Awakening Book One of the Trust Series

chapter 16

Declan was tired. He was more than tired if he was honest with himself. The training with Caitlyn had been going terrific, and Declan could not have been more pleased with it all. The Council was very impressed with the results of their efforts and he knew that he would have no problem getting the funding needed for his project when the training was completed. However, when he went home at the end of the night, he was often bombarded by messages from his father, the Council, and other people of rank. And it was beginning to wear on him. He knew he was beginning to wear thin and needed to rest soon. Tonight would not be that night, however.

Declan had no sooner popped into his house, as he noticed his father was waiting in the hallway, almost lurking in the shadows. It should have surprised him that his father was here, this late in the evening, but it didn’t. In the past couple of months, it seemed to be the only family interaction face to face they had anymore. Declan hugged his father briefly and led his father into the kitchen. Declan peered at his father as they both stood by the countertop, and he couldn’t help but notice his father’s heavy bags under his eyes and the wrinkles that were becoming more prominent on his face. He wondered when it was that his father began looking old and why he had never noticed before.

“Dad. What brings you here?” Declan began rummaging through his kitchen cabinets for something edible. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he was tired of ordering out, and he was home so rarely anymore that he couldn’t see the need to hire a chef, since he was lucky if had five meals a week there.

“I came to see you.” Declan's father gave a knowing look and produced a bag and held it in front of him. “It’s leftover from dinner tonight at the house. It’s just lasagna.”

He grabbed the bag gratefully. “Thank you.” He emptied the contents of the bag, setting it on the kitchen table. “As much as I would like to think that you just wanted to have a nice visit with your son, I know better. You look worried. What are you really doing here?”

His father took a seat. “There has been another security breach.”

Jonathan McPherson was never one for mincing words. Declan mumbled through a bite of the food. “How big?”

His father ran his hands over his face, before rubbing at his temples. “It’s big. Passwords, lists of names of Potentials we have identified for the Inception, but worst of all are the names, locations, and missions of several of our spies that are currently in Cine Tofa territory. I don’t need to tell you that puts them in immediate danger.”

Declan’s eyes opened wide. His thoughts were no longer on his food. “Which ones?”

“Smith, Torres, and DeMartino.”

Declan dropped his head. They were three of their top spies. “When was the breach detected?”

“Seventeen hundred hours.”

It was now nine o’clock, that was four hours ago. “We could probably reach Smith and Torres regarding the compromise in time hopefully, but DiMartino has been off the radar for some time and would be near impossible to warn.”

“I know. We have confirmation that Torres got the message regarding that she was compromised and she is on her way back now. Smith we have tried reaching and despite our best attempts, have been unsuccessful. DiMartino has not reported in over a week. We are not sure where he is at the moment, but we knew his assignment would cause his updates to be few and far between. We are pretty sure we will not be able to reach him. Our only hope for him is that he is a damn good chameleon.”

“Any leads on where the breach came from?”

“None. We have several people working on it.”

Declan raised his eyes to meet his fathers. “What do you need me to do?”

“Get Caleb to work on this quietly. There are too many people that are aware of the security breach for my liking and I do not necessarily trust those that they put in charge to work on this. If Caleb finds anything, only you and I are to know about it, understand?”

“Okay. Anything else?”

Jonathan McPherson nodded, “As soon as I get confirmation that one of our spies has indeed been compromised, I need you to set up negotiations immediately with the Cine Tofa.”

Declan placed his hands on the table. “That might be more difficult than you anticipate. They have denied the past three requests for renegotiation.”

His father’s mouth set in a hard line. “Do what you need to. I do not want those spies in the hands of their Inquisitors. Especially DeMartino.”

Declan sighed. By the time the negotiations happen and if they agree to free them, the Inquisitors will have long since had their way with them, and most likely extracted the information needed from them. But he understood his father knew this. His father, while recognizing that Inquisitors were extremely useful, hated the way that the Cine Tofa used them. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do. But I suggest you look into alternative means of extraction if you wish them to avoid the Inquisitors.”

“Thank you, Declan.”

They sat a few more minutes, discussing what would be needed for Caleb to complete his work and what tactics Declan could employ to get a negotiation.

Once that was completed, his father stood up from the table, as Declan quickly finished what remained of his meal. “I need to go. The Council and the Descendants have called emergency sessions tonight. I fear that neither of us will get much sleep.”

His father left the house, ready to catch a plane. He knew his father was in for a grueling night. But he also knew that he was in for one as well. He decided to start with the immediate task at hand, which would be convincing Caleb.

