64. Kian

In the control room, Kian, Onegus, and Kalugal huddled around the screen showing Modanas office as captured by the surveillance cameras Julio had installed there.

The idea to hack into the existing surveillance network was brilliant, especially since the cameras they had been able to procure in Puerto Vallarta hadnt been the kind that were easy to hide. Still, Kian didnt like to rely only on that, and they had installed backup listening devices in case Modana disconnected his own cameras, or someone sabotaged his network.

The Modana brothers had just left, probably to continue shouting at each other out of their guests earshot, and as the two males switched to talking in their own language, the guttural sounds proved beyond a shadow of a doubt who they were.

Kian strained to catch familiar words or phrases, but his knowledge of the Doomer language was limited. They talked fast, and with too many words meaningless to him, their conversation was a frustrating puzzle he couldnt solve, but that was in part why he had asked Kalugal to join him.

His cousin should still be fluent in it.

Theyve figured it out, Kalugal said after a moment. They suspect that Julio Modana was thralled or compelled.

A cold shiver ran down Kians spine. How?

Kalugal listened for a few more moments. It seems that Carlos told them about his brothers sudden religious awakening, and it didnt take a genius to connect the dots to the immortals they suspected of eliminating their team in Acapulco.

Kian motioned for Reuben to pause the replay before turning back to Kalugal. Did they say that, or are you extrapolating?

They said it. They came along with Carlos to investigate who was behind Julios transformation, and if they could, to undo it. Kalugal smirked. Obviously, they cant, and thats why Julio and Carlos are at each others throats.

Onegus leaned away and crossed his arms over his chest. Are you absolutely sure that they cant break through your thralling? I know that they cant override your compulsion, but thralling is simpler to detect and undo.

Kalugal shook his head. No, they cant break through my thralling because I reinforced it with compulsion, but they might try to introduce a different thrall to lead Julio away from the path weve set him on. I dont think they will be successful, but they might try.

Onegus shook his head. I wish I had your confidence. Why do you think they will not succeed in thralling him into going back to the way he was?

Kalugal regarded the chief with his trademark smirk that conveyed how much smarter he believed himself to be. Not that his belief was unfounded, but it wouldnt have hurt Kalugal to have some humility.

My compulsion and thralling were strong because they were not applied in a vacuum. Julio was raised religiously, but as a young man, he believed himself to be invincible and above the law. As he got older, though, he started to be concerned with the fate of his eternal soul, and he was convinced that he was going to hell for all the evil he had done.

Kian chuckled. If there is a hell, he would sure go there.

Kalugal gave him one of those condescending smiles. You dont know for a fact whether there is no hell or there is. No one does.

True, Kian conceded. No one has come back from beyond the veil to enlighten us either way.

Kalugal nodded. Many humans believe in them, though, and Julio is one of them. I reinforced his belief in his Gods endless capacity for forgiveness. I also made him believe that the Mother of God spoke to him, telling him that his redemption must start on the earthly plane. His good deeds have to equal his evil deeds for his soul to stand a chance at the end-of-life trial that he will face. Julio grabbed on to that chance with both hands. He wont let go unless someone much more powerful than I am forces him to do it, and even then, there is a higher chance he will go insane than go back to the way he was.

Kalugals lengthy explanation eased some of Kians concern, but Julio resuming his evil ways was not the only thing to be worried about in regard to the Doomers presence.

Kian was glad that the ship was currently at sea and that the Doomers didnt know where the immortals who had annihilated their Acapulco team and their cohorts were, where they had come from, and how they had found out about the Modana brothers connection to the atrocities committed in Acapulco.

Lets hear the rest of it, Kalugal said. Maybe there was more said that could clue us in to what they are planning.

Kian motioned for the Guardian to un-pause the replay.

As it started from the exact point at which it had been stopped, one sentence that Kian understood without Kalugals translation raised his hackles.

Is it all about the woman? one of the Doomers asked. The one the tour guide said his clients were picking up in Cabo San Lucas? Or maybe the other one, the actress that Julio was obsessed with?

The other Doomer shrugged. The actress is a nobody that he wanted to fuck, but I dont know what part the other one plays in the story. The goddesss corrupt and immoral female descendants might be fighting along with their males, so maybe that Margo woman is one of them, and she was sent to the hotel to spy on us.

The actress could be a plant, too, the first Doomer said.

Kian signaled for the Guardian to pause the replay. I think I understood what they were saying, but I want to be sure.

When Kalugal translated, Kian nodded. Yeah, I was afraid of that. If they find out about Margo, they can find out about Frankie and Mia too. Theyve been friends since they were little girls, and their families know each other. It will be very easy for the Doomers to find the connection. We can keep Mias grandparents in the village, but Frankie has a huge family. How the hell are we going to protect them all?

Kalugal lifted his hand. Lets hear the rest of it first. Maybe they didnt follow the thread.

Kian waved a hand, and the replay continued.

The first Doomer shook his head. Margos background was checked, and her human connections were real, not the fabricated kind to make her look human.

She could be working with the clan, the second Doomer said. Her parents think that shes in a witness protection program. We use humans to do our dirty work for us all the time. The enemy could be doing the same thing.

The first Doomer huffed out a breath. They pretend to be such do-gooders, when, in fact, they are rotten to the core. They not only allow their women to be morally loose but encourage it.

When Kalugal was done translating, the eyes of everyone in the room were glowing with rage.

Onegus shook his head. Their disconnect from reality is infuriating. Do they really think that denying their own females immortality, forcing them into prostitution, and turning them into breeders for the cause is morally superior?

They do, Kalugal said. They believe that a females only value is her womb and that it belongs to the males of her family to do with as they please, all in the name of Mortdhs cause.

As the two Doomers continued spouting Navuhs malicious propaganda against the clan, Kian signaled to Reuben to stop the replay.

Thats sick, Reuben murmured. I wish we could wipe the Brotherhood off the face of the Earth. He smiled apologetically at Kalugal. No offense to you, sir. You are no longer a member.

None was taken, but you need to remember that they are what they are being preached to believe and act upon day in and day out for millennia, and that preaching is constantly reinforced by my fathers compulsion. And to start with, people are rather easily brainwashed, humans and immortals alike, and males in particular are easily incited to violence, although females are not much better. Kalugal smiled sadly. That still doesnt excuse the evils the Doomers commit, but the Brotherhood is not the only evil organization in the world.

Kian grimaced. We cant even take the Doomers out. There are too few of us. The only way for us to change the world is the way my mother envisioned, by spreading the right ideas. The problem is that one step forward is usually followed by two steps back, and right now, we are on a backward trajectory.