Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

Pledge Gayle Tau-mine didn’t need to use her Telepathy Dome-ni to know she was in deep trouble. She feared that when she agreed to help Markus, Gayle might very well get slashed from the active Pledge list, but now she worried they’d kick her out of the College altogether, or worse.

Yavit.

She should have listened to her gut to kick that bastard right out of her room when he first showed up and come straight to the higher ups and let them know what he was up to, but no, she had let him convince her otherwise. Now she stood at attention before three of the most powerful people at the College, and they didn’t look the least bit happy at anything she had said since entering the room.

“We are going to ask you one more time Pledge Tau-mine. Where is Prince Adar?” Chief Commander Jordem said from the right side of his desk. He stood less than a foot away with a red face and his hands resting on his hips like her mother had when she was scolding Gayle for something she’d done.

Lieutenant–Captain Dexter was in much the same position, but on the left side of the desk. His hands clasped behind his back, not looking quite as threatening. But Gayle knew better. Dexter could easily close the gap and have her flat on her back in moments. He had done it in trainings before to her and others to remind everyone that an attack can come at any time, at any moment, and by anyone.

The only one in the room that didn’t show any obvious anger was Director Shipeeri. He simply sat in the Chief Commander’s chair with his back straight as a rod and cold black eyes so intense it made her think that he was the one trying to read her mind, even though she knew he did not have her Dome-ni.

“I don’t know, Commander. I told you. Markus never told me his plans for after the Hall of the Renowned, even though I asked many times. He said it was better if no one knew where he was putting the Heir.”

“And you didn’t find this suspicious?” Captain Dexter replied.

Gayle shrugged. “Why? Everyone knows they were childhood friends. I figured if anyone in the College could be trusted with the Heir’s life, it would be him.”

“And yet, here you are informing us of Markus’s actions in abducting Prince Adar,” the Commander fired back.

Gayle shrugged. “Just because I think Markus has the Heir’s wellbeing in mind doesn’t mean I agree with his actions. I think he went too far at the Hall of Renowned. I didn’t realize he would destroy half the building and incapacitate three people.”

There was a long pause after that statement. She wasn’t sure what Command was more in shock of since her confession, that Markus Nador had outright abducted the Heir, or that the man had destroyed a large portion of the College’s most sacred building in doing so. Gayle was having a hard time believing it all too, and she’d been in on the plan from the beginning. Granted, when Markus had suggested his daring intent the day after the attack on the chalet, he hadn’t specifically mentioned destroying a precious landmark, only that he was going to subdue anyone shadowing Adar.

Perhaps, Markus had been concerned about Gunther’s presence and had overcompensated when he decided to breach the wall with the charges? Not that Command really cared about the why. A significant portion of the north wall of the sacred Hall was now crumbled stone. It would take months, possibly longer, to repair the damage that had been done. But far worse than the damage to the building was the damage to the College’s reputation.

No matter which way you cut it, a high status client had gone missing while on Protectorate grounds, and only a few days after an attempted attack. Even if they found Prince Adar today, this would have lasting consequences for the College. And Gayle felt more than a little guilty at the part she had played in it. So the shame she exuded as she made her confession was as real as it got.

“What I want to know is why you didn’t come to us as soon as you knew Nador was here and what he was up to? You had to know he had gone rogue,” the Commander said.

“He said you called him back to the College specifically, Commander. I assumed he was here officially. It wasn’t until the abduction that I suspected otherwise.” Gayle did her best to keep a straight face after telling that bold faced lie. She didn’t much like lying, especially to her superiors, but this was how Markus and her had decided to play this.

Truth be told, Gayle didn’t like any of this, not one bit, but she made a promise to Markus, so she was following through. The plan had always been for her to confess right after the abduction. Just not to everything, at least not yet. There were other plans in motion, and while she desperately wanted to spill everything to the three men in front of her, Gayle wasn’t entirely sure which ones could be trusted.

But that was the other part of Markus’s plan. If it went as he hoped, it would weed out the one or ones in Command that were after the Heir. All Gayle could think in that moment was that bastard better be right about there being an inside man in the higher chain of command, or Markus Nador was a deadman, and she would happily do the deed––slowly and painfully.

“And where were you when Nador was destroying our most sacred space?” the Commander continued his questioning.

“I was making sure no one else was entering the Hall like he asked me to.”

“Why choose the Hall of the Renowned?”

This is where it got a little tricky. It helped that most of her story was based on the truth, but she couldn’t exactly tell the truth of why the Hall was picked, because then the three might suspect there was more going on than she was telling them.

“I simply followed the Heir until he and his group reached a place I thought was out of the way enough for Markus to make his move. It just so happened to be the Hall of the Renowned.”

In truth, the choice for the abduction had always been the Hall, mostly because it was out of the way, but also because it was close to the place where Markus would be taking the Heir right after the abduction. It was a lot easier to abduct someone if you didn’t have to haul them over long distances. What they hadn’t been sure was the timing. That had been up to the one who Markus had convinced to lured the Heir to the Hall, but that was a whole other bundle of lies that she hoped she didn’t have to tell, including how she had gotten Markus the MRX body armor and stun baton to use in the abduction.

“So you commed Markus, and then he attacked.”

“Yes.”

“What happened after that?”

Gayle found it hard not to roll her eyes. She’d already answered these questions at least twenty times. She knew they were looking for holes or inconstancies, but she and Markus had rehearsed all the possible questions yesterday for hours. She wasn’t going to slip up.

“I heard a loud explosion and turned to see the north wall had collapsed and the air full of debris. I raced up the sidewalk and into the Hall with the two Pledges that had been guarding the entrance, but by the time we got in there, there were three bodies on the ground and no sign of Markus, or the Heir. I tried comming Markus several times, but he didn’t answer. Between the Hall being destroyed and him ghosting me, I figured that maybe his mission wasn’t as sanctioned as he had led me to believe, so I came right here.”

