The Seraphim Sequence: The Fifth Column 2 Read Online Free Page B

deal with the challenges and problems of normal life. That’s what I’m trying now. That’s what I want from this world.’
    Nasira looked bored.
    ‘And I don’t see anything wrong with that,’ Jay said.
    ‘Right back at you,’ she said. ‘Looks like these people been doing a pretty good job too. World’s falling apart and they just wanna sit around and eat the … ’ she glanced at the laminated menu, ‘Tuesday special. ’
    Jay nodded. ‘I didn’t think you’d understand.’
    She flicked the menu aside. ‘I understand damn well. The trials and challenges of a normal life are more than enough for everyone.’ She focused on a woman and a man sitting three tables down, hunched down and eating in silence. ‘Who can blame them for not wanting to engage in an endless fight against something you can’t stop?’ She flicked ash into the ashtray, now at full capacity. ‘They’re not stubborn, they’re not delusional. They might not know the Fifth Column exists but they know they’re being lied to. They know they’re being poisoned. They know millions around the world are starving and dying.’ Her voice was almost a whisper now. ‘And they know they can’t do shit about it. So they eat bolognese.’
    Jay didn’t have a response ready.
    ‘Is that how you feel?’ Damien asked her.
    Nasira’s gaze flickered between them. ‘Sometimes. It’s a rare breed of person who burns to take on both horns—the basic challenges of normal life and the threats on a global scale.’ She extinguished her cigarette. ‘And I guess you ain’t one of them.’
    Jay watched her leave.
    ‘I think that went well,’ Damien said.
    ‘I’m not letting you do this,’ Jay said, without looking at him.
    Damien feigned surprise. ‘Do what?’
    Jay shook his head. ‘Manipulate me into this. Starving African children bullshit.’
    ‘OK.’
    Jay hammered the table with a fist. The nearby couple looked up, pasta draped from their mouths.
    Damien shrugged. ‘Actually, you can blame the Fifth Column for Africa. They proxied that place up better than Latin America.’
    Jay shook his head. ‘She has what I’m missing.’
    ‘What’s that?’
    ‘You saw that look in her eyes—she’s got purpose. Something to fight for.’
    ‘Is that what you want?’ Damien asked.
    ‘I don’t know.’
    Jay got up and walked out. Nasira was out the front, fresh cigarette in hand. Jay checked there was no one in earshot.
    ‘You don’t seem surprised to see me,’ he said.
    ‘You don’t seem surprised at my lack of surprise.’
    ‘Old habits die hard. But more importantly, what guns do you have?’
    ***
     
    The flight to Australia was mostly uneventful. Nasira, Jay and Damien had booked separate tickets under their false identities using matching false credit cards. On the plane, Damien kept to himself and read a magazine he’d purchased at the airport. His only luggage was a carry-on messenger bag; it contained everything he needed, sans pistol. Airport security wasn’t a fan of those so he’d left it behind. Jay, carrying a daypack, had done the same. As far as Damien could tell, Nasira was also unarmed.
    The Akhana base was located in Williamstown, southwest of Melbourne, embedded in what appeared to be a maritime shipping yard. Nasira led them past a row of forklifts and into a subterranean parking lot.
    ‘Your passes,’ a wafer-thin man said, handing Damien a laminated guest pass on a lanyard. ‘You can report to the weapons assembly area.’
    It looked as though Nasira hadn’t heard him, but after a moment she nodded.
    Damien dutifully hung his pass around his neck. Jay kept his in his hand.
    ‘Around your neck, please,’ the man said. ‘Where we can see it.’
    ‘I’m good,’ Jay said.
    They followed Nasira to a freight elevator.
    ‘Put your pass around your neck,’ she said to Jay. ‘That’s the point of giving you a guest pass. So people can see you’re a guest.’
    ‘Invited or uninvited?’ Jay said.
    The