He shrugged. “I gave it another day as you asked.”
I grinned and nodded. Though I did not like to see him still moving around so gingerly, I had to admit that I was glad to see him up and about. Even more glad to have him by my side once more. Vink moved into the war room and took a seat at the table across from me.
“I've already had my biosystem run that,” he said. “We have twenty-seven employees in the palace who have ties to the Regents. Worked on their household staff. Low level stuff.”
I nodded. “Cancel information request, Ozul.”
“Information request canceled.”
“No family ties?”
Vink shook his head. “I ran deep background and found nothing out of the ordinary.”
“We'll still need to question the twenty-seven,” I said. “Very thoroughly.”
“I already have men on it,” he replied. “Men I trust.”
I nodded. If Vink vouched for them, that was good enough for me. “Sounds like you've been busy instead of resting like I asked.”
He shrugged. “I expended minimal effort,” he said. “I'm healed and ready. Believe me.”
“Okay then,” I said. “I'm glad to have you back, my friend. We have work to do.”
“Looking forward to it.”
I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my eyes. I was exhausted.
“When was the last time you got some sleep?” Vink asked.
I shrugged. “I haven't been able to sleep since they took Riley.”
“I understand,” he said. “But you're not going to do her any good if you're so worn out you can't think straight.”
“I have to get her back, Vink,” I said. “If anything happens to her – ”
“Nothing will happen to her,” he said. “They need her to get to you.”
I nodded. “They know we'll be coming after them and they're going to use her as leverage. I've already thought about that.”
“The trouble is, we don't know who they are just yet.”
“And I don't know how to go about finding out,” I admitted. “If none of the employees we're questioning know anything – ”
Vink cocked his head as if he'd suddenly thought of something. “I think we're looking at this the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?”
“We should continue questioning the employees, certainly. We have to be thorough,” he said. “But we should also be looking at the employees we can't question.”
“The employees we can't question?”
He nodded. “The men who tried to assassinate you. The dead ones,” he said. “We should be looking at their ties to the Regents.”
It had not even occurred to me. I shook my head, feeling completely incompetent. Inadequate to the task at hand. If I had not thought of something so simple, how could I be trusted to make decisions for an entire planet? I mentally slapped myself. Now was not the time. First things first. And the first order of business was to get Riley back. I could debate about my worthiness to rule once we had accomplished that.
“What would I do without you, Vink?”
“Not nearly half as well as you're doing already,” he shot back.
“That is true,” I said. “Ozul, new search – ”
Ozul spoke, but it was not what I was expecting. “You have an incoming transmission from the prison complex. Do you wish to take the transmission?”
I looked at Vink. A transmission from the prison? Who would be contacting me from there?
“Put the transmission on screen, Ozul.”
The large monitor at the front of the room blinked to life. On the screen was the face of a man I'd never wanted to see again. He was the cause of the disease that had infected our world. The cause of so much suffering and deprivation. He was a man I should have had executed already.
“Varnu,” I said, my voice cold and emotionless. “What do you want?”
“And a good day to you too, your Majesty.”
He spat the word with as much disgust and contempt as he could muster – which didn't improve my mood any.
“Is there something you want, Varnu?”
“I don't suppose you would consider better accommodations?” he said. “The food in here is dreadful and my bed is a little too lumpy for my liking.”
I looked at Vink, feeling my anger surging. He motioned for me to calm down. I could see that he was curious. As was I. That Varnu would contact me out of the blue like this – and knowing how I felt about him – was an oddity. He obviously had something to say. Something he wanted to share – or at least, something he wanted to lord over me. And Vink was right in wanting to let him play it out. But that didn't stop my irritation from bleeding out.
“Speak your mind,” I said. “Or I will end this transmission.”
“No, you won't.”
“Oh? And why would I not?”
“Because you want to hear what I have to say,” he chuckled. “I know you're curious. You are many things, Jendrish. But stupid is not one of them. I know you know I would not contact you like this unless I had something to say.”
“Then say it and let us be done with this.”
He shook his head. “No. You will come to me,” he said. “You will come to the prison complex so we can have a discussion. Face to face.”
“That is not going to happen,” Vink said.
“If it does not, then you will never know what I know,” he replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. “And the blood of your pet human will be on your hands.”
The mention of Riley set my heart racing and my anxiety into overdrive. “What do you know of Riley?”
“Come to the prison complex and let us talk about this like men,” he said. “I will be waiting.”
The screen went blank as he cut off the transmission. My hands rested on the top of the table but were balled into fists. I felt the familiar shooting pain in my head that I tended to get when I was under enormous strain. I took a deep breath and tried to relax my whole body.
“Jendrish,” Vink said. “I'm telling you this as a friend. Go rest. Go immerse yourself in the sea. Recharge your spirit.”
“We have to get to the prison,” I replied. “I can't afford not to. More specifically, Riley can't afford for me not to.”
