Phoenix Rising: The Covenant (Phoenix Rising Infinitology Book 1)

by Angela Timms

  Kyla pulled away from him and quietly said. “You have to know it makes sense. If we don’t warn him someone else will kill him. Then Joniel’s sacrifice will be worthless.”

  Kel looked puzzled. “Sacrifice, I thought he got away?”

  Kyla reached up again. “The Emperor will have a price on his head by now and more importantly will have let it be known that he backed out of a contract. For the first time he’s on the run, for something he didn’t do, literally.” Kyla backed away from them and pushed into the crowd speaking loudly and raising her head so the cameras could see her. “Come on, let’s go shopping? Oh come on. If you don’t want to then I’ll go on my own. You can go and check those problems with the Hopper if you’d rather. I’ll see you back at the Palace later.”

  Kel glared at her but she was out of reach and to grab her would draw attention to them. She disappeared off into the crowd as Kel and the others made their way to the docking port.

  Kyla moved as fast as she could and tried to block out the pain. She knew it wasn’t serious, she was mostly healed, it just hurt. She went into the occasional shop and out again before moving swiftly back to the Palace. She was conscious of the two people who were following her. She managed to lose one in the crowd by diving down a side street, cutting around a back alley which was similarly crowded and coming out further down the street. She got to the Palace and went in by the side entrance and the guards bowed as she passed by them. Their glances to each other were not lost on her. They didn’t follow her as she moved as quickly as she could without arousing suspicion but she was now even more on her guard. She shut her eyes for a moment and mentally called up a map of the place as far as she knew it. Turn right, turn left, the stairway, the hallway and she would be there in front of the Prince’s personal guards. When she was sure of her route she followed it.

  The Prince’s guards moved to challenge her as she approached and crossed their swords in front of her. She cleared her throat, her mouth so dry she wondered if she would be able to speak. They were about Kel’s height and well built. Each bore the Prince’s phoenix insignia, their livery a dark gold and red. “I am Kyla; I come to seek audience with the Prince.”

  A disembodied voice came seemingly from nowhere. “Send her in, I grant her audience.”

  The Prince was standing by the window as she walked in, silhouetted by the afternoon sun. He turned. “You may speak freely; there are no devices in this room.” He indicated the pile of torn out wires and crushed microphones on a silver platter on the table.

  Kyla took a deep breath. “You have to believe me and you aren’t going to like this. The Emperor contracted Joniel to kill you. I know you had an arrangement but he must have realized that he wasn’t going to do it or used his death to prove his loyalty. Joniel is now injured as the Emperor tried to kill him.” She said it all in one breath and then stopped abruptly as he turned and smiled.

  He clasped his hands behind his back. “Won’t be the first and certainly won’t be the last attempt at double dealing by that weasel. I do know about it but I thank you for bringing this information to me as that shows a loyalty and bravery that I appreciate.” He pulled himself up to his full height, his face slightly drawn but his smile still warm, and his eyes kind. “It is dangerous on this planet now, for you and your friends. Joniel has already warned me, he has ways of sending messages and he had sworn his allegiance to me long ago. I appreciate what he has done and he is an unexpected asset I had not thought to find here. For your part, I thank you and this will not be forgotten.

  Joniel is probably right in his assumption that the Emperor will try to claim someone of the blood. We are rare as you know. You aren’t the only one but you are the only one here. You getting away will hamper his plans as he no doubt has it all worked out. His overconfidence is his weakness. So while you are safe, I am safe. That was why he double crossed Joniel or he may have realized he wasn’t his man. He thought he’d win my trust by foiling an assassination attempt. If Joniel had succeeded it would have equally suited him. To take the throne he needs complete confidence from the army for them to follow him. He assumes they would just blindly follow him because he was Prince. That is not so.”

  Kyla was taking it all in. “So what are you going to do about the Emperor?” The Prince smiled. “Absolutely nothing. If I am to bring peace to the galaxies then I need strong leaders. To attempt to do anything, albeit justified would weaken his power at the best. I cannot call him to task as I cannot call Joniel as a witness. I need his anonymity. If we take the Emperor out of the equation there would be a power struggle in the Senate here. That would unbalance this planet which is not good for this planet. I know where I stand with him and he has revealed his hand. My strength is that I know it; his weakness is that he assumes that I don’t.

  We need to get you all safely off planet and the easiest way to do that would be for me to invite you to a guided tour of my Flagship. I believe it is impressive enough to warrant it. Of course it would be more convenient if you took your own ship but that will not be possible. That was stolen earlier by Shantara and her companion. I took the liberty of aiding them in their escape and to throw suspicion away from you I have made it as inconvenient for you as possible. Your friends will no doubt have discovered the theft by now and I trust that they will express their anger and frustration in a suitably loud and impressive fashion. As you are without a ship it would be wholly appropriate as my business here is concluded and I am ready to depart that I should offer to convey you to your home planet. So, if I and my guards accompany you now it would be totally politically correct. I have already said my official farewell’s to the Emperor. He has the issue of two missing slaves to deal with to distract him. He lied by the way. Shantara was not free; she was far from it as was her companion. They were kept locked in the library and he had made plans for them to escape so that you would not find out the truth. I merely used the first part of his plan and substituted their freedom for the incarceration he had planned for them after their capture. An escaped slave is a major issue here as their economy relies on the cheap workforce. As I took the liberty of disabling their device you can rest easy, Shantara and her friend are quite safe. The Emperor cannot have them killed that way. Their escape may well put the idea into other slaves’ minds and that is an issue that they will be debating long into the night and for days to come. With elections announced nobody would want to be seen as lacking in their state duty so I think they have enough of a can of worms to deal with without worrying about us departing.

