Chapter 51 It could have been so different

Around five hours later, more vehicles appeared at the army camp. I stood watching them with Mal and Sophie with a mix of concern and awe. They were clearly taking us very seriously now.

“I thought you talked to them to calm them down,” Mal said, not bothering to hide the mocking tone from his voice.

“So did I,” I agreed.

“Well, I’m no expert on these things, but it looks like you managed the opposite.”

An unusual thrumming sound caught my attention, growing in volume until a few minutes later, a helicopter flew into view, all black and fancy looking.

As it landed, four black-suited figures all wearing some form of gas mask jumped out and made their way to speak with a uniformed soldier. They were also wearing a gas mask.

Stretching my gaze to look deeper into the camp, everyone I could see wore a gas mask. I shook my head in despair. “I think you might be right.”

“Looks like you got some important people to come listen at least,” Mal added.

“Hmmm, looks that way. This is going to be interesting.”

After they spoke for a few minutes, one of the suited men received a megaphone from another soldier and the group made their way towards the edge of the camp to make themselves known.

In a muffled, unclear voice, they spoke. “To the terrorist group occupying Herring Farm, your unlawful activities and the threat you pose to our nation can no longer be ignored. This is your last chance to remove the defensive barrier you have in place and surrender. Failure to do so will result in full military action against your position until every last one of you is brought to justice.

“But! We understand the nature of coercion, and should Clive Sutherland, Sophie McDonald and all mercenary forces surrender, and the barrier be dropped, we will be lenient on all others.”

“What a wanker,” I muttered, then caught Sophie’s attention. “Leave this to me. Don’t worry about the attack and do not retaliate, whatever you do. If it gets too unpleasant while I’m gone, just take everyone through to the Sphere until I’m back. I’m going to go and submit myself for questioning.”

I walked down and out of the shield with my hands raised so that they knew I wasn’t intending to be aggressive.

“I’m Clive. I am the one responsible for all of this.”

Soldiers rushed me, prodding guns into my back and ribs, while two soldiers grabbed my arms and put me in handcuffs.

“Tell your people to come out and drop the barrier. And if they want that leniency I spoke about, we need to see the technology involved in creating the shield.”

“There is no technology, and I’m sorry, but they won’t be coming out until we’ve had our conversation.”

“That’s what you think,” he said, face twisting into a spiteful scowl. “Get him in the truck and get him locked up.” Then as an afterthought, he added, “Securely. I want five men on his cell cameras and four outside the cell door at all times.”

“Yes, sir,” a soldier said, snapping out a salute and then I was led off, pushed into the back of an armored truck.

Four guards sat in the back with me, holding their weapons ready. Not one of them spoke, and casual conversations I tried to start were ignored. For over an hour and a half, we drove, which was way longer than I was expecting. I’d contacted Sophie a few times on the journey, and she assured me each time that no attacks had begun yet.

At our destination, I was brought out of the truck again at gunpoint and led into what was clearly a military base. Prodded and poked, I was jostled into an office with the receptionist sitting behind solid steel bars and a Perspex visor. All of my details were taken before I was unceremoniously searched and then put in a cell, with only half the clothes I arrived in.

I removed spare clothes from my void storage and then created myself a hot beef and gravy sandwich with caramelized onions.

I managed one bite before guards broke in the room, guns trained on my face. “Where did the sandwich come from?”

I took a big bite, then replied through a mouth full of tasty goodness. “Same place it’s going back too.”

One of the soldiers used the butt of their gun to hit me with. I moved only enough so it missed. He overbalanced and fell into me before dropping to a knee on the floor.

“I came here of my own free will. You don’t get to assault me,” I replied as guns were held tighter and the guy picked himself up off the floor.

“Drop the sandwich,” one of the others growled.

I met his angry gaze and smiled. “I’ll drop the sandwich if you bring me something nice to eat. Otherwise, I’m hungry, so I will eat it.”

As I spoke, another of the soldiers tried to knock it out of my hand. Again, the slightest of movements saw his hand pass just above it.

“Have none of you seen what I can do? Are you really putting all the countless videos that must be circulating down to hoaxes? This is just getting embarrassing.” I punctuated my words with another bite of my sandwich.

The soldiers looked at each other now as though they weren’t sure what to do next. After a little uncertainty, they went predictably back to, “Drop the sandwich now!”

I put the last bit in my mouth and chewed, showing empty hands. “There you go. All gone.”

Their frustration evident, they backed out of the room and slammed the door behind them. I then produced a caramel and custard donut, and took a wonderful bite from that. To my relief, no one came back in, leaving me to enjoy it in peace.

It took the arseholes three hours before anyone came to see me. The door swung open, the four soldiers lining the hallway.

