CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I call Ambassador Dreadthief, and her head appears in front of me. “Commander? It’s good to hear from you. Are you doing okay?”
I nod. “I’m feeling much better. Thank you for asking. Ambassador, are you in a private location at the moment?”
Her head shakes. “Not currently. Do you need me to be?” I nod, so she continues, “I’ll go to my office. Call me back in ten minutes.”
Since I have to wait anyway, I strip off my dirty dress uniform and pull my robe off its hanger. I’ll have to take the uniform straight to Halder so I can use it again as soon as possible. I really should get one or two more of them, but I spend most of my time on-ship in a jumpsuit. Maybe Halder can throw something together quickly for me. I’ll have to ask.
After around ten minutes has passed, I call the Ambassador again. Her head appears in front of me. “Commander, I’m in my office now with the door closed. How can I help you?”
I smile. “Thanks for the privacy. I’ve come across some important information, but we need to keep it secure. So secure that I need to give it to Cap and the Admiral directly.”
Her head shakes. “The palace is on lockdown until at least tomorrow due to the attack on your group. Can this wait?”
I shake mine. “I don’t think so, Ambassador. This is big. Black Tongues.”
Her eyes grow wide. “Impossible! But… no, you wouldn’t call me over something impossible.”
“Correct. I need you to come to the ship so I can give you and my senior officers the details. Can you get out of the Palace? Possibly bringing Zaxn with you?”
Her brow furrows while she thinks, then a grin appears. “I don’t think I can, but I think Zaxn can. He had a secret way to get out of the palace to burn things when he was young and learning to use magic. Maybe that way isn’t locked down. I’ll ask him.”
I chuckle. “Zaxn was a firebug as a child? Doesn’t quite fit with the nerdy science goblin I know now!”
She smiles. “He’s a lot more interesting than he lets on. We can share stories later. For now, I’ll go get him and see what we can do. I’ll call you when we get out.” I nod and she cuts the call.
I’ll call the rest of the senior officers together when I know she’s on the way. I guess now’s a good enough time to get clean. I hang my robe back on the hanger and go into my washroom.
I spend most of the time thinking about what to do next. It would be nice to have a plan when I go to Cap and the Admiral (and the King! Yikes!), but I’m not sure what we can do next. We need to find out what the gang is planning, but I don’t know how we’re going to do that if everyone thought they were completely wiped out.
I step back out of the washroom and step into a clean uniform. A minute or so passes, and my communicator beeps. I push the charm and see Ambassador Dreadthief’s face. “Ambassador. Are you clear?”
She nods. “Indeed. I have Zaxn, who showed me the way out. He’d actually forgotten all about it until I mentioned it, so it was quite stressful sneaking through and not knowing if it was truly still an open pathway!” She chuckles, then continues, “We’ll be at the ship in five minutes or so.”
“Excellent. I’ll have Simon meet you outside and bring you straight to the meeting. I’ll have everyone else in there when you arrive. Thanks, Ambassador.” She nods and I cut the call. I quickly call Tanna, Aelon, Sen and Simon to have them show up.
Then I call Halder. His shaved dwarf face appears. “Commander. I heard you were hurt and in the hospital ward. Are you doing better now?”
I nod. Apparently everyone’s going to ask me that for awhile. Guess I should get used to it. “I’m much better now. Thanks. Can I ask you for a favor? I was in my dress uniform for days, and I need it cleaned urgently so I can use it again. I’m about to go into a meeting and can’t do it myself. Can you take care of it for me?”
He nods. “Of course, ma’am. I’ll pick it up in your quarters shortly and bring it back in about an hour. I’ll also start working on a second one for you. I figure you might need it.”
I smile at him. “Thanks Halder. You’re a dear.”
I cut the call and leave my quarters, stopping at the LC’s quarters. I press the charm, and the door fades after a few seconds. The LC looks at me, still obviously a bit stricken by our earlier revelations. “Yes, ma’am?”
I wave him into the hall. “We’re going to meet with the senior officers. Walk with me down to the discussion chamber.”
He nods and follows me down to the 5th level. I take him into the chamber to find Aelon already there, standing by his chair. We salute, then he sees the goblin and gives me a questioning look.
I wave him over and step out of the way. “LC Spazkin Darkmuck, this is LC Aelon Onoviel, my Chief Tactical Officer.”
