Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1) (8 page)

Besides,
he thought to himself with a smile,
all of those other four-star bastards who actually want a seat at the Joint Chiefs table have enjoyed the hell out of seeing me assigned to this crap command.

He strapped in and put on his headset.

“Pilot, what’s our ETA?” he asked.

“17 minutes,” came the response.

“Let’s go.”

Last Stand Command, my ass,
thought Alcorn, as the chopper lifted off.
Who’s laughing now?

Qilzar was miserable. He had experienced many uncomfortable moments in his lifetime, including the recent encounter with his boss just a couple of sars earlier. But, compared to his current situation, his confrontation with Xtlar seemed almost pleasant. Traveling with the belligerent wife of an ex-employee to some backwater planet named Irt was easily the worst experience of his entire existence.

As planned, they met in the parking lot of the Pigawitts building, at which point Gsefx’s wife immediately insisted on demonstrating her penchant for verbal assault. Unpleasant as it was, it was not totally unexpected, and Qilzar weathered the barrage as best he could. Through the various obscenities and other choice words she flung his way, he discovered her name was Lhvunsa and that she and Gsefx had been married for ten turns. Only when her tirade ended and she paused to catch her breath, did she reveal she knew where her husband was and that he was very likely in serious trouble.

“I’ve tracked his vehicle to a remote sector of the galaxy about three sars from here,” she said. “It appears he’s gone to a tiny, recently-charted planet called Irt.”

“Irt? Never heard of it,” said Qilzar, doing his best to act as casual as possible. It wasn’t working. “Whatever would possess him to go there?”

Lhvunsa’s thick eyebrows bunched together as her eyes narrowed to barely-open slits. “He wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even consider such a foolish idea if he hadn’t been fired! You would both be sitting comfortably in your offices doing whatever it is you do there. And I would be wrapping up my contract for the new addition to the Klarock Museum instead of …”

She paused and sighed deeply.

“All right, enough of that,” she said with a wave of one of her three hands. “Apparently, since he had some unexpected free time, Gsefx went to Irt to obtain some music straight from the source. Albalan originates from Irt, you know.”

“Alavan? What’s that?” asked Qilzar.

“Al-ba-lan. It’s a newly discovered form of music. Quite primitive and all the rage lately. I don’t care much for it, but Gsefx just can’t seem to get enough. He’s obsessed with it. I’m sure that’s why he went there. He may be a great accountant, but there are times when his common sense leaves a lot to be desired. It’s doubtful he considered any of the potential consequences before taking off like that.”

Qilzar was about to ask another question, but Lhvunsa stopped him with another wave of the same hand. “Before you ask any more questions, get in your vehicle; we have to go and find him.”

Qilzar stepped back as if he’d been slapped. “Have you lost your mind, Madam?” he cried. “I’m not going to Irt, or whatever it’s called. Gsefx is an adult, and quite capable of taking care of himself. If you feel like chasing after him, please do so, but you’ll not drag me along.”

He paused for a moment, reminding himself of his tenuous employment situation. “When you do see him,” he said gently, “please tell him the whole firing business was a terribly unfortunate mistake, and to please contact me immediately.”

He turned as if to get back in his vehicle, only to feel a rather determined hand grab his arm and spin him back around.

“Don’t even think about walking away from me!” said Lhvunsa, one hand gripping his arm, another sternly planted on her hip, and the third shaking a delicate green finger in his face. “Gsefx’s vehicle has stopped responding, which means he’s in trouble. Not only are you going with me, you’re piloting. This entire turn of events is your fault and if anything happens to my husband, I will hold you personally responsible.”

In all of his forty-seven turns, Qilzar had never been married, had never, in fact, even had a serious romantic relationship. He liked the female form well enough, but found the corresponding psyche completely impossible to fathom, not to mention rather frightening. So it wasn’t at all out of character when he shrank in the face of Lhvunsa’s demands. To his credit, he did try to object—three separate times, in fact. Each time he got no further than opening his mouth before realizing anything he might say would only serve to diminish his already poor standing with this woman, whose help he desperately needed if he was going to avoid exile on Zaras 7. In the end, he simply closed his mouth and opened the passenger door for Gsefx’s wife.

