On the Run (Verity Chronicles Book 3): A Cadicle Space Opera Adventure

by T. S. Valmond

  “Agent Anderson, a moment of your time, please.”

  “I guess that’s my cue to go and find my bride. See you later my friend,” Emery said with a grin.

  “That won’t be necessary. We’d like to speak someplace more private,” Mandren said to Joe.

  What is this is all about?

  As if reading his thoughts Emery asked, “What is this all about?”

  “This is official business, Agent Valackas. I apologize for the inconvenience and disturbing your big day.”

  Mandren didn’t wait for an answer, only turning on one heel and marching out of the room. The other two Agents waited for Joe to follow and stepped in line after him. He was being escorted out of his sister’s wedding.

  What day is it? Why didn’t they wait to speak with me until after the reception? Joe tried to focus his thoughts on the wedding, but he couldn’t remember any of the details. Had he seen his best friend and his sister speak their vows to one another?

  They reached the office of the High Commander and the two guards took their stations on either side of the doorway while Joe followed Mandren inside. Joe tried to remember how they got there. He’d been at the reception with Iza, now he was at Headquarters. The High Commander was seated at the desk. He waved his hand at the two chairs in front of him.

  “I apologize for the theatrics. It seemed necessary in this case, to make this an official inquiry.”

  The High Commander and Ian Mandren shared a look that Joe didn’t understand.

  “Official inquiry? What is this about?” Joe questioned.

  “This is about your activities and your report from the Verity. It seems that not only have you been involved in some questionable behavior, but you’ve blown your cover.” The High Commander rested his elbows on the desk and ran a hand through his hair. He looked tired; more tired than Joe had ever seen him before. “You went too far. Too many people know about your mission in the Outer Colonies. We warned you. The crew can’t know what your true mission is, however, it looks like you have told them. Why?”

  Joe thought back. It had been gradual at first. One crewmember and then another. Iza had been the last to know. Why can’t I remember telling her?

  “You don’t understand, things are not as black-and-white in the colonies as they are here,” Joe said.

  “You are a TSS Agent, and you violated protocol when you told your entire crew on board the Verity who you really are. Don’t you see that?” Ian asked. The disappointment was written in the lines of his face.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong. I can trust them,” Joe said.

  “This isn’t about trust. This isn’t about your trust in them. This is about our trust in you,” the High Commander said. “This mission you were given was supposed to be covert. Everything depended on it. Now that you’ve announced who you are to everyone, we can’t use you.”

  This isn’t exactly how this happened. I’ve had this conversation before.

  Joe tried to make sense of what he was hearing and the time between him telling the crew and attending his sister’s wedding. He’d served his time on Earth. Why were they threatening to send me back to exile?

  “You wanted me to be a part of the crew,” he heard himself say. “You want me to live and breathe and work in the colonies. I can’t do that and hide who I am from the people who have my back. I’m all alone out there. Without them, I’ve got nothing. You would have me lie to the people closest to me?”

  “That’s exactly what you were supposed to do, Agent Anderson. Your failure to comply is a breach of security,” Ian said, his tone firm as he stood up. He glanced at the High Commander as he stood up as well.

  “Wait, what are you saying?”

  It was the High Commander’s turn to speak. “You’re being shipped back to Earth. Effective immediately, you are no longer an Agent of the TSS. Due to your reckless behavior including, but not limited to the breach of your cover, the leaking of TSS procedures and technology, but also failure to comply with the local laws of the government. You are hereby stripped of your agency and position. The guards outside will see you to your transport.”

  Joe’s world spun in dizzy-making circles. He had no idea what to do next. He didn’t want to get on a transport ship and leave Iza and the crew behind without a word. He needed to get a message to them, let them know what happened.

  “Stop thinking that way, Joe,” Mandren said. “You cannot and will not inform your family and friends of where you are and where you’re going.”

  How did he know what I was thinking?

  “But, sirs —”

  “This decision is final. Under our laws, you will not speak of this matter to anyone, here or on Earth. If you cannot maintain silence, in this case, we will find a suitable cell where you can spend the rest of your days.” Mandren gestured to the door.

  Joe stared at him, and then looked at the High Commander.

  “I don’t know what’s going on here. Or what’s happened to you,” Joe stammered. “You once stood by each other even in dark times. Even if it meant breaking a few rules you kept your friends close. You trusted each other. It was a trust built over time, based on mutual loyalty. You can’t ask the people under you to do anything less.”

  He wasn’t sure if he’d gotten through to them, but it suddenly occurred to him he had something with which to bargain. The sphere was in his hand now, the etched sphere cool against the palm of his hand his fingers wrapping comfortably around it. “Take this but leave Iza and the rest of them alone. They are no threat to you, and without this, they’ll be safe from Arvonen.” He tossed the sphere to Mandren who caught it deftly and handed it off to the High Commander.

  That’s not what happened. I would never have thrown the sphere at him. He didn’t have time to argue as he was dragged out into the corridor by the guards who’d been waiting for the order. Not long after, he was thrown into a shuttle leaving Earth’s moon and headed for the planet’s surface. He was strapped to a chair and prepared for launch when something jarred his seat.

