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17: The Recruiter
Fiske took aim at the tiny camera his H.U.D. told him was there, but his eyes couldn't see. He fired. For a couple of seconds nothing happened, then he detected a small spark – the camera shorting out. He had hit it precisely as he had meant to.
He waited, to see if there would be any response to his action. There was nothing. Only the sounds of the soldiers scrounging around nearby, searching for an unknown quarry. The group they had been chasing had abruptly disappeared from their radar around this area.
Fiske had watched the merry chase with not a small amount of amusement. One of the two pursuit vessels had been shot down before it even had a chance to get a target lock on the small party they were after.
The bounty hunter smirked at the memory. Then, when he was sure there would be no repercussions from his pot shot, Fiske picked up the grenade he had set down, aimed, and threw.
"Everyone downstairs!" Zimring yelled as he expertly unlocked the door he had just secured not a minute before. "Quickly!"
Pieces of the cabin roof rained down all around them. Everyone scrambled to get out of the way, debris falling all around them. Even Elisa moved more quickly than anyone thought she could under the circumstances. Covering her son, she jumped out of the way of a splintering beam, then ran after Zimring. She was quickly followed by David and Masterson. Dommel stopped at the door, straining to see where Frakken was.
The issue became moot when some of the smoke was cleared by the cause of the explosion drifting down through the roof on some sort of hover-board. The thing was circular and transparent, except for markings for the rider's feet.
The intruder held an augmented assault rifle, and he wore black armor, complete with jointed gloves and a black-visored helmet that covered his whole head. The man's garb was unmarked by any insignia. The black faceplate reflected the light of the midday sun as the man turned to stare at Dommel, swinging his firearm around towards him and firing without a second thought.
Dommel dove out of the way of the blast, sacrificing a wall in his place. This didn't deter the intruder, who proceeded to leave hole after hole in the floor, targeting Dommel and firing continuously as Lysis rolled out of the way. Dommel tried to get his own weapon out, but couldn't under the continual barrage by the black-helmeted intruder.
Suddenly there was a loud thwap. Lysis's assailant was down, his weapon lying several feet away from his body.
"Fiske, you've lost your edge." The smoke cleared further to reveal Wolf holding a piece of a solid steel support beam and grinning. "Let's get down those stairs before whoever else is out there swarms this place."
Dommel sprang to his feet, but before either man could make a move to leave a big black bird unceremoniously alighted on Frakken's head.
"Juji!" Dommel exclaimed."Get down from there! Where have you been hiding, you insane bird?!"
"We'll worry about his choice of a perch later, Dommel." Wolf looked up at the bird, happy that the fool thing had decided to show his face again.
Dommel nodded and preceded his brother-in-law down the stairs, then asked in reference to unconscious intruder, "You know him?"
"Later." Frakken took a last look behind them and locked the amazingly still-intact door, Juji's webbed feet still clinging to his scalp.
Coming up from the basement, David's protests could be heard. "Zimring, we're trapped down here. How are we going to get out? Just hide down here and hope they don't figure out where we've gone?"
And the hermit's reply, "This old place still has some secrets. Now all of you," the hermit turned to see Dommel and Frakken stepping down into the basement, "You two too. Sit down and hang on. And for goodness sake, Wolf, get that bird off your head."
"Juji!" Elisa exclaimed, beckoning to the animal from the seat she had already taken. Hugging her son to herself with one arm, she patted her lap with her free hand. "Come over here. And give me whatever you've got in your mouth."
The bird ruffled his feathers and quickly left Wolf's head in favor of Elisa's company, dropping a square silvery object into her lap.
Dommel and Frakken exchanged "I don't know," looks and started hunting for chairs.
"One second there." Zimring said, punching a series of commands into a console spanning half of the basement's far wall.
Suddenly the entire room morphed: the stairs melted into the ceiling, closing off any access to the room; seemingly random furniture disappeared, replaced by consoles and chairs that grew right out of the floor; the large viewscreen that had previously displayed the security video feeds went black, then reinitialized with a curiously familiar pattern splayed across it; the bottom portion of that same wall dropped away to reveal a viewport. Even the chair Elisa had already claimed re-formed smoothly around her, making Juji cock his head inquisitively at it.
"I suspect this 'basement' is about to get bumpy." Masterson said under his breath quickly claiming a chair that appeared near him behind a console.
"We're gettin' outta here." Zimring declared with a very unhermitlike whoop.
They shot forward, and as they did, the front viewport cleared to reveal a tunnel.
"One of your refitted, friends, Old-timer?" Dommel asked a bit amusedly over the engine noises.
"And a good one at that." the hermit said, sounding strangely happy to be "in the middle of things" again. "She's the last ship I served on, almost thirty years ago. They were gonna scrap 'er. I put a stop ta that talk and brought 'er ta live with me. Best basement I ever had." Zimring tapped out a few commands on the console and then looked back at Dommel, "Where to?"
