Birth of the Alliance (14 page)

He knew he needed to return at night, when the building was unoccupied, in order to place the cameras and microphones in strategic locations throughout the meeting room. Depending upon the final seating locations of key speakers, he might well need to return regularly to adjust the positions of the devices. He'd spend time during their daytime deliberations in the
Nautilus X
, a single person submarine they'd built that had been designed for river travel. With its smaller size and "invisible" skin, he could pilot it at the bottom of the riverbeds without being seen or having the craft contact ships sailing overhead. He'd piloted the miniature sub up the Delaware River to park it on the bottom of the Schuylkill River on a previous trip, and would spend his evening sleeping inside the vessel rather than locating a room within the town. The less of an impression he made here, the better.

Will tensed. He sensed the flow of Energy nearby. Had Peter already forgotten to keep his shield activated? Or was the Energy he felt generated by Aliomenti stationed in Philadelphia as well?

After ensuring his Shield was solid, Will headed toward the Energy signals he'd detected. As he approached, he was able to detect four unique Energy signals. Three were weak, likely neophytes recently recruited into the Aliomenti organization. The fourth signal was far stronger, and that was the signal that concerned him. He wasn't concerned about capture; he was concerned about recognition. With a signal of that strength, he could be recognized on sight, something that could happen no matter how vigorously he maintained his Shield. Thankfully, that signal was coming to him from a different direction and a respectable distance from the other three Energy users. He could check on the three neophytes in relative safety.

He found the men a few moments later. While neophytes, they'd still likely lived as Aliomenti for a decade or more, and they wore the resultant financial success, literally. The clothing was of obviously higher quality than others walking the streets, and they were talking quietly among themselves. Will sent a small number of nanos into their midst and listened in to the conversation.

They were discussing the possibility of purchasing or renting a building for business purposes, and Will suspected they'd set up the Aliomenti version of a bank if they were successful in obtaining their desired property. Will snorted internally; the Aliomenti would never fail to get something they wanted. The current renters would find themselves grateful for the opportunity to move on, the owner delighted at the chance to rent the property to the three men, at a reduced rate, of course.

He also noticed the trio watching a man who stood selling copies of a local newspaper. He risked a quick Energy scan. The effort utilized just a small trickle of Energy, not enough for a neophyte to detect, but enough for Will to complete a very basic character scan of the man. It was amazing how quickly you could dive into someone’s deepest belief systems and test their compatibility with you. Most people had only a handful of beliefs embedded in them at their core, developed through life experiences, and from which they’d never deviate. Will’s recruiting involved doing such scans of large crowds and finding the small handful who held core beliefs compatible with the Alliance mindset; he could then delve deeper into them, talk to them, and test them to see if their personalities were compatible as well. By the time he asked their interest in joining, he knew them well enough to know they’d accept.

The man holding the interest of the Aliomenti neophytes met Will’s criteria. But the Aliomenti were already tracking him as well. Perhaps they’d already started Arthur’s “hypnosis” process. The man might already be lost for good, just as much as the three neophytes.

Will paused for a moment. He was standing in a city that had seen written, or would see written, some of the most pivotal documents in a nation's quest for independence, documents that would replace monarchs for elected leaders and freedom. Why not follow their example? His eyes returned to the three neophytes with a gleam. Will had no idea what Arthur had done to produce such complete obedience and loyalty in the Aliomenti. He intended to find out, though. And in so doing, he’d figure out how to reverse whatever “hypnosis” Arthur had performed, allowing all
four
men the chance to choose their homes, their futures, and their destinies

Will gently reached out to the three neophytes, first pushing on them the sensation that their minds were not being probed. That was the tricky part. If they realized he was there and recognized what he was doing, they’d try to expel him from their minds. He could overpower them, but that action would counteract the point of what he wanted to do. Thankfully, none of them seemed to notice. They were discussing the potential recruit telepathically while making comments about the building out loud. Nothing suggested an awareness of a powerful Energy user poking in their minds.

With that mental shield hiding him, Will plunged deep into their minds and memories, searching for the moment when Arthur had reshaped their minds, rendering them his own mental slaves. After several moments, he found what he was looking for. It was an area of the mind he was quite familiar with, where the unquestioned truths and beliefs by which they lived their lives were stored. It was the place where Will looked when assessing potential recruits, and it was the place where Arthur deposited beliefs in his own superiority, beliefs that his statements should be believed without doubt, beliefs that his suggestions and commands ought to be followed without question. In hindsight, Will could never remember an Aliomenti questioning Arthur; some asked for clarification, but he knew now that it was simply a case of ensuring they’d understood what they were to believe and do, not to question the truth or value of those statements or commands.

It was simple, effective, brilliant… and completely antithetical to what Will believed in.

The reversal process was simple. There was a brief temptation to simple “edit” those beliefs, replacing Arthur with Will, but he refused to go down that path. He had no interest in following the lead of Arthur Lowell. Instead, he deleted the beliefs, and elected to let the three men react as they naturally would. They might return to the Aliomenti Headquarters out of sheer habit. They might choose to live independently. They might even seek out Will to join the Alliance. The freedom was overwhelming them; they seemed lost, disoriented, and confused. Their thoughts were jumbled, wondering why they were in this strange city, why they were using their abilities to influence the stranger before them, why they were supposed to be looking for a man named Will Stark and trying to subdue him for return to Headquarters.

Will stepped forward, a look of concern on his face. “Are you gentlemen okay?”

