by Tim Marquitz
Taj and her people had a mission to accomplish, and they needed to get on with it. “Is there another vehicle we can—”
“Wait!” Rolkar called out, clearly realizing something was amiss and cutting Taj off. She glanced around, head on a swivel. “Where is Zel?”
“Over there,” Cabe told her, pointing to where the representative had been set over by the wall.
“He was…uh, stunned during the fight,” Krawg clarified, though he looked away like a child caught stuffing a furry hand in a cookie jar. “He’s okay, though. Promise.”
Smooth, Lina said across the mental link, laughing at the Ursite.
“Our servant, Dent, pulled him out of the vehicle to keep him safe,” Taj said, still trying to sell their role as royalty.
The commander didn’t seem to care either way.
She went over to Zel and checked him, nodding as she assured herself the rep was not seriously wounded. Taj watched Rolkar, distrusting of the woman given how she’d run off in the middle of the fight, but Taj couldn’t determine if the move had been on purpose or simply an error in the fog of war. Either was possible, and Taj didn’t like not knowing.
She seemed to genuinely care about the rep’s wellbeing.
A quiet hum drew Taj from her questions, though, and she glanced up to see a tiny drone hovering a short distance away. A second one joined it a moment later. Red dots gleamed on the faces of the drones, and they kept their distance.
“Ma'am,” one of the soldiers called out, getting the commander’s attention.
Rolkar glanced over her shoulder and growled. “Damn it!” She tapped her comm and muttered something about a pickup.
The crew stared at the drones.
“What are those?” Taj asked.
“Automated news drones,” Rolkar answered with a snarl. She motioned to the wreckage of the caravan. “Those things are the bane of my existence. They show up everywhere you don’t want them to,” the commander grunted. “Our little adventure here is going to be on every channel within minutes, and Queen Rilan will know what happened even sooner.”
Taj growled under her breath and spun around, facing away from the camera, though she realized it was too late. Each and every one of the crew had stood still and looked directly at the drones, meaning all their faces would be broadcast across the planet for everyone to see in short order.
There would be no sneaking around town looking for answers now.
So much for stealth, Dent said, mirroring her thoughts.
The realization sinking in with the rest of the crew as the AI spoke, they all turned their backs to the cameras as inconspicuously as they could, not that it mattered at that point.
That’s it, Torbon muttered over the link. We’re gacked.
Taj bit back a sigh. She hated when Torbon was right.
That was when another caravan of vehicles arrived, zooming to a halt before them, dozens of Heltrol soldiers arrayed on the outsides of the hovercraft. Taj noticed a crowd of people gathering at the periphery, watching what was going on as intently as the news drones.
It looked like the whole town had come out to see what had happened now that the gunfire was over.
The commander ushered them into one of the newly-arrived vehicles. Her soldiers carried Zel and stuffed him into the hovercraft after them. The representative’s eyes fluttered and finally opened as the new caravan shot off. He looked around the cabin, taking in his surroundings with a glassy stare.
“I must have fallen asleep,” he said while rubbing the back of his head and trying to sit upright, not doing a good job of it. It was clear he wasn’t entirely sure where he was still. “My sincerest apologies. I don’t know what came over me. I must be getting old.” He moaned as he touched a tender spot on his scalp right where Krawg had clobbered him. “Looks like I hit my head somewhere along the way, too. Oh dear.”
The crew stifled a chuckle at the man’s confusion, but Taj was grateful he hadn’t realized Krawg had knocked him out and that the Ursite hadn’t done any permanent damage.
That was the only good thing to happen so far, she thought as she replayed the encounter in her head. Once more, she stared out the window and watched the city fly by as she contemplated the crew’s mission and how she could fix things before the mission was blown.
Sadly, she was still in the dark as to what was going on and whether the attack on the caravan had been an attempt on their lives or something else entirely. There were simply far too many questions she didn’t have answers to, and she hated it.
Her gaze rested on Commander Rolkar, watching as the woman tended to Zel, who kept his head down and remained quiet. Taj’s earlier suspicion reared up again, only adding to her confusion.
Something was going on, but Taj had no clue as to what it was.
She hated the feeling.
Hey! Rowl knows, it can only get better from here, Torbon said with a smile, clearly seeing her pondering the situation and trying to reassure her.
Taj sighed.
Way to jinx us, gackboy, she replied over the link and slumped into her seat.
Now that Torbon had invoked the catty god and drawn her attention, Taj was sure things were going to get worse.
Chapter Five
Taj hated when she was right even more than she hated when Torbon was.
Things had gotten worse.
As soon as the crew arrived at the Orgesse Palace, Rolkar ordered the Heltrol to collect the remaining weapons the crew had held onto, and they were marched through the palace with only the barest of cordiality.
Commander Rolkar waved a hand at various sights along their route—from family portraits where a young queen sat stoically alongside her two sisters and her brother while her parents hovered above, to an extensive art gallery they passed in a blur without any real chance to gawk—as she raced them to a suite of guest chambers on the far side of the palace.
As soon as they arrived, the crew were hurried inside, not allowed to ask any questions until the doors were shut and locked behind them, leaving them alone with the commander. Her entourage of Heltrol guards remained outside the door, and Taj could hear them pacing.
