Chapter Thirteen

Hubert Quinn - Charleston, South Carolina

Quinn spoke softly to Jade as they walked into the small community venue with their arms linked. “I’m just happy you came with me to this thing. I hate emotional gatherings like this.”

Jade looked up and smiled. “You can’t complain about this one.”

They saw Masha carrying several drinks across a busy hall. There was something comical about seeing those muscles put to use on paper cups. Round tables were spread across the hall, full of reminiscing old people, reliving their prime years. Children ran around the venue playing, while teens huddled in corners chatting.

Many of the teens had their eyes down, staring at phones, tablets, and smart watch screens. One of them had an augmented reality headset, something frowned upon at a repast.

As expected, a few of them set their eyes on Quinn and Jade. They were the core demographic for social media. They would instantly recognize that the other immortals had entered their function.

Masha noticed when most of the eyeballs in the room shot in one direction. He handed the drinks to their owners and made his way to his fellow immortals, looking smart in his slate vest and slacks, his dreadlocks flowing over his broad shoulders. “Listen, Quinn, thank you for making it,” Masha said, shaking his hand.

“We are family too, after all,” Quinn replied.

Masha turned his attention to Jade and eyed her from head to toe. Jade beamed back at him. The two of them hadn’t seen each other in person for over three years. Masha leaned in to hug her. “You look as stunning in person as you do on TV.”

Jade swept her arm around his shoulder, returning the hug. “And you feel even more like a walking rock than you used to.”

Masha chuckled. “Ain’t it funny how freakish we are? Sometimes it’s hard fitting in with all the normal folk here.”

“You’re a better man than I am,” Quinn said. “I struggle to mix in society.”

“Well, you’re a celebrity on top of it, so your circumstances are a little different,” Masha said.

Quinn nodded. “But this situation we find ourselves in puts us all in the same boat.”

Masha nodded. “That’s right. You said you had something to show me.”

A man appeared on the stage at the other side of the room and spoke into a microphone. He announced himself as Bill, a close friend of Masha’s half-brother, Jason Allen Matthews. “I have a little poem that I wanted to share before we get to eating,” Bill said. He took a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. Once the children had stopped screaming, he started reciting his poem.

Quinn had no patience for poetry. “Listen,” he said, eyes set on Masha. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. It’s serious. You know we’re working closely with COG, who also works with the EIA by extension. Well, they’ve got surveillance drone footage of your brother’s murder. The cops haven’t shared this with your family yet because of the nature of this information.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Masha’s attention immediately turned away from Bill’s poems and toward Quinn’s face. “Show me.”

Quinn pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up the video. He handed Masha the phone to examine it for himself. “The video is only a few seconds long because these drones have to reserve storage space. But you clearly see her pull up on the bike, shoot, and make a getaway through the alleyway. As she turns into the alley, the camera captures her face.” Quinn held his breath as Masha glanced at the screen. He admired the video editor’s work. In reality, it was Jade’s PD in Los Angeles that snapped a shot of Zella and saved it to the cloud before being destroyed. That one shot allowed the editors to map Zella’s face onto the face of Jason’s true murderer.

Masha watched the video over and over, pausing at the last frame each time. “So, who is she?”

“You haven’t been watching the news at all, have you?” Jade said. “About ten days ago, I had an encounter with this woman myself. In Los Angeles. She’s the one that did Zip. And now she’s out to get us any way she can. Her name is Zella.”

“Who does she work with? She can’t be alone.”

“The woman is part of a terrorist group called Solace. It’s why the cops can’t have the footage yet. This is above the capability of a local police department.” Quinn said. “We have the authority to find and put a stop to her. Your brother had nothing to do with the Starlight program. He wasn’t attached to the government. Yet, he loses his life just because this woman believes we are walking American nukes. Just because she wants to make an example out of us. We have to bring this woman to justice, Masha, and I want us to do it together.”

Masha bit his lip. During his silence, the words of the poet filled their ears.

The scales of justice yearn to tilt, the gavel yearns to fall.

To offer peace unto his soul, and answer our calls…

Masha pressed the phone against Quinn’s chest. “Give me until the end of today. After all this mourning is done, I’m with y’all. Alright?”

Quinn took the phone and patted Masha on the back. “Take all the time you need.”

Masha led them to their seats before sitting beside his mother. Quinn wanted nothing more to leave, but now was the time to nurture his bond with Masha. Because he could never afford to lose him again. Masha was too strong and imposing to not be among their ranks. For a while, he watched Jade and her many expressions as people poured their hearts out over the loss of Jason Allen Matthews. Jade knew exactly how to emote in every situation. She could show the emotions that Quinn couldn’t, despite being every bit as cold-hearted as he.

Jade was more than shields and barriers to him. He was now the leader of Earth’s most superior beings, but having her by his side is what he was most proud of.

*

Finnigan Watts - ???

The Light Jet came to a halt on the runway and the wisecracking pilot filled the silence with more of his punchlines. “I promise you I didn’t do that landing while drunk, ladies and gentlemen. Even with an immortal on board, it’s a pilot’s responsibility to fly straight. That means I’ll save all my drinking for the flight home.”

A few of the cabin crew laughed. Finnigan, however, kept his stone face focused outside of the window. The landing strip was positioned on top of a flat mountain, meaning that he could see down onto the vast stretch of roads and buildings below.

The pilot continued his landing summary. “As you know by now, we are in sunny Solaria Del Sur, the capital of Naguela. It is now seven-forty-six in the evening, and as you can see, the sun is still beaming.”

Finnigan turned his head and eyed his COG associate, Dean, the one overseeing his mission. “Tell me we won’t have the same pilot on the way back,” he said.

“If you want a new guy, we’ll arrange it,” said Dean. “But a few dumb jokes on a tense flight won’t hurt ya.”

It didn’t take long for them to open up the passenger exit doors. Flying private had its perks. Finnigan was impatient and couldn’t stand waiting around watching strangers. He made his way down the footsteps, feeling himself sweat under the Naguelean heat. He had an important mission here, and he couldn’t wait to get it done.

-Mere Immortal is written by Gary Swift. If you see this on another website under another name, then someone has plagiarised it. Visit mereimmortal.com for official chapters. Subscribe to the Substack paid tier to read further ahead in the story.

-This version of Mere Immortal is written in US English.