They shake hands, and Aelon takes a step back to give the goblin an appraising eye. “Darkmuck, eh? You don’t look like much of an assassin to me!” He chuckles at his own joke.
I’m just about to step in when Darkmuck stands up straighter and looks Aelon in the eye with a grin. “That’s because you haven’t seen how I kill my inventory numbers every week. You sure don’t look like much of a pilot to me, though. Flown anything lately, or do you just have Lieutenants do it all for you?”
Aelon laughs harder. “I flew your mom last night. Does that count?”
Darkmuck chuckles. “It’d take more than you have to get my mom off… the ground.”
I roll my eyes. Of all the things I was expecting, Darkmuck getting along with Aelon was not one of them. “Boys, please. This is a starship, not an Academy bar.”
They both look at me, then back at each other. With a shrug, Darkmuck follows Aelon to the other side of the table. I guess I’m glad Darkmuck at least seems happier than he was a few minutes ago.
Tanna walks in, and I introduce them. I notice Darkmuck’s eyes look her up and down, and he grins. He turns to Aelon and nods. Aelon responds with, “I know, right?” then points to himself and grins. Darkmuck gives him a thumbs-up.
I look over at Tanna and see her giving me a questioning glance. All I can do is roll my eyes again and shrug.
Sen comes in just then and I turn away to give introductions again. She gives Darkmuck a once-over and smiles. “Commander! I didn’t know you were going to bring me back a present when you went out! But I don’t have anything for you! Want me to give you back the pieces when I’m done breaking it?”
The confused-and-terrified look on Darkmuck’s face is priceless. Tanna and I both break out in laughter. If that doesn’t completely make up for the last five minutes with these two male idiots, I don’t know what does!
I take a couple deep breaths to stop laughing and regain my composure. “Okay, everyone. I need to catch you all up on everything that’s been happening, and make sure I’m not the only one who knows all the pieces. We’re just waiting for Zaxn and Ambassador Dreadthief, who are on their way from the Palace now.”
Tanna turns to me. “What about the lockdown?”
I shrug. “I asked them to circumvent it. They agreed.”
Darkmuck gasps, and I turn to him. “You have folk that can sneak in and out of the Palace when it’s locked down? Are you sure you’re the good guys and not with the Black Tongues?”
“LC, those bastards killed our Ambassador, remember?” I must be scowling, because he wilts in front of me. Tanna sets a hand on my shoulder and I take a deep breath to calm myself.
That kills conversation for the next few minutes until the door opens again. Simon enters, leading Zaxn and Ambassador Dreadthief behind him. Zaxn’s wearing a red shirt with an Academy logo and a pair of jeans, while Kesn is wearing a purple jacket and slacks with a yellow blouse underneath. The blouse is unbuttoned far enough to show off what she has while still looking professional.
I make the introductions, and Kesn turns to me. “Darkmuck? Lik
e from the message?”
I nod. “The one and the same. He’s not involved, but he was able to help us figure out who is.” With that, I go into the entire story, giving them everything we’ve learned so far – the timing of the fake war message, the illegal weapons, the attack, the Senior Chief weapon smuggler, the Black Tongues and Captain Darkmuck.
When I get to the end, everyone’s quiet. I sit and give them some time to process all the information. We’ve been in the middle of some odd things before, but never something quite at this level. I’m glad to get it all out of my head and shared with the folk I trust.
Kesn speaks first. “So, a notorious gang leader who’s supposed to be dead tricked you into bringing His Excellency back to Stenchstone, along with a cache of weapons. It sounds like they’re obviously going to target His Excellency while he’s here to make a point. We need to find out what they’re going to do, but until now they weren’t supposed to still exist. That traitorous Overseer was supposed to be the last one!”
I shake my head. “I know they hate him, but why would Captain Darkmuck, who’s been on Terra for sixty years, still care about His Excellency and revenge? I know goblins don’t forget, but why?”
A few seconds of silence goes by, and LC Darkmuck speaks. “The raid killed his entire family – father, brother, sisters, and wife. That would be a good reason for wanting revenge.”
The other goblins at the table nod, but Kesn holds up a hand. “If he just wanted revenge, he could have killed His Excellency on Terra at any time. He wants something bigger than revenge. He wants the Black Tongues back in power. He brought enough weapons to kill both His Excellency and His Majesty, along with a number of enforcers. The gang’s numbers must be high, and we missed it.”
She turns to me. “Commander, we need to inform His Majesty immediately.”
