"Now, Enlistment Candidate Trent, could you please continue. There will be no further interruptions." The Knight Captain was staring at Sir Simwa while he spoke. Trent decided to continue before the tension in the room grew any higher.
"As I was saying...the entire encounter was fuzzy, but I do remember seeing the giant insc...I mean krakllian, beneath the silo and believing it was a guardian of some sort." His face flushed slightly as he remembered the train of thought that led him to believe that the silo was full of booze. But seeing no reason to lie, he continued.
"It is rather embarrassing, but once I decided the krakllian was a guardian, the only thing I could think of it as guarding was a silo full of booze." A muffled laugh came from behind and he saw a small smirk try to break the surface of the Knight Captains stone-like exterior. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"That is when I decided to use my carbon rod as a weapon and charge the guardian. There was some fear, but when the krakllian fled, I thought I'd won, and decided to try to climb the ladder to reach the silo." Trent was deep in thought, trying to recall the events as accurately as they occurred.
"Thinking about it now...I was extremely lucky that the first iron rung on that ladder broke off when it did. If I'd been unprepared when the krakllian attacked......but that's not important. I caught sight of it out of the corner of my eye, so I raised the iron bar in front of me as I stood. That's when I took the attack head-on and was sent flying. I think the shock sobered me up and allowed my adrenaline to take over, because without thinking, I attacked and landed a hit on the leg joint." A small cough rose from the right and Trent turned towards Vice Commander Daiyu.
"If I may interrupt..." She glanced at the Knight Captain, receiving a nod of approval. "...for what reason did you attack the rear leg joint? That is one of only a few known weaknesses in the Krakllian's armored shell." The inquiry into his knowledge made him suddenly think of how he knew. He was about to say it was just luck, when he remembered something from his past.
"I may be mistaken... but I believe it came from a documentary I watched years ago about ants. It showed how they could take down a much larger, shelled insect. I seem to recall them attacking the leg joints to stop their prey's retreat and then cutting it to pieces." Commander Daiyu nodded her thanks and Trent looked back to the Knight Captain Quinn, who also nodded for him to continue.
"Umm...after I struck its leg joint with the iron bar, the krakllian retreated towards...what I thought at the time...must be its den. I decided to try to finish it off since I didn't want to be surprised when I tried to access the silo." Trent made sure to leave off the full of booze part this time. "I caught up with it and was attempting to take out its other leg when it turned, and instead, I caught it on the hard shell. This is when it slashed me in my arm." The numb throbbing in Trent's left arm suddenly became more noticeable. "I lost most of my senses after I recovered and charged into the darkness. I don't remember what happened after that, but when I came too, I was in my bed." The memory struck a chord and Trent pushed back the rising flow of emotions.
*********
Daniel stared at Trent's back, then glanced down at the small PDU that allowed him to view the faces of everyone involved in the interview. The look that covered Trent's face was one Daniel remembered quite well from the beginning of phase three, a look of loss and despair...a look he loved.
The interview had been extremely amusing, more so then he could have ever dreamed. Sir Simwa was an utter idiot, an unfortunate feature of the majority of the nobility he had met, who all seemed to believe that one's birth was the only thing that mattered. To defend this position, many nobles would make baseless claims that anyone with a shred of sense could realize were false. Daniel did, however, have a bit of respect for the idiotic noble. He too believed that this and every other enlistment candidate was trash, a waste of their precious time and resources. But Daniel would never voice his displeasure, for fear of further alienating himself from the Knight Captain.
It was probably not obvious to Sir Simwa, but the mention of changing the krakllian's testing parameters, because Daniel had found irregularities in Trent's state of mind, was also aimed at Daniel, to let him know his little lie had been caught. Knight Captain Quinn was very aware of what Daniel had done, even though he thought he'd covered it up quite beautifully, and he now knew he would be in trouble. In fact, Daniel was pretty sure it would lead to a demerit on his record.
