by Dani Hoots
“Punish them how?”
“Let’s not get into details, alright? All I will say is that they wouldn’t be questioning me ever again.”
David nodded, understanding what I meant.
“Rik,” I began as I entered the bridge. “Get us out of here. I’m not sure how many people he told.”
“Alright,” he started the sequence. “You didn’t have to kill them, you know.”
“Yes, I did. You think they would have let us leave? You think they wouldn’t have gone after us? Not only will every Imperial be looking for us, every P.A.E. agent would be too. I don’t know about you but I think that would make our mission a little harder and a lot more annoying.”
“But they were part of the P.A.E., they were my people.”
“If he was with you, he wouldn’t have confronted you about me. He wouldn’t have tried to kill me. He should have known you had me for a good reason and ignored it, but no he wanted me for himself. He didn’t think about asking you for a second.”
Rik finished the take-off sequence.
“You know, not even an Imperial would get involved with another officer’s business. Some system you have here. No trust. Just selfish pettiness.”
“Not everyone in the P.A.E. is like him.”
“Really? I’m still waiting for proof of that.”
“Father wasn’t selfish,” he commented.
Bringing up the past again. I decided to change the subject. “I will be in the dining hall looking over the books. With any luck, maybe I will figure something out before we reach Recar,” I commented as I left him.
David and Amanda were waiting for me in the dining area. I let out a sigh. All I needed was another person commenting on how I was wrong to kill that man.
“Amanda is going to help us figure out if there is something else going on in the books other than the writings of course. We need to see if there is anything off,” David greeted me as I entered.
“She isn’t going to comment on how horrible I am?” I questioned.
“If you keep your mouth shut, I will do the same.” She grinned sarcastically.
“Fair enough,” I sat down at the table with them and we began going through the books.
Amanda and David looked for oddities while I translated the rest of the book. I took out my watch and acted like I was using it, but truly it didn’t matter. The only one who would notice anything odd was David and he was too caught up with being with Amanda. It didn’t take much to know he loved her. I didn’t know if she knew or if Rik knew but David never said anything to her about his feelings. He just admired her from afar. I wondered how long this had been going on, but I figured to stay away from the topic. I didn’t need to get more involved with these people than I had to.
As I translated, I pondered the thought of what Jack would say when I asked him for a ship. I knew he had a Class Three ship. He had everything, legal or not. He got away with a lot of things I dared not mention to the Emperor. I liked having Jack around and if he got caught for half the things he did, I probably would have to kill him. So I kept quiet and made sure he never got caught.
I didn’t want to get him involved with the mess I already had gotten myself into, but I had no choice. I needed to find the last book in order to complete my mission for the Emperor. I could theoretically destroy the hairband now and let the Imperials deal with Rik and his crew and find the last book on my own but something was holding me back. I wasn’t sure what it was but I knew I should wait to destroy the tracking device. Besides, Jack wouldn’t mind getting involved; any excuse to see me was a good one to him.
Seeing the time on the pocket watch, I realized we had been trying to translate for thirty hours now. I translated a good portion of the book but we were still at a loss as to how these books could help us find Sanshli. I had learned a great deal about the war and how Nygard was able to overpower the other Sanshlians but that didn’t help us for our mission at hand.
I rubbed my temples. “I don’t see what Father saw. How do these help us find it?”
“We still don’t know what’s in the fourth book. There could be something more concrete in that book for the location. Or maybe we just aren’t looking hard enough,” Amanda tried to reason it out. I shook my head to the contrary.
“Father saw things differently than us. I wish he would have left a note or something. Coordinates even,” I leaned back in my chair.
“He left the directions to the next book,” David pointed out.
“Yes, but he doesn’t know what that book holds. How could he be so sure that it held the answer? How did he derive any of that from these books?” I knew my father was smart but I couldn’t figure out what he saw.
“We will figure it out. We have a few more days before we will be on Ttkas. Hopefully the last book will let us put the pieces together,” David added.
“Let’s hope so. Otherwise I don’t know what we are going to do from there.”
“Don’t worry, we will figure something out,” Amanda stood up. “Anybody want any tea?”
“Sure,” David nodded.
I nodded as well and she went to the galley area and started boiling some water. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking about the dangers that were ahead of us. Ttkas wasn’t the easiest place to get past security and if the Emperor saw we were headed there, he may have men waiting.
David saw my concern. “We will figure something out, don’t worry.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“Just... just don’t worry about it okay?” I smiled.
He studied me cautiously. He didn’t realize the real danger we were in. None of them did.
“Here you go,” Amanda brought over the tea.
I quickly stood up. “I will be right back; I need to talk to Rik.”
“About what?” Amanda worried for her husband. She still didn’t trust me with him.
“Just some business, that’s all. Excuse me,” I left them there to look over the books.
