The Enemy of an Enemy

Chapter Twenty-Three

A week after we returned, Dr. Rannor and thecaptain came back into the visitor’s room. They both looked a bittired and concerned. I could sense they were worried about mymeeting with High Command. For the first time I realized they didnot trust or respect High Command and the Emperor nearly as much asI had when I first came on board.

“It is time,” was all Dr. Rannor said beforehe opened the seal to our chamber.

“My orders are to put you on the Dark Talonand send you to the capital planet. Once there you will receive neworders. I am also to send Larath with you,” said the captain.

“Send Larath ahead of us if you must, but hecannot board the Dark Talon,” I said forcefully.

“Vydor, is there something I need to know?”asked the captain.

“Yes, but I cannot tell you here. Do you havea pad I can use?” I asked.

Dr. Rannor found one and gave it to me. Ithen encoded a message to the captain in the Duck Code explainingwhat we knew about Larath. “Captain, after we are safely underwayand Larath is gone, take this pad to Peter. He will know what todo,” I said as I handed the pad to him.

He hid it away in his uniform jacket and thensaid, “Vydor, I know your orders are to prevent anyone fromboarding the ship, but Zalith has requested access. He says youknow why.”

“Yes I do. Have him meet us in the bay. Nowthat I can be there and pretend to care about my orders byescorting him, what he wants can be done,” I said with a big smirk.Then over our telepathetic net I said, “Andreya, please makesure to hide all our newly-acquired things before I board withhim.”

“Will do,” she replied.

“Captain, I think we are ready,” I said.

The captain walked down to the bay with us,but did not say anything until we got there. Then he looked at Dr.Rannor who gave him a slight nod, and said, “Vydor, you and yoursquad are welcome back on this ship, regardless of anything thathappens with the High Command.”

“Captain, no matter what happens, I do notsee how this can unfold without us being side by side in battle,and sooner rather than later.”

He looked me right in the eye, placed hishand on my shoulder and said, “We will win this war, Vydor,together. Until we meet again, good luck and farewell.”

Dr. Rannor then approached me, and didsomething no one had ever done in my entire adult life; he actuallyhugged me. I did not know how to respond to that, but Kellyn urgedme, “Hug him back,” so I did. With that he left withoutsaying a word.

We entered the bay, again greeted by an honorguard, but this time without the biohazard suits. Zalith stood nearthe ship waiting for us. We walked up to him and I could tell hewas still not happy with me. On my mental cue Darnath moved forwardand lowered the shields around the ship. “Okay, Andreya, you goin. Everyone else stay here,” I sent via our link.

“Zalith, I will take you on the ship shortly.Andreya just needs to handle the rest of the security on board,” Isaid.

“Security?” he asked.

“Yes, let’s just say that time spent outthere on the front line tends to make you more paranoid than a deskjob,” I replied.

That actually brought a small smile to hisface as he said, “Aye, that it does.”

“Okay, Vydor, it is all done. I am on myway out,” sent Andreya.

“She is finished,” I said, moments beforeAndreya appeared in the doorway. Once she was off the ship Zalithand I boarded. He went straight over to a wall and removed a panel.Behind it was a hidden safe, which he quickly opened and pulled outa box.

“Vydor, I must confess when I first heardthat the Dark Knights had been wiped out but you lived, I assumedthey died covering your dishonorable retreat. But since then I havedone nothing but pore over the information that you sent and watchhow you interact with your new squad. You share a bond with themthat only comes from staring down death and winning as a team. Iknow now why you did not stand and die honorably with the Knights.You had others to protect, and a battle to win. No Zalionianwarrior could have accomplished this feat, since they would haveblindly died fighting head-on an enemy you beat with smartertactics. My only regret now is that I never got to see you inaction. You truly are a great warrior, no matter what those idiotsin High Command end up saying.” After that he just left in hisnormal, brusque style.

I did not know what to make of him. Some daysI was sure he wanted to rip my head off and use it as a soup bowl,and other days I swore he would give his life to protect me. On topof that, now it was obvious he had even less respect for HighCommand than anyone I had met. I was starting to wonder if anysenior officer still believed in the Emperor.

Everyone filed on to the ship and to mysurprise they all filled in key positions on the bridge. Darnathwas first to speak up, “Sir, I will take navigation. I spent thelast week studying it.”

Then Luke said, “Sir, I am a certifiedpilot, and I spent the last week studying the specs of this vessel,so I will take the pilot’s position.”

Then Jerran said, “Sir, I spent the weekstudying the tactical systems, so I can take thatposition.”

I looked back to the other three and Kellynpiped up, “And we all spent the week studying damage control,and the like. Wasn’t that really a brilliant idea?” she saidwith great excitement.

I knew there was no way through conventionalmeans that they could have learned so much so fast, especiallyabout a classified vessel while locked in prison-like confinement.“Well, I should say something like we must work out some rulesfor proper use of our powers amongst the mundane, but instead Iwill say “well done”! We can worry about the rules later. Everyoneprepare for departure. Darnath, please work out our jump to the waypoint, and get that programmed in.” I then activated theship-to-ship communications and said, “Dark Talon requestingpermission to depart, flight plan Alpha Beta Charlie Niner.”

“Dark Talon, we are preparing the bay foryour departure. Please stand by,” came the reply.

On the ship’s viewing screen I saw thehanger’s crew and the honor guard filing out of the bay. Once theywere clear there was a rush of air on the monitors as the baydepressurized in preparation for opening the outer doors. Next, themagnetic locks released from the ship and Luke took control of thecraft. Once the other bay doors were opened we got the call overthe radio, “Dark Talon, you are cleared for departure. We will sendyou jump algorithms before you clear the wake.”

“Negative, Bay Control, we do not need thealgorithms,” I replied.