He again concentrated on the image of Trent, who had recovered from his temporary emotional lapse. Sudden anger began to simmer below the surface as he stared at the face, the face responsible for getting him in trouble. No longer would Daniel just use this man, he would use him, then destroy him.
*********
Recovering from his momentary melancholy, Trent looked to the Knight Captain, who once again had a distant, tense look on his face. He quickly glanced to the right and saw a similar look on Vice Commander Daiyu, which returned to normal just as Trent's eyes made contact. A small smirk escaped the exotic, hawk like face, as Trent returned his attention to the Knight Captain and his stone-faced exterior.
"I would like to thank you for your account of the encounter, Enlistment Candidate Trent. The next phase, as we all know, is very emotional, and we will touch on it only briefly. You successfully escaped your past, giving up a time in your life when you were happy for an unknown future. Let me tell you this now, the woman you saw was a robotic representation, nothing more." The Knight Captain confirmed what Trent had already assumed, but a wave of relief filled him nonetheless.
"We would like to hear the actual story of what occurred with Samantha before your exile, not the obviously doctored one that is present on your corporate record." Trent's eyes opened in shock...why would there be any information on his record about his relationship with Samantha? Before he could stop himself, he asked.
"Excuse me...Knight Captain? But why does my corporate record contain information about my relationship with Samantha? I always thought it only held work related data, like performance reviews, merit and demerits, and the like?" Suddenly realizing he had interrupted the Knight Captain, Trent blushed with embarrassment.
"That is what we would like to know as well, Enlistment Candidate, but before we inform you of what we already know, I think it would be best for you to fill us in on what actually happened." Showing no sign of offense, the Knight Captain let a tiny bit of emotion escape with his words. Trent gathered his resolve and prepared for his own storm of emotions that always accompanied his memories and began.
"Well...I always kept to myself at work, more by choice than anything else. I've had issues....in my past......and have been hurt many times. So I kept myself isolated in the hopes it would...ah...never happen again. Unfortunately, it didn't help..." A wave of emotions broke free as repressed memories started flowing into his mind. Taking a few seconds to gather himself, he continued. "....then...one day this girl......Samantha, who worked in my group, approached me. She was cute...and...and it took all my self-control to turn down her invitations. But the refusal seemed to embolden her, and she repeatedly asked me out...almost every day. I remember being baffled as to why such a gorgeous woman would be interested in me...but I continued to turn her down..." The memories and emotions were intermingling, but the effect was not as drastic as he recalled. The wound in his heart must have begun to heal, he thought, as the memories continued to flow.
"This went on for almost two weeks before I finally gave in...I think I had hoped she would realize that she really didn't want to start a relationship with me after getting to know me..." Trent found it tough to recall his emotions correctly before the time he fell in love, but he did his best. "...We went out to dinner and I found myself attracted to her friendly, open attitude......and for some reason she seemed to be fascinated by me. We continued going out for the next few days and then we decided to start officially dating." Vice Commander Daiyu coughed again while she waved a question.
"Whose idea was it to st
art dating?" The question seemed strange for the current situation, but Trent shook off the thought as he answered.
"She actually brought up the idea after our first night together. By then my feelings had grown to a point where I thought it would be a good idea." he answered honestly.
"Thank you, Enlistment Candidate." Vice Commander Daiyu responded with a friendly smile, nodding to the Knight Captain who responded in turn.
"You may continue." he said, with a hint of compassion in his heavy voice. Trent took a deep breath, hoping he could control his now fluctuating emotions.
"We started getting even closer and she would stay at my apartment during the week. But she would head home during the weekends, telling me it was good to spend some time apart...and the weekends being the best time for it. I found it odd...but at the time I was blinded by love...and...and trusted...her...her every word." Trent stuttered, the words starting to come harder as his subconscious attempted to protect him from what it knew would be a painful memory.
