Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Siroc

I stood before Bratan at the primary mining terminal as a small army worked at the cleanup. Bots began collecting the silvery, liquid dralkan, which moved like thick syrup and stuck to everything, and loading it into canisters. From there, it would be turned over to the It-tellan, who had an incinerator hot enough to effectively destroy the destructive properties in the dralkan .

I turned to Bratan, who watched grimly as the bots did their jobs. Koloth followed. In the past few days, since the dralkan was discovered, he accompanied me most everywhere. "How are the bots handling this mess?" I asked the mining leader.

"As well as bots can, Warlord." He frowned. "Could be worse, considering."

"Considering what?" Access to the mines was being tightly controlled during the cleanup process. I did not trust this substance, and I did not trust the Evis-Vok who had already infiltrated my Thrail, through Jane and Elnok. I did not have proof on the seer yet, but I soon would. Koloth, after doing an investigation, could find no home Thrail for the seer. Everyone was born somewhere , and Mitra had excellent records. I would bet my title of Warlord that Elnok was not Mitran.

"Requesting permission to bring in two of my most trusted assistants," said Bratan. "We have had problems today."

I turned to him sharply. "Explain."

"Strange malfunctions. One bot tried to disable several other bots collecting the dralkan , and I've had to reinitialize the commands for the bots multiple times." He shot me an unhappy look. "The humans blame these things on ‘ghosts.' That is what my son's mate has called such strange happenings. What else can disrupt the function of a machine without being seen?" He grimaced at the craggy hole in the cavern wall. "Something isn't right, Warlord. Ever since that hole opened up, it's like the mine is cursed. I don't like it."

"Me either," I replied. "But I promise you that the mine isn't cursed. You may bring in your two assistants, but no more."

I glanced at the time on the instrument panel. This was the first day that the pieces were beginning to come together. I knew more about the Evis-Vok and what they wanted. I knew, partially, what they were doing with Jane, and I knew Elnok was, if not an Evis-Vok himself, in on the plan with them.

The It-tellans were the surprise positive in all of this. They offered to take the dralkan off our hands. Urix was confident that they would, indeed, destroy it, as the It-tellans had been forced off their own home planet by a weapon similar to what the dralkan was capable of. The It-tellans thrived on their space station, Urrak, but did not forget the destruction of their own beloved planet. They were as eager to remove all traces of dralkan from the quadrant as we were. By "we" I meant the Mitrans in the cavern. Not the ones who would soon be joining us.

I looked at the clock again and Bratan glanced at me.

"Are you expecting someone?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "And when they arrive, you and Koloth are to go behind those container crates and be silent. I expect there will be some disagreement over how I have chosen to dispose of the dralkan ."

Bratan's brow rose. "Not sure how anyone could disagree. This substance is a menace. Catastrophic in the wrong hands, and there are many wrong hands out there in the galaxy."

"We agree, Bratan," I said. "I am certain that—" Right on time, the tubes made a whooshing sound. "Hurry. Both of you. Listen, but do not be seen."

The tube came to a halt. The door opened and out stepped the two individuals I'd expected to see a little earlier than now. News must have traveled slower than expected in the Thrail today.

I greeted Elnok and my predecessor, Magni, with the slightest nod. "Come to observe the cleanup of dralkan ?"

Magni looked especially incensed, and was dressed more glaring than usual in a white fur vest shot through with gold thread. Elnok held his usual expression of stoic smugness on his thin face and I'd never seen him in anything but his purple robes with the holes in the hood where his horns stuck out. Magni looked straight at me and flicked his fingers. "Stop this process at once," he said. Then, "Where is the mining leader?"

"He stepped away," I said lightly. "Surely you don't want him hearing you berate your warlord. What is it you wish to rant about today?"

Magni looked like he was eager for a fight. His hand gripped his spear with tight fingers, but he would never strike. He knew, without a doubt, that he would lose, and he would never risk such a humiliation.

"This substance is extremely valuable," said the ex-warlord importantly. "It is not to be sent to the It-tellans for incineration."

Ah, any wonder that I'd had about Magni's intentions became clear. It was not if he wished to reclaim the warlord's title; he meant to do it. I could see it in the sharp line of his shoulders and the arrogant tilt of his jaw. Furthermore, I would wager that he did not come up with the idea himself. His great seer, Elnok, planted that seed and cultivated it. He had worked on Magni's worst personal traits—his inflated self-importance—and succeeded.

