Jamus followed up the shuttle ramp. "A wise investigation, Master. Such a turncoat could completely derail your initiative, undoing all the hard work and planning you have put into this project."
Bersa shook her head. "He goes too far too often. Master Thelm is certain to recognize his un-Human thoughts and actions. I may have to talk with Master Hallik about pulling him out of there. He's becoming too familiar."
Thelm stopped and smiled. "You show more intellect than some of my advisers, Jamus. All I ask is that you be careful when others are present. I don't want one of my competitors snatching you away."
"I belong to you, Master. No one else."
"Yes. But as you recall, I had three other slaves stolen from right under my nose. I don't want to give anyone incentive to do the same with you."
Jamus asked, "Have the detectives made any progress on the missing slave case, Master?"
"Nothing but dead ends. It seems the auction house where they were purchased is even missing records. It's as if the three of them never existed."
"Scary thoughts, Master."
Thelm chuckled. "You have nothing to worry about, Jamus. The new guard crew is keeping a tight watch here on the shuttle."
As the free time was ending, Hallik landed in his shuttle. Soon he was standing in the lounge.
Bersa rose. "Master."
"I have good news. I've managed to get Mr. Marr, Mr. Gecka, and Ms. Brown staff positions on the Drakis shuttle. You will be leaving with me shortly."
Dester asked, "What of our flight training?"
Hallik gestured toward the shuttle. "Bersa, Turly, please escort Mr. Marr, Mr. Gecka, and Ms. Brown. The five of you will have complete run of the ship for the next three hours. Take them through the paces, Bersa. And Turly, provide every bit of professional advice you can manage as they fly through the patterns that have been arranged for them. I expect good reports upon their return."
Hallik turned. "Ms. Bachran and Mr. Wazny, that makes you our watchers. Keep an eye on Mr. Turnbull, should he be in need of any assistance."
A comm was opened. "Mr. Pike, please come up to the lounge. I would like your assistance for the next hour or two."
"I'll be right there."
Hallik glanced up at a monitor that displayed a view of Master Thelm's chambers. "I can only say that Mr. Turnbull's accomplishments have been stellar. In three months we will be overtaking Drakis and well on the way to pushing Wilcer to the side. I'm thinking we take Thelm up the ladder with us. He will be easily manipulated, especially if his wealth climbs with us. We'll use him as the battering ram to push the others out of the way."
Jim asked, "You really think we are that close to Drakis?"
"With the tobacco initiative, we will take a significant part of his business. Even if only 10 percent, he will have extreme pricing pressure on his products as we attempt to flood the market. We don't need to make a profit if we are negating his. And with this crew moving over to his shuttle tomorrow, I have no doubt his other businesses will fair just as poorly. In the end, he may take a farther plunge than Snooka."
Kerena asked, "When will Jim and me get to fly the shuttle?"
"I'll return after tomorrow's delivery. We should have most of the day available for practice."
Three hours later, the Greft landed in the bay and the new pilots came back to the lounge.
Bersa was all smiles. "Each performed above expectations. Every turn was precise, landings were swift but soft, and wormhole jumps were concise. I believe these three to be fully capable of piloting a shuttle on their own."
Hallik nodded. "Excellent. Now we go invade the shuttle of Master Drakis."
Kerena and Jim were sitting by themselves in the lounge. Earlier in the day, their flight training had gone as well as could be expected. Again, the Human students showed their learning abilities and decision-making to be exceptional.
On the Thelm shuttle, word had come in that indeed, Master Pwesen was found to have been collaborating with their competitor, Drakis. The evidence was taken to the business court, a rare occurrence, where Pwesen was convicted, stripped of all wealth, and summarily fired. Given the judgment against him, he would have difficulty finding meaningful employment.
Drakis was also found to be collusive, another rare occurrence. The master third-in-line for governorship was fined a million credits and ordered to not interfere with any business of the House of Thelm for a period of two standard years. His hands were tied and Thelm was now free to push the new cigarette products as hard and as far as he desired.