“Out. It’s time to explain yourself.”

I was led out of my cell and along the depressing concrete corridors before finally arriving at a meeting room. Two of the black suited men sat on one side of the desk, and one of them with dark blond hair gestured at the seat across from them.

“Please sit, Mr. Sutherland.” He cleared his throat as I sat down. “I am Agent Retton, and this is Agent Thompson, we’re from MI5 and we will be conducting your interview today.”

“Lovely to meet you both. Hopefully we can get somewhere now.”

“We have completed a full and thorough check on you, and guess what we discovered?” He paused but it was only for Agent Thompson to slide a file across the table and slam a finger down on the document inside which read Iron-Latch Bank to Clive Sutherland and sum in arrears: Original sum £300,000.

Agent Retton spoke again. “Took the money and ran, did you? Only to resurface five years later, fleecing a bunch of idiots of their money.”

“Really. After everything that’s happened, you’re leading with this?” I shook my head, hoping to radiate the disappointment I felt. “I expected more from you guys. And that you’ve not even bothered to investigate properly to discover that not a single penny of that money would have reached my bank as it was earmarked for the purchase of the Falritas restaurant. As I never bought it, I never got the money. After we’re finished here, I suggest you investigate the bank, because judging by that document, the 300k went somewhere and it sure as shit wasn’t to me. As for my followers, did you check their bank accounts? Have any of them suddenly lost a lot of money when they moved to the farm?”

Apparently, that was enough for him to decide to move on from the financial part of their interrogation. It was a weak opening clearly designed to put me off guard with their vast knowledge of me. Except they hadn’t done it properly and ended up looking stupid. It didn’t stop them from continuing though.

“So you openly admit that you have followers?”

I ignored the question, offering him a withering look. “Did anything I told or showed Major Cartwright get back to you guys? Because this is starting from the ground up again and I hoped for better. Much better.”

“Oh we listened. We listened to a full mental breakdown. Major Cartwright is now on extended leave. As are his soldiers who have clearly been affected by whatever mind-altering chemicals you have used in the area.”

“I’m assuming you did tests for mind-altering substances?”

“You better believe we did,” he yelled, slamming his hands down on the table in a sudden temper. “And we will find out what you’ve used.”

“What do I have to do to convince you that I am no threat?” I asked.

“You don’t need to do anything. We’re going to do it ourselves by putting you in prison for a very long time.”

“Okay, but you can’t actually do that. You don’t have the strength to put me there, and even if you did, you definitely don’t have a prison that can hold me.”

“We got you here, didn’t we?”

“I came,” I said coldly. “And now you guys need to listen. I’m here for two reasons. The first is most important. I’m here to protect the Earth against a dangerous threat that could end the planet. The second is that once the threat is over, Earth is going to have access to the power that gives me my abilities. Those inside the shield already have partial access, but soon, if I can defeat the threat, you’ll all have access. The world will change in ways you could never believe, and this planet won’t be the only one.”

They looked at each other disbelieving, and I’d had enough. “Look. If you aren’t going to listen, and you’re not going to believe the evidence of your own eyes. I’m just going to leave.”

I stood up and removed the handcuffs from my hands. “If you do want to talk sensibly about this, then you know where to find me.”

A dart struck my chest, shot from one of the soldiers in the corner of the room, while the other three present trained their rifles on me. I pulled the bent needle point out of my t-shirt and threw it on the table as the two agents finally jumped up and pulled guns.

I was about to just teleport away when another black-suited man walked in. “Stand down, everyone. Agents Retton and Thompson, thank you for your work. I’ll take it from here.”

Finally! I thought. This looked positive. The gray-haired man carried himself with less smug self-importance, and more quiet confidence.

Once the other two had left, he took the seat across from me, placing a suitcase on the table. “Mr. Sutherland, I am Agent Stanwick, and I am here to move proceedings on a little more swiftly. Firstly, I’d like to say that from what you have shown us so far, and what I have garnered from Major Cartwright’s statement from your meeting, I’ll admit that you are capable of some impressive feats.”

“Oh, so you believe the evidence of your own eyes? I thought everyone had gone mad.”

“Oh I believe you have some interesting abilities. My job is to get to the bottom of how you are achieving them. Not only do you pose a huge risk to national security, what you can do may benefit your country if you are willing to cooperate.”

“I’m willing to cooperate, absolutely. And I’m no threat at all. But I’m not killing or harming anyone on this planet, whether you perceive them to be a threat or not. I still remember the Iraq war.”

“Very funny,” he replied dryly. “And do you really believe that you are so powerful that you cannot be controlled in any way?”

“That is correct, Agent Stanwick. And I’ll also be fine with whatever poison or sedative you’re about to release in here.”