It was truly sad. I had not thought Magni a bad warlord when he ruled. He was just. He acted in the best interest of the Thrail, but he also required a great deal of adulation and praise. He dressed lavishly and held events to celebrate his own accomplishments. Plenty of eyes had rolled behind his back during those years.

I ruled very differently. Celebrations were held for Mitran holidays and I dressed the same as my warriors—simply and efficiently. I had little doubt that had our roles been reversed, and he had been my age when the human females came to Mitra, he would have lined them up and chosen his favorite ones from the group before they had a chance to meet all of the available males in the Thrail. He was charming and appealing to the eye, and there was a chance he could have won over the female of his choice, if flattery and flashy gifts appealed to her. Not all human females were interested in such things, but I'd heard that some could be appealed to with gifts.

I, on the other hand, had done nothing more than welcome the females upon arrival, then let them be, for them to choose the males who interested them. I held great power. I didn't wish to interfere with the happiness of any of my warriors. But now here I was, wishing I had found Jane before now, and defending my actions to a retired warlord and his unhinged seer.

"It will be destroyed," I stated. " Dralkan is an impossibly dangerous substance. We will not be selling it, no matter how valuable it is."

"Fool," Magni spat. "You were never my choice for warlord. You sacrifice the well-being of this Thrail by assuming the dralkan would be used for the worst. This substance is worth more on the open market than all of our refined alloys combined. You're passing up an opportunity to enrich our Thrail."

"Our Thrail is rich enough," I said.

"It can never be too rich," he said. "Future generations would sing your praises for the wealth this substance would bring us."

"This is not the way I remember you, El-Magni. In your day, you would have made the same choice I have." I shook my head. "You're not thinking clearly."

His eyes flared. "You are wrong. That is how poorly you grasp the responsibilities of your position."

What rubbish . This wasn't even Magni speaking anymore, but Elnok, who was still silent, looking contrite and humble beside the outspoken, garish ex-warlord.

"And how would you even know the value of dralkan ?" I asked, with a tilt of the head. "We only discovered what it was recently."

Magni tilted his head also, making the diamonds hanging from his horns catch the light. "Our esteemed seer has encountered this substance in his well-traveled past. He informed us of its worth."

"Did he also inform you that it's a planet destroyer?" I asked. "Do you believe that anyone would sing our praises with that much blood on our hands?" I shook my head. "The Mitran people want no part of it."

"You are making a mistake."

I turned on him, patience snapped. "This discussion is finished. And if you do not cease in questioning me, I will strip you of your status from the Council of Elders and banish your esteemed seer from this Thrail and warn all the others not to take him, either." I flicked a loathsome look at Elnok. "Which I may very well do, anyway."

Elnok raised one brow. "On what grounds?"

"Interference in the affairs of the Thrail," I replied.

He spread his thin hands and gave me a cunning look. "Why, my dear Warlord, all I have done is give welcome advice to the Council of Elders. Hardly an offense worthy of banishment."

I gave him a tight smile. "What Thrail were you born in, Elnok? You have never told us where your family comes from."

"I do not know," he said, waving an airy hand. "I was an orphan, raised by many great and wise Mitrans."

"Every Mitran knows the Thrail of their birth," I said with exaggerated affront. "Surely these great and wise Mitrans told you from where your family came."

I saw the change on Elnok's face, right there—the moment the fa?ade slipped enough for me to know that everything I suspected was true. His black eyes narrowed and the benign vapid grin on his face shifted to something dark and sly. "I am sorry to disappoint you, Warlord, but there is no one more than I who would like to know the Thrail of my origin." He placed a hand carefully on the center of his chest. "I have always longed to know the story of my Mitran family. To this day, I search for any clues of their existence."

Our eyes met in an unpleasant clash. He knew I no longer bought his story. He likely knew that I suspected that he was either working for the Evis-Vok or was one himself.

"The esteemed seer Elnok's upbringing is not the issue here," Magni said. "Your foolish disposal of this valuable dralkan supply is. You will change your plans at once, or I will have no choice but to raise the question of your competency to rule this Thrail at the next Council of Elders meeting."

"You would disgrace your own legacy by doing so," I growled.

Magni's head snapped up and he drew in a offended breath through flared nostrils. "And you disgrace the very meaning of being Mitran."

"I don't think so. You truly lost yourself, Magni," I mused. "Was it when you gave over your free will to this idiot who calls himself a seer?"

