by Alex Kings
“Are you sure of that?” said Laodicean. “The GEA will easily be able to spot its own operating procedures in your files and confirm the truth. I presume the Glaber will easily able to confirm what was happening with Hive Bellicose.”
“And my friends are all witnesses to your work with the Blanks,” said Wolff.
“I imagine your colleagues will not be terribly pleased with you,” said Laodicean. “Retributions are possible. I promise that if you give yourself up, I will ensure your safety.”
“No,” muttered Mr. Hand. “No, I don't think I'll be doing that.”
A chill went through Rurthk. Mr. Hand had planned to destroy the base and kill them all. He might still do that, as a final act of spite. Or he might do it because he thought there was a way he could still save Vihan Yvredi and wanted to get rid of them first.
But all he did was stare at the screen. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Behind him, Petaurs moved about frantically and shouted as everything they'd worked for collapsed around them.
Eloise touched Rurthk's arm. “We should go,” she said softly. “There might be some shuttles in the hangar, and we can disable their weapons system from here.”
Rurthk nodded. They hadn't been blown up yet, but it seemed best not to tempt fate.
As the others left, Laodicean remained a moment. “The offer still stands, Revnan,” he said. “Contact me if you wish to take it.”
Mr. Hand looked up at him. His ears drooped, and he looked like he couldn't process the situation. He didn't reply.
Chapter 78: Pale Blue Sky
It turned out to be fairly easy to disable the base's defence systems and commandeer a small shuttle. For whatever reason, Mr. Hand did not destroy the base.
Aware that they could easily be tracked, Rurthk abandoned the shuttle in a nearby Petaur town. He and his team contracted their armour and packed it into innocuous-looking briefcases, along with whatever other gear would fit. Everything that didn't fit, they left in the shuttle. Dressed in normal clothing, they took a transport pod.
It seemed like nothing had changed in the outside world. But, as the transport pod sped down its tube, Rurthk noticed an advert change suddenly to a newscast:
BREAKING NEWS: New evidence claims the Glaber may not have been behind the Blank Attacks!!! The Solar Alliance and Varanid Republic have yet to comment.
He looked at Eloise, and she shrugged.
“It's a big wave,” she said. “It'll take a while to break properly.”
The Outsider was miraculously intact, aside from the hole Mr. Soul had made breaking out.
“You know, I was really expecting to come back to a crater,” said Rurthk.
Crawling over the ship on effector fields, Laodicean replaced the hull plating. When everything was set, Rurthk took off.
They landed in Liberty City.
Rurthk trusted Laodicean and Dr. Wolff with the ship, while he and Eloise went to the rendezvous.
A few more newscasts had come out. Rurthk overheard small groups of Petaurs on the street sharing gossip and opinions. Rumours were everywhere: The Free Petaurs were behind the Blank attacks. No, the GEA was. No, the Glaber were behind it after all but had framed the Petaurs. No, it was Sweetblade masterminding the whole thing. But what about the censored scenes of carnage appearing on the newscasts? What about the dozens of arrests made in the past half hour? Where did they fit.
Rurthk ignored it all as he and Eloise headed into the hotel. Eloise called ahead.
Olivia opened the door to her room. Her face was pale. She looked like she'd been crying and only just hastily dried her tears.
The first thing she did upon seeing them was hug Eloise, then hug Rurthk.
“I did it,” she said. “He's dead.”
Rurthk put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.”
She didn't acknowledge this. “Can we go?” she asked.
They headed out of the hotel. Halfway to the spaceport, Olivia had recovered enough to ask, “What about Mero?”
“What about him?” growled Rurthk.
“If it's dangerous for us … because of retribution or because the law is looking for us … then it'll be dangerous for him too. He'll be mentioned in the midnight archive.”
“And?”
“He did help us,” Eloise said. “Without him, we couldn't have stopped Vihan Yvredi.”
Rurthk took a deep breath, and let it out with a long sigh. “Fine,” he told Olivia. “If you can contact him, and if he can get here quickly, I'll give him a ride out of Cantor. And that's all.”
