Chapter 13 - Subtle Treachery
Morov had little to do during the days when Tymos was closeted with the Elders and Governors. At least when the Prince had been off the Estate, the senior servant had assigned him other duties – but now he must be available for when he was needed.
So he took the opportunity to relax in the special area of the gardens set aside for palace servers. Since his short trip off the Estate, en-route to Dira and while touring back, he had developed a keen interest in what it was like elsewhere on Tymorea. He used his free time to read treatises on the geography of his world, especially the mountains where his charge, Tymos, had been travelling.
He decided against using any of the free benches or low-slung recliners, and sat instead on the ground with his back against a tree, where he was shaded from the brightness of the sun. Every now and then, he looked up from the data padd and let his mind imagine the distant places he was reading about.
On one such glance up, he spotted Zacary working at one of the nearby garden beds. In the two months that he had been back, while Tymos was travelling in the mountains, Morov had caught up on all the gossip about Zacary. How he had turned up back here just after the Royal Tour had gone off, that he was so far the only survivor of the ill-fated third scout party and that he had been tortured and was lucky to be alive. He was a minor celebrity because of that, since the rest of the scouts were dead or still missing.
Morov had his own private opinion, and that was that Zacary had turned yellow and run off. He wasn’t feeling particularly sympathetic towards him. When the news had filtered through the palace that Tymos and Kryslie were missing, the little squib had made a point of coming up and accusing him of losing his charge. At the time, Morov had been feeling partly to blame, even though Rogert, the Chief Psychologist, had counselled him that he could have done nothing to prevent it.
Still, the tiny malicious part of Morov had invented reasons why Zacary was still doing menial jobs around the palace. However, he kept those ideas to himself and was glad that his supervisor kept him busy where Zacary could not find him and needle him too often.
For now, he just hoped that if he kept his concentration on his reading, Zacary would leave him alone.
It didn’t work.
“Slacking off, Morov?”
“On a break,” Morov replied without looking up. “Don’t let me distract you from your work.”
“Oh, I’m due a break, saw you here,” Zacary sounded like he was trying to be friendly.
“Why don’t you go and try to hunt up some of your little girl friends?” Morov suggested, hiding his own disgust.
“Hey! What do you mean by that?”
He sounded genuinely surprised, and that puzzled Morov. Enough of the other servants had noticed Zacary hugging young girls, at various times, that it couldn’t be imagination. Morov had seen it himself.
To smooth over the situation, Morov tactfully lied. “Well, you know, you are a bit of a hero for surviving all you did.”
Zacary seemed to preen, and think that Morov was being friendly.
“I haven’t seen you around much since you got back.”
Morov thought to himself, “And that much is too much.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t want to waste time talking to Zacary, and he was relieved when his pager beeped. He glanced at the message, and said quickly, “I have to go.”
“Oh? Is Prince Tymos back?”
Morov knew Zacary was watching him, but he could truthfully say, “Old Beelings has been using me as an extra pair of hands – I will be glad when Prince Tymos is back.”
The feigned sour face convinced the other that he was speaking the truth.
Zacary returned to his apparent task, regretting his hasty question, particularly as Morov had betrayed no sign that it might be true. After a while, he moved his equipment closer to where level delta students were doing their physical exercises. The guards near the group ignored him as he pretended to be working. They did not notice his frequent glances at the students or the gesture he made to Stenn Reslic before he walked off into a stand of trees.
The guards challenged Stenn, who simply said, “I’m not going far. I need to ask someone a question.”
“What do you want?” Stenn demanded when he saw Zacary waiting for him. He did not realise that his mind had not questioned why he left his class.
Using an obscure dialect, that he wasn’t aware that he knew, Zacary spoke two phrases. Stenn’s belligerence vanished as the hypnotic trance was imposed.
“Are Tymos and Kryslie back yet?” was the question of most importance to Zacary.
“No,” Stenn said flatly.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am! Tymos would go and see Llaimos, first thing.”
Zacary dismissed Llaimos. He was just a baby. “If Tymos ran off, he will be too busy explaining himself to visit babies.”
“He didn’t run off! Father knows he and Kryslie are talking to the mutants.”
