A Secret Quest Read online

  Once inside, Dyamatti quickly located the small box that carried the bands. Her fingers slid over the box and undid the latches; freeing the lid to pop open and reveal the valuable contents.

  The bands where exactly where they should have been. The princess allowed herself a small sigh of relief.

  Even though the princess knew she was alone, she couldn't help but cast her glance back over her shoulders to check the room just in case. She reached her hand inside the box and picked up one of the delicate bands and slid it over her wrist. The platinum bracelet then did something most unexpected; it let out a beep and then clasped itself together. It was now sealed around Dyamatti's wrist.

  She held her wrist up to eye it more closely. If she didn't know any better, she would think the band just linked itself to her in some way. Although, the more she thought about it, the more something like that would make sense. The bracelets were meant for her and only her. A mechanism to link her to the bands would serve as a security fail safe.

  The princess knew it was best to save any closer investigations of the bands for a later time. There were more immediate concerns for her to focus on. She quickly slid the other band on her wrist, which also emitted a beep and closed shut, and hopped up to return out of the vault.

  It wasn't until Dyamatti was on her way to her quarters that she noticed the bright bands on her wrists didn't really make her feel any different. They were designed to amplify her already considerable powers and focus them on a point at the quantum level. It was a great deal of technobabble that she really didn't understand, although she often pretended to during the long and boring meetings about the subject. All she knew was that with the bands, she could use her powers to ignite a reaction at the quantum level which would then grow. She remembered being told something about particles and anti-particles coming together and annihilating each other. The idea was to kick start the power reactor for the new hyper-gate so that it could be brought online.

  But given the circumstances, she was sure that she would feel something different. But there wasn't anything at all. Not that she could notice, anyway. With a shrug, she came to the conclusion that it was something else she would have to worry about later.

  Before long, she found herself outside the councilman's door. If things were about to turn sour, it was her duty to look after him. Not that the old politician would ever approve of such thoughts. Still, her father would never forgive her if something were to happen to his oldest friend.

  Tyra had stood by King Laurenitis' side for more than three decades. Even when those in the Imperial Grand Council sought to usurp the king and many had aligned themselves against Laurenitis, Tyra stood firm, never waning in his commitment to his king. But as steadfast as Tyra was, he was also an old man. In a combat situation, he would be nothing more than a liability, despite his best intentions.

  The door to the councilman's quarters smoothly slid apart and Dyamatti stepped through to what was a very strange scene, indeed. Tyra was sitting at a desk while her aide, Julian, stood next to him. It appeared that he was taking notes of some sort while the councilman dictated instructions to him.

  “Ahem.” the princess said, catching the attention of the two men.

  “Dyamatti, what a wonderful surprise!” Tyra exclaimed while rising from his seat to greet her.

  “You seem awfully comfortable for someone who's been confined for his own safety.”

  Tyra let out a soft chuckle at the young woman's words. “When you've been doing these sorts of things for as long as I have, you learn how to make the best use of your time. Otherwise the sheer boredom will drive you mad.” he informed.

  “I suppose so.” she replied.

  The old politician took Dyamatti by the hand and said, “come. Sit down.”

  He gestured for her to rest herself on the soft and plush couch in the center of the room. Meanwhile, he walked to the large chair opposite and eased himself into it, saying as he did, “so, why come and see an old man? Getting tired of being cooped up?”

  It wasn't just the words that he said, it was the look in his eye that let the princess know Tyra was on to her. “Do I really need a reason to visit with an old friend? Can't we just pass the time together?”

  He leaned forward in his spot and cast the princess a stare. “Dyamatti...” he said in a tone like a parent who knows when a child isn't being truthful.

  “Don't try to bullshit a bullshitter, my dear.” he said with a chuckle.

  “What would you have me say, Tyra?” she shot back, still trying her best to feign innocence.

  A smile began to stretch across the old councilman's face. He knew the young princess had her heart in the right place. “I appreciate the concern.” he said, “and you're right.”

  “Right about what?”

  “Don't think for a moment that just because I've kept myself locked away in this room that I don't know what's going on. You should know me better than that, girl.” Tyra informed as he allowed himself to lean back into the large chair once more.

  He cast a glance over to the plain man that was still present. “Julian, would you excuse us?”

  “Of course, Your Grace.” the plain main replied before bowing and leaving.