“Interesting. How did you deduce such a thing?”

“You have a gas mask in the suitcase. The soldiers all have masks hanging off their uniforms. Wouldn’t carry them if you didn’t think they’d need them.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “How did you know the contents of the suitcase?”

“Magic,” I replied simply.

“Fascinating. And have you’ve been subjected to nerve toxins before?”

“Nope. Never. But if you need to do it, then do it and quickly, because you’re starting to piss me off now.”

“Ah, Mr. Sutherland, what a poor attitude you have towards working with your government. I expected better. Hopefully, if you survive what we are about to do, we can find a way to make you more cooperative, as there is much to discuss.”

I could just tell by the way he spoke that all conversations would be entirely about what this man wanted from me. He didn’t care about what I was trying to tell them, just as Major Cartwright had told me would happen.

“You know. I think I’ll just go now.”

“That would be very unfortunate for your loved ones.”

“What exactly do you mean by my loved ones? You’ve done your homework on me, and you know I had four close friends, no girlfriend, and estranged parents, so I have to assume you’re threatening my parents?”

“Again, you are incredibly insightful, Clive. I think I’ll enjoy working with you.”

“I take it you know I don’t get on with my parents?”

“We do, yes.”

“Still, they’re the only blood family I have. So I really can’t emphasize this enough. Choose your next words very carefully, because if you dare fucking threaten me with their wellbeing, any hopes of a bright future between me anyone involved will vanish like a fart in a tornado.”

“Bold words, Clive. Yet despite your high opinion of yourself, you are still only one man. At least as far as we need concern ourselves. And should you decide not to play ball with us…” He pointed up to the television on the wall which showed a cell not entirely dissimilar to the one I’d just been sitting in. And in the center of that cell sat my mother and father.

The agent spoke again. “Any hopes of your mother and father having a relaxing retirement will vanish like a pork chop in a Henry. Henry is my bullmastiff, and he does love pork chops.” His smile was now smug like the other agents as he continued. “So you see, everyone, even you despite your overconfidence, has a weakness.”

“No,” I growled, jumping up from my seat to take a closer look at the screen. The guards surrounding me all twitched at my sudden movement, but they didn’t fire. I whirled back around. “Where are they?” I demanded.

“They are in a secure location, nowhere near here. They will remain there until you have proven you can be trusted. Then they will be moved to another safe location where they will be extremely comfortable, providing you are well-behaved.”

“Can our government actually pull this bullshit? I mean this has to be illegal.”

“We can do what we want, Clive. And the sooner you come to terms with that, the easier it will be for us all. Now, shall we move our interview on? We have a lot of questions relating to your powers.”

“Mmmhmm. Well let me tell you about one I’ve got called Spirit Sight. It’s one of my Ethereal powers because it’s a kind of omnipotence, even if at this level I can only see everything in great detail within one thousand five hundred miles.

“For instance, I could tell you exactly what our new king is eating for dinner. Or I could tell you about the two hundred armed soldiers you have surrounding this compound in west Yorkshire. The one problem with the skill is that if I don’t know who I’m looking for, it’s hard to pinpoint them. Thankfully for me, I know my own mum and dad pretty well. So finding them in Devon really wasn’t that hard.”

I threw a shield up around myself leaving enough space to create a portal. Then I opened one into the cell visible on the TV screen. I reached in first with my hand so that it appeared on the screen and then extended one finger back.

Agent Stanwick paled.

“Well, fancy that,” I said, with as jolly a disposition as I could manage before stepping through the portal fully. I threw another shield up across the doorway for the eventual interruption, then I smiled at my parents. “Good afternoon, guys. Fancy seeing you both here.”

“Clive!” my mother said. “It’s you. What have you gotten yourself into now?”

My dad grabbed my arm, the anger clear in his whole tense body. “I told you not to be bringing trouble on our doorstep. You’re a bloody nuisance. You’ve always been trouble, boy.”

“Please, dad, for the love of god, shut the fuck up and listen. You have three choices. They are big life-changing choices. I can put you somewhere entirely safe where you can live out a very good life that I promise you will enjoy. Or I can put you anywhere of your choice with a good amount of money to make a new life.

“If you choose that option, keep it quiet for now because we don’t want these wankers to know where it is, and if you do take that choice, people will most likely still continue to look for you so that they can use you against me. Then there’s the third choice. You can stay here and see what they do with you, but I won’t be staying in their care.”

As we spoke, the door to the cell slammed open causing both my parents to jump in alarm. But the guards ran straight into the shield I’d erected earlier.

“If you’re taking option one or two, then I need you to come through this portal.”

They were so utterly baffled by my words that I took their wrists and pulled them gently through into my interrogation room. Once through, I let the shield over the door and the portal drop, and turned back to a horrified looking Agent Stanwick.

