| Chapter 52 Kevin sat in front of a console, scanning the pages he'd looked up. He'd done a search on Interstellar Distributions, and came up with tons of information. Unfortunately none of it was what he was looking for. He even searched the company's affiliates, surprised that they had branch company's all over the universe, even several on earth. He'd saved a lot of the information on a chip, knowing Nick would forward it on to Tom and Tamara to help them in their search. He looked up when someone came into the library, smiling. "Hey Ana," he said. She looked over, "Hey, what brings you here?" "Doing some research for Nick," he answered, "You?" "Looking up some things for the queen," Ana replied. Kevin nodded, going back to his search. Then a thought hit him, "Ana, can you come here a sec?" She got up and walked over, "Yes?" "Um, do you know someone that can hack a computer system? Someone we can trust not to talk about what we find?" he asked. She raised her eyebrows, "This sounds interesting. What exactly are you doing?" Kevin smiled, "Trying to figure out what Interstellar Distributions has in common with Ambassador Hatch." Ana smiled, a mischievous grin on her face, "Well, in that case, grab your stuff and come with me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Come on, come on," Nick said impatiently. He was sitting in front of his console again, trying to find the origin of the mysterious language from the cave. His nerves were shot and he'd had a shitty day. Kena's death was hard on him, and he had stayed to comfort Thomas and the rest of the unicorns, before returning to his room. Still there was no word from the kidnapers, and Nick could only imagine what Brian was having to endure. That was the worse part, not knowing. He jumped when the screen blinked and stopped. He stared at it, his mind filling with more questions. The language was from another planet, called Aklazh. He looked at the solar system, finding that it was about as far away from Celeste as you could get. He sat back reading the translation of the paper........Marques, I understand your concern, but I am right when I tell you this will come to pass. I see it as clear as the mountain streams. Do not lose faith, for our time is near. William. Nick sighed, wondering just who William and Marques were, and what they were talking about. He wondered if anyone knew of the cave, or if they did, why were they keeping it to themselves. The one person he thought might know, he didn't want to ask. Mason had changed towards him in past few weeks, but he still didn't trust him. Something was going on, especially with him and his mother. He never had gotten the chance to talk to her about that. Now with Brian missing, he needed to be concerned with other things. Briefly he wondered how the talks were going, feeling guilty for leaving Anthony to the wolves. But there was no way he could be in there. He couldn't agree to Kelah's terms, no matter how much it hurt Brian. He shook his head, being king was definitely not all it's cracked up to be. Not by a long shot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anthony glanced at Tunk. The older man was seething, and honestly Anthony didn't know how he was restraining himself. Kelah wouldn't agree to any compromise, no matter how small. He went on and on about how his people demanded that they receive the mine, and he wouldn't settle for anything less. Anthony really didn't see the talks ending on a good note. There was no pleasing the ambassador from Jeptim. He sighed, flipping the page as Kelah read his latest �amendment' to the deal. I hope Nick is doing better than me, Anthony thought. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin sat in the control room, watching as the young tech went through pages of scrolling text. It was going so fast Kevin didn't know how he was keeping up. "Well, well, what have we here...." the man said, intrigued. Kevin and Ana glanced at one another. The tech turned to them and smiled, "We're in. So what do you wanna know?" "Pull up anything they have on the import of Krystal, and also see if you can get into their payroll. Let's see who works for them," Kevin said. "Also look up any legislation they have lobbied for in the past couple of years," Ana added. Kevin looked at her. She shrugged, "I'm sure they have some of the local government in their pockets too." Kevin grinned, "You ever thought about working for the FBI?" "Naw, they're a bit to plain for me," she smiled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marie sat on a bench, the afternoon suns warming her skin. She had to admit that she did feel a little better. A.J. had been with her all day, talking and making her do things even when she didn't want to. He was right, she couldn't sulk in bed all day. It wasn't good for her or the baby. She ran her hand over her stomach. She had to stay strong, to keep it together. Brian was going to need her when he returned. It was hard coming off the drug, and he'd need her strength and support. "That's it