Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1)

by David Allen Kimmel

  At this, Gsefx smiled and turned back to the ship’s controls.

  “I didn’t. General Alcorn chose to go with them.”

  “He did what?” Now Henry was really confused. “Why would he do such a thing? And why put his son in such terrible danger?”

  “I can’t say for sure why he chose to help me by going with them, but if I had to guess, I would say that it was because of you, Henry.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “He said you told him to find his truth and that he intended to do just that, by helping me rescue Lhvunsa.”

  “He told me that he’d already found his truth.”

  “Yes,” said Gsefx, “he asked me to tell you that he is sorry for lying. He was wrong to do so, even though he felt it was necessary at the time. But he also wanted you to know that even though he doesn’t really understand art, it was your paintings that led him to this decision.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I don’t know, Henry. Let’s hope we meet up with him again so he can explain it to both of us. I can tell you that before we parted ways, Theo wanted to see your paintings. According to his father, he is some kind of expert on art.”

  “Did you show them to him?”

  “Yes, but only briefly. We didn’t have much time. We couldn’t keep Klarnus and Dilnch knocked out indefinitely, and we still had a lot left to do.”

  Gsefx turned toward Henry, ensuring he had his full attention.

  “Henry,” he said, “Theo was astonished at what he saw in your paintings. Though, I’m unfamiliar with your people, I’ve never seen anyone react like that to art before. It was almost as if he were seeing inside of it, and reading it, like it was a book or something. It was like he could see you in your paintings. Even in the short time he had.”

  Henry listened intently to his friend, but could not find the words to speak.

  “After that,” said Gsefx, “no amount of arguments by his father could persuade Theo to return to Earth with me. He had made his decision to accompany the General to Ricnor’s headquarters, and that was final.”

  “So what happened next?” asked Henry. “Why are you here and not there with them?”

  Gsefx looked back at the ship’s console.

  “If I haven’t said it already,” he said as he nonchalantly turned a dial and pushed a couple of nondescript buttons, “I am truly grateful for the General’s willingness to help, particularly since there is no real reason why he should put his life and that of his son’s in danger on my behalf.”

  He turned his attention to Henry again.

  “But I am more indebted to him for his insight, and that of his son’s. They have put me on a track that might make all the difference to the whole situation.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “The more I told Alcorn about Ricnor and the whole situation, the more curious he became about Ricnor himself; what he was like, how long he’d been a “high profile criminal” as he called him, and things like that. I told him all I knew, but he wanted more, so I pulled up more data on the computer for him. Again, time was a factor, so he didn’t get much, but it seemed to be enough.”

  “Enough for what? Gsefx, stop beating around the bush and tell me what the hell is going on!”

  “Ricnor isn’t the boss. At least not the ultimate boss. He’s working for someone and I think I know who that someone is. That’s where we’re headed now.”

  “Terrific,” said Henry, “and just what am I supposed to do when we get there?”

  “You’re going to help me find out if he is, in fact, the one responsible for kidnapping my wife.”

  Chapter 52

  I Was Just Doing My Job

  Alcorn struggled to break free from the hideous creatures who held him tight as they carried him out of Ricnor’s main hall.

  “Let go of me, you ugly bastards,” he screamed at them, knowing his efforts would be of no use. There was no possible escape from the vice-like grip with which he and Theo were being held. Nor was he actually trying to escape. Not yet anyway. But he needed to keep up appearances, and, truth be told, it made him feel somehow more valiant to struggle, like he and his son might actually pull this rescue mission off somehow.

  The very fact that they were still alive meant things were going better than any of them could have hoped, and that the plan was still intact. It also meant that things were only going to get more dangerous from here. They were no longer safe from Ricnor’s weapons, which Gsefx had previously inoculated them from somehow, and Alcorn figured the best way to stay out of the line of fire was to act like the primitive beings this rabble believed them to be. That meant playing it to the hilt.

