The next few days passed painfully slowly. All our books were still on the Dark Talon, and even if we had had them with us we dared not study them while under observation. On the third day of our captivity Zalith came to visit.
He entered the room and came straight to the transparent wall, locking his steel-like gaze directly on me. “Vydor, I need you to lower the screen on the Dark Talon.”
“Sorry, Zalith, I cannot do that,” I replied and matched his gaze.
“Vydor, forget your orders for a minute. On that ship are some personal effects from the fallen Knights and I would like to get them back to their families.”
Personal effects? The Dark Knights? I could not believe it. Still, I could not let him on that ship, not with all that we had stored there. “When I am permitted to return to the vessel I will be glad to retrieve them for you, but I cannot let anyone but us seven on that vessel, at least not until after High Command rules on it.” I was bluffing far too much with this High Command orders card. I just hoped I could keep it up long enough to speak before them.
He was not at all happy with that response. I do not think he expected me to stand up to him and say no. His nostrils flared and he bared his razor-like teeth slightly. I held my ground and did not flinch, but secretly I worried that the wall would not be able to hold him back.
I decided to try and defuse the situation, “Zalith, I suggest you go find Dr. Rannor and ask him to set up a decontamination tunnel so that I can return to the ship and retrieve what you want.”
With a slight growl, he swiftly spun and left the room.
“Well, he certainly is one of your friendlier crewmates,” commented Luke. “I bet he is a blast at parties.”
I could not help but chuckle at him. He was really developing a habit for saying the silliest things at the oddest times. I was just glad he had not said that aloud. I did not think others would find it humorous.
“I fear he could be our biggest obstacle on this ship. He wants the Dark Talon back, but until we can find a replacement for it, we cannot let him have it. It is our only base right now.”
Soon after that Larath came by. I was expecting this visit sooner or later. He was dressed in casual attire, like he always was when he was going to evaluate someone and did not want to let on. This had potential to be a very dangerous meeting as he would surely detect the changes in me, but I was glad for the chance to finally determine how much power he had. “Gafar, do not get caught but learn what you can about him,” I said. “I will try to keep his focus on me.”
“Okay,” replied Gafar.
“Greetings, Vydor. I am sorry I was not able to see you off properly,” he said warmly.
I could feel him trying to read me, so I returned the favor and reached out and gently prodded, trying to do nothing more than distract him. I was counting on Gafar to do the real probing.
“Hello, Larath. I am glad you finally came to visit,” I said.
“I see you did not need my lessons after all.”
“No, I had to learn them the hard way, but I managed.”
“Perhaps after all this is done we can trade notes,” he commented.
It was time to risk tipping my hand a bit to see if I could flush anything out. “Larath, I had been meaning to ask but never had the time: how did you come up with the name ‘Magi’?” That sent a ripple through his psychic defenses. I had definitely stumbled onto something.
“Oh, it is just a name from an old story. Nothing special.”
“Really? What story is that?”
“Just a childhood tale, nothing worthy of note. You and your team have been very quiet since your return. Is everything all right?”
It was an interesting subject change. I had hit on something there, but I dared not push it yet. “Just recovering from the stress of combat, each in their own way.”
“Why don’t you tell me a little about that?”
“Larath, you never stop trying to do your job, do you?”
“Vydor, how does that make you feel?” he said with a big grin.
“Like laughing at you,” I said with a chuckle.
“Ah, that’s a good reaction; I will have to note that in your record.”
“Larath, are you to deliver your report on us before or after we present ours?”
“Neither, I will be with you when you report,” he said and promptly left.
“Gafar, give me some good news,” I said.
“Vydor, I cannot. But if you want bad news, I have plenty.”
“Well, then, give me that.”
“Larath is an apprentice-level sorcerer.”
I almost fell over when he said that. Of all the things I expected to hear, that was not one of them. “That is not at all good.”
“No, and it gets worse. He is only one of five sorcerers in consular positions in the Empire.”
“You have to admire how clever that is. That gets them unrestricted access to just about everyone. Can you tell if there are others?”
“No, Vydor, he knows of no others.”
“We cannot let him attend our debriefing with the High Command. The question is how do we stop it without tipping our hand?”
“Vydor, I have some more bad news. He recognized the rings on our fingers.”
“Then it is too late to consider anything hidden. Our enemy knows we are alive and what we are up to. Our first mission will be to eliminate their five spies.”
“Why didn’t Larath warn the sorcerers about the bombardment?” Kellyn wondered.
“That is a very good question, Kellyn,” I said.
We spent the next few days just waiting. There was not much else to do. I spent most of the time working all the new information we had back into the weave of knowledge I was making. Knowing Larath was a spy answered quite a few of the mysteries going back to the early days of the mission. Things were finally starting to make some sense, and for that I was greatly thankful.