MUTINY RISING (THE ALORIAN WARS Book 3)
Page 15
“I wanted the girl alive, but your people allowed her to escape,” accused the man.
“Actually, sir, she destroyed the Yeopa while she was on board. She was just another casualty of her power. She did not escape.”
“Really. Have you reclaimed her body?”
T'anoi swallowed hard. He wasn’t one for confrontation, and he could see by the cold expression on the man’s face that T’anoi was overstepping his bounds. “There isn’t a body to recover, sir. Besides, the radiation field is too strong to safely send any ships to salvage anything left behind. We are monitoring the Yeopa’s debris field, though.”
“So, she escaped?”
He was being backed into a corner for which there was no easy way out. “I suppose, in certain terms, you could presume the child did escape. Though, her survival is highly improbably, regretfully.”
“If there is no body to recover, then I am left to assume she is still out there. If she is still out there, then she is a threat to the Organization and a threat to CERCO. I do not fear your demise, but I do not look forward to my own,” the man said stoically.
“I understand, sir. I apologize.”
“I am under the impression that in her last moments, she was accompanied by someone else?”
“Yes, sir. She was accompanied by a Luthian woman. We are still trying to discover who she is, but she is not in any of our databases.”
“A Luthian? I would be impressed to know her story, especially after her world was destroyed by Greshia months ago.” The man rested his chin in his hand thoughtfully. T’anoi knew that the Organization liked collecting specimens from other worlds, especially those no longer in existence thanks to the expanding Greshian Empire.
“That would be an interesting story, sir. I will keep you informed of any developments in terms of identifying her. Though, we do kind of have our hands full picking up the pieces after the destruction of the Yeopa.”
The man nodded. “Ensure you do. Now, onto the next stage in the plan. You lost the girl and we need another one. So, assign someone to the task of collecting the next weapon.”
“Sir, our designs have improved greatly over the years, but this was the closest experiment to having success we’ve ever had. There were aspects of Carista that made her more susceptible to our influence than a child might normally be. It will be impossible to find a suitable replacement in a short period of time.” T'anoi’s heart pounded in his chest. He hated having to ask for more time and seeing the man’s narrowing, murderous gaze settle onto him. It was unnerving.
“I don’t care what you have to do, T'anoi. You will have a new weapon in my possession before the end of the month. You know we have a timeline to keep.”
T'anoi gasped. “A month? Sir, with all due respect, that will be impossible. We cannot just toss another child into the program and expect them to react in the same way Carista did.”
The man leaned closer. “Why the fuck do I pay you for the things you say you cannot do? The word ‘impossible’ should not be in your vocabulary. I told you what I want; now get it done, or a lack of funding will be the least of your worries. I hope, for your sake, this discussion is more to my liking the next time I call.” The man disappeared from the screen and left T'anoi feeling hollow inside.
This isn’t what I wanted, he thought as he stood in the center of the room, his staff surrounding him in silence. They witnessed everything in that exchange, including the scolding and embarrassment that spewed forth at him.
“That didn’t go as I planned,” he said to the assembly. He smiled nervously as Hespha walked closer to him. The assembly sat in reverent silence, it was a show of respect—a respect T’anoi did not feel he rightfully deserved.
“It never does, T'anoi, but that is what happens when you go to bed with devils,” Hespha replied. She was his second in command at CERCO and the driving force behind the growing position to pull away from the Organization and its growing rebellion with Greshia. After that exchange, he was beginning to see her point, but they needed the funding to continue their research. It was a perpetual cycle of disappointment.
“You did not think they were devils when this first started, Hespha. Were you not the deciding vote that propelled us to this moment?” he asked, his words biting the air. T'anoi hated being bullied. It was bad enough he took it from the Organization that hid behind their money and power. He was not about to take it from his own people too.
“I was the reluctant deciding vote. I told you before and I’ve reminded you since, these people do not have our best interests in mind. They are using our science for evil.”
T'anoi gawked at her. “If not for the Organization, we would have been targeted by Greshian aggression years ago. It is their influence that has kept us alive.” He was on the verge of screaming at her, and she took it, as their culture was taught to respect the position of power. He could see that she had something say etched in the dangerous glare of her brown eyes. Her dark hair only made those dark orbs stand out. “I’m sorry,” he said reluctantly.
“I understand,” she said.
The assembly dispersed, even though he did not release them. He turned and watched them leave, wondering how much of the exchange they heard. Stress is starting to take its toll on me. “You’re right,” he said, the words painful to his ears. “I just don’t know how to get out from under their thumb.”
Hespha stepped closer to him. “It is a delicate situation, but there is a way out of this.”
“How?” he asked.
She nodded, not at him, but someone behind him. Before he realized it, a sharp pain stabbed him in the back, weakening his legs until he collapsed to the cold floor.
“I’m sorry, T’anoi. I never wanted it to come to this, but we didn’t have a choice. You led us into the belly of the beast and now we have no other way to preserve ourselves.”
“What?”
A man came from behind him and knelt in front of T’anoi. The man pulled back his cloak and revealed his identity to T’anoi.
“Ka’Hor’al? My brother?”
“I am sorry, T’anoi. When she told me what you did, I knew you had taken your power too far. Father would never have wanted this for you.” Ka’Hor’al said. He was on the verge of tears as both brothers looked into each other’s eyes. T’anoi was dying. It was the end of a legacy begun by their father, but the dynasty of power was over. “I have given my share of CERCO to Hespha. I just wanted you to know before you pass on to the other life that I did not do this to claim what was yours for myself. I did this to preserve your legacy before you go down in history as a madman.”
“But—”
“Don’t speak, brother. Let the darkness take you quietly,” Ka’Hor’al said.
T’anoi watched his brother stand next to Hespha and take her hand in his. That’s what it comes down to, he thought as blood poured from his body. She used my brother as a weapon against me, to take control of what never should have been hers in the first place.
“I wish this could have ended differently, T’anoi,” Hespha said. Despite his pain, he could see the sadness in her eyes. Maybe she really does think this was the only way to save us, but if anything, she has condemned us and tossed away all we fought so hard to create. To hell with legacy; my legacy dies with me and the rest of CERCO will die soon after.
Hespha and Ka’Hor’al turned to leave T’anoi to die, but a part of him was already dead before he gasped his last breath. A part of him already knew he was gone before the knife was driven into his back. But he never had the opportunity to tell Hespha the truth about Carista, about where the girl came from, about how she came to be. Would it break her heart to know the truth? T’anoi thought Hespha would be more enraged now than anything. Though, at some point she would have deserved to know, and I would have told her when the time was right, before she influenced my brother to kill me. But now, with my dying breath, that truth will be lost forever.
Coming Soon!
SHADOW
&
nbsp; EMPIRE
BOOK FOUR OF THE ALORIAN WARS
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Drew Avera is a US Navy veteran and science fiction author. He began his writing career in 2012 as a participant in National Novel Writing Month. Since then, he has published more than twenty novels, novellas, and short stories. Some of his stories have been featured in the bestselling Future Chronicles anthologies. Drew lives in Virginia with his wife and daughters.
www.drewavera.wordpress.com