Marie, stay positive," she told herself, "Brian's coming back, and everything will be alright." "It certainly will," A.J. said, sitting down next to her, handing her a glass. She took it, taking a long drink. He laughed, "Damn woman. I've seen chugging contests that didn't go that fast." Marie blushed, "Sorry, the walk made me thirsty." "I'd say," he smiled. Marie reached out and took his hand, "Thank you for doing this." "Doing what?" he asked, sipping his drink. "Looking after me. Not taking no for an answer. I have to admit that we didn't get off on the right foot, and I always kinda thought you were a jerk," she said. He gave her an offended look, "Gee thanks." "No, wait," she said laughing, "You didn't let me finish. That was until now. I see how much you really care, and even though you're hurting too, you take time to make sure that I'm Ok. Thank you Alex." He smiled, staring into his glass, "You're welcome." "There you are," Devon said, walking up to them. A.J. nodded, getting up, "I'll leave you two alone." Marie watched as he headed back towards the palace. Devon sat down in his place, "Are you OK?" She glared at him, "No I'm not Ok. My husband is gone. He's hurt and they forced Krystal on him! How do you think I feel?!" she spat. Devon bit his lip, the hurt expression on his sisters face tugging at him. "I know Marie. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry this happened," he said. She sighed shaking her head, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just really worried Devon. He looked so sick ... and now he's fighting the drug too. How much can he take?" He wrapped his arm around her, letting her lean against him, "I dunno sis, I dunno." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian rocked back and forth, his arms wrapped tight around himself. He'd ran out of Krystal earlier in the day and he was suffering. The cravings wouldn't let him rest, and the pain was unbearable. He'd started crying a few minutes ago, not able to keep the tears from falling. He hated this. Hated the way he felt when the drug wore off, and hated what the poison was doing to him. He knew his fever was high and he was dehydrated. He'd wobbled over to the sink a few times, turning the water on and taking a drink. But he couldn't stand for long, the weakness and dizziness haunting every step. He looked over when his door opened. The older man was back, this time coming into the cell alone. He looked over at the sink, the empty vile sitting on the back of it. "I see you've taken your dose," he commented. Brian wiped his face, "W-why did you do that?" The man sat down on the other side of the bed and looked at him, "The king refused our demands. I wanted him to see what his decision did to you." Brian glared at him, "He saw that?" The man smiled, "Yes he did. Now we are giving him time to think about what he did before we approach him again." Brian shuddered, the chills were back. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around himself, "Please just let me go. I-I don't know how much longer I can take this." The man stared at him, as if he were pondering the idea. Brian coughed a horrible deep retching cough, followed by him gasping for air. The man stood up, heading for the door, "I will have them bring you some more medicine." Brian watched as he left, his hopes sinking a bit more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin sat with his mouth open, in shock. "I can't believe this," he said, then the anger hit him, "I'm gonna kill him!" Ana reached out and grabbed his arm, "Let Nick take care of this." Kevin sighed, looking back over the payroll sheets the tech had gotten. They'd only managed to get a partial list before the company's security system locked them out. The tech was working on getting back in, but he was having to bounce his signal, and it was taking longer. Nick and Rowland walked into the room. "What's up?" Nick asked. Kevin shoved the papers in his hand, "Interstellar's payroll. I think you might find it interesting." Nick looked down at the sheet and read through it. Flipping the page he stopped, looking back up at Kevin with anger in his eyes. "Yeah," Kevin spat. Nick looked back down at the paper, finishing the list. Sure enough Kelah's name was on the list, but so was someone else's. Someone he had never expected. He turned to Rowland showing him the paper, "I want him brought in, but keep it quiet. I don't want word getting out about this." Rowland nodded, "No problem, he's already here." "He's here?" Nick and Kevin asked at the same time. "Yes, he came in a little while ago to visit his sister," Rowland replied. "Alright, post someone at all the exits. Don't let him leave, but do not let Marie see you take him. I can't risk her getting more upset," Nick said. Rowland nodded, heading out of the room. "I can't fucking believe this," Nick said, running his hand through his hair. "I know, I'm gonna kill him!" Kevin spat. Nick held his hand up, "Let us get where Brian is from him first, then you can kill him." Chapter 53 |