  I just wish Theo could get the hang of it, he thought, when he was able to glance ahead and see that his son was struggling all right, but he wasn’t being nearly vocal enough. Apparently, he saves his verbal outbursts for family squabbles.

  “You bastards will be sorry you ever tangled with me,” said Alcorn, with a sudden, renewed sense of vigor.

  “I like this one,” said a voice in the crowd that followed his captors, “he has spirit. He will be fun to kill.”

  “Too bad we have to wait!” said another voice.

  “Who says you have to wait,” said Alcorn, egging them on, “put me down and I’ll show you how much fun it will be.”

  The crowd roared at that and several hands, claws, and other assorted appendages grabbed at him, only to be beaten back by those who carried him.

  “ENOUGH!” Came a voice from above. A loud, commanding voice. A voice that silenced the crowd at once. “I said the prisoners would not be harmed,” said Ricnor looking down on his gang, “and they won’t be. Now, unless I’m mistaken, the rest of you have work to do. I suggest you get to it.”

  The crowd dispersed immediately, and the guards carrying Alcorn and Theo continued on their way.

  “Too bad,” said Alcorn, in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone, including Ricnor, “it was just starting to get interesting around here.”

  There was no response, no sound other than the shuffling noise of Ricnor’s dispersing troops and the tromp of the guard’s boots as they marched on, carrying Alcorn and his son to their cells. He hoped they would end up somewhere close to where Gsefx’s wife was being held.

  Alcorn continued struggling, but less enthusiastically. Now that the audience was gone, it seemed somehow less worthwhile, although he was certain Ricnor was still watching from his perch up above.

  A few minutes later, the guards stopped and Alcorn looked ahead to Theo’s entourage. They had stopped as well, in front of a large, iron-looking door, which one of them was now unlocking. Once the door was open, they threw Theo into the room without a word. He heard Theo yelp in pain when he hit the floor, but Alcorn had no time to object, as he was moved into position and thrown in on top of his son before he knew what had happened.

  “Ooof … oh my God!” he heard Theo yell. “Get off of me, Dad, you’re smashing my leg!”

  “For the love of … I’m trying Theo,” he replied. “I’m not exactly in the best position …”

  Alcorn was interrupted by the sight of the most stunning female he’d ever laid eyes on before, and that included his beloved Janny, although he would certainly never admit such a thing to her. The creature before him had emerald green skin that was perfection itself and her black, silken hair glistened like water in the moonlight, even in the low light of the prison cell. As for her eyes, Alcorn could find no words to describe them.

  As it turned out, he didn’t need any words, because while he was lost in wonder at the sight of her, Theo found the energy to clear himself of his father’s weight, knocking Alcorn onto his backside in the process.

  “For crying out loud, Dad,” said the boy hotly, “grow up, will ya, you’re married!”

  The green-skinned beauty laughed at Alcorn as he lay awkwardly on the floor of the cell, and as quickly as it had taken hold of him, her spell was broken.


  “Okay, okay, I deserved that, I suppose,” said Alcorn as he pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t worry, Theo, she’s married too.”

  He held his hand out to the lady.

  “Lhvunsa, I presume?”

  “Why yes,” she said. “How did you know my name? You must know Gsefx!”

  “Yes, ma’am, as a matter of fact, I’ve just come …”

  “Just come from locking him up on Earth, or worse, I presume,” said a nasty whine of a voice from the shadows on the other side of the small cell. “Probably experimenting on him as we speak.”

  “Qilzar! That’s no way to speak to someone who has information about my husband.”

  “My dear Lhvunsa,” said the voice, not bothering to come forward from the shadows. “I never forget a face. I only saw it briefly as we flew by, but it’s one I won’t forget. This is the Earthling who was trying to capture Gsefx when we flew by and rescued him. He was leading their militia. He was the one who began shooting at us as we flew away.”

  Alcorn walked over and examined the thin, chalky-gray being looking back at him with venom spewing from his eyes.