I wasn’t going to tell Rik that the Emperor knew our every move or that I had been lying to him this entire time, but I didn’t want him to go into this thinking he had the element of surprise on his side. I needed to know how far he was willing to go for this and what he was willing to sacrifice. Or who he was willing to sacrifice. As I made my way to the bridge, I heard voices arguing.
“She didn’t betray us, Will, you did! You alerted them that she was there. How could you? You know we need her to help us find Sanshli.”
“She’s an Imperial, Rik, you know as well as I that she can’t be trusted. I don’t know why you are putting so much faith in her. She will betray us in the end, I know she will.” Will’s voice argued back.
“I don’t care, you had no right to go behind my back and alert the P.A.E. You betrayed my trust, Will.”
“I did it for our sake, Rik. I was trying to help us not walk into a trap, but if you don’t see that then fine! Just don’t blame me when we are all captured by the Imperials,” Will came stomping out of the bridge and pushed past me. I entered the bridge.
Rik saw me in the doorway. “I presume you heard all that.”
“You don’t have to stick up for me,” I began.
“I’m not sticking up for you, I am pissed off that he betrayed my trust and went behind my back,” he spun back to the console and pushed a few buttons. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to ask and make sure you know the risks of going to Ttkas. The ship we are getting can only get us so far. There is a lot at stake.”
“What do you mean?”
“You think you have the element of surprise but face it Rik, you don’t. The Imperials are smarter than you think. The Emperor probably has everyone on high alert looking for both you and me.”
“They wouldn’t be looking for us on Ttkas. They wouldn’t think we were that stupid.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Rik, you don’t know the Emperor
like I do. There’s no surprising him. He sees everything that is coming.”
“Well, he won’t see this coming.”
“Are you willing to lose anyone for this mission? David? Will?” I paused. “Amanda?”
“We will be fine; we have completed far more difficult missions.”
“You didn’t answer my question: will you be able to complete the mission without one of your crew? Will you be able to just walk away and leave someone behind so you can keep going?”
“Are you warning me as a sister, or are you warning me because you did something?”
“I am warning you in general. Amanda told me how you reacted when John was killed. I don’t want to lose this mission because you can’t hold yourself up after a death.”
“I will be fine, Arcadia. Besides, we won’t have to worry; we have you on our side, correct? You always succeed in your missions.”
I turned, heading back to the dining hall, “Yeah, but there’s a reason I work alone, Rik. Don’t forget that.”
Chapter 13
Rik landed in one of the space-ports in the city of Himeo, the city Jack ran. There weren’t any strict rules about landing on Recar other than you had to state your business of why you were there. Most people lied, but they didn’t care. They just asked so the city wouldn’t be held responsible if something happened. There weren’t any Imperials patrolling the area either. Each city had their own patrol loyal to each of the different crime lords that ran the cities. I only came when Imperial force was needed for resistance outbreaks or any other excuse Jack gave for needing me to come back.
After we landed, I searched for Rik to talk to him. I needed to talk to him about Jack and the fact I needed to be armed just in case we ran into any unwanted company, which at this point seemed more likely than not. I found Rik in his quarters.
“Rik, I ought to warn you. My friend doesn’t like unannounced company. The fewer of us that go the better,” I lied.
Jack wouldn’t care as long as I was there, I just didn’t know what I was going to do yet. I could destroy the tracking device here and stall before any Imperials came or I could keep going on this mission and see it through to the end. Either way, I knew where the next clue was and I could easily find it on my own. Jack was on my side with anything, he would help. Also, there were quite a few enemies I had on this planet and I didn’t want to be in charge of keeping everyone safe. The least number of people the better.
“How do I know this isn’t just a trick you planned up to betray us?”
“Well, for one thing, this isn’t an Imperial strong-hold. There aren’t many Imperials here, if any. It wouldn’t be wise for me to betray you. If I were to betray you, I would wait until we were somewhere that had more Imperials, like Ttkas.”
“See, you say things like that and it begs the question why you haven’t done anything to get away.”
I shrugged, taunting him with that thought.
“Fine. Just you and David go. There may be wanted posters for me here. Besides, David seems to be able to keep you out of trouble.”
I nodded. David was able to keep me out of trouble because he was the only one who trusted me, although he really shouldn’t.
“Can I have a gun or a knife? It’s a dangerous city out there and both David and I should be armed in case we get into any trouble,” I explained.
Rik studied me. “You seemed to do fine without any weapons earlier.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just say last time I was here I made a few people mad.”
“As you normally do. I will have David carry extra weapons. If you need them he can give them to you,” Rik waved me to leave.
“Thank you,” I headed back to where David and Amanda waited. They stopped their conversation as I entered. That always made me feel as if they were talking about me.
“Ready, David? It’s just us two going to get the ship.”
Amanda gave him a look. I wasn’t sure if it was a look of warning or consideration.
“Just us two?” Worry was apparent on his face.