  Joe’s eyes snapped open. What is this? He was on the floor. How did I get down here? There were two Agents in the room fighting a couple of large security guards. Were we trying to apprehend them on an op? No, I’m not TSS anymore. Joe’s mind circled around the event, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The floor beneath him shook and there was a consistent blaring coming from somewhere behind him. It got louder as his vision cleared so he shut his eyes, but it didn’t dull the noise. An urgent voice spoke in his head, lifting him off the ground.

  “Come on, let’s get you on your feet. We need to get out of here.” The sound of the man’s voice was familiar. He tried to place the sound of the voice with the name of the man but couldn’t grasp it.

  “What’s going on?” The question burned his throat as he asked it aloud.

  “We’re trying to rescue you; no time to catch up. If we don’t get you out of here, I’m pretty sure Skyler is never going to marry me.”

  “I don’t understand. Skyler?”

  “Joe.” The man patted him on the face with one open hand to getting him to open his eyes.

  That’s when Joe saw the familiar blue eyes of his friend who it was holding him upright. “Emery.”

  “Yes, glad you still know me. After what they’ve done to you, it’s surprising you know your own name. Now, let’s get out of here before Arvonen kills you.”

  Another Agent lifted Joe’s other arm, and the two of them dragged Joe to the door.

  A bundle of disconnected memories resurfaced as Joe looked around the familiar room. He’d been in a lab strapped to a chair. They were combing through his memories, looking for something. He should have been dead already. Why am I still alive? I gave them everything.

  “Let’s not worry about that now. We need to get to the shuttle. Just keep your feet under you the best you can.”

  Joe had only meant to think the question. Did I say that out loud?

  Joe’s breathing was fa
st and jagged, and he was having a hard time staying on his feet as he’d been asked. But, he did his best, swaying as they fought their way through the corridor.

  A guard caught up to them. He fired from behind, seeking cover in the recess of a doorway along the corridor.

  Emery and his partner used their bodies to block Joe while the other Agent lifted a hand and telekinetically pushed the assailant down the corridor until he slammed against a closed door. Then, the two each grabbed a hold of one of Joe’s arms, again lifting him enough to get his feet under him and raced for their shuttle.

  Upon reaching the craft, they strapped him into a seat, and he heard them discussing whether to leave someone or go for them. They eventually reached some kind of consensus because they arguing stopped, and the shuttle was prepped to leave. I wonder how they’re going to get off of this ship with the docking doors closed?

  “You’re going to need help to come back from this. The memories—everything you’ve been experiencing was a lie.”

  Joe tried to focus on the words in his head, but soon his eyelids were too heavy to keep open.

  Emery’s words filtered into the dark comfort of his mind. “Don’t worry, my friend, we’ll get you the help you need.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Iza reached out her arms to gain her balance as she tried to get her feet under her. One arm was caught in the warm hand of someone else. The man holding her up had her father’s face.

  She stared at him with her mouth open. How can it be? How can every one of them have the same face? No, his eyes were different, not the warmth of her father’s that she remembered, but dead and lifeless. None of them had his quick smile or the glow of pure joy she’d once seen in her father’s features. How had she forgotten his warm eyes and wide smile until this moment?

  A whimper in the corner caught her attention. That’s when she saw her cousin lying unconscious on the floor. He was starting to wake up after whatever they’d done to him.

  “Who are you? What did you do to my cousin?” Iza demanded of her captors.

  “You know who we are. Do not pretend you are ignorant of our existence.”

  “Yes, I mean, no. Are you the one in charge?”

  “We have taken this form to communicate with you in your limited manner. Our natural form and nature are too much for you to consume.”

  They spoke Taran, but the words flowed in a mix of the old and the new dialects as if they couldn’t decide which era to be from.

  What did he mean ‘consume’? Limited? What was he talking about?

  Iza looked around the flight deck—a perfect replica of the Verity; however, nothing in the space seemed to be functional. An empty captain’s chair, a communications station, and tactical console; only the front helm station, normally occupied by Braedon, was occupied. Iza and the first Gatekeeper stood in the middle of the space with her cousin crumpled on the deck next to the captain’s chair. Using the Verity, the place that was her home, like a set put her on edge.

  “How about you explain why in the bomaxed universe you took me off of my ship and brought me here?”

  “You have broken the peace.”

  “What peace?” Iza had gained feeling in her arms and legs again, though the humming she’d once experienced only in the presence of the sphere was coming from all sides as if the room were filled with spheres.

  “The treaty. We made it clear that violating the terms would mean your destruction. You had all of this time to learn and grow, yet you squandered the opportunity. Why delay the inevitable war for this long only to break the truce when you are at such a disadvantage?”

  Iza tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying. The statements seemed to line up with what little she’d learned from the TSS. “Did you open the Gates on those worlds to change their climates?” Iza asked. She kept her eyes averted from the man’s blank stare.

  “You Tarans are inferior and frail. We should have ended you before when you tried to interfere. Now, at last, you will pay the price.”