  We could use the teleport but I have no intention of arousing any suspicion or alerting anyone to the fact that I have one. If we take a gentle guided tour to my ship we can run into your incensed companions. I can then offer them the courtesy of a pleasure flight in my personal shuttle up to my ship. There will then be no suspicion raised.

  We will undoubtedly be scanned so our discussion from the point we leave this room must be guarded. I have devices that could scramble their signal but again that would arouse suspicion. Once we are out of their scanner range I will arrange for you to be able to send a message on an open channel to your Mission Command and I would hope that they would summon you home. I intend to open negotiations with Mission Command and this would be the perfect opportunity to begin these.

  I will make a point when we are on your ship of giving you a gift. This is a device that will deal with scanning problems in the future. I trust you can play your part in this?”

  Kyla nodded.

  He touched his collar. “I need an escort, full colours. Get the staff to pack and load, we are moving out.” He let his hand fall. “Kyla, if you would come with me we will leave immediately.”

  Kyla was very unnerved as everyone’s eyes were on them as they left the Palace. The Emperor’s guards did not challenge them and they swept down the stairway to the open plaza. She was beginning to feel dizzy and stumbled slightly on the stairs. The Prince looked, concerned and stepped closer to her as they crossed
the open Landing Plaza. Almost in the middle they could see a small but very animated crowd of officials, pilots and her friends. “This is the place where we are most vulnerable. If he is stupid enough to attempt anything it will be here. Be ready.”

  They crossed the Plaza without incident and the Prince’s Hopper rose up from its underground parking in front of them. Rennon, Samson and Kel were in an animated discussion with a group of uniformed officials and didn’t notice the royal party approaching. Kel was aggressively bending over one small man who looked terrified.

  The Prince put a hand on Kyla’s arm. “I think there is one poor soul there who needs a bit of a hand.” He stepped away from her and realized that it was only his arm that was preventing her from falling. His strong arm swept around her waist and one of his guards stepped in to support her as the Prince strode over to Kel, his guards forming up around him to escort him, a retinue staying around Kyla. “Kel, what seems to be the problem?”

  Kel was in full scream at the unfortunate man but he broke off and turned. “Your Majesty, it appears that these incompetent fools have allowed our ship to be stolen.”

  The Prince’s face displayed a look of shock. “That is outrageous. That a guest here should have their property so carelessly treated. I trust that you will be making a full report.” He glared at the official who nodded his head vigorously. “Well, this is not an end to the matter. You will no doubt be hearing from these good people about reimbursement for their loss.” He turned to Kel. “It seems you are left with an inconvenience and a lack of transport. May I be so bold as to offer you transport home?”

  Kel’s mouth was open and he looked like he had a dilemma. “I thank you.” He stepped forwards towards the official who stepped back, looking up like a frightened rabbit.

  The Prince turned on the official. “Go, now, immediately and make your report.” The man looked relieved and scuttled off, accompanied by the other officials.

  The Prince strode up into his shuttle, followed by his guards and the rest of his retinue.

  Kyla smiled at Kel who was looking very confused. “It is good to see you well my husband. We will no doubt seek compensation for the loss of our ship. Your brother will no doubt loan us a vessel so that we may continue our business until this matter is settled.” Kel looked at her dumbstruck. Rennon and Samson cast a sideways glance at each other and they went on board the Prince’s shuttle.

  The Prince switched the radio on from the panel in the passenger hold. “Sirius 687 do we have a go for take-off?”

  There was a long silence and Kyla clenched her fists tightly, the air seemingly escaping from her lungs as her chest felt tight.

  The Prince looked around them, slightly nervously. “Sirius 687 do we have a go?”

  Still there was silence. The Prince stood up to his full height. His voice was firm and commanding, no trace of softness and it made Kyla jump. “This is Prince Anathorn on board Sirius 687. I do not wish to be kept waiting. Do we have a go?” He looked around nervously at Rennon who was operating a hand held scanner. Rennon looked up and shook his head.

  The intercom leapt into life. “Sirius 687 you are cleared for departure.” Anathorn stepped back. “Traskus, you have the comms. Take them home.” A disembodied voice came over the intercom. “Very good my lord.” Traskus lifted the Hopper smoothly off of the pad and they soared into the air, through the atmosphere and up into space. Once they were approaching the Prince’s ship, the Prince reached into the pocket of his black velvet robe. “My dear, as a symbol of our new friendship I would like to give you a small token of my regard.” He handed her a small gold clip in the shape of a flower. It was beautifully crafted.