"Then......about six month...six months after we started dating...on one of our normal Friday dinner dates, we said our goodbyes and she left. I found...I found that she had...she had forgotten her MCD...so...I...I followed her, hoping to give it back before she went too far. But...a...a message came in... and...and I decided to take a quick glance...it was...it was.....from her fiancé." Trent paused for a second, making sure the crushing sadness did not return with the words...only being slightly successful.
"After that...life was mostly a blur. I recalled her finding me in tears and I ran away. I think I saw her a few times at work after that, but I can't clearly remember...it was over, she lied to me and used me...." The tears wouldn't come, Trent knew they were there, but they wouldn't come. He'd shed too many already over this incident and none were left. He still felt sadness in his heart, but he had once again started moving on...to heal.
"Thank you, Enlistment Candidate Trent, your explanation filled us in on many things that our information gathering could not." responded Knight Captain Quinn warmly as Trent recalled they already had possession of a different version of his story.
"I will now disclose part of the fabricated story that is attached to your corporate record. This should also be informative and answer many other questions you may have had about the last couple months." The Knight Captain again showed a distant look on his face as he continued. "Employee Trent Marcello was found to be having an affair with the fiancé of employee Connor House..." The name rang alarm bells in Trent's mind. "...son of Motapplesoft Trust President and CEO Lyle House. Employee was found to be using Connor's fiancé by means of blackmail. Our internal investigators uncovered that Trent Marcello was attempting to use this relationship to further his own career and discredit our CEO. Before additional damage was done, Connor's fiancé came forward and the offending employee was immediately dismissed. It is recommended that anyone considering employing this individual be forewarned. A full account of this investigation can be located..." The Knight Captain stopped his recital of the record and Trent's face froze in astonishment. Before he could respond, another voice, that had been quiet for quite some time, chimed in.
"That is...what I would have to believe...is obviously the true story. Why would we take this...this...trashes word over that of the elite? Even if this is a backwards world, full of the garbage of humanity, the words of the upper-class far outweigh that of some insect who should have died in a gutter!" The venom in Sir Simwa's words hit Trent like daggers. He must have been waiting for an opportunity to attack again since his last attempt was foiled. Anger, once kept in check by Trent's nervousness, began flowing freely to the surface. He was about to explode when a calm response rose from behind him.
"Sir Simwa, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but if the Enlistment Candidate lies in anyway, we are the first to know." Lieutenant Daniel said calmly to the now red faced and sweating Sir Simwa.
"What...what are you talking about!" Sir Simwa left any pretense of calm behind with his previous outburst.
"Trent, if you would be so kind...tell a lie." Trent was baffled by the request, but seeing no harm in it, he pulled his anger back and responded.
"I respect Sir Simwa." Trent felt a slight shock rise through his chair and would have jumped had it not been for his restraints.
"Violation of trial protocols detected. Last statement by Enlistment Candidate Trent Marcello cannot be taken as fact, please disregard." The monotone voice that Trent hated so much sounded as he tried to shake off the aftereffects of the shock.
"See? If at any time a lie is detected a shock is administered and the Program sounds a warning. Every word out of Enlistment Candidate Trent's mouth has been true...or at least he believes them to be true. I'm sure it would be far more interesting to allow the Program to test your words for truth...Sir Simwa." Trent couldn't see the TSB Lieutenant as he spoke, but he could picture a wide grin on his face.
"This is ridiculous! There must be a trick, there is no way this...this...thing is telling the truth! I request that we stop this farce of a trial and dispose of him immediately!" With the last shout Sir Simwa abruptly stood, attempting to pull something out of what looked like a holster on his belt. The 30 centimeter long narrow cylindrical grey tube that emerged had an arrow like protrusion at the end and reminded Trent of an old style laser pointer.
"In fact...I will handle the disposal personally!" Sir Simwa aimed the giant laser pointer at Trent. Understanding struck at that moment, and he realized the device must be some sort of weapon. He began to struggle helplessly with his restraints. But it was a futile gesture and as he looked up into the eyes of an enraged madman, Trent's life, once again, flashed before his eyes.
