Anna looked at Jack, causing his heart to skip a beat. “Jack,” she said. “Would you be so kind as to open the bay doors?”
“Um, yeah… sure…” muttered Jack as he gave the ship the mental command to do so.
With a pronounced KLANK, the wall before them lowered to form a ramp leading to the ground. There was a long, rectangular opening to the domed hangar in the distance with a number of small shuttles idling just outside of it. But more noticeable than the shuttlecraft were the multitudes of men already in the hangar, all wearing red uniforms which sported golden shoulder pauldrons decorated like eagle’s wings, their knee-high boots sporting matching golden shin-guards. Each one wore helmets that covered their eyes with dark visors, the only thing visible being their stern mouths and chins. They all stood at the ready, each one armed with an intimidating-looking plasma rifle.
The sight of the small army took the group aback. Scallywag in particular looked wary at the sight of the armed men until Anna turned to them. “Don’t be alarmed,” she said. “It’s simply the Royal Guard. They’re here for me.”
“How many guards do ya bloody need?” muttered Scallywag.
“Actually, this is quite a small escort,” chirped Green. “There are tens of thousands of—”
“Wasn’t really lookin’ fer an answer ta that, greenskin,” replied Scallywag.
Anna began walking forward. Jack exchanged a nervous look with the others before they all started to follow. Not far away, two men stood awaiting the Princess as she approached them. One of them was tall, and clad head-to-toe in a brilliant suit of golden armor. It somewhat resembled the armor Shepherd had worn, but to Jack, it looked more like the kind medieval knights used to wear than the super-futuristic outfit his old mentor had sported. The eye insignia of the Empire emblazoned the man’s chest. His shoulders were broad with a long red cloak attached to them. He was an older man, his face weathered and lined. He had a long white goatee, which was tied with golden bands and hung down to his collar bone. His long white hair was pulled back into a top-knot style chonmage. His eyes were a pale blue, and he stood in a way which practically radiated authority.
By contrast, the man at his side couldn’t have been more different. He was very short and pudgy, and entirely unassuming. In fact, he might have been overlooked by Jack if he hadn’t had so many curious looking robots attending to him. His face was nearly as round as his body, and he wore a crisp, formal charcoal grey uniform with a high double-breasted lapel buttoning down from his left shoulder. On his right breast was a small, inverted golden triangle with the Imperial Eye inside it. He had no hair on his head at all, but a series of strange tattoos crept around his scalp, stopping as they got to his face. He didn’t have the pointed ears of a Regal. Instead, his ears were quite small and jutted out slightly from his head. His eyes were also an off-putting yellow ocher color. Jack met the man’s gaze briefly as the group approached, noticing the careful, measured look of curiosity with which he was regarding everyone.
As they got closer, the man in the golden armor stepped forward to greet them. “Your Majesty,” said the man curtly.
“Commander Seqis,” Anna replied formally.
“Thank goodness you’re alive,” Commander Seqis said, his expression betraying an anger his voice was careful to keep in check. “We’ve been beside ourselves with worry for a month. All attempts to contact your escorts had failed. I had Starkeeper Cohaagen dispatch a fleet of warships to your last known location.”
“You may recall them,” stated Anna. “As you can see, I’m fine.”
“Indeed,” Seqis replied. “Though your absence troubled this old fool nonstop. Where is Shepherd? I wish to know why he did not attempt to contact us and inform us of your status.”
Anna hesitated a moment before responding. “Paragon Shepherd is dead,” she said quietly.
Immediately upon hearing her words, Seqis’s face transformed from one of relieved anger to genuine shock and sadness. The short man behind him also seemed troubled at the news. “Princess…” said Seqis. “I am so sorry…”
“As am I,” replied Anna, stiffly.
“What happened?” Seqis asked.
“A great many things, Commander,” Anna said before turning her gaze to the smaller man. “Chief Alabaster, I am invoking Protocol 13.”
The small man raised a curious eyebrow before bowing in consent. “Acknowledged, Your Highness,” he replied.
