Whisper & Fury: Eydulan Series Book 1 (3 page)

“I’m sorry, this war has been hard on a lot of families.”

“Yes it has. Which makes this even harder, I need to ask a favor.”

“You know we can’t divert resources for just one man.”

“I know, but I need this Uncle, please.”

The General sighs, “Derek my boy, if I do that for you, you know what that will mean.”

“That you actually cared about me and my family. That you aren’t some cold hearted bastard like my father always said you were.”

“No. It means that anyone who is close to positions of power, like yourself, will have their families targeted. They will do so to try to sway our forces, and put holes where there shouldn’t be. So no, I’m sorry, I can’t put others’ lives at risk to save Bonnie’s brother.” The general turns to look out the window behind him, leaving his back exposed. “Now if you don’t mind there are more pressing matters that I have to attend to, you can leave now.”

Derek lowers his head, his hand clenching and shaking. “Damn it Uncle, why. Why!” He reaches for his sidearm out of his holster. Once the gun clears the formed plastic casing, three rounds sound out in the tiny room.

Six years ago

“General, you can't be serious. I'm not even trained or would know how to do that?”

“That's the mission, and only you can do it. I need someone I can trust to do this. It might require you to do things you might not normally do, or would want to do.”

“Sir, I just don't think I can do it. Yes I don't have a family or husband or children, but that doesn’t mean I can fake a new life.”

“Sergeant, you have to understand, Ryker Mallory is a top priority target. There aren’t many people who can pull the strings of everything like he can. He is in the business of supply and demand. There are some who no longer want to be a part of the Empire, and if we allow that Humanity will become fractured again, like it was here on Earth before we went into the stars. It would bring wars over territories and resources, plunging humans backward.”

“General, I…” Kat sighs. “Fine, I accept, and if I could speak plainly sir?”

“Go ahead.”

“ I won't sleep with the bastard, you can count on that.”

One year ago

“Hey Bill, just drop off that box right here.”

“Thanks Knox.”

“Anytime. Any idea what this is?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

Knox laughs, “Ha ha, alright. It’s probably something the wife ordered. I can’t seem to keep up with everything she’s been getting recently.”

“I have the same problem,” Bill turns to walk out of the hanger, waving. “Have a good day.”

“You too Bill.”

Knox rubs at his beard, looking the crate over. Kat finally says, “Hey Knox, can you tip the crate over, the latch is on the bottom.”

Knox nods his head, still rubbing his beard. “I figured something like this, but I didn’t expect it to be you Katrice. Give me a minute, these old bones of mine just don’t have the strength in them like they used to.”

“Sure they don’t Knox, and I’m the wizard of diamond ponies and rainbow farts.”

Knox huffs as a smile forms behind his glorious beard, “Flattery will get you nowhere with me, just sit tight.” He walks over to side of the hanger and gets into an old exo-suit, powering it up. Kat holds on while he flips the crate over. She tries not to make any noises as it crashes down, but lets out a small yelp.

Knox gives her a large grin as she crawls out of the box. “So what is it you’re going to be needing from me this time Katrice?”

Kat grabs the old man around the waist, not being able to reach all the way around. It was the same comfortable and safe spot it was from her childhood. The memories flood back in as she lays her head on his chest.

“It’s good to see you Knox.”

He reaches around her, hugging back, saying, “It’s good to see you too Kitty Kat.”

Katrice goes over her last few years with him. He listens, nodding and grunting every few sentences. This is the first time that she has had any type of outlet for what she had been up to for the last two years.

“So that’s pretty much all of it, which is why I need the shuttle to Apollo Prime.”

“Hold on a second. You’ve been working with Ryker Mallory, puppet master of the rebellion, and you want to steal the plans for an experimental ship and the AI that’s going to control it. All to give it over to Ryker as a setup.”

“That and I’ve been romantic with him for the last six months. God if they only had the technology to do memory wipes. I would wipe out the last two years in a heartbeat. I would just need to make sure that Mallory is in custody first.”