Drakis returned to his shuttle in a rage. As seen on hidden cameras, his guards were shoved aside as he stormed aboard, stomping into a conference room, where his second in command was seated. Dester Marr was busy polishing the floors.
"How is it possible they knew about this? Find where Pwesen is and bring him to me. And find out why governor Aurin has it in for me. I have done nothing to offend him and am in no way competing with his businesses. There must be a connection here we are missing. Sniff around. Find out who he has been meeting with. We are now at risk of losing our position to that backstabber Thelm."
"I will do my best, Master."
"And whatever you do, do it discreetly. I can't afford the governor having reason to punish me further. Find a way to take this action through third parties, where no connection can be made back to us."
Chapter 22
* * *
Bersa grinned as she watched on Dester's video feed. "Yes! We have him! His conspiracies will be revealed to the governor himself. Drakis will take as hard a fall as any third-master has taken in five millennia! This is fantastic!"
A comm came in from Hallik. "Superb. Make certain as much evidence as possible is captured. When this is delivered to the governor, Drakis will be finished."
Bersa nodded. "And we will be perfectly positioned to take over as the new tobacco king of Betuaon. This could not have worked out better for us."
Drakis growled as he flung open the door and stomped into the hall. Martin stood at the other end, door valet to his private chambers. A Human slave was standing in Drakis’ way, holding a tray containing a beverage. She was pushed hard into a wall as he passed. Martin restrained his desire to charge forward as the master approached, and opened the door to his chambers.
Drakis yelled, "Ready my bath and my dinner garb! I will be dining in this evening."
Martin stepped inside and the door was gently closed. Yelling could be heard over the video feed during the fifteen minutes that followed. When Drakis emerged, he moved down the hall, mumbling to himself about his turn of bad luck.
Tamia delivered his meal and then stood to the side, waiting for any further requests.
Drakis looked up. "You. I don't recognize you. Who are you? How did you get here?"
Tamia held her tongue.
Drakis signaled his second. "Jumal, get in here."
Seconds later, the door to the private dining room opened. "Master?"
"Who is this slave? Why do I not recognize her?"
"She is new to the staff this week. We have three new members, Master. This one, your door valet, and a floor maintenance worker. They all come highly recommended from the auction."
Drakis stopped. "Wait, what happened to the other crew members?"
"They went missing."
"Missing? Where were my guards?"
"At their posts. Logs confirm it."
"Why wasn't I immediately told of this?"
"You were busy with the court, Master. I thought it best you not be disturbed with such trivial matters."
Drakis let out a long slow sigh. "It was Thelm. Thelm took them. Somehow he used them in this whole conspiracy against me."
"Master Thelm had three slaves stolen from his shuttle right as the games came to an end."
"What?"
"I thought it to be the type of gossip you do not wish to hear, Master."
"Hmm. Was this incident, our incident, reported?"
"Yes, Master. The same
investigators are looking into both this and the Thelm theft."
"How long had those slaves been on this ship?"
"Eight standard years, Master. When you inherited this ship from your mother, you sold off her crew to bring in your own."
"So they overheard everything said on this ship for the last eight years. And now Thelm knows everything that was said here. I want you to round up all the slaves and have their ears punctured."
Dester stopped his polishing.
Jumal raised an eyebrow. "Master, if we do that, we won't be able to command them. They will be useless. I would suggest we instead double our door guard. If no one can be taken from the ship, it doesn't matter what they overhear. We need slaves who can obey commands, Master."
Drakis huffed. "Always a complication. Very well. Bring on a new guard."
Dester continued with his polishing work.
Drakis looked down at the slave with disgust. "You there, slave. Do you understand what we're talking about?"
Dester slowly looked up with his best cross-eyed expression and half smile.
Drakis scowled. "Idiots. How Thelm would extract information from that moron I don't know."
