CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Aiden

T he judge glared at the Culrad General. “Explain yourself,” she said, seeming caught between confusion and indignation. “No one’s life was at risk here until your own party burst in here bearing lethal weapons. So I fail to see how you think you’re going to save anyone.”

“Your Honour, the Denzogal Alliance is currently attempting to negotiate with the Nwandu, to bring them into your collective.” The General gestured towards Ambassador Vendanu, who stared at him in bafflement. “We have come to stop you. The Nwandu have no intention of living peacefully beside you. Rather, they intend to steal whatever military secrets they can, and then use that information to attack you, isolate your settlements, and enslave you.”

A loud muttering filled the room, from judges, lawyers and spectators alike. Jethrigol spoke right over the top of it. “They attempted to do the same thing to us, some fifty years ago. Fortunately, we were strong enough to fight them off.”

It was too early to know what to think of this sudden and drastic turn of events… but I did remember my own caution with regards to the Nwandu’s requests for details about our wormholes. I glanced at the soldiers around me, seeing the same looks of wariness and confusion on their faces.

“Lies,” Ambassador Vendanu declared, getting to her feet. “This is all lies. We’ve had a number of political disputes with the Culrads and they’re just here to try and discredit us. Do not give them a moment more of your time.”

The General holstered his gun and tapped his comm. It began projecting a video onto the wall. It showed Culrads being rounded up and beaten by Nwandu soldiers. “They employ mind control devices to make their captives obedient. To rob them of their free will.” The clip switched to show a number of other species doing the Nwandu’s bidding, each of them wearing what looked to be a metallic headband arching from ear to ear. Some of those being controlled were Geshtoch. I didn’t recognise most of the other species.

“These are clear fabrications,” the Ambassador snapped, looking more angry than afraid. If she was actually hiding secrets this devastating, wouldn’t she be more scared of being found out? Particularly with a room full of armed soldiers?

Or… unless she had enough protection to not need to be afraid. My gaze snapped to her cluster of attendants. They, too, didn’t look the slightest bit afraid. Kade had told us at the winery that they were actually security personnel, and Ambassador Vendanu had admitted to it when questioned. But as she’d rightly pointed out, having a handful of bodyguards for a mission this important was neither inappropriate nor an overt sign of aggression. She was merely seeing to her own safety. And it had been hard to disagree with her. If I’d gone to visit a foreign planet in her position, I’d likely have done the same thing.

“We will need copies of these videos to verify their authenticity,” the judge said, exchanging baffled looks with her colleagues. “These are weighty claims, General Toluga, and if they are false, we will be dealing with them – and you – with an entirely appropriate displeasure.”

“There is one more thing you should see,” the General said, not at all put out by her implicit threat. “And it’s simple enough that you should be able to verify its authenticity here and now. It comes back to the dimari at the centre of this case.” He turned a curious eye on Kade, who watched him back just as closely, poised and ready for action. I spared half a second to wonder how the Culrads knew anything about this case in the first place. Bribery was the obvious answer, and I shelved any further ponderings for later.

“Khelesh saw this dimari shortly after he bonded with his new master, Lieutenant Hill, over here. It was obvious that Hill was not his intended master, as we’re well aware that the Alliance does not do business with the Eumadians. I was curious about reports of his exceptional combat abilities, however. And as it turns out, there is a beautiful irony here. The person who had originally purchased Kade was Chancellor Vendanu.” Jethrigol turned to face the Ambassador, a smug look of triumph on his face. “We believe she intended to use him to assist her with the subjugation of Rendol 4.”

A collective gasp went up around the room. For the first time since the Culrads had arrived, Vendanu’s confidence cracked, her mouth dropping open, lips quivering as if searching for words. Kade, on the other hand, seemed entirely unfazed by the news. “This is ridiculous,” the Ambassador managed to croak out .

Honestly, it seemed ridiculous. But the Ambassador had been so utterly shocked when she’d first laid eyes on Kade, when she’d been introduced to our security teams. She’d played it off as shock at the presence of a Vangravian, but maybe her shock had been due to which Vangravian in particular.

But Jethrigol wasn’t finished. “I have the original shipping manifest from the disabled Eumadian vessel, which clearly lists Chancellor Vendanu as Kade’s purchaser,” he stated loudly, over the racket. “If you will accept a link from my comm, I can transfer it to you now.”

“You will do no such thing!” Ambassador Vendanu leapt to her feet and jumped cleanly over the barrier, shoving startled Alliance soldiers aside. She reached into the fold of her robe and pulled out…

Oh, fucking hell! Everyone in the room scattered, as we got a clear view of the pulse projector in her hand. It worked a lot like a laser pistol, but was about ten times more powerful. It could pulverise an entire person with one shot. How the fuck had she got it into the courtroom?