“Thanks,” Olivia said, taking out a tablet.
A few minutes later, as the Outsider was ready to go, Mero entered the spaceport and bounded over to the bottom of the steps.
Rurthk stood at the top of the steps looking down at him. Their eyes met. Rurthk growled softly in the back of his throat. So did Mero.
“Well, Cap, can I come in?” said Mero, with a transparently false cheer.
Without taking his eyes off Mero, Rurthk nodded towards the open airlock and grunted.
Mero climbed the steps. Rurthk watched him the entire way. Mero hesitated a moment before slipping past him and entering the Outsider.
Rurthk closed the airlock and saw Mero heading for the cockpit. “Not that way,” he said. “Eloise is piloting. You're a passenger.”
Mero turned to look at him, nodded, then headed back down the corridor to the observation lounge.
“All ready?” said Eloise over the comms.
“All ready,” confirmed Rurthk
The Outsider took off and accelerated into the pale blue sky.
Chapter 79: Reaction
Across the galaxy, in the centres of power, bewilderment turned to panic, then anger, then hurried attempts to fix things.
The GEA was the first to react. They received the information about Vihan Yvredi prefaced with a modest note from Laodicean, saying he hoped it would be useful. Agents moved to confirm what the Midnight Class files revealed about who in the GEA was working with Vihan Yvredi.
Less than one percent of the GEA's staff was compromised. It wasn't very many. It was far too many. Over the course of a Tethyan day, nine Directors and Sub-Directors were arrested or gave themselves in, two vanished, and two committed suicide.
The organisational damage was immense. Many departments had no leader, no one to report to. But they struggled forward, and when they were contacted by various governments to confirm the reports, they were able to do so.
In the Glaber territories, arguments raged between and inside the most powerful hives. Some became so heated that dead Glaber had to be carried out before the debate could continue. They had been betrayed by the Petaurs. No, by Vihan Yvredi. Should they then go to war with the Petaurs? Could they handle that?
And what were they going to do Hive Bellicose, who had collaborated with a hidden organisation much like Hive Shrike had done when it had a role in the War of the Ancients? Hive Bellicose was conquered by overwhelming force in a matter of hours, of course, but what then?
Some argued for publicly killing them all, or killing just the leaders.
For once, cooler heads prevailed, when the queen of a young hive called Life – a breakaway fragment of Hive Bellicose – suggested they should turn over those responsible to the others in an attempt to stop the war.
The Solar Alliance and the Varanid Republic, for their part, had many arguments. It is embarrassing to fight a war you were tricked into starting. It is even more embarrassing to keep fighting that war after everyone knows you tricked into starting it. On Ghroga and Mars there were also arguments, albeit less lethal ones. In the end, the Tethyans came in to apply some gentle diplomatic pressure, and both the Alliance and the Republic agreed to a temporary ceasefire “to allow all parties to ascertain the facts,” which could in time allow peace talks to begin.
So the leaders of Hive Bellicose were given to the GEA. And so were the scientists who had worked on the Blanks. Their testimony helped conf
irm what the Midnight Class files said about the attack.
Among the Free Petaurs, there was chaos: recriminations, prosecutions, and apologies. Those in positions of power who had helped Vihan Yvredi, or who even might have helped them, were removed. Of course, innocents were deposed without good reason, and some of the guilty who were good at hiding their tracks continued on as if nothing had happened. The government, eager to show Vihan Yvredi had operated without its knowledge, worked closely with the GEA.
Albert Wells, meanwhile, found a list of his own people who had been willing to betray him. A shudder went through Sweetblade, as hundreds of hits removed those he couldn't trust. In control of his empire once more, he returned to his mansion on Nereus. He knew Rurthk had tricked him, and also that in doing so Rurthk had freed him from Vihan Yvredi. In the end, he decided to count is as a positive, and not have Rurthk killed.
