Book One Chapter Twenty Six: President Anderson

Nick and his friends venture to Sven seeking an airship, only to find that they were all destroyed, along with the factories that made them! Nick goes to the president of the city for help.

Chapter Twenty Six President Anderson: I heard the familiar sound of a car’s engine. I closed my eyes and I imagined myself back home, surrounded by the sound of the hydraulic engine. I looked at all of the cars. They were driving around on the black asphalt roads. We were walking on the sidewalk on the side of the road. There were even working stop lights! The whole scene reminded me of pictures I had seen of early 1930s New York. We walked through the city.

The city had lots of shops for armor and weapons that varied in size, it had restaurants, it had houses large and small, and it had buildings that looked like office buildings, it had skyscrapers, and in the distance I could see a body of water. On the body of water were docks and boats tied to them. The boats were small, but I could make out small, unusual looking motors on them! That was so cool! Sven was such a huge step up from the other villages technology wise. I did see something very strange, though; every now and then, there was a large stone building that was completely demolished. The buildings looked like factories of some kind, but they were destroyed. Why was that?

“As you can see, Sven has a lot of technology. All of this is fairly new. Sven plans to share all of this new technology with the rest of Artemis over the next few decades. In a few decades, Artemis will be a very different place indeed!” Federov said excitedly.

It was just before dusk and the town had lights on! Lights in houses, buildings, streetlights, everywhere!

“Sven has a president; he lives in that tall, purple building.” Federov pointed to one of the taller buildings.

“President Anderson?” I asked.

“Yes, that is his name. How do you know that?” Asked Federov.

“The guards said something about him, how he wants to build trust between him and his people.” I said.

“Okay then.” Federov said.

“We can go see him then!” I said.

I then started to run to the tall, purple building.

“No, wait!” shouted Federov.

There were two men standing shoulder to shoulder at the door. It reminded me of the secret service back home, minus the suits and shades. They were just as big and muscly as the secret service, though. I tried walking past them but it didn’t work. They did not move out of the way. They did not budge.

“I have to speak with the president,” I said.

“That is what they all say." One of them said without looking at me.

“I need a flying machine, and I do not know where to get one. Saja-“

Upon saying her name, one of the men’s heads snapped towards me.

“Come with me, sir.” He said, beckoning me inside the building.

Wow, that was a big surprise.

My friends started to follow but I stopped them.

“Wait here, I will get this sorted out and then come back.” I told them.

The bodyguards led me inside the building. The interior of the building was huge! It was decorated with violet and cerulean wallpaper. It had soft looking white couches here and there. There were people dressed in fancy clothes standing around and sitting on the white couches, eating finger foods. The bay windows on the walls let in the twilight cast by the distant setting sun.

The two men led me through the room. I received strange looks from some of the other people in the room. The two men led me up a long flight of stairs towards the rear of the room. We reached the top of the staircase and arrived in a hall. At the end of the hall I saw a big, ornate door. The two men led me to the door. We walked to it and the two men pushed it open as we arrived.

A short, balding man in a tuxedo with piercing blue eyes and a firm, sturdy build sat at a massive wooded desk that curved on either ends. The man’s age was impossible to guess, but he was pretty old. Papers were scattered everywhere on his desk.

"President Anderson, this man claims to have information on Saja.” One of the two guards said.

I did not say that! I only mentioned her name! I suppose they assumed that I had information on her, which I did.

President Anderson sat back farther in his chair behind the desk.

“That is what they all say.” He said. His voice sounded rough and crude.

The president looked to me and strode over. He reached out his hand to shake.

“Hello, young man. I am Ryddell Anderson, president of Sven.” He said.

I took his hand and shook it.

“What happened here? How do you know Saja?” I asked the president.

He stopped shaking my hand.

“We were fine a few weeks ago, our city thriving, we had lots of electronics and technology. A few days ago was when those drop ships came. The drop ships each carried around five vampires. The ships flew over the city. Some of the ships were armed with explosive bombs, others carried five vampires. The airships armed with bombs flew over and destroyed the facilities in which we manufacture our weapons, building materials, airships and other valuable resources. The ships that were armed with vampires let down ropes into our city, and vampires swung down from each ship from the ropes. The vampires infiltrated our city, killing many civilians, and killing the city guards. The vampires also went on foot and destroyed the airships that people already possess. Without the airships that the factories produce, all we had left were the airships that some people already had. Once those were gone, we could not make an immediate counter attack. The vampires were the foot soldiers of the airships above. Without our guards, we were defenseless against the vampires. As for the bombs… Well bombs are a fairly new invention. No one really has any protection against them quite yet.” President Anderson finished.

Anger filled me. Saja had known I was coming here! I thought. Just when we think we’re one step ahead of her, she is two steps ahead of us.

“Our sources indicate that her name is Saja, and that she has a whole army of those vampires at her command. “President Anderson went on.

“She does indeed. Although, I do not know how she gets them to trust her so easily.” I told him.

“I do not know, either. Saja has not attacked us since, but that is not to say that she will not do so in the future.” President Anderson said in a worried tone.

“I have battled Saja countless times myself. I know how she thinks, I know how she fights.” I told President Anderson.

“Have you? Well, Sven’s prayers have indeed been answered!” President Anderson exclaimed.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We have been praying for someone who knows about Saja to come and help us for days now! If you know how Saja thinks and fights, could you tell me?” President Anderson asked me.

“Of course. Saja is a skilled fighter with a sword. Her vampire strength and speed give her an advantage. The only weakness that I know she has is arrogance.” I told President Anderson.

“Arrogant? How so?” He asked.

“Saja is all about the theatrics. She loves to stay and enjoy watching people suffer. She thinks that she is one of the best warriors that there is, this causes her to underestimate her opponents.” I explained.