Something in Zacary became very interested in that information, so he questioned Stenn to find out all he knew. Then he heard someone calling, and it sounded like that annoying commoner, Keleb, so he quickly made a suggestion, spoke the words to make Stenn forget this talk, snapped his fingers and watched his unwitting informant trot back to his class. He drew himself further into the trees and smirked. Stenn Reslic was going to be in trouble again.
Keleb stopped his practice bout with Jonko when he noticed Stenn trotting off into the trees.
“I’ll just go and see what he is up to,” Keleb whispered, passing the practice sword to his friend.
“Don’t be long,” Jonko warned. “If he is slacking off, his Uncle can have words with him.” He shrugged in the direction of Perrin Reslic who was watching the trees.
When their instructor looked away, Keleb slipped out of the clearing, making a gesture towards where Stenn had gone when the guard moved to intercept him.
“Stenn?” he called quietly. He repeated the call, and still got no reply. He dared not stay away from class much longer, and headed back. He was still distracted, when he returned. Denlic, his new training partner found him an easy victim for his attacks. Perrin called out waspishly for him to concentrate.
On the next change of partners, he found himself nudged by Stenn. His relief at his friend’s return vanished when he was asked, “What’s with Jon? I saw him going off into the trees all of a sudden.”
Keleb was thinking, “First Stenn and now Jonko?”
Aloud, he said, “I’ll go and find out.” When Stenn offered to come with him, he said quickly, “You stay here.”
He didn’t want Stenn in any more trouble. He had been playing up a lot, lately. This odd behaviour was reminiscent of Jonko talking to Zacary and not recalling doing so. Keleb wanted to know if this was the case again.
He hadn’t gone far when he saw Jonko trotting back towards the class, but he ducked out of sight for a moment and then headed to where he had seen his friend reappear. Sure enough, he saw Zacary striding away, with his gardening tools, and seemingly ignored by the patrolling guards.
For a moment, Keleb considered asking the guards what they had seen, but he decided against that. He would talk to his guardian first, since Governor Xyron had asked him to report any more odd behaviour he noticed. He hadn’t noticed Jonko acting strange since that first time, but Stenn had been acting downright odd for a couple of months – now he thought about it.
Keleb headed back to join his class, and began hearing raised voices. It sounded like Stenn arguing with his uncle. He hurried his pace, wanting to be there to calm Stenn down.
Jonko was already trying to do that, by holding onto his friend as Stenn was saying, “…you’re always picking on me!”
Keleb drew close enough to hear Perrin calmly pointing out, “You were not concentrating. I know you can do better. You will repeat the exercise three times and if you still don’t get it right you will keep doing it until you do.”
Stenn strode off without acknowledging the instruction. He stopped a few paces away; stood rigidly until he controlled his anger enough to begin the ‘dance’ that was actually a series of sword thrusts and parries. He kept his back to everyone, even his friends.
Jonko stood by Keleb, concerned about Stenn. He sensed Perrin Reslic come up behind them and merely turned and asked, “What do you want me to do next, Sir?”
“Tell me why you ran off from my class!”
Jonko was about to say, “But I didn’t,” when he suddenly recalled doing that and said instead, “I suddenly felt ill, and needed to be sick. I feel better now.”
Keleb felt his mouth start to open at this obvious lie, but Perrin seemed to accept it since Jonko had never left class before or been in trouble.
“Go and see if you can correct Lexina’s gamma attack drill,” Perrin directed.
When Jonko had gone, Keleb felt Perrin’s attention on him. “You were about to say something? Like why you ran off as well? I would advise against copying my nephew’s current behaviour. Were you tired of the exercise I set you?”
“No, Sir,” Keleb denied all Perrin’s insinuations. “However, I was concerned that both Stenn and Jonko were behaving strangely. My foster father has asked me to look for and report such things. When I was in the trees, I saw Zacary striding away. He disturbs me!”
Perrin studied Keleb for a few moments and considered other concerns relating to Zacary and Stenn.
“My brother and your guardian should hear of this and investigate. I am aware that my nephew and Zacary do not like each other, so Stenn is unlikely to want to run off in the middle of a class to talk to him. Jonko has been coaching Zacary, so he should have no reason to lie about seeing him.”
