Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Siroc

" W hat do you mean, she is gone?" I boomed.

"I mean, she's gone, " stated Horvok, who had been watching over Jane's room. He had a bruise on his jaw and a deep scowl on his face. "She attacked Griak and me, and that's all I remember. We woke up in her room." He sounded disgusted with himself.

"She moved you into her room?"

He nodded curtly. "Griak looked like he'd been hit in the head with his own spear. I cannot apologize enough, Warlord." He bowed lowly. "I have failed you."

"No, you haven't," I said. "Jane's implants render her unnaturally strong. And she is not in control of them. That was likely not even Jane who did this to you."

"I think it was." He rubbed his jaw. "She was shockingly strong. I've never been knocked out like that before."

"You and Griak are to report straight to the infirmary. Have your injuries treated. Do you have any idea where she was going?"

"No, Warlord. All I know is she was dressed all in blue."

"Blue?" Koloth stepped forward and eyed Horvok. "What kind of blue?"

"Dark blue," the guard replied. "Head to toe. Even had a hat."

"Would you say she was dressed like a freighter crew member?"

Horvok's eyes lit up. "Yes. That's exactly how she was dressed."

Koloth nodded and turned away with me as we left. "She's either attempting to board a freighter ship or trying to blend in and hide."

I thought back on Jane's strange behavior in the infirmary the day before. The sadness mixed in with her passion. The thing she refused to tell me. "She took the freighter. And worse, she knew exactly what she was doing."

"You don't think she did this under the influence of Elnok?"

"No," I said, striding towards the freighter decks. "This was all her. She's running."

"Warlord, the only freighter scheduled to leave today was the one heading to the Urrak space station. The one holding the dralkan ," said Koloth. "If she boarded that ship, we can't do anything. It departed two standard galactic hours ago."

What was she trying to do? I wondered. I could not call the ship back to Mitra. Its mission was too critical. That freighter absolutely had to arrive at the Urrak space station so the containers of dralkan could be destroyed by the It-tellans. That was a necessity. If she was trying to outrun the effects of the implants, I could understand that reasoning. But there was no reason to think that the control was only short-range.

All I could do was contact the freighter and let them know that Jane was hiding somewhere among the crew. I strode across the enormous hangar, towards the empty pad where the freighter had stood.

A group of Mitrans were already there, arguing with some warriors who'd stayed behind to guard the hangar. When they spotted us, I knew immediately who it was.

A tall, richly dressed Mitran strode towards me, spear in hand. The metal curved tip had been recently polished. Fresh silver inlays decorated the shaft. "You," Magni thundered. "You are responsible for the escape of that enemy female."

I stopped short and glared at him. "What in the name of Skrah are you raving about?" I did not have time or patience for this. "Out of my way, Magni." But trying to push past him would not work with the whole Council of Elders surrounding us. They looked at me with hostile eyes. All of them carried their spears.

"Let the warlord through," Koloth said loudly, but they weren't listening to him. Nor were the warriors who stood behind the Elders. They looked on with cautious, confused expressions.

Magni was a towering figure of rage. He repeatedly slapped the bottom of his spear onto the stone floor in agitation. "You are through, Siroc. This egregious breach of trust is a step too far. Rather than allow the female to stand before us and face justice, you enabled her escape."

I folded my arms and gazed coldly at him. "There is no truth to that and you know it."

"Do I?" He slapped a small datascreen against my chest. "That was delivered to you a short while ago. It's encrypted, of course, but our communications staff was able to learn that it was written by her with instructions for it to be delivered to you. Now, why would she need to encrypt a message to you?"

I slid the datascreen into a pocket of my armored vest. "I don't know," I replied. "I'd have to read it."

"Why don't you do that?" Magni stepped back, spread his arms and looked around, clearly grandstanding and enjoying the moment. "Read it aloud and tell us what your precious human female so very, very carefully encrypted for only your eyes."

"I won't," I said. "If the message is for me, I will read it without an audience." I knew this looked bad. And the situation that I had feared would unfold was doing so rapidly. I looked out among the faces crowded around me and saw one particular face towards the back. He wore a purple cloak and gazed at me from below the hood with a smug, satisfied smile.

"I know this is unusual, but I am calling to order a session of the Council of Elders." Magni's spear hit the floor again with a loud crack.

A murmur of agreement went through the group.

"I call a vote to depose the current warlord, Pal-Siroc, on the grounds of being unfit for the role. He has allowed himself to be manipulated by a female of dubious origins and has acted against the best interests of the Thrail."

Several dozen spears tapped on the floor in agreement. Heads nodded and more affirmations went around.

Magni's nostrils flared in victory. "It is decreed. The Council of Elders denounces Siroc and demands that he relinquish his role of warlord."

"I will not," I said through my teeth. "Would you challenge me, Magni?" I still held my spear casually at my side. I allowed a brittle smile to curve my lips. "Shall we have a contest right here?"

"I will not lower myself to battle a weak criminal, such as you," Magni said. "A new warlord will be chosen from among the qualifying warriors. I will oversee the contest for your succession."

"You have no authority to remove me from my position," I said. "And you know that. You have to get the majority of the population to agree with you, and they won't."

"Oh, I think they will," Magni said. "There has been much talk in recent weeks about replacing you. If you were as wise as you believe yourself to be, you would step aside now and save yourself the embarrassment."

Koloth moved to intervene, but I held up a hand. "There are things going on that are more important than whether I am called Pal-Siroc or simply Siroc. I cannot step aside right now. Not until the dralkan arrives at its destination and is confirmed destroyed. By the time you are able to gather a committee to organize a vote amongst the residents of Thrail Praxan, the freighter will have arrived and the deed will be done. At that point, replace me at will. I will step aside."

Magni's face was easy to read. His expression revealed that he knew this was reasonable. But he wanted to fight. He wanted to see me humiliated. That would be the only way he could securely seize control. "Very well, you leave me no choice." He shook back his brakas and raised his chin. "I will fight you, Siroc."

"You can't be serious," I said.

"And if you defeat me, another one of my brothers or sisters will take my place. And another. Can you fight all of us?"

This time Koloth did not remain quiet. "You cannot seriously be asking the warlord of this Thrail to fight the entire Council of Elders. That is absurd."

"His rule is absurd," spat Magni, to the agreeing murmurs of the Council. "We will do whatever it takes to protect our Thrail."

This was exactly what Elnok wanted. He was all but brimming with satisfaction from his quiet position at the back of the group.

"I am going after that freighter in my shuttle," I said. "Remain here or go about your day. It matters not to me. But as of now, the Council of Elders is dissolved. You've all been stripped of what little power you had."

Great mutterings of displeasure and affront went through the group. I turned and walked away with Koloth, just catching the sight of Elnok quietly slipping away from the group. His purple robe held tight against his slim body. He was leaving. The Elders had lost their value to him. He had only one pawn left.

Koloth eyed the Elders as we departed. None of them followed, as I expected. "This will not hold," he muttered as we left the cavernous hangar.

"It must," I said. "That dralkan has to be destroyed. Then, Elnok's purpose here will have ended. Perhaps our Elders will find their common sense again."

"What about that datascreen?" he asked.

"I will read it on the way to intercept the freighter," I replied. "You're flying."

"I hope it is a simple love letter," he said.

"Nothing is simple when it comes to Jane," I said, knowing that whatever was in the document she sent me, I would not like it. "Prepare for a battle."