Everywhere, members of Vihan Yvredi were arrested, killed, or driven into hiding or suicide. Most of the leading council were picked up, though even with their organisation destroyed, they refused to testify. The body of Mr. Soul was identified amid a scene of carnage, next to, for some reason, the body of infamous gangster Felix Zino.
But one member couldn't be found, despite the combined efforts of the GEA and law enforcement agencies of every major power: The ostensible leader of Vihan Yvredi and son of Yilva, Revnan Avanni – alias Mr. Hand.
Chapter 80: Goodbyes
A week after the defeat of Vihan Yvredi, the Outsider jumped in over the Albascene world of Kalbraica. In the cockpit, Rurthk booked a spaceport berth and then guided the ship towards the planet.
Mero hung upside-down from the ceiling of the observation lounge, looking out the window at the stars.
“There you are!” said Olivia, stepping through the door.
Mero dropped from the ceiling, flipped over, and landed on his feet. “Looking for me?” he said.
The ship shuddered, and a gentle, distant roaring sounded through the hull. The stars outside started to vanish in a gradually lightening sky.
“Are you sure you have to leave?” said Olivia.
“Oh, I think so,” said Mero. “There's nothing for me here. You bastards blew up my other shuttle!” He offered Olivia a momentary grin. “Really, though, I can't stay here, can I?”
“He might come around,” said Olivia.
“Maybe.” Mero shrugged. “But I'm a wanted man. Co-conspirator with Vihan Yvredi. I'd just drag you down.”
“You're not gonna give yourself up?” Olivia said with disbelief.
Mero stared at her. “Of course not!” He laughed. “And even if they try and seize my assets, I've got enough to be comfortable for a very long time.”
“I thought you said the money didn't make you happy? That's why you came back to the Outsider in the first place, wasn't it?”
Mero nodded. “But then I knew I'd given up. I've helped you all destroy Mr. Hand and his goons. Now …” He looked out the window at the blue sky. “Now I have no idea what the future will bring. Or even what I'm going to do. But I'm going to go out there and meet it.”
Olivia made to hug him. He leapt back and stared at her. “Now look here, I may have learned I don't need money to be happy and then gained a conscience, but that's no reason to get all sentimental, okay?”
“Come on,” said Olivia.
Mero stared at her, then awkwardly put his hands on her shoulders for a moment. Then stepped back. “Okay, happy?”
“It'll do,” said Olivia.
Eloise and Dr. Wolff stepped into the observation lounge.
“Thought we'd best say our goodbyes,” said Eloise.
“Well, Mr. Iskultine,” said Wolff at last, “I can't say it's been a pleasure … but I think I will miss you. And let's look on the bright side, this time you're not leaving because you've betrayed us all, or been beaten nearly to death because you betrayed us all. I'd say that's a step up.”
Mero laughed. “That's the spirit!”
The Outsider landed with a heavy thump.
Mero winced. “Tell Rurthk he needs to treat this thing a bit more gently,” he grumbled at Eloise.
“I will,” she said with a smile.
Laodicean caught up with them in the corridor. “Goodbye, Mero.”
Mero grinned. “You too, lawman.”
Olivia followed him down to the airlock. Mero hit a button by the side. There was a soft clacking as the steps unfolded down the side of the ship. Mero opened the airlock.
Rurthk came walking out of the cockpit. He and Mero stared at each other for a moment. Behind them, the light of Kalbraica poured in. The lip of the planet's giant canyon was visible behind them.
Rurthk offered his hand. “Thank you,” he said. “We couldn't have done this without you.”
Mero took his hand. “And thank you,” he said. “For everything.” He looked at the crew. “Goodbye.” Then he turned and headed down the steps to Kalbraica.
*
“I have received a summons from the GEA,” said Laodicean.
Rurthk tore the top off a carton of blood. “Oh, really?” he said.
They were both in the observation lounge. Rurthk was sitting at the table. Laodicean was floating in the middle of the room, turning every now and then as if he were looking around.
