Chapter 10: Arrested and Corrected

Charles was extremely mad. He and Alatem had called Trok over an hour ago, but the bastard still hadn’t shown up. Finally, Trok called to tell them he was where they had instructed him to meet them. Charles gave Alatem a kiss before having Ally flash him to the surface. Charles looked around and motioned for Trok to advance. A strange smile crossed Trok’s face, then he ordered unseen assailants to open fire! At first, Trok thought the strange man would get away, but upon further investigation, he could see the man was dead. Now, maybe the princess could clear her head. Trok was glad that now he could protect her while the rest of the family was eliminated. With her uncle on the throne at last, the empire would be back on the way to glory.

Alatem was at her father’s side when the news came in that Charles had been killed. The Emperor was saddened that the man who had saved his family so many times was dead. Looking at Alatem, he could see that she was visibly shaken. “Damn it, what could he do?”

“Alatem, I am sorry. I know he was a friend of yours. I...” her father started.

“NO, father, you don’t know! You don’t know at ALL!” she practically screamed at him. “This was all your doing. YOU could have prevented this!” Running from the room, the Emperor was heartbroken, hearing her gasping sobs as she headed to her room.

Alatem contacted Ally the moment she was in her room. Immediately, she was whisked away to the Time Raider. Empress Mita could only shake her head; this was tragic news indeed. She had thought that Charles was far too smart and brilliant to ever get caught, let alone get himself killed. Melina was sitting in a corner, crying her eyes out. NO! She didn’t believe it! That man was far too fast and cunning to have been killed this easily. NO! Melina didn’t believe for a moment that he was dead. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced this was a ruse. The only thing was how she was going to prove it? She was only 10 and had no access to the tech that her sister or the man did. Hmmm, this was starting to get interesting, but there had to be a way! Aboard the Time Raider, Alatem and Ally were tracking the movements of her uncle and his oldest son. They might not be able to seize him, but they could find where the other warehouses were and finally destroy his plan.

For hours, they tracked him until they finally had the location of the last three clone labs. Alatem began to program all the coordinates they had and sent them via a special carrier wave that Charles had programmed before he left. Sighing, Alatem was still upset that so much danger had to be involved. Charles was her world now; without him, she didn’t know if she could go on. On the planet, a shadowy figure was following the uncle. Still not time, it thought, but soon all this would be over, then it would be time to solve the other royal ass problems, namely that stubborn ass of an Emperor! A sudden movement nearby caught the figure’s attention; it was about time! Now, maybe this business could be concluded and other important issues. Sighing, the figure moved in to take a better look, cradling the weapon it held for dear life.

Tiberias, the Emperor’s brother, growled at his oldest son, “What do you mean you can’t find either of them?!” Rearing back, he slapped the younger man across the face, producing a rapidly reddening mark on the man’s cheek.

“I looked in all their haunts; after the 2 labs were destroyed, nothing!” The man told his father. Damn it, the man had a hellacious temper, plus the fact that no one did anything right as far as he was concerned.

“I don’t give a shit about your excuses!” Tiberias snarled. “Your younger excuse of a brother still has the controller. Without it, we are screwed! Now get your ass out there and find it!” Roughly kicking his oldest son to emphasize just how serious he was, the son looked away, a look of extreme anger crossing his face. You wait, you pathetic old man, you’ll be licking my boots before this is over, he thought.

Tiberias was worried now, though there was a bright spot; at least that mystery man was finally out of the way. No more of his interference.

The shadowy figure slipped deeper into the shadows. A controller, huh? This was starting to get very interesting indeed! Mita was deep into the royal records and almost hadn’t noticed the Emperor entering her study, clicking off her screen when he approached her.

“I’m worried about Alatem,” he started. “She was ranting at me when I tried to express sympathy over the man being killed. I am at a loss when it comes to her.” With a huge sigh, he sat in the chair next to her.

Mita just shook her head. As a husband and a ruler, he was a fabulous man, but as a father, she swore at times he was plain clueless!

“My love, you know she is in love. I am afraid the mystery man was the one she may have been in love with. It all makes perfect sense to me. As much as the man did, was there no way to make him a royal?” Mita asked, though she thought she knew the answer.

“No, my love, not any I can think of. There are only a few instances where one can be made royal without public testing. From what little I learned of the man, it appears highly unlikely that he could meet any of the criteria. Now it appears that Alatem has vanished again.” Bowing his head in his hands, the Emperor felt more defeated than he ever had.