The former inn-keeper glanced at Frakken, then Elisa, then at David and finally Masterson, "Just take us as far away from here as you can. Anywhere they won't come looking for us."
"That's a tall order, Dommel," the hermit said, "But I think I know just the place."
A sense of dread rose in Masterson's chest, "Oh, Adonai, bring Desslok back to us, and keep him out of the hands of his brother..."
"Why isn't anyone answering the door?" Dara whispered to Garen as she, the scientist and Constance stood in the small atrium of the house they had just entered. "The door opened ten minutes ago."
"Maybe they were in the middle of something." Garen offered, suspicious, but not letting on.
"I've heard of answering the door from somewhere else in the house, but locking your visitors in the foyer? Who does that?" Dara whispered.
"Someone who doesn't want anyone roaming around their house." he replied.
"Amah, what time is it?" Constance asked, in a normal voice, not having caught on that the adults wanted to stay a quiet as possible.
"It's five minutes since you last asked, neshamah sheli." she said, then held up a finger to her lips, "We need to be quiet now though."
"Oh." Constance said in an exaggerated whisper, "Okay." she started tiptoeing around the foyer in dramatic fashion, like a burglar walking on eggshells, making her mother smile and almost laugh.
Just then the door whooshed open and a short, thin woman in her forties greeted them.
"Hello." she said, looking first at Garen, then at Dara, and finally at Constance, who was in the middle of a dramatically stealthy move. "May I... help you?"
Garen studied the woman carefully, noting her discomfort at Dara and Constance's presence. "They... are here at my request." he offered.
The woman nodded, noting Dara's familiar blue skin tone and more notably Constance's pale skin, "I see. And you are...?"
"A friend of Admiral Talan." Garen said cautiously.
The woman nodded again, "As am I."
There was an uncomfortable silence for a couple of seconds.
"I seek the Light of Adonai." Garen finally said.
At those words, the woman's face brightened, "You are one of the Etzuvim."
It was Garen's turn to nod.
"I am the one you are looking for – Eliora is my name."
The scientist smiled, "I am Garen Krenshaw." he bowed slightly to the shorter woman, "This is Dara," he put an arm around the young woman standing with him, "and – "
"Hi." the girl said, poking her head between her mother and Garen, "I'm Constance, but Amah calls me 'Connie.'"
Eliora took in the scene and despite the circumstances, smiled at the child's antics. "It is good to meet you – all of you. Thank you for coming Garen Krenshaw. Your presence here is most reassuring." she stepped out of the doorway, "Please, come in."
When the door had shut behind the threesome, Eliora continued, "I apologize for leaving you out in the foyer for so long. I was... in the middle of something in another part of the house and couldn't let you in at the time. And I had to be sure you belonged here."
"I understand," said Garen, "I would have done the same."
"But, to the point at hand," Eliora said, "You received my message and one of Admiral Talan's men found you and told you how to find your way here, to me. Why exactly have you come?"
Garen looked at Eliora strangely, "Don't you have a reason for summoning me – or any of the ones who received the message?"
"Most assuredly," she replied, then smiled, "I only wanted to make sure you had no preconceived ideas of why I sent the summons."
Garen chuckled nervously, "I can assure you I don't have any of those. I only wish to see our world reunited. I assume you have found a way to accomplish that."
"Indeed I have." she nodded, her eyes bright, "There is another heir to the throne – the rightfulheir."
"The what?" Dara asked, her shock evident.
Eliora looked at both adults now, "Deun is not our rightful Leader." she paused to let her statement sink in, "His brother, Desslok is."
"Why have we never heard of him before now?" Garen asked, pretending to be quite taken aback by the announcement.
"You know of the tradition of the Royal House to only produce a single heir?" asked Eliora.
"Yes." replied Garen.
"That is why his existence was never revealed. Queen Talonka gave birth to, not one son, but two. She broke with tradition and chose to keep both of them, so her husband kept the younger son's existence secret, restricting him to the palace grounds and making every soul in there swear silence."
"I was at the palace years ago, during the Marad – as part of the group that came to save Leader Deun. I saw no second son." Garen protested, making sure not to reveal that he had indeed known about this second prince all along.
"Even during that incident, our former Leader was most careful," Eliora said, "I was in the palace that day too, and I can assure you that both sons were present. Once you and the other Etzuvim broke through the zealots' ranks, I was able to slip in unnoticed and take the children to another part of the palace, away from prying eyes and raging Guardiana followers."
Garen's hopes rose, but his rational mind still wasn't quite ready to accept that something so unbelievably wonderful could be true, that of all the people the Admiral had sent him to, this one also knew of and supported the true heir, "But how do I know that you aren't just saying all this? Admiral Talan never mentioned this second son." he threw the lie in for more believability.
Eliora sighed, "I am afraid that I have no proof that I can offer you at this time without endangering Desslok. You must trust me in this matter." she looked Garen in the eye as she said this, hoping to convey to him her sincerity.
Everything was silent for a long moment. Even Constance did not make a sound.
