Rise of the Resistance (War for Orion Trilogy Book Two) (20 page)

“Oh, was he?” Merikh didn't sound convinced
as he stood, towering over Kirill.

“He contacted me before he arrived,” he
continued. “He said he wanted my group to attack your ships. He
said he would then be free of you and that together he and I could
start a rebellion to wipe out the crodillians and take the Throne.
The traitor wanted to take what you’d worked so hard for after you
gave him a chance to prove his loyalty to you.”

“You really think a small rebellion would've
even have come close to succeeding? Have you not seen what my
fleets have done to the rest of this galaxy so far?”

“I
know
we could've taken your ships
down,” Kirill snarled. “You were obvious coming in. My group
specializes in eliminating even the toughest of enemies, and I
assure you, the fleet you sent wouldn't have been our hardest
job.”

Merikh grinned, revealing his sharp grey
teeth. “We would’ve sent another, bigger, fleet to take you out,
Kirill. You wouldn't have beat us.”

“I’m not dumb,” Kirill said. “I know what
power you wield, I’ve seen it firsthand. You are by far one of the
strongest enemies as a whole that I’ve ever seen, but why stay
enemies?”

“So, you are getting to something else,”
Merikh grinned, folding his fingers together. “What is it that you
really
want?”

“I want to be your ally,” Kirill told him.
“I want to work
with
you not
against
you.”

“We both know that there may be a conflict
of interest,” Merikh chuckled. “I believe you remember
Jahdiel?”

“I do remember her,” Kirill nodded.

“I’ve told her she can kill you.”

“I would like it if Jahdiel
didn't
kill me,”

“I told her she could, how can I go back on
that?” Merikh held his hands up. “What do you have to offer that’s
worth going back on my word?”

“I’ll be your strongest ally,” Kirill tried
to convince him. “I’ve never faced an enemy like you and you’ve
never faced one like me. I have resources all over Orion, and I
could wipe out even the slightest bit of rebellion in the blink of
an eye. All without you having to risk any of your own ships.”

“And why would you want to work with me,
Kirill?” Merikh leaned forward. “I’m taking over you galaxy.”

“Because we both share the same goal,”
Kirill grinned.

“Oh? And what is that, may I ask?”

“To see Orion burn.”

Merikh grinned. “It seems we do share the
same goal.”

“I have the services you require to make
sure that's possible. You may have strong fleets, but my men know
Orion better than any. If the two of us team up, nobody will dare
stand against us.”

“I like you,” Merikh put his long hand on
his shoulder. “It looks like Jahdiel doesn't get to kill you after
all. Besides, you are much more valuable than her. To tell you the
truth, she no longer has much to offer me.”

“So we are allies then?” Kirill asked.

“Yes,” Merikh nodded. “If your group is as a
strong as you claim, and this isn't the first time I’ve heard they
are, then we’ll rule Orion for a long time. Who would dare rebel
against the notorious Deimos Brotherhood and the merciless
crodillians?”

“Not a single race,” Kirill grinned widely.
“Not a single race.”

Jahdiel called Merikh to give him his daily
report. She knew he was already aware of what’d happened, but she
didn't want to give him any reason to discard her before she was
ready. It would come soon, but until that time came, she needed to
make herself indispensable. The rebels she’d caught would be the
most eventful thing she'd have to report to him. It was no
coincidence that she’d caught them trying to evade her twice and
she couldn't wait to tell Merikh and see the look on his face. If
this was a sign of things to come, there was no way he could
dispose of her, she was much too knowledgeable of the galaxy. A
rebellion would put him at the mercy of her once again.

Merikh's image popped up on the comlink.
“What do you have for me?”

“I’ve caught rebels,” she grinned.

Merikh's facial expression didn't change.
“Really? What have they done?”

“They were trying to evade my detection on
Ovrea.”

“And that makes them rebels?”

Jahdiel nodded. “This isn't the first time
this ship has tried to evade me.”

“I'm sure there are several similar ships
throughout Orion,” he rolled his red eyes. “You’ve found nothing,
Jahdiel. Orion will not rebel against me.”

