The Significant (80 page)

      
Isa did not respond, acutely aware of his
hand as he pressed the handle to her buttock.

      
“No…not yet,” Colonel Amori said. He
kissed her cheek. “But soon, my dear. Soon.”

      
For three weeks, the Syndicate limped
along with Isa not speaking and Remus angrily avoiding everyone. The Bronze
Elites did their best to keep the affairs of the planet in order and fend off
questions from other planets about Saera and how it would affect trade, taxes,
and a slew of other problems.

      
There were rumors flying around about Isa
losing her mind, suffering from dementia or some other mental disorder that had
her jumping at every sound, appearing so sickly, and pushing them away whenever
they tried to ask what was going on.

      
But Dr. Busen could not get her to come
in for an examination. Nor could Paul.

      
Instead, the Bronze Elites felt like the
planet was entirely on their shoulders. When strange codes and files began
appearing in the mainframe, causing viruses to put down the Syndicate for
several days, they were sure that things were on the verge of total collapse.

      
They all knew that Isa was hiding
something.

      
One day, at a meeting, Isa collapsed,
which gave the Elites an excuse to call the hospital and have her admitted.

      
Dr. Busen ran every test he could while
she was unconscious, finding her severely malnourished, her heart beating
irregularly, and her blood pressure so low she had passed out from staying
upright so long.

      
Once she awoke, she demanded to be let
out of the hospital, and despite everyone’s protestations, Venus granted her
leave from the hospital because another virus had ransacked the Syndicate
communications board, making it impossible for them to contact any foreign
planet, though other planets could contact Tiao. Venus needed Isa back at the
Syndicate to work on fixing the problem.

      
However, Isa seemed to be unable to
figure out the virus.

      
Rayal was released from the hospital
three weeks after his surgery. He was still weak and tests were still being run
to determine what illness he had, but he was allowed to return to Isa’s
service.

      
When he appeared in the house, he was
startled to see Colonel Amori in the living room with Isa.

      
“Welcome home, Rayal,” Isa said, forcing
a weak smile.

      
“Forgive me for disturbing you,” Rayal
said, glancing at Colonel Amori. There was something about the man that
disturbed him greatly, but he could not determine what. He recalled—what he assumed
was a hallucination—seeing Colonel Amori standing behind Isa when she was
looking in on him at the hospital. Ever since, he could not stop thinking about
the cold eyes of the Gihoric leader.

      
“Are you feeling better?” Colonel Amori
asked, as though he had known Rayal for years.

      
“Yes, thank you,” Rayal lied. He bowed
his head and walked to his room, but stopped on the other side of the door to
the guest hall. Something felt very wrong about having the other planetary
leader in the home.

      
He pressed his ear to the door, but he
could not determine their conversation. However, he did hear the tone of Isa’s
phone. Her muffled voice sounded once more and then the sound of footsteps
coming toward the door.

      
Rayal ducked into his room, glancing at
the security monitors as Isa walked out of the living room and down the guest
hallway, through the pool area and making her way back to her office to receive
a call.

      
Rayal turned to watch Colonel Amori, who
was sitting in the living room, bored. He glanced at his wrist several times
and then pulled out his phone, staring at it intensely for several long
minutes. Rayal watched every movement, waiting for something, though he did not
know what.

      
For the first time in months, Rayal did
not feel like he was walking around in a fog, and even though he was still
getting used to barely being able to see out of his left eye, his mind felt
clearer.

      
He watched intently, never tearing his
eyes away from the Gihoric leader.

      
After ten minutes of sitting in the
living room, looking at his phone, Colonel Amori groaned and stood.

      
“Where the fuck is she?”

      
Rayal tensed.

      
He watched Colonel Amori walk across the
living room toward the guest hall, as though he had lived there his entire
life.

      
Rayal walked out of his room, stepping in
front of the Colonel, his eyes sharp.

      
“Out of my way,” Colonel Amori ordered.

      
“No,” Rayal said. “You are not permitted
into the rest of the home. It is custom.”

      
“Fuck your custom,” Colonel Amori
snapped, trying to push past him. Rayal was startled by his demeanor, but he
jumped in front of the foreign leader once more.

      
“I must insist.”

      
“
You
?”
Colonel Amori scoffed. “You insist when you couldn’t even stand up to Remus?”

      
Rayal’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know
about that?”

      
“Get out of my way.”

      
“No,” Rayal snarled. “You stay away from
her. You even think about harming her, and I will kill you.”

      
Colonel Amori laughed, the sound sending
chills down Rayal’s spine.

      
“That’s quite the joke,” he said. “Hate
to break it to you, kiddo, but it’s a few months too late for that.” He reached
up and pat Rayal’s cheek. “But it’s cute that you think you can stand up to
me.”

      
Rayal smacked his hand away and pushed
the foreign leader back.

      
“You stay the fuck away from her, you
asshole.”

      
Colonel Amori reached into his sleeve and
pulled out a small blade, grabbing Rayal’s shoulder and pulling the caretaker
onto the knife.