“I thought we were going to see Queen Rilan,” Taj complained, turning to face the commander with her hands on her hips. She was starting to enjoy the impudent aspect of her role.
“You will,” Rolkar answered, but the look on her face spoke of tempered expectations. “I need to speak with the queen and make arrangements for the meeting first. Until then, you will be confined to your chambers as a safety precaution.”
“Like with the caravan?” Cabe asked, sneering.
Taj thought to rein him in for a second, not wanting to offend the commander more than she might have already, but as she thought about it, she realized that pampered royalty angle was perfect. Them being placed on what amounted to house arrest would most assuredly piss off a group of spoiled royal children.
“I apologize—” Rolkar began, but Taj cut her off with a sniping tone.
“You intend to lock us in our rooms like recalcitrant children then?” Taj asked, letting the words come out in a snotty growl.
Then she caught herself wondering if she’d used the word recalcitrant correctly and realized she should probably stop with the big words before she made herself look foolish.
“Only for a short time while, I assure—”
“So, the answer is yes?” Taj countered, not letting the commander explain. “This is unacceptable, Commander Rolkar,” she argued, stomping her foot for emphasis.
“We are guests of the Orgesse Clan, not prisoners,” Lina added, catching on to what Taj was going for and piling on.
“Does this mean we were the target of your opponents?” Dent asked, joining in, subtly prodding for information. “It would appear so by the way my lords are being treated. Why else would you lock them away so quickly and absolutely?”
Commander Rolkar sighed, her shoulders slumping. Whatever her training might have been, Taj
was pretty certain it wasn’t in public relations. She felt sorry for the woman for a moment, but then remembered she’d left them to be attacked out in the streets, and Taj was annoyed all over again, for real this time.
“Unacceptable!” Taj growled.
“I-I don’t know,” Rolkar answered Dent after a moment’s pause where she clearly struggled to keep her composure. “That is part of what I must determine before I can say anymore. Until then—”
“Surely you know whether or not we were the target of these base ruffians,” Taj shouted.
Cabe glanced at her, eyebrow raised. Base ruffians?
It’s called acting, she answered, lifting her nose into the air and giving a sullen sniff as if she’d been attacked by a holo-critic.
It’s called overacting, Torbon countered, and Dent nodded his agreement.
Taj sniffed imperiously, glaring their direction before turning it back on the commander.
“These terrorists,” Taj corrected, jabbing a finger in Rolkar’s direction, “clearly had an agenda, Commander. I want to know how they knew we were coming, why we were targeted, and I want to know now!” she huffed. “This is going to affect our negotiations, I assure you.”
Rolkar stiffened at the obvious threat. “Please, allow me to speak with the queen and our intelligence officers before you make any decisions.” She backed toward the door as if worried about turning her back on the Furlorians. “I will have the servants bring you food and refreshments. Please, rest and relax for now,” she told them, raising her hands in clear hopes of pacifying them. “I will appraise you once I’ve spoken with the queen, and we know more of what happened.”
The commander didn’t give the crew time to argue as she whipped the door to their chambers open and stepped outside in a rush. But before she managed to close the door, Taj spied a handful of the Heltrol soldiers outside, the women clearly having been stationed there.
Whether they were there to protect the crew or guard them was up in the air.
Rolkar closed the door behind her, and Taj heard a heavy bolt slide shut outside, pretty much answering her question.
“Did she just lock us in?” Cabe asked.
Taj nodded and went to say something, but Lina held up a finger, motioning for silence.
“I’m pretty sure she did,” Torbon answered, not paying any attention to Lina’s gestures.
Lina sighed and smacked him upside the back of his head, hissing in his face. Torbon winced and glared at the engineer as she went over to the door.
“What’d I do?” Torbon asked.
Shut up, the crew bombarded him over the mental link.
I’m looking for bugs, Lina clarified as she strolled the perimeter of the room, slipping into the bedrooms and scanning each with a device built into the armor.
I doubt a place this fancy has bugs, Torbon thought with indignance. I don’t even see a hint of dust. They keep this place clean. I need to hire their maid service.
At least he’s pretty? Taj said.
Sadly, he’s not even that, Lina said, grinning at Torbon’s denseness.
Torbon’s eyes narrowed, apparently finally cluing in that they were making fun of him. He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.
The rest of the crew waited quietly until Lina finished scanning the chambers for listening devices, and then they gathered in the next room over, away from the door so they couldn’t be overheard by the guards outside. Lina and Taj flopped down on the bed, Cabe and Torbon grabbed chairs, and Dent remained standing.
Krawg loudly announced he was going to find food.
“She said she’d send some soon,” Cabe told the Ursite.
Krawg shrugged. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t already some here,” he argued as he left the room. “Besides, someone needs to watch the door in case someone comes sneaking in.”
Cabe didn’t bother to argue.
“Never mind him,” Taj said, drawing their attention to her. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about than Krawg’s appetite.”
“I’m pretty hungry, too,” Torbon said, raising his hand.
“Let me clarify.” Taj sighed. “We have bigger things to worry about than Krawg’s or your appetite.”