Both my parents were shouting, but I ignored them for now. “You had your chance to play nice, agent, and you fucked up. If I ever do deal with our government again, which is highly unlikely, it will never be with you involved.”

“Clive!” my mother said, shaking my arm. “Don’t talk to a government agent like that.”

“You need to learn your bloody place, lad,” my father added.

“That’s rich coming from you, dad.” Then I held up my hand and raised my thumb first. “Safety?” I held up another finger. “Hidden place of your choice?” Then a third. “Left here to deal with whatever these arseholes want to do. Your choice, but I’m going now.”

“Left here,” my dad snapped. “I’m not running the rest of my life for you and your trouble.”

“Fair enough, dad. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you. What about you, mum? Are you going to stay here and throw your life away?”

She looked far less certain. When she spoke, she surprised me. “There’s somewhere safe that you’ve got in mind. Is it warm?”

“I have a few areas you can go,” I said. “Beautiful places where you’ll be completely safe and very warm.”

“And will you be around? Would I get to see you a little more often?”

If I was honest, nothing I had been through today had surprised me. Until now. I was genuinely taken aback by her words, and the sense that she wanted to see me more. “I mean, yeah, sure. I’m quite busy, but you’d see me a fair bit if you wanted.”

Agent Stanwick was shouting now, threatening them with how far they’d go to hunt them both down.

“Stanwick, have you learned nothing today?” I said without anger.

My mother, however, was ignoring him entirely. She was looking at my dad again. “I want to go somewhere safe, and I’d like to be able to see Clive a bit more.”

“Go then,” he complained. “I’ll stay here and suffer for both of you.”

“Dad, you suffer whatever the hell you do,” I snapped. “It’s always all about you and your misery. Do you even know how to be happy, you miserable old git?”

His jaw dropped, and I could see the anger in his eyes as he considered swinging for me. He picked the right option and kept his clenched fists by his side.

Mum spoke again, “Come on, Frank, it’ll be good for us.”

I didn’t want to be involved in the conversation anymore. Instead, I created a portal to our Pacific Sphere of Influence, and idly wondered if Sophie had named it yet.

Before I stepped through, I turned one last time to the agent. “Despite all the magic tricks I’ve done today, you managed the most impressive one. You managed to make an enemy of me when I came for the sole reason of forging a promising relationship.”

Without waiting for a reply, I stepped through the portal and turned back to see who followed. My dad looked like he was going to stay, my mum was desperately trying to get him to come. In the end, I had the soldiers in the room to thank for forcing a decision as they decided to open fire on the shield. Both my mother and father ran through the portal.

After a few moments of acclimatization, my mother, clearly frazzled from the ordeal they’d just been through, spoke first, as if speaking to an estate agent. “It’s nice. Unusual, but nice. There doesn’t seem to be many places to live though.”

“There aren’t. We are just building it up now.”

“Where the hell are we?” my dad said. “Is this New Zealand or something?”

“Nope. It’s in the middle of the Pacific. You can stay here, go to the farm in Sunderland. or you can go to another planet where there are more homes. Wherever you choose, just know that it’s well protected, and no one, not even the full might of all the world’s military could get through.”

“Another world? Another bloody world. You’ve lost your loaf, lad.”

“I’d be happy to give you both a tour if you’d like, but right now, I need to go back to the farm first. It’s probably under…”

Clive, Hakan has disappeared from my scanners.

“He’s what? How? When?”

Thirty seconds ago. I do not know how.

“Had he started moving again?”

He had not. The signal I was reading was getting gradually weaker, and then he just disappeared.

“Could be dead then?” I asked, though I really didn’t buy it.

He could, yes. But there is no way to tell.

I huffed out a breath. I would have expected with all my levels that I wouldn’t feel so goddamn stressed, but it made no difference. “Let me know if you see or hear anything.”

Of course, Clive.

“Still a daydreamer,” I heard my father say and I didn’t have the energy to reply. Thankfully, Joel was approaching.

“Joel?” my mother said. “Is that you?”

“It is, Mrs. Sutherland. It’s good to see you both.”

“Has our Clive roped you into all of this nonsense as well?

“Oh yes. You know what he’s like. Always needs some back up.”

“Good that he’s got good friends then,” my dad said, moving forward to pat Joel on the back. Both of them liked Joel and always had. For my father, it was because he did what he considered a properjob, being a bricklayer, rather than a fancy pants, too-big-for-his-boots chef.

I was just delighted to get them off my back, and with a quick explanation of the situation, I left Joel with the pair of them while I portaled to Herring Farm.

Before I could step through, I received a notification.

Your bond to the goddess of Light has been severed