them with the demigods?”
The men in the room were stumped. Isaac decided to seek more information. “What’s the significance between Isaac and Rebecca?”
Reed lit her own cigarette, a rare unmarked one without her scrawl. “To continue the old story, after the Flood wipes all life on earth except for the chosen few - the descendants of Seth, not Cain - life repopulates and grows, and Seth’s lineage continues until it reaches a man named Isaac. He had a wife named Rebecca, and two sons, Esau and Jacob.”
Isaac wasn’t particularly interested in having a kid with Kane, thank you very much, so he frowned as Reed continued. “Esau was the elder and therefore should’ve inherited the Kingdom of God. But Rebecca preferred Jacob, so she deceived Isaac into making Jacob his heir. It sounds like Kane wants to replicate that somehow.”
Reed patted Isaac on the shoulder, the cigarette dangling from her mouth as she spoke. “It could be worse, Isaac. You might’ve taken the role of Lot with his daughters. Now that wouldn’t have been fun.”
Isaac didn’t understand the reference and decided to ignore her. “So what does this mean for me?”
“For now, nothing,” Stockham admitted. “We’ve reached the end of our line of thinking with the esoteric side of things. A better understanding of the Unleashing will help us with that, so we’ll continue to pursue this Odessa thread. Our agents here have turned up nothing, but I have several working in the archives of the Free City of Kjipuk up north.”
Leyton shuffled his papers. “And fortunately, we’ve found trails to follow for the present situation. Ethnic minorities launching terrorist attacks under the banner of Restorationism with heavy weapons and powerful cultivation right after the Navy founded several ethnic regiments - it seems somebody wishes to frame us. As to who’s responsible, that’s what we’re going to find out.”
He tapped a ballpoint pen in one of his notebooks. “First though, unfortunately, we’ve hit a temporary roadblock regarding Grigoris, the man from the Atalantan regiment who attacked the Naval Police building the other night. The State Police have already started walling up the minority districts and will presumably begin moving them around the nation soon. We’re facing difficulties in finding Grigoris’s sister in all of this chaos. I’ll keep my men working, but I’m afraid we won’t turn up anything for a while.”
Then Leyton revealed an ambitious grin. “But we do have an open path ahead of us in one regard. The terrorists destroy themselves using powerful charm papers. These papers, which can only come from the White Rain Tree and be created with Charm Printing Presses, are heavily regulated by the military. It’s obvious that these fronts have military backing. But we can narrow down those backers based on the charm papers.”
He handed out graphs and papers. “Previously, only Zhanghai harvested and prepared charm papers in Arcadia, selling it to us at steep prices. But thanks to the efforts of Admiral Broadhurst during the nationalization - out of eight Zhanghai farms and facilities, five were seized by the Navy. There’s a good chance that the charm papers used by the terrorists came from one of our own seized Zhanghai facilities. That’s where you, the three members of Squad Reed, will begin your investigation.”
Smoke briefly rose from his ashtray as Reed crushed her cigarette in it. “After all this, I doubt the Naval Police would let Coleridge off of us. It’s gonna be difficult to travel around and do all that detective work.”
“In merely two days’ time, Coleridge will be off your backs,” Leyton simply said. He turned his attention to Isaac.
“Cadet Spallacio, meet with Lynn after this. She’s been working on this Coleridge project for me and has turned up some…interesting results regarding how he spends his free time.”