  When the old politician was certain that no unwanted ears where listening to his words, he continued. “Things are about to get bad.” he said, his tone much more serious than it had been just a minute before. “Someone knows about our plan, Dyamatti. That means they know about you and what you can do.”

  “I was thinking the same things.” Dyamatti said as her eyes trailed downwards to the floor. “We'll have to fight our way home, won't we?”

  “Yes, I'm afraid we will.” he answered solemnly. “Still, don't let that get in the way of what you have to do. The mission comes first. You come first. Don't worry about an old man who might just get in the way.”

  “Tyra...”

  “No.” the councilman interrupted. “No words, Dyamatti. You must get yourself and those bands back to the Empire. It means everything. Now more than ever.”

  The princess knew full well the meaning of Tyra's words. The entire reason her mission and everything surrounding the hyper-gate was kept secret was not only because of what it would mean for the Empire's prosperity, but also what might happen if outside forces were to acquire the technology; outside forces who might have darker motives.

  Not long after the scientific discoveries that led to the hyper-gate system was made, The emperor held a meeting with the kings to discuss the matter and its implications. King Laurenitis fought hard to suppress the knowledge for now. His reasoning was simple: Until the gate was finished, the technology was untested and not guaranteed to even work. However, if someone else was to steal that technology, they might be able to not only get it to work faster, but better. And if those who sought the technology had ill intentions towards the Empire, it would invite the Empire's destruction.

  Not all the other kings agreed with Laurenitis, but the Emperor did. Jordan II ordered all matters pertaining to the hyper-gate held under the tightest of secrecy. It was yet another occasion that served to distance Laurenitis from certain members of the IGC and the other kings.

  “I'll do my best.” was the only thing the princess could offer.

  “That's all any of us can do.”

  At that moment, the vessel lurched hard. Dyamatti instinctively reached out toward the councilman, as if her will was enough to steady him. Over on the comm console, a light started to blink and the panel emitted a series of beeps to indicate someone on the other end wanted to talk.

  Dyamatti rose from her seat and walked to the blinking panel and tapped the appropriate control. “Yes?” she said into the comm.

  “Uh...Your Highness?” the voice on the other end stammered. “I was trying for Councilman Tyra's quarters. I think I made a mistake.”

  “You didn't make a mistake, Lieutenant. I'm in Tyra's quarters.”

  “Ah, okay.” The nervous voice continued, “
I just wanted to let both of you know that we've returned to normal space. We're approaching the mining colony. Colonel Hastings requests that you remain in your quarters while the repairs are completed.”

  The princess looked over at Tyra and rolled her eyes. The old man let out a snicker in response. “We'll do as the Colonel asks. But inform him to hurry.”

  “Understood, Your Highness. Anderson out.”

  Chapter IV

  The local star's light glistened off the gleaming hull of the Alpheenian ship as it approached the docking port of the mining facility. The facility, itself, was located on a large asteroid in orbit along with innumerable others of various shapes and sizes. Companies realized long ago that it was both far easier and more economic to mine metals from hunks of rock floating in space. There were fewer taxes and fees. And best of all, no environmental concerns.

  Originally, this was a colony set up by one of the local large corporations. The idea was to have a permanent residence established along with the mining facility. It was intended to provide a place of commerce for the sector as well as housing for the miners and their families. Things didn't go according to plan, however, as the colony was little more than a derelict ruin floating in the void. The facility, itself, had been abandoned long ago, save for a few stragglers looking to eek out a few drakes from what was left.

  There were several docking points along the outer rim of the colony. All of them were empty, except for one at the far end. Linked to the docking port was a small, wedge-shaped ship about twenty meters in length. From the looks of it, the small vessel had been in service for quite some time. It was old and bore many small dings and dents from micro meteors and other debris it had encountered over the years.

  Fortunately the Empire had the foresight to design its vessels with secondary docking ports and the princess' ship was able to dock on the far end, away from the other vessel. Hastings thought it might be wisest just in case those aboard the other ship were of a less than hospitable rational.

  Fortunately, the docking procedure activated and operated flawlessly. Although, the colonel mostly expected it to. The real worry was when the repairs were finished and it was time to depart. The princess' ship had no problem linking with the Zyglar vessel, it was separation that was the problem. It was something he intended to have addressed alongside their current star-drive issues.

