Imakarum stood before the phone, contemplating his next action. He knew what he should do now, what his loyalty to Lord Alkanphel dictated, but there was still a part of him that despised the thought. These humans who fought against Chronos were not to be dismissed so easily. They were well equipped, and well hidden. Clever and resourceful, the ACF was not to be taken lightly.

Picking up the phone, Imakarum dialed a number that he had been given in another life.

"How did you get this number?" a male voice that Imakarum did not recognize demanded.

"Put me through to Atkins," Imakarum said calmly. "Tell him that M is calling. He’ll know what I’m talking about."

"I’ll give him the message," the man said, still sounding suspicious.

There was a solid seven minutes of dead space, before another man came on the line.

"Murakami?" Atkins asked, and Imakarum shuddered slightly. The man sounded happy to hear from him. "We haven’t heard from you in ages. Did you go underground?"

"Something like that," Imakarum said.

"Have there been any new developments at Chronos?"

"Not as far as I know," Imakarum lied. "Have there been any new developments with your organization?"

"We’re still working to build up our numbers," Atkins said, piquing Imakarum’s interest.

"Your main base is still in Utah, right?" Imakarum asked, wanting to see what Atkins would make of that question.

"It is, but we’re working to change that."

"Where are you planning to move to?" Imakarum asked warily.

"You understand that that’s not something that I’m free to discuss. Even with you, Murakami."

"I understand," Imakarum said, cursing Atkins mentally. "Is there anything that you can tell me?"

"We’re close to getting our hunting license," Atkins said, and Imakarum frowned. "Then the real operations can begin."

"How’s your R and D?"

"Going well," Atkins seemed pleased, and Imakarum knew that anything that made the man this happy was not something that boded well for Chronos. "We’ve whipped up a few new things since you last came into contact with us. Nothing I can tell you about, but suffice it to say that Chronos won’t know what hit them when we’re up and running."

From bad to worse, then. Lord Alkanphel is not going to be pleased about any of this. Imakarum sighed inaudibly, knowing that he couldn’t risk Atkins becoming suspicious. He had to cut the call short, despite the fact that what he really wanted to do was to find out everything that Atkins had been doing so that Chronos would be able to counter him and his ACF.

"I have to go now," Imakarum said. "I’m sure you understand."

"I do. But keep in contact, Murakami. You’re an important part of this resistance effort, too."

"I know," Imakarum said.

Imakarum hung up the phone, mentally requesting an audience with Lord Alkanphel so that he could explain the threat that the ACF posed to Chronos’ plans.

XxXxX

Colonel Aiden Atkins, nominal leader of the newly-christened ACTF, hung up the phone. It had been good to hear from Murakami again. The man was a fellow fighter against Chronos, and while the two of them weren’t really what could be considered close friends, it was still good to know that Murakami was still out there causing trouble for Chronos. The man was an asset that couldn’t be underestimated. Atkins wasn’t about to make the mistake of doing that, either.

Lieutenant Adrian Porter, who worked for the ACTF’s R&D Division, had just come in.

"Did I come at a bad time, sir?"

"No, Porter. I was just finishing up a call. What do you have for me?"

"I just came to inform you that five of the new Alpha units are ready for your inspection, sir," Porter said, looking over one of the files she held. "The other five are scheduled to be completed in four hours."

"Thank you for informing me, Porter," Atkins said, taking the file that she held out to him. "I’ll be right down."

"I hope you like what you see, sir," she said, smiling a little. "Our tech guys busted their asses trying to get these things just right. One of the Alphas even managed to take off Barker’s finger."

"Well if they managed to do that, then I’m sure that I’ll like what I see," Atkins grinned easily. "How’s Barker doing now?"

"His finger grew back, and now he’s in the cafeteria having some grub."

"Good. I’ll meet you at R and D."

"I’ll see you there, sir," Porter saluted just before she turned and walked away.