“My companions have each proven themselves to be true Heroes of the Empire,” Anna said, referring to Jack and the others. “I am alive right now because of them. They are all to be treated with the utmost respect and courtesy.”
“I will make sure of that, personally, Your Highness,” the man said.
Anna nodded before turning to the others. “I must leave you all now,” she said. “Do not worry. You are in good hands. I ask that you cooperate with Chief Alabaster here and do as he asks.”
“Anna,” said Jack, a tad confused. “What’s going on?”
Anna looked at him and smiled sadly. “Just following procedure,” she replied. “Don’t worry. It will all be sorted out soon.”
With that, Anna turned and began walking away. A small contingent of the Royal Guard fell in behind her, as did Commander Seqis, his face troubled. Jack watched Anna as she entered a small shuttle with her escort and flew away. Jack turned to Professor Green. “What’s Protocol 13?” Jack asked.
Green shrugged. “This is the first I’m hearing of such a thing.”
“Whatever it is, I’m bettin’ it ain’t good,” muttered Scallywag.
The short man turned to the robot at his side. “Radio ahead to the Royal Tower,” he said quietly. “Have the Royal Physicians standing by. Make sure all access to the Palace levels are restricted to rank 10 clearance only. We are in lockdown until I say otherwise. No one is to know the Princess has returned.”
“Understood, sir,” the robot replied as the gears in its head began whirring frantically.
The man then turned his attention to the group and took a step forward. “Greetings to you all,” he said, his voice gentle and even. “I am Phineas Alabaster, Chief of Imperial Intelligence. Under orders from her Imperial Highness, Princess Glorianna, I am hereby instituting Protocol 13, which is a set of procedures to ensure the safety of the Empire following a member of the Royal family being severely compromised. I ask for your cooperation until we can determine the full extent of the damage that may have occurred.”
“Damage?” said Jack, confused. “Anna’s fine, we’ve been with her for a month! She hasn’t been compromised.”
“Obviously, the Princess feels she has been,” replied Alabaster. “Might I inquire as to who you are?”
“I’m Jack. This is Professor Green, Scallywag, Heckubus, and the big guy is Grohm.”
Alabaster eyed Grohm warily and turned to the robot at his side. “Contact the security office,” he said quietly. “Tell them to teleport up a Berserker Collar immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the robot, its head whirring once more.
Jack eyed Alabaster suspiciously. “What’s the deal?” Jack asked. “What’s a Berserker Collar?”
“Just a precautionary measure,” Alabaster replied. “Nothing to be concerned with.”
“It sounds like you’re planning to do something to my friend here,” replied Jack, jerking his head toward Grohm. “That makes me concerned.”
“Just following procedure,” said Alabaster calmly. “Imperial law states that all Rognoks within population centers are required to wear Berserker Collars.”
“And what exactly do these collars do?” asked Jack.
“They are specifically designed to incapacitate Rognoks, should the need arise,” replied Alabaster.
“And by ‘incapacitate,’ he means nuke their brains,” muttered Scallywag.
“Whoa, whoa,” said Jack. “I’m not letting you put anything on Grohm that could kill him!”
“Not kill,” insisted
Alabaster. “Incapacitate.”
“I don’t give a slap what you call it!” said Jack. “He’s not wearing a brain melting collar!”
Alabaster sighed. “I understand your concern,” he said calmly. “But you are obviously new to the Empire, so allow me to educate you on our policy concerning Rognoks. The last Rognok who went berserk in a population center ended up killing close to 300 civilians and causing over ten million digicredits worth of property damage. Imperial Alpha Force squads had to be called in to subdue him, laying waste to four city blocks in the battle to contain him. Rognoks are an extremely volatile and dangerous race, and we cannot have one roaming around the Capitol without a way to subdue him should he lose control. I’m sure if your friend is as agreeable as you believe he is, he won’t mind wearing the collar. But if not, then I’m afraid I must insist he leave the planet immediately, as much for his safety as for ours.”
