Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (13 page)

Daniel stared at Trent's trembling back, then
glanced down at the projection originating from the small PDU
integrated into the table’s surface that allowed him to view the
faces of everyone involved in the interrogations. The look that
spread across Trent's face was one Daniel remembered quite clearly
from the beginning of phase three, a look of total loss and
despair...a look that sent a shiver of pure pleasure down his
spine.

The interrogation thus far had been extremely
amusing, more so then he could have ever possibly imagined, thanks
to Sir Simwa. The man exceeded even Daniel’s expectations, openly
displaying an utter idiocy that was a common feature of the vast
majority of NHA nobility he had met over the years, who all seemed
to believe that one's birth was the only thing that mattered. To
defend this position, many NHA nobles would make baseless claims or
ludicrous statements that anyone with a shred of sense would
realize false. Daniel did, however, find he had a shred of respect
for the idiotic noble. He too believed that this and every other
enlistment candidate was trash, a waste of their precious time and
resources. But Daniel would never voice his displeasure for fear of
further alienating himself from Knight Captain Quinn.

It was probably not overly obvious to a man
of Sir Simwa’s brain capacity, but the mention of Daniel changing
the acceptable testing parameters, because he had found
irregularities in Trent's state of mind, was also aimed at Daniel,
to let him know his little deception had not slipped by unnoticed.
Knight Captain Quinn, a noble so unlike any other, was acutely
aware of what Daniel had done, even though he thought he'd covered
it up quite beautifully, and he knew he would be in trouble. In
fact, Daniel was pretty sure it would lead to a disciplinary
hearing and another formal demerit on his record.

He again concentrated on the image of Trent,
who had recovered from his temporary emotional lapse. Sudden,
inexplicable anger began to simmer below the surface at the sight
of the man responsible for throwing a wrench into the gears of his
ambitions, forcing yet another black mark on his already, less than
ideal record.

No longer would Daniel just use this man, he
would use him, then destroy him.

It’s over,
Trent chanted within his
mind, forcing the emotions the memory of his brief reunion with
Samantha,
the fake Samantha,
he reminded himself, had
beckoned back to the surface. It helped, but knew it likely he
would be unable to resist falling into despair if he was forced to
fully recall what happened previously.

He breathed out slowly, looking to Knight
Captain Quinn, who once again had a distant look on his face, as if
his conscious no longer existed within his flesh. A tap from his
right pulled his glare, to find a similar look upon Vice-Commander
Daiyu’s exotic features, which returned to normal just as Trent's
eyes made contact. A barely perceptible grin spread across her
narrow lips, her gaze staring into his very soul, he finding the
look both menacing and enticing. Trent, slightly taken aback by the
duality of his reaction, tried to settle his mind while returning
his attention to the knight captain’s stone-faced exterior.

“I would like to thank you for your version
of the encounter, Enlistment Candidate Trent. The next phase of the
trial, as we all know, is very emotional, and we shall touch on it
only briefly, “ Knight Captain Quinn’s expression appeared to
soften ever so slightly. “You successfully escaped your past,
giving up a time in your life when you were happy for an unknown
future. Let me tell you this now, the woman you encountered was a
robotic representation, nothing more,” the Knight Captain confirmed
what Trent had already assumed, but a wave of relief filled him,
nonetheless. “Now, we would like to hear your account of what
occurred with Samantha before your exile from Earth’s society, not
the obviously doctored one that is present on your corporate
record,” Trent stared upon him with open shock.

“Excuse me, Knight Captain,” he stared,
forgetting the instructions that he was only suppose to respond to
questions, “but why does my corporate record contain information
about my relationship with Samantha? If I’m not mistaken, it is
only suppose to hold work related data, like performance reviews,
merit and demerits, and the like?” realizing his mistake, Trent
blushed with embarrassment.