Kerena chuckled. "He does that so well. He couldn't make himself look any dumber."
Bersa nodded. "It appears to be a gift."
Drakis finished his meal and made his way to the bridge, where he slapped several Talion crewmen on the backs of their heads for responding too slowly to his commands. The shuttle then lifted off, leaving the Yore colony, the home colony of Governor Aurin, where the court proceedings had been held.
As it raced up through the sky, Drakis made his way back to his chamber. This time the big Human was noticed and was shoved to the side as the master came through the door. Martin held in his anger as he gently closed the door with a half smile, half scowl.
Drakis stopped and turned. "Did you make a face at me?"
Martin continued to look at the floor.
Drakis stepped up in front of him, staring upward into his face. "Do you disapprove of me being an owner? You ignorant Human!"
Martin held his own, expressionless and motionless.
A hard slap followed. "You are my property. Why was such a big Human made my valet? You can hardly get out of my way when opening the door. What idiot authorized your purchase?"
Another hard slap followed. Martin's forehead began to wrinkle and turn red as his blood began to boil.
"We have a problem here," said Kerena.
Bersa shook her head. "We must remain calm. He's been through the training."
Kerena looked around at the classroom. "He likes to throw things. Drakis might be next if he keeps pushing it. We should get an extraction team ready to move in there if it gets out of hand."
Hallik opened a comm. "Please tell me Mr. Gecka can contain himself. We have Drakis exactly where we want him."
Bersa replied, "His training should hold him."
Another strong slap followed. Martin's face continued to redden.
Kerena said, "He's about to lose it. Get that extraction team moving."
"We can't extract while they are in transit. This will have to be settled when they arrive at Wathrin. I have a team shadowing them, so if needed an extraction is only minutes away."
Drakis stared into the now bloodshot eyes of the monstrous Human standing before him. "Are you angry? Do you want to punch me?"
Another strong slap followed.
Kerena frowned. "Here goes."
Martin shook as his face turned from red to blue. Seconds later, a stream of tears rolled down his face; he dropped to his knees and began to wail.
Kerena stood.
Drakis rolled his eyes as he turned away. "Humans. How is it possible you ever ruled this empire? You are all weak and scared. I will not have a crying valet. You will be replaced tomorrow. You, slave, get over here with a towel. Clean my hand. I can't believe I lowered myself to touch that disgusting oaf."
Kerena said, "I can't believe he pulled that off. I was sure he was gonna blow."
Bersa smiled. "As I said, he has been trained. And trained by the best, I might add."
Hallik gave a nod. "Well done, Bersa." The comm closed.
As the chamber slave cleaned his master's hand, an uncontrolled sneeze sent a spray onto Drakis' arm.
The Brekan master stared at the slave with the rage he had shown when he had earlier come aboard the shuttle. He slapped the much-smaller slave, knocking him to the ground. He then reached to his side, picking up a gold statue, swinging it with fury and indignation. The slave was struck in the temple, killing him instantly.
As the statue was set back on its base with a scowl, Drakis turned to see Martin Gecka standing over him. "What are you looking at?"
Martin replied, "A piece of bad wall art."
The small but heavy Brekan was lifted from his feet. A grunt and two hard steps forward had the master slammed into the wall at a meter-and-a-half up from the floor. The wall caved to an indentation, leaving a stunned Drakis gasping for air. Seconds passed before he fell, flopping with a heavy thud as he impacted the floor.
Martin reached down and snatched his comm bracelet from his arm. "You wait right here."
Kerena winced. "I knew he was gonna snap."
Bersa sighed. "Extraction team has been notified."
Martin walked to the door, whipping it open, walking quickly toward the guard, who would normally stand at the ramp when the ship was on the ground. A hard punch sent the much smaller Talion slumping to the floor. His body was dragged back to the chamber where Drakis lay face down and in severe pain.
"You, slave, come with me."