“As long as you know how she thinks, could you tell me why she attacked Sven?” Asked President Anderson.

Wow. What should I say to him? Should I tell him the truth? The truth was that Saja attacked Sven and destroyed the factories and other airships because she did not want me to reach her at Hemlon. We knew of no other airships on Artemis except for the ones in Sven. It was now impossible to reach Saja. If I told President Anderson this, he would surely hate my friends and I. I decided not to tell him the truth. I did some quick thinking.

“If Saja has already attacked you, she will surely attack again. You have no airships, so you cannot attack from the skies. Saja is in Hemlon right now, so there is no way that you could possibly attack her without your airships.” I told him.

“My heavens, you are right! I have heard of two tyrant ladies in Hemlon. They have put up wanted posters of a gentleman matching your description.” President Anderson said, his eyes lit up with recognition as he said those last four words.

“I am not a criminal, you have my word. Saja and the other woman that she is in Hemlon with, Luna both hold personal grudges against me that started a few months ago. Once they rose to power, they decided that they should put wanted posters of me in every single village on Artemis.” I explained.

“Well, I will make you a deal.” President Anderson said.

“A deal?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Yes. I do not believe you about your little ‘personal grudge’ story. I will not arrest you and your friends if you agree to help Sven and ward off the vampires.” President Anderson said threateningly.

“Are you threatening me?” I asked, my anger rising.

“Yes. If you know what is good for you, you will get your friends and you will speak to Sven’s Council of Defense and see what jobs you and your friends can perform.” President Anderson said.

I thought for a moment.

“Do we have a deal?” Asked President Anderson.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realized that there was only one other option; go to prison as a convict. It was a no-brainer.

“Yes. We have a deal.” I spat.

“Good. Off you go now.” Said President Anderson with a grin.

I looked the president in the eye.

“I hate you.” I said with anger in my voice.

“Many people do. Guards! Escort this young man outside. Do not let me see him again until he has fulfilled our deal.” President Anderson called.

In a second, the two guards who had brought me up here appeared from around the corner in front of me. They both seized my arms and dragged me down the stairwell, through the room with the men and women in fancy cloths and threw me out the door and into the street. I fell on my stomach. I looked around to find my friends standing a few feet away. It was now dark out, the moon was high in the sky. I really hated President Anderson.

“Nick! What happened?” Asked Federov, running over to me.

“Well, I have bad news. Saja has been here. She came in a few airships a few days ago and bombed Sven’s factories, preventing them from making weapons, building materials and airships. She destroyed every airship in Sven. Also, the president threatened to arrest us all if we do not help Sven to ward off the vampires.” I said with dismay.

There was a stunned silence.

“Great. Who does that man think he is?” Asked Anna-Maria angrily.

“The president of Sven.” Fenton answered.

Anna-Maria regarded him strangely.

“Shut up.” She told him.

“Enough. If we want to hurry up and leave Sven, we should go to Sven’s Council of Defense and see what jobs we can do. Saja is done with Sven, we must hurry up and do what President Anderson asks so we can move on and find a new way of getting to Hemlon.” I said.

With that, I set off in a random direction, having now idea where the Council of Defense was located. My friends followed.

“If you are looking for the Council of Defense, it is this way. I passed it a few times in my trips through the city in the past.” Carmella said, leading us off to the next right turn.

After a few minutes of walking down the street, we came to a gray/blue building that was two stories tall. It had a sign over the door that had a cross with two swords through it. The words Council of Defense were written beneath the cross.

With that, we walked up to the doorway and opened the door. Inside the building there was a counter directly in front of us. There was a thickset, burly man behind it. He had short black hair, an unshaven chest, very dark skin and dark green eyes. Behind the man were a series of metal cabinets. To our left was a bar counter with a few drinks on the counter, and beside the counter in front of us was a staircase. The windows were small, almost half a foot by half a foot.

“Aye, you lot must be the blokes that President Anderson sent over. He informed me of your little deal with him. He also told me to tip him off if you are slacking. I will not hesitate to do so, so get your job done.” The man behind the counter said wickedly.

“Whatever, buddy.” Carmella said.

The dark skinned man behind the counter squinted at Carmella.

“Carmella, is that you?” He asked.

“You can bet on it. What of it?” Asked Carmella uninterestedly.

“My buddy, Claud owns the finest casino in Sven. He says that you owe him a hefty sum of Sienta. If that so?” Asked the dark skinned man with a grin.

“Aye, it is.” Carmella said.

“Yes, and just what do you think would happen to you if I were to tip him off that you are working for me?” Asked the dark skinned man.

“I suppose that he would want to murder me. After all, I do owe him quite a lot of Sienta.” Carmella said without a trace of fear in her voice.

“Yes, indeed he would. Make sure you do your job right and we should not have any problems. Is that clear?” Asked the dark skinned man.

“Aye, it is clear.” Carmella said.

“Good. I want you five to go guard the southern wall. We are spread thin there, kill any vampire that approaches.” The dark skinned man said,

“We will get on that immediately.” Carmella said.

“You better.” The dark skinned man told her.

With that, Carmella took the lead and led us to the southern wall. It was not a far walk from the building that we were in to the wall. We were greeted by a guard in full armor. I could not make out any of his features, except for the fact that he was taller than me.

“You lot must be the people Jarred sent over. He says that you have a deal with President Anderson.” The guard said.

“Yes, we are.” I said.

Jarred must be the dark skinned man’s name.

“Okay then. I am Victor. Sorry, we cannot spare any armor, and it seems that you already have your own weapons. Just stay here and guard the wall. Kill any approaching vampires. That is all that you must do.” Victor told us.

This job sounded easy enough. Maybe earning our freedom will not be so hard after all?

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think :)