Declan did not have to think long about where he could find Caleb. He and Caleb had known each other since infancy. He loved Caleb’s family almost as much as his own. As children, they were best friends, and though they had gone their own separate paths over the years, Declan still felt a keen friendship with the programmer. He was the closest thing he would ever have to a brother.

So it did not surprise Declan to find Caleb in his apartment, on his computer, trying to hack into some website or another. Caleb was simply brilliant when it came to computers. His programming skills were unparalleled by anyone in Trust Corporation, and many outside companies had tried to lure him away with lucrative salaries and benefits.

As a young professional, the offers were tempting, but Caleb ultimately refused. The fact was that Caleb was tied to the Trust almost as much as Declan was. His family was all Trust and for Caleb, family came before all. Still, the Trust compensated him well for staying with them.

Caleb had jumped nearly out of his skin when he realized that Declan was peering over his shoulder looking at what he was doing on the computer.

“For God’s sake, Declan! Can’t you knock outside like normal people? I don’t care if you can do that popping in and out thing. What if I had been with a girl?”

Declan leaned against the computer desk, crossing his arms. “Yeah, right. You would never bring a girl back here. It might imply commitment.”

“Okay, you got me there. You let them into your house, and then they think they own the place. But seriously, would knocking kill ya?”

He shrugged. “I couldn’t. Someone might have seen me.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Who is going to see you at my apartment? Do you really think there is Cine Tofa just waiting in the hallway on the off chance you will show up? You are paranoid. You know that, right?”

He couldn’t help his lips upturning at his childhood friend. “Perhaps. But my father sent me over here to talk to you about a classified request, so I figured it might be best to be more discreet than normal.”

“More discreet than normal? You are the most discreet person I know.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Caleb swirled his computer chair around to give his sole attention to Declan. “So what is so urgent that your dad has you coming to visit me in the middle of the night?”

Declan rolled his eyes slightly. It was only ten-thirty. That was hardly middle of the night. “There was a security breach today. A big one. The council is trying to keep it quiet, but I cannot imagine this will stay that way for long. Passwords, Names, and Missions were all compromised as a result. My father was obviously not happy about it.”

Caleb whistled. “I can imagine he isn’t.”

Caleb was quiet for a moment as he thought about this. “How did the person manage to hack into our database? I helped designed the firewalls. It should have been virtually impossible to access that.”

“We think it was an inside job.”

“Shit.”

“This isn’t the first time either, but it by far is the largest. The Council and Descendants already have several people working on the breach.”

“Okay, well, if others are working on it, how does this involve me?”

“Simple. My dad doesn’t trust them. He trusts you. I trust you. Besides, with the people the Council chose to work on it, it will probably take months for them to figure out where the breach came from. We need someone who is efficient and can do this as quickly as possible. That is where you come in.”

“Who do they have working on it?”

“My father said it was Howie Becker and Andrea Goodwin.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. “Becker and Goodwin? Are you serious? Idiots. They could not figure their way out of a paper bag. At least your dad has more sense to ask me. I do have a question though. How do you expect me to do this? I don’t have full security clearance. Do you want me to hack into our own database?”

Declan smirked. “You will have full security access as of tomorrow.”

Caleb almost fell backwards in his seat. “Holy shit. Seriously?”

“Seriously. Obviously, as a result, you are going to be privy to a bunch of information that is classified, records I do not even have access to, and records that Goodwin and Becker will definitely not have access to. I don’t think I have to emphasize to you how important it is that you keep this information to yourself. Any findings that you think may be of any consequence are to be reported to myself and my father only.”

Caleb stood up, and paced around the room for a minute, thinking, strategizing. “You were not kidding when you implied this security breach must have been huge. It would not have been anything less for your father to agree to do this. Look, I’m not going to be able to trace who did this overnight. Whoever got access to those files must have known what they were doing and I guarantee they covered their tracks and covered them well.”

“Are you saying you don’t think you can do it?”

Caleb laughed. “Are you kidding me? I am freaking Caleb Turner. You of all people know I am a pompous ass. Of course I can do it. I am just saying it may take a few weeks. I need more information though.”

“I’ll have a full file for you tomorrow with all the information you need.”

Caleb let out a deep breath and rubbed his palms together. Declan saw a twinkle in his eye that was not there before. He knew that Caleb would be the right person for the job. “I’ll do it.”

“My father really wasn’t asking, Caleb.”

“Do you have to take the fun out of everything, Declan?”

“Just keeping it real.”