Keleb remained silent, as his instructor considered things.
“All the Governor’s are concerned about Zacary’s recovery…do you have any thoughts about this?”
Keleb shook his head. “Stenn suggested we keep away from Zacary and he does make me uncomfortable for some reason but I can’t say why.”
“I’ll speak to the guards; they have been keeping an eye on him. I don’t think it is anything sinister, since Governor Tymoros found no indications of indoctrination, brainwashing or alien control. But he did suffer a severe ordeal…”
“So did I,” Keleb reminded the older man and he saw he had startled Perrin with that reminder. “And I think Kryslie helped me. I wish she could check him out and my friends too. If something were going on, she’d know. Do you think you can ask her to do it when she has a free moment?”
“What gives you the idea that she is here?” Perrin asked with a dangerous edge to his question.
Keleb sensed it and paled. “I…felt sure she and Tymos were back. No one has said anything to me but…I sensed an increase in the strength of the aura around here. Jonko should have sensed it as well.”
“And have you spoken of this?” Perrin demanded.
“No! No, Sir, I haven’t.”
Perrin glanced at his wrist chronometer. “At the end of class, bring Jonko to the antechamber next to the Conference Room. I will arrange permission for you and advise your guardian. I will let my brother deal with his ill-mannered whelp. Meanwhile, go and see if you can improve your attack skills against Denlic.”
Keleb nodded and went to obey with a lighter heart. He must be right; Tymos and Kryslie were back, even if they were not letting it be known.
During the mid afternoon, after they had eaten the supplied tray of lunch food, Tymos and Kryslie sat back in two of the chairs. They thought over the past six days, and tried to find any trace of information that they had not revealed. The Elders had gone off to discuss strategies and defences with the scientists. Reslic was busy passing orders to the space fleet and directing the ‘air force’. The latter was little more that the fleet of rapid messenger craft, and their weapons had been installed only months before.
Tymoros was overseeing the recall of the missionaries from thousands of planets. Only Xyron remained, and he was involved in his own meditations, but occasionally asked more about the mutants and the types of mutations they had observed.
They were all disturbed by the beep of Xyron’s communicator. After reading the message, Xyron instructed his discreet and silent attendant to, “Let him in.”
Tymos and Kryslie recognised Perrin Reslic as he strode in. He bowed to Xyron and requested a private conversation. They rose and moved towards the windows and turned their attention to watching the movement of people in the gardens. They were not deliberately trying to pay attention to the conversation, but a few words were sufficiently audible and both began to listen.
“Zacary” was the first word to catch their awareness, and Tymos recalled what Morov had told him a few days before. Then when they heard Stenn’s name, and Jonko’s, the hairs on his neck began to prickle. Feeling that he must join the conversation, Tymos returned to the two older men with Kryslie following him like a shadow.
“Jonko, Stenn and how many more?” Tymos demanded, ignoring the glare Perrin gave him for interrupting.
Xyron turned his attention to Tymos and asked, “You think there will be more?”
Instinct more than proof gave Tymos the answer, “It is likely.”
“How and why would Zacary be influencing them? He has no power now,” Kryslie spoke with emphasis.
Xyron did not comment on the interruptions to his conversation. “He was with the third scout party and found his way back here.”
He quickly and tersely described Zacary’s condition when he returned, in more detail than Tymos had heard from Morov.
“We saw others from that group, commoners and Royals,” Kryslie spoke aloud. “They were all killed. How did he escape?”
“We believe that his brother was also a prisoner, and he managed to help him. We can find no indication that he has been made into a spy,” Xyron admitted, and went on to add, “But we are troubled about him.”
Perrin Reslic spoke up. “We have him watched. He hasn’t ventured into unauthorised places but we have had incidents of children being in restricted areas. Keleb has reported incidents of Zacary talking to people and later quite sincerely denying the meeting. Jonko is one of these. He is waiting in the anteroom with Keleb.”
“What has Zacary been doing?” Tymos asked.
“Light duties around the Estate,” Perrin said. “Gardening mainly. The guards see him talking to lots of people of all ages.”
“And you say that Father found nothing?” Kryslie asked.