Finally, Garen gave Eliora the smallest nod of agreement. "Very well. I believe you mean well and that there is a possibility that this 'Desslok' does exist, but if he does, how will I – we," he indicated Dara and the girl, "– find him?"
"I will take you to him,"
Despite her training, the sudden voice from behind Eliora gave her a start, "Si –"
Desslok held up a hand to silence Eliora before she revealed anything, "You may call me 'Deuel.'" he said, "And from what I've heard so far, I think the prince will be quite pleased to see you."
"You know this 'Desslok'?" Garen asked, still the slightest bit skeptical.
"Very well," the young man replied, "We have been friends for... many years."
At this, Eliora raised an eyebrow at him, the expression going unnoticed by all but the prince, who quickly glanced her way to let her know he had seen her. This caused the woman to try to hide an amused smile as she pretended to look at something on one of the walls in the opposite direction.
"Eliora, do have a route you would suggest for four people leaving the city?" Desslok asked.
The woman returned her gaze to the group and said, "There is a tunnel that goes under the city. It doesn't go as far as the outer wall, but it will take you quite close to it. The difficult part will be getting to the tunnel as it is near the palace... a place I suspect none of you wish to go." she looked pointedly at Desslok.
"Quite correct," Garen said, unaware of the nonverbal exchange going on between "Deuel" and Eliora. "Deun has had troops looking for me for some time... as I'm sure you know if you are in contact with Admiral Talan at all."
"Yes, I – we both know." Eliora replied. "We are most happy to have had you arrive here safely."
Garen nodded, "And I'm very happy to have made it here."
There was a clicking sound at the door.
Eliora instantly held up a hand for silence and grabbed her communicator. She turned it back on and studied the screen. Her face grew worried, "It's them... they've finally found this place," she whispered. "Come. Quickly!"
The whole group followed Eliora without protest back farther into the house. They came to the room with the tunnel door and Eliora opened it without hesitation, "Go." she pointed down the dark stairs before locking the front and foyer doors remotely, "We'll be safe down here. I have made sure that, even if they find the house, they will never find this tunnel."
Garen accepted the situation and was about to climb down when he looked beside him and saw the trepidation and outright fear on Dara and Constance's faces as they all knelt beside the opening. Deuel, on the other hand seemed completely unphased.
"We have to go now," Garen told Dara, placing a reassuring hand on her arm.
"But... what will happen once we're down there?" Dara protested.
"Are there monsters?" Constance asked, entirely serious and utterly petrified.
Garen didn't know what to say or how to convince either female to take the dark path ahead of them. Finally, it was Desslok who intervened. Rolling his eyes and sighing in annoyance, he said, "There is nothing frightening in that tunnel – other than perhaps your own shadows. Now I suggest we go before the zealots intrude on our little party here."
Perhaps it was something in the way he said it; or maybe it was just something about him. But whatever it was, both Dara and Constance somehow found their courage and hurriedly followed the teenager down into the blackness.
Desslok withdrew Mintra'el, "Light," he ordered, instantly illuminating the tunnel for the second time in an hour.
Garen went down after the three, closely followed by Eliora who closed and sealed the tunnel door with a curious-looking instrument that reminded Garen a lot of the tools the time-delvers often used. The woman did something else as well and a thick false floor slid across the opening where the sealed door was.
"They won't even know a tunnel has ever been here." she whispered down to Garen, "Or any of us for that matter."
Just then they heard the crash of exploding metal – one of the front doors being blown away – and the sound of heavy footsteps echoing above them.
"They've gotten in." she whispered.
Desslok interrupted again, "We must get as far away from here as we can." he hissed. "Those are not just zealots. If they have bothered to put this much effort into getting into this place it means that they're under orders from m – Deun, otherwise, they would have simply left when they discovered the door locked and the windows sealed."
Eliora nodded as she and Garen finished descending the steep steps. "Lead the way... Deuel."
The prince needed no further encouragement and started walking down the tunnel, holding Mintra'el out in front of him to light the way.
The group travelled the length of the tunnel, ending up in the hollow that Desslok had been to twice before. They would have kept on going through the hollow and into the last narrow portion of the tunnel beyond it that ended in another set of narrow stairs, but Eliora stopped them.
"We will need the contents of these." she pointed to the metal crates. "They contain a few helpful... tools you may need on your trek from here to the other tunnel and then on your journey to the prince's camp."
"How are you going to open them?" Constance asked.
"Just like this," Eliora smiled, and tapped a specific sequence on a fist-sized square set in the bottom corner atop one of the lids.
Suddenly, the entire lid of the crate melted away. That was when Desslok realized that the crates were not metal as he had first thought, but very thick, frosted glass...
The prince instantly stepped over to Eliora so that his words would only be heard by her, "These are Iscandari." he whispered, "Where did you get them?"
"From Iscandar, of course." Eliora whispered back, not looking the least bit troubled, "Did I forget to mention that one of the many friendships I have is with the King and Queen of Iscandar?"