Then Tiet was struck with a new thought. The threat to this planet was also a threat to the Horva. They had no allegiance to the Baruk and had helped drive off the Vorn military presence which held treaty with the Baruk. This fight was Grod’s fight, whether the general realized it or not.
Tiet needed the assembly’s attention and he needed it now. He kicked the podium off of the dais. It crashed down the steps loudly onto the stone floor. All eyes were suddenly drawn to him.
“Forgive me for the interruption, Ambassadors,” he said, “but I have reconsidered and have decided to accept your endorsement.”
Shouts began to erupt from the audience. He interrupted them again.
“Please…my acceptance is conditional!” he said over the crowd. Everyone became quite again. Tiet saw Wynn considering him.
“I will accept-on the condition that the Council endorses my going to General Grod in an attempt to broker a peace agreement and convince him to fight with us against the Baruk.”
He waited after that statement, expecting a reaction. The ambassadors were all looking at one another to confer. The room was now awash in low murmurs concerning Tiet’s dangerous request. Tiet stood fast, waiting. After a few moments Ambassador Licoure turned back to address him.
“Master Soone, your request is troubling to say the least, but I am curious why you would think the Horva would join us?”
“I believe the main thrust of Grod’s campaign and the Horva’s desires all center around wanting their freedom and fighting to attain it. I think Grod might be willing to listen to what I have to say. He wants what we want. I just have to make him see it.”
“With all due respect, we have never known the Horva, especially Grod, to be open to negotiations,” said Licoure.
“I only ask for your endorsement and the willingness to work with the Horva peacefully if I am successful, nothing more. If you agree, I will accept your motion to ascend to the throne of my father.”
Licoure looked back at the other delegates in the Council and at Wynn who was still fixed on Tiet. The other ambassadors gestured with approving nods to Licoure.
“Master Soone, we will agree against my better judgment.”
“I appreciate this, Ambassadors.” Tiet turned to leave the assembly.
Wynn made his way quickly to catch up to Tiet as he walked back down the great hall.
“Wait, Tiet!”
Tiet slowed, but did not stop.
“Tiet, what are you up to? Grod won’t negotiate with you. He’s a monster who only loves conquest.”
Tiet stopped then, surprised by the statement.
“Wynn, you told me things aren’t always what they appear to be. I hated the Vorn who were actually peaceful-”
“Yes, but that’s not Grod at all, he-”
“He and the Horva were slaves wanting their freedom. And as for being a monster…well, he managed to destroy the Sphere weapon no one else had been able to defeat, so he must be pretty smart and he must be a great leader to have generated the successful uprising against the Vorn military.”
Wynn stood silent, surprised at the wisdom pouring out of his apprentice.
“Besides, we cannot afford to fight a war on two fronts. I think we’ll lose.”
Wynn had considered that prospect also. He remained silent as Tiet turned to continue out. “I’ve got to get going on this while we still have time,” said Tiet as he punched the button to open the lift door.
“Do you really think Grod will listen-will he even answer your transmission?”
“I have no intention of transmitting anything. I’m going to Nagon-Toth personally.”
“Do you really think he will let you just walk in?” Wynn asked sarcastically.
“We’ll see.”
“You do realize, if you go and confront him, he might just decide he should join the Baruk against us. Did you consider that?”
“I’m not giving him the opportunity,” Tiet said matter-of-factly. “If he doesn’t join us then I’m going to kill him.”
Tiet let the lift door close in front of him. Wynn stood speechless. Tiet was certainly his father’s son. The same brash determination-it was something he remembered from serving under the king years ago. He was glad to see these qualities emerging finally. Unfortunately, that couldn’t guarantee Tiet success.
ESCAPE
The hangar bay of the Baruk flagship was teemed with soldiers. Unfortunately, they were congregated very near the Strider. Kale watched from a shadowy position high above the massive tarmac. There were many ships inside the bay, mostly Baruk fighter craft. Then he spotted one that was different.
It was Governor Tal’s ship. He was almost certainly either imprisoned, or dead by now. Kale knew the Baruk were going to remove the remaining Vorn military from the equation very soon. Tal’s presence on the flagship probably meant the process had begun.
Nevertheless, the Governor’s ship was some distance across the bay from his own and it was unguarded. Kale deftly made his way to an area above the vessel. It was quite a bit larger than his ship.
He pulled three spicor discs from his vest and flung them downward at the hull of the ship. When they impacted, one right after the other in the same spot, a hole was created all the way through the hull. Kale dropped in fast. He landed inside and quickly made his way to the bridge.
Kale had learned a few things about Vorn spacecraft during his years among their clan. He pulled a palm-sized device from his coat then fitted the mechanism to an interface panel at the helm. This would give him control of the ship.
The area around his ship was still quite crowded with Baruk soldiers in their living body armor. Kale keyed in a sequence on the touch screen of his interface, and the ship’s turbines began a low hum. Tal’s vessel was now ready for lift-off.
The group of soldiers surrounding the Strider noticed the engine sounds coming from across the bay. From above the long lines of Baruk fighter craft, they could see a ship rising off of the platform. It was the same ship that Governor Tal had arrived on with his aides-all of whom had since been executed.
The Baruk soldiers leveled their weapons on the fleeing vessel. They opened fire on the Vorn ship floating above the docking platform as it prepared to leave the bay. The ship began to drift as the warriors closed in on it. The vessel crashed into Baruk fighters docked nearby then attempted to rise again as the warriors concentrated more firepower on it.
Tal’s ship started spinning out of control. The tail end knocked Baruk fighters all around the bay, causing the soldiers to scatter for cover while still trying to maintain their assault. The shields on the vessel were not active. As it spun wildly out of control, many Baruk were pummeled to death by flying debris from the ship and the destroyed Baruk fighters.
Kale sat calmly at the helm and adjusted the controls on his portable interface. The engine responded accordingly. He pulled up his handheld control pad and tapped in a new sequence. The governor’s ship drifted further down the bay toward the hangar control center. It tumbled and smashed into the area.
As the control center was engulfed in a fireball, the hangar force field deactivated, allowing the influx of open space into the hangar bay. The entire hangar bay’s contents rushed into the vacuum carrying the Baruk soldiers with it.
Kale laid aside his interface device. By remote piloting the Vorn ship he had been able to get to his Strider. He launched the Strider from the platform as debris bounced against the ship’s shields. Baruk warriors, who had been sucked into the void, bounced off of the hull as Kale’s ship shot through the mass of wreckage swirling out of the bay. He activated the Strider’s hyper coil and pushed away from the Baruk formation at high speed.
The lush scenery that was common near the twelve cities had given way to the desolation of the territory around Nagon-Toth. Tiet was getting close now. The land was war-torn and the Horva had made no effort to revitalize it. No wonder they were conducting raids for supplies. They might be starving to death otherwise.