Aiben had taken advantage of that fact by grabbing onto the mind of their leader. He hadn’t been hard to identify. His mind had been concerned with the safety of his men. He had been the one most fearful that the seething Chibbi was going to make a wrong move before he could assess the situation.
Corag-mar had turned out to be quite a surprise to Aiben. He knew very little of the man’s character, just what Jerekiel and the other Neilemi’aak had sketched out for him. None of them had known how thin this man’s shell of loyalty to the Protectorate had become over the years. It was especially tenuous when a reward was promised or when his sense of ideology regarding his people’s history was threatened.
Jerekiel had instantly understood what Aiben was doing and dove into shalal hiliz alongside him. She assisted him in chaining the minds of their attackers together with their leader in one all-inclusive link. Aiben took up the voice of Tulan and blasted into their thoughts the story of Yoren-dal, Jerekiel, and the Iniri’ki Hegirith, all in an effort to shatter the last vestiges of the Golani’aak’s misplaced allegiance. Corag-mar and his men had agreed unanimously, and without hesitation, to set aside their feud with the other ilud’hi and join the rebellion to free Rahan from the Zenzani.
Aiben couldn’t help but think that the Golani’aak’s sudden change of heart would have been almost incredulous to the casual observer. Nevertheless, Jerekiel’s descendants had revealed their true desires once they recognized Tulan among them. Their fanaticism for the legend of the Iniri’ki Hegirith and im shalal had been the driving force behind taking the device and estranging themselves from the other ilud’hi in the first place.
Now Tulan had come for im shalal, the prophecy of the Shelezar’hi was beginning to unfold, and the Golani’aak would be the ilud to help fulfill that prophecy just as they had always knew and desired they would be. Aiben was grateful for once that the mythology of his purpose had worked to his advantage. At the same time, one more stone of regret sunk into the pit of his stomach as he saw what it had done to these people.
Aiben glanced over at Ballis in the dimness and saw the man was still nursing his jaw. The scar below his eye reddened as his hand worked the side of his face. While it was clear what had happened with the Golani’aak, Ballis’s case wasn’t so obvious. When they had found and revived him from unconsciousness, he had tried to explain what had happened while hotfooting it after the Chibbi. He could remember up until the ratty had booted him, but his memory after that was murky. He had floated in and out of consciousness for a few seconds before succumbing to oblivion.
The Chibbi, whose name they had learned was Gormy Bonebender, had alighted from the branch, breaking off a piece of it by wrapping his prehensile tail around it on the way down. He had held it high over his head with the intent of bashing Ballis to death, but every time he tried to get close enough, he would let out an agonizing scream and stumble back, his feet skipping from side to side. He had tried to attack no less than four times before the pain must have forced him to give up. In desperation, he had thrown the branch at an oblivious Ballis and loped off through the dry grass. Ballis didn’t know what had happened, but it had saved his life.
Aiben switched his attention back to their new ally who had taken a sudden turn and snaked them down a new side passage. They found themselves in a semi-circular tube, devoid of any detail except small blocks of numbers that a maintenance crew had etched into the bare concrete and steel walls at regular intervals. Corag-mar was scrutinizing each one as they proceeded down the corridor. He was whistling each digit to himself, sometimes several times, as if trying to figure out where they belonged in some sequential pattern.
Several times, he steered them down tunnels that split off at odd angles but always curved back in what Aiben’s nanomechs told him was still the right direction for Abri Mor. If he hadn’t been so sure of the man’s new loyalty, or his own sense of mechanically enhanced direction, he might have thought Corag-mar was trying to get them lost, or lead them into a trap. Another glance at Ballis told him his friend was thinking that very thought. Finally, after two hours of twists and turns, Corag-mar came to a sudden halt where the tunnel split off into two directions.
“We’re at the perimeter of the military complex. Down that way is where my men and I need to go.” Corag-mar wagged a finger at one side of the fork. “The three of you would never make it past Zenzani security alive. I’ll have to tell your story to the others who have influence in our ilud, anyway. Then we’ll make the preparations to bring im shalal to you safely.”
