War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (17 page)

"Do you trust Moran?" He gave her a startled
look. "Yes, I know you've been in contact with him. I have no
questions whatsoever what you two are up to. That is between you
two, but I may be able to help if you tell me everything you know
about your family's murder."

"I have names and a planet they said they
were going to."

Anlon saw the Queen's eyes get bigger. "What
were the names?"

"Ulisse and Sanguinarius," He waited for the
last name. "Donnchadh."

Horror immediately washed over Adira's face.
"No," She shook her head. "I couldn't believe it, but now you've
confirmed what I couldn't bring myself to believe."

"I can't believe it either. Moran told me who
he was and what he used to do."

"What about the planet that they mentioned?"
Adira asked.

"They said Plouton."

"No. No," She shook her head. "They used to
have a base there, but it hasn't been active in years. I've kept a
close eye on it, and I know for a fact, that they no longer work
there."

"What about somewhere near it?" he suggested.
"I'm positive that they're somewhere near there."

"We've been looking, but so far we haven't
found anything," she answered. "Why did you hide this from the
police? They could've helped you."

"I want to go after them myself," he
hesitated.

"You're so much like Armino," she smiled.
"You were right to hide that from them. Though they could've helped
you, there is a chance it could've gotten you killed. The Deimos
Brotherhood is dangerous," She told him. "I'm assuming Moran is
helping you with your little plan of catching them?"

"He's trying to, yes," he nodded. "We were
just getting things arranged when you sent for me."

"I can help by keeping you out of trouble and
supplying you with anything you may need along the way."

"Keep me out of trouble?" he asked.

"You don't think you're going to find these
guys without doing illegal things do you?"

"Am I going to track them down completely on
my own?"

She nodded her head. "I can't do anything
myself without others finding out, so it's all up to you. If I try
to find them, they'll surely find out before I can confirm their
location. I have tried on many occasions, only to fail every
time."

"How am I supposed to find them without your
help? I don't have the resources to do that."

"The same way those men found your
father."

"The database," he muttered.

"Exactly," she nodded. "You need to gain
access and find them that way. You have names to go along with the
races, which is more than enough to pinpoint a general location,
though you'll never track them down to an exact location due to
their line of work."

"If you knew Donnchadh was a part of the
Deimos Brotherhood, why didn't you track him down yourself?"

She breathed out slowly. "I have leaks within
the Palace, like there are apparently on Gaea. This Brotherhood has
people planted everywhere and I can't do anything without them
finding out. You're my best chance at finding where these guys are
staked out because they're bound to think you're harmless."

"Me?" he exclaimed. "I have no idea what I'm
doing."

"I can't keep anything I do, or anything I
send someone from the GSOU out to do, hidden from my Council and
their friends. It's like there's always someone watching me and
every move I make is reported. Since I can't keep it hidden, the
Deimos Brotherhood is always tipped off and it's like my men are
led on a false trails every time."

"So, you want me to find their hidden base
alone because they won't be expecting
me
to be tracking them
down?"

"Yes," she said. "But you are to only scout,
nothing more."

"What do you mean just scout?"

"When you find them, report back to me
immediately. I will send out a team and inform my Council
after
we have taken them out. Even if the Deimos Brotherhood
finds out, it should be too late for them to get away."

"So I just find them and report it to you
once I've confirmed a location?"

"That is all," she nodded. "I can get you out
of trouble and supply you with things if I think they're necessary,
but it's best we keep our contact minimal once you leave here. I
don't know who is watching me, even now as we speak, but I can
assure you someone is."

Anlon nodded his head. "Moran said I have a
ship and weapons waiting for me already."

"Good," she said. "After you leave here, I
will know when you need help, trust me on that."

"I do trust you Adira."

"Things will get rough out there and it will
seem impossible. It won't be easy and there will certainly be
people who will try to stop you and kill you," she warned.

"And there always will be," Anlon replied.
"Once they find out what I know, I'll live with a target on my
back."

"Don't take any of this too lightly, the
Deimos Brotherhood is very dangerous and won't hesitate about
killing you."

"I won't Adira. I want to catch them as much
as you do."

"Okay. It will take time and you'll have to
be very careful, but I know you can do it Anlon."

"How much longer do you want me to stay at
the Palace?" he asked.

"Until tomorrow," she answered. "After that,
I will send you back home and you can continue working with Moran
until you're ready to leave on your mission. The Deimos Brotherhood
won't suspect anything going on if you leave and seem to continue
living a normal life."

The Queen's comlink went off, interrupting
them. "Hello?" Anlon heard a voice come out of it, but couldn't
make out what it said. "I'll be there soon." She turned to look at
him. "I'm afraid I've been called to go to a dinner with the Prime
Minister of Ares, which I didn't think would happen after I put him
off."

"The Prime Minister of Ares?" Anlon
asked.

