Alien Courage (Rise of the Empress) (24 page)

“A lot of difficult questions My Lord.”

“Only if you are trying to hide the answers,” Lord
Ambrae replied confident there was something he was not being told.

Torquay took in a deep breath and thought things
through. “The Earthman is no longer in the T334. He is in Johe’s body.” Torquay
kept talking as he knew Lord Ambrae would continue his questioning until he got
the truth. “The Emperor arranged for Johe’s body to be secretly removed from
the Pilot holding facility when he learnt about the incident at the Academy
from the Administrator. I performed, but please don’t ask me how, the procedure
of removing the Pilot, that is the Earthman from the T334 and placing it in
Johe’s body. I was truly hoping Johe would appear but he did not. Then Johe’s
body was transported here. We truly are amazed we got this far in the
circumstances. It indicates the magnitude of the Trigealian technological
error. They are only now coming to realise something has happened. Also, as I
know you will ask. We did all this because we could. This is the first
Trigealian error we have ever found out about. Even if we did nothing the
Trigeals would still intervene everyone connected to Johe and the Academy. That
is their only weakness we know of - predictability! We have this once in a
millennia opportunity to learn of a Trigealian mistake and perhaps profit by
it.”  

Lord Ambrae shook his head as if trying to shake out
the words that he just heard. “This is too much,” he whispered and his head
sank to his hands. His thought process halted, anything to do with the Trigeals
instantly put him on the receiving end, even his only son being recruited as a
T334 pilot was a Trigealian order. The frustration began to build within him.

“Yes I agree,” Torquay said softly. “My Lord, when the
Trigeals or Priests locate Johe’s body they will probably destroy it and erase Johe’s
entry codes from the pilot transfer frequencies. If they do that he will be
gone forever. I am surprised they have not arrived here already. “Torquay
leaned close to Lord Ambrae. “Tell me something Lord Ambrae, how well do you
know this Admiral Creed?”

Lord Ambrae sat bolt upright and looked directly at
Torquay with wide open eyes. “I don’t! He’s in Galactic Command and I’ve never
known the Emperor to seek his advice, not that I know he didn’t but
Cleed
is first and foremost a Palace Uniform under Trigealian
control.” Lord Ambrae now saw the truth. “
Cleed
was
fishing for information, ordered by his superiors before... The investigative
unit are Trigealian Police! And they want to make sure I know there’s an
investigation and they are coming so I can investigate what I can before their
arrival. They are hoping for a positive mind probe with compromising
information.” Now it made sense to Lord Ambrae, he even considered Johe’s
training incident as a set up to eliminate The House of Irrimus as an independent
entity of the Confederacy, his enemies were many.

Torquay put his hand on Lord Ambrae’s shoulder and
looked into his eyes, “My Lord, your House is under direct threat and I suggest
you seek solutions immediately. But first you must assist me to get Johe
somewhere safe.”

“Indeed I will,” he said urgently, “but tell me one
thing, how much does the Academy Administrator know?”

“Everything, without him doing what he did, all would
be lost by now, including the House of Irrimus.”

“Where is he?” Lord Ambrae asked.

“The Assengi have him somewhere on Ennack,” Torquay
replied. Lord Ambrae’s face flushed a pale colour. He couldn’t believe the
situation could get any worse, but it just did. They both knew that the
Administrator was a great liability being in the Assengi’s hands. It didn’t
appear they had the information from him as yet because the Trigeals weren’t
here and the fact they were still alive, but it’s only a matter of time before
he submits to the Assengi’s methods – then all will be lost.

“He’s traceable Lord Ambrae.” Torquay produced a small
data disc from a pouch inside his robe. “The scanning frequency is on this,” he
said handing Lord Ambrae the disc. “He has micro-dust locating devices in the
skin of his right hand. They will last at least another five maybe ten time
frames before losing their effectiveness.”

“I see,” Lord Ambrae said seriously and accepted the
disc. “I want you to be ready to leave immediately when I order it. Please
remain in your quarters until then,” Lord Ambrae asked and saw Torquay
understood. Lord Ambrae stood up and started walking off but stopped and turned
to face him, “please do your best for Johe; but tell me, this Earthman, have
you met him?”

“Yes… His name is Peter. He is a Lieutenant in the US
Marines from the United States of America,” Torquay said but could see the
blank look of confusion on Lord Ambrae’s face. “Peter is a decorated military
man who has been through a terrible war and has earned the right to go
home.”    

“Lord Ambrae smiled and muttered, “
good
…
that is good,” and walked off. The realisation of the situation befalling
Irrimus consumed his thoughts. Not without a fight he decided, his step
quickened.

---------

Url
got to a safe distance quickly and from his high
vantage point looked back. The Beclin warriors had gotten the Old Warrior out
and were busy skinning the bears. Such a prize gone he thought, but tapped the
tooth he had in his pouch, he had the spirit. He saw the Old Warrior leaning
against the tree with both hands resting on top of his gun; he was looking in
Url’s
direction.
Url
looked back
and waited.

The Beclin finished the skinning and built a makeshift
sled for the skins and loaded them on. Three warriors began pulling the sled up
the slope and were heading back towards their village. This was the moment
Url
was waiting for, he followed, wanting to know the
location of their nearest village.