From that high point, things went downhill rather quickly. There were no further outbursts of anger, only a cold, harsh silence, as Lhvunsa sat quietly staring out the window. It wasn’t long before Qilzar hoped she would start yelling again. He twice attempted to start conversations, asking about her family first, then her career. He was abruptly cut off both times with glares that cut right through him, which were followed by even more intense silence. Shortly thereafter, he switched the vehicle over to manual control and focused on piloting. According to his on-board navigational computer, they were about thirty ebyts from Irt when Lhvunsa finally broke the silence.

“Why do you hate my husband so much?”

The suddenness of her question startled Qilzar out of his dark thoughts, which mostly centered around the disaster awaiting him on Zaras 7.

“Ahh … excuse me? What did you say?”

She surprised Qilzar further by reaching over and engaging the auto-pilot.

“I want to know why you despise Gsefx so much.”

Her tone was conversational, but there was nothing casual about the question.

“He’s done nothing to you except make you and your department look good time and again by meeting impossible deadlines with unmatched accuracy. He works so much, especially since his promotion, I hardly see him anymore. Yet you treat him like a criminal.”

“And speaking of the promotion,” she continued, her voice rising again, “why in the galaxy would you promote him, only to hound him mercilessly and make his life miserable afterwards, then fire him on a minor technicality? That doesn’t make any sense! What do you have against him?”

“Whatever do you mean?” asked Qilzar, slipping into the smooth voice he used on troublesome clients. “Gsefx has always been my top employee and I am actually quite fond of him. As I tried to explain earlier, this whole thing was just a simple misunderstanding. I was merely trying to point out that he needed to do something about his consistent tardiness and somehow it got blown out of proportion. You must believe me, I would never intentionally do anything to hurt your husband.”

“Ha!” she cried. “You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you? I don’t know who you think I am, but I assure you …”

Qilzar watched as an expression of shocked disbelief overtook her face.

“Unbelievable,” she said shaking her head. “As far as you’re concerned, you’re telling the truth. You actually believe what you’re saying, don’t you? You’ve convinced yourself that none of this is your fault, that it really was just a misunderstanding. You’ve probably even convinced yourself that somehow this is all Gsefx’s fault.”

Qilzar opened his mouth as if to speak, but he wasn’t given the chance.

“You fired him, Qilzar!” continued Lhvunsa. “For some reason, ever since his promotion, you’ve been looking for ways to hurt him and today you succeeded in the worst way imaginable. You fired your best employee for nothing more than spite. You might be able to convince yourself this was a simple misunderstanding and that you’re not the cause of it, but you won’t get me to buy into that lie.”

She reached over and switched the ship back to manual mode.

“Forget I said anything and just pilot.” She turned her back to him and looked out the window again.

Qilzar was stunned. Too stunned to do anything except what he was told. As he piloted the ship, his thoughts were no longer on Zaras 7, or even Irt for that matter. He had never encountered anyone like the woman sitting next to him. He was used to getting what he wanted, either by bullying or manipulating those around him. Lhvunsa would allow him to do neither. She had, in fact, done a pretty good job of bullying him since the moment he first contacted her.

Moreover, she was right. He really had started to convince himself that none of this was his fault. That Gsefx was, in fact, the miserable show-off he made him out to be. But why? What had Gsefx actually done to him to deserve such treatment? The answer was simple. Admitting it wasn’t.

“I don’t hate Gsefx,” he said quietly.

“What?”

He reengaged the auto-pilot and turned to face Lhvunsa.

“I said, I don’t hate Gsefx.”

Lhvunsa turned from the window to face him.

“I don’t dislike him at all. It’s just that …” he looked down at his hands, unable to meet her eyes.

“Yes? I’m waiting.”

“I’m jealous of him,” he said softly. “I know how juvenile that must sound, but it’s the truth. He’s successful because he’s smart, talented, and good with people in a way I’ll never be. He’s a natural leader.”

He took a deep breath and summoned the courage to look at Lhvunsa directly.

“His success isn’t limited to the workplace, either. He’s happily married to a beautiful woman who clearly loves him very much. I, on the other hand, have never even been on a third date.”

