CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
--The Revenger--
A muggy smell greeted Sharr Latt's senses as he came to. All feeling in his arms and legs had abandoned him and he could only move his head side to side. A dim light hung over him, as did a humanoid shape he could barely make out through his bleary eyes.
"You're awake," a low, cold voice spoke. "Did you enjoy you're nap?"
Sharr coughed as he struggled to concentrate on the figure, trying to make it out. "Who... are you?"
"Depends on who you ask. Most on this ship call me Giganis, which is indeed my birth name. But for the past three years I've been going by a different name. Hang on; I think I've still got my holodocs."
The being known as Giganis reached him and produced a small holoprojector, from which he displayed his identification info.
"Wegar Janlor from Tralus. Graduate from the Vondar School of Medicine and Healing. Served as a field medic under Colonel Garbek during the Glorian War. Sole survivor of his regiment. Better known as 'Doc.'"
Sharr scowled as everything came back to him and he realized whom he was speaking with. Glaring up at the Glorian who had once been his teammate, he said through gritted teeth, "Colonel Garbek died at the Battle of Vandyne."
"I know. I'm the one who killed him -- along with the rest of the 113th Regiment. I made something of a name for myself on that day. General Benag was certainly impressed with me."
"So you infiltrated the Alliance posing as one of us," Sharr muttered. "To what end?"
"Initially it was the start of an attempt to topple the Alliance from within. Benag had little faith in the Emperor and General Starka's plan and wanted to do things his own way. Then the war ended and, well, plans changed.
"For a while I had lost contact with Benag and I had presumed him dead. I was just about ready to settle into a new life as Wegar Janlor when, two years after Coruscant, I got the call."
"What call?" Sharr asked.
"The call of revenge," Giganis said darkly. "General Benag has gathered all of the remaining Glorians to enact our vengeance on the rest of the galaxy."
Sharr scoffed. "Better get in line. We can only deal with one galactic threat at a time."
Giganis chuckled, a guttural sound that made Sharr cringe. "Oh, we are very well aware of the competition at hand. After all, I've been feeding everything to Benag ever since Odryn. Everything Wraith Squadron uncovered, I informed Benag on."
"Why stop now though? Why lure us into your Glorian friends' hands now?"
"Because I knew once we got to D'Qar, I wouldn't have a chance to contact or return to Benag. This was my only other option." Giganis then glanced down at his wrist before stepping away from Sharr. "I hate to end our conversation here, but we are nearly at our destination."
"What destination?"
"None of your concern." The Glorian turned on his heel to leave the room. "It's been a good run, Sharr. I will look back on my days as a Wraith with fondness." Halfway out the door, he looked over his shoulder at Sharr with a mirthless grin. "Tell Bhindi I said hi."
With that, the door closed and Sharr was introduced to a world of pain.
--Coruscant--
"How is he?"
Drikall Bessarah looked up from the unconscious forms of Atha Prime and Xemer to see Wallen Nix standing in the doorway. "Which one?" the Devaronian medic asked.
"Xemer," Wallen clarified.
Drikall looked at the Kel Dor. "He should be fine. I didn't find any broken bones or anything."
"He's actually a Shi'ido, so he wouldn't have any bones...."
"Regardless, I couldn't find anything too serious. He should be waking shortly." Drikall then looked over to Atha. "As for him...."
"Shadow told me he's been acting strange ever since Toah started operations," Wallen said. "That he's been talking to himself, muttering words."
"Well, his helmet is practically glued to his head. For that matter, none of his armor pieces will budge. It's like they're a part of him."
"Do you know when or if he'll wake up?"
Drikall shrugged. "Hard to say."
"I need an estimate, Drikall. For both of them."
"I really don't know, Wallen. It could be anywhere from a few hours to a day." The Devaronian looked at him. "What's the rush anyway?"
"Shadow says we'll be leaving shortly. He can't reach either the Eravana or Toah."
"Communications could just be down. How does he plan to get us off Coruscant with security so tight?"
"He didn't say," Wallen muttered. "I imagine he's got something in mind, otherwise he'd have said something."
"In that case...." Drikall stood up and looked down at Atha and Xemer. "I can put them both on repulsor sleds and load them onto the ship. Provided our departure does not involve evasive maneuvers, they should be fine."
"Good. I'll let him know." Wallen turned to leave but was stopped by Drikall.
"Do you trust him?" the Devaronian asked.
Wallen raised an eyebrow at him. "Who? Shadow?"
"Yeah. I know he used to be a Glorian, but he's never said why he left. I know Xemer and Toah trust him...."
"To be honest, that's good enough for me," Wallen said. "I've come to trust Xemer with my life, and if he trusts Shadow, then so do I."
Drikall nodded. "Fair enough. I've come to notice the bond between you two. You and Xemer."
Wallen grunted. "Yeah. Don't read too much into it, kid. Nothing more than a mutual trust."
"I wasn't insinuating anything," Drikall said hastily. "Just that--"
"Hey." Wallen raised a hand to quiet him. "It's okay. Really. Don't worry about it. I'll go get the repulsor sleds."
With that, the detective left, leaving the Devaronian staring after him.
* * *
Wran Narcassan looked over his shoulder for the nth time as he entered the alleyway, dragging two unconscious Alliance officers behind him. While he was still holding his breath, he still found it incredibly fortunate things had gone so smoothly so far.
Then again, he shouldn't have been so surprised to find inattentive Alliance officers just waiting to be sedated. Standard had appeared to have gone down in recent years.
He eventually reached the backdoor to the hideout. Setting one officer against the wall, he rapped his fist on the door and it slid open to reveal Shadow. The ex-Glorian looked at Wran and then at the two officers. Both were human, while one was a dark-skinned male and the other a blonde-haired female.
Looking back at Wran, Shadow said, "That didn't take too long."
"I came across them leaving a seedy bar," Wran explained. "They were alone and no one else was around, so I took my chances."
"Good. Except for one thing." Shadow nodded at the female officer. "None of us are female, so who's disguising as her?"
"Uh, you?"
Shadow stared at him. "Pardon?"
"You're a shape-shifter, aren't you? A Shi'ido? I thought they could take the form of any species or gender."
"Yes, but--" Shadow stopped himself before giving a resigned sigh. "Never mind. Just bring them inside so we can get going."
Wran nodded before dragging the two officers inside. Just as Shadow closed the door, Wallen stepped out into the hall from an adjacent room and saw them. Looking from the officers to Wran before finally fixing his gaze on Shadow, the detective sucked in his breath.
"I'm afraid to ask."
"What? You thought leaving Coruscant would be simple?" Shadow said dryly.
"No, I figured you had a plan, but not...." He gestured at the knocked out officers. "This."
"Hey, if it doesn't work, you can mock me later. Now help me get their clothes off."
Wallen let his breath out, shaking his head. "Not a sentence I ever expected to hear today."
No comments:
Post a Comment