Laodicean dropped a tablet on the table for Rurthk to read. “This will be my first disciplinary hearing since I joined the GEA.”
Rurthk read the tablet, frowning. “You helped uncover an interstellar conspiracy and stop a war, and they're calling you in for a disciplinary?” He snorted. “I knew there was a reason I didn't like the GEA. I assume you're going to tell them where to stick their summons?” He paused and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. “However that works with Tethyan anatomy.”
“I will attend,” said Laodicean.
Rurthk stared at him. “By the bloodline, why?”
“I broke the rules. That mandates a disciplinary. Proper procedures must be adhered to. That's a principle the GEA believes almost as much as I do. Nevertheless, they are not an impractical organisation. They recognise I have done them a great service. I expect most people there will support me. But it's hard for them to put that in a formal communication.”
“I hope you're right,” said Rurthk, “Because if you're going to throw yourself on your sword for the sake of proper procedures, I'd have lost all respect for you.”
“You have respect for me?” said Laodicean.
“Don't change the subject. Point is, you can't do what you've done lately and then go back to pretending the rules are always right.”
“No,” said Laodicean. “You are correct. And I can't pretend my own grievances are justice.” He paused for a moment. “I would not have learned that without your help. Thank you, Rurthk.”
“Well, you helped us defeat Vihan Yvredi, so let's call it even, hey?” said Rurthk.
“I expect I will have considerable influence when I return. I should be able to ensure the GEA doesn't hound you. This isn't a free pass to do whatever you like – if I find you are doing any great harm, I will come after you. But your normal activities are … relatively innocuous, and sometimes even noble.”
Rurthk laughed. “Well,” he said, holding up his carton of blood, “I can drink to that!”
*
The spaceport was bounded on one side by wildflowers, and on the other by a forest. The sky was a bright clean blue, the air was warm and thick with the scent of flowers. Birds hurtled across the sky and bees hummed about lazily. All imported species from Earth to its colony.
Olivia sat on an effector field supported seat in front of the Outsider's hull, painting a scene from the opposite season: White rolling hills as a background to a fox darting across the snow. In six shades of orange, she carefully picked out the detail in its bushy tail. Beside her, Eloise was working on its whiskers.
“Mero said you ran into your father,” she said.
Olivia nodded. “Yeah.”
�
�How did it go?”
“Pretty good. I don't think he wants me as an heir anymore.”
They both laughed.
Chapter 81: If You're Still Flying …
Rurthk lay on his back on a soft floor covered in chips of fungus. The air was thick with scents that had become familiar. He reached out idly grabbed a strip of meat, and ate it.
“So, that's Laodicean gone too,” he said. “We're back down to a crew of four. That's barely enough to run one ship, let alone two.” He thought for a moment and added, “On the plus side, we sold Enoch Chase's shuttle, so we're at the point now where we won't have to worry about money for a fair while.”
He listened to the Life queen eating. After a moment, she said, “My own luck seems to have finally turned around. We're still not a powerful hive, but we've certainly been noticed. We've being invited to the peace talks, even though we're a tenth the size of any other hive there.”
Rurthk smiled. “I knew you could do it.”
“Your own infamy seems more of a problem,” said the queen. “Even if the GEA and Sweetblade are willing to leave you alone, there must be plenty of people out there who know what role you had and might want to find you.”
“I suppose,” said Rurthk. “But I'm good at keeping under the radar.”
“Except when you tried to sneak into my facility using fake pheromones.”
“Except when I tried to sneak into your facility, yes …” said Rurthk.
“And when you went to Bloodspray, and when you went to Blindness, and that incident you told me where Enoch Chase captured Olivia on Cantor, and –”
“Okay, don't rub it in,” said Rurthk.
“All of which is my very roundabout way of saying, the offer is still open.”
Rurthk sat up so he could see her.
“A place in Hive Life. At the top of the hierarchy. It's there if you want it,” said the queen.
Rurthk said nothing. The offer was thick with implications.