“No,” she shook her head. “They were on Gaea
when we attacked. They took out several of our fighters. I can
guarantee you this is the same exact ship.”

“Why am I just now hearing about what
happened on Gaea?” Anger flashed across his face. “I should be told
of things like that as soon as they happen.”

“They escaped the first time,” Jahdiel
clenched her fists. “And I thought it irrelevant to bring up to
you. We're at war, we're going to lose ships. I can't contact you
every time we lose a man.”

“Fine,” Merikh nodded. “But we're at peace
with them now. Why would they try to evade you knowing this?”

“I don't know,” she shrugged. “They say they
weren't, but I can tell they're lying.”

“Do you still have them on board?” Merikh
asked.

“Yes,” she nodded. “They are being held in
one of the cells.”

“Keep them there,” Merikh shrugged. “If you
think they're rebels, it's your job to make sure they don't rebel.
This is your only duty.”

“There could be others helping them that I
don't know about. I should sent out parties to search for
them.”

“I don't think rebellion will be a problem,
if it ever was to begin with. No race would be foolish enough to
rebel against us, especially now. I’m sure you’ve made a mistake,
but I’ll determine that when you come back.”

“What do you mean?” She asked. “I know
they'd be foolish to rebel, but why so much more now?”

“Jahdiel,” Merikh scratched his head with
his black nails. “I've made an alliance and you're not going to
like it.”

She cocked her head. “An alliance? With who?
Someone in Orion?”

“Yes, it’s someone in Orion,” he nodded,
turning the comlink to bring another figure in the frame.
“Kirill.”

Jahdiel clenched her fists. “You can't! You
said he was mine to kill!”

“Jahdiel, calm down,” he held his hands up.
“He is of value to us. I can't let you just kill him.”

“Yes you can!” She raged. “I already can't
kill the Queen. You can't possibly think I'm dumb enough to not see
you're using her to prevent rebellion, but that’s fine,” she cooled
down some. “I can live with not killing her, but I can't live with
not killing Kirill.”

“Jahdiel,” Kirill smiled slyly. “It's been a
long time since I've talked to you. So much spite in your voice.
Can't we just apologize and move on from the past?”

“Shut up,” Jahdiel spat. “Don't think that
you get to live for long.”

“You're not killing him,” Merikh glared.
“That's an order.”

Jahdiel stared at the image silently,
wanting to kill both of them where they stood. She should've known
Merikh would stab her in the back again. First, she couldn't kill
the Queen. Then, she couldn't conquer planets her way. And now, she
couldn't kill the man responsible for her old life being destroyed.
The way Merikh treated her was changing rapidly. Who knew what else
he would do to her next.

She faked a smile. “I understand,
Merikh
. What made you become an ally with Kirill? What kind
of lies did he tell you?”

“He told me no lies,” Merikh responded.
“Only the truth.”

“Please,” she snorted. “He'll do anything to
live. The man has always been a coward.”

“Watch your tone, Jahdiel,” he snarled
through his sharp teeth. “I’m still above you in rank.”

“I actually have much to offer as an ally,”
Kirill intervened. “I’m the leader of the Deimos Brotherhood.”

“Congratulations.” she clapped. “You're in
charge of a club.”

“It's an organized group of assassins,
actually,” Kirill grinned. “You see, they’ll find and take out
races that want to rebel, like those ones you were talking about.
I’ll deal with them.”

“I’m capable of doing it myself.”

“His group won't let them escape,” Merikh
said. “They’ll work undercover to find these rebels, and will
destroy them from the inside. That’s more than you can do.”

“I already have men getting ready to leave,”
Kirill held his chin up. “If there are rebels, which I believe
there are, they’ll never know my men have infiltrated within their
own ranks.”

“This is unnecessary, Merikh,” she shook her
head. “We’ve been fine without his help this far.”

“You just said you caught rebels,” Merikh
replied. “How is this unnecessary if you yourself think there are
more rebels besides the ones you captured?”

“Fine,” Jahdiel crossed her arms. “What does
Kirill have to gain from all of this? He's not helping you from the
kindness of his heart.”