Xyron nodded. “He did suggest that you should examine him.”
“Yes,” Kryslie agreed. “And Jonko? Is that why you have him waiting next door?”
Perrin nodded and saw Kryslie exchange glances with her brother, and wondered what they were saying to each other.
“Could you have Xan brought back here. I would like to talk to him before I see Jonko.”
Perrin gave a slight bow to Kryslie and left to arrange it.
“You wanted to talk to me?” Xan asked when he arrived.
“Yes,” Kryslie confirmed and asked directly, “Does Kellex use telepathy?”
Xan was startled by the question.
“Until I met you, I believed that reading others’ minds was impossible. I am sure that no Aeronite can do that. You must be mistaken.”
In spite of the negative answer, Kryslie sensed a new terror in Xan’s mind.
“No, I am sure that Jordan can,” Tymos insisted. “Though that is no proof. And my instinct tells me that it was Kellex who has placed ideas in people’s heads before this. Did Kellex have Zacary tortured?”
“I don’t know the one you refer to,” Xan said with a mouth gone suddenly dry. “But he had that drunken road guard, Yuri. Kellex could make him tell him whatever he wanted to know.”
“Yuri,” Xyron echoed. He looked at Tymos and explained. “Zacary’s brother.”
Xan hurriedly said, “But maybe what you said is true. Warlord Kellex always seemed to be able to know what people were thinking.”
“Did you see any of our third scout party?” Kryslie asked, but her eyes seemed to be cutting into his mind.
“Only from a distance. I knew the Warlord had prisoners.” Xan’s mind recalled how he had seen the prisoners being treated like animals, and whipped to work harder. “And I heard he had a way to separate your commoners from the others. I don’t know the details.”
“Where were you during this?” Tymos asked, intently.
“Away…learning about you, or about the mutants.” Xan swallowed hard. He was beginning to understand how Yuri must have felt.
He felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder, and only then realised that Kryslie had come closer to support him.
“Tell us about Yuri?” Kryslie invited.
“I tried to have little to do with him,” Xan admitted. “I last saw him after that abortive raid here. When I told Kellex about seeing you, and your brother, and we saw the fireworks for the birth of the new Prince. Kellex made Yuri tell him everything he could. And during that, Kellex decided that Yuri’s brother was one of his ‘experiments’.”
Xan felt the slight tensing of Kryslie’s hand.
Xyron had mentioned that Zacary thought his brother had helped him escape. It seemed likely that Yuri had unintentionally identified his brother to Kellex.
Kryslie asked gently, “What can you tell us about Kellex’s experiments?”
“Mainly gossip, things that the older commanders claimed and I didn’t really believe. But Kellex did say something to me after I returned with the mutant leader. He asked about entrances to the underground caverns, but I had found no sign of them. He said that they existed because on of his ‘experiments’ took someone there. That fit in with what I was told about Kellex liking to corrupt unsuspecting Royals.”
Kryslie looked at Xyron and suggested, “Ones with latent telepathy that haven’t learnt to shield? Like Sacul.”
“We will need to check all the children that have been seen with Zacary,” Xyron realised.
Tymos took up the question, “Xan, if Kellex has somehow placed controls on Zacary’s mind, how do you think he could work through Zacary to reach others here?”
“I…really don’t know,” Xan admitted. “I really thought Kellex had to be close to his ‘experiments’ to get them to do anything.”
“Inconclusive,” Tymos muttered. “So we say Yuri freed Zacary, but they were caught again…there is time enough for Kellex to have laid coercions on him, but …I feel we are missing some important information still.”
“I agree,” Kryslie stated. “I can see Kellex making Zacary a tool to collect information, and later dipping into his mind, but I am not convinced that Kellex could train Zacary to create new ‘experiments’.”
“That is where our hypothesis breaks down. Krys, do you think you can tell anything from Jon’s mind? If it is like Sacul’s mind was?”
“I will talk to Jon,” Kryslie agreed, and a tendril of a memory teased her mind. Something she had sensed when talking to Kellex…
Yes! The image of a cloaked and hooded figure and the sense of powerful allies. She felt a shiver of premonition and knew her brother shared it.