She smiled. "Big things are happening Anlon.
Groundbreaking things for Orion. Soon, groups like the Deimos
Brotherhood will have more up against them than just the GSOU."
They walked back inside of the Palace. "You can go that way to any
of the available rooms for the night."

Anlon nodded and turned in the direction that
she had just pointed.

"Oh and Anlon." she said, over her shoulder.
"You'll meet someone special when you go back to Gaea. You can
trust him, he works for me and me only."

"Who is it?"

"You'll know when you meet him," She winked
before disappearing around a corner.

Anlon kept walking the way that she had
pointed and smiled to himself. He would have never guessed that the
Queen would assist him with catching these guys, but he had been
wrong, very wrong. Finding these guys was going to be a lot easier
than he had first imagined, but it would still be difficult. It
would have to be done with very little help, but for some reason,
the Queen believed he could do it, and because of that, he believed
he could too.

Kirill was going over his plans for after the
Queen was taken out when his comlink started buzzing. He reached
over, pressed the button, and waited for the blue hologram to flash
to life.

"Is there a problem?" Kirill asked the blue
figure, only half focused on the figure.

"Not necessarily," The voice replied. "But
Anlon Valens just arrived on Hera just shortly before your men were
scheduled to arrive."

"Armino's son?" He asked, more to himself
than the contact. "Were you aware he would be there while my men
were?"

"I didn't think it would be this close. I
thought that your men would arrive sooner or Anlon would arrive
later. The timing of his arrival couldn't possibly be worse."

Kirill waved his hand in the air. "It'll be
fine. My men are already there and I can't pull them out in the
middle of an operation. Just keep the boy away from my men and
it'll be fine."
The figure bowed its head. "I will make sure that they don't come
in contact."

Kirill hung up the comlink and continued with
what he had been doing before the interruption. His men were good,
and he had sent out the best for this mission, so he wasn't too
worried about failure. In a couple of hours, maybe even less than
that, he would get another call confirming the mission was a
success. After that, he could start to put the rest of his plans in
motion after may long years of waiting in the shadows.

The contact didn't like going forward with
the mission with the boy so close, but he had to follow Kirill's
orders. Everyone had heard of the Deimos Brotherhood, but few lived
to see what they were really capable of firsthand. If Kirill
believed that the mission should go forward without delay, that's
what was going to happen. The contact walked down to the kitchen
before Donnchadh and his men's arrival, abruptly swinging the doors
open and startling the entire staff.

"You all have the rest of the day off!" The
contact informed them. "The Queen is very appreciative of your hard
work and dedication and has decided to give you a day of rest."

The staff looked at the contact with confused
looks on their faces. They had never had a change of routine since
the Queen had taken her spot on the Throne.

"Who will make the Queen and her visitor
lunch?" One of the cooks asked. "We have already started the meal
for her."

The hand of the contact waved in the air.
"Already covered. We have brought in a staff from one of the top
restaurants on Hera to serve her for the rest of the day. You have
nothing to worry about, this staff will have everything
covered."

"When do we report back for work?" One of the
female servers asked.

"Tomorrow morning. Now go take the day off,"
The contact ordered. "Don't make me tell her that you won't obey
her orders."

The staff slowly lingered out of the kitchen,
unsure of whether it was some kind of hoax, but when they saw a new
staff standing outside of the kitchen they hurried off.

The contact walked out of the kitchen and
looked at the temporary staff. "It is time. Send someone to go kill
the staff before they go too far off. We don't need them telling
races who gave them the day off that also happened to be the day
she died."

The contact followed the new staff into the
kitchen after one of the races left the group to track the staff.
"The men who I told you about should arrive shortly," The contact
pointed to one of the cooks. "Show them all of the food that will
be served so they can pick which will be best for the poison."

The cook shook his head in
acknowledgement.

"You," The contact pointed. "Pay close
attention to which food they choose and make sure it goes to the
Queen, and the Queen only. I must leave now and make other
preparations. You will work here for the rest of the day, then you
are to leave Hera with the money that you have been provided and
never show your faces on Hera again."

The contact turned around and left the
kitchen and walked down the hall only to see the Queen and Anlon
talking quietly. They would need to be separated soon, but waiting
until the poison was planted would be the best time to proceed.

Donnchadh landed his ship in a field close to
one of the secret entrances to the Palace. It was a small abandoned
cottage built around the same time as the Palace. He kept the
engines running just in case they needed to make a quick escape and
he kept the stealth field on to conceal the ship from the guards on
the wall.

"We're here," Donnchadh told his men. "Don't
forget the poison Ulisse. I don't want to make a trip back to the
ship if we get in the Palace successfully, just to get caught the
second time back in."

Ulisse nodded and double checked his satchel.
"It's still in the satchel, don't worry. There's no way I'm losing
track of it."