“Are you sure we can trust the Golani’aak?” Ballis asked Aiben for the umpteenth time since they had revived him from his knockout. His voice was as calm as still water, despite the current of suspicion flowing beneath it.
“I trust him,” Aiben nodded at Corag-mar, hoping to reassure his friend.
Ballis looked from one man to the other, his head shaking, his eyes widening. Corag-mar just stood there, still mumbling to himself, looking down the tunnel, and ticking off his fingers one by one. “It’s not so much about doubt as it is about disbelief.”
Corag-mar looked up and frowned.
“So what should we do in the meantime?” Ballis asked Corag-mar.
“Continue down that tunnel for several hundred paces more. You’ll come out at the base of a large docking tower. Follow it around until you get to the main entrance. No one will be there because nobody uses the ground level anymore, except maybe a few undesirables conducting illegal transactions under the cover of the smog. Hold your breath and just ignore them and they’ll ignore you. Take the lift up to the seven hundred and sixth level. You’re hungry, I’m sure.” The Golani’aaki Keazil wrinkled his nose and sniffed loudly, more punctuation of his ugliness. He pulled out a few octagonal bits of metal from a utility pouch at his waist. Some were shiny copper and some were weathered to dull brown. He handed them to Ballis. “Here are a few Zenzani guilders. There’s a restaurant up there and you can get something to eat.”
Ballis weighed the coins in his hand. “That’s a bit ironic, isn’t it? The Protectorate refers to their money with the Seven Guilds term. But you’re right, I’m starving.” He cocked a guarded look at Corag-mar. “How and when can we contact you?”
“If everything goes well, I’ll meet you at the restaurant in an hour. We can contact Jerekiel from there and go to meet the Shelezar for alachti ai alamat.”
“We’ll be waiting for you,” Aiben confirmed.
Ballis shrugged in exasperation. “Okay, Aiben, I hope you know what he’s talking about. Come on, let’s go eat and you can explain it to me again.”
CHAPTER 26
The Ma’acht Vor leapt into hyperspace. She left behind a small dirtball burning from the fires of war. The Zenzani had deposited several legions of Protectorate shock troops there to garrison the planet and make sure it wouldn’t stray from their fold. Supreme Commander Hezit had secured himself inside his private command module aboard the battleship. He watched as his armada withdrew after their complete victory. His face was bathed in the blue-green light of a spinning hologram of the devastated globe. The subjugated planet would soon be far behind the fleet.
Hezit interfaced his nanomechs with the Ma’acht Vor’s main systems so he could sift the Zenzani security net for information. He had been uneasy ever since leaving Morgoloth. During the battle for Bel Euridius, he had replayed in his mind the conversation he had overheard between the Agar Hegirith and Selat Teeloo over and over again. His nanomechs had recorded it word for word.
I hope that we have not been wrong about his loyalty.
Magron had earmarked that comment for Nairom, but Hezit knew from experience that anyone associated with Nairom’s lack of success would be under suspicion as well. It spoke volumes about his future as the Protectorate’s Supreme Commander if Magron thought any of the men he had recruited were seditious in any way.
Hezit couldn’t remember what life had been like before his cybermancer tr
aining. His tutelage began with one of the greatest Masters of the Cybermancer Guild, Hegirith Kemdel, when he was just a small child. He had that in common with Nairom and had used it to his advantage. However, it wasn’t until he left the Guild and came to serve Magron that he felt he had reached his full potential.
The Zenzani warlord solidified for him what he had always believed about the supremacy of the cybermancers. It was exactly what he had been looking for and he wasn’t about to let anything upset his ambitious designs and destroy his position as Supreme Commander. His rank came by utter devotion to Magron’s policies, bolstered by a charisma that won others over to his master’s cause. A traitorous act from Nairom, only second to him in ambition it seemed, would win them nothing more than their deaths at Magron’s hands. It was imperative to stop Nairom from laying down secret plans of his own. If his protégée was getting ready to pounce, Hezit would stop him from clawing his way to the top.
