1 Chapter 1

Cecilia Lin swiftly walked through the gate and into the exit terminal, her phone nestled between her cheek and shoulder.

"Mother… You knew about father's little secret project didn't you… He always does this! It's one thing to keep it from his daughter but the whole world? That insufferable man… I just can't right now… I'll call you later, mother."

She gently placed her suitcases on the floor and slipped her phone into the rear pocket of her jeans. She scanned the travel guides waiting outside through the large glass walls.

There. In front of a black SUV was a middle-aged man with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, in his hands was a sign with her name displayed. Clement. Her father's assistant. He wore a smart three piece suit, a stark contrast to the other guides dressed in casual wear. What set him apart further was the cybernetic implant around his right eye.

She made her way out of the terminal and out to the lot where Clement greeted her with a warm smile and a quick hug.

"Long time no see, how was it in Jakarta?" he asked with a toothy grin.

Half an hour later they were on the freeway to her temporary lab. It was her third time in Tokyo but the sight of the sprawling city never grew old. She gazed out at the bustling cityscape of Tokyo. Large, crystalline skyscrapers clustered too close together, blocks of identical residential apartments, the odd trendy coffee shop and bar every now and then. It was a mesmerizing sight. The Mix, or so it was called by the locals.

"Did your father brief you on the matter of this Forerunner compound?" asked Clement from the front of the SUV.

Cecilia looked away from the window. "The old man's kept me in the dark so far. I assumed he sent you to catch me up to speed."

Clement picked up a folder lying on his dashboard with one hand and tossed it to her, not once taking his eyes off the road.

She made herself comfortable on the leather seat and took a minute to leaf through the folder. It was just as she had assumed. Some tool named Augustus had her father sent away on an assignment to Bolivia in an effort to keep him out of the most lucrative project the Academy had seen in decades. And now, he was asking her for a favor, no… more like ordering her to drop everything and plan a risky expedition to an ancient ruin deep under the sea to collect samples for him.

"Just another Tuesday night for the Lin family," she thought.

The real question was who were the mystery men she was instructed to meet and just why were they coming with her on the expedition? Surely the old man hadn't sent them along because he felt she was inadequate for the task. This was hardly her first archaeological rodeo.

"So who are these men my father insists on taking?" Cecilia asked, rubbing her temples to ward off the encroaching headache.

"Mercs from some Russian backed PMC operating out of the Balkans. I'm not sure what your father expects we'll find down there, but it seems he thinks we'll need muscles down there."

She threw the folder aside. "This expedition gets more mysterious by the minute."

"I heard through the ole grapevine that the Academy Board sent you a cease and desist. Looks like they don't want you snooping around down there. You aren't going to listen to those old fossils by any chance, right?"

Cecilia chuckled mirthlessly. "And give them the satisfaction of seeing me back down? Fat chance. Imagine the books I can publish from this, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if I got my own movie. I'll make millions from this, and father will get his precious research samples. Everyone wins."

"Except the Academy."

"Screw those old geezers. They don't own me. And they already made their bed when they decided to sell out to the press. Now every corporation and scum sucking millionaire wants to send in their own little research team down there."

Clement took an exit off the freeway. They were getting close to her lab. Soon, she could begin the preparations in earnest.

Cecilia continued her little monologue. "Luckily for us, they haven't the faintest where to even begin. Father's had been developing this secret little station over the Dragon's Triangle for months. I'm sure you know all about it."

They were in the more seedier region of Tokyo now. The Neon Paradise. Clements parked his SUV in an empty lot not too far from the lab. They could foot the rest of the distance. The streets were much too narrow for a foreign import like theirs.

Passing by a gyoza stand, a seedy massage parlor, and an arcade blasting thunderous music, Cecilia took a moment to take it all in. It was messy, cluttered, designed in a glorious free for all of cluttered shanty houses and sketchy cabaret clubs.

"We're being tailed," Clement stated matter of factly.

He grabbed her by the hand without warning and then bolted across the street, scattering a pack of pedestrians.

"What's going on?" asked Cecilia, looking back over her shoulder to gauge just who they were running from.

"Blonde in black mask," he replied, nearly shoving her through the entrance of a multi complex building.

Just before she was shoved through the door she caught a brief glimpse of their pursuer emerging from the crowd. It was a short woman in all black. Her blond hair cropped so short it practically yelled military.

Clement stepped away from the door, his hand reaching under his jacket. The woman stopped dead in her tracks. She took one glance at Clement's threatening posture and slipped back into the crowd.

"You weren't actually going to fire into a crowd right?" Cecilia asked, staring at Clement's trembling jaw.

He jerked his hand away from the inside of his jacket, his fingers wrapped so tight around a gray smartphone his knuckles turned white.

"Looks like the bluff worked," he forced out dryly.