* * *
The flight back was filled with awkward silence as none of them dared say anything. Kira couldn’t help but let her mind linger on the warning. Aren’t who you think they are? What does that even mean? Had she done something she couldn’t recall? Had she somehow told someone to destroy the town without knowing it? That was absurd. She had been confined to the palace for over six months and the only people she ever talked to were her sister, Thanatos, Master Yu-On, and occasionally Velion. Before the last meeting she wasn’t even aware of Gaius 5, so how could she be behind an attack on it?
It was hard to believe how little excitement she derived from landing the ship back on Tython. A few hours earlier she was dreaming about the adventures she could have in her ship, but now it seemed more like trouble than anything, especially with the way Aeria was treating her. She felt as though she were being punished, but had no idea what she had done to deserve it.
The four of them made their way from the hangar to the council chamber, where Velion was anxiously waiting for them. Kira expected him to have a relieved look on his face when they returned but to her surprise he looked furious. With a wild gesture he indicated that he wanted them to sit.
“What the hell have the two of you done?! I told you to keep it clean!” Velion shouted, making the entire room shake. Aeria and Deimos exchanged confused looks. “It’s all over the network! Every news outlet showing the devastation that the two of you wrought on that settlement! Do you have any idea how much damage you’ve caused?!”
“It wasn’t us!” Aeria protested, but Velion didn’t seem interested.
“I sent you there to quell an uprising, not to give the entire kingdom a reason to rebel! If we thought things were unstable before, what do you think this is going to do?” he shouted, holding a remote out and turning on a large holoprojection at the end of the room. The projection showed a newscast displaying images of destroyed buildings and piles of dead lesser ones with a caption that read ‘Council Punishes Uprising by Destroying Entire Settlement.’ Turning back to face his daughter, Velion shouted, “Do you understand now?!”
“But it wasn’t us! The town was destroyed before we even got there!” Aeria yelled, standing up. “Someone set us up!”
“Don’t you lie to me!” Velion bellowed.
“She’s not, father. What she says is true. The town was massacred before we arrived,” Deimos interjected. Velion looked confused and yet somehow more angry than before. “The intelligence reports were wrong. There was no rebellion on Gaius 5. Someone set us up so that it would look like we destroyed the town. When we got to the compound there were only a handful of lesser ones, but they were trained and very well armed.”
Velion didn’t seem to know how to react as he walked over to his throne and sat down, covering his face with his hands. After a few seconds of silence he looked back up at them and quietly asked, “If it was a setup, then did you at least find out who was behind it?”
Deimos shook his head, “No father. The lesser ones in the compound killed themselves and set the building to blow before we could get any real answers from them.”
“Then how do you know it was a setup?” Velion demanded, the irritation returning to his voice.
“We were able to get some information from their leader before he swallowed his poison.”
“Poison? Since when do lesser ones commit suicide? I’m not sure I’ve ever known one to purposely kill themselves. Are you certain that’s what happened?”
“Yes, it was unmistakable. All three of the leaders killed themselves rather than submit to our interrogations,” Deimos clarified.
“What information did you get then?” Velion put his face back in his hands and let out a long sigh while he waited for the response.
Aeria spoke up, glaring over at Kira as she did so. “They indicated a man had instructed them we would be coming; that we would walk right into the trap he set for us.”
Still holding his face in his hands, Velion asked, “Did they tell you who it was?”
“No, the lesser one said that he hadn’t seen his face so he couldn’t say. Whether that was a lie or not, I do not know. But there was more,” Aeria paused, glaring at Kira again. “This mystery person wanted to pass along a message, telling us ‘not to trust the humans as they aren’t who we think they are’.”
At that Velion looked back up at them with an alarmed expression. “The humans?”
“I believe he meant Kira and Kaya,” Aeria clarified.
“Kira and Kaya? They aren’t who we think they are, that’s what he told you?” Velion inquired.
“Those were his exact words,” Aeria finished.
Velion looked at Kira with a piercing gaze and asked, “Do you know anything about this? Do you have any idea why this lesser one would have said this?”
Kira shook her head, “None whatsoever.”
Velion stared at her, searching her expression for any hint of deception but found none. Shaking his head he said, “Of course you don’t; you’ve been here under careful watch ever since you arrived.”
“That’s it? We get a lead that she might be a spy or worse, and all you’re going to do is take her word for it?” Aeria demanded.
“Enough! There is no possibility that Kira had anything to do with this treachery. If anything, this is ploy to throw us off the scent of who’s truly behind it,” Velion replied harshly.
“Unbelievable,” Aeria mumbled, but Velion ignored her.
“I need time to process this. If what you say is true then we have a much larger problem on our hands than some rebellious lesser ones. You said that they were well armed, Deimos?”
“Yes. They were equipped with military grade plasma rifles; weapons that wouldn’t have been readily available in a mining settlement.”
“My Lord, isn’t there something we are forgetting about?” Thanatos asked, nodding towards the holoprojection. “What of the spread of this news? Have we done anything to suppress it?”
“Yes, I ordered that it be shut down as soon as I saw it, but there is no telling how many of the systems saw it before then. Its effect won’t be apparent for a few days. I’ve ordered all of our intelligence officers to give hourly reports on the activities of the central systems.”
“Just the central systems?” Thanatos questioned.
“For the time being, that’s all our resources will allow. The outer systems aren’t as important as the inner ones. If the central systems start to collapse then we will have a much larger problem on our hands. We can’t afford to lose those.” Velion stood and turned the recorded holoprojection off. “I need some time to think about our next move. All of you, go to your quarters and stay there. If you have to leave, please try to stay near the palace.”
CHAPTER 12