“That is what we would like to know as well,
Enlistment Candidate. But before we inform you of what we already
know, I think it would be best for you to inform us on what
actually occurred,” showing no sign of offense, Knight Captain
Quinn let slip a tiny bit of emotion. Trent gathered his resolve
and prepared for his own storm of emotions that always accompanied
his memories from that time, and began.

“Well...um...I always kept to myself at work,
more by choice than anything else, since I've had issues
in...ah...in my past......and have been...ah...been hurt many
times. So I kept myself isolated in the hopes it would...ah...never
happen again. Unfortunately, it didn't help,” he forced a chuckle,
trying to hide the wave of pain that broke free as memories started
flowing back into his mind. Taking a few deep breaths to gather
himself, he continued. “Then...one day this gorgeous
woman......Samantha, who worked in my company, but in another
department, approached me. She was nice...too nice now that I think
about...and...and it took all my self-control to reject her
invitations. But the more I refused, the more emboldened she
became, and she would repeatedly ask me out...almost every day,” he
shook he head, “I remember being baffled as to why such a gorgeous
woman would be interested in me...but I still continued to turn her
down.” The memories and emotions of that time were intermingling,
but the effect was not as dramatic as he recalled.

The wound must have begun to heal,
he
thought, as the memories continued to flow.

“This went on for almost a month straight
before I finally gave in. I think I had hoped she would realize
that she really didn't want to start a relationship with me after
getting to know me,” Trent found it tough to recall his emotions
correctly before the time he fell in love, but he did his best. “We
went out to dinner and I found myself attracted to her friendly,
open demeanor and......and for some reason I couldn’t understand at
the time, she seemed utterly fascinated by me,” which now he knew
was all an act. “So we went out on a few more dates and eventually
we decided to start officially dating,” Vice-Commander Daiyu
cleared her throat, waving to interrupt.

“Whose idea was it to start dating?” The
question seemed odd for the current situation, but Trent saw little
reason not to answer.

“She...she actually brought up the idea after
our first night...um...together. By then my...ah...my feelings had
grown to a point where I thought it would be a good idea,” he
answered honestly, unable to repress a blush at the memory of that
night, so long ago.

“Thank you, Enlistment Candidate,” Vice
Commander Daiyu responded with a friendly smile, nodding to the
knight captain who responded in turn.

“You may continue,” he instructed, a hint of
compassion in his husky voice. Trent took a deep breath, hoping he
could continue to control his now rapidly shifting emotions.

“From there we...we started getting even
closer and she would stay at my apartment almost every night during
the week. But she would head home during the weekends, to spend
time with her family...or so she led me to believe...explaining
that it was good for any relationship to spend some time
apart...and the weekends being the best time for it. I did find it
odd...I remember that...but at the time I was blinded by
love...and...and I trusted...her...her every word,” Trent
stuttered, the words starting to come harder as his subconscious
attempted to protect him from what it knew would be a painful
memory.

“Then about...about six month after we
started dating on...on one of our normal Friday dinner dates, we
said our goodbyes and she left. As I was leaving I...I found that
she had... had forgotten her MCD...so...I...I followed her, hoping
to give it back before she went too far,” he lowered his voice, “I
knew I wasn’t suppose to follow her,” he whispered, too low for
anyone else to hear, “...Sorry...” he apologized, realizing what
he’d just done, “Anyways...um...while I followed her a...a message
came in and...and I decided to take a quick glance. It was
from...from her fiancé,” Trent paused for a second, prepared for
the crushing sadness that he knew would accompany the
memories...though finding their strength nothing like he
remembered. “After that...my life was mostly a blur. I recall her
finding me in tears and I ran away...I think. Then I saw her a few
times at work after that, but I can't clearly remember...all I know
is that it was over, she lied to me and...and used me....” The
tears wouldn't come. Trent knew they were there, hovering just
below the surface, but they wouldn't come. He'd shed too many
already over this incident and no matter how miserable the memories
made him feel, there were just none left.