While my brain was wrangling with that question, my instincts were making me automatically take cover behind the wooden seat dividers. But even then, half my attention was on the room, assessing dangers, trying to find cover, and wondering how the hell to protect the Culrad General from a weapon that could punch holes in concrete. One of Kent’s men tried to tackle the gun from the Ambassador’s hand, but two of her bodyguards tackled him instead, pinning him to the ground beneath their weight. Several of Jethrigol’s soldiers were trying to stay between Vendanu and Jethrigol, but the Eumadians and their lawyers were panicking and stampeding their way into a corner to take cover, while the civilians in the gallery were screaming and running for the exit, leading to pure chaos as everyone shoved and shouted.

Meanwhile, my brain was still trying to catch up. Vendanu was… trying to invade our planet? Seriously? If that was the case, then shooting her should be our top priority. But at the same time, I couldn’t get my head around shooting the ambassador for a major interspecies negotiation. If Jethrigol was wrong, then…

A dark blur caught my attention. My head snapped around and I saw Kade jump the low wall of the witness box. His skin flashed to jet black as he did so. Jethrigol saw him coming and… neatly stepped to the side, entirely unconcerned by the lethal soldier with homicidal intent. Kade kept going right past him, ducking and weaving through the crowd of soldiers and spectators like he was made of water. He shoved an Alliance soldier out of the line of fire, as Vendanu attempted to get a clean shot at Jethrigol. He elbowed one of her bodyguards in the throat, then without any hesitation whatsoever, he punched Vendanu in the face. He caught her arm as she st umbled backwards, twisted her wrist to force her to release the gun… then caught it neatly, turned it on Vendanu, and pulled the trigger.

Her body didn’t so much fall as crumple, splattering to the ground in a mushy pile of bloody chucks. But Kade wasn’t done. He turned on the Nwandu attendants next, aiming the pulse projector squarely at them. “Put your weapons down,” he barked at them, ignoring everyone else in the room.

One of the attendants lifted her own pulse projector… and where the fuck was everyone getting these weapons from? Kade shot her without hesitation, turning her into another bloody heap on the floor. Holy fuck, this was totally out of control. I managed to get my legs to cooperate and started edging across the room towards Kade, my heart thundering in my chest. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but he needed some kind of instruction here. Or some restraint. I’d never seen him so… bloodthirsty.

Thankfully, at that point, the rest of the Nwandu realised that Kade was serious. The one closest to the front of the group set her weapon on the floor, rising slowly with her arms up. The rest carefully followed suit.

The Eumadians had made it to shelter by now, cowering behind the rows of spectator seats, while Jethrigol’s soldiers formed a tight cluster around him. Up the back of the room, Henderson was ushering the other panicked civilians out the door, while the military personnel who’d been involved in the case had taken up defensive positions in front of the judges and the defence legal team. Kent’s team were looking rather baffled, trying to decide who to aim their weapons at, and I couldn’t blame them for their confusion. The biggest threat in the room had apparently been the woman we’d all been assigned to protect.

The seconds ticked by, the room growing quiet now that the Nwandu contingent were apparently surrendering. Seeing them lined up, hands in the air, Henderson darted over, gathering up the weapons on the floor and handing them off to one of his own soldiers. The man took them, nodded as Henderson muttered something in his ear, then hurried his dangerous cargo out of the room.

“We did not come here to harm you,” Jethrigol said to the judges and to Kent’s team. He held up one hand and slowly holstered his gun with the other. “The only threat to you here were the Nwandu.” The rest of his soldiers put away their own weapons, standing peacefully while the Alliance soldiers figured out what to do next.

“We were negotiating a highly complex agreement for peace with the Nwandu Ambassador!” one of the Associates cried, eyeing the mess that used to be the Ambassador in shock. She clearly hadn’t quite caught up with what was really going on here. Then again, I wasn’t sure that I had either. But right now, I had more urgent problems to deal with .

“Kade,” I said cautiously, as I arrived at his side. I put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Stand down. We’re under control now.” I glanced at Kent, who nodded, moving himself and two of his men to take over guard duty on the Nwandu. “Give me the gun, Kade.”

Kade didn’t move.

“Kade,” I said, a little more sharply. “Give me the gun.”

His attention remained fixed on the Nwandu. I reached out to try and take the weapon out of his hand, and he shoved me roughly aside, keeping his focus firmly on the Nwandu. What the fuck?

“He’s not going to listen to you.” It took me a moment to place the voice, accented and tinged with amusement. It was coming from Volgoch, yet it sounded so different from the flat monotone he’d used for the rest of the hearing.

“Why not?” I asked, feeling a thread of panic inside me. I’d told Kade to disregard my orders during the hearing, but my intention had been for only the ones that pertained to winning our case. Was it possible that he was just doing his own thing now, having taken that permission to cover a far wider context? I thought I’d been careful as to how I’d phrased things…

Volgoch picked himself up off the floor, grimacing as he eyed the remains of Ambassador Vendanu. He edged out from behind the last row of seats, straightening his jacket as he did so. “Because Vendanu asked us to program him differently. His primary order, in any and all circumstances, is to protect his master. Regardless of any other orders you give him. She wanted a foolproof bodyguard who would do literally anything to protect her. So for as long as Kade sees the Nwandu as a threat to you, you can’t control him. No one can.”