He turned away from her and looked out his window, silence enveloping the cockpit once again. When Lhvunsa finally spoke again, her voice was gentle, but firm.

“Qilzar,” she said, “you are a selfish, bitter, heartless bully who punishes everyone around you to make up for your own failings. But I have to give you credit, it took a lot of courage to say what you did just now.”

He turned back to face her.

“I think it was more difficult to hear the words than it was to say them.”

“There may be hope for you, yet,” she said with a smile.

He returned her smile, but before he could say anything, the navigational computer signaled their arrival at Irt.

Lhvunsa removed a small device from her purse.

“This device allows us to know where our vehicles are at all times. It also lets us know the status of each vehicle. We each have one. Gsefx invented them about a turn ago. He took a couple of basic vehicle analyzers and reprogrammed them so they’d not only analyze each vehicle’s status, but they’d also talk to each other and alert us if either vehicle traveled outside of a one hundred parsec range. I thought they were just a part of his ridiculous hobby and a waste of time. When I see him again, I’m going to tell him just how wrong I was, right after I strangle him for being so stupid!”

“That’s quite impressive,” said Qilzar, marveling over the device in his passenger’s hands. “I had no idea Gsefx was such an electronics wizard.”

“I wouldn’t call him a wizard,” said Lhvunsa, flatly. “All it really amounts to is a lot of excess junk laying around the house. It’s mostly just a big mess.”

“Perhaps,” said Qilzar, “but Lhvunsa, that device you’re holding in your hand is not something just anyone can throw together. Gsefx’s talents are clearly not limited to accounting.”

“I suppose you’re right. It still doesn’t get him off the hook. He’s still in deep trouble.”

“Of that, we’re in solid agreement. Any sign of him, yet?”

“Not yet, you’ll have to move into a lower orbit. Depending on what side of the planet he’s over right now, this may take a while.”

Qilzar moved the ship into the lowest possible orbit and accelerated to maximum speed in hopes that wherever Gsefx was, they could overtake him soon.

Lhvunsa stared at the device in her hand, willing it to reveal the location of her husband’s vehicle. As angry as she’d been at Qilzar earlier, she was now more frightened than anything. After all she had been through recently, the thought of losing her beloved Gsefx was too much to bear, especially over something as trivial as his ridiculous music. Even if things weren’t all that wonderful between them right now, she never doubted their love for one another, not for a moment.

She shook the device, then tapped its side, hoping in vain that such actions would somehow make it find Gsefx faster. It didn’t.

She knew he’d been looking forward to going away to Alnost this break and relaxing at that new resort. It was all Gsefx talked about, when they talked at all. She supposed getting away would be good for them, but honestly, she didn’t care where they went, or if they went anywhere at all. She just wanted to spend some time together, time where he was really with her and not working. She needed it. They needed it. It had been so long since they had talked, really talked. Not since “the incident,” which is how she’d come to refer to it lately. She couldn’t seem to bring herself to verbalize what had really happened. She focused on the device again, but still no sign of her husband.

“May I ask you a question?” asked Qilzar softly, breaking her concentration before she could sink any deeper into her thoughts.

“Of course,” she said, pulling herself away from the device, grateful for the distraction, “ask me whatever you’d like.”

Qilzar hesitated for a moment, as if he were summoning the courage to ask a question he knew would be better left unasked. Perhaps he was just too frightened to hear the answer.

“Go ahead, Qilzar,” said Lhvunsa, her curiosity piqued. “I promise I won’t bite … or yell. What’s on your mind?”

“When we first met,” he said slowly, without turning to face her, “you were angry with me for firing Gsefx, correct?”

“Yes, and understandably so,” she said, caution now overtaking her former curiosity. “What about it? I thought we just resolved all of that.”

“Well, yes and no.”

Qilzar turned suddenly to face her.

“Lhvunsa, you attacked me quite viciously back in the Pigawitts parking lot,” he said, holding up his hand to ward off any objection before it had a chance to start. “Now, I understand you were angry, and I was deserving of your anger, but I can’t help but think there’s something more going on than mere anger toward me. I think I should know if there’s anything else, any deeper issues that might be going on.”