The slave followed.
Dester was collected from the conference room. "What's happening?"
"We're taking over this shuttle."
Dester grinned. "Perfect!"
The second and third guards were found sitting in a crew breakroom. Three hard punches by Martin dropped them to the floor. Dester and the slave dragged the bodies back to the master's chambers, where Drakis was still lying on the floor and moaning. Weapons from the three guards were collected. Tamia was located and was soon following Martin to the bridge.
The pilot, navigator, and reserve officer all turned to look at the grinning Martin Gecka at the same time.
"Your master needs you in his chambers."
"We're about to jump."
Tamia stepped forward. "I'll see to that. You're wanted in back."
The three Talions looked at each other with confused expressions. Martin stepped forward, jerking the navigator from his seat by the neck and shoving him to the floor toward the door. The other two stood, helping their friend to his feet before exiting the room.
Martin looked back. "You have this?"
Tamia smiled. "I'll jump us to a neutral location until we can clear off any tracking beacons."
"If you need anything, I'll be rounding up the rest of the crew."
Four crewmen and two additional guards were found in their quarters as they slept. They stumbled and fell over one another as Martin shoved them through the door into the master's chambers.
Dester grinned. "Our first ship capture. I wonder if they're all this easy?"
"We have to locate and disable the beacons."
Dester nodded as he handed a blaster pistol to Martin. "Let me deal with those. I know right where they are. Won't take but five minutes."
Dester hurried off.
Martin grabbed the pilot by the collar. "Pick up your master. Put him on the bed. The rest of you join him there."
The nav officer asked, "What's happening? What is this?"
Martin chuckled. "This is the end. Humans are taking over. You'll all soon be working in the mines."
"What? That's not possible. Our military will stop this."
"Your military is ignorant, lazy, and incompetent. They have no experience and their training is pathetic. This ship is powerful enough to take out a battleship."
"Th
ere are five hundred shuttles in the master fleet."
Martin grinned. "And we're taking them all today. All at once. You people are fools. But cooperate and we might just let you live."
Dester came in. "Beacons are off. I did a scan and no signals were being emitted. We're clean. I told Tamia. We should be at Beta Station in ten minutes."
Drakis was regaining full consciousness. "What happened? Where am I?"
Dester walked to the side of the bed, leaning in with a smile. "There's been a little shakeup in the empire."
"What?"
"You are now owned by me."
Drakis expression turned to one of anger. "You—"
Dester smacked him hard. "Shut your mouth or I'll shut it permanently. You slaves don't talk, you don't move, you don't do anything unless we specifically say. Anyone not interested in compliance, I'll happily walk you to an airlock. Anyone here ever walked in space without a suit on?"
Only head shakes and stares were returned. "Well, unless you want to try it out, you'll do exactly as we say. We now own this shuttle. And we own you."
Drakis' shuttle landed in bay one. Hallik landed in bay two. Dester was holding the blaster on the master and the captured crew as Hallik came into the room.
Drakis let out a sigh of relief. "Master Hallik, thank goodness. We are rescued."
Hallik stopped in front of him. "Drakis, your arrogance and your meddling have cost you your life."
"What? What are you talking about? Are you in league with these slaves?"
Hallik smirked. "We are partners, yes. They are going to make me emperor and I am going to free all Humans."
"Traitor!"
Hallik chuckled. "Traitor. Such harsh words. You've now hurt my feelings."
Dester said, "Can I off them all now?"
Hallik held up a hand. "Patience. Master Drakis is going to be joining the cause. At least for as long as he cooperates."
"Join? Have you gone insane?"
"Insane? Insane is killing millions of innocent Humans every year for the purpose of entertainment. Insane is this hierarchy of wealth that holds everyone in place, including the entire empire. I'm certain you remember your master lessons, where you were told that all this was discovered by and created by the Humans. You do remember that, right?"
FREEDOM Legends Page 20
