For obvious reasons, Xarrid had begun to look for footprints, and any other kind of electronic activities, into the Guardian’s system. He then started to track the power levels of all the veiling beams. He saw fluctuations that occurred at regular intervals, going back several months, giving the hacker time to experiment with the system. Undoubtedly, the hacker was testing to see if his activities would be apparent to anyone at the Command Center on Earth. They hadn’t been. These fluctuations went back to the previous winter, approximately around the time of Maddie’s first capture.
Why would anyone want to go after Maddie though? She presented no threat whatsoever. Xarrid went behind the scenes of all activity in their home security systems, trying to find if someone could have entered their premises and attacked the system from inside. Everything was untouched and stable from this end.
So the deduction in all of his investigations had led him to Vesturon, and he was positive it was from an insider that had the closest of ties to the Council and governing boards. Xarrid began to think how he would handle this discovery. He would certainly tell his siblings, but could he trust anyone else? What if this was being perpetrated by one of the Guardians that was stationed at home on Vesturon. That was a distinct possibility, because any Guardian with a leadership role would have a high level of security clearance. Who should be involved in this investigation, he wondered?
Xarrid made the decision to keep trying to uncover the actual footprint, or entry point, of the breech. He deduced that if he could pinpoint the exact location of that, his chances of uncovering the culprit would be even greater.
He thought about the veiling system then, and he decided that he needed to input another layer of unidentifiable codes into it, making it hacker-proof. He went to work on that, completely restructuring their security system. This would mean that the entire family, including Maddie, would have to be recoded, using retina scans, DNA identification, and body scanning.
He would implement every known kind of identifier, so even if someone could copy one or two of them, chances of copying all three were a billion to one. After all those changes were installed, he still didn’t feel one hundred percent comfortable, so he decided he would also install another layer using heartbeat modulation. Since everyone had a unique sound to their heartbeat, that would add an extra measure of safety. He was taking no chances and was taking the term firewall to a completely different level.
After all the changes were made, he started to enter everything necessary that would inactivate the current system. When he was finished with that, his next step was to encode all his personal data so that he had immediate access to everything, blocking anyone else from access, including the security departments on Vesturon. Xarrid had to be sure his sector was completely safe, and this was the only way he could accomplish this. All systems were go for now.
He tapped into the veiling beams and activated the entire system, so now, all the property, including the house, had gone dark. They were safe on that account again. Muting was also reactivated, so all was secure. Xarrid relaxed briefly before his spinning mind took over.
Now he had to think about everything that had happened. He jumped out of his seat and started pacing.
Who could have done this? More importantly, why would anyone want to have done this? If Maddie hadn’t been captured, they could have gone for weeks without uncovering this. That would have put them all at risk for some seriously dangerous scenarios. Xarrid didn’t even want to go there; the ramifications were just too great. Who on Vesturon wanted them in danger? That was the real question.
Xarrid went through each of the security and alarm systems on the premises. He concluded that all was intact in that regard. The Compound and Command Center both used shield security. Unlike infrared beams that the humans used, their technology allowed them to raise invisible shields that made it impossible for any type of mass to pass through. The shields had not been corrupted, so whoever sabotaged the system only did it so the veiling devices would be affected. Why would that be? If someone wanted to take down their entire security system, why not deactivate the shields as well?
Xarrid was convinced the answers were imbedded somewhere in their files—but that would be like searching for a grain of salt within a mound of sand. There were just so many files in the system that it was going to take some painstaking detective work. Xarrid always loved a challenge, and he looked at this as the ultimate one. Someone had deliberately tried to harm his family, and he was determined to get to the bottom of this.
He needed to talk with Therron immediately. He projected his thoughts out to him. Therron was still on Vesturon and wouldn’t be back for a few more days.
Minutes later, Therron was answering Xarrid’s summons.
Therron: Xarrid? What is happening?
Xarrid: I need your help. I have reset our entire system, and we are now secure again. The veil is back in place, but oddly enough, our shields were not affected at all. The breach came from Vesturon, and I was wondering if you could make contact with someone you trust—and I repeat, someone you trust—from the main security station there. I think if we can get someone to look at the footprints sent from Vesturon to our Earth base, we may be able to narrow down the culprit. Therron, I know
how
it was done, but I do not know
who
did it or
why
. Do you think you can get someone to assist you?
Therron: Yes, but let me think about this. I also forgot to mention to you that in the process of interrogating Maddie’s abductor, he confessed to having been hired by someone. I did not have time to delve into this before I vaporized him because of the severity of Maddie’s condition, but that may give you your start on Vesturon. I still need to talk to Father about this and Rayn.
Xarrid: How is Maddie?
Therron: Better. It has been a tough road for her, but she is a strong female. She will be fine, but I am worried about her emotional scarring. Rayn was not pleased with us though. He has blamed the incident on us and on our lack of diligence. I am afraid I must agree with him. We let our guard down, and this needs to be a strict lesson for us.
Xarrid: Yes, I concur. Contact me when you uncover any other information. I may teleport there when you get a contact. I will wait to hear out from you.
Therron: Thank you, Xarrid.
Xarrid felt better about his focus now. He would do everything he could from his end, but he felt the real truth would come from Vesturon.
A few days passed before Xarrid uncovered the files that were embedded in their system. The files were false, and Xarrid immediately recognized them as such. They were tagged as Rayn’s, but they didn’t have any of his common ciphers or codes attached. Xarrid’s inspection of them found that they were an attempt to incriminate Rayn. Upon closer scrutiny, he found them to be very amateurish, and it wouldn’t take much of an expert to uncover this. Since Xarrid’s knowledge was exceptional in this area, it was a simple task for him to recognize this.
