ASMSG Scifi Fantasy Paranormal Emagazine April 2015 | Page 33

BEYOND THE BLACK SEA By M Joseph Murphy He left the bathroom and headed towards the meeting room. Security was on high alert. Wisdom saw more armed guards than at previous meetings. It was a good sign. Maybe world leaders were starting to appreciate the risk level. He stood outside the chamber waiting for the meeting to start. A familiar face approached him, a tall brownhaired man in a dark suit. Gabriel Wainright was the Canadian representative from Candleworks, an international agency devoted to stopping Orphean threats. Gabriel extended his hand. Wisdom shook it firmly. “Are we the first here?” Gabriel looked past Wisdom at the closed door to the meeting room. “Hardly.” Wisdom pointed at the door and sighed, annoyed. “The members from the Security Council are in there having their own meeting before we enter.” Gabriel nodded. “Typical. So much for an equal seat at the table. You’d think after what happened at the Vatican they’d be more open.” “This IS them being more open. At least they’ve stopped ignoring the problem.” Wisdom teleported into the United Nations for his 3:00 p.m. meeting. Events around the world had escalated, necessitating the formation of a special committee on the Orphean invasion. He was 20 minutes early but there was a conversation he needed to have before the meeting started. He stepped out of his teleportation field – a circle of bright yellow light – into an executive washroom on the third floor of the Conference Building. With a wave of his hand, he closed the portal. He turned and stared intently at the large mirror above the row of sinks. “I know you can see me.” Wisdom straightened his tie. “I have a message for you. I’m done waiting for you to make your next move. The next move is mine. And you won’t see it coming until it’s too late.” He waited for a response. When no message reply came from the other side of the mirror, he wasn’t surprised. The Orpheans were not fond of direct confrontation. “True.” Gabriel looked over his shoulder and waved at three women, also dressed in dark suits, who walked towards them. “Here come the other representatives. How did you manage to get through security so quickly?” Wisdom rolled his eyes. “I don’t do security checks. They’re stupid. I could blow up this whole building if I wanted to with a blink of my eyes. I don’t need weapons.” Several security guards nearby stood up taller, hands a little c loser to their weapons. Gabriel laughed nervously and waved at the guards. “Ixnay on the hreattnay. Or is that reathrnay?” “You’re horrible at Pig Latin. Why do you always try to work it into a conversation?” 33 | P a g e