Chapter 6:
The siblings stared at the officer, who had introduced himself as General Bates. He lounged against one wall, his neatly attired figure relaxed and seemingly at ease. None of them would fold. This was a mission that he was on, and he would not stop until he had the answer that he wanted or until they and all the citizens in their small little city were annihilated.
That was Jeval’s thinking at that moment, and he found himself wondering if there would be any satisfaction at all in just going ahead and killing the man, in unleashing his gift against those ships. He knew that he had not allowed the ship on the pleasure planet to communicate the news that there was a Revant aboard the ship that had taken Ruckland and his supposed consort and slave off that planet, but perhaps The Federation had heard that from someone who had been on the planet and seen them all together.
Talon’s fingers drummed along the surface of the table. His eyes were narrowed with thought, and Marik wore a blank expression that said he was thinking hard. Renall leaned forward across the table, his fingers forming a steeple before his chin. He said, “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
General Bates said, “Oh you did. You heard me very well.”
Jeval asked, “Do you truly think that we would believe that you wish to topple The Federation?”
Bates lifted a gray eyebrow toward his equally gray hairline. He was an older human, and the lines in his face marked his age. He said, “Do not pretend that you do not know this must happen. War is inevitable. The Federation is falling apart; it was corrupted long ago, and it has no reason to try to right itself.”
Talon asked, “Did you swear a loyalty oath to them?”
Bates said, “I swore an oath to uphold and protect the universe. I swore an oath to do whatever was necessary to end terrorism and to help abate war. I have thought long and hard about this decision. I assure you there is not one person on any of the ships that are above you and on your surface that does not agree with me in this decision.”
Jeval said, “Or so you say. It’s quite possible this is a Federation trap as well. We agree to join forces with you to take them down and then you have just cause to blow our people to smithereens and take our planet.”
Bates came to the table and took a seat across from the four siblings. His face held a weary cast, and his fingers rested on the surface of the table, held together lightly within each other. He said, “I understand that you don’t believe me. I don’t blame you for that. I chose you, all of you, because each and every one of you has reason to hate The Federation. Each of you has been declared an outlaw at some point or other in your life, and some of you still are. Each of you is a warrior, and from what I’ve heard, your women are too. Or at least, the ones who have skills equally as good.”
Jeval sat back in the seat, his face betraying nothing of his thoughts. There was only one way to be sure. He said, “The Federation knows not everything about us.”
Bates said, “They know enough. I know enough. I need assistance. I am willing to fight against the tyranny that The Federation has brought to the universe, but I cannot do it alone. I need powerful people with powerful contacts; you have those contacts.”
Talon said, “Or you could just want our contacts so that you could imprison and murder them too.”
Bates snorted. “There is a huge criminal element in the universe. I’m quite sure that you know that the last people they wish to be friends with are Federation officers. But you know, as do I, that the greatest amount of weaponry is lodged within their realms and not The Federation’s.”
Bates was right there. Still, he wasn’t sure if he trusted the man. Bates looked at the siblings, and they all looked back, regarding him steadily. Each of them gave a small and almost imperceptible nod.
It was the last thing Jeval wanted to do, go running about in that man’s brain, but if they were going to know for sure, he was going to have to do it.
Very well then.
If nothing else, if Bates proved to be a liar, they would know exactly what it was The Federation had planned. And they would be able to warn anyone against believing offers like these. He was fairly certain it wasn’t just him and his siblings that had been targeted for such an offer if it was a false one.
There were probably Federation generals and lesser officers making the same offer to others all across the universe right now in an effort to weed out criminals and to take control of smaller planets who had so far refused to accept The Federation’s decree of martial rule.
He leaned forward, holding a steady gaze on the general’s eyes. He spoke softly. “You will speak only truths from here on out. I am going to be in your mind, and I will know when you lie. Even if they put in a block, even if they’ve implanted you with the thought that you are doing this of your own free will and that you truly are rebelling against The Federation, I will know it.”
Bates blinked a few times. His face took on a smooth and unlined look. His mouth opened but no words came out. It was amazing how men of such power never thought to guard their mind against an invader. The truth of the matter was there were very few telepaths left in the universe, and there were even fewer mind-crawlers like him. That gift was so rare these days that it was mostly myth.
It was just part and parcel of that dark gift that he had been born with though. It was the one he used the most because it was the one that was the most useful and the least harmful to the people upon which he used it.
He leaned forward again. His hand dipped into a pocket and produced a round credit coin. The coin flipped back and forth across the top of his knuckles and then in between each finger. The general’s eyes went to that coin, and his mouth went even more loose and slack. His eyes stopped blinking and just stayed open, staring widely. Jeval let his mind wander toward the general’s. He felt resistance there, felt the general trying to push back despite his weakened state. That was good; if the general tried very hard to keep him out that meant he was hiding a secret.
Well, he intended to find out exactly what that secret was.
He pressed forward again. The general’s mind was like a honeycomb, filled with many different compartments and spaces. It was like walking through a maze. Jeval knew that the direct route would leave him nowhere. This was a man who compartmentalized things in order to live with them. He peeked into one of those chambers of the general’s mind and recoiled in utter horror as he watched a memory float through the general’s head.
That memory was of the general standing in a room filled with many tech-nodules. Along with the tech-nodules were many men wearing the same insignia he wore and the very upper echelon of The Federation’s members. Bates was shouting, “They will all die if you do this! They are our people! How can you do this to them?”
That memory spun out, and Jeval watched it unfurl. The general had been against some invasion or another, but his had been a single voice in a large crowd, and his words had not been heeded. His eyes were now the general’s eyes, and he turned them toward one of the tech-nodules and watched, feeling the cold horror that ran through Bates as Bates had watched it happen: the destruction of a planet filled with females and small children, but no men. He watched as Bates sank into a chair and muttered, “Why? For God’s sake why?”
One of The Federations leaders stepped forward. “It is not for you to question what we do, Bates. It is for you to carry out our orders. I would hate to think that you choose to betray us and to willfully discard your duties.”
He felt the general’s fear at that moment. The general lifted his head and said, “I would never perform a dereliction of my duty. I’ve always upheld my duty. I just do not understand why. There was nothing there to harm.”
