Alliance of Serpents (14 page)

*******

The guards patrolling the prison level of the
Refuge
were more heavily armed than the rest, clad in a
thick material Arus didn't recognize and armed with laser pistols
so large they carried them with both hands. They took no notice of
him as he passed, though each nodded slightly to both Damien and
Kitreena. Most cells were empty, but the few prisoners they did
pass were either asleep or just staring silently into nothingness
as though hypnotized by some unseen force. Kitreena had warned him
that most of the people they held prisoner were either mentally
disturbed or narcotics addicts, and as long as he didn't do
anything to attract their attention, they'd likely ignore him.

The colorful carpets and wood-paneled walls
were absent on this deck, replaced by dull colorless steel on both
the floor and walls. The corridor wound back and forth throughout
the level; Kitreena said it was because the
Refuge
was just
a step below a battleship, and therefore equipped with all the
weapons and accommodations required for an interstellar war. Since
no such war currently existed—her use of the word "currently" made
Arus a little uneasy—there was no need for most of the prison
cells. The thought of a war grand enough to fill so many rooms with
prisoners chilled his spine. With luck, a day like that would never
come.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Arus?"
Damien asked him as they strode along the corridor. "These people
are responsible for what has happened to you, and speaking with
them may bring bitter emotions to the surface."

"I need to know if there is any chance of
removing this thing," Arus said, shaking his head. "I'm not sure if
they'll know, but I want to explore every option available."
Kitreena gave him a sympathetic look. There was no telepathic
communication this time, but he could likely guess what she was
thinking.

"All right." Damien's tone held more than a
little concern. "But just let us do the talking to start. We'll
give make sure you have a chance to speak, but there are things
Kitreena and I need to address first."

Arus nodded quickly. "Of course. I certainly
don't want to get in the way of your work."

They rounded a corner, and Arus found himself
staring into the shifty eyes of Nevin, a low ranking officer of the
Kyrosen known more for his mouth than his might. He almost looked
as though he was expecting their visit, standing at the front of
his cell with his fists wrapped around the prison bars. His unkempt
black hair dangled just above his dark eyes, and he wore a wry
smile. "Well, well, well," he grumbled. "Look what we have
here."

"Shut it," Kitreena hissed. "You'll speak
only when you're spoken to, is that understood?"

"Calm yourself," Damien said in a voice meant
only for her. "Let's not start this out on the wrong foot."

"That's up to him," she responded with a
snort. Raising her voice, she addressed Nevin directly. "Cooperate
with us, and you will not be harmed. But bear in mind that you are
our prisoner, safely behind bars and—"

"And under the watchful eyes of your jailers,
I know," Nevin's eyes flicked back and forth. It was then that Arus
noticed the two guards on either side of the cell. Neither wore the
extra armor of the rest of the patrols, and they stood facing Nevin
with their hands extended toward him. Arus still hadn't gotten used
to seeing so many aliens around him, so the presence of a
blue-skinned being that resembled a cross between a tiger and a
lizard startled him. He wore the same uniform as the rest of the
Alliance soldiers, though his deep blue scales and thin whiskers
extending from his long snout certainly seemed out of place against
the smooth browns of his attire. Across from him stood a female
alien that looked mostly human aside from a series of round fleshy
knobs that lined her hairline from ears to forehead. Thanai,
Kitreena had called them, a humanoid race with amazing talent for
insight and intelligence levels that nearly quadrupled the average
human's. The Thanai were also skilled magic users, and Arus was
willing to bet that the lizard-man shared that talent.

Kitreena must have noticed the looks he gave
the two guards, because she leaned over and whispered, "They're
creating a magical barrier around him to prevent him from using
magic to escape. Standard procedure when holding a prisoner with
such capabilities."

While she spoke, Damien was finishing his
warnings for Nevin. "Rest assured that any attempt to either escape
or harm anyone on this ship will result in your prompt execution.
Do we understand each other?"