Knox rubs at his beard, something she had seen many times before as he mulled over something. She could see the worry and concern building in his eyes with each glance he took at her before turning away again to think. She shifts her hips, and crosses her arms. There was a growing feeling that it was wrong to come here and ask for his help. He was like a father to her throughout the years, and it was hard enough to tell him that she had been working for Mallory. Let alone romantic with him.

Knox lets out a grunt, “Alright, I can get you to Apollo Prime, but I’m coming. If you need anything else, I have a few contacts in town that owe me a favor or two?”

She lets out a relieved sigh, “Thanks Knox, and no I don’t think I’ll need anything like that. I just need you to get me there, and wait for me to get out. If things seem to get too hot, just leave. I don’t want to get you and Gale mixed up in anything because of me.”

eight months ago

“So you find out any information today?”

“Sorry Gail, I haven't found anything. I know there are people in there, I just can't seem to find out where to get in.”

Gail was a small woman, about the same age as Knox. Her hair only showed traces of grey mixed into her black hair. Her blue eyes gaze back at Kat, letting her remember the easier days of youth. Gail had been been that motherly figure in her life, and she wanted to be like her someday, but it seemed that a life like hers was getting farther from her grasp with each passing day.

“It will be alright darling, you'll figure it out.”

“Thanks, where's Knox at?”

“Where he always is, fiddling with the ship in the hanger.”

“There's something I want to ask him, so I guess I'll see you for dinner tonight.”

“When you find him, tell that old codger I'm making his favorite casserole tonight.”

Kat walks out of the rented house Knox and Gail got when they came out here with her. It was a simple place, but that is all they ever needed. It felt like she was back on Earth again, living with them, passing messages between the two. Apollo Prime was a space station above the planet Apollo. It was a gathering place for people who wanted to live the like adventurers of old. Apollo was filled with settlements, and had been a crowning achievement for the frontier. It was currently the only planet that was starting to rival Earth in the comforts of city life. Apollo Prime was the gateway in and out of the planet for all the adventurers and settlers. Ever since humanity created the first faster than light or FTL drive, we branched out to any available planet that was suitable to live on. Or if there was profit in it. A new gold rush happened, with limitless planets, and resources now available, people wanted to get rich quick.

Apollo’s moon however, was mostly unsettled. Having only a few research facilities on it, one of which Kat was actively searching through. There was activity in the area around there, and she was getting closer to finding it out. Walking around the corner she looks up at the hanger, as a flood of nostalgia takes her back to a more innocent time. Knox swings open the door, and Kat jumps backward. Falling on her ass.

“Christ Knox, don't scare me like that.”

Knox squints his eyes, and raises his chin. “What have I told you about taking the Lords name in vain.”

Kat rolls her eyes, “Sorry. Chrimeny Knox, don't scare me like that.”

His features soften, “That's better. What did you need?”

“Who says I needed anything.”

He shifts his stance, “You've been gone for the last week, show up in front of my door out of the blue with no messages, and you expect me to believe it’s just because you're lonely. Come now Wylde Fire, who do you think you're talking to.” He reaches a hand out, to help her up.

“I haven't been called that since I was in the force.” Accepting his extended hand. “Besides, Gail said she was making your favorite casserole.”

“You want to talk on the way back, or after dinner?”

“After, I'm starved.”

Present

“If what you say is true, I want him dead, but with this explosive near my heart. I can’t even get close to him.”

Whisper says, “I just finished your left arm, now all I have to get is your right. I need like five more minutes.”

Kat speaks softly, “Way to go Whisper, and I can try.”

“Well I can’t have my meatbag blow up with me attached now can I.”

“No I guess you can’t.” Kat sees Gravan’s head peek around the corner, and her heart skips a beat.

His blue eyes wash over her like a wave cresting on the shore. She takes an extended looks of his face. Strong jaw, with a thin beard at the edges, and messy black hair. She watches his eyes look up and down her, exchanging glances.

He says, tilting his head. “How’s your leg holding up?”

She isn’t quite sure how to respond. He was the one that just shot her, which was something she needed to remember. Trying to push the inviting hunky-ness he was projecting. “It’s fine I guess. It only got grazed by a shotgun blaster at short range.” She emphasizes the last couple of words, unable to hold back her anger.