  “Qilzar? Yes, Gsefx told me of you as well. In fact, he asked me to give you a message.”

  “Indeed,” said Qilzar, “was that before, during, or after you tortured him?”

  Alcorn resisted the urge to look away in shame for the things he might have done, probably would have done, if things had gone differently that afternoon. An afternoon that now seemed so long ago. Instead, he held Qilzar’s eyes with his own.

  “I’m afraid you have it wrong, sir,” he said. “As wrong as I was about Gsefx. As for shooting at you as you flew by, well, I was just doing my job.”

  Alcorn hesitated for a moment, then looked around to include Gsefx’s wife in what he needed to say next.

  “But doing my job doesn’t justify everything,” he said raising his hands in a sign of surrender. “I’ve been wrong about a lot of things in my life.” He glanced at Theo. “A lot of things. It took your husband, ma’am, and a man named Henry, a fellow Earthling, to get me to start looking at things differently.”

  He paused again, looking at Qilzar first, then Lhvunsa.

  “For my part in what happened to Gsefx when he came to Earth, I offer my sincerest apologies, and I offer my services in this current situation as a token of my good faith.”

  “Wait,” said Qilzar.

  “I understand that it will take more than just a few words to convince you of my …”

  “That’s not it,” said Qilzar, interrupting the General, “although, since you ask, no, I’m not convinced.” He pointed to the translator around Alcorn’s neck. “What’s that?”

  “This? It’s a translator. Gsefx gave it to me, which, I might add, should be proof enough that we’re working together and not …”

  “Oh, by the Gods,” said Qilzar, “would you please stop talking and listen to me.”

  Alcorn went silent.

  “Did they try to take it from you?” asked Qilzar.

  “Who?”

  “Who else? Ricnor or his guards?”

  “No.”

  “Did they search you?”

  “No, come to think of it, they didn’t, but I see what you’re getting at,” said Alcorn looking around the cell, focusing particularly on the ceiling. He turned and shook his finger slowly at Qilzar. “Very good, Et Qilzar. Again, I apologize. I’m truly living up to the primitive reputation of my people.”

  “Dad, what are you talking about?” asked Theo, clearly confused. “And what are you looking for?”

  Alcorn continued looking around at the ceiling and the corners, as he answered his son.

  “I’m talking, Theo, about your old man trying too hard to be some damn superhero, and not paying enough attention to the basic tenets of good soldiering. As our good friend Qilzar has just pointed out to us, we’re being watched and listened to, and I’m currently looking for the camera.”

  Lhvunsa gasped.

  “What? He’s been watching us this whole time? How can you be sure?”

  “If he’s not watching himself, he’s having someone else do it,” said Alcorn. “That’s what I would be doing if I were in his place.” He stopped searching for the camera and grabbed the translator that hung around his neck and looked at Lhvunsa. “Why else would he let me keep this, unless he wanted to hear what we had to talk about?”

  “I’m afraid he’s right,” said Qilzar as Alcorn resumed his search for the hidden camera. “It’s very likely that Ricnor has heard every word we’ve said since we’ve been in here.”

  “Then he knows that we know,” said Lhvunsa.

  “What do you mean he knows that you know?” asked Alcorn. “What do you know?”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter if we talk about it now,” said Lhvunsa, “since he’s already seen and heard us talk about it before. We believe that Ricnor reports to someone else and we think we know who it is.”

  “That’s funny,” said Theo, “so do we.”

  “Theo!” said Alcorn, moving quickly to cover his son’s mouth. “Not another word!”

  Alcorn looked around at everyone in the cell.

  “Not another word from anyone.”

  Chapter 53

  We’re Under Attack

  Ricnor walked through the room examining each of the prisoners as they stood or sat silently looking back and forth at one another; all four afraid to speak. First Qilzar, the Dremin, who had recently—and quite inconveniently—found his conscience, then Lhvunsa, the accountant’s wife, and finally the two Earthlings, who were far more entertaining than he’d thought a primitive could be.