“Thank you, Enlistment Candidate Trent, your
explanation covered many items that our information gathering could
not,” responded Knight Captain Quinn as Trent recalled they already
had possession of, for some reason he couldn’t understand, a
differing version of his life story. “I will now disclose part of
the fabricated story that is attached to your corporate record.
This should also be informative and answer many other questions you
may have had about the last couple months,” Knight Captain Quinn’s
mind seemed to again exit his body, a distant look spreading across
his face before he continued. “Rank 24 Employee Trent Marcello was
found to be having an affair with the fiancé of Rank 4 Employee
Connor House,” the name rang alarm bells in Trent's mind, “son of
Motapplesoft Trust President and CEO Lyle House. Employee was found
to be using Connor's fiancée, Rank 17 Employee Samantha Erickson,
by means of blackmail. Our internal investigators uncovered that
Trent Marcello was attempting to use this relationship to discredit
our CEO to gain traction with the minority board members. Before
additional damage was done, Connor's fiancée came forward and the
offending employee was immediately dismissed. It is recommended
that anyone considering employing this individual be forewarned
that strategic partnerships with Motapplesoft Trust may no longer
be possible. A full account of this investigation can be located
within database...” Knight Captain Quinn stopped his recital of the
note on Trent’s record. Trent found his mouth moving, but no sound
escaping, his mind in shock. Before he could respond, another
voice, one that had been quiet for quite some time, chimed in.

“That is...what we all must have to
believe...is obviously the factual account. Why would we take
this...this...piece of human filths word over that of an elite?
Even if this is a backwards planet, full of worthless petties, the
words of the ruling class far outweigh that of some insect who
should have died in a gutter,” the malice of Sir Simwa's words hit
Trent like daggers. The man must have been waiting for an
opportunity to attack again since his last attempt was foiled.
Anger, once kept in check by Trent's nervousness, began flowing
freely to the surface. He was about to explode when the man seated
behind him cleared his throat.

“Sir Simwa,” Lieutenant Daniel started, his
tone slightly bemused, “I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but
if the enlistment candidate lies in anyway, we are the first to
know,” Lieutenant Daniel explained to the irate Sir Simwa, who
again appeared beyond disbelief that anyone would dare interrupt
his declaration.

“What...what are you talking about?” Sir
Simwa questioned, obviously confused.

“Trent, if you would be so kind...tell a
lie,” asked Daniel calmly. Trent was baffled by the request, but
seeing no harm in it, he pulled his anger back and responded.

“I respect Sir Simwa,” Trent felt a slight
shock rise through the chair and would have jumped had it not been
for his restraints.

“Violation of trial protocols detected. Last
statement by Enlistment Candidate Trent Marcello cannot be taken as
fact, please disregard,” the monotone voice that Trent despised
sounded as he tried to shake off the aftereffects of the shock.

“See? If at any time a lie is detected a
shock is administered and the Program sounds a warning. Every word
out of Enlistment Candidate Trent's mouth has been, I’m sorry to
inform you, true...or at least he believes them to be true. I'm
sure it would be far more interesting to allow the Program to test
your words for truth, Sir Simwa,” Trent couldn't see the TSB
Lieutenant speak, but he could picture a wide, mischievous grin on
his lips.

“This is ridiculous! There must be a trick.
There is no way this...this...thing is telling the truth! As is my
right as NHA Liaison to the TSB, I deem this farce of a trial over
and reject the TSB’s request for NHA citizenship for this piece of
garbage; instead, I demand he be disposed of immediately!” With the
last shout Sir Simwa stormed to his feet, attempting to pull
something out of what looked like a holster on his belt. The 30
centimeter long, narrow cylindrical grey tube that emerged had an
arrow like protrusion at the end, reminding Trent of an old style
laser pointer. “In fact...as is my right...I will handle the
disposal personally!” Sir Simwa aimed the giant laser pointer at
Trent.

Understanding struck at that moment, and he
realized the device must be some sort of weapon. He began to
struggle helplessly with his restraints. But it was a futile
gesture and as he looked up into the eyes of an enraged madman,
Trent's life, once again, flashed before his eyes.