“I beg to differ,” Torbon argued, shaking his head.
“Anyway,” Taj went on, ignoring Torbon’s exaggerated rubbing of his stomach, “the mission has clearly gone south in a big way already.”
“That’s an understatement,” Cabe replied, slumping into his seat.
“No, I believe it’s a fairly adequate assessment of the current circumstances,” Dent said. “An understatement would be if Taj said things didn’t look good.”
“Your sarcasm detector is clearly out of alignment,” Cabe muttered.
“I don’t have a sarcasm detect— Oh! I get it,” the AI answered, grinning.
Cabe chuckled. “I think I liked you better when your brain was broken. At least you had a sense of humor then.”
Taj waved the pair to silence. They didn’t have time for banter.
“Stow it, guys,” she told them. “We need to focus.”
A knock on the front door interrupted them, and Krawg called out a second later. “Food’s here!”
The Ursite let the servants in, who filed into the room with several large serving carts covered in a variety of food and drink. A mélange of delicious smells wafted into the room, and Torbon leapt from his chair and followed his nose, whiskers twitching in anticipation.
Taj sighed and waved for Lina to follow him. Make sure they didn’t bug the carts, please.
Lina nodded and chased after Torbon. The servants vacated the room quickly after their delivery, and once more Taj heard the bolt being drawn outside, locking the crew in their quarters, which sent a chill down Taj’s spine. She didn’t like the idea of being a prisoner, even if they were capable of breaking out any time they wanted. It didn’t sit well with her.
Lina returned a moment later, giving Taj a thumbs up.
“We’re good,” she said, dropping back down on the bed beside Taj. “No bugs on the carts.”
Taj gritted her teeth at the news, realizing the lack of listening devices only added more confusion to the mix. “I wonder if this means we can trust Commander Rolkar,” she wondered aloud.
“Her disappearance after making a point about our safety did seem a bit suspicious,” Dent answered. “Contrary, at the very least.”
“But the lack of bugs in the room, a room they had plenty of time to prepare ahead of time, kinda throws any suspicion of her into question,” Lina countered. “Who doesn’t at least make a show of bugging a political visitor’s room? That’s Royal Subterfuge 101, right?”
“Maybe they didn’t expect us to survive long enough to make it here,” Cabe said, shrugging.
“That’s a sobering thought,” Taj replied, “but it doesn’t make any sense. Why let us come at all if they’re just gonna kill us as soon as we land? And what does killing us gain them?”
“I don’t know, but I’m thinking you don’t bring that many people unless you plan to kill someone,” Cabe argued. “Maybe the Orgesse wanted to make a show of it, something they could use against their rivals. This was a damn big public spectacle, which is gonna end up all over the news. That has to have some value to them in the political arena.”
“If that was the case, they could have just as easily let word of our arrival slip and allow the other clans to take us out in space before we even landed,” Taj shot back. “No doubt that would have given the Orgesse Clan plenty of political options and would have saved them the effort of losing vehicles and soldiers.”
“The assailants were probably after Zel,” Lina said. “That would make more sense given everything we know about the politics here. We were probably seen as collateral damage by the Orgesse enemies, whichever group it was, nothing more than an excuse to get at the queen’s representative.”
Taj exhaled hard and flopped onto her back on the bed, rubbing her eyes. “
None of this is helping us any,” she mumbled. “There are too many damn questions without any answers.”
“I think maybe we’re letting paranoia and ego get in the way of rational thought,” Dent said, derailing all the speculation. “All of this could be a coincidence, nothing more. Rival factions seeing an opportunity to go after the queen’s caravan to make a point regardless of who might be in it, much like what Lina said but without a bigger incentive. In the end, the attack might have had nothing to do with us.”
“But that’s less dramatic than there being a plot to murder us all,” Torbon mumbled as he returned to the room, munching on the cooked wing of some kind of exotic avian. A sheen of grease coated his whiskers, and he licked his lips. “Taj can’t overact if everything’s just a coincidence and no one cares about us.”
“I can still shoot you, though,” Taj pointed out.
Torbon reclaimed his seat and shrugged at her threat, too busy gnawing on the bone to muster a reply.
“Where does that leave us if that’s the case?” Lina asked.
“Right where we were to begin with,” Taj replied, letting a sigh slip out. “Confused as gack-all, our faces plastered all over the planet, and no idea where Grom Hadar is.”
Taj’s lack of experience in matters of subterfuge frustrated her, though she didn’t want to admit it. She’d spent her whole life dealing with the simplest of politics possible, Mama Merr and Beaux setting the law and shutting down their opposition without much more than a few verbal jabs. They hadn’t had any true rivals to their rule.
As such, Taj hadn’t experienced political backstabbing, for which she was grateful, but she wished she’d had more time to study the interplay between the Orgesse Clan and their rivals before they’d come. However, there was no point in worrying about it now, seeing how little she understood.
She felt it best to move on with the mission and hope she was just being paranoid like Dent had said.
“We need to focus on the task at hand and track down Grom Hadar before anything happens to him,” she told the crew. “But now we need a new plan seeing how we’re stuck here and our hosts have planted guards at the front door.”