Rapture Falls (47 page)

             
“NOOOOOOOOO” Lucifer screamed, “What have you done?, what have you done?” she scrabbled in the dirt, “you shaved ape, what have you done, have you any idea just what you’ve thrown away?
, do you know what I’ve given up for that?, do you know what I’ve sacrificed?” she raged
thinking of her lost love, “now I’m just a stinking human like the rest of you flesh bags”

“Good, then that makes this easier” she barely felt the knife slide to her throat as Baine slipped behind her, “I’ve come to realise something Lucifer, I’m not a bad man, I’m just not a good one either” the knife was razor sharp
but
there was no pain, she panicked briefly as the blood flooded her throat
and she gasped for breath
, then there was
only warmth, she slid to the ground and
as she drifted into the dark she heard Baine from what seemed like a great
and growing
distance,

“Oh, and I always keep my promises”.

EPILOGUE

”Victorious warriors win first and then go to war,

While defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”

Sun-tzu (400bc)

“Strategic Assessments”

The Art of War

The beach was luxurious and most importantly
deserted;
all six of the exquisite shacks had been rented to assure absolute anonymity, the man stretched on the warm sand relaxing in the warmer unspoiled sun. He rose from the lavish recliner and faced the perfect blue
sea;
the private cove was lined with lush green foliage, the water shallow and balmy
,
and a
true paradise the man thought to himself. It had cost a small fortune to obtain this blissful retreat but money was no longer a concern, he had installed a monstrous satellite dish which fed him all of the information from across the globe. Here he had full access to the world’s economic district at his fingertips, he never had to leave his seclusion, it was a brave new world and he would sit at its apex, a financial predator. He turned with some reluctance and headed back into the admittedly welcome shade of the first beach shack, the gentle hum of the state of the art air conditioners greeted him with a cooling waft. The whole room was encircled with technology beyond his comprehension, he’s had to fly in several experts from Sweden to install his system, he had provided his requirements and they had built an electronic organism to fulfill his needs. One of the installers had joked about a movie called Superman III that he kept meaning to watch, the installers had lived on the island for a little over five months working around the clock, unfortunately for them the returning private jet carrying the Swedes had mysteriously crashed. He did not
begrudge the huge cost of the installation but he could not have anyone walking the planet knowing the details of his system. The others had never truly understood that real power lay with money and the information that it bought. Through the entrance of the shack was a thickened plastic sealed door which opened on
an iris scan with a futuristic whoosh
, the plastic transparent walls encircled the room providing a precise temperature contained environment for the computer systems. The circular interior of the beach shack was around twenty feet in diameter, the floor had been covered with a breathable hardwood,
the man walked to his kingdom’s throne, a huge hand crafted
leather bound
adjustable chair that screamed comfort and cost.
He woke the system and began scanning the screen, his mouth twitched into a smile of justification as he watched his fortune grow before his eyes, the far east investments that were deemed too risky by most of his rivals had paid off tenfold. He leaned back in satisfaction, fingers laced behind his head, eyes closed to savor, a sudden shadow blocked the doorway as his hermetically sealed refuge was breached, a voice emanated from the shadow,
             

             
“Raphael, I believe you have something that belongs to me”, Baine stepped into the
light
.

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