by Lee Watts
"You know good and well what it is," Balin boiled with indignation. "What's the idea of conducting an air strike on Theera without going through me?"
Tulin blustered, "I don't have to get your authorization, Balin! You work for me, not the other way around! He's a terrorist. There was a chance to take him out, so I took it."
"This is outrageous," Balin fumed. "You read the reports; a meteor shower killed those Hegemony troops. Are you saying some old man picked up and threw all those stones at armed men? It was an act of the Elder, and you know it. Caedmon was speaking the truth, but your Regent and his overseer didn't like it. That's what this is really all about."
"You'd best watch yourself, Balin! Hate groups like that fundamentalist Narrow Way are outlawed now, and it's not my Regent, it's ours unless you want to be labeled a traitor too. I suggest you change your tone. You've never hidden your beliefs, but I warn you, you had better back away from any proselytizing and associating with that movement, or I'll have you locked up with the rest of them."
"Rest of them?"
"That's right. Warrants were issued yesterday for the ringleaders throughout the Realm, and we've already rounded up a lot of them."
"What are they accused of?"
"Hate speech, inciting riots, religious intolerance, -"
"Intolerance! You're the ones being intolerant!"
"And you're being insubordinate! This conversation is over, and if you want to keep your position then I suggest you get in line with current policy and keep your religious opinions to yourself! Tulin out."
***
At twilight, while Realm troops took up sniper positions, the unit's leader raised the night-vision binoculars to his eyes. Salazar ordered a crackdown on Narrow Way extremists, and this location was reported as a primary distribution point for their literature.
"See anything?" Gunnery Sergeant Imre Kovacs asked.
"Looks quiet," answered the commander. "Are we ready?"
"Everyone is in position."
"Excellent. Blow the main door, and begin clearing rooms. Prisoners are preferred, but deadly force is authorized."
The Marine hesitated.
"What is it Gunny?" he asked then with a nervous laugh added, "Afraid a ball of fire is going to fall out of the sky?"
"No, Sir," Imre answered, ignoring the ridicule. "It's… I'm not sure this is necessary."
"Not necessary? These people are extremists - a radical hate group insisting theirs is the only way. They're no different than the Hateeg."
"Begging your pardon, but there's a big difference. The Hateeg are forcing conversions, but these people aren't forcing anybody. Charging in there with all this weaponry could escalate things."
The commander was disgusted.
"Wake up, Kovacs! This group is dangerous. They're the ones who've made this violent. Remember, they're responsible for the death of more than four hundred and fifty people, destroying the Religious Center, and causing civil unrest. Now, get in there before I have you relieved."
"Yes, Sir," Imre responded while having to bite his tongue to keep from saying what he was thinking. Wanting to get it over, Imre gestured for the Marines near him to follow. He didn't expect any problems; so far, every Elderite arrest had met with only passive resistance. Imre vented his frustrations by using his heavy blaster to blow off the door. The unit leader was pleased by the demonstration of force. There didn't need to be any bloodshed in this operation, but he could always hope.
Imre Kovacs lead his Marines with textbook precision in securing each room of the ground level. They found no one but did discover a false panel in the floor. They hurried down and found a room crammed with people, crates of data cards, servers running the Narrow Way cyber sites, and stacks of printouts of the outlawed version of the Codex.
As expected, none of the group was armed. With the room secure, Imre signaled the operation's commander. With the haughty stride of a victorious general, the commander entered the hidden chamber. Glowering, he addressed the prisoners.
"I know your little group can't be the only ones plastering propaganda and hate literature across the province. I want names and locations, and you're going to give them to me."
None of the prisoners answered. Recognizing the group's leader from the security files, the commander approached him.
"So, Voice Matthias," he taunted, using the main's title. "What? Nothing to say? You've been shooting off almost nonstop on the cyber sites. Surely you have a few more words in there."