Jack was taken aback. He knew based off what he’d seen from Grohm that Rognoks could kick serious butt. However, it was clear he had no idea what others were capable of. Still, Grohm was his friend, and Jack was the type to stand with his friends – no matter what. He turned and looked up at Grohm. “Just say the word, Big Guy,” said Jack. “You and me, we’ll be out of here. You don’t have to wear anything you don’t want to.”
Another android arrived with a large, dark grey metal collar with blinking red lights on it. Grohm looked at it, then looked at Alabaster and simply nodded. He bent over as the android attached the collar around his neck. No sooner did the locks on it engage then all the lights turned green. Jack immediately felt uneasy about seeing his friend having to wear such a thing.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” said Alabaster. “My apologies for coming off so strict, but as you can imagine, until we get a clear picture of what’s going on and who you all are, we must proceed with caution. The Princess has declared you are all Heroes of the Empire, and that is not a declaration I take lightly. You are all deserving of great respect and we wish to welcome you to the Capitol. I would like to invite you to enjoy our hospitality as guests at the Royal Tower, until such time as we can end Protocol 13.”
Members of the Royal Guard then stepped forward, each one of them holding a very serious-looking plasma rifle at the ready. Scallywag eyed them suspiciously. “Guests, eh?” he said. “Where I be from, one might be inclined ta translate that as ‘prisoners.’”
Alabaster smiled. “One should always be careful that nothing is lost in translation,” the short man replied. “But something tells me, even if you were correct in your assumption… this would be the most luxurious prison you’ve ever been in.”
Scallywag smirked at Alabaster, the two of them sharing a look which seemed to communicate they both knew everything they needed to about the other. “Fair enough,” Scallywag finally replied. “Lead the way, Warden.”
Alabaster stepped aside and gestured toward another small shuttlecraft idling outside the hangar, the armed Royal Guards falling in around Jack and the others. As the group was being led away, Heckubus stiffly walked up to Alabaster. “Pardon me, sir,” Heckubus said in an uncharacteristically robotic voice. “I fear our journey has been a long one, and it has been some time since my last diagnostic. Might I be allowed to go to Maintenance for some repairs?”
Alabaster signaled for one of his robots to approach. “Take this one to Robotics in the Bunker,” he said. “I want complete copies of all its memory banks and data logs.”
“Understood, sir,” the robot replied before walking Heckubus toward a different shuttle.
Jack glanced behind his shoulder and watched sadly as Heckubus was being led away. “You really think we’ll never see him again?” asked Jack.
“Right now, I’m thinkin’ about what the inside of me luxurious new cell is gonna be like,” replied Scallywag, bitterly.
“Would you stop talking like that?” asked Jack, frustrated with the whole situation. “You heard the guy. It’s just temporary until whatever this Protocol thing is runs its course.”
“Mmm-hmmm,” said Scallywag. “Kinda funny yer little Princess didn’t bother ta warn us about how she was gonna handle our homecoming, don’t ya think?”
Jack frowned. “I’m sure she had her reasons.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” said Scallywag. “Reasons like not wanting ta look us in tha face and tell us we’re gonna be locked away and interrogated ‘till such time as her government figures out what ta bloody do with us.”
“No…” said Jack, nervously. “You can’t… you don’t really think that’s what’s going to happen, do you?”
“I don’t think that’s what’s gonna happen,” replied Scallywag. “I know that’s what’s gonna happen.”
“I don’t get it,” muttered Jack. “We’re heroes. We saved the universe! Why are they treating us like we’re criminals?”
Scallywag glanced down at Jack and smirked.
“Welcome ta the Empire, lad,” he replied.
Chapter 4
Phineas Alabaster gazed at the multitude of data screens before him as he reviewed his notes for the briefing. It had been two full days since the Princess had returned. He had no reason to doubt what the Princess said had occurred on her expedition, and yet, he still had a hard time believing it.
He paced around his office in the Bunker – the unofficial name for the headquarters of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, which was located deep underground in the sub-levels of the Capitol Tower. He kept running the intel from his debriefings with the Princess and her companions over and over in his mind, and each time he did, he found himself becoming more and more troubled.
