War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (23 page)

"Cut short?" Anlon exclaimed. "I don't know
anything, how can you cut it short?"

"Anlon, you're still going to train, but it's
just going to be a couple of days. The timetable has completely
changed after the attempt on Adira's life. Every day you train is
another day for the Brotherhood to assassinate the Queen."

"How will I go after these guys if I have no
training?"

"You do have some of what your father taught
you."

"True, but that's not close to everything I
need. I'm going after well trained assassins."

"The guys I've got for you will teach you
everything you need to know in the couple of days we have. You're
not going on your quest of vengeance anymore. You're scouting, so
you shouldn't need as intense of training because you're more of a
shadow lurker."

Anlon bit his lip. "Okay fine. You're
right."

Moran patted his shoulder. "You'll learn a
lot while traveling and you still have that guy the Queen said will
help you. I'm sure he'll teach you a lot of stuff and keep you
safe. She wouldn't send someone who wouldn't be able to help you,"
Moran tried to make him feel better. "I'll provide you with the
best pilot in Orion on top of all that. You have nothing to worry
about kid!"

Anlon smiled. "What are we waiting for then?
Let's start."

"Go home and take the rest of the day off.
We'll start your training tomorrow."

Anlon left the apartment and drove home. He
was no longer in this alone like he had been when this had all
started. There was more help than he could even ask for and really
didn't understand why everyone trusted him so much. He hadn't
proved himself to anyone because he had never done anything like
this, only his father had experience with stuff like this. Letting
them down by failing this mission wasn't going to happen, he'd
prove to them that they were all right to place their trust in
him.

Sanguinarius landed the ship on the protruded
dock and sat in the pilot seat patiently for the dock recede back
into the mountain. Before completely going into the mountain, he
knew there was trouble because Kirill was already waiting in the
hangar with his arms crossed and rage covering his face.

"He already knows, Ulisse," he nudged.

"Who knows what?" Ulisse woke up.

"He knows," Sanguinarius pointed. "Kirill
knows we screwed up. We forgot about his inside contacts. Must've
been the one that helped us carry out the mission."

"What are we going to tell him? He's going to
kill us as soon as we get off of the ship."

"Let me do the talking. I think I may be able
to place most of the blame on Donnchadh."

"Donnchadh?" Ulisse exclaimed. "It was your
idea to stay!"

"Kirill doesn't know that and he doesn't need
to. Donnchadh has been caught and will be put to death anyway, what
does it matter if Kirill gets mad at him?"

"Okay. You do the talking. I won't place the
blame on him."

Ulisse lowered the ramp to
Cerberus
and got off, with Sanguinarius lingering behind him still figuring
things out. Kirill marched over with a face full of steam and
didn't stop until he was mere inches away from Ulisse's spider
body.

"Tell me why I shouldn't have you two fools
killed right now!" he fumed. "You have just screwed up our best
chance at killing the Queen!"

"Kirill, you have to listen to us," Ulisse
pleaded.

Sanguinarius shot him a quick glance. "You
have to believe us when we say it isn't our fault. We did
everything exactly as planned."

"The Queen is still alive, was that
your
master plan? I know that that wasn't my plan."

"No. We all got in undetected and delivered
the poison just as planned, but Donnchadh insisted that we stay and
wait. We urged him to leave, but he wouldn't listen to us. He
insisted that we stay and wait for the Queen to die."

"So you're saying this is all Donnchadh's
fault?" Kirill asked. "Do I look like a fool to you?"

"No, Kirill," Sanguinarius replied. "We're
just saying that if Donnchadh hadn't insisted we stay behind, we
wouldn't have been found and the Queen would be dead right
now."

"I should've known that Donnchadh would've
been sloppy after the last mission," He muttered to himself and
clenched his fists. "His failure of the last mission is what led to
the failure of this mission."

"What do you mean his failure of the last
mission?" Ulisse cocked his head.

"Do you know how you were discovered?"

"The guards saw us," They both answered at
the same time.

"No. Anlon Valens saw you in the kitchen and
told the Queen that her food was poisoned."

"The boy?" Sanguinarius asked. "Armino's
son?"

"Donnchadh killed him!" Ulisse said. "He shot
him on the way out."

Kirill shook his head. "Donnchadh got
careless and let the boy live. He assured me that he wouldn't make
a mistake like that again, and obviously I was wrong to trust
him."
"What was the boy doing at the Palace?" Ulisse asked.

"The Queen wanted to see him about your last
mission!" Kirill shouted. "She's linked everything together now!
Our job of killing the Queen has just become a little bit harder,
but it will still happen. They'll be keeping an eye out for us, and
for traitors within the Palace, but this is when we perform
best."

A grin crossed Sanguinarius' amphibious face.
"We can do it Kirill. We'll kill the Queen."

"Donnchadh worries me though," Kirill stroked
his chin. "I can't trust he won't screw things up in some way."

"Why? They'll kill him," Sanguinarius
said.

Kirill shook his head. "He's weak. He'll talk
to the Queen first, but you're right, she'll eventually kill him in
the end."

"Donnchadh isn't weak!" Ulisse exclaimed. "He
was our best man!"

"Our best don't get caught! They don't make
careless mistakes that cost the Deimos Brotherhood," Kirill fumed.
"And I assure you he'll break. I broke him when I turned him into
one of us and I have no doubt that the Queen will be able to do the
same," He waived his hands. "Forget all of this mess. Let's start
preparing for our next mission. Ulisse, we will need your poison
making skills again if we are to succeed."