  Iza’s chest tightened. The transformation of the worlds were starting to make sense. The Gatekeepers were altering the planets to be the opposite of their present environments in order to exterminate the people living there. All the effectiveness of a weapon of mass destruction without mess of traditional tools of warfare. Arvonen had used their tech without permission, and so every world he’d touched had gotten a target painted on it. The Gatekeepers were efficient in exacting their brand of punishment, justified or not.

  Despite the galactic implications, she was more focused on what the Gatekeepers meant to her own life. “Why did you choose his face?” she blurted out, since she probably would never get another chance to ask.

  The Gatekeeper’s lip curled up in disgust before he spat out the words. “We know about the abomination.”

  “Abomination?”

  “You should not exist. He cannot exist.”

  Iza glanced down her cousin, still lying crumpled on the floor. He’d stopped whimpering, and there was no further sign of him rousing. “What have you done to him?” her voice went shrill. She tried to move toward him, but the man blocked her path.

  The man took a step forward and the electricity moved with him, reaching out like tendrils toward her. Iza raised her hands in front of her in defense. Her mind racing to think of some way to stall. Her cousin might already be dead, but she needed to know for sure.

  “We did not do this to him. The Taran held him, and we took him from the ship as we took you.” He continued to block her path. “He cannot exist.”

  “What do you want with us?”

  The man glanced between her and Jaidyn. He shrugged. “You will be disposed of, as soon as we’re finished with you.”

  “Why? We’ve done nothing to you!”

  “You have passed through a Gate, going places you have no right to enter. We want nothing else with the Taran form and will dispose of all abominations.”

  Jaidyn moaned on the floor, and the tension in her shoulders eased as she leveled her gaze at the man in front of her. She’d dealt with bullies before, and that’s exactly what these Gatekeepers were. Galactic bullies who were trying to bend them to their will. Iza never did like being bullied.

  “It was a mistake to choose the form of my father,” Iza said, squaring her shoulders.

  “You do not like the reminder of how you came to be, abomination?” The man’s mouth formed a smile, but it was not due to pleasure.

  “No, it’s not that. I could never be afraid of my father, and I’m not afraid of you.”

  Iza took a step forward. The electrical crackling intensified and the man took a step back. Iza could feel the charge in the room as if it were a part of her. She reached out with her senses, touching it, playing with it. Each new sensation gave her more confidence to wield it as she pleased. The electricity could be shot out in any direction she chose, like bolts of lightning.

  An overwhelming rush of emotions washed over her, but they weren’t her own. They were coming from the man—a mixture of horror and despair.

  The man took another unsteady step back before his head tilted to one side. “There are more Tarans coming,” said the man sitting in Braedon’s chair behind her.

  Iza watched through the front viewport as a TSS ship came into view. It was a much larger and more menacing ship than she’d been expecting, but it was, for the first time in her life, a welcome sight. Better late than never.

  “Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention I didn’t come alone? They’re with me. You see, we don’t particularly like being taken and killed.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We will return to our realm. They cannot follow.”

  “You’re making a mistake. I may not be able to do anything to hurt you, but the Agents on that ship can.”

  “It is the leader,” the man who sat the helm looked back, his eyes seemed wider than before.

  Are they scared? Good. It’s about time.

  — — —

 
; Ian was getting antsy. Wil had been scowling at the view of space, his mind extended beyond his physical form, for too long. Something was wrong.

  “The Gatekeepers have grabbed the woman and her cousin,” Wil reported, at last. “It’s time we stepped in.”

  Saera nodded her agreement. “How?”

  “Be as diplomatic as possible.” Wil took a deep breath and closed his eyes in a slow blink.

  Ian knew from experience that he’d initiated a direct neural link with the ship in preparation for a jump. The cloud of subspace momentarily swirled across the panoramic viewscreen surrounding the Command Center as the Conquest jumped to the location of the other three vessels. The TSS warship dropped down at the center of the grouping, creating a physical barrier between the Verity and two enemy craft.

  As soon as they were in position, Wil opened a general comm channel to the alien ship. “I come here as a representative of the Taran Empire. I wish to speak with you regarding the treaty.”

  Ian waited for a verbal reply. Instead, a swirl of white light appeared next to Wil. A man was inexplicably inside the white light, and he reached out to Wil.

  Wil stood still, offering no resistance as the man all but tackled him. Instinctively, Ian dove to protect his commander. In a flash, he and Wil disappeared off of the ship in another swirl of white energy.

  They reappeared on what looked like the flight deck of a traditional Taran vessel. Ian dropped to the deck, half on top of Wil and the strange man.

  He quickly picked himself up. “Sorry, I—”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, Ian, but I actually had a plan,” Wil said with a slight smile.

  “Never go in alone. You taught me that,” Ian said telepathically.

  His friend nodded. “Follow my lead.”

  Based on the sight out the front viewport—which Ian wasn’t sure was real or simulated—he surmised that they were inside the Gatekeeper ship near the Arvonen One. Besides the Gatekeeper who’d pulled them from the Conquest, there was another Gatekeeper seated at the helm of the flight deck, and Iza and her cousin were near the captain’s chair.