In mute defiance, Matthias looked at the commander resolutely; it infuriated the soldier. Drawing his pistol, he smashed the barrel hard against the rebel's temple. All that kept Matthias from the floor was the grip of the Marine who was holding Matthias' arms behind his back.
"START TALKING," the commander demanded.
Eye swelling, the restrained man answered with only a stare.
Enraged, the commander brought the pistol cracking against the other side of Matthias' face.
"It's going to get a lot worse, Elderite! You better learn to fear me."
"Fear you?" Matthias said softly. "You have no power."
"No power?" the man scoffed then bellowed at the entire group. "Listen up, if you don't give me what I want, you'll all will spend the rest of your lives mining tizanite in the asteroids of Oosay!" Turning back to Matthias he sneered, "Old man, I can have you killed in any way or for any reason I want."
"The body is temporary, but the soul is eternal," Matthias replied. Then he quoted the Codex: "Fear not them which kill the body, but fear Him who is able to destroy the soul in the Vortex."
The words comforted the other Elderites and made Imre remember the lessons he learned as a child. Noticing the resolution of the Elderites, raged boiled in the commander. He unleashed a powerful blow with his pistol, smashing it against Matthias' skull. Fatally wounded, Matthias went limp in the Marine's grasp. There were gasps, but neither soldiers nor prisoners dared speak.
How have we come to this, Imre pondered. Executions without even a trial - this happened in the lawless sectors of wild space, not in the Realm.
Trying to put a stop to the madness, Imre barked orders.
"Load the prisoners in the transports. Move out!"
Marines began herding the Elderites out as the commander glared at Imre. Imre held the other man's gaze for a moment then headed up the stairs. Heading out, Imre considered how far the Realm had come, how much further it would go, and how long he could stand to be a part of it.
***
Since joining the Hegemony, the few remaining Realm ships were required to remove the blue and white banner of the Realm from their hulls and replace it with the red and gray tribal-like symbol of the Hegemony. As if rubbing salt in the wound, Admiral Balin recently received orders to investigate the theft of a Ramillie artifact stolen from the new Religious Center. When he insisted robbery was a matter for local security, Tulin said because of evidence about the suspect, he was making it Balin's concern.
The Admiral slid a datacard into his computer to view the 'evidence.' Footage recorded during the robbery began playing. Center of the image was a waist-high pedestal with a ring projecting part of a holographic starchart. Freezing the playback, Balin magnified the image. Recognizing the face of the man stealing the artifact, Balin moaned in frustration while grumbling the thief's name
"LaRouche."
CHAPTER 23
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find…"
- Matthew 7:7
Lanos, a greasy, overweight man waddled through the casino toward the table where waited Sosimo LaRouche, his trusted first officer Shen Lei, and a scar-faced man with a cybernetic eye. The pasty-skinned Lanos, having a shapely woman with beautiful slanted eyes draped on his arm, strutted as if he was the envy of every man present.
"Lose your friend," LaRouche said as Lanos and the girl sat.
Expressing her desire to stay, the dark-haired woman slid her hand playfully over Lanos' chest.
<
br /> "It'th alright," the information dealer said with his prominent lisp. "We can talk in front of her. Now, what do you want Thothimo?"
"I'm looking for something."
"I know, but to it'll coth you."
"Everything does," Sosimo conceded then pulled his hand from under the table and slid across a bound stack of Hegemony credits. Lanos smiled as his meaty hand grabbed the currency, sliding it into his jacket pocket.
"So, where is it?"
Lanos paused for a moment then shrugged.
"That wath my thervith charge. If you want to know about the map then…"
"Crimson," was all Sosimo said, and with a small flash, the ill-tempered man activated his cybernetic eye. A black spot appeared on Lanos' jacket. The information dealer didn't notice the mark until it began to smoke. The invisible heat beam continued, and eventually, the cloth flickered to life. Lanos swatted at the tiny flames.
"Hey! Tell the thyclopth to cut it out!"
Sosimo darted his eyes to Crimson who then deactivated the beam.
"Now about the map. Where?" Sosimo said as Lanos blew at the smoldering hole.