"What kind of poison will you need this
time?"

"Anything that you want. Let everyone know
that the Deimos Brotherhood killed Queen Adira. We aren't going to
hide in the shadows any longer. She knows who's hiding now."

"What about Anlon?" Sanguinarius asked. "He's
already screwed up the success of two of our missions."

"He will be dealt with accordingly," Kirill
turned from them.

"Who are you going to send after him?" Ulisse
prodded.

"Nimesha," Kirill answered, leaving the two
races behind.

Ulisse and Sanguinarius both looked at each
other and smiled. They had heard of Nimesha's ruthlessness, but
they had never personally seen her within the base. Just because
she was a female didn't mean that she wasn't better than them.
Nimesha's reputation of success and ruthlessness was known by all
within the Brotherhood, even if she hadn't been seen by most.

The Queen walked into the dining room that
her private investigators were working in. She stood behind them
for a couple of minutes and observed them as they went through the
food that was supposed to be served to her the day before. It was
unbelievable how lucky she had been that Anlon had been here and
had just happened to see the killers before she had started eating.
She had learned from Donnchadh that after her death, it was her
ex-husband who would reveal himself and take her spot on the
Throne.

No one in Orion knew just how close they had
come to seeing a maniac take the Throne, nor would they find out.
She had been married to him for five years and knew what a monster
he was from personal experience, but also knew that he wouldn't
stop until one of them was dead, and it wouldn't be her as long as
she could help it. This was a battle that would have to be kept
from many in order to keep chaos from ensuing.

"Have you found anything yet?" She asked the
lead investigator.

"We have," She replied, scrolling through her
holopad. "We found traces of something in some of the wine," She
held up the holopad for the Queen to look at. "It's some very
interesting stuff that I've never seen."

"What is it exactly?"

"We're not sure," The investigator shrugged.
"It seems to have only been in one glass, so we assume that it was
only meant for you. Whoever was behind this didn't care about the
Prime Minister because nothing else has been poisoned that we can
find traces of."

Adira nodded. "I know it was meant for me. I
have been told as much."

"Well, we haven't seen anything like this
before," she admitted. "It's very unique and must have been custom
made by a professional chemist with a ton of knowledge about
poison."

"It was made by an Arachnid named Ulisse,"
she revealed. "That will be a name you will want to remember for
the future. He works for the Deimos Brotherhood and he specializes
in poison making such as this. I'm sure you'll see his work again
sometime soon."

"How do you know who he was the one behind
this?"

"He killed one of my friends' son with a
poison that no one has seen before. The witness to the crime was
here and saw the very same Arachnid in my kitchen just before it
was delivered to me."

The investigator's eye widened. "I will learn
as much as I can about him and his poisons."

"Good, because they will attempt to kill me
again soon, I'm sure of it."

"We need to increase security." she urged.
"If you believe he can get a poison to you again, we must do
everything in our power to prevent it."

The Queen shrugged her off. "It doesn't
matter if security is increased, if they want me dead they'll find
a way to do it. They've already proven that with this attempt on my
life."

"We'll send this off to a lab where they can
examine the poison better. Hopefully it will help prevent anything
from happening to you in the future. We'll come up with antidotes
and anything else that may slow down whatever he comes up
with."

"Find out as much about it as you can. I want
to know my enemy as well as they know me."

"We will," she assured. "We'll be ready for
the next attempt on your life. We may not be able to prevent them
from getting the poison inside, but we can know what to look for
once it's inside."

"Thank you," Adira put her hand on the
investigator's shoulder.

"You're the best Queen Orion has seen in
centuries. I'll do everything in my power to make sure you rule
until you are meant to die."
Adira forced a smile and left the dining room. What the
investigator didn't know, was that there were races inside who
could slip the poison to her. Even if all of her food was checked,
there was no telling if the race checking the food was on her side,
at least until it was too late. Antidotes would do her no good with
this Arachnid, she was sure of that. Hiding wasn't an option
though, she wouldn't show weakness by locking herself up. All of
her confidence was in Anlon because she was positive that he'd
succeed in finding the Brotherhood. Armino had always told her how
good his son was and how he always gave it his all in everything he
did. That's all she could ask for right now from the only person
she could trust with her life.

It would take time for him to track down the
Deimos Brotherhood, but he was also going to find her hidden
daughter. He was on two seemingly impossible missions that would
save Orion from Kirill and his plan of complete genocide of every
race he deemed unworthy of existence. She wouldn't trust any other
person but Anlon to fulfill these two impossible missions. She had
a feeling about him, and the one thing she had learned in her reign
as the Queen of Orion, it was to trust her feelings even if they
were logically impossible.

Anlon woke up early the next morning, eager
to begin his training. Visiting the Queen had delayed his training,
but after his visit he knew his training was even more vital. He
opened his drawer and grabbed out the small piece of paper that
Moran had given him and opened it to see what was inside.

"22812B," he read. "Doesn't sound like a
floor to me."

He got in his truck and headed to Moran's
apartment complex, leaving the truck out front once he arrived. The
robot greeted him when he entered, which he knew alerted Moran that
he was here, and he entered the elevator. Anlon looked at the
keypad on the wall and typed in the code that Moran had given him,
unsure of what would happen.

He felt the elevator lurch down and it
continued descending for two long minutes. Once at the bottom, the
elevator stopped with another lurch and the doors silently slid
open to reveal nothing but darkness in front of him.