Book: The First - Part: One - Chapter: 14 - Installment: i

Fifty-two floors above street-level in the Lancaster Tower, Edward Lancaster sat in a leather arm-chair. Across from him, Marcel Assombri shifted on a matching sofa.

“There is something else at work.” Assombri’s accent was faint but clear. “Things are getting complicated. I believe we are headed into the darkness.”

“Which means?”

“We are under prepared.”

“My resources are not limitless.”

“We are a long way from taxing your finances.”

Lancaster smiled at his old friend. “True, but there will come a point when we are expending faster than I can acquire, and of late your budget has been inflating at a much accelerated rate.”

“If we don’t continue to match the challenge we are lost.”

“I’m not likely to forget.”

“We could have put greater resources to this sooner. Perhaps if we had, we would not be where we now stand. Merely holding back the tide is not enough Edward. If we put everything we have at our disposal to bear then perhaps we can end this now.”

“Marcel, if we go ‘all or nothing’ then we have nothing in reserve. If we fail to win an all-out war of eradication, then we have no way of protecting ourselves.”

“We cannot afford to lose any more ground. We could soon reach a critical mass and find we cannot tip the balance back. We will soon find ourselves overwhelmed. Everyone who doesn’t carry some form of immunity will be at risk. They will all succumb. This includes yourself. To not take action is to assure failure, and the cost of failure is absolute, I have no need of assuring you of this.”

Lancaster had not become a man of great power and wealth by lingering on decisions for long, and everyone who worked for him recognized the absolute nature of his final decisions. Assombri knew that his point was as complete as it needed to be, Lancaster would make the concomitant extended arguments without Marcel laying them out. Lancaster gazed through the mesh-blinds towards the park. On a clear day Lions Peaks presided even over his lofty throne above the city, but ubiquitous November cloud-cover left him to pursue his own inspiration. As always it was not long coming.

“Tell me what you require to stem the flow – to reverse what you see and shift things back in our favour. Also tell me what will be necessary to fortify yourself for the future. Once we have accomplished this I will consider further action. If we move too quickly, too obviously, I fear counter-measures. If the battle appears even, then we can curtail any acts of desperation. Once we are truly secure then we can act decisively with impunity. In the meantime I will continue to stockpile my resources for when we can use them to greatest effect.”

     Chapter 15