An alarm went off overhead,
“Oh, now what?” Blake said throwing his hands up.
“Incoming missiles, I think they are trying to take out our engines Captain.
Launching countermeasures”
Rom yelled as he began to punch keys furiously.
Outside the viewport, the ship was spinning along the hull.
“Just a few more seconds,”
Blake said watching the defense turrets on the station looming at them.
As the ship passed the first turret,
Blake felt the Nismel shutter
“Rom, damage report?” He yelled.
Rom, who was now starting to look harried reviewed the screen.
“Decks two and five are venting to space and bulkheads have closed sealing them off,
we have a structural failure to the main dorsal along the rear; however, it missed the engines.” Blake nodded and hit his ear com
“Kree, if you wouldn’t mind,
fuck these guys up please.”
And then all hell broke loose,
all at once the defense turrets began to open up on the fleet as the small worm that Kree had created, freed up the locking programs the former hacker had put in place.
By staying close to the hull,
the Captain had forced the fleet to fire at the station, and once that worm had removed the block,
all 30 ships were painted as threats.
And now some of the largest defense guns in the galaxy were tearing into the fleet with wild abandon.
As the ship continued to spin Blake could see at least four destroyers come apart under the barrage of fire.
He would have laughed,
but it was at that moment whoever was in charge decided the Nismel was better off dead than to escape.
The laser fire beating on the little ship began to increase tenfold.
The console to the left of Rom exploded,
sending him flying back against the bulkhead, which probably saved his life as the primary support beam broke from above and slammed across his tactical console.
Secondary explosions from the bridge and across the ship could be heard.
“SHIRA, GET US INTO SLIP NOW!”
Blake yelled as the wall behind him cracked from floor to ceiling and began to buckle.
Suddenly the lights of slip space were visible as the ship,
along with a chunk of the station entered slip space.
CHAPTER
THIRTY
THIRTY
Extreme Measures
Druzenz closed the communicator and slumped in his chair.
He was through and knew it.
That little scene on Drazari could not go ignored, and once people started asking questions,
it was only a matter of time before the right people found out who financed it.
To make matters worse,
his son’s little ‘All-points’ stunt would mean he could not feign ignorance and blame would settle on his house.
The ship had gotten away,
once the clean-up began and the Authorities got involved there were going to be hard questions asked.
His door burst open slamming against the wall,
and Craylor stomped into the room with a look of fury and determination etched on his face.
“Father, what did you do?
Do you have any idea the calls I am getting right now? I am being summoned, SUMMONED!
To the emperor’s personal council right now.
They are sending guards to escort me.
Apparently, I am to answer questions about a certain ship which caused quite the ruckus in Drazari not more than 20 hours ago.”
He paused to catch his breath and then before his father could answer he quickly continued
“Then I find out my mercenaries were co-opted by your agent who set this whole circus into motion. They were supposed to retrieve the ship not blow half of a station away.”
Craylor’s voice rising to a panicked scream as he finished.
Druzenz had heard enough,
his head had started pounding when Selcarm had called, beating against his forehead,
threatening to break through his skull as some sadistic thing beat a dirge against his cranium.
“ENOUGH!” he bellowed slamming his fist down on the desk.
“My little stunt! Do you have any idea what you started when you took credit for that little box?
and then had to audacity to try and keep it from the family when that damn captain had fled with it. What did you think,
we weren’t going to find out?
“Do you have any idea what you had in your possession because whatever that thing was,
has even the highest level of powers in this government now scrambling to find out what happened?
You might have been summoned to answer questions but believe me,
by the end of the day I won’t be alive if my father has his way.”
Finishing his rant, he slowly stood up,
wincing as he felt his considerable weight settle on his old bones,
The large man began to pace behind the ostentatious stone desk trying to clear his head and think through this migraine, there had to be a way
out of this. If they could find that damn box,
they could save their house.
“Son, is there anything on the box that you didn’t mention in the computer file, anything at all?
It might be important.”
Druzenz looked towards his son hopefully.
Craylor’s anger abated a bit,
he had never seen his father like this,
he was practically begging him for an answer.
This wasn’t good if his grandfather thought that their house had irrevocably screwed up.
Then he was at risk as well.
He would publicly turn his back on his son before letting the blame settle on his house.