Captain Dexter snorted. “You finally figured that out, did you? And you never once questioned his claims, especially since he never once suggested talking to us especially after he stopped the attacker at the chalet like you claim he did?”

Gayle shrugged. “You know how Markus is. He never liked working with others unless he had to. I think he wouldn’t have gotten me involved at all if he hadn’t needed someone who was in the know about recent events at the College and to get him specific information.”

The room was silent for a long moment as everyone pondered that. It was well known that even though Markus Nador had excelled and even exceeded almost every single class at the College, which had propelled him through the Program in record time, one of his fatal flaws was his unwillingness to work with others. It was closely followed by his inability to follow orders, which happened to be the reason Markus had left the College under questionable circumstances two years before. Even Gayle didn’t know that full story.

Honestly, if Markus hadn’t shown Gayle the summons from Chief Commander Jordem to come back to the College, she wouldn’t have believed it had actually been sent. How could these people be surprised that Markus had done something like this? They should have expected it.

“I find it hard to believe that Nador didn’t tell you his plans for after the abduction.” The cold voice of the Director cut through the silence. It was the first time he’d spoken since Gayle had entered the room.

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know, Director.” Gayle replied calmly, though inside she was finding it hard to hold it together.

Eventually, Command would learn the truth, all of it. Was she digging herself a hole she wouldn’t be able to get herself out of later? This wasn’t just lying to Command, but an actual Director of the College. For a moment, she did consider coming clean, completely, but then she remembered that this wasn’t about her, or even Markus. This was about the Heir. His life was in danger. That, she had no trouble believing, especially after that little stunt Master Meh-len had pulled in the quat-lo assessment.

Gayle had to also believe that once the whole truth came out and it was discovered she was as acting in the Heir’s best interest, that Command and the all three Directors would understand. After all, wasn’t it a Protector’s duty to see to their charge’s care, no matter what? Granted, the Heir wasn’t her charge, but if this went well, maybe she could be, or at the very least have an experience on her resume that would convince the next client that she took the safety of her charge seriously.

As far as Gayle was concerned, lying to Command was the responsible thing to do in the course of her duty, or maybe, she was just channeling too much of Markus Nador. Yavit, she would be glad when all this was over. This was giving her anxiety, anxiety.

There was another silence as the Chief Commander looked like he was going to speak up, when Gayle’s comm beeped. Every eye in the room turned to Gayle’s right wrist and her unity ring. She looked at the name scrolling across the narrow display on the silver bracelet.

“It’s him,” she simply said.

“Answer it, but don’t tell him where you are,” the Chief Commander replied in a clipped tone.

Gayle obliged as she activated the projector and a miniature version of Markus sprang into the air directly over her communication device.

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” Gayle said with the appropriate amount of anger in her voice. This too had been rehearsed.

Markus looked a bit disheveled, but that was probably because he’d just recently taken off the helmet of the MRX suite of armor he’d donned to abduct the Heir. “Busy. Sorry about leaving you behind, but things happened fast. The Prince is secure.”

“That’s good. Where is he?” She made sure to add just the right level of curiosity to her voice.

“Gayle, we talked about this. It’s better if you don’t know.” He sounded peeved, but that’s how they’d rehearsed that too.

She could feel three pairs of eyes drilling holes into her and Gayle could practically hear them screaming to get Markus’s and the Heir’s location. Gayle figured she would play it up a bit. It might make it seem like she really was on their side, so she put an edge of pleading into her voice.

“Yavit, Markus. I’m in this too. I have a right to know what’s going on.”

The miniature image of Markus was silent for a long moment like he was considering her request, then he said, “I’ll be at the Trainee Depot in two hours.”

His image blinked out suddenly as he disconnected the call. Gayle took the opportunity to look at the faces of the three men in front of her. All of them looked relieved.

“Dexter, I need you to get the your best team out there right away,” the Director said.

“It sounded like he isn’t there yet, like he will be there in two hours, sending a team might scare him off,” the Commander Jordem mused.

The Director sent the Commander a hard glare like he didn’t like the man’s input and that he should just stay out of it. “I still want a team out there. If Nador or the Heir are already at the Depot, then secure them. If not, then setup in the Information and Technology building across the street until they show up.”

The Director then turned his hard black eyes to her. It made a shiver race down her spine. “Pledge Tau-mine, you will go with them, but I don’t want you apart of the apprehension. You are simply there to make sure Nador comes in. Is that understood?”

Gayle nodded sharply. “Yes, sir.”

“Also, while you did the correct thing in informing us of what Nador has been up to, you should have come to us sooner. The Protectorate cannot afford to have its members operating in rogue operations. You know this, and while you might be able to claim you thought Nador was operating under orders, given his past, you should have checked in with us to make sure.

“It will go a long way to redeem yourself if we do apprehend Nador and secure the Heir. Regardless of that outcome, remediation is still required as a reminder to you the seriousness of following the rules. For your remediation, you will be assigned to the new Cadets coming in for Initiation Day, depending on how things play out with Nador is how long you will have to hold that assignment. You will report to the New Recruit Master after Nador’s apprehension.”

“Yes, sir.” Gayle nodded sharply again as she gave a quick fist to her heart and made for the exit. She knew a dismissal when she heard it.

As she exited the Chief Commander’s office, Gayle had to suppress a smile. The next part of Markus’s plan had just slipped easily into place. Just like he said it would. The woman gave a quick shake of her head. Say what you wanted about Markus Nador and his inability to work with others, but the man did have a flare when it came to setting up intricate plans. A trait she knew he’d inherited from his father, not that the stubborn son would ever admit it.