The files were scripted to look as if Rayn was involved in a plot to overthrow his father as Leader. It was so bogus that it was almost laughable. It was, however, treasonous. Xarrid read through all the files and was astounded that anyone could make up the kind of things that were in the report. It went through the steps Rayn would take to get their father out of his role and how Rayn would even be willing to murder him if necessary.
Xarrid’s first step was to remove the files and transfer them to another device. He wanted all traces of them removed from their system to prevent anyone from hacking in and stealing them. The fewer people that knew about this, the better.
Xarrid: Therron, we need to talk again.
A few minutes passed before Xarrid got his response.
Therron: As you wish, Xarrid. What is going on?
Xarrid: I have found something that you need to see, and I want to send it to you immediately. It was a planted file in our system about Rayn. It is ridiculous, but you need to see this, as well as Father and Rayn, if he is up to it.
Therron: Can you send it to my transmitter?
Xarrid: Yes, it is on its way. You should have it any minute. Let me know what you think.
Thirty minutes later, Xarrid got a hit back from Therron.
Therron: I cannot believe this! I am in shock.
Xarrid: What reason could anyone have to want to destroy Rayn? That is what this was intended to do.
Therron: I do not know, but as the Deity is my witness, I intend to find out. This is infuriating.
Xarrid: Does Father know?
Therron: Not yet, but he will momentarily.
Xarrid: Contact me then.
Therron: That I will do.
* * * * *
Xarrid was still working on some configurations on the system, trying to get to the bottom of everything when the transcom lit up. Pictographic images of Therron and his father appeared before him, and they discussed what needed to happen next.
They decided, in Rayn’s best interests, they would keep this information from him. Rayn had enough to worry about without this additional mess they had uncovered. They would pursue an all out investigation, and no one would be immune from it. They would take it all the way to the top, if necessary. Rowan had close people he could put all of his trust in, and they would seek out his best contacts from the Command Center to uncover all their records from the past two months. They knew all of this had taken place since then, so at least they had a starting point.
Their goal was to have this plot exposed within the next week, before any other damage could occur. They didn’t know what would soon be dumped in their laps.
Two days later, Rowan summoned Therron and Xarrid to the Great Hall of the Guardians. They were introduced to Lucaren Sartorius and Dergan Calderon, where they explained the plot to ruin Rayn. They brought a letter that Thorgar Telldoge had written and left for them, and many questions were answered by it.
Thorgar had been murdered by Voldruk Monteveldo, a High Elder in the Council. Voldruk had been a close friend of Rowan’s since their early days at the Academy and then later when they both served together as Guardians. Voldruk’s wife, Martya, and Rowan’s wife, Annalise, had been best friends until Martya’s death a few years ago. Their daughter, Athyna, had always been close to the Yarrister children, as they had all grown up together. It was inconceivable that Voldruk would do something as such, but Rowan held the proof in his hand.
Not only was Rowan heartsick over what one of his best friends had done, he was also disturbed that someone so high in the Council would go to such great lengths to destroy his son. Rowan was not only angry, but he was also deeply saddened and disappointed. He wanted to get to the bottom of this issue, and quickly, before anyone else came to harm. He was still mourning the fact that one of his dearest friends had betrayed his son.
Voldruk knew what an upstanding and honorable male Rayn was. It cut Rowan to the core to see how his friend had tried to destroy Rayn. He could not wrap his mind around why Voldruk would want to do such a terrible thing.
The final assessment on Maddie’s injuries was extensive. She had suffered a severed femoral artery, and her carotid artery had been slightly nicked. The femoral artery was the one that nearly killed her. If it hadn’t been for Rykerian and Therron’s quick work in getting her to the Healer, she certainly would have died from the loss of blood.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Maddie ended up with a ruptured spleen and kidney, which required a surgical procedure for the repair. Julian tried to do an external repair, but the damage to her kidney was too severe. Darryl Carter had proved his strength and that turned out to be his last calling card.
Then there was the matter of Maddie’s left orbital socket. Apparently when Darryl Carter was on his beating spree, he kicked and backhanded her enough to almost crush that area of her face. Julian was worried about her vision in that eye. All the tests he could perform indicated everything would be fine. However, sometimes severe blows like that could damage the retina, and that might not show up until later.
Julian ultimately had to do surgery on her face as well. The orbital socket could not be repaired externally due to the extreme bone fragmentation. He had to stabilize the facial structure and then apply the bone-mending device. Luckily for Maddie, the blows she took to the head only resulted in concussions and bruising, so any permanent brain damage was not an issue.
Two days later, a bruised, battered, and bandaged Maddie was lying in her bed, with her head elevated. Rayn had been by her side during the entire ordeal. He refused to leave her, even during her surgical procedures. He forced Julian to allow him to remain with her through it all.
Julian knew he was fighting a losing battle; therefore, he had a reclining chair brought in so Rayn could at least get some badly needed sleep. Maddie had been medicated with sedatives and pain eliminators, so she slept throughout the next couple of days, waking only for minutes at a time. Rayn refused to let go of her hand.
Maddie tugged her mind out of the drug-induced haze it had been in for...she had no idea for how long. She felt bizarre—confused and a bit dizzy but sort of floaty as well. She felt her hand swaddled in warmth and turned her head in that direction. Sitting next to her was Rayn, sleeping soundly, his head lying next to her arm. His face looked so peaceful that Maddie didn’t want to disturb him. That was not to be, however, for he sensed her consciousness in his sleep. He lifted his head and flashed her one of his dazzling smiles, and he was rewarded with one in return.
He leaped out of his seat and said, “I am so glad you are awake. How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Are you in pain? Shall I call Julian?”
“Stop, Rayn! I can’t answer you if you keep asking me questions,” she mumbled, smiling in return.