"Well, ith not tho much where, but who. The lath bit of your map ith with a collector - The Hammer."
"The Hammer?" Lei exclaimed. "He's the biggest crime lord in the quadrant, maybe beyond. We take something from him and we won't have a safe port anywhere."
"Maybe we can work something out," LaRouche purposed. Turning to Lanos, he gave him a questioning look.
"Yeth, well ith well known you're after The Vault, and The Hammer'th willing to make a trade."
"Trade what?"
"A thip."
"My ship? What's The Hammer want with the Fortune?"
"The Fortune? Are you kidding?" Lanos laughed. "The Hammer doethn't want that old thing."
"He doesn't?" Sosimo asked in surprise. He puzzled for a moment then asked with feelings hurt, "Why not?"
"The Hammer will trade for a thepethial kind of a thip - one with a cloaking devith."
"A cloaking device?" Lei balked. "But the only ones with cloaking technology is the Hateeg. How are we supposed to get one of those?"
"That'th your problem."
Sosimo turned to his first officer and said, "We've not come this far to quit now. We'll find one somehow."
"I know where you can find one," Lanos hinted.
"Where?"
The chubby man smiled but didn't say anything. Sosimo grimaced then reached a hand up from under the table and produced another stack of credits.
Lanos grinned and picked up the money. The apparently ditsy woman at his side giggled with delight as the portly man winked at her and tucked away the cash. He then explained how the Hateeg are to be at the opening of a new space station in the Theera-Enty system.
"We've got to get on that thation- I mean station," Sosimo lisped. "Who do we know with Ramillie passcodes?"
"Ah-hem," Lanos noised to get their attention.
Sosimo rolled his eyes, but realizing the cost of information, again pulled a stack of money from under the table. As the girl beside Lanos oohed at the cunning of Lanos, he slipped the cash into his jacket then reached into another pocket and withdrew a small data reader. He typed in a few commands then ejected the card, handing it to the pirate captain.
"Pleathure doing bithneth with you," he gleamed.
Still hanging on the arm of the fleshy Lanos, Shen Mei picked his pocket the third time, again passing the same stack of cash back under the table back to Sosimo. As the information dealer stood to leave, Sosimo put the stack of money again on the table.
"Here ya go, Lanos, a little something for your trouble."
The portly man smiled and stuffed it in his jacket as Mei playfully glared at her captain then smoothly relieved Lanos of it yet again."
"Very generourth of you, Thothimo."
"Ah," he said dismissively. "I won't even miss it."
CHAPTER 24
"…and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator..." - Romans 1:25
Finally arriving at the Omaz village, the natives convinced the prince's group to not resume their trek for the mysterious signal until after the monsoon season. In those waiting months, Didymus and Aulani spent countless hours discussing the intricacies of languages. The professor was astounded how quickly the young woman mastered virtually every language and linguistic principle he taught her.
When it was finally time to continue the journey, it was decided, because of his age, that Didymus should remain at the village. Christina volunteered to go because she knew about medicinal uses of local plants. Jaiden pleaded to accompany them, but Sev believed such a trip was too much for a fourteen-year-old. Before they left, Sev pulled Telza aside, asking her to keep a special eye on his daughter.
"Don't worry," Telza assured him. "Aulani's grown up in this jungle. She knows how to survive."
"It's not the jungle I'm concerned about," he divulged in expressing the age-old concern of every father.
The group set off, but it took nearly two weeks to discover Jaiden was shadowing them. Aulani wanted to send him back, but proving he could go days without detection, Merrick thought it wise to let him stay and serve as a scout. Repeatedly, the teenager proved his worth. Though not as gifted with languages as his sister, he steadily picked up Theeran. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, the group made slow but steady progress toward the signal.
As was their habit each night after making camp, Merrick mentored Alexander on battlestaff techniques. The prince's skill increased with each passing month, which forced Merrick to work a little harder each lesson.