"Don't threaten me with idle words, Damien.
You and I both know that I am protected by the Aeden Alliance's
Code of Ethics for Proper Treatment of Prisoners." Despite the
confidence in his voice, Nevin's eyes seemed to be searching for a
way out. "You won't lay a finger on me and you know it."

"As long as you cooperate," Kitreena added.
Arus got the feeling she was daring him to try something. "Cause us
trouble, and the Code no longer applies."

Nevin's stare sharpened as he looked between
both her and Damien. "If you have questions, get to them."

Damien wasted no time. "What do you know
about Truce's implant technology?"

"Little. Very little. Truce didn't involve
any of us in the project. Only he and Olock are knowledgeable
enough in that kind of stuff to be able to make it work. All I can
tell you about are the few experiences I've had with Arus
personally."

And there weren't many. The only times Arus
really remembered encountering the man were during the training
sessions in the Underworld when Truce had pitted the Kyrosen's best
warriors against him to test the implant's abilities. Other than
that, and the few times Arus had seen Nevin during the battles at
Narleaha and Cathymel, they hadn't had much interaction at all.

"Does he have a buyer for the technology? Has
he passed the schematics to anyone else?"

"Not that I know of," Nevin shrugged. "But
Truce was never one to tell us his plans up front. He always waited
until he'd already achieved whatever goal he had, and then he'd
tell us about it."

"Did he ever mention a back-up plan? Did he
have any ideas prepared in case the implant failed?"

Nevin pursed his lips and tilted his head
with a face of disdain. "What did I just say?"

"Answer the question!" Kitreena immediately
demanded. "Did he have any alternate plans?"

"I don't know!" Nevin shouted back. "Truce
doesn't tell us his plans!"

Again, Damien looked at Kitreena. She shook
her head, muttering something under her breath, and Damien sighed
through a frustrated frown. "Are you aware that Truce is now in the
custody of Kindel Thorus?"

"I said I don't—" He cut himself off as the
question registered. "He's what?"

"He claims to have worked out a deal with the
Armada. The Kyrosen and the Vezulian Armada are now allies."

"That . . ." Nevin's confidence finally
seemed to shatter as he slowly lowered himself onto the cot behind
him. "That's not possible. Truce would never trust those
savages."

Damien nodded and tried to keep his voice
calm, though desperation glimmered in his eyes. "Do you think he'll
sell the implant to Kindel?"

Nevin immediately shook his head, but his
response seemed directed more toward himself than Damien. "Never!
He wouldn't hand over a weapon like that to the Kyrosen's greatest
enemy!" When he looked back at Damien, his face was a depiction of
pure fear. "Would he?"

Again, Damien sighed, this time staring at
the floor. "Let's hope not. Thank you for your cooperation, Nevin.
I'll see that you are sent a hearty meal for lunch today."

The Mage didn't even seem to hear. He stared
into space, mumbling something about the imminent end of the
Kyrosen. Damien looked back at Arus. "It's your turn. Ask him
whatever you'd like."

But Arus shook his head. "He's already
answered my questions. If Truce has kept the rest of the Kyrosen in
the dark about the implant, then he wouldn't know how to remove it
. . . if it even
can
be removed."

Damien nodded and started down the hall, and
Kitreena followed after sparing Arus a comforting pat on the
shoulder.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Arus
asked them as they walked.

Kitreena's look was grim. "I don't know. Most
prisoners aren't great actors, and given the strain of what we told
him, I doubt Nevin would've been able to react so emotionally
without showing at least a few cracks in his facade."

"I think his surprise about Truce's deal with
Kindel was genuine," Damien added. "I wonder how many of the other
Kyrosen feel the same way."

"I'm sure the promise of a return to space
sweetened the deal for at least some," she reasoned, "but I bet
there are others who would just as soon spend the rest of their
existence in the Underworld as strike a deal with Thorus."

"Hopefully, our other prisoner will prove
more useful."