  Those concerns, though, paled in comparison to the real dilemma: Who was it that sold them out? Hastings had his doubts about Crewman Lambert's guilt. Lambert just didn't have the skills required to reprogram the docking computer. And if he did, surely he would have figured a way to alter the logs to hide his true identity. It was something the colonel meant to look into while the ship was undergoing the repairs to the star-drive.

  But before he could continue his search, the facility needed to be secured. While it was extremely unlikely that their unseen adversary would have planted a trap on the very rock they had arrived at, it was plausible that other threats lurked. The colony appeared to have been left to rot some time ago. There was no telling what sort of unsavory characters might have moved in and established themselves.

  He sent three men out to patrol the surrounding area. Once they reported back and the all-clear was given, only then would Hastings allow the repairs to commence. Until he got the signal, everyone on the ship would just have to sit and wait.

  That was the plan, at least. But as with most many things on this journey, the universe saw fit to show the colonel how little control he actually had. Just as his men were disembarking into the colony to start their patrol, Anderson's voice cracked over the comm to alert her superior that the situation had just gotten more serious.

  “Uh, Colonel...” the young woman said uneasily over the comm, “I know you're not really in the mood for bad news, but you might want to tell the patrol to move quickly.”

  “What's the problem, Lieutenant?” Hastings shot back, more annoyed that nothing seemed to be going right than he was at Anderson's words.''

  “The raiders are still pursuing us. Long range scans show they'll be here within three hours.”

  “Dammit!” the colonel fumed under his breath. “Understood, Lieutenant. Hastings out.”

  A fleshy fist slammed against cold, hard enlar as Hastings blood boiled. He was a fool. He should have known that the raiders would come after them. With someone working against them on the inside, another system failure or sabotage attempt was a certainty. The raiders would have known this. Either they would have figured their man would try something else, or the entire malfunction with the star-drive was plan “B”, just in case plan “A” failed, which it did.

  “Zelinski...” he said into the open comm, “better double time it. Anderson says we'll have company soon and I don't plan on being here when they arrive. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir!” was the enthusiastic confirmation from the other end.

  “Good. I want reports every five minutes.”

  There was even less time for repairs than Hastings had hoped for. Still, he was sure his men were up to the task. Solving the star-drive dilemma should be nothing more than a simple software fix. If the program was in bad enough shape, the option of loading an older version was always available. Each system was designed to store multiple backups just in case something went wrong with updates to the code. With a few commands, and older version of the software could be re-loaded back into the system. If the problem was something mechanical, though, the situation would be much more serious, indeed.

  Chief Waters would have to tackle that particular job, however, as the colonel had other plans. Waters was the COO of the vessel, or Chief of Operations. It was his job to oversee the myriad of systems and functions on the ship and ensure that everything ran smoothly. And when it didn't, it was his job to fix it. Waters wasn't an officer, but he may as well have been. His decisions and actions affected everyone aboard the vessel. And his words carried a great deal of weight among the crew.

  No, the colonel wouldn't be leading the repair crew. That was Waters' job. Hastings was intent on using the time to track down the saboteur and putting an end to anymore “mishaps”. As an officer of the crown and bodyguard to the princess, that was his job.

  As he walked down the corridor on the second deck, he stopped to use a command panel. He tapped a few buttons on the holo-monitor and asked, “what is Crewman Lambert's current location and status?”

  The soothing female voice of the computer promptly replied, “Crewman Lambert is currently logged on to station three in the engine room.”

  “What's he doing?”

  “Unknown. No input inquiries have been logged in the last seventeen minutes.”

  “Seventeen minutes? What was he doing before that?” Hastings asked.

  “Unknown. Last input from terminal was encrypted. Unable to decipher.” the computer answered with it's unemotional voice.

  Things kept getting more and more interesting where Lambert was concerned. Could he have been sending a message to his collaborators? Was that why the raiders knew to follow them? Or was it something else entirely? The colonel couldn't be sure until he pinned the crewman down and talked to him face-to-face.

  If Lambert was smarter than Hastings gave him credit for, then all of this could be a red herring. There was only one way to find out. “Lambert is logged into the station, but is he actually in the engine room?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you tell what he's doing?”

  “Crewman Lambert is doing nothing at the moment.”

  “Nothing at all?” Hastings wondered aloud. Why would his quarry just stand still in the engine room. Was he waiting for something or someone? “Is he moving or standing still?”

  “Neither.”