“I agree, Ambassador. However, I don’t think that’s enough. We can warn them, but warn them of what? Aside from knowing the gang exists and has weapons, we don’t know when or where they’re going to be targeting. We’re the only ones on-world who know about all of this right now. We need to use that to our advantage and find out more information somehow. Any ideas?”
She turns away, puts her elbows on the table, and rests her face against her hands with her thumbs under her chin while her fingers pinch her nose. The room is quiet while we think. After a few minutes, I hear LC Darkmuck’s voice. “I think I might have an idea.”
We turn to him as he continues. “As the Commander said, I’m technically in ‘the family’. I know some places where gang members used to meet that might still exist. If we could send someone in, they could spy and get information.”
I shake my head. “I’m not sure that would work. They know you, and they’d never let you in to spy if they haven’t brought you in before now. Simon’s obviously not someone they’d normally have in the gang, so we can’t send him, either, and I don’t want to risk sharing this information with anyone else.”
A small voice says, “I can do it.”
We all turn to look at Zaxn. He takes a deep breath, stands up, and says it again, stronger. “I can do it. I’m from Stenchstone, and know how to act here. I won’t be suspected. I can tell them my family’s from the Palace and I can provide information. I’ll tell them I helped the Senior Chief smuggle the spellshooters. I’ll tell them I’m deserting the UCST and want to remake Stenchstone like the other goblin worlds I’ve seen.”
He looks over at me. “Rylae, I’m the best option. I can also be a secret weapon. If things get bad, I can call the fires to burn the gang down. I can do this. I need to do this to help my world.”
Sen chuckles. “That’s the sexiest thing I think I’ve ever heard you say, Pincushion. Maybe I’ll get to use my special flail on you after all.”
I glance around the room, and I think everyone was made uncomfortable by that comment. Kesn’s eyes are wide as she looks questioningly between Zaxn and Sen. But that’s not the topic right now.
I look over at Darkmuck. “LC, do you think you can get Zaxn to one of the meeting places?”
He nods. “I can disguise myself as a driver and take him to a few until we find one with gang members at it. If my father’s brother is running things from afar, then he has to be using some of the same protocols he used to use when he was here. We’ll find someone.”
“Okay. Zaxn, if you’re certain you want to do this, then you have my approval, on one condition. Simon, I need you to prepare the battalion. Get a large folk-mover from landcraft storage and be prepared to drop a mobile unit anywhere. If Zaxn gets into trouble, he’s to call you directly, and you drop the battalion on that gang as hard and as fast as you can.”
Simon grins and nods. “Yes, ma’am! Sounds like fun. It’s a shame Gimmir’s going to miss it.”
I look at Darkmuck and Aelon. “Since you two have hit it off so well, I want you to stay in constant contact with each other. Darkmuck, if anything happens that seems even slightly odd, call Aelon immediately. He’ll be your connection to Ambassador Dreadthief and myself.
“Aelon, I need you to sit in the storage bay and keep counting crates over and over. Darkmuck will show you which crates I mean. Make sure nothing else goes missing. You’re in charge of that area until we launch.” They both nod.
I turn to Sen. “Are your techs prepared to go mobile?” She nods. “Excellent. I want two techs with Simon’s unit at all times. If Simon goes mobile, they go with him.” She nods again, so I turn to Tanna.
“Commander, the ship is yours. Think you can handle it without blowing up more parts of my ship?”
She chuckles, but then stops. “I can take care of things here, but where will you be?”
Grinning, I point over my shoulder to Kesn. “The Ambassador’s going to sneak me back into the Palace so I can talk to Cap and the Admiral while she talks to the King.”
Tanna nods for a second, then stops and looks at me like I grew another head. I hear the Ambassador behind me exclaim, “What!?”
Turning to her, I smile. “They need to know. I’m the only logical choice to go. Zaxn already showed you a secret way past the lockdown. We go back in that way. No problem.”
She holds up a finger. “One problem, Commander. You’re a bit of an obvious elf in a place where there are no other elves.”
I shake my head. “Not true. Gimmir’s elites have some elves in their ranks. I just need to look like one of them. Simon can help me get armored before we go.”
I look around the room and no one seems to have anything else to say. Smiling, I nod. “Okay then. Meeting over. Let’s go save the world!”
They look at me like I grew a third head next to the one I grew earlier, and we all start laughing. Yeah, that was kinda stupid, but I thought it was at least a little inspirational!