by Tim Marquitz
“She’ll be fine,” Dent answered for Lina, also coming to stand before Zel, helping to obscure his view a bit. “She just needs a moment or two to recover.”
“If there’s anything—” Zel started, but Dent waved the offer off before the rep could finish it.
“No need,” Dent said, shaking his head. “I assure you, she’ll be fine.”
Zel nodded. “Good to hear, of course, but Queen Rilan awaits us.” He glanced around the room carefully, then eased in close to Dent. “I’m afraid her majesty is not the most patient of monarchs, if you understand my point. I think it best we move on,” he said. “It is enough that we are missing one of your entourage, but to be late might well stress her majesty unduly.”
Lina heard the implied threat in Zel’s voice. She could see their cover being blown shortly if the queen lost her patience with the Furlorians. Given the ambush, Lina could already imagine the queen was furious at how things had transpired with the trade delegation. The visit, which had been a last minute one arranged by the Federation, was likely already a bit of an annoyance to the queen, but to pile more difficulties on top of it would strain the most patient of hosts, which the queen was not.
Zel’s words made her think it wouldn’t be good.
“I’m fine now,” Lina said, straightening and shaking off Cabe and stepping out of their protective circle. “We’ve no desire to offend the queen or disrespect her hospitality.”
A relieved grin spread across Zel’s face. He made a shallow bow to Lina. “Thank you for understanding,” he told her and spun about, waving them on. “Please come, the queen awaits.”
If you’re coming, you need to hurry, Lina sent to Taj.
The engineer bit back a groan after a moment when Taj didn’t respond, so she marched on behind the nervously chattering representative as he led them toward the throne room. A short while later, a giant pair of etched doors appeared at the end of the hall, looming before them.
The rep held up a hand for the crew to stop, and he turned to face them. “Please, wait here while I introduce you. I’ll then return to lead you inside,” he told them. “Please, remember to honor Queen Rilan as you stand before her.”
Zel turned away without waiting for an answer and marched to the doors. One side crept open, a guard holding it, and he slipped inside, the door closing behind him.
Lina let out a sigh, staring after the rep despite not being able to see him.
“What do we do?” Torbon whispered.
“What we came here to do,” Lina replied. “Sell the idea that we’re here to trade with the Zoranthians, nothing more.” She motioned to Dent. “Let him lead the way and don’t say anything…anything,” she emphasized, “unless you are spoken to directly, understood?”
“You act like I’m gonna screw things up,” he said, pouting.
“Probably because you will,” Cabe confirmed, patting him on the shoulder.
Torbon huffed and glanced at Krawg then Dent. Both raised an eyebrow and nodded their agreement.
“Fine,” Torbon whined. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Right then, one of the grand doors opened again, this time much wider, showing off part of the throne room past the Heltrol soldier who stood guard. Zel waved them forward.
Gack it, Taj, Lina cursed over the link. It’s too late.
There was a shuffle of footsteps behind them, and Lina saw Zel’s eyes brighten just before she spun about, catching sight of Taj, her suit once more shifted into the outfit she’d worn initially.
Never too late, Taj said over the link, offering a grin Lina’s direction.
“My apologies, Zel,” she said as she strode up to join the rest of the crew. “The flux passed quickly, and I felt it best to join my siblings as they meet the queen.”
Zel let out a relieved sigh he clearly thought no one heard, and he smiled broadly. “So glad you could join us,” he said, bowing to Taj. “No need to apologize. Your timing is impeccable.”
You hear that? Taj asked over the mental link. Impeccable.
If you say so, Lina replied, fighting back the urge to snarl at her friend.
Cabe came over beside her and bumped her gently, slipping her a sideways smile. You find anything?
I’ll report in a bit, she answered, quickly moving forward to be behind Zel as he entered the throne room and announced them in person this time. Stay on task for now, she ordered.
See? Torbon sent, shaking his head. No fun at all.
Lina eased between Torbon and Taj to keep anything from happening, and the crew made their way into the throne room.
The sheer size of it took their breath away.
Great wooden rafters supported the sloped ceiling, looking as if they crisscrossed the sky. A blood red carpet ran the length of the room, slipping serpentine up the steps of the great dais at the far end of the room.
Lina had expected there to be an audience in the vast room, but the only people present besides the crew and Zel were the queen herself, upon her throne, the guards, and a woman Lina hadn’t seen before.
Commander Rolkar stood at attention near the first step of the dais, and her Heltrol soldiers lined the room along the sides, standing on a high ledge that ran the length of the floor. Columned alcoves loomed behind the soldiers, forming a space where Lina believed most of the visitors would be made to stand, were there any.
The Orgesse banner hung on the wall behind the throne, its red and black standing out in sharp contrast to the gray of the stone room.
“This way,” Zel urged, waving them on as casually as the man could. His head was slumped, as if he didn’t dare look directly at his monarch.
Follow his lead, Taj warned, knowing they needed to get this right for Grom’s sake.
The crew murmured their agreement over the link and formed up, doing their best to appear regal. Except for Krawg, who, no matter how hard he tried, could only look furry.