Shards of data splintered into Hezit’s mind, bits of intelligence carried there by nanomechs sifting through the Zenzani data stores. He navigated through the information, buffered the relevant data for immediate analysis, and purged the superfluous from his internal memory cache. As he waded through the past several months of activity logged on General Nairom, he began to see the facts emerge. It was all there to incriminate him: access to Abri Mor’s security logs, inquiries into Mora Bentia’s military organization, retrieval of dossiers on the governor and his men, and several encrypted messages that Nairom had piggybacked to Besti on standard communiqués.
Hezit made it a habit to keep tabs on everyone he saw as too overzealous. Sometimes it paid off, sometimes it didn’t. This time, his security sniffers had done their job by capturing data from one of Nairom’s piggybacks. Their decryption algorithms cracked the message in a few seconds and when they had stripped Nairom’s plans bare, the Supreme Commander sat silent for several minutes, pondering what his next move should be.
“You’ve put me in a most difficult position Nairom,” Hezit said aloud to himself. “If I told Magron about your treachery, he’d kill me right there, and then come for you. You’re determined indeed, my friend.” Wryness tugged at the man’s mouth. “I guess I’ve taught you too well, but I can’t have you usurp what is mine, and I can’t have the Agar Hegirith kill us both for it.”
***
A thousand light-years core-ward from the Ma’acht Vor on Mora Bentia, Nairom received the transmission he had been waiting for. It confirmed that Hezit’s encryption busters had peeled apart his secrets. The news couldn’t have come at a better time. He had mastered his master. For the first time in many days, Nairom was happy. Hezit had taken the bait and was rushing into the ever-increasing web of deceit waiting to catch him. Nairom was ready now to make his move on Aiben.
CHAPTER 27
Achanei had prepared herself for this moment for days now. In anticipation of someone coming through her cell door, she had wrenched off a rusty leg from her bed frame. It hadn’t been too difficult, considering the bindings had long since oxidized, loosened, and were stripped beyond repair. At first, she was afraid guards would burst through the door to stop her from creating the makeshift weapon, but no one had come. Either there wasn’t a surveillance system inside the cell, or her captors hadn’t considered her attempt enough of a real threat to arrest her actions.
When Achanei’s nanomechs picked-up the sound of commotion outside her cell door, she scooped up the metal rod. The coarse oxidation pressed into her sweaty palms and her skin pulled off flecks of orange steel. She flattened herself against the wall where a shock of cold shot into her back. It was so uncomfortable, it made her want to leap across the room, but she planted her feet like two giant roots. She brought the makeshift weapon up across her chest, gripping it white-knuckled, and readied herself to swing at full force.
She had never been that good at the Cybermancer Guild’s stylized art of defense, hez alim, but her tutors at the palace had taught her well enough how to defend herself. The door swished open. When she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, she took a half step forward and swung with all of her might. Luckily, many hours of training took over and her well-toned muscles locked, ceasing the swing as she realized who her visitor was. The rusty bed leg stopped mere millimeters from smashing into the head of a small Oobellian.
“Jiab!” Achanei squealed. Her weapon clanked to the ground in a cloud of rust and she threw her arms around him. A second, somewhat taller Oobellian stepped out of the corridor around her shorter companion. Her bottom lip stuck out and her eyes pleaded for a hug as well.
“Neikkia Noonak!” Achanei beamed as she hugged the second Oobellian too. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected that these two would come through that door.
Achanei drew the Oobellians into the small cell and poked her head out into the corridor. Not more than ten feet from the cell door, the heap of a deactivated patrolmech sizzled. Smoke was twisting up from a charred control panel on its side and several blackened wires and components had spilled out onto the floor like a mess of burnt electronic entrails. Achanei closed the door without sealing it and then turned to her two rescuers.
