Vice-Consul. It sounded like as good a name as any.

  He entered the apartment and spent half an hour exploring the place. It could have housed his entire party comfortably.

  He was in the process of investigating part of the main living area when a slot opened in the wall in front of him.

  He hadn't noticed anything unusual about the wall before, except that a large table sat against it. It didn't look like a dining table, but it must have been intended as one. A food tray slid out of the slot in front of him, along with a pitcher of water.

  At least the Vasyke didn't expect him to eat any other kind of food. He didn't know what kind of food they ate, and he didn't want to find out. He had no plans to become Vasyke.

  The apartment was too big to be comfortable for one person alone, so he took his food out onto the veranda and ate there. The wind blew the acrid fumes of the desert to his nose. The smell brought back memories.

  That smell wouldn't let him forget who he was, where he came from, and where he was working to get back to. He only had to come out onto this veranda every day to remember what he was trying to accomplish.

  The only problem with this apartment--apart from its size--was that it had nothing for him to do. The Vasyke were so busy pulling the levers of power that they never needed leisure pastimes or anything like that. Richmond strolled around, getting progressively more bored until he couldn't stand it a second longer.

  He left the apartment, planning to go see how his friends were settling in. He froze on the threshold when he saw Temobos disappear into the stairwell leading away from the Vasyke's residential levels.

  Temobos didn't see Richmond standing there. He wasn't doing anything suspicious, but everything that one did set Richmond's teeth on edge.

  He waited what he guessed would be the right amount of time and slipped into the stairwell after the man.

  Temobos' footsteps echoed up the stairwell from below. He was going down--a long way down.

  Richmond knew enough about the palace to have a pretty good sense of where things were. The Necrodrome, the amphitheater, the catacombs where the Lilri confined Necrodrome prisoners, the courtyard where the Lilri tried to kill him--he knew where they all were in relation to each other.

  Temobos didn't descend to any of those levels. Richmond hung back until he saw Temobos leave on the same level where Halener and Richmond had parked their vehicles.

  Richmond stole a peek through the stairwell door. His heart stopped a second time when he saw Temobos talking to a Drichi holding another line of captured Narillian prisoners.

  The Drichi had tied his prisoners with ropes this time instead of shocking collars and shackles. The ropes bit into the prisoners' wrists and necks and even strapped around their faces to keep them quiet. Deep bruises and weeping gashes from recent beatings covered all the prisoners from head to toe.

  Richmond couldn't hear what Temobos and the Drichi were saying to each other. But he didn't need to hear a thing--especially not when Temobos pulled a box out from under his clothes and handed it over in payment for delivering the prisoners.

  His blood started to boil when the Drichi put his lead rope into Temobos' hand. The Drichi turned to walk away.

  Richmond didn't think twice before he stormed out of the stairwell. Temobos and the Drichi both turned around when they heard him crossing the cavern.

  Temobos' self-satisfied grin vanished, but he really wasn't prepared for what happened next.

  Richmond yanked up his rifle. Neither Temobos nor the Drichi was armed.

  The prisoners gaped at Richmond in horror when he fired at the Drichi, ripped the alien in half, and both halves sailed backward to slam into one of the cavern's support pillars.

  Richmond turned his weapon on Temobos. He'd always known this snake would betray him someday. Better to get rid of him before that happened.

  Temobos froze in horror when he saw Richmond holding him at gunpoint. Then Temobos' lips curled upward into another smirk.

  Richmond could just imagine what gibberish the man was about to spew to try to talk himself out of this one, but he wasn't in the mood. He shot Temobos in the head.

  The prisoners all jumped away when the body hit the floor. Some of them actually screamed, but the ropes in their mouths muffled their cries.

  Richmond compressed his lips. Killing these two pieces of shit didn't balance the scales, but it was a step in the right direction. Now he had to free the captives.

  He didn't know how he could cut the ropes. He only had his rifle, but when he looked around, he noticed that the dead Drichi carried a knife stuck into his boot.

  Richmond got busy cutting all the ropes. It took a long time. The kidnapped Narillians whimpered, and some of them sobbed outright when he freed them.

  One of the Dunonos grabbed his hand and tried to kiss it. "Thank you so much!" the man moaned. "I don't know how to thank you!"