The person standing in the next cell shocked
Arus even more. He was large even sitting on the edge of his bed,
wearing garb unusually different from the traditional black pants
and vest of the Kyrosen. Instead, his attire was mostly blue, woven
of a sturdy looking material that Arus had never seen before. An
emblem of a vicious boar surrounded by fire was sewn onto the right
side of his vest, though he lacked the usual colored shirt that
most of his fellow Mages usually donned beneath their own. A snug
brimless hat covered the top of his head, and stringy blond hair
fell just below his chin. Two guards, one Zo'rhan and the other
Thanai, stood on either side of his cell the same as those that
watched Nevin. The prisoner looked at Arus oddly as they
approached. To Damien and Kitreena, he gave slight nods, but the
expression he gave Arus almost looked like relief.

"You are well, I see," his low voice
murmured. "Has your mind been restored?"

Arus nodded, almost unsure as to whether or
not he should answer. Damien and Kitreena stayed silent, leaving
him room to respond. "It has. How's the leg?"

Muert looked down at his right leg. "Just
about healed. The doctor on this ship has got some incredible tools
at his disposal."

It didn't make sense. Muert had been
seriously injured during the cave-in of the Underworld tunnel. His
leg shouldn't have been healed already, nor should he have been
well enough to travel to Cathymel with Truce's army. But if he was
the other prisoner, then he must've been there. "I didn't see you
with us on the way to the castle," Arus told him. "How did you make
the journey injured as you were?"

Muert looked away and shook his head. "When
the Boss speaks, we obey. I was amongst the second wave that
followed your group. We were to keep any of the Royal Guard troops
from reaching the castle if the warning bell sounded. Boss made me
wear a splint and said to tough it out. I had no choice."

"Would you have been there if he'd given you
the choice?"

This time the Mage snorted. "Would
you
have?" For the first time, Arus began to wonder if Muert might be
questioning the actions of his leader. And he hadn't even heard the
latest of what Truce had been up to!

Damien must've sensed it as well. "I get the
feeling you don't agree much with what Sartan Truce has been
doing," he said. "Do you?"

Muert looked at him for a moment, and despite
his impressive size, his look bordered with fear. "I . . . don't
know anymore. When we were first shown the implant technology, I
was excited. But none of us knew precisely how it worked or the
necessary sacrifices required for it to work properly. Once we
learned that Arus had robbed of his free will, many were disturbed
by the idea, but they accepted because what the Boss says is law
for us. There were others who were thrilled with it because of our
history of conflict with the humans; they may as well have been
drooling over the idea of enslaving each and every one of them. But
I never got comfortable with the idea. No one—man, woman, or
child—no one should have their free will taken away."

Kitreena was certainly puzzled by the
response. "If so many people question Truce's actions, why do you
all follow him so loyally?"

Muert shrugged as he rose from the bed and
turned away from them. "He's all we have. The leadership of the
Kyrosen isn't something that can just be thrown around from person
to person just because we don't understand their ideals. Our
society has been guided by the Truce family for generations, from
Sartan to Aratus to Marcine and all the way back to the day that
Orontus Mendin Truce led us to victory in the battle against the
army of New Dunson. That was nearly four hundred years ago. And
even while Aratus nearly drove us to extinction, we never even
considered naming another as leader. We've followed the Truces for
too long to even imagine a society under the guidance of
another."

"I've got a question for you," Damien began,
"but don't misinterpret me here. I have no intentions of releasing
or pardoning you. But I want an honest answer." The glance he gave
Kitreena was so quick that Arus wondered if he'd imagined it. "If
we released you, would you go back to the Kyrosen?"

Muert kept his back to them. He almost seemed
to be fighting with himself, but Arus knew what the answer would
be. "I would have to," he finally said. "It is my place."

Before Damien or Kitreena could speak, Arus
asked, "What if we brought your wife and daughter here safely? If
your family was together and safely away from Truce, would you
still want to go back?"

No sooner had Arus finished the question than
Muert whirled around, his eyebrows raised and mouth open. "You
haven't imprisoned them, have you? I swear, if you've touched a
single hair on—"