Lina would have laughed at everyone’s effort if she hadn’t noticed that she, too, was walking straighter and more rigid, carrying herself as though she were made of glass.
“Your Majesty,” Zel began, bowing so deeply Lina feared the man might topple over. He didn’t, to her surprise, and he straightened once Queen Rilan acknowledged him with a nod. “I present to you your Furlorian guests, the princes and princesses Merr.”
Lina swallowed hard at hearing Mama’s name attached to them. Even though she’d known it was coming, the plan laid out ahead of time, memories of the old queen flooded back right then. She sniffed quietly, covering her moistening eyes behind the bow that everyone began around her.
By the time she’d lifted her head, she had herself back under control.
“Greetings, Furlorians,” the queen said, offering them a practiced smile.
The crew returned the greetings as they’d practiced, letting Taj and Dent lead the way while they kept quiet.
“Greetings, your majesty,” Taj replied. “It is our pleasure to be granted an opportunity to speak with you, especially given such short notice.”
While Taj spoke, Lina examined the queen.
While she had the same four eyes as her people, it was clear the queen was a better genetic specimen than most of those they’d seen so far.
Her face was lean and perfectly even, the button of her nose set in the center of her face above full lips that sat pursed when she wasn’t speaking. Long, white hair flowed smoothly back from her scalp, where it hung over her shoulders like fine wire, not the slightest crimp or imperfection present.
Queen Rilan sat straight on her throne, but she didn’t look stiff. She simply looked regal, much the way the crew could only pretend to be. Her small, manicured hands were crossed in her lap, set so delicately on the fabric of her dress that Lina could not see a single wrinkle formed by their presence.
The woman stared out at the crew with all four eyes gleaming, and Lina spied a glimmer behind the look that spoke of intelligence and calculation. The queen wasn’t simply greeting th
em, readying for their pitch, she was evaluating them, taking their measure.
Lina stiffened at the realization as Taj went on, selling the queen on the basic gist of why they’d come to the planet to begin with.
“And this…Toradium-42, as you call it, has sufficient energy to power the whole of my country with only a small amount?”
“And then some, Your Majesty,” Dent answered, slipping in to better cover the technical aspects of the mineral. “It dwarfs any of the energy sources you currently have available to you, and it would be the catalyst to an age of advancement never before seen upon Zoranthan.”
Don’t oversell it, Dent, Taj said over the link, her frustration clear.
Only doing what is necessary to achieve our goal, Dent replied, continuing his discussion with the queen.
Queen Rilan seemed to stiffen at hearing Dent’s proclamation. She leaned forward so slightly that Lina thought she’d imagined it at first. “And this mineral…it has uses other than simply harnessing energy for fuel?”
The unspoken question hung heavily in the air.
Dent nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. Toradium-42 can be used both to power your local energy needs but also those of your spacecraft and your defensive needs.”
Lina rolled her eyes at the AI’s subtlety, framing the answer in a defensive manner rather than making it clear the Toradium-42 could be used to power massive weapons on top of everything else.
Queen Rilan smiled gently, though Lina could see the predatory nature of it, and eased back in her seat.
“The mineral is quite stable in its base form, too,” Dent went on, “and is easily transported without any but the most basic of safety precautions. It’s also undetectable by most energy scanners, its nature unknown across the universe except to those, like you, wise enough to understand its effectiveness.”
Wow! Torbon said. I want to buy some, too. What a pitch.
Taj snuck a furtive glare Torbon’s direction, and Lina thumped her foot with his, shutting him up before he could say anything else.
Dent eased forward and pulled out a sample of the Toradium-42. Commander Rolkar came over and plucked it out of Dent’s hand as if it might explode.
Lina stared at the shiny mineral in the vial, it reminding her of her home and the cruel attack of the Wyyvans in their effort to claim it. She wondered how badly the lizard-like aliens had ruined the planet since they’d taken over.
“We brought a small sample for your technicians to test and experiment with, but it will most certainly be enough for you to see its effectiveness, given its power.” Dent smiled at the queen. “We look forward to hearing your thoughts once they’ve been given time to examine the Toradium-42.”
“As I look forward to discussing terms once my scientists have evaluated the mineral,” the queen answered, still smiling.
Lina could see the thoughts swirling in the woman’s head as if her skull were a fish bowl. No matter what happened, there was no way the Furlorians could allow the queen to get her hands on a real source of Toradium-42. The small sample they’d found among Captain Vort’s things after he’d been killed was scary enough. Lina hoped the queen and her scientists weren’t able to recreate the mineral.
Dent’s earlier assurances that she couldn’t replicate it didn’t feel as reassuring now as she watched the queen stare at the mineral in Rolkar’s hands.
“Thank you for both your time and your hospitality, Your Majesty,” Dent finished, cluing the Furlorians in that it was time to bow again.
They did, and the queen said her farewells, Zel leading the crew from the throne room and back out through the great double-doors. He escorted them to their chambers, and Lina watched as Taj snarled when the bolts were drawn outside once again, the array of Heltrol soldiers still out there.
Lina held up a hand and called for silence until she and Dent scanned the room and their surroundings once more. After they finished, they motioned that everything was okay.