***
"There it is," Vivica announced as her luxurious personal yacht approached the new Hegemony station. "Very impressive," she cooed.
Edric glanced at the massive alien structure, which was a gigantic disk composed of multiple wedge-shaped components linked to a central core. A bubble-like section protruded from the top of the center beam. In a blatant show of force, multiple squadrons of tri-winged Ramillie starfighters circled the station.
"According to the gala invitation, we could have arrived over an hour ago. I don't see why you wanted to wait so long," Edric grumbled.
"Father, if we got there early then no one would see my entrance," Vivica explained. "By the way, how do I look?"
"Half dressed," he replied referring to her backless, high-slit evening gown.
"Honestly, you're so overprotective. You treat me like a little girl. I'm twenty-two, a woman now. You can't tell me what to do anymore."
"I never could."
"You're so old fashioned," she huffed rolling her eyes. "I'm not doing anything. It's my body, and I'm proud of it. Everybody who's anybody is going to be there tonight, and the pictures will be all over the media tomorrow. Do try to loosen up. Salazar tells me the Ramillie have planned the real fun for after the ceremony."
Edric sighed in dread of that thought. Inside the station, Balin stood with hands folded behind his back while watching the approaching shuttles and passing Ramillie starfighters. Officially, this display of strength was for the Hateeg's benefit, but its double meaning wasn't lost on him. Ordered to patrol the outer ridge of the system, the flagship of the Realm, the Dauntless, was far removed from the gala. Balin knew it was merely an excuse to keep any sign of the old Realm out of sight and mind. This was the Hegemony's station, and now their worlds. This night was designed to solidify that in everyone's mind, including his.
As he stared outside, the shimmering form of a Hateeg destroyer faded into view. Impressed at the technological feat, the Admiral whistled softly at the decloaking craft. How he wanted that kind of an edge for his fleet. Then he painfully remembered, he had no fleet. Bristling with weaponry, the Hateeg ship was clearly intended to make a show of the night as well.
Surrounded by cameras, and reveling in the attention, Duchess Yorin smiled and chatted with reporters. The immense, jeweled necklace she wore highlighted the plunging neckline of her gow
n. As the cameras suddenly shifted angles and began flashing, Salazar turned to look up the stairs at where they were aiming. In a revealing, sparkling red dress, with her hair pinned up and only a single loose tendril of her silky blond hair brushing each side of her face, Vivica had arrived.
Leaving Mara's side, Salazar made his way up the stairs.
"My Lady," he greeted while extending his arm to her. "You look stunning."
"The woman at the Regent's side should be no less," Vivica replied. "Shall we?"
He nodded, and she took his arm as they started down the stairs toward the sea of paparazzi. As they made their way, it occurred to her the arm he had offered her was the one he usually kept bandaged, but it was completely healed.
"Salazar, your arm, it's better?"
"Oh, yes," he gushed with a smile. "I'm a new man, My Lady - a new man."
Mara was jostled by the crowd trying to get a clear view of the Regent and his dazzling companion. The Duchess' eyes narrowed as she glared at the woman who was usurping the attention and adoration she had so long desired.
As the Hateeg craft linked its passenger tube to the station, Balin turned and walked to the railing behind him. Gripping the banister overlooking the open level below, he gazed at the throng of politicians, celebrities and gathered press. All the pointless chatting, currying favor and social intrigue of such events tested his limits of patience. He loathed such affairs, but this one was especially irksome. Draped from the railing above the main floor were multiple oversized flags displaying the Hegemony flag. Detailed statues of the seemingly endless pantheon of Ramillie gods and goddesses were prominently displayed on pedestals throughout the open part of the station. Unclothed and unashamed, the deities portrayed looks of defiance and piety. As Balin glanced at the mingling crowd, he thought he recognized one of the waiters.
Oh no, he thought. What's he doing here? Quickly, Balin contacted the patrolling Realm battlecarrier. On the compact view screen of his communicator appeared the image of the Commodore Tobias Chandler, captain of the Dauntless.
