The Enemy of an Enemy

Chapter Twenty-Two

The next few days passed painfully slowly.All our books were still on the Dark Talon, and even if we had hadthem with us we dared not study them while under observation. Onthe third day of our captivity Zalith came to visit.

He entered the room and came straight to thetransparent wall, locking his steel-like gaze directly on me.“Vydor, I need you to lower the screen on the Dark Talon.”

“Sorry, Zalith, I cannot do that,” I repliedand matched his gaze.

“Vydor, forget your orders for a minute. Onthat ship are some personal effects from the fallen Knights and Iwould like to get them back to their families.”

Personal effects? The Dark Knights? I couldnot believe it. Still, I could not let him on that ship, not withall that we had stored there. “When I am permitted to return to thevessel I will be glad to retrieve them for you, but I cannot letanyone but us seven on that vessel, at least not until after HighCommand rules on it.” I was bluffing far too much with this HighCommand orders card. I just hoped I could keep it up long enough tospeak before them.

He was not at all happy with that response. Ido not think he expected me to stand up to him and say no. Hisnostrils flared and he bared his razor-like teeth slightly. I heldmy ground and did not flinch, but secretly I worried that the wallwould not be able to hold him back.

I decided to try and defuse the situation,“Zalith, I suggest you go find Dr. Rannor and ask him to set up adecontamination tunnel so that I can return to the ship andretrieve what you want.”

With a slight growl, he swiftly spun and leftthe room.

“Well, he certainly is one of yourfriendlier crewmates,” commented Luke. “I bet he is a blastat parties.”

I could not help but chuckle at him. He wasreally developing a habit for saying the silliest things at theoddest times. I was just glad he had not said that aloud. I did notthink others would find it humorous.

“I fear he could be our biggest obstacle onthis ship. He wants the Dark Talon back, but until we can find areplacement for it, we cannot let him have it. It is our only baseright now.”

Soon after that Larath came by. I wasexpecting this visit sooner or later. He was dressed in casualattire, like he always was when he was going to evaluate someoneand did not want to let on. This had potential to be a verydangerous meeting as he would surely detect the changes in me, butI was glad for the chance to finally determine how much power hehad. “Gafar, do not get caught but learn what you can abouthim,” I said. “I will try to keep his focus on me.”

“Okay,” replied Gafar.

“Greetings, Vydor. I am sorry I was not ableto see you off properly,” he said warmly.

I could feel him trying to read me, so Ireturned the favor and reached out and gently prodded, trying to donothing more than distract him. I was counting on Gafar to do thereal probing.

“Hello, Larath. I am glad you finally came tovisit,” I said.

“I see you did not need my lessons afterall.”

“No, I had to learn them the hard way, but Imanaged.”

“Perhaps after all this is done we can tradenotes,” he commented.

It was time to risk tipping my hand a bit tosee if I could flush anything out. “Larath, I had been meaning toask but never had the time: how did you come up with the name‘Magi’?” That sent a ripple through his psychic defenses. I haddefinitely stumbled onto something.

“Oh, it is just a name from an old story.Nothing special.”

“Really? What story is that?”

“Just a childhood tale, nothing worthy ofnote. You and your team have been very quiet since your return. Iseverything all right?”

It was an interesting subject change. I hadhit on something there, but I dared not push it yet. “Justrecovering from the stress of combat, each in their own way.”

“Why don’t you tell me a little aboutthat?”

“Larath, you never stop trying to do yourjob, do you?”

“Vydor, how does that make you feel?” he saidwith a big grin.

“Like laughing at you,” I said with achuckle.

“Ah, that’s a good reaction; I will have tonote that in your record.”

“Larath, are you to deliver your report on usbefore or after we present ours?”

“Neither, I will be with you when youreport,” he said and promptly left.

“Gafar, give me some good news,” Isaid.

“Vydor, I cannot. But if you want bad news,I have plenty.”

“Well, then, give me that.”

“Larath is an apprentice-levelsorcerer.”

I almost fell over when he said that. Of allthe things I expected to hear, that was not one of them. “Thatis not at all good.”

“No, and it gets worse. He is only one offive sorcerers in consular positions in the Empire.”

“You have to admire how clever that is. Thatgets them unrestricted access to just about everyone. Can you tellif there are others?”

“No, Vydor, he knows of no others.”

“We cannot let him attend our debriefingwith the High Command. The question is how do we stop it withouttipping our hand?”

“Vydor, I have some more bad news. Herecognized the rings on our fingers.”

“Then it is too late to consider anythinghidden. Our enemy knows we are alive and what we are up to. Ourfirst mission will be to eliminate their five spies.”

“Why didn’t Larath warn the sorcerersabout the bombardment?” Kellyn wondered.

“That is a very good question,Kellyn,” I said.

We spent the next few days just waiting.There was not much else to do. I spent most of the time working allthe new information we had back into the weave of knowledge I wasmaking. Knowing Larath was a spy answered quite a few of themysteries going back to the early days of the mission. Things werefinally starting to make some sense, and for that I was greatlythankful.