“Yeah, my associate doesn’t like unannounced company. The less people the better,” I explained.
He stood up from the table. “Let me grab my things.”
“Also, grab a few extra weapons. Can’t ever be too careful on Recar,” I added.
“Be careful, David,” Amanda added.
“What about me?” I sarcastically questioned.
“That depends, have you finished translating the book?”
“No.”
“Then be careful, too.” She smiled. I wondered what she would have said if I was done with the book.
David grabbed his things and we left the space-port. The city was busy as always with people traveling from one destination to the next. My hair flailed in the salty ocean breeze. I took a deep breath. I always loved the smell of the Himeo Sea. I didn’t know if it was because it reminded me of Jack or because I only felt free on this planet.
We moved through the disorganized streets of Himeo. Whoever designed this city must not have understood that streets needed to lie in a grid, not go every which way. Unless it was planned like that so visitors were confused out of their mind, which if that were the case then he was a man after my own heart. I looked around. Lots of men in worn-out suits and hats guarded certain buildings, making sure no one was trying to get into whatever they were hiding in there.
I knew the city like the back of my hand. I barged my way through the streets as if I had nothing to hide. David did his best to keep up. We entered the underground transit system and took the subway car towards the heart of the city.
“We are going towards downtown? This friend of yours must be important,” David commented as we sat down in the worn out bench in the subway car.
I smiled as I watched others sit down around us. “You could say that.”
The car took us speeding through the tunnels towards downtown Himeo. Passengers of all kinds came on and off the car as we made stop after stop. I kept an eye out for anyone who could be spying on us but no one stuck out to me.
We reached our stop and I motioned David to get off. I led him up to the city streets and watched as people walked by. The people ranged from proper businessmen to punks with mohawks and green hair. Even though they all were different, they all had one thing in common. They kept their heads down and ignored everyone around them. Everyone lived in their own little world. No one around them mattered. I really loved this city.
I looked up and admired Jack’s building. It had only been a little over a month since I had last been here. I felt drops of rain start to come down.
“This is where he lives?” David questioned as we stood outside the building.
“Lives. Works. Yeah. He has a condo a few blocks from here but he spends most of his time here,” I explained.
“Who is this friend of yours?” He finally asked. I wondered when someone would.
“His name’s Jack.”
David’s eyes widened. “Please tell me you don’t mean ‘Crazy’ Jack, the crime lord that runs this town.”
“He prefers to be called ‘Handsome’ Jack.”
“You are friends with the head crime lord of Recar?”
“How do you think we got the treaty with Recar otherwise? I made connections,” I explained as I took my hair out of the pony tail and ran my hands through to fluff it up. I wrapped the hair band around my wrist.
David raised his eyebrow. “What sort of connections?”
I ignored his question as we entered the building. I came upon the security desk.
I placed my hand on the desk to get the receptionist’s attention. “I need to speak with Jack.”
“Do you have an appointment?” the curvy blonde’s nasally voice annoyed me.
“No. Just tell him Arcadia is here.”
“He doesn’t see people without an appointment. I have an opening in three weeks.”
“Just tell him Arcadia is here,” I said again in a more demanding
voice. She shot me a look as she picked up the phone.
“Some girl is here to see you. Doesn’t have an appointment. Says her name is Arcade or something.”
“Arcadia,” I corrected.
“Arcadia,” she rolled her eyes. “Yes. Fine,” she hung up the phone. “He says you may go up. Place any weapons you have in the bin over there,” she pointed at the lockers against the wall.
“Thank you,” I headed towards the lifts. “David, put your weapons in there.”
“But...” he started.
“David dear, do you see those detectors above the lifts? When they go off, those nice gentlemen over there,” I gestured to the large muscular guards that made him look like a twig. “They will tackle you and throw you out into the streets. Maybe shoot you a couple of times in the legs just to be clear. No weapons allowed.”
He nodded and put the three knives and two guns he had into the locker and grabbed the key to retrieve them later. No one even questioned why he had that many weapons on him; most people around here had the same or even more. I knew that from experience.
We entered the lift and a guard pushed the button for the floor we were to go to. We kept quiet as we went up the seventy something floors. Thankfully, this lift was fast. It wasn’t long before we were to his floor.
The lift doors opened to reveal another small lobby. We approached the desk where another curvy woman sat. This one had red hair.
“He will be with you in a minute,” she said with her sweet-toned voice. I didn’t like her, never did. The fact Jack surrounded himself with girls like this torqued me off a little bit but I never mentioned it.
I nodded and took a seat. David followed.
Minutes passed when suddenly the doors to his office opened. A poor wretch came out, nervously fiddling with his bowler’s cap in his hands. I noted a few bruises across his face and a drop of blood running down from his nose. I glanced at David, who looked horrified by this.
A few moments later, the doors to Jack’s office flung open again. Jack rushed into the lobby looking around for me.