He hadn’t been a fan of the Princess’s expedition to Earth from the start. He’d long suspected a leak existed deep within the Regalus government that somehow fed to the Deathlords. The odds that the Deathlords could know where the Princess had travelled to, along with how to bypass her escort’s defenses, without having some type of mole were practically non-existent.
When news of the Ancient Temple on Earth had reached them, Alabaster knew the Princess would have to travel there. If Earth did indeed house a weapon that could defeat the Deathlords, there was no question it should be explored, and the Princess was the only one who could do it. However, he would have preferred sending an entire Strike Fleet with her to rush in and take the temple as quickly as possible, as opposed to the low-key route that was eventually agreed upon.
The whole point of the Princess travelling to Earth using Shadow Protocol was to confiscate whatever secrets the Ancient Temple there held without the planet's inhabitants being able to lay claim to it. That is why they did not make official contact with the leaders of the planet, and it is why they secretly infiltrated the planet’s society as members of its own species. The planet was far too primitive and remote to bring into the Empire. Therefore, the best course of action was to slip in unnoticed, take what they needed, and leave without anyone being the wiser.
The fact that the Temple didn’t immediately respond to the Princess was the cause of a great deal of contention among the men Phineas was about to brief. But while they bickered over the Princess’s lack of progress, Alabaster’s main concern was keeping up the charade that the Princess hadn’t actually gone anywhere to begin with. It had helped that the Princess had ordered the Royal Vanguard to stay behind to lend credence to the notion that her double was the real thing. But after discovering what had happened, Alabaster couldn’t help but feel sending just one of the Princess’s Paragon protectors along with her had been a terrible mistake, even one as capable as Shepherd had been.
More troubling was the idea that the Princess had been compromised by an unknown Deathlord technology. Her recounting of how the Deathlord Supreme had taken control of her was terrifying. Once Alabaster had learned that, he knew why the Princess had invoked Protocol 13 immediately upon arriving. To think the Deathlords could enslave a member of the Royal Family and gain control over the Ancient technology the Empire relied upon fo
r its very existence was the stuff nightmares were made of.
He looked over her medical records once more. The Royal Physicians had done every type of test imaginable on her to try to determine what the Deathlords had done, but all their data had come back normal. The clean bill of health was enough to convince everyone that at least for now, the Princess was once again safe. But even so, Alabaster remained concerned.
“Sir,” came the voice of his assistant over the intercom. “Agent Boone is here to see you.”
“Send him in,” Alabaster replied as he downloaded his briefing notes to his datapad.
The door to Alabaster’s office hissed open. A tall, dashing man entered the room, wearing the grey uniform of an Imperial Intelligence Agent. He had dark hair and a cocky smile which somewhat annoyed Alabaster. Most agents had to be a little cocky to do their jobs effectively, but there was a fine line between cockiness and competency. The jury was still out on which one Agent Boone possessed more of.
“Chief Alabaster,” he said, coming to a stop in the middle of the large, circular office. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“I did,” replied Alabaster. “I have a very important assignment for you, Agent. High priority. Top secret.”
Agent Boone nodded. “I am at your service, Chief,” he said.
Alabaster called up the case file on his datapad, displaying a mug shot of Heckubus on one of the screens of his wall. “I am making you the targeting officer for one Heckubus Moriarty,” Alabaster said.
Boone curiously eyed the image on the screen. “A robot, sir?”
“Indeed,” replied Alabaster. “A sentient A.I. And a particularly troublesome one at that. Our records show he’s been involved in a multitude of failed criminal enterprises throughout the Empire. At least eight star systems have him on a fugitive watch-list.”
“A robotic criminal?” mused Boone. “Now I’ve heard of everything. Why are we interested in a malfunctioning android? Isn’t that more under the purview of the Imperial Investigation Service?”
Earthman Jack vs. The Secret Army (Earthman Jack Space Saga Book 2) Page 5
