by Tim Marquitz
“And admit to Alshan Ra that we failed again?” Skol asked. “By all means, Vetrus. If you want to sacrifice yourself to take him bad news, go right ahead. Me…” Skol jabbed himself in the chest with his index finger. “I much prefer not dying.”
“As do I,” Vetrus agreed. “Still, we need to do something or Alshan Ra will eventually tire of our efforts and feel he needs to make an example of us.”
Skol nodded. As much as he wanted to argue with Vetrus, he knew his right-hand man was correct. Alshan Ra had little patience for failure and, so far, that’s all Skol had offered the man since they’d captured Grom Hadar, the double-agent who’d worked both sides of the Zoranthian war, and who threatened to expose Ra’s greatest secret to the world.
With only the barest of intel gathered from Grom’s possessions, pointing to possible interference by the Etheric Federation in Zoranthian politics, Skol had been tasked to learn more and to deal with the situation before it impacted Alshan Ra’s plans.
So far, he’d done neither, and Skol was running out of time and opportunity, he knew.
“Reach out to our operative and make sure word is quietly spread that the Orgesse guests are more than they seem,” Skol told Vetrus. “Sow the seeds of distrust in the wake of their disappearance so the Heltrol might be inclined to do more than simply find them. Then spread the word among our people and have them scour the city for these Furlorians, as well. Offer them whatever it takes to stir them to action.”
“And when they find them?” Vetrus asked.
Skol chuckled. “If they can’t be captured, then kill them,” he answered.
“Don’t we risk angering the Federation by doing so?”
“If they are Federation agents, then the Federation has decided not to operate openly here, even if it means they lose Grom. That makes me think they will not make a scene should something happen to either them or Grom. And if they’re not agents, they’re still in the way of the master’s plans, by accident or intent.”
Vetrus nodded along.
“Either way, they need to be dealt with before they cause us more problems.” He waved his man off. “Find them, Vetrus. Find them.”
Vetrus spun on his heel and left the room to follow his orders. Skol watched him leave, wondering just how he’d come to this point.
He’d been led to believe the visiting Furlorians were Etheric Federation agents because of Grom having reached out secretively to the Federation before Skol’s men had captured him. The Furlorians had arrived immediately after that, and Skol felt it was too much of a coincidence.
Still, there was no proof of anything at this point.
Grom was a traitor, yes, and he was spotted by Alshan Ra at one of the convocations, but Skol had nothing beyond that to hold against the man. He needed to know more, needed more certainty, before he risked everything going after the Furlorians openly in an effort to appease his master.
Skol had to be sure he wasn’t stirring a hornet’s nest.
He rose from his seat and went to the elevator again.
It was time he questioned Grom Hadar himself.
Chapter Eleven
Grom’s house was exactly as Taj had left it.
She was a little conflicted by that but decided it was probably for the best that no one had stumbled across it since she’d last been there.
“This is…fancy,” Torbon complained, spinning in a circle and taking in the tiny hovel of an apartment. He looked offended by all the dirt and dust.
“It’s no palace, that’s for sure,” Cabe replied, plopping down on Grom’s couch after sliding the pillow aside. The couch creaked beneath his weight.
“No room service, I’m guessing,” Krawg said, dropping down beside Cabe.
“Sorry, big guy,” Lina told him. “You’ll have to fluff your own pillows and scavenge for food like the rest of us.”
“Unfortunate,” Krawg said, shaking his shaggy head.
“It’s still better than being dead, right?” Taj asked.
The Ursite shrugged. “Marginally.”
Taj grinned at Krawg’s response. “Things could be worse.”
“Tell that to my stomach,” Torbon whined. “I knew we should have packed up the food and took it with us like Krawg suggested.”
“Now it’s spread over the palace walls, satisfying no one,” Krawg joined in, obviously pouting. He slouched into the cushions.
“That’s it, guys,” Lina said, coming over to stand alongside Taj. “Way to stay positive.”
“I can be positive,” Torbon told her, waving his arms about. “I’m positive this place is a dump and we’re likely to catch lice before we get out of here,” he announced, giving her a thumbs up.
“I’m positive you’re a gackwad,” Lina countered, letting out a loud sigh.
“She’s not wrong,” Cabe chimed in. “You are a gackwad.”
Torbon huffed. “And you’re a…” he trailed off, thinking for a moment before giving up and going quiet.
Cabe laughed at Torbon, who growled back.
Taj glanced at Dent, eyebrow raised and whiskers flickering. “It’s like babysitting a newborn litter,” she told the AI before turning back to the crew. “Okay, that’s enough, guys. We’ve got enough going on without being at each other’s throats.”
“I need to finish going over the scans,” Dent announced, retreating to a corner of the room and sitting down cross-legged away from the rest of the crew so he wouldn’t be distracted.
“The rest of us need to discuss our next move,” Taj told them, coming over and plopping down on the floor in front of the crew. Lina joined her, and Torbon squeezed in alongside the Ursite, the two of them battling for space.
Taj motioned to the engineer first. “Are you still hooked into the system at the palace?”
