Chapter 24: Hunted

The journey back proved largely uneventful. The tales of horror and cruelty coming out of Halcyon city had at least abated and things had settled to an uneasy peace. The Grojans, from what he could ascertain, were replacing people from the previous government with lackeys of their own. People with no particular skill, but who had sworn allegiance to them, mostly criminals and dropouts who could feather their own nests by sucking up to the new regime. Of the young King and Queen, other than them disappearing the night the Grojans arrived there was nothing. Arron assumed they had been the first to die in the takeover.

The first thing Arron had to do was disable the Grojan's ship. It would have sensors and was probably heavily armed. With it they had a massive advantage, without it they would be hamstrung and the field would be leveled. But before he started his campaign he needed a secure base. The estate next to his official residence had fallen into disrepair long before he had arrived and the old roofless mansion house was partially collapsed. He had found, while exploring one day, the mansion still had a functional cellar and cold store, the advantage being that they were connected by a tunnel with two entrances and exits. If his hideout were ever discovered, which would be unlikely, he would at least have an escape route along the tunnel.

He arrived at the deserted mansion late at night and entered through the cold store. Everything was as he had left it, and he had stocked the cellar with dried food and water sufficient to hide out for several weeks. For comfort he had added an old table, chair and bed. The cellar door he had concealed amongst the rubble and locked from the inside, the cold store he had locked with a crude combination lock. He had laid everything out so that if anyone else had managed to break in it would just seem to be things left over from the last occupants.

It was too late to start stage one of his plan that night so Arron just settled down to wait until the following evening.

When nightfall came the weather was on his side. Thick clouds threatening rain obscured any moonlight from the waning moon. The darkness was practically total so Arron put on his night vision glasses he had carried down from his northern stash. From his hideout the city center was less than an hour's easy walk, so he made his way to the culvert that supplied water to the palace gardens. It pierced the outer walls, and over the years the iron grills blocking the entrance had practically rusted away. Arron had reminded the old King several times about the security risk, but he had never got round to fixing it. He slipped into the icy water and with little effort broke the lock holding the iron grill closed. The inner one was in much the same condition and a quick twist with a jimmy gave Arron access to the gardens. He pulled himself out of the culvert and checked for any guards. There were none, the gardens were deserted. The Grojan's, confident in the security systems on their ship and the technological ignorance of the natives, were complacent. The ship stood in the middle of the green, dark and unguarded. It was an old scout ship, a type he had been trained in disabling. So far things were going his way. He sighed, Don't jinx it, Arron you twat!

He estimated with a safety margin he had at least five minutes to enter the ship, deploy the charges and get out before the alarm was raised. He checked his timers were primed ready to set. He only needed to place two charges once he had gained access, one on the command console - taking out the controls and communications. The main and back-up computer he would remove from the central core and take back to his hideout so he could reinstate them at a later date. He would place the second explosive in the armory where the rifles and heavy guns were normally stored for good measure. He then planned to leave a message to ensure no locals were blamed for the sabotage. The last thing he wanted was for the Grojan bitches to retaliate against the local population.

He had modified his first charge to take out the entrance hatch. As soon as he had gained entry the clock would start ticking as the alarm would be triggered. Most ships of that configuration were equipped with a silent alarm carried by the captain and second in command. If they were asleep and not carrying their alarm then he had plenty of time, but he did not want to take any chances.

With the heavy clouds, the gardens were in pitch blackness. His night vision goggles allowed him to see easily as he broke cover and ran to the ship, then up the ramp and placed the first charge against the entrance hatch lock and stepped back. Ten-seconds later, after a muffled boom, the hatch opened, with its locking mechanism destroyed. As the ship was in a breathable atmosphere the airlock inner hatch would be inactive so he could walk straight in. He started counting in his head as he entered the ship, turned right then hurried along a short corridor to the control room. He placed the first charge, set it for three minutes, then moved aft to where the computer core was located, pausing to place the message cube on the navigator's table half way to the core of the armory. The door stood open and Arron could see the stacked weapons in their racks; his luck was still holding. He placed the second charge, set for two and a half minutes, grabbed two heavy rifles and put them across his back. He continued on to the core, punched open the access panel and pulled the main and back-up core. He placed them in his backpack turned and hurried to the entrance hatch, then paused at the ramp to check for any activity; all was still quiet. Stupid Grojan bitches are still asleep! He could not help smiling to himself. You're in for a shock, ladies!

He ran for the culvert and had just ducked down into it when the first charge went off, followed by the other in quick succession. Only then did lights appear at the palace windows. Arron made his escape and, keeping to the dark streets he avoided the city Nightwatch. He returned to his hideout under the ruined house and hid the cores and rifles behind a false wall in the cellar.

The next morning he walked into the city, hidden amongst the normal crowds making their way to the central market. There was no outward sign anything had happened. As he suspected, the Grojans would keep the disaster of the night before secret. To admit their ship and heavy weapons had been destroyed would greatly undermine their hold over the people of Halcyon.

Minara was preparing for a meeting with the city resistance when there was a knocking at the front door. She heard the maid open the door and muffled voices. Moments later the maid appeared. "My lady, you are wanted at the palace straight away." Minara's heart missed a beat. Why do they want me, have they found something out?