Trojian Horse
Chapter 15

“Did you get it on him?” he asked, leaning forward from his chair.

“Yes, my lord,” the messenger replied.

“Excellent. Set a course for his location once you have it.”

“Certainly, my lord,” the messenger replied, lingering a little longer than expected before hesitantly continuing. “But --”

“But what!?” Reeger seemed to swell in size instantaneously as he yelled the question. The grip on the hilt of his sword tightened. “There can be no room for failure.”

The messenger cowered away then gingerly took a few steps back.

“He was injured, my lord, and his ship may have been badly damaged as he made his escape. Which he did manage eventually but --”

The messenger never finished his sentence. Reeger took two giant leaps toward him and with one swift motion of his hand relieved the messenger of his head. “I hate incompetence. The mission was simple, let him escape and put a tracker on him. Without killing him.” The sword barely had a drop of blood on it. He wiped it on his cloak then reverently placed it back in its sheath.

A terrified hush fell on the remaining occupants on the bridge of the galactic cruiser. Reeger turned his back on the now lifeless, headless corpse of the messenger and walked toward the viewing window of the bridge. He stared longingly into the emptiness of space, letting his eyes rove from one distant galaxy to the next while the corpse was hurriedly removed from the bridge. The silence persisted until Reeger broke it.

“It was so simple. Roue just had to be convinced that he barely escaped so he could lead us to the Georas,” he said, his grip tightening on his sword again.

An uncomfortable silence hung over the bridge, broken only by occasion uncomfortable shuffling. The Dracien in the room were barely breathing, and those who dared to breathe made sure they were barely audible.

“Who killed him?” Reeger asked speaking calmly his deep voice resonated throughout the bridge. His grip on the hilt loosened though his hand remained around it.

More uncomfortable shuffling. Reeger’s hand hovered over the hilt of the sword, still in its sheath, which hung on a belt around his waist.

“You already dealt with him sire,” a shrill voice said from behind one of the many flashing screens on the bridge.

Reeger seemed to ponder the information for a moment before his hand rested by his side. He turned toward the occupants of the bridge.

“Who said that? Come forward.” An incredible amount of shuffling followed that request before a tall, lanky figure emerged from behind the screens and walked toward him, bowing low before Reeger.

“What is your name?”

“Maloch sire.”

“You are my new second-in-command.” A scowl from the previous second-in-command greeted the pronouncement, then perhaps deciding that a demotion was probably desirable, followed it with a long low exhalation. The other occupants in the bridge exhaled simultaneously relieved that the situation had been handled with minimal loss of life. Reeger thought he saw a smile on Maloch’s face. He had chosen many to take second command but none had ever smiled at their appointment.

Reeger made his way to his chair which was right in the front of the bridge presently facing the viewing window although it could swivel around ominously in any direction.

“Your first task Maloch, is to replace Roue. If he did not make it to Georas I must know where he is.”

Maloch bowed low then rose to his feet.

“We won’t be able to replace him --”

“What?!” Reeger shouted, rising to his feet from his chair.

“Now,” Maloch continued calmly. “We will have to wait until he has emerged from the jump gate before we can assesssss. I have a ship that is essspecially desssigned for the purpose of hunting down such roguessss.”

“I see you have this well under control Maloch,” Reeger said, sitting down again. “Find him.” He did not remember assigning any of the dracien to the building of such a ship. Something about Maloch seemed strange although he could not quite figure it out. He knew enough about the world they existed in to know that very few things were ever what they seemed. As far as he knew once someone had gone through a jump gate it was virtually impossible to track them down though he had been working on a means to track the energy signature emitted from a jump gate which could be used to approximate the travel time through hyperspace. It was all very technical. He was sure though that he had not spoken to anyone about that just yet and as far as he knew nobody else, apart from the Vulpeculae, had come close to developing that kind of technology. At best, it was an approximation and considering the vast distances involved in space a miss could be as good as half a system. Either way he wanted to see what Maloch could come up with. He waved Maloch away.

Maloch nodded and exited the bridge.

Reeger pondered on his progress so far, facing into the darkness of the cosmos through the viewing window. He knew the three captives in his prison cells, one of whom had previously been in possession of the sword he had strapped around his waist, were central to this puzzle of the Thalios which had seemed to elude him for hundreds of ephads. The Georas were searching for it as well and he had hoped to take advantage of that although this latest incident with Roue threatened to undo all his careful planning. As much as he needed to come up with a contingency plan there was none, at least not one that brought him so close to cutting off the head of the little resistance that remained in the galaxy against his absolute rule.

There was no shaking the feeling that something was coming. The last time he had met the power of the thalios it had almost destroyed him and the process of restoring himself to his former ferocity had been a long, taxing one and he knew another encounter like the last would certainly destroy him. It was the ultimate power in the universe, or at the very least this system of galaxies, and the only way for him to gain full control of the galaxy would be for him to possess it. This time he knew he had to be ready to face whoever possessed the Thalios. It had taken him a long time but he had found the sword and it had proven useful. Though he had failed in his last mission he now knew his new enemy’s face.

The ship drifted effortlessly in the emptiness of space. They were without a destination until Maloch found Roue. All they could do now was wait.

“Head for the nearest moon-base system for refuelling. We will await Maloch’s return there.”