RIFT (The Rift Saga Book 1) by Andreas Christensen Read Free Book Online Page B

been the calm before the storm.

Chapter 4
    MARK
    He was late for his meeting with Head Servant Lunde, and should have been in a hurry. Instead, he took his time dressing after a long and invigorating shower. He figured Head Lunde would put up with it; after all, if not for Counselor Mark Novak’s mind, Lunde would be long dead, along with his wife and all of his mistresses, his children, and his children’s children. Come to think of it, the head servant’s children’s children’s children would probably be long gone, as well. He chuckled without mirth.
    No, Moon people or not, everyone waited for Mark Novak.
    He turned toward the mirror and looked at his face. Once, it had been a young man’s face, and one women tended to fall for. Although it rarely changed much these days, it had been a long time since his face had the features of a young, successful scientist and womanizer. His ice blue eyes still had that particular twinkle, and his hair, long, blond, and slicked back, showed not a single grey hair. Still, he could see where youth had lost, not to age, but rather agelessness.
    He looked closer, putting a finger up near his right eye. A wrinkle forming. Crow’s feet. He exhaled deeply. It would be time for another treatment soon. Months of isolation, cryo sleep for weeks at a time, while the doctors worked their magic.
    His magic.
    He had long abandoned performing procedures himself, but he still worked on perfecting the small parts, all those little details, whenever he felt like doing a little work. Not that he needed to; it was just something he liked doing now and then, whenever his need to feel useful threatened to overwhelm him.
    He wondered for a moment if he should call for a pleasure lady and some stimulants for after the meeting, but decided against it. He usually felt more tired afterward, and with another treatment coming up, he knew he needed all the energy he could muster. Besides, it just made him feel more empty, the kind of empty only someone as privileged as he would ever experience.
    He looked away and put on his slippers. He should be grateful. The Moon people had given him everything in return for the treatments and his advice. He was a trusted citizen, a hero respected by everyone. The one who witnessed the Fall. The one who dealt the final blow to a dying nation, clearing the way for the Moon people to come into their right. The one who gave every citizen the chance to live forever. Or as close to it as anyone could possibly know, given that he was the oldest man in the world. The one who enabled the reign of the Moon people through the power of life itself.
    Something gnawed at him, though; this constant feeling of… wrong.
    That everything about this was so very, very wrong.
    He had been a rebel once. He even brought his best friend into it, and look where that got him. His friend died, a broken man fallen from grace, held captive in a prison cell somewhere. And though Mark eventually got his revenge, in hindsight, it all looked pointless.
    No, he was done rebelling.
    Leaving his luxurious apartment felt good. It was but a few minutes’ walk to the Palace, but he enjoyed the vigor and bustle of Legacy. Although most people here, at least those visible to him, never had to work, they still seemed busy with some thing or another. If he managed to suspend disbelief for a few moments, it felt almost like walking through a prosperous city in the old world.
    Almost.
    He hardly noticed as he walked straight through the gates and up the walk to the Palace entrance. The Moon Palace Guard officer on duty saluted him, but Mark hardly acknowledged his presence. As the doors opened, he strode through the great reception hall. Everyone he met knew him by sight and moved out of his way. He ignored everyone as he walked to the elevator leading up to the apartments occupied by Head Servant Lunde.
    Once the elevator stopped, he exited, and entered the head servant’s office, which took up the outer part