A small monitor appeared on her forearm, and Lina nodded confirmation after a few minutes of data scrolling across the screen. “I’m still in, but they’ve adjusted their security protocols in the wake of the attack.”
“What’s that mean?” Taj asked.
“It’s gonna take me a while to burrow past them to where I can get to more than the basic security operations I’d already messed with. My backdoor is still in place, since it was coded to be unobtrusive, but I’ll need to do more setup work to access other aspects of the system.”
Taj nodded. “Do it, please. We need to stay abreast of what’s going on there,” she said. “It’s pretty clear they’re gonna be suspicious when we aren’t in our rooms and they don’t find our bodies among the mess, and I’d like a heads up on what they’re thinking or planning on doing, if possible.”
“You expecting them to come looking for us?” Cabe asked.
“Definitely,” she replied. “We’re supposed to be pampered royals, remember? Our sudden vanishing act is gonna stir up a response of some sort.”
She turned around and leaned against his legs, rubbing at her temples as she got comfortable.
“They’ll either think we’ve been kidnapped and feel obligated to search for us to keep their hopes of Toradium-42 alive, or they’ll think we’re involved in an attack on the palace, which means they’ll be looking for us with another ending in mind. Neither of which gives us much time to work without someone finding us eventually.”
“We probably can’t stay here very long either,” Lina noted. “If Grom doesn’t return soon, we have to believe he’s not gonna, which likely means something bad has happened to him. Could mean this place is compromised. It’s a risk to stay here.”
Taj nodded her agreement. “You’re right. We need to find someplace better to hide out, but we can’t just abandon this place. Its connection to Grom means it might well be in play still, either by him or someone connected to him.”
“We can plant a bug for after we leave,” Cabe suggested.
“Gack!” Taj stiffened, sitting upright. “Speaking of bugs…”
“I scanned as soon as we entered, don’t worry,” Dent informed her.
“Doubtful,” Dent assured her. “Our unseen enemies already knew where we were. They didn’t need to follow you to learn that, it’s all over the news broadcasts in bold letters. Besides, the fact that you found these photos here makes it clear no one has invaded Grom’s sanctuary besides us. That means there was no one to follow you.”
Cabe set a hand on her shoulder, massaging the tension out of the muscles. “They knew we were coming from the start, so none of this is on you,” he told her. “There’s an informant somewhere, tattling on our every move, I’d bet.”
“As would I,” Lina agreed. “It makes sense that it’s someone connected to the palace as that was the only point of contact made by the Federation initially.”
“Unless of course someone is spying on the Orgesse Palace,” Dent countered, “which is also entirely likely. These people are at war with the entire world, remember. Their enemies are everywhere.”
“Which leaves us guessing once more,” Taj growled, not happy to still be in the dark regarding something so important.
“It’s Rolkar,” Torbon stated matter-of-factly. “I don’t trust her.”
Taj chuckled at his conviction. “I don’t either, and she’s as likely a suspect as anyone else, but we’re just guessing at this point.”
“She was in charge of our safety,” Cabe argued. “Twice under her supposed protection, we were attacked and nearly killed. I’m thinking that excludes her from the soldier of the year award if nothing else.”
“I agree, but—”
“I think I found something,” Dent called out, getting up to join them, interrupting their discussion about Rolkar’s guilt or innocence.
“You get a match on the man’s face?” Taj asked.
“No,” Dent answered, bringing up a screen on his forearm like Lina had done earlier, “I’m still running the data, but I’m drawing a blank on identification of the man in the images. However, I’ve managed to locate several nearby manufacturers who customize or build bots similar to those that attacked us.” He shrugged. “That at least gives us someplace to examine while I continue to tap the local databases, which appear to be extremely slow and difficult thanks to the combative nature of the forces involved. Even their network systems are at war, it seems.”
Taj sighed, wanting to complain but not. They still had a job to do. She clambered to her feet.
She’d imagined this mission being a simple seek, find, and rescue, her and the crew delivering Grom Hadar to the Federation without much in the way of drama. Of course, the mission had been nothing but drama from the start, and Taj was already tired of the hurdles being thrown their way.
She wanted the mission over.
“Let’s take a look at these places, question the owners,” Taj said.
“Checked the time lately?” Torbon asked her, tapping his wrist.
She hadn’t even given the time a thought until he said something. She checked her eyepiece and groaned.
It was still hours before dawn.
“We could break in,” Cabe suggested. “Search the place and see what we find.”
“Probably not a good idea seeing how many people are probably out looking for us,” Lina countered.
“But if we wait until morning, the Heltrol will have put two and two together if they have any sort of detective acumen and will be doing the same thing.”
“That’s a big if,” Torbon argued.
“They can’t be that incompetent if the Orgesse Clan is still in charge,” she reminded him.
That thought, of course, only made her suspect Commander Rolkar’s intentions even more, but even if the woman was a traitor, there was no way she would overlook a clue as obvious as looking for battle droid manufacturers. Not if she didn’t want to make it obvious she was on the enemy’s payroll.
