“I’m still working on that. If OrIN suspects what we are about, he’ll end us before we have a chance to do anything. Let me have a few days to figure something out. Let me know as soon as those transmitters are up. We’ll have to pick the exact moment to use them and use them sparingly. We might not get but one chance at it before discovery.”
“Sir, we have moved several shuttles to the repair section of the docking bay to use for an emergency evacuation as you requested,” Warrior DayES told him.
“Good, once we use those transmitters, I want you to organize as many of our followers as you can to evacuate. Set coordinates to Kiljor if that is the closest region and give them the name StrykER. Tell them that MarIK sent you.”
“You’re not going with us?”
MarIK had thought long and hard about it, but he didn’t see any way that he could walk away without confronting OrIN once and for all. Also, he felt the need to avenge his mate and her family who had died needlessly because of the mutations the Morins caused. Justice for their deaths and all those who had been mutated pressed on his conscience.
“If it’s possible for me to evacuate, I will.”
“We will make sure we leave a war ship for you to at least use to escape.”
“I appreciate that.” MarIK’s comm link was going off. He motioned them to be quiet while he answered. “Commander MarIK here. Yes, Leader OrIN, I will be right there.” He ended the communications. “I have to meet OrIN in his command room. I’ll contact all of you in a few hours for an update.”
Leaving the storage area, he made sure no one spotted him and glanced at the security cameras he had previously adjusted to avoid the door to the storage area. They were still where he had placed them.
He took the lift up to the third floor of the transport that they had confiscated from the Katieran disposal area. The Katierans had sent transports that required a lot of maintenance to the disposal area to use for parts. OrIN had found out the disposal location and the team had stolen a transport and the parts to fix it. The repaired transport had been their escape plan from the mining planet. OrIN was nothing if not very methodical. He had planned for every contingency.
After knocking on the closed door leading into OrIN’s command room, he waited until he heard approval to enter.
“Come in!”
He slid the door open and entered the room, grateful that the Morin leader wasn’t there. OrIN stood in front of a huge desk with a hologram map over it that depicted the Katieran star system. He waited patiently for OrIN to look up and acknowledge him.
“I know this must be hard on you, MarIK, having the Morins here.”
“It is. I don’t understand why you bring them aid.”
“There’s a saying — the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Prime Leader RendEL is our enemy and the Morins are the key to destroying his claim to ruling Katiera. Once I take control, we can deal with the Morins. I’ll gladly leave that in your hands.”
MarIK suppressed his outrage at the idea that was enough to convince him to fall in line. No way in Kitana would he have more Katierans die at the hands of the Morins. Not as long as there was breath left in his body.
“What is the plan?”
“I’m contacting the Katierans to let them know that I am willing to negotiate a surrender.”
MarIK looked at him in surprise, but the glimmer in OrIN’s eyes told him that this was a ploy. “What are you really after?”
“I am requesting a female negotiator to accompany a male negotiator.”
MarIK narrowed his eyes, “They will never send a Katieran female.”
“Exactly. I need an Earth female to be taken by the Morins. They will send out a transport, maybe several to recover her.”
“So they face off with the Morins, then what?”
“We will hit them where they least expect it. Make sure that all repairs are made on the Morin transport. You have five days to get them ready.”
“Yes, sir.” MarIK left feeling very uneasy. He knew he hadn’t found out all of OrIN’s plans, only that the request for negotiators was a trap. He had to warn Prime Leader RendEL as soon as possible. Whatever the real hit was going to be, he knew it would be bad.