  Kel growled and went to stand up, his hand reaching involuntarily for his gun. He fell back into his seat when he came into contact with Kyla’s stony stare.

  She activated the device and it bleeped. Around the craft there were small detonations and wisps of smoke rose up into the air. “I thank you my Prince, the gift of privacy is always much appreciated.”

  Kel choked. “You mean…”

  Prince Anathorn bowed his head slightly. “There are few places on that planet that are not covered by their intelligence network and they would not pass up the opportunity to bug this ship and probably your clothing. That device is a handy one to keep around. It will need to charge up again and that takes about a day but keep it safe. You never know when you are going to need it. We may talk freely now. I must thank you for your efforts and for the risks you have taken. It would not be wise to return to that planet for a while Kyla or to allow any of your people to do so.”

  There was a bleeping sound and the Prince pulled a small device from a concealed pocket in his sleeve. He placed it in his ear. His expression was grave as he listened. “Look, something has come up. Rennon, can you pilot this Hopper?”

  Rennon nodded.

  The Prince flicked a button on the earpiece. “We will be there immediately.” He turned to the three. “Plans have changed. Please, take this ship for your return home. I would have been delighted to have offered you my hospitality and I trust that I will have the opportunity in the near future. For now I must bid you farewell.”

  He nodded to each of them in turn and pressed the button on his wrist as his Guard and retinue did the same. They disappeared in a blue flame and were gone.

  Rennon opened the cockpit door and took the pilot’s seat. He did a few checks then logged the home co-ordinates into the computer and was about to hit the return home button. Kyla caught his hand and spoke gently. “We would be best served not taking this ship back to Mission Command. I would suggest you radio ahead and arrange for us to be transferred to another ship to give time for this one to be fully checked out while in orbit. We are dealing with two men with definite agendas.” Kyla met Rennon’s steady stare. “He is a politician and Mission Command has not as yet agreed to meet or speak with him. I personally wouldn’t leave an unknown quantity in our hanger bay.”

  Kel grunted. “I agree, I don’t trust him.”

  Kyla smiled. “I’m not saying I don’t trust him, what I’m saying is that we shouldn’t put ourselves in a position to unnecessarily have to.”

  Later that day they were sitting in the cafeteria together. The room was full of people making the most of a break and one of the favourite meals on the menu, Shantilla’s Surprise. The surprise being that it was very tasty and used a white meat instead of the usual brown with the addition of a fruit sauce.

  Kel dug in with gusto. Rennon was most of the way through his and Kyla was daintily enjoying her portion. Samson was still in the Infirmary as he had a lot to do to catch up with being off base.

  They all looked up when a group of uniformed strangers walked into the room. They looked around bemused and then filed over to where the food was being served. One by one they took a tray and started down the line.

  They were attracting attention. They didn’t look any different but there was something about them. In all there were four men, three were blonde haired, the fourth was brown haired. They all had identical haircuts and their camouflage uniforms were almost the same but the badges on the arm were different. They went along the line, helped themselves to the food, commenting to each other and taking a good look at each offering in turn. Kyla dug Kel in the ribs. “Stop staring.”

  Kel looked defensive. “I wasn’t, I mean, how can I help it. Who do you think that they are?”

  Rennon piped up. “They are from Earth, they arrived this morning.” Kel looked surprised. “I thought that Earth was a closed world?”

  Rennon thought a moment. “It was but the Followers have found their way to that galaxy and there is a fear that they will walk in there unopposed. That altered the status of the planet. They are in the same situation as we are now.”

  Kel took a mouthful. “How did they get here?”

  Rennon looked down at his food. He put his knife and fork down and picked up his mini device and typed in some words. “Hold on a minute
and I’ll tell you. I’m just reading the story.”

  The others watched him as he read what was on screen while eating his food without looking. He reached for his drink and Kyla moved it closer so he could grab it. He looked up after a while. “I think I’ve managed to get the basics of it. There is a teleportation device which appears in different places, one of those places being Earth. So they used it to move between there and here even though it is a closed galaxy.

  The place appears on the planets chosen as a small local tavern. Not a big place, compact and cozy. Well that is what the customers were supposed to see where it appeared on the different worlds connected by it. It was part of a network of shells and the actual contents of it could swap between these shells, allowing it to travel through space by matter trans displacement. People talk in those sorts of places so the idea was to gather information and have bases on planets which would be useful after the Followers took over. It was chosen for closed worlds and places where there wasn’t supposed to be any intervention. Obviously now that the Followers have taken over some of these worlds it is a very handy tool. The history is pretty interesting in any case.

  Its creator was a brilliant scientist and for the first few years he was totally consumed by his project. He went far beyond his directive and added a whole sub level to the Tavern as it was called. He added cryogenic freezing units to store subjects he found on his travels and had many years to travel between the locations before it was actually needed so he made the most of it for research and development. I think he also added some creatures to the Tavern in his travels and some of his toys he created when he was younger. Many of the things in it have devices in them all cunningly camouflaged as pub ornaments. He created the third toilet as the entrance to cryo and used it as a trap. He pretty much had autonomy on the project and as his notes were so poorly put together it is hard to work out what he was really up to.