Craylor had two choices,
he could defy his father and possibly die in the process, or he could try to help and see if they could save the house before his grandfather made any judgment that might be hazardous to both their health’s.
Craylor didn’t want to die and either way,
his father dying or the whole house purged to protect the family would leave them both at risk.
“Nothing I can think of Father,
but I will review my notebooks and see what I can come up with,
but know that I have been over them repeatedly looking for a lead and have come up empty each time.
What are we going to do,
if the emperor knows we are involved in what happened in Drazari?
He isn’t fishing,
he is looking for evidence,
and if Grandfather thinks there is any to get,
he will be sure that we don’t make any follow up meetings that might implicate the family.”
Druzenz looked pleadingly at his son,
“Anything, however, small might save us Son. Please, take a look, make it a priority.”
Craylor nodded, he could feel the hate and disgust for his father rising like bile in his throat,
he never had liked the man,
and definitely had never loved him.
But this was a matter of survival,
his survival.
And with that on the line,
he could make a deal with the devil himself
Just not this devil, he thought.
Craylor left the house and made a call to the Patriarch, two rings, and the raspy voice said,
“Hello Grandson, I guess you are calling to preempt your father?”
with a gravelly chuckle that sent a chill down Craylor’s spine.
With a sigh he spoke into the communicator
“I might have some information,
depends on what’s it worth.
I know the Emperor’s council wants to know more. What do I tell them?
I think this
information might be important.” Craylor took a breath.
His heart was hammering in his chest,
this was his one chance to preempt his own death, his father would be on his own,
but that didn’t matter.
His father would do the exact same thing put in his place.
“This matter is being referred up beyond that of the Empire.
There are other interested parties we wish to keep happy, those of us in the know that is.
You will answer the questions put forth by the council and nothing more.
There will be another meeting tonight.
We will be meeting with the other party,
there you will deliver your information.
Let’s hope it’s enough.
Your Father’s fate is sealed, but yours can still be changed Young One.”
His grandfather had not called him that since he was a child and it sent a shiver through Craylor’s entire body.
“Who is this third party that has so much power Grandfather?
Who are we meeting with that even has the emperor on his toes?”
There was a silence on the other end of the line for a moment
“You will see Little one,
you will see, don’t be late.”
And the line went dead.
Craylor returned to his lab and began to dig through his notebooks.
He had known long ago that everything that made it onto the data drives was scrutinized by his father and his father’s people.
So, he had long ago kept hard copies that were off the system, for his eyes only.
His father didn’t know about them, or he would have staged a break in some time ago to ensure he got possession of them.
Thus, all his most important discoveries were kept here until he was ready for his father to learn of them. This allowed him to control the flow of information and sometimes even mislead when he needed to.
He found the book and began thumbing through it until he reached the right page.
There it was a small note about a priest from that Path religion making discreet inquiries about the box.
At the time he didn’t think it odd,
but when he was doing research after the box disappeared, he had come back to this one.
The Path would have no reason to either know about or try and find out about the box.
They were into something afterlife-related,
that allowed them to do good deeds to ensure their way into some golden temple.
He wasn’t sure the specifics but knew this was the piece of information he was looking for.
He reread the entry,
which basically only said that an Initiate of the Path had put out some feelers about the box and any information they might have.
He didn’t get far, but the inquiry had come to his attention.
Craylor took the book and put it in his pocket.
There was a knock at the door,
right on time he thought and as he opened it there stood two fierce-looking Imperial guards.
“We are here to escort you to the Emperor’s council, you will comply.”
Craylor sighed and nodded.
It was time. During the drive to the building that was used by the government to house the massive staff of the Emperor and the Empire itself,
Craylor received word of his father’s demise.
It was unfortunate,
but he knew it was coming.
He would go to the remembrance and say a few nice things about the old man.
Craylor got ahold of his assistant to schedule it. Also, to ensure that he had a new suit waiting for him for the event,
it would never do to see his brothers and sisters looking disheveled.
During the trip, the guards never seemed to notice his calls or apparent nervousness.
They just sat there stoic and watching.
Craylor’s conveyance, because it was more like a cross between a boat and a car with solar sails, the vehicle entered the government yard and proceeded to the main building.
The machine pulled up, and the guards got out first and flanked the entrance as Craylor hefted himself out of the vehicle.
He was met by an assistant to the Council.