There was a pause, then a hesitant,“Acknowledged. Bay Control out.”

I smiled. That must have had them reallyconfused.

Luke then expertly flew out of the bay andsaid, “We will be clear of the gravity wake in abouttwenty-seven minutes.”

“Excellent. Okay, since you are all sowell trained in the specs of this ship, get working on disablingall recording devices on this ship. Gafar, see if you can figureout what Zalith took,” I said.

Gafar said, “Vydor, he took a memory bank.It was tied to the ship’s internal sensors, but primarily used forpersonal storage.”

“Personal storage?”

“Yes. Journals, diaries, personal logs, thatkind of thing.”

So Zalith was not lying after all. He reallywas after personal effects. “We will need to get that replaced,then.”

“Vydor, are you planning to keep thisvessel?” asked Kellyn.

“Yes, we need a base to work out of, andthis is a good size for us.”

“How do you plan to get them to give it tous?”

“Well, I plan to steal it.”

“Vydor! That is not a good plan. Whateverhappened to the rule about always doing the right thing?”

I sighed, “You are right, Kellyn. I willrequest it from High Command, and if they turn me down we willfigure out something else. Meanwhile, I may have to appoint you asthe official conscience of the Council of Wizards,” I said witha grin. I was not sure why, but I felt like deciding not to stealthe ship was a small victory for us.

I returned to the captain’s seat while Iwaited for us to clear the wake.

“Vydor, before we jumped last time youmeditated, and when I finally came out of the post-jump effects Inoticed that you were already in control of the ship. Doesmeditation somehow help you come out of it faster?” askedAndreya.

“Yes, it avoids almost all the impact ofthe jump. I would have told you but I promised the Dark Knights Iwould keep it secret,” was my answer.

“So this method is not generallyknown?” asked Kellyn.

“No, it is their secret weapon that givesthem a big edge in combat,” I said. “As far as I know theyare the only ones ever to figure it out.”

“Well then, we shall all keep theirsecret,” stated Kellyn, and the others nodded in agreement.

“Vydor, we are clear of the wake and canjump when you are ready,” said Luke.

“Give a five-second countdown and thenjump,” I said.

“Jumping in five … four… three…” wasall I heard as I slipped into a trance. The post-jump beep of thecomputers alerted me to the end of the jump and this time everyonebut Kellyn was awake. “Do not look alive just yet. It would bebest if they do not know how fast we can recover,” I said. Iwaited until I saw Kellyn come out of the post-jump hangover, andthen announced our presence to the planetary defense network.

“Dark Talon, please relinquish control ofyour craft. We will take you into the meeting point,” was the onlyreply. Their security codes checked out, so I really had no choicebut to comply.

“Luke, do as they ordered,” I said.Then I responded on the radio, “Acknowledged.”

Soon the ship was dropped into full stealthmode, and all viewing screens were turned off. They apparently didnot want anyone to know where we were going, not even us. “Do wehave access to any sensors?” I asked.

“No, sir, all controls are offline, andbecause we are in stealth mode I cannot even probe for someoneoutside that can see us,” responded Darnath.

“Well then, enjoy the ride, I guess.”It made sense that they would keep the location of the High Commanda secret. I just did not like not being in control. Not onebit.

“Okay, everyone, here is our plan. You areto hide wands on your person, but leave your staves here. I will becarrying mine just in case, and to add to the effect I am goingfor. When we disembark, everyone is to have their hoods up, and tostand tall and proud. Do all that you can to look as powerful aspossible. Show not even the slightest fear or worry. Instead, actlike you are in complete control of everything. We want to make astrong statement for our first impression,” I said. “When wewalk, I will lead and you follow. Form up double-file behind me. Donot let anyone break our group, and prevent any security measurefrom seeing you.”

As I finished saying that I felt the shipcome to a landing. That was much too fast to be on the planet; wemust have been in a station in orbit. I threw up my hood andgrabbed my staff. The lights came on in the ship and the systemsreturned to normal. “Darnath, see to it that the ship is safewhile we are in there. If all goes badly we will return here andfly her home to the Dragon Claw.”

“Dark Talon, please disembark from yourvessel now,” came the order over the radio.

I waited a full five minutes, and then openedthe airlock. I felt Andreya wrap a subtle aura of darkness aroundus to help create the effect I was looking for. We walked down theramp. Instead of an honor guard like there had been on the DragonClaw, we were greeted by heavily-armed and armored security forces.I walked fearlessly up to the head of the squad and said, “We areready.” I could tell that shook him a bit.

“Sir, I need to take your staff,” hesaid.

“No, you will not,” I said and laced my wordswith a bit of fear. I hated to manipulate him like that, but Icould not risk losing the staff when we would soon be facingLarath.

“Follow me, then,” he said.

We followed him to a high securitycheckpoint. He stopped to get clearance to enter, but I ledeveryone right through the security screens without triggering asingle alarm. Once clear, I stopped and without looking back waitedfor him. I could hear them mumbling in shock, as we did not evenshow on their scanners. After a minute I said, “Corporal, the HighCommand is waiting.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” he said and resumedleading us down a long corridor. When we reached a large door heheaded to the commpad, presumably to request that the door beopened.

I approached the door and cast a minorunlocking spell and then pushed the door open with telekinesis. Theguards looked on in shock. From their perspective I merely waved myhand over the door and it opened. We then walked into the chambersand I saw the members of High Command sitting around a U-shapedtable. Larath was in the center, as if they were grilling him. Whenwe entered they all stood. Andreya’s illusion of power around uswas working perfectly; they were on their feet before theyremembered who it was that we were. Larath turned to look at me andI immediately reached out to see what he was up to. He sent onelast message back to his master: “He is definitely the one,”then did all he could to lock down his mind.