“Right. Sorry.” His eyes fixate on her wound for a short time, and then he turns back around the corner.

“Sorry? I’m pretty sure you did that on purpose.”

“I did, and I hit where I was aiming too. It’s just you seem to have hit the bomb that was placed on my heart. I’m not sure if it’s disabled or about to blow, but either way I’m free.”

“Wait, what!?”

“You had better get out of here, and fast. The pressure it was putting on my chest is gone, which can only mean one thing.” Gravan tosses the shotgun around the corner. It scrapes and bounces along. “I don’t have any other weapons, and I know that it’s a very trust worthy statement since I just shot you. Just hurry, I definitely don’t want to kill you if I’m not forced to anymore. Plus I’ve lost too much blood anyway, and once my heart stops. Boom.”

“Whisper what is he talking about?”

Whisper sighs, “I am in the middle of something if you don’t remember.”

Kat rolls her eyes, “Yes, I remember, but can you check him out too?”

“What!? How am I supposed to do that?”

“We shot him right? So that means your nanites are inside him, right? Can you access them?”

“OH! Well, I’ve never thought of that before. Let me try it.”

Gravan grunts in pain, “Katrice, please. Get out of here, General Ajax wouldn’t want you to die here.”

There is a name that she hadn’t heard in years, but how did this guy know his connection to her. She was supposed to go in this deep cover as herself. It had to be real, with no false ID or background. Mallory was too important a target to tip off. So why would General Ajax send in another operative, did something happen, or did he believe that she was compromised.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I know you killed his nephew, under his orders. He placed me here because of my past, because I have a hatred that’s motivating. The last communication from you was over three years ago, right when you started having relations with Ryker.”

Kat takes in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. If she was a man, there might have been another way, but Mallory didn’t bring women into his inner circle. She had to earn her way into his good graces, be in his thoughts before he even started to look her way as a possible companion. A man like Gravan wouldn’t know how that feels.

She tries to keep her words even, “It was the only way to get any closer to him than just being the head of security. There wasn’t anything on him at all from where I was, so I had to get closer. From there I was just as watched as he was, and couldn’t send off a message even if I wanted to. I had gotten the suspicion that he was on to me in one way or the other when he sent me on that mission to ‘liberate’ the plans for the two AI’s and the ship.”

“Then why did you go?”

“That would be the million credit question, wouldn’t it. I have no frigging clue why I went along with it. He asked and I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Were you taking anything he gave you?”

“Never took any pills or anything, no.” She rubs at the brim of her nose. “Why am I talking to you about all this again?”

Whisper replies, “To keep him busy, or we could redecorate the surface of the moon with what is left of your flesh.”

Kat whispers, “Right.”

Gravan says, “I think, because of our connection to the General.”

Kat says aloud, “Right, that.”

“So tell me, when you left on your trip, did you have a headache where you wanted to kill yourself just to make it stop?”

“Yes… I did, how did you know?”

“Lasted for about a week too, didn’t it?”

“Yes. The creep factor is rising, you might want to explain yourself.”

“Ryker was testing a new drug out on you, and it seems to be working with flying colors.”

“What drug, I never took anything.”

“He’s calling it Compel, and it’s just as advertised. He takes a pheromone that is either topical or pill and it releases into the air around him. You got feed Compel, in a drink, in food, somewhere. When you smelt the pheromone, that was all it took. Anything he said you should do, you did, without question. With a smile even. The headache was the Compel leaving your system.”

Kat’s jaw drops. Thoughts of when she patrolled through the Mallory’s labs come to mind. She never saw anything like what was just described. Or did she. A fuzzy memory started to scratch at her mind, like a dream she can barely remember. Six months after she started her relationship with Mallory, a new wing had been opened in the complex. She had to put a new recruit down there the first night because it opened ahead of schedule. Scott Johnson was his name, and he called her down into the lab because something was missing. He caught her off guard, and she wasn’t ready to be jumped. He was stronger than her, trained in grappling. Mallory was standing behind him, then by her side. Commanding Johnson to let her go. Mallory tells her to forget about that night, and that wing.