The Forgotten Planet
Chapter 28 – Damn, Dirty Bastards

With the test ending as an unmitigated success, we had a window of a couple days to load up on gear and essentials and to nail down the key points of our hustle before leaving for Lyonel. I worked with the local computer geeks running simulations, and we were all convinced that the tachyons would bolster the wormhole as intended. Well, I was sure anyway. They nodded their heads and furrowed their brows, but I had my doubts as to whether they really understood all the subtleties of the process.

Everything seemed to be working out. I had the girl of my dreams and a ship that exceeded everything I believed possible. There even appeared to be a thawing of sorts going on between Adan and Max. Even so, I just had a feeling something wasn’t quite kosher.

I kept thinking back to the spy that Lancelot had left in their castle – in actuality a small backdoor into their server. The little voice in my mind that kept saying I could just take a quick peek at Philip’s logs, or spy on a meeting through the internal security equipment kept getting louder and louder. Lancelot wasn’t sure the spy could remain undetected though, and I didn’t want to get caught with my pants down – especially if my fears weren’t justified. I’d also dropped a fat logic bomb into their server that was sitting and chilling, but unleashing that was the nuclear option and we were all still more-or-less friends.

I held off for a day and a half. It was the night before we were leaving for Lyonel, and I was in bed next to Vee. She was asleep and making a noise in between a snore and a purr. I knew I needed to close my eyes and go to sleep, but I kept going over every word and gesture I’d observed between Phil and Russ over the last few days. I admit, I’m slightly paranoid at the best of times, and the tiny voice was now too big to ignore without some serious black-market pharmaceuticals.

Finally, I gave up on the idea of sleep and decided to activate the spy and have a little look around. Once I was safely in their system, I started with Philip’s recent log entries – which were pompous and boring – before moving on to David’s. Those two didn’t agree on anything, down to the wattage of the bathroom lighting fixtures.

When I found nothing of interest there, I moved on to audiovisual feeds of Philip’s meetings over the last three days. I was pushing it a little with this one as my bandwidth signature was bigger with these files, but I reassured myself I was covering my tracks completely. It’s amazing what you can talk yourself into.

What’s also amazing is how many damn meetings Philip has every day. Trade routes, commodities trading, armament upgrades, and station utilities – the man had a hand in everything. We were just one little aspect of his own personal empire that he was currently juggling. It gave me a little more appreciation for his abilities. I still thought he was an ass, but perhaps not a clown.

I found a tete-a-tete between him and Russ, but they talked about nothing but cigars and Scotch for forty-five minutes. I was getting tired and nodded off a few times while going through meeting after meeting. Four hours’ in, I was at the point where I was just listening to the meeting as I rested my eyes and faded in and out of sleep. I was just about out when I heard David say Pendragon, and I clearly heard Philips next line, “I’ll change her name back to Empress as soon as they return from Lyonel.”

I sat straight up in bed. Vee murmured in her sleep and squeezed her pillow tight.

“Why even have them go through with the heist then Philip?” David asked.

“Because I think they can pull it off. And it’s easier to mass produce particles that we already have. Listen – worst case scenario – they get popped and Russell and the other crewmen fly the ship back to us.

“I don’t like this,” Davis said, shaking his head.

Philip rolled his eyes and answered, “Why am I not surprised?”

“That son of a bitch,” I said as I shut off the recording.

Vee opened her eyes halfway and asked, “What’s wrong sweetie?”

“We’ve been lied to,” I said. Then I remembered that my backdoor may not have been secured. “Get dressed. We need to leave now.”

She popped out of bed and started pulling on a jumpsuit. I picked my clothes from the day before up off the ground and threw them on. “Philip, right?” Vee asked.

“Yep,” I answered. “I need to wake Adan.”

“What about Russell and Maxine?”

“Russell’s in on it too.”

“Maxine?”

I shrugged and buzzed Adan. After thirty seconds, I overrode his communicator and maxed-out the volume. Five seconds later, his irritated voice came over the line.

“What the hell, Galen?”

“Philip and Russell double-crossed us. We have to go.”

Then I heard Maxine ask what was going on. Of all the times for them to patch things up… unless she was playing him.

“Adan... I take it Max is in bed with you?” Vee covered her mouth and mimed surprise.

“That’s an affirmative,” he answered neutrally.

“Russell sold us out, Adan.”

“You’re sure of that, little brother?”

“God damn it Adan-”

“Okay, okay... take it easy.”

“If she’s in on it Adan...”

“I know, I know. Hold on.”

“Don’t do something stupid.”

“What’s he doing?” Vee mouthed.

“Max, are you playing me?” I heard him ask.

“Something stupid,” I answered. Veesil had stuffed all her belongings into her duffel and was quickly packing my bag. “He’s questioning Max.”

“Stupid boy,” she said, shaking her head. “Though, she does like him.”

I could hear a groggy Maxine trying to figure out what was up.

“Adan, we have to go,” I said forcefully.

“Galen, I love you, but shut the fuck up.”

It was like a slap to the face. “Oh, okay,” I stammered. Adan never talked to me like that, and it really caught me off guard.