“It can wait for a few hours,” he said. “They aren't going to do anything to her. Not yet. You have time. But you must take care of yourself if you hope to take care of her.”
There was wisdom in his words, I knew. But I was having a hard time pushing my rage aside and letting that wisdom in.
“Take two hours,” Vink said. “Immerse yourself. Rest. Get something to eat. You need to be fresh, focused, and ready.”
I looked at him as I continued trying to control my rage. But he was right and I knew it. Grudgingly, I nodded.
“Good,” he said and appeared to relax. “I will be going to the prison with you. I will meet you back here in two hours.”
“Two hours.”
Chapter Nine
We were rocketing toward the prison complex. Vink was piloting our shuttle with a deft, yet daring touch. He had been right. A couple of hours in the seawater pool in my chambers had done wonders for my body, mind, and spirit. I felt like a new man. And I was ready. Ready to get this over with and get Riley back.
“He's going to try and bait you,” Vink said. “Don't let him.”
“I'm under control, Vink,” I said. “I am feeling better. Much better. You were right to tell me to take some time. My thinking and focus are much sharper.”
He looked over at me for a long moment before nodding. “Good. I'm very glad to hear that,” he said. “Because he is going to test you.”
“I expect that he will,” I replied. “And I'm ready for it.”
Vink set the shuttle down on the landing pad outside of the prison. Once he'd powered down, we got out and headed inside. The guards all took a knee and bowed their heads as we passed. That was something I would never get used to – and it wa
s something I really wished people would stop. I wasn't comfortable with that level of deference.
“Your Majesty,” came a voice from behind us.
We stopped and turned around to find Borlan, the man in charge of the prison. He was a man I knew – or was at least acquainted with. He had been a Guardsman at one time, though I did not serve directly with him. But I recall that I had always gotten a good impression of him.
“Jendrish,” I said. “Just call me Jendrish. Please.”
“Very well,” he replied stiffly. “I have Varnu situated in one of our conference rooms. He is wearing sonic shackles on his hands and feet to minimize the threat to your life.”
“Excellent,” I said. “Thank you.”
“Would you like an armed escort?” he asked.
I shook my head and looked over at Vink. “I brought my own. Thank you again.”
We turned and walked down the corridor, turning left instead of right at the end. I looked into the small windows set into the doors that we passed, but I did not see Varnu. Not until we reached the door at the end of the corridor. Peering through the window, I saw Varnu sitting at the table, his hands folded on top of it, and a smug look on his face.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, I opened the door and we stepped inside. Varnu looked up at us and smiled. He hadn’t been doing well for himself in prison. He'd lost a lot of weight – he looked gaunt and malnourished. And his eyes had lost some of that maniacal gleam that used to be in them. He looked like a beaten man – for the most part. As he looked at us though, I realized that beaten or not, he was a man with a card to play who was determined to play it to his full advantage.
Vink and I moved silently across the room and took a seat at the table opposite of him. He looked at us, his expression growing more condescending and smug by the moment.
“So good of you to come, gentlemen,” he said, nodding his head at me. “Especially you, your Majesty.”
“Let us get to business,” I said. “Neither of us can stand the other, so let us not pretend we can. Why did you call us here?”
“First, my demands,” he said.
“Demands?”
He nodded. “This is a negotiation, Majesty,” he said. “You have something I want – namely, the power to grant my freedom. And I have something you want – information about the human. Riley is her name?”
“So, what is it you want?” Vink asked.
“My life,” he said. “My freedom.”
“Your freedom,” I said. “You expect us to free you?”
He shrugged. “Yes. Yes I do.”
“That's not going to happen,” Vink said.
“I did not ask you to be here,” he snapped. “I do not negotiate with servants.”
I slammed my fist down on the table top, making him jump. He turned his attention back to me.
“You will show some respect for Vink,” I said. “He is no servant. And he is a better man than you could ever hope to be.”
Varnu cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders. “It matters not. He does not have the power to grant me what I wish. Only you have that. So, as I was saying, I want my freedom. My assets, and a shuttle so I can leave this world.”
I looked over at Vink. If he had information that would help me get Riley back, it might be a price I was willing to pay. But I could see by the look in Vink's eyes that he was urging me to be cautious. Skeptical.
“And I have your assurance that if we free you, you will leave Optorio,” I said. “And never return. Ever.”
He nodded. “I have no desire to remain here as long as you are on the throne,” he said. “Let's just say our views on how to best rule our world are not compatible.”
“And just so you understand,” Vink added, “if you return to Optorio, I will kill you myself.”
His laugh was dry. Brittle. “I would kill myself before I returned here.”
“The information you have must be good,” I said.
“It's very good,” he replied. “Very, very good.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” Vink asked.
“Do not release me until you have checked it out,” he shrugged. “I am not playing a game with you. If I remain here, I am a dead man anyway. You both know that I best serve my own interests, so I have no reason to lie to you – especially, if my life and my freedom are hanging in the balance.”