*********
The scene unfolding before him defied all logic. Just moments earlier Daniel was having a little fun with the angry NHA Liaison, trying to recover some points in the eyes of the Knight Captain, while providing a stepping stone for his relationship with Trent. But then, the unthinkable happened. Sir Simwa snapped, and was now preparing to fire a laser arc, the standard NHA sidearm, at the defenseless Trent who was still strapped to the restraining chair.
Time stood still as Daniel watched, frozen, what happened next. Knight Captain Quinn dove over his table faster than anyone could have expected someone of his size to move. At the same moment Vice Commander Daiyu rushed towards Trent, screaming.
"Execute 1270 Alpha, Execute 1270 Alpha!" Alarms started blaring and the restraints holding Trent released.
The laser arc fired a moment later, knocked centimeters off target by the charging Knight Captain. The laser bolt caught the edge of the restraining chair, knocking it off its stand and into the defenseless Vice Commander Daiyu, who tumbled across the floor, stopping in a motionless heap. Trent was thrown free during the blast, rolling up on one knee a meter away from the Vice Commander. Knight Captain Quinn wrestled with Sir Simwa, pinning the smaller man while trying to wrestle the laser arc from his grip. Sir Simwa, showing signs of strength you would not expect from his unimpressive physique, kept the Knight Captain at bay while maintaining a loose grip on the laser arc.
Daniel sat stiff, unable to move. He tried to think logically about the situation, but couldn't. The insanity of the entire thing was beyond him. But a sudden thought did appear in his all but empty mind...he should help the Knight Captain. He would be a hero and his stock would rise faster than all others.
He jumped over the table and ran towards the two wrestling men. The Knight Captain saw him first, grunting as a knee bore into his stomach.
"Stay back!" the Knight Captains shouted, his voice still booming as he forced the knee down and continued his struggle. Daniel ignored him and dove towards the arm which had started losing its wobbly grip on the laser arc.
*********
Blinking in surprise as he rolled to his feet...he was alive, having cheated death once again. Trent quickly took in the chaotic scene unfolding around him. Vice Commander Daiyu lay unconscious on the
floor about a meter away, bleeding heavily from a head wound, but breathing steady. From the location of Trent's chair, he figured she must have been running towards him when the weapon had discharged and knocked the chair flying off the pedestal.
A grunt from the far side of the room brought Trent's head up swiftly. Knight Captain Quinn had Sir Simwa pinned and almost under control. The smaller man was fighting back, but there was no way he would escape the larger man's grasp. Trent decided to check on the unconscious commander when he heard the shout.
He whirled around to see a wide-eyed Lieutenant Daniel diving at Sir Simwa's arm, which was barely keeping its grip on his weapon. The dive was ill timed, Lieutenant Daniel catching the arm, but also bumping Knight Captain Quinn in the process, disrupting his leverage. Sir Simwa took advantage, regaining the grip on his weapon and taking aim at his only clear target...the unconscious Vice Commander Daiyu
Trent didn't think, just acted, rushing to her side and falling to his knees as he put both hands on her small, limp form, pushing with all his strength. But the floor that looked smooth, and should have been...shouted Trent's mind, was not, and he found his pushing in vain. All thoughts vanished as desperation took over, he needed to push harder! With a burst of strength he never knew he had...Daiyu began to slide.
Pain...horrible, agonizing pain...erupted into his being as in one moment Trent was looking at his hands pushing the unconscious Vice Commander, and the next, a cloud of red, his arms vanishing in a blinding green light. Confused, he fell, unable to comprehend exactly what happened, until his eyes caught those of Sir Simwa's, and it all fell into place. He had been too slow, and when Sir Simwa fired, directly at the spot that Vice Commander Daiyu had been seconds before, he had been caught unaware and...what?
Alutia Rising Page 8