“Maxine, you know how I feel about you-”

“No actually, I don’t,” she answered sharply. I heard him take in a deep breath.

“What’s happening now,” Vee mouthed.

I muted my side and answered, “Lovers quarrel if you can believe it.”

She nodded that she in fact, could. She pointed at her watch, and I shrugged helplessly.

“You’re not going to make me say it now, are you? Galen’s on the line.”

That set off a storm of words, most of which were impolite.

“Fine, I love you, ok? Now, are you playing us, or... why are you crying?”

“Adan, take her and let’s go.”

“But...”

“She’s good, Adan. You chose well – but we have to go right now.”

“Yeah, uh, okay.”

Vee was smiling. “I knew she loved him. Silly boy…”

Vee and I grabbed our bags and each other’s hands and left the room. We met Maxine and Adan in the hallway. Both looked rumpled and half-asleep. We probably did as well. I hadn’t gotten any rest. Poochy was excitedly prancing in circles. He must have thought we were all going for a walk.

“Galen, I’m sorry for what I said...” Adan said.

I shook my head, “It’s fine.” I looked Maxine in the eye.

“I didn’t know Galen,” she said.

I nodded. “I believe you. So, you’re with us?” She bit her lip and nodded. I looked at Vee. “Sweetie, this place is a maze.” We’d taken quarters in the shipyard so I could work on the Pendragon without shuttle rides from the surface. The place had been built up over the years, and the layout was anything but standardized.

She nodded. “Let’s go,” she said as she pulled me down the left hallway I wouldn’t have picked. I could have pulled up a map but didn’t want to give away our GPS location. When I went to check on a security response, I noticed I was no longer in the station’s system.

“They know we know,” I said, and Vee picked up the pace that in short order had me breathing heavy. Running and bedroom calisthenics apparently require different types of cardiovascular training. I was starting to get my bearings as we raced down corridors, but just before we reached the entrance I knew led to the Pendragon’s dock, we found our escape barred by Philip, Russell, and a handful of heavily armed security personnel in shiny black power armor.

“That’s far enough,” Philip said. He was unarmed, but I guess he had enough people there holding weapons for him.

“Russ, what’s going on?” Maxine said with a mix of puzzlement and fury.

“Don’t worry kid,” he said nonchalantly, rifle perched on his shoulder. “I’ve got you covered.”

“What about the rest of us, Russ?” I asked. “Are we covered too?” The fact that his eyes wouldn’t meet mine told me the answer to that question.

“Galen,” Philip said, shaking his head, “Why couldn’t you just go along with the plan.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s no matter – I’ll get the magic particles some other way.”

“They’re not magic, jackass,” Adan said. Who knew he actually listened?

Philip shooed the comment away with his fingertips. “Until I do have them,” Philip continued, “you’ll need to stay here as my guests. When I’m sure you can’t affect my plans, you can take that old heap of a ship and go wherever you please.”

“And Betty?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, she belongs to me now,” he said with a sneer.

I went for him then, but Adan wrapped me up and lifted me off the ground. “We’ll have another chance,” he whispered. Philip smirked and, in that moment, I could have killed him with my bare hands. Well, I could have tried my best anyway. I knew Adan had the pistol, but I knew it would be useless against the guard’s body armor. At best I could kill Philip with it and get the rest of us killed in the process. I didn’t struggle in Adan’s arms, and he eased his grip.

“Come on Max, let’s go,” Russell said. She shook her head. “Max...”

“Go to hell!” Max screamed, fire blazing in her bright brown eyes.

“It sounds like she’s chosen her side, Russ,” Philip said.

“Yeah, and I chose him,” Max inclined her head in Adan’s direction, “not you.”

Philip winced but recovered quickly. “Yes, and a poor choice that was. I watched the whole thing in full digital clarity last night. You seemed very eager. Loser really is your type, isn’t it?”

“You what?” Max exclaimed

“Philip, what the hell man?” Russell said, looking none-too-pleased.

“Hey, what about me?” Veesil asked. “Can I make a deal too?”

The smirk was back. “By all means,” Philip answered magnanimously. “What do you have to offer?”

She slowly reached into her jacket pocket. Every gun in the place was now pointed at her. I didn’t know if that was part of the plan. Did she want us to attack the guards? She slowly withdrew the vertigo device. Then I got it.

“It’s a Servine device you might replace useful,” she said cheerfully. She looked at me and added, “The trick is to focus on a fixed point.”

I focused on her eyes. I could stare into them forever. Effortlessly.

She activated the device and bodies started dropping. I was still dizzy when it was all over, but not disablingly so.

“Run!” Vee yelled, and I tried to make my legs cooperate as she dragged me by the hand towards the dock entrance. I looked back to see Max and Adan right behind me. Farther back, only Russell was standing, rifle still slung over his shoulder. He may have nodded at me, but it was too far away to know for sure.

We made it to the ship without a hitch. The boarding ramp was down, and we quickly made our way to the bridge. The problem was that we were locked out of the controls.

“I’ve got this,” I said, as I flipped on my que and Where is my Mind began as I started the hack. Then I felt a stabbing pain in my temples as something went very, very wrong.