The Enemy of an Enemy

“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.

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