The Oobellians unslung packs they had been carrying over their shoulders. The opposite images that stood in front of her kicked her spirits up high. One was a tall, thin body covered with short, coarse, black fur. She had small beady eyes set atop a miniature nose and two tiny perky ears sat to either side of her head. The other was a short, pudgy body covered with long, fine, black fur. Large bulging eyes crowded around a bulky nose and two long ears flopped over the sides of his head.
All three of them clasped each other in another big hug and Achanei closed her eyes, letting out a long sigh of relief. She should have known that the head of House Feillion would send their best operatives to rescue her. She was overjoyed that her Oobellian friends hadn’t let her father down.
“How did you two get here?” Achanei wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Jiab slid a small, reflective ident-disc out of a wrinkle in his pelted stomach. Oobellians were known for their extreme range of flexible muscle and cartilage. He held up the passkey they had used to gain access to her cell and waved it back and forth as if to hypnotize her with its rainbow of optical color. Both Oobellians let toothy grins stretch across their faces, from one ear to the other. The comical picture forced a giggle out of Achanei. Her eyes watered again.
“We borrowed this from someone, of course,” Jiab said. One of his ears swiveled halfway towards Neikkia, as if he was anticipating an interruption from his larger companion.
“And we’ve been sneaking around this place for hours, poking around their security system looking for you.” Neikkia’s nose twitched and her ears flicked. “We found the detention database and Jiab cracked it. It wasn’t so hard to find you after that.” Neikkia snatched the passkey from Jiab and slid it into one of her own folds laughing.
“I’m not the least bit surprised you two could pull that off, but that’s not what I meant. I’m betting we’re in Protectorate space somewhere. That means the Zenzani would have shut down the hyperportal to anything but military ships. Without the right code, you couldn’t have used the hypertransit system. I haven’t been able to cyberlink with my nanomechs either, which proves my suspicion. So that brings me back to my original question. How did you two get here?”
Neikkia chattered away in her usual rapid manner, her eyes as wide as she could make them to accentuate each word. “We got some intel that the Protectorate’s next target was Bel Euridius. Jiab and I made sure we were there to hitch a ride with the people who had the right code. It was a quick battle, too quick, and this place is one of the Zenzani’s major refueling ports on the way in from the border with Guild space. We won’t bore you with the details, though. We’d better think about getting you out of here first.”
“Alright, but I’ll expect the finer points later.” She wrinkled her nose at a foul odor emanatin
g from her two friends. Achanei was well aware of their legendary prowess at infiltration. That smell would have a story behind it. “I’m sure you two didn’t have any trouble keeping one step ahead of everyone else.”
Although the Seven Guilds and the Protectorate were both located in what sentient beings called human space, there were considerable minority populations of non-humans pocketed throughout their spheres of influence. One of those enclaves, Oobellia and her colonies, had been among the first group of planets Magron’s war hounds had toppled. Because of their agility, flexibility, and strength, the Zenzani had pressed the benign species into menial service throughout the Protectorate. Their ubiquitous presence around Zenzani military bases made them less suspicious than one might think. It was for this exact reason that House Feillion had employed these two Oobellians in their intelligence corps.
“Something still doesn’t make sense, though. How did you know where to find me exactly? I don’t even know where I am for sure. And how did you know I had even been kidnapped for that matter?” Achanei raised a dubious eyebrow at her two friends.
“To tell you the truth, we weren’t even really sure you’d be here,” Neikkia said. “We didn’t have anything but a small tip to go on.”
That made Achanei nervous. “A tip from who?”
“Anonymous,” Jiab answered.
She rolled that thought around her head for a second. It just made it ache. “How can we be sure this isn’t a trap then?”
“We can’t,” Neikkia purred.
“But we’ll find out soon enough,” Jiab said.
She had the distinct impression that the two Oobellians preferred the risk. She had known them for many years from Feillia Prime’s court. Along with their fierce loyalty to her father, they had always loved a perilous mission.
“When we got here, we just jumped ship,” Neikkia explained. “We stole a transport and hid in the waste extraction systems.”