The woman looked down her nose at Craylor and spoke in a very clipped manner as if he were a piece of dirt she was forced to address.
“The Council will meet in 20 minutes.
You are to be already in the room before they enter. Upon them entering you will stand and bow to each member,
showing the proper deference and respect.
Once the council has convened,
you will sit and wait until you are called on.
Once you are asked a question,
you will stand, answer it and then sit down.
Do you have any questions on anything I have said?” She asked with a look of open disgust on her face.
“None at all Lady,” Craylor said walking towards the building and brushing by the pompous woman.
He breathed deeply steeling himself for what was to come.
He walked into the building and down the corridor to the main hall, his feet echoing off the polished stone floor.
A guard allowed him in after checking his ID, Craylor strolled to the main table before the podium of seats and sat down.
A few people who knew his family came and offered condolences on his father.
He nodded and thanked them of course because that is what you did.
He didn’t think his grandfather would have moved that fast.
But then again, he wasn’t surprised.
He was a very efficient person.
He was actually surprised he hadn’t heard from his brother, Quirada yet;
he would be next in line to take over leadership of the house.
And he was always one for displaying his dominance.
But then again, he was sure he would hear from him soon.
The committee members marched into the hall,
and Craylor stood and bowed as each one appeared.
He spent the next four hours retelling what little he knew of the incident over Drazari.
He told the Committee that he was not involved that the transgression was perpetrated by his father.
He would, however, be happy to look into the matter and report back to the Council should they need him to.
After a time and sensing that the story would not change, the committee grudgingly dismissed him and allowed him to go.
They notified him he might be called upon to answer more questions and that he was not to leave the planet.
He, of course, assured them he wouldn’t,
and the family was always available to help the Emperor and in turn the Empire.
Just happy loyal citizens always willing to help, that was his family he thought trying to suppress a perverse grin.
Craylor made it back to the conveyance just as it started to get dark.
He told the driver where to go and settled back in for the ride.
It did not take long, and he was at the grand looking stone and wood gate of his grandfather’s estate within thirty minutes.
The lights were on, and there was an overabundance of guards out front.
That was odd, grandfather was very security conscious but was never overt about displaying it. Something was definitely up.
Craylor allowed himself to be searched and once they were satisfied that he was not carrying anything and to his identity,
they allowed him entry.
Craylor found his grandfather along with at least half the Emperor’s inner circle in the dining room.
Along with something that shook Craylor to his very foundation.
In the center of the group stood a cloak,
there were no feet, nor did there seem to be any face. Just a cloak that floated there with black where its face was and black where its hands and feet would be.
No actual defining lines, just b
lack,
being a scientist, he knew it wasn’t paranormal in nature, but a masking device,
however, that did not stop the creepy feeling from crawling up his back.
Craylor walked into the room staring at the thing, no one seemed to notice him until his grandfather saw that he had entered and introduced him around to the other members.
When he got to the cloak, he just said,
“And this is our other member.”
His grandfather leaned into Craylor and whispered “Now Young One if you have anything this isn’t the time to hold back.
We need to know everything you know if we are to find the box.
Things are happening, and it weighs heavily on the future of the Empire that we find this box and those protecting it.”
His grandfather put his arm around Craylor in a very grandfatherly way,
which was funny because Craylor never knew him to be very grandfatherly.
Craylor told the group about the visitor and where he was from.
Everyone waited for a moment to ensure he was finished and then looked towards the
‘other member,’ who just nodded and seemed to float out of the room.
Craylor’s gaze followed him until he left “Grandfather, what the hell was that?”
Craylor hissed beads appearing on his forehead as he began to sweat.
“That Young One is the Empires best-kept secret. You will never reveal what you saw or heard tonight.
It is a great honor to be invited here and into the inner circle,
but right now, we have to find that box,
or more importantly our associates do.”
His grandfather answered in a low voice.
Craylor was incredibly confused,
he thought the Empire was the greatest power in the universe,
yet these men, who served as the pillars of the Empire cowed to that being,
appearing to be almost reverent in its presence. Craylor didn’t know what to think,
just what he felt, that being was wrong somehow, very wrong.
If he never saw that thing again,
it would not be too soon.
Whatever that thing was knew about the box and wanted it.
But this was not his concern, that was a close call today,
but he was alive and managed to get through the day without getting killed,
better than his father did.
Revenant Page 24