anything,”
she countered.
“It’s Isabel Kabra,” replied Dan. “She’s holding a press conference on AWW. This should really be good.”
As they ran toward the center of the station, the voice grew louder and louder.
He stood in front of a large, ornate mirrorthat hung on one wall and studied himself. He wasn’t tall, at least in stature. Aboutfive-six. His hair was brown and wavy. His build was slight. But he was wiry,with more strength inside him than showedfrom his frame. His features were sharp,pugnacious — some would say ratlike. But people who thought he resembled arodent were just jealous. And besides,
what he looked like was just wallpaper.
What counted was what was on the
inside. He came from a long line of great
men.
“My name is Damien Vesper,” he said to the reflection, and as the words came out of his mouth he smiled and his
chest swelled with pride.
“And my father was Damien
Vesper.”
He smiled again.
“And we are both directly related tothe first Damien Vesper, who gallantlybattled and defeated Gideon Cahill all
those centuries ago.”
His smile now spanned his face as he recalled his family’s domination of the Cahills.
At least, that’s how the Vespers saw
it. And that was the crux of it. Vespers were winners. They always had been and they always would be. Which meant the Cahills, despite their wealth and status, would always be losers.
He had risen to be Vesper One at the tender age of twenty-three, not by birthright, although that should count for something, but rather by ability. He was, simply, the most ruthless of all the Vespers, willing to do anything, kill anyone, to accomplish his goals.
He lifted his sleeve, revealing the large burn on his arm. It was ugly, still painful, but he wore it as a badge of honor. He could take the pain. He could bear the wounds, because he came from greatness.
But as spectacular as his bloodline
was, he planned to surpass them all to become the greatest Vesper of all.
He turned away from the mirror and continued to turn things over in his head.
Damien Vesper was superb at brooding. He found it useful to think things through. Also, he liked to be alone. He did not care for people, really. Which was one reason he had no qualms about killing lots of them. For him, most people didn’t deserve to live. They were useless, pathetic losers taking up precious space on a chunk of rock moving in slow circles in the solar system around a boiling mass of energy called the sun. For Damien Vesper, it was time to do some serious pruning of the human race. And he now had the means to do so.
He had constructed this little
chamber as a personal retreat. It actually was built to mirror the private chamber of King Louis XVI. The little king married to the beautiful Marie Antoinette was a
favorite model for Damien. He liked the
king’s arrogance, his disregard for others. He liked his unquenchable thirst for power and the fact that he did not care in the least who was hurt by it. This was a world where one had to look out for oneself. And those who were clearly superior to others must have no reservations about exerting that
superiority.
However, he did not want to share the king’s fate. Being beheaded by guillotine by French revolutionaries was not how he wanted to leave the world. He
was not afraid of death. He simply wanted
to go out on his own terms.
He rose and looked out the window.
What was staring back at him was starkand foreboding. It had truly begun. Damienhad imposed his will on the very planet. The strange-looking sky, the unpredictablewinds, magnetic fields gone haywire: Mother Nature herself was under his
power.
But now there were decisions to be made. Disloyalty could not be tolerated. Ian Kabra had given Damien, stupidly enough, valuable information about his mother.
she countered.
“It’s Isabel Kabra,” replied Dan. “She’s holding a press conference on AWW. This should really be good.”
As they ran toward the center of the station, the voice grew louder and louder.
He stood in front of a large, ornate mirrorthat hung on one wall and studied himself. He wasn’t tall, at least in stature. Aboutfive-six. His hair was brown and wavy. His build was slight. But he was wiry,with more strength inside him than showedfrom his frame. His features were sharp,pugnacious — some would say ratlike. But people who thought he resembled arodent were just jealous. And besides,
what he looked like was just wallpaper.
What counted was what was on the
inside. He came from a long line of great
men.
“My name is Damien Vesper,” he said to the reflection, and as the words came out of his mouth he smiled and his
chest swelled with pride.
“And my father was Damien
Vesper.”
He smiled again.
“And we are both directly related tothe first Damien Vesper, who gallantlybattled and defeated Gideon Cahill all
those centuries ago.”
His smile now spanned his face as he recalled his family’s domination of the Cahills.
At least, that’s how the Vespers saw
it. And that was the crux of it. Vespers were winners. They always had been and they always would be. Which meant the Cahills, despite their wealth and status, would always be losers.
He had risen to be Vesper One at the tender age of twenty-three, not by birthright, although that should count for something, but rather by ability. He was, simply, the most ruthless of all the Vespers, willing to do anything, kill anyone, to accomplish his goals.
He lifted his sleeve, revealing the large burn on his arm. It was ugly, still painful, but he wore it as a badge of honor. He could take the pain. He could bear the wounds, because he came from greatness.
But as spectacular as his bloodline
was, he planned to surpass them all to become the greatest Vesper of all.
He turned away from the mirror and continued to turn things over in his head.
Damien Vesper was superb at brooding. He found it useful to think things through. Also, he liked to be alone. He did not care for people, really. Which was one reason he had no qualms about killing lots of them. For him, most people didn’t deserve to live. They were useless, pathetic losers taking up precious space on a chunk of rock moving in slow circles in the solar system around a boiling mass of energy called the sun. For Damien Vesper, it was time to do some serious pruning of the human race. And he now had the means to do so.
He had constructed this little
chamber as a personal retreat. It actually was built to mirror the private chamber of King Louis XVI. The little king married to the beautiful Marie Antoinette was a
favorite model for Damien. He liked the
king’s arrogance, his disregard for others. He liked his unquenchable thirst for power and the fact that he did not care in the least who was hurt by it. This was a world where one had to look out for oneself. And those who were clearly superior to others must have no reservations about exerting that
superiority.
However, he did not want to share the king’s fate. Being beheaded by guillotine by French revolutionaries was not how he wanted to leave the world. He
was not afraid of death. He simply wanted
to go out on his own terms.
He rose and looked out the window.
What was staring back at him was starkand foreboding. It had truly begun. Damienhad imposed his will on the very planet. The strange-looking sky, the unpredictablewinds, magnetic fields gone haywire: Mother Nature herself was under his
power.
But now there were decisions to be made. Disloyalty could not be tolerated. Ian Kabra had given Damien, stupidly enough, valuable information about his mother.
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