They made arrangements to meet for the file, before he met Caitlyn for training the following morning. Declan left then, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night gathering the information that Caleb was going to need. It was a tedious task to say the least, obtaining all the passwords and clearances that he would need.

The sun was beginning to crest over the horizon and Declan had not even closed his eyes yet. Declan groaned as he transported back to the training facilities, knowing that yet another long day awaited him. Caleb met him as promised, and Declan had been able to obtain all the information Caleb would need to begin his investigation.

Caitlyn walked up then, fresh from a good night’s sleep with two coffees in hand, as Caleb was beginning to walk away. “Morning Declan. Morning Caleb! What brings you out so early? I’ve never seen you before noon and you only get up at noon when Garrett finally bugs you enough to join him at the gym.”

Caleb huffed. “I do get up early, you know...” Caitlyn gave him a knowing look. “Well, sometimes. Anyways, I had some early morning appointments this morning I needed to attend and I ran into Declan.”

Declan was happy to note that Caitlyn appeared to take the answer at face value as she dropped the line of questioning to Caleb. “Well, anyways, it was nice to see you in the early morning daylight. Try to have a good morning.”

Caleb already appeared distracted fiddling with the flash drive Declan had given him muttering a simple, “You too.”

As he walked away, Caitlyn eyed Declan with a smirk on her face. She grabbed a cup of steaming coffee, handing it to him. “Black, no cream, two sugars just the way you like it. So what’s going on?”

Declan gratefully took the cup of coffee, taking a sip. “What are you talking about?”

Caitlyn jerked her head in Caleb’s direction and then back at him. “Please. Give me a little credit, will you? Between the two of you. He was meeting you this morning, was he not? Something happened last night. You have not even switched out of yesterday’s clothes.”

Declan really hated Caitlyn’s perception sometimes. He wouldn’t lie to Caitlyn, but he could not exactly tell her the full truth, either, even though he trusted her. “Yes, he was meeting me. But it is a matter that is classified so I can’t talk about it.”

Caitlyn nodded, just satisfied with the knowledge that she was correct. He always respected that she knew when she should not be prying further. “Okay then. But really, you look exhausted, Declan. I mean, more exhausted than usual. Are you sure you want to train today? We can take a day off.”

Declan almost laughed at Caitlyn making that particular comment. He knew she was right. He could have used some sleep, he should have gone to sleep, but he was not about to be the one to stop their training. “Positive. I just need a little caffeine and I will be good as new.”

She walked towards the training room, shaking her head. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when I kick your ass.”

The first scenario’s he ran with her, he was able to keep pace with her. Then slowly, he let Caitlyn take the reins on most of the training.

Declan tried to stifle a yawn. She stopped mid-levitation, placing the object back on the ground, as she sat on the ground in her yoga pants, crossing her legs, staring at Declan as she sat across from him. “This is ridiculous.”

“What?”

“In all this time, I have seen you sick. I have seen you sleepy, but I have never seen you this exhausted. You need sleep or at the very least, rest.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. We are here so I can learn, but I am not getting anything out of today.”

He raised his eyebrow at her. “Don’t hold back.”

He heard her mutter something along the lines of, “Have I ever?”

Declan sat down in a chair. “Fine. But I cannot sleep even if I wanted to. There is too much going on in my head at the moment.”

Caitlyn joined him… “Listen, it’s barely lunch time. Come back to my apartment. I haven’t cooked in a while, so why don’t I just make us lunch and we can have a nice, relaxing afternoon.”

“But what are you going to learn from that?”

She cocked her head, a sly grin crossing her face. “I am going to learn about you.”

“What’s that?”

“Declan, you know everything about me. I think it is time I get to know about you, don’t you think?”

Declan thought this interesting because he felt that Caitlyn knew him so well already. She was quickly turning into a friend, a role that he did not allow many people. “What don’t you know about me?”

“Well, I know you. I know your favorite coffee, how your insane drive is almost as bad as mine, and how you detest folk music, but I don’t know about your past, your childhood, why you are the way you are. I want to know about you.”

“That may take some time.”

She smiled again. “We have all afternoon. It seems my training got cancelled today.”

They arrived at her apartment and Caitlyn sat Declan down. “Relax. I’ll make us some coffee. What would you like for lunch?”

“What do you have?”

Her voice came muffled from behind the refrigerator. “Pasta, leftover Chinese, and deli meats.”

“A sandwich would be fine.”