“Actually, we want the same thing,” Kirill
smiled wider. “You see, before you came to Orion, I was planning to
do the very thing you're doing. Just in a much subtler way.”

“Oh yeah?” Jahdiel raised her eyebrows. “How
come you haven't done it yet? You’ve had plenty of time since my
departure.”

“I've never had as many fleets as you have
at your disposal,” he replied. “With the three of us working
together, nothing will stand in our way.”

“You want more than that,” she rolled her
eyes. “What other reasons are motivating you to help us?”

“Well, maybe I also want to live to see
another day,” he winked. “Life is always a good motivator.”

Jahdiel clenched her fists until her
knuckles whitened. “He's using you, Merikh.”

“If he was using me, I'd know. I can sense
when I’m being played.”

“And
how
would you know?” She asked.
“Look what he does for a living, do you really think you'd see it
coming if he sent someone to kill you?”

“Why would I kill him?” Kirill asked.

“Because you want all the power,” she
answered. “
You
want to rule Orion by yourself, not with
another. That's why you tried to kill Adira. You didn't want to
share any power with anyone. Greed consumes you.”

“I had no power when I sat by her,” Kirill
glared. “I have what I want now. Merikh and I share the same
vision, there will be no problems. On another note, tell me more
about these rebels you caught, maybe they're planetary
leaders.”

“Ha,” she rolled her eyes. “More like some
stupid boy, a loud mouth girl, and some of their friends.”

“He is offering to help, Jahdiel,” Merikh’s
red eyes darkened. “I suggest you welcome it.”

“Fine, I'll show you images of them.”

She walked over to her desk and turned on
the computer. She scrolled through different commands and stopped
at the security cameras. The screen scrolled down until she saw the
cell holding the helpless rebels. An image of them cowered in the
corner was enlarged for Kirill to see.

“You know any of them?” She asked. “See any
planetary leaders held up in there, Kirill?”

She didn't hear a response from the other
side. She took the image of the cell off the comlink and switched
it back to Kirill and Merikh. After switching back, she saw Kirill
whispering to Merikh, but they weren't letting her hear a word.

“Anyone going to answer me?”

Merikh cleared his throat. “It appears you
may have caught someone extremely important, and you were right
about them being rebels.”

“Thank you,” she raised up her hands. “Now,
who are they?”

“You have the Princess, along with some
stupid boy who’s been screwing up all my plans.”

“The Princess?”

“Yes,” a grin crossed his face. “I’ve been
trying to get her, but that boy has made things quite difficult.
They also succeeded in turning one of my best assassins against me,
though I’m not seeing her in there.”

“Who's the boy?”

“No one important,” Kirill shrugged. “Just
the son of someone who used to pose a threat to me until I had him
killed. The assassin on the other hand, is someone you want to be
careful of. I can assure you, she’s somewhere in your ship waiting
for the right moment to kill you.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Come back to Hera immediately and don’t get
killed,” Merikh answered. “Kirill believes the Princess may
solidify our rule.”

“You think she'll send out messages like the
Queen, you mean?”

“If the Queen and her daughter are safely
with us, no one will rebel,” Merikh said. “We'll even make it look
like they're ruling as one happy family.”

“She won't help you. Trust me, I've talked
to her,” she told him. “You'd be better off letting me kill her
before she
does
start something much bigger.”

“No!” Kirill intervened. “She comes
here.”

“What about the other planets?” She
asked.

“They can wait,” Merikh waved his hand. “If
Kirill says the Princess is important to ruling, then I trust him.
We’ll finish establishing our strongholds after the Princess is in
our possession.”

She let out a deep breath. “I'll see you
soon then, Merikh.”

Jahdiel cut off the comlink before he could
reply. She no longer cared what he did to her, he’s obviously ran
out of use for her. Her leading role had been diminished to almost
nothing more than an errand girl. Any opinions or thoughts she had
were now seen as irrelevant, leaving her with only one option –
escape his grasp. She knew Kirill was up to something else, even if
Merikh didn't believe her, but she wasn't going to save him. If he
wanted to team up the assassin, fine, but that meant he'd lose her,
and he didn't know just how valuable she was to him yet.