“I think we need to risk it,” Taj stated. “If we wait, there’s a chance that Rolkar, or whoever, has the time to cover things up. Right now, so soon after the attack, there might be evidence still sitting around.”
Dent shrugged. “Without serial or part numbers from the droids, which I’m sure were wiped clean from their systems and frames, it’s a shot in the dark that we’ll find anything incriminating.”
“Now who’s being negative?” Torbon teased.
“Simply stating facts,” Dent answered.
“Well, regardless, I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Taj said. “I’m going.”
“Déjà vu,” Krawg muttered. “I’m going as well. Anything has to be better than sitting around in this hovel.”
“I think it’s best we all go, if any of us are,” Dent told the crew.
Taj grinned, grateful to have her whole crew this time. She turned to Lina. “Work up a bug with audio and video and plant it somewhere good,” she said. “I want to know if anyone comes in after us.”
Lina started in immediately, and Taj decided on their plan of action.
It wasn’t much of a plan, she had to admit, but it was all they had.
And then it really wasn’t.
The nearest of the bot manufacturers had been a bust from the start. It might as well have been a junkyard for all the usable parts it had on hand. Everything was rusted and rundown and battered so badly that there was no way to even call the equipment secondhand. It was fifth or sixth, at best.
But the place was huge.
The shop was established in a giant warehouse with a massive field of clutter out back, and it took the crew hours to weave their way through the whole place after Lina had cracked the miniscule security the place had.
It was more like a hoarder’s paradise than anything resembling an operational droid shop.
Lina and Dent had hacked the owner’s servers and searched for anything that might point to the place being involved in the droid attack, but there was simply nothing there outside of a number of shady deals where the owner had gone out of his way to skimp on paying his taxes.
While the Orgesse Clan might well find that egregious, Taj didn’t give a gack.
The second location was far more difficult to access than the first.
More centralized in Dulta, the shop was modern and well-maintained. The sun was just coming up as the crew arrived. Traffic had yet to start moving in the streets around the shop, but Taj knew they were running out of time to search the place.
Dent had determined the shop wouldn’t open for another four hours or so, meaning no one was likely to show up right away, but breaking in during daylight hours wasn’t exactly the brightest of maneuvers.
Taj, of course, did it anyway.
Lina and Dent struggled to get past the security systems, which gave Taj hope that they’d found the right spot. After the slum of the last place, it seemed entirely reasonable that the second shop had beefed up security because it had something to hide.
It did, but it wasn’t what Taj had been looking for.
The shop was largely a cover for the owner’s drug operation.
Taj sighed as she stumbled across a hidden cache of illegal narcotics stuffed inside the frames of droids, which were being shipped off-world.
At first, Taj had gotten excited. Surely a drug dealer would be interested in making battle droids for someone interested in a kidnapping or assassination attempt, but Dent disappointed her with what he’d found.
While the owner was definitely a criminal, the shop wasn’t designed to do more than build the basic framework of the bots. It had none of the complicated electronics on hand to create the intelligence systems or the coding above a basic level.
“This isn’t the place,” the AI told her with no uncertainty.
So, they snuck out and avoided the growing traffic around the building and trekked off to the last of the shops on Dent’s list. By then, the work day was in full swing in the city of Dulta.
Several times, Taj and the crew had to hide from Heltrol soldiers as they patrolled the streets. The soldiers stopped and interviewed people at random, and Taj caught a snippet of conversation regarding the crew.
She gnashed her teeth and swore under her breath.
“That answers that,” Torbon said over the comm.
Dent agreed, tapping the side of his head. “Chatter tells me that the Orgesse Clan is paying a handsome reward for any information regarding us,” he informed them. “It appears we are being implicated in the attack upon the Heltrol stationed outside of our room as well as an attack elsewhere in the palace.”
“Seriously?” Taj snarled, suddenly glad she hadn’t returned to the palace like she’d first been inclined to. “If it wasn’t clear there’s someone on the inside stirring things up, it most certainly is now.”
“Unless one of you snuck off and killed someone in the palace when the rest of us weren’t looking,” Torbon challenged jokingly, raising an eyebrow and looking at each crewmember in turn as if to catch some hint of guilt.
“If we were gonna kill anyone, Torbon, it would have been you,” Cabe told him.
“We’re obviously being set up,” Lina stated.
“Gacking Rolkar,” Torbon muttered.
“Speaking of whom,” Dent called out, drawing their attention across the street to where the last of the three shops on his list sat.
There, in front of the shop, was a Heltrol squad, armed and armored and clearly ready for anything. At its head was Commander Rolkar.
“At least she’s pretending to do her duty,” Lina sniped, biting back a low growl.
“Of course she has to do it right now,” Cabe complained. “Do you think she’ll find anything while she’s here?”
Taj shrugged. “I’m not even sure she’s looking for anything but us,” she told him.
Camo-program active on their suits, the crew sat back away from the edge to be safe, then waited. Just a few minutes later, Commander Rolkar and her crew exited the shop and marched off in a huff.
“We spent more time in the junkyard than they did here,” Torbon stated, shaking his head. “The commander just looks guiltier and guiltier.”