Caitlyn prepared lunch and brought it out for the both of them in the living room. Declan took a bite of his sandwich. It was comfortable here, and not necessarily a bad way to spend the afternoon, especially given the stress levels he felt.

Caitlyn took a sip of her coffee. “So what made you so close to your father?”

Declan paused, placing down his sandwich. So many people knew everything about his past that it was hard to forget she did not know them already. And those details that most did not know, he kept tight to his chest. But he wanted Caitlyn to know those, understand why he was so driven.

“As I told you our first week, my mom died when I was twelve. It was really hard on my father and me. She was an amazing mother and wife to my father. When she died, we both were lost. Just like I am sure you were when your mom died.”

Declan paused, gathering his thoughts. “My dad and I are both really private people, believe it or not. There was not anyone else to take solace in, so we took comfort in each other. My father, well, his life was the Trust, so he began teaching me about all the different aspects of it. He taught me the fine art of skillful negotiations and being able to read someone. As the talks between the Cine Tofa and Trust inevitably began to break down, my father found that there were less and less people he could confide in.”

“At fourteen, I found that I became one of his confidants. It was then that I began to separate from the other kids my age. They couldn’t appreciate or comprehend what it was like to be an Actual, even those whose families were of old lineages and were taught their heritage at a young age. They were all about sports and school. I was talking with my father about issues occurring in the Trust.”

Caitlyn grabbed Declan’s hand then, giving it a squeeze. He smiled appreciatively at the gesture before continuing. “Then to make matters worse, I awoke at age sixteen… well, imagine a teenager going through the change. You thought it was difficult being twenty-four. No one my age went through it, they couldn’t understand. I had to deal with the difficulties of being an Actual on top of all the hormonal changes and personal growth that comes with being a teenager. I found myself becoming even more of an outsider. It was easier to be alone than not being accepted by my peers. I graduated early that year from high school. I never went to high school football games, joined drama club, or even went to a prom. My life at sixteen revolved around the Trust only.”

Caitlyn squeezed his hand again. It was comforting. “I’m sorry, Declan. That had to have been very difficult for you. Normally a teenager would resent their father for that. But you look like you didn’t.”

“I did a little at first. But my family are Descendants. There are certain obligations that come with that and I understand that. My life revolves around the Trust, it always has. My father carries tremendous guilt to this day about my young adulthood, but he wasn’t responsible for my changing early. Nature was in charge of that.”

“But, and I mean this with all due respect because I think your father is a wonderful man, don’t you think it was unfair that he put so much responsibility on you at such a young age? You are twenty-eight years old and you were a negotiator by twenty. That has to be a huge weight to bear.”

Declan pursed his lips. “It was-It is. But it’s life. When your most trusted friends, your most trusted advisors, begin to decide that the Cine Tofa is a better way for Actuals, and begin selling your secrets to the highest bidder, you have to be very careful about whom you trust. And my father could trust me. I was his blood, his heir. If he can’t trust me, then who can he trust?”

Caitlyn leaned over and gave him a hug quickly before pulling away. “I understand. For the record, I admire you for how you have handled it all. Not many sixteen years olds would have the strength or the ability to handle what you went through.”

“I have a feeling you would have done just fine.”

“You obviously did not know me as a teenager. My mother would have respectively disagreed.”

They sat there for hours just talking. It turned into a game of twenty questions, with both of them answering the questions. Declan revealed to Caitlyn that he did not have any fears with the exception of disappointing his father. He also told her that his first kiss was with a blonde girl named Nia, at the age of seventeen. He lost his virginity at nineteen, his proudest moment was when his passed the Threshold, and someday, he did want to marry and have children of his own. Declan explained how important it was to continue his bloodline.

Caitlyn had admitted to him that her first kiss was at fourteen, she did not lose her virginity until age twenty and it was an awful experience, her proudest moment was when she graduated summa cum laude from graduate school, and she too, wanted to someday settle down and have kids of her own, though she did not know when.

It was the nicest afternoon Declan had spent in a long time. By the time the sun was setting, he felt closer to her and he hoped that the questions that he answered filled in some of the questions she had about him.

Declan tried to stifle a yawn and Caitlyn moved to put their long empty plates in the kitchen sink. “I think it is time that you get some sleep, Declan. For me.”

He acquiesced. Before he transported out of the apartment, she gave him a deep hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Just so you know, I think your mom would be very, very proud of the man you turned out to be.”

“And your mom would be very, very proud of the woman you turned out to be. Have a good night. I’ll see you in morning.”

That night, Declan McPherson slept very well for the first time in weeks.