Alatem watched everything she could on the readings. At least they had physical evidence that her uncle Tiberias was alive and conspiring to produce a clone army. Her uncle and cousin had finally moved to the third location when she received a signal from her contact on the surface.

“Ok, Ally, that’s the signal,” Alatem said. “Compliance, starting bombardment of the first structure. I am reading no resistance or shields. I estimate another 2 minutes and the structure should be destroyed,” Ally replied.

“Are you detecting any humans in or near the building?” Alatem asked, afraid that there might be witnesses nearby.

“No, only your contact is nearby, and he appears to be moving on,” Ally stated.

Alatem nodded. She hoped this worked. Destroying three of the warehouses would help, but they had to get her uncle or almost all of this would be for naught. She knew the man had vast resources and would just pick up somewhere else if they didn’t get him.

Inside the palace, the shadowy figure moved with an almost unnatural grace, nearing its intended target. Mita was hard at work. She’d almost found what she’d been looking for, but the information was buried so deep it was taking a lot of time to ferret it out. Of course, she was glad for the security on the system, but as she was discovering, it took a painstaking amount of time just to get in, let alone get what she needed. At least she had several good leads and had actually found something that was helping more than she thought it would have.

A hand covered her mouth, a deep raspy voice whispered in her ear, “I have information you seek, but I need your cooperation once I release you.” Mita thought the voice was familiar but was so deep she was unsure. Nodding her acquiescence, the hand was removed. “Do not turn around,” the voice whispered, “you are looking in the right place, just the wrong family. Look to the other kingdoms that were swallowed by the Empire. I bring a warning; an attempt will be made upon you again. Stay away from the throne room.”

A moment later, Mita asked why but got no reply. Turning, there was no one there! But he had talked to her only seconds before!

Melina had seen everything; she’d almost called the guards when she saw the figure put its hand over her mother’s mouth. Then she watched as the figure moved back into the shadows and was gone! Searching, she didn’t see the person anywhere! How? There had been no flash as she’d seen Alatem disappear with, so just how had the figure vanished like that? Thinking a moment, she thought it had to be the man she’d seen with her sister days ago, but wasn’t he supposed to be dead? A little smile touched her young lips. If it was him and he was alive, she was definitely starting to like him more and more! Slipping out of the palace was far harder than sneaking in. Almost half an hour later, the figure was walking toward the garrison building. Now to find out exactly where Trok’s loyalty truly lay. Slipping in, the garrison was almost empty. Damn! The information had stated that Trok would be alone. Well, no matter. The last guard left, leaving Trok alone on his bed. Creeping in, the figure had to be extra careful; this was no untrained civilian. Almost to the bedside, Trok leaped up, grabbing his sword. Strange, Trok thought, that someone had been beside his bed, a person he didn’t know. Looking around, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, a knife was to his throat. “I suggest you drop the sword; I really don’t want to kill you, but I will if you insist,” the raspy voice whispered in his ear.

“Who are you?” Trok started to yell except the knife kept his voice low and calm. No sense in dying, he thought.

“I am someone who knows the truth; I know you are leaking information to Tiberias. I just don’t know why!” the voice said.

“I..., “ Trok started.

“Lie to me and you’ll be dead before you hit the floor!” the voice said, pressing the knife blade a little more, drawing a small drop of blood.

Defeated, Trok started his tale. “I have no choice. The man has my wife and daughter. He has promised to kill them slowly if I don’t aid him. Besides the Princess, they are all I have. If I lose them, I could not go on. They are my reason for being and if you ask me to forsake them, then I would ask you to take my life now, for that I will never will.”

“I believe I can help you,” the raspy voice whispered. “But as I said, if you lie to me, I will kill you slowly in front of the Princess. She has, as I have been told, many interesting ways to torture you.”

Trok felt the knife disappear and turned to face his captor, only to find no one there! Had he dreamed it? No, he could feel the blood on his throat. Damn! This had to be one of the Black Set assassins he’d heard about, though he’d also heard they were all but wiped out, so how?

Damn it, things were starting to get more out of control. I have to regain some of it, the figure thought, and soon. An hour later, outside a house on the outskirts of the city, the same shadowy figure watched the four hidden guards as they ate. Hmm, only four? It seemed hardly fair, the shadowy figure smirked, not even a real challenge. Just then, the door of the house opened, and another man came out with four glasses. “Don’t forget to relieve me and my partner; watching that bitch and her brat isn’t sitting well with us,” the man said.