The spikes on Magni's shoulders and arms rose. They were impossible to miss with his arms bare. " You are the one who has forfeited your free will," he snarled. "You gave it over to that female. Everything was well before she reappeared."

"Hmm. I was thinking everything was well before he arrived." I pointed straight at Elnok. "You arrived shortly before Jane was abducted, did you not?"

"We do not need to subject ourselves to this fool's ravings any longer," said Magni, swinging an imperious hand towards the ceiling. His voice rang out against the rock cavern. "I will find that mining leader myself. He will listen to reason. We are leaving." He turned on his heel and marched away towards the tubes.

But Elnok leaned towards me, eyes glittering behind his hood. "Do not defy me, little warlord. The power does not rest in you, despite what you think. It could all be taken away like this." He snapped his long-clawed fingers in front of my face.

I gazed at him impassively, meeting his eyes flatly, although rage rose in me like a hot fire. I tamped it down, forcing my spikes to remain against my skin. "I know this is not your true face," I said in a low voice. "This is likely not your true name, either. Whatever they may be, the Evis-Vok will not win here. Return to your planet of origin and drop the fa?ade. Mitrans are wiser and more clever than you think."

He let out a rusty-sounding chuckle. "No, you are not."

And with that, he turned and followed Magni to the tube where the ex-warlord awaited him. His long purple robe billowed out behind him in a flourish, releasing a smell of musty decay in his wake.

I listened to the sound of the tube carrying Magni and the seer back up to the surface of the Thrail. "You may come out now," I said.

Bratan and Koloth stepped out from their hiding place behind the stacked container crates.

Koloth inclined his head. "As we suspected, Warlord."

Bratan looked shaken and deeply disturbed. His hands shook as he ran them through his long brakas . "Foul behavior from a Mitran who once ruled this Thrail. He was a good warrior. A proud Mitran. But this…" He spat on the ground. "What I just heard were not the words of a warlord."

"He is being manipulated," I said. "I needed you to hear this today. You, Bratan, must make sure this dralkan is delivered to the It-tellans, no matter what happens."

He looked aghast. "What do you…? No . Magni will never gain enough support to depose you, if that's what you're saying."

I exchanged a glance with Koloth. "He will try. I need your word, Bratan, that you will see this substance delivered to the Urrak space station. Believe no orders otherwise, even if they seem to come from me."

Bratan looked like he might become ill, but he nodded. "You have my word, Warlord."

"Thank you." I bowed to him, a show of deference he deserved, earning me a strangled-sounding gulp from the mining leader. If Elnok succeeded in wresting any control over the Thrail, Bratan would find keeping his word to me a challenge, but old Mitran warriors, like the mining leader, did not crack easily.

Bratan sent a glance towards the busy bots in the cavern. "So how do we proceed, Pal-Siroc? The malfunctions we've been experiencing are clearly not random, especially now, based on what I just heard."

They were not, although I did not know exactly how they were happening yet. Jane was supposedly confined to her room, with the ventilation shafts reinforced, but the full power of her enhanced body was not completely known. All I knew was that Elnok was not doing the dirty work himself. He was remaining visible and present with the Elders, to avoid any possible suspicion. "Just proceed, Bratan. Get your trusted people here and fix what breaks or goes offline. Get it done and get this cursed dralkan off our planet."

"Yes, Pal-Siroc." Bratan looked back to his control panel with the expression of a warrior preparing for a hard battle. It was, in fact, what he was facing.

"Our suspicions were correct," said Koloth as we walked back to the tubes. "Elnok is an Evis-Vok in disguise."

I nodded. "And that gives us some tools to defeat him."

"What did you mean back there, Pal-Siroc?" Koloth asked, confused. "The way you spoke to the mining leader made it sound as if you mean to comply with that entity, or believe him capable of removing you from your position of warlord."

"Neither is an option, Koloth." I pressed the controls to bring us back up to the main hall. "But our esteemed seer is very confident in one of those options succeeding."

"You cannot be serious," Koloth spluttered. "He is likely the very same one who is controlling Jane's implants."

"I know," I said. "But I did not win the right to wear this title by not seeing my opponents as they were , not as they presented themselves. I needed to see Elnok's weaknesses. I needed to pull them out."

"And did you?" Koloth sounded utterly confused.

A cold smile slid over my lips. "Yes. I saw enough."