That was true. Varnu was many things – and self serving was at the top of the list. If he was offering information to get Riley back in exchange for his freedom and was content that our arrangement would be contingent on his information panning out, I had to give it more credence than I normally would.
“Do we have a deal?” he asked.
I looked at Vink who looked conflicted. Ultimately though, he gave a slight nod of his head. He knew as well as I did that it was the best offer we were going to get. If Varnu could give us the identity of the rebels, we could bring this all to a close quickly and get on with re-building our world – and building the peace within it.
“We have a deal,” I said.
“Excellent,” he replied. “I'd hoped you would be a reasonable man.”
“What is your information?” Vink asked.
“The man you are looking for, the man who orchestrated the attempt on your life, as well as the abduction of your pet human,” he started, “is – my son. Veshna.”
I cocked my head and looked at him. I was stunned that he would give up his own flesh and blood. Especially if that flesh and blood was trying to kill me to secure his own foothold in the power structure of Optorio.
“Your son?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes, my son.”
“And you expect us to believe that you would just give him up like that?” Vink asked.
Varnu shrugged. “He is dead to me,” he replied casually. “I learned that he betrayed me – and had plans in place to kill me. Why would I not give him up?”
“How did you learn that?” I asked.
“That information was not part of our deal,” he said. “Suffice it to say, I have that information on good authority.”
Vink looked at me, the skepticism on his face plain as day. Varnu sighed audibly.
“As I said before, I am not asking you to release me until you have the information checked out and confirmed,” he said. “Once you do, I require my assets and a shuttle – as agreed upon.”
I hated the man, but it was a deal I could live with. Especially if it meant getting Riley back where she belonged – with me.
I stood and Vink followed suit. “We will let you know once we have your information confirmed.”
“I look forward to it,” he replied as he leaned back in his seat. “And I look even more forward to my release.”
“We will see,” I said as we turned and left the room.
Chapter Ten
We were fortunate – Optorio's twin moons were obscured by a thick cloud cover. The night was dark and murky, making it much easier to move about unobserved. Vink led the column of twelve Guardsmen through the inky darkness toward Varnu’s estate.
Vink motioned for us to activate our starlight goggles as we approached the house, making the darkness as bright as day.
“I see no guards,” he whispered into his comm unit.
“I don't know that they have any,” I replied. “After their assets were seized, the family was forced to scale down. I don't think they can afford a private army anymore.”
“All the better for us.”
I nodded. A large decorative gate of iron surrounded the estate. It was decorative and yet, served a purpose – it kept people out. The bars of the fence had been electrified and would likely hurt you pretty bad if you touched them.
“It's quiet,” Vink said. “I don't like how quiet it is.”
“Maybe we are catching a break,” I replied. “After everything we have endured, it might be nice.”
“Yeah, I'm not counting on that.”
He pulled a small black
box from his belt and punched in a couple of keys. “The electrified fence has been neutralized,” he said. “Let's proceed. Single file through the gates. Stay sharp.”
We approached the house and one of the men moved ahead of the column and quickly pulled open the gate. Vink was first through and I was second. The rest of our squad followed behind. Things were going smoothly. Easily. Which, as much as I tried to deny it, sent a wave of unease through me.
And of course, right on cue, that was when chaos erupted.
Lights attached to the roof of the estate flared to life. They were as bright as the afternoon sun – which made it highly incompatible with our starlight goggles. The bright lights flared into our goggles, temporarily blinding us all – not to mention sending bolts of pain shooting through our eyes and our heads.
The men grunted in pain and I watched as everybody tore the goggles from their heads and threw them to the ground. They groaned as their eyes adjusted to the light. But as they stood there, trying to orient themselves, I watched an sonic fence rise up from the ground and pen them all in. It took a moment for it to register, but they quickly realized they'd been trapped. They were stuck in the middle of the sonic fence with no way out. With no way to help me.
“Vink,” I called.
He had already seen what happened and was scanning the area surrounding us. “His father tipped him off,” he snarled. “Told him we were coming.”
“Actually, he did not,” came a voice from the shadows on the porch of the house.
A man stepped into the light – Veshna. And he was holding Riley by the arm, a curved knife held to her throat. She looked at me and immediately burst into tears. Veshna shook her roughly but pulled her tighter against his body.
“Drop your weapons,” he called.
I looked over at Vink who looked enraged. But he threw his weapon to the ground in disgust. With an angry sigh, I followed suit. I looked back at our squad, still penned in by the sonic fence. They all looked frustrated. Angry. But they could do nothing. They were trapped.
And though no fence held me in place, I too, was trapped. I was as impotent to help Riley in that moment as our squad was.
“How did you know we were coming if not for your father?” I asked.
Veshna laughed. “I have many friends in many places,” he said. “I learned that you visited him at the prison today. It doesn't take a genius to put that puzzle together.”
Mated to a Bear (Legends of Black Salmon Falls Book 3) Page 52