The Old Warrior ran with some difficulty back with the
remaining Warriors to the ravine. He sought out his Chief and quickly told him
how the Shihone had the boy and wanted to trade for the young girl taken in the
recent raid. They were on the other side of the ravine. The Chief nodded his
head, “it is good,
we
trade. Go now, take three
others. Get warriors from all villages and meet back at my lodge seven sleeping
times from now.”

The Old Warrior looked at his Chief with suspicious
eyes, “we trade or not?”

“You go! Do what I say, hurry, you go!” his
Chief
shouted pointing the way back to Beclin country.

The Old Warrior obeyed but something troubled him. He
knew his Chief was setting a trap and now that he had met a Shihone of great
fighting ability he doubted the tactic of trying to set a trap for them in the
wilderness. We are here now only because the Shihone wanted us here, he
reasoned.  He chose three Warriors and ran off with them back to Beclin
country.

The Chief crept up to the ravine edge and hid behind a
large tree at its edge. Slowly he looked around its edge. He looked down into
the ravine and saw it was deep with ragged snow covered rocks lining both
edges, impossible to climb. The distance across to the other side was well
within gunshot range and he slid his gun around the tree and pointed it at the
cliff edge on the opposite side. Rocks and small snow laden shrubs with thick
undergrowth lined the far cliff. He let the muzzle of his gun drop below the
cliff line and squeezed the trigger. A loud shot reverberated in the ravine.
His bullet struck the cliff wall with a solid thump.

Brakin sat up startled and quickly shook Teni awake.
Sasra checked the bonds of the boy and gagged him, and then checked his tether
tied to a large tree root in the shelter. He hurried out of the makeshift
entrance to his predetermined position overlooking the ravine.

Brakin and Teni crawled through the snow to the ravine
edge under the cover of snow laden vegetation. Brakin carefully pulled down a
branch and looked at the opposite side. His saw the end of a gun sticking out
from around a tree near the edge of the cliff. He could also make out two men
further back mostly hidden by trees; he knew there would be more.

“I want to trade. Boy from hunting party for girl you
took from my village,” Brakin shouted.

“How I know boy still alive,” was shouted back.

“You have seen jacket and knife. How I know girl
alive?”

“Women very valuable, she alive.
Show me boy.”

“Wait,” Brakin replied. “Teni go back and get boy,” he
ordered. Teni slid backwards and disappeared. A short time later he reappeared
with the boy, his hands bound and still gagged.

Brakin crawled towards the boy and whispered to him.
“Your life depends on you doing exactly what I say. Your village has my daughter
and I am going to trade you for her. Just remain calm and don’t do anything
that will cause alarm and you will be returned to your people.” The boy’s eyes
blinked with understanding and he knew for the first time he was going to live.
“I’m going to remove the cloth from around your mouth. I want you to shout your
name to your Chief.”

Brakin undid the cloth from around the boy’s mouth.
“Chief!
It is
Sawt
, son of
Kuipo
. I am unharmed,”
Sawt
shouted. 

The Beclin Chief recognised his voice. “In ten sleeping
periods we will meet back here and trade,” he shouted.

Brakin didn’t like that idea. “No! In ten sleeping
periods we will meet at the large clearing just this side of the cave campsite where
you found the boy’s knife.
You on the north side and us on
the south.”

The Beclin Chief didn’t like that spot as its
approaches could be observed from a great distance but agreed.
“Very well.
Ten sleeping periods.”

“Yes,” confirmed Brakin and he saw the Beclin
disappear from sight. He looked at the boy warmly. “Soon
Sawt
you will be back with your people.”

The three of them withdrew from the ravine’s edge and
went back to the shelter. Sasra joined them. He was the first to speak. “I
don’t trust them Brakin. That went just a little too easily. It was as though
they knew what we wanted to trade before they got here.” Teni nodded in
agreement.

Brakin
pushed the boy inside the shelter and the three Shihone men talked outside “We
will soon go and find
Url
,” Brakin said. “Then you
Teni will go back to our village. The other Shihone villages will have their
men there by now. We will succeed in this trade or war against the Beclin. The
time has come to clear the forest of these vermin if they try to betray us,”
Brakin said with conviction. Sasra and Teni raised their guns in the air and
shook them with vigour, their faces set with grim determination. “Good,” Brakin
said, “ready the boy, we go.”

Two sleeping periods later
Url
was warming himself by a small fire eating roast snow hare when he saw Brakin
lead his party across a small clearing. He stood up and waved.

Lord Ambrae rushed to his private office and opened a
secret compartment in the wall. A console appeared and he selected a program he
had never before activated but he had run it many times in various scenarios
and simulations. He initiated it and page after page of active instructions fed
into the main computers responsible for the running of Irrimus and it flowed
through to business and financial institutions across the Confederacy, as well
as the trading stocks and bonds records held within the other Houses. He wished
his wife was still alive as he would have made her the beneficiary of many of
Irrimus’s assets. As it was he had arranged for all power and assets to
eventually fall back to his daughter. His son was not permitted to possess
domestic wealth but had suggested this program many years ago. He watched as
the decision making councils were now programmed that they could never assume
more power and influence than they already had, this was also assigned to the
political wing of power as well as all organised bodies, police, military,
domestic and Irrimus’s agencies in independent space and other sectors, their financial
funding amended. The majority of the institutional financial wealth of Irrimus
was now imbedded in a complex labyrinth of which only Cassy would eventually
benefit. He stood satisfied with the thought that now that the program was put
into all those other systems, the life blood of Irrimus was relatively safe.
All that was needed was for it to be activated with the correct code.