      
“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that,”
Colonel Amori said. He removed the blade and stabbed Rayal again, causing the
caretaker’s body to slip into shock. There was no pain, yet. Rayal could only
take in the situation with wide eyes. “Did you say to stay away from her? You
clearly don’t know who you’re talking to.”

      
He dropped the caretaker unceremoniously
to the ground and stood over him with the bloody knife.

      
Rayal, with one arm wrapped around his
stomach, lifted his hand to his ear and pressed for his phone.

      
“Isa!” he gasped. “Get out of the
building! Now! You’re in danger!”

      
Colonel Amori chuckled and crouched next
to him.

      
“You’re a bit slow,” he said, smiling
darkly. “Isa is under
my
control
now,” he stated. “She listens only to me.”

      
Rayal cringed, trying to stay conscious
as his body began tingling. He groaned and closed his eyes, pressing his finger
to his phone once more.

      
“Emergency,” he hissed. “Anon
Tower…Golden Elite…”

      
“What a pesky little thing you are,”
Colonel Amori groaned, lifting his knife again.

      
The door opened on the other side of the
hall and Isa darted forward, immediately grabbing the Colonel and pulling him backward,
away from Rayal.

      
The Colonel turned and his fist and the
handle of the knife connected with Isa’s cheek. The Elite fell to the ground,
the Colonel, kicking her in the stomach again.

      
“You want a repeat of this? Fine.”

      
He kicked her several times, Rayal’s
eyelids fluttering violently as he slipped into unconsciousness, the automated
voice on the phone telling him that they were locked onto his location and they
would be there in three minutes

      
Isa did not fight back as the Colonel
rained blows on her body. She was tired, and merely happy that the Colonel’s
temper was directed to her and not Rayal. In her mind, she deserved the
beating, for not doing her duty and protecting the planet from Colonel Amori.
She felt helpless and powerless, unable to help those in her close circle, let
alone those who looked to her for guidance and protection, such as those in
Saera.

      
A soft chime went off at the door and
Colonel Amori quickly went to his knees next to Isa, placing a hand on her
shoulder.

      
“Elite Isa? Can you hear me?” he called,
gently shaking her.

      
She wanted to spit at him for pulling
such an act.

      
The door to the guest hall opened and
Officials and EMU team members swarmed forward.

      
“Elite Isa? What happened?”

      
Isa was too tired and in too much pain to
answer.

      
“I found her like this,” Colonel Amori
said, his eyes wide and frantic. “I don’t know what happened. First she walked
back here and then Elite Remus, and the caretaker. I heard noises, but…” He
shook his head, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly.

      
“Where is Silver Elite Remus?” one
Official asked.

      
“I don’t know,” Colonel Amori said,
shaking his head.

      
“Okay, back away from her,” the Official
said. Colonel Amori obeyed and Isa closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep to
escape the hell that had become her life.

      
When the Syndicate was notified of the
attack, and the statement from Colonel Amori about what had happened, panic and
confusion set in.

      
Chronus went to Maki’s office, finding
Anders, Aolee, and Hana already there.

      
“What the hell is going on these days?”
Chronus murmured. “Rayal just got out of the hospital
today
, and now he’s back in because of multiple stab wounds?”

      
“Isa was beaten as well, though it seems
the knife wasn’t used on her,” Maki added. “Colonel Amori found them. He was
over there discussing terms.”

      
“Like he’s been doing for the last how
many months?” Hana groaned.

      
“He said Remus was there as well,” Anders
said. “After the rape accusations last month…I’m starting to wonder if they’re
both losing it.”

      
“You think he did it?” Chronus asked.

      
“I’m just saying that he was the one to
put Rayal in the hospital to begin with, and he and Isa did get into a heated
argument to the point where he struck her.”

      
“But it’s
Remus
,” Aolee murmured. “He would sooner kill himself than beat Isa
like that.”

      
“It doesn’t make much sense,” Maki
agreed.

      
“But you saw the footage from the night
Venus said he raped Isa. He hasn’t been gentle with her lately.” Anders pointed
out. “I don’t know, I’m just thinking that maybe we shouldn’t allow Remus near
her for a while.”

      
“He’s the Silver Elite. We can’t exactly
tell him to stay away,” Chronus said.

      
“Do we have any proof that he was the one
who did this?” Maki pressed. “Did we trace him? Where was he when this
happened?”

      
When no one answered, Maki turned to his
chair and did a quick search. When he saw the answer, he showed it to everyone
else.

      
“He was
here
…” Aolee murmured.

      
“Who else has access to that level that
could do this?” Hana asked, confused.

      
Chronus looked thoughtful.

      
“…maybe they didn’t need to have access,”
he whispered. “Maybe the attacker was already there.” He looked at Maki. “What
was the date of Colonel Amori’s arrival?”

      
The Elites of the Syndicate were not
performing as expected on their work, all distracted by other things. Remus was
steering clear of everyone, constantly replaying the night that he had hurt Isa
and put Rayal in the hospital. The Bronze Elites were doing intense
investigations of their own, looking into the Colonel’s arrival on the planet,
and when things started getting bad around the Syndicate.