  “I don’t think we’re going to get anything else out of ‘em boss,” said a voice from beyond the room.

  “For once in your life, Gruleg, I believe you are correct,” said Ricnor with an uncharacteristically pleasant smile as he stopped directly in front of Alcorn. “But I have all I need. This one—the one in uniform—thinks he's clever, and in comparison to the rest of his primitive species, he probably is. Even so, he was much too careless and gave away more than he realized.”

  “What was that, Boss?”

  “Nothing that concerns you, Gruleg. Shut down the recording, it’s no longer necessary.”

  “Yes Boss.”

  The cell and its prisoners disappeared and Ricnor stood in an empty, black-walled room. The narrow strip of light that encircled the room near the top of the wall and had, moments before, generated the holographic image of the prison cell, gave off a pale blue glow as it cooled down.

  “Go and join the others, Gruleg,” said Ricnor. “You’ve done well and you will be rewarded.”

  Gruleg bowed low and left the room without speaking. Ricnor waited until he was gone, then departed the room by a different exit, one known only to him. He walked down a short hallway, turned left, walked exactly six paces, then stopped and looked around to ensure he was alone. He was about to make contact with the Master again, and, as always, secrecy was his utmost concern. This time perhaps even more so, now that he had a lead on who the mysterious Master might actually be.

  Convinced of his privacy, he reached out with his left hand and pressed a small, barely discernible contact on the wall. A door appeared that hadn’t been there a moment before. Ricnor opened it, walked into the room, and secured it behind him. He wasted no time in punching the Master’s code into the vidcon and pressing the “Connect” button. Following their usual procedure, it could be anywhere between a few ebyts and several sars before the Master called him back.

  While he waited, he contemplated the possibilities of knowing the identity of the one who’d been pulling his strings for so long. Granted, he’d prospered mightily under the Master’s command, and his reputation throughout the galaxy had become almost legendary. The Ricnor Gang had become the most powerful criminal force in the galaxy. Powerful enough that the GCP didn’t bother messing in his business. But, while Ricnor received the credit and glory, it had
been the Master’s doing all along. It was high time Ricnor stood on his own. He’d learned a lot from the Master, but now it was time to get out from under his tutelage, and his thumb. He never liked submitting to anyone, especially the way Master had blackmailed him into doing so. Now he finally had the chance to get his freedom back.

  Beyond that, however, there was a more practical reason to do away with the Master. That blasted accountant, Gsefx, along with his family and friends, including the Earthlings, seemed to have more insight into the Master and his doings than he ever did. And, more importantly, Gsefx was on his way to the Master right now. If, by chance, he was successful in exposing the Master, that could lead them right back to Ricnor and all of his operations.

  Still, Ricnor was having difficulty making sense of it all. The Master was smarter than this. He’d proven that many times over. There was simply no way this nobody of an accountant and his rag-tag crew could have come up with all of this on their own so quickly. Unless they were wrong. Or, unless they only knew what the Master wanted them to know. Perhaps he was baiting them, leading them into a trap. If that were the case, Ricnor had best be careful himself. He’d seen firsthand what happened to victims of the Master’s traps. If this was indeed one, he had to ensure he stayed clear.

  A light flashed on the vidcon; the Master was prompt this time. Ricnor bowed his head and answered.

  “Master,” he said.

  “What is it, Ricnor?” asked the Master, the digital manipulator unable to hide the irritation in his voice. “I don’t have time to hold your hand any longer on this job—you’re going to have to figure things out on your own this time.”

  “Of course, Master,” said Ricnor, fighting down the words he longed to tell the Master, opting instead to keep his cool and wait to see how this all played out. “I simply wanted to warn you that Gsefx slipped away from his guards and is on his way to Galacticount headquarters now. Apparently someone has convinced him that I answer to someone, and he believes he knows who.”