“I'm… not sure,” one of them admitted, glancing at his peers. “I'm trying to locate a man who may be living in this city, as a… friend of ours has suggested he's done some sort of wrong. But I'm not sure if those accused actions
are
wrong.”

Will frowned. “That does sound like a conundrum. Who are you looking for? Perhaps I know this man and can help you reach him. That would enable you to assess the situation for yourselves and act as you see fit.”

“His name is Will Stark.”

Will frowned. “Interesting. That's
my
name. I don't believe we've met before. You say there's someone who claims I've done them wrong?”

Their eyes widened. “Well, he claims that you've told some of his secrets to people who shouldn't know them.”

Will raised his eyes, as if trying to remember. “I don't share other people’s secrets. I share my own with those I believe worthy of that degree of trust. You say this man claims I’ve shared
his
secrets, something that was his and only his to share? What are these secrets he claims belong to him alone?"

The speaker glanced around at the others, who shook their heads. “We can’t really say, not here anyway. But he says that you
promised
not to share.”

Will arched an eyebrow. “Who did I make this promise with?”

“He… doesn’t really have a name.”

Will face registered astonishment, but internally, he filed this point away. Arthur must have started using the name “Leader.” “He has no name? Perhaps he doesn’t exist, then. Are the three of you trying to con me, after I offered my concern for your apparent disorientation?”

“No!” All three spoke, before their leader continued. “It sounds confusing, I know, but I trust that our friend tells us the truth.” But there was doubt in his words.

Will arched an eyebrow. “If you can’t tell me what the secret is, how can you determine the truth of the accusation? If you told me, wouldn’t you be able to make some assessment of my guilt or innocence? And if your friend has no name, or won’t share it with you… is he really a friend?”

The speaker looked as if he wanted to respond. Then he lowered his eyes to the ground. He’d apparently started to wonder about each of those points himself.

Will turned. “I'm leaving. If we meet again, and you're able to tell me what I've supposedly done, with actual specifics and not vague statements made by someone with no name, please enlighten me. If you’ll excuse me, please.”

He turned and left. This would be the biggest test of the reversal technique. If they hadn't been “cured,” then they'd try to follow him, they’d obey Arthur’s orders to try to capture Will. But if not…

None of the Aliomenti neophytes followed. They'd listened to Will, found Arthur's story lacking… and made their own decisions. They’d not follow Arthur’s orders blindly, not any more.

He'd done well.

Will turned a corner… and stopped still at the sight of the man standing there.

It was only when he saw the familiar face that he realized the strong Energy “sound” he'd heard earlier was a familiar one, one he'd not sensed in nearly ninety years. It was a face he'd suspected he'd one day see again… though after their most recent encounter, Will couldn’t be faulted for thinking that reunion would never occur.

Will frowned, and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at a man who had publicly chosen Arthur Lowell's manipulations over the freedom Will offered and encouraged. “What do you want? And why are you here?”

“My answer to both questions is the same, Will,” Adam replied. “I need to talk to you.”

IX

Intelligence

1787 A.D.

Will stared at Adam. “Why would I want to talk to you?” he demanded. “You're nothing more than one of Arthur's mindless minions. Did you come here hoping to capture me, and win even more favor with your dear leader?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Will, stop and think for a moment, would you? Have I ever struck you as someone who'd do what
Arthur Lowell
wanted me to do?”

“Am I answering that question based on my experiences before or after you tried to sell me out? I may be old, but my memory is solid.”

Adam glanced around. “Let's go for a walk. It's best if we're not overheard.” He turned and walked toward the lesser-populated outskirts of the city. Though he felt not one ounce of trust toward the man, curiosity won out. Will followed him.

“I'm actually glad you described what I said to you back in Waterloo that way,” Adam said. “If that act fooled
you
—the only person who might have
expected
me to leave—then it must have been quite convincing to Arthur and all the others. They had no reason to think your plea was anything more than the desperate act of a man condemned to a lifetime in prison.”

Will turned his head briefly to look at Adam. The man shuffled along, drips of sweat sliding down his forehead, his face toward the ground. Was Adam nervous, or just perspiring in the stifling summer heat? His face and stature gave him the appearance of one far older than his usual visible age, as of one carrying an enormous burden only he could sense. “Then why say those things? Why tell me I should stay? Why not just tell me you weren’t coming?”

“Because of the audience, Will, and the opportunity the situation provided. Think of who was there and listening. Arthur. Those three lackeys of his and many old, very powerful Aliomenti. You could have taken on any single one of them, except maybe Tacitus. But even you couldn’t take on all of them at once. You could certainly get away, and I know that’s all you wanted. And trust me, I wanted to go; that organization has been rotting from the inside out and the top down for at least a century. I wish I’d been the one with the guts to break ranks, but I wasn’t. The problem, though, is that you showed Arthur up when you walked out of there unscathed. You created doubt about his invincibility. He failed. When I started thinking about leaving, quite a while ago, I realized a lot of what you’d figured out there—about the whole changing of people during recruiting—not long before we got to Waterloo that day, and I figured it couldn’t be a complete takeover, where he’d literally think every thought for them. They’d still need to act as individuals. If that was the case, then enough doubt could crack that shell. If I left against his wishes, I’d do just that: create doubt. The only way for him to fix that was to retrieve me, bring me back, and either imprison me or get me to say leaving was a mistake. He’d have done that to me, and he’ll do it to you.”

Will shrugged. “So? I didn’t figure he’d be happy, but he’d have to find me before he could do anything about it. Looks like he’s finally done that. So I adapt.”