“You think she believed us?” Cabe asked with a huff, looking as if he’d held his breath the entire time they’d been scanning.
Lina nodded. “I do. Did you see that look she gave the Toradium when Dent handed it over? She looked like she was ready to devour it whole, she wanted it so badly.”
Dent agreed. “My analysis of her reaction is quite similar, albeit more technical,” he said with a sly smile. “She most certainly wants the Toradium-42 to be real and available to her as soon as possible. She has plans for it, clearly.”
“It’s so she can blow the gack out of her enemies, nothing more,” Taj grunted, shaking her head and baring her teeth.
“Who cares what she wants it for?” Cabe retorted. “It’s not like she’s gonna get more than that tiny vial anyway. She doesn’t know where Krawlas is, and she sure as gack doesn’t know that there’s an army of Wyyvan sitting there more than happy to shoot her out of the sky if she does find out.”
Lina sighed. “Still, the look on her face… Wow. It was terrifying. I’d hate to be on her bad side.”
“Which is why we need to complete our mission and get out of here before things fall apart any more than they already have,” Torbon said, turning to Taj. “You find anything interesting?”
“I did indeed.” She nodded and willed her suit to spit out the images. She spread them out on the table before the crew.
“What are these?” Cabe asked, examining the pictures.
“Photographs,” Dent answered. “An old-fashioned method of capturing images in a single frame rather than on a holographic device.” He glanced over at Taj. “Where did you find these?”
“They were in Grom’s place,” she answered. “He wasn’t, though.”
Dent flipped through the mass of images and nodded. “Given the nature of the last frame, I suspect this series of photographs is exactly why he wasn’t there.”
“Most likely. I had the same feeling,” Taj said. “His place was empty, but it didn’t look as if anyone had been there, so he had to have gotten away from these guys,” she announced, gesturing to the stack of images. “His disappearance happened after he’d made it home and gone back out.”
“It still stands to reason that his sudden vanishing act was inspired by these photos, given how they appear,” Dent argued, tapping the man in the hat on one of the photos. “As such, it seems our next best chance of seeking out Grom Hadar is by finding this man here. He might not be the cause of Grom vanishing, but it certainly looks as though he’s involved.”
“Can you scan these images and do a search of the local news and database archives?” Taj asked.
Dent nodded. “I can, but it won’t be quick, and the quality is going to be an issue given the primitive nature of these images.”
Taj sighed. “Well, it’s not like we have a whole lot of options, Dent,” she told the AI. “Grom’s room was empty of leads other than these photos, and unless we run around asking the neighbors if they saw anything, we’re already butting our head against a wall.”
“They’d probably recognize us from the news anyway,” Cabe complained.
“I’m not sure they would, at least not out there,” Taj countered. “The folks living around Grom’s hideout are mostly vagrants, people living on the street. I’m not sure they have access to the news easily or if they’d even care if they did.”
“Probably best we don’t push our luck and risk it unless we have to,” Dent said. “Let me try this first, then we’ll see what other options there are left to us should this not work.”
Taj agreed and let out a yawn, muffling it with her hand. “I think that’s our best bet for now. If we go out without a location in mind and just wander about, we’ll likely run into trouble.”
It had been a long day of travel, and the excitement of the trip and the ambush and Taj’s stealthy trip to Grom’s home had sapped the energy from her. She started off toward the room she and Cabe had claimed after their arrival.
“I need to rest for a bit,” she told them. “Keep
an eye on the door while you’re processing those images, Dent, and wake me up as soon as you figure anything out, no matter how minor.”
“Will do, Captain,” Dent told her, grinning as he began to work on the images, using his eyes to scan them into the memory of his android body so he could process them in turn.
Taj groaned and crept off, Cabe following. As much as she’d wanted to rush out into the city to find Grom, her little foray earlier had made it clear that he wasn’t going to be found as easily as she’d hoped. They were looking at a marathon, not a sprint. As such, Taj needed to get some sleep.
She wanted to be sharp for whatever stood in their way.
Taj had a feeling it would only get harder from there.
Chapter Nine
The massive crash of shattering glass pulled Taj from deep sleep.
She bolted upright, Cabe doing the same beside her. Both stared at each other for a moment, thoughts whirling as they fought to shake off sleep and determine what was going on.
We’re under attack! Dent screamed over the link, confirming the worst.
Taj rolled off the side of the bed and triggered her suit, which she’d worn to bed in the form of a pair of soft, silk pajamas. Her armor took shape, covering her from head to toe as she stormed out of the room. Cabe did the same behind her, albeit a little bit slower.
He was always slow to wake up.
Krawg clearly wasn’t.
Taj stepped out of the room just as the giant Ursite went flying past her. He slammed into the wall near the front door with a loud grunt, then toppled to his butt to stare furiously across the room. Taj followed his glare, and her breath caught in her lungs for an instant as she froze.
A battle droid nearly the same size as the Ursite hovered in the middle of the room. Eight arms jutted from the armored torso of the bot, four of them ending in clamping metal claws, the others in wide hammers that looked like makeshift fists. One of those had been what struck Krawg.
Cabe bumped into her back at her unexpected pause, then managed to squeeze past her into the room, still not entirely awake yet.
