The room remained silent.
Nobody seemed willing to be the first person to speak. Paul stood where he had been sitting, staring at Khael as if the words had reached him but refused to make sense.
The descendant of the First Super Soldier. It should have been a meaningless description.
There were probably thousands of people on Earth who could claim some distant connection to people involved in the old Super Soldier program. But Paul knew exactly why the words had struck him differently.
His great-grandfather was the First Super Soldier.
He had heard the story enough times growing up. The name had become part of his family's history long before Paul understood what it meant. The first successful attempt. The beginning of something that had changed humanity forever.
And now someone from another realm had crossed a portal during a war just to find his descendant. Paul slowly looked around the room. Nobody was looking at him normally anymore.
Some were staring at him with concern. Others looked confused. A few were already whispering among themselves.
Khael noticed it too.
He remained standing at the center of the chamber, still exhausted from his injuries, but his attention had shifted entirely toward Paul.
David was the first to break the silence.
-You said you don't know why they need him. Then explain what you actually know. You crossed a portal into our world while your people are fighting a war, survived whatever happened to you on the other side, and came here asking for one man. If you don't even know why you need him, then what exactly were you sent here to do?
Khael took a slow breath.
-I was given a name to find. I was given a place to find him. And I was told that bringing him back could change what is happening to us. That is what I know.
-That's not enough.
-But this I all I can say and all I know right now.
Khael did not argue. That seemed to unsettle the room more than an argument would have. One of the representatives leaned forward.
-You expect us to hand over one of our people based on that?
Khael looked toward him.
-No. I expect you to understand that I crossed a battlefield to reach this planet because I believed finding him was worth the risk.
-That still doesn't answer the question.
-It answers part of it.
Khael's voice remained controlled, but the exhaustion beneath it was becoming easier to hear.
-I wasn't told what he would do for us. I wasn't told what he would become. I was only told that the descendant of the First Super Soldier would matter. I was told that if we could bring him to our side, we might have a chance.
The representative shook his head.
-You don't even know whether he can help you.
Khael looked at Paul again.
-No.
He paused.
-But someone who sent me across a war zone believed he could.
The room fell quiet again. Paul finally spoke.
-Why me?
Everyone turned toward him. Paul regretted asking almost immediately. Khael studied him for a few seconds before answering.
-I don't know.
Paul frowned.
-Then why did you come all the way here?
-Because I was told to.
-By whom?
Khael hesitated. Paul noticed it. So did everyone else.
-That doesn't matter right now, Khael said.
-It matters to me.
Khael's expression changed slightly. For the first time since entering the room, he seemed to understand that Paul wasn't asking as a soldier or a representative of Earth. He was asking as the person whose entire life had just been dragged into something he had never heard of.
-I understand.
Khael lowered his voice.
-But if I knew everything, I would tell you. I am not hiding the answer from you because I want to make this mysterious. I simply don't have it.
Paul looked down for a moment. That somehow made things worse. If Khael had known why, Paul could have rejected the explanation.
He could have called it manipulation. He could have found a reason to dismiss the entire thing. But Khael didn't know either. And that meant there was something bigger than both of them involved. A representative from the far side of the chamber finally spoke.
-There is another problem.
Everyone looked toward him. He folded his hands together.
-You said your people are fighting MJC.
Khael nodded.
-Yes.
-Then this is not simply a request for one individual. If we give you someone, we are involving ourselves in your war.
-That depends on what you do next.
The representative gave him a cold look.
-Don't play with words. You crossed into Earth during a war involving MJC. You are asking for a person from Earth. If that person leaves with you, MJC will know where he came from.
Khael did not respond immediately. The representative continued.
-And after everything that happened to us, you expect this room to casually make another decision that could put Earth in direct conflict with them?
A murmur spread through the chamber. Paul listened without saying anything. He had been in meetings before. He had watched people argue over military operations, resources and decisions that affected millions. But this felt different. Those arguments had always involved things Paul could understand. This one involved him.
And nobody seemed to know what he was. Or what he was supposed to become. One of the representatives turned toward the others.
-We need to remember what happened the last time Earth tried to stand against MJC.
Another answered immediately.
-And we also need to remember what happened when we trusted them.
The room shifted. Khael watched them carefully. A few representatives leaned back in their seats. Others began speaking quietly among themselves. The discussion was no longer about whether Khael's story sounded believable. It had become a question of what Earth could afford to do. A man near the center of the table raised his voice.
-We cannot make a decision simply because someone from another realm says one of our Grand Super Soldiers, an important asset of our global military, is important to them.
Another representative responded.
-Then what exactly are you suggesting? Send him away and hope they stop looking for us?
-We don't know if they are looking for him.
Khael interrupted.
-They will.
The room became quiet. The representative looked at him.
-How do you know?
-Because if someone went through the trouble of sending me here, they already know what he is.
Paul looked up.
-What I am?
Khael looked at him.
-What you could become.
That sentence stayed in the room. Paul didn't answer. He didn't know what it meant. Neither did anyone else. At least, not yet. David finally stepped in.
-Enough for now.
He looked toward Khael.
-You've given us more information than we were prepared for. We need time to process it.
Khael nodded.
-I understand.
David turned toward the representatives.
-This discussion cannot continue like this. We need verified information about Khael's claims, his realm, and the current situation beyond the portal. We also need to understand exactly what MJC knows about Earth.
Khael gave a faint, tired smile.
-You may not have as much time as you think.
Nobody answered. Paul looked at him. There was something about the way he said it that made Paul uncomfortable.
Not threatening, not dramatic.
Just certain.
The meeting was eventually suspended.
Representatives began leaving in small groups, immediately discussing what they had heard. Security personnel remained around Khael as David spoke with the medical team about his condition.
Paul stayed where he was. For several seconds, he didn't notice that Khael had stopped beside him.
-You didn't know.
Paul looked at him.
-Know what?
-That your family was connected to this.
Paul gave a short, humorless laugh.
-I don't think anyone in this room knew.
Khael looked at him for a moment.
-That may be why they wanted me to find you.
Paul's expression hardened.
-You keep saying things like that.
-Because I believe them.
-But you don't know.
Khael nodded.
-No. I don't need to.
Paul looked away. The room was almost empty now.
-Then don't expect me to believe you either.
Khael remained silent for a moment.
-I don't.
Paul looked back at him. Khael's voice became quieter.
-I only expect you to listen before you decide.
Paul had no answer. Khael started walking away with the soldiers. After a few steps, he stopped.
-There is one thing you should understand, Paul.
Paul waited.
-Whatever happened to your great-grandfather, whatever your family knows or doesn't know, this isn't about your bloodline anymore.
Paul frowned. Khael looked directly at him.
-They came looking for you.
Then he continued walking. Paul remained there long after Khael had disappeared through the door. For the first time in his life, the story of the First Super Soldier did not feel like history. It felt like a door.
And somehow, someone had just opened it.
-To be continued….