  Richmond pulled his hand free as politely as he could. "You're all free to go home to your families. Go on. Get out of here--and start spreading the word to the rest of the Narillian population that the Vasyke are kidnapping innocent people off the streets to throw them into the Necrodrome. Tell everyone you know, and tell them to start passing the word to everyone they know. This needs to get out."

  Everyone tried again and again to thank him, but he didn't let them stay. He hustled them out of the palace and didn't leave them alone until they separated in the streets outside. All the prisoners left and disappeared, going in different directions.

  Richmond stayed there for a minute while he watched them go. He regretted now that he hadn't broadcasted the footage of Madoc and Temobos while he had the chance.

  He went back inside and considered how to get rid of the bodies. He decided to use the afterburn of his hover vehicle's exhaust to incinerate the Drichi.

  That fate was too good for Temobos, so Richmond collared the body and dragged it all the way back upstairs to the Vasyke's fancy colonnades.

  He walked out of the stairwell and almost tripped over a group of Vasyke who happened to be passing right at that moment. Some of them were the judges he recognized from the amphitheater.

  They halted in their tracks and stared at him when he dragged the bloody corpse into their halls and dumped it in plain view of everyone.

  "Captain!" the female judge gasped. "What in the world are you doing?"

  "This is Zaliv Temobos--or it was. He's dead. I killed him. That makes me Sevao now."

  The Vasyke gaped at him with their mouths open--just long enough for his friends to come out of their apartments.

  Richmond tried not to notice their shocked expressions too. "Who in this palace is responsible for broadcasting Necrodrome bouts?" he asked.

  The Vasyke shuffled their feet for a minute. No one said anything.

  He glared at them all, but when he still didn't get a response, he gave up. He dragged the body back downstairs. He didn't know enough about the palace yet to know if there was another way to get inside the Necrodrome, so he used the holding cell.

  The prisoners were already in there for tonight's bout. Richmond didn't recognize a single person here. They all fell silent when he barged in dragging Temobos' body behind him.

  The guard screen was still up and the wall was still closed. He swiped his finger at the Lilri standing guard. "Open it--now."

  Word must have spread about him making a deal with the Vasyke. The Lilri left the holding cell, and a minute later the wall opened.

  He dragged the body all the way out onto the course, left it there, and gave instructions to the old Lilri announcer that he would give the briefing tonight instead.

  The time came and went for the bout to start. Spectators packed the stands, so everyone else on the planet must be watching and listening too--including the Vasyke.

  Richmond stood over Temobos' body and glared around him at the display screens. They projected him to the whole planet.

  The view widened to show the headless body at his feet. He had the undivided attention of everyone who mattered.

  "This is Zaliv Temobos--former Sevao of the Vasyke!" he roared at the top of his voice. "Now he's dead! I killed him, which makes me the new Sevao! As of now, I'm in charge of this planet! I make the rules--and things are going to change starting now! From now on, the Necrodrome is banned! No one will fly in the Necrodrome anymore as long as I'm in charge. Lilri warships and fighter craft will never target civilian vehicles or infrastructure. Lilri aircraft are confined to the airfield until I say otherwise."

  He paused to let this sink in. No one in the stands made a sound. They'd paid a lot of money to watch tonight's bout. They were seeing a moment in history instead.

  He took another deep breath. "This man..." He pointed down at the body. "This man used his authority to kidnap innocent Narillians off the street. He threw them into the Necrodrome without trial. Countless Narillians have died in the Necrodrome when they were innocent of any crime. All of that is going to stop. Temobos sent out suppliers to kidnap Narillians from all over the planet so they wouldn't raise suspicion about people going missing. If any of those suppliers are listening to me right now, take this warning. If I ever find out who you are, you're dead. There will be no trial. There will be no Necrodrome for you. As of right now, anyone who finds out about one of these suppliers has the right to kill the supplier without penalty under the law. If you worked for the Vasyke supplying people to the Necrodrome, your life is forfeit to anyone who wants to take it. You deserve to die."

  He waited another minute just to let those words ring out for the whole audience to hear. Richmond felt himself shaking with rage.

  He didn't have anything else to say, so he stormed back into the holding cell. He left Temobos' body lying on the ground for everyone to stare at.

  "You're all free to go," Richmond told the prisoners in the holding cell. "You can return to your families."

  "But what if we did get sentenced for something?" one of the Yenus asked. "What if we really got arrested for something?"

  "Did you have anyone representing you at your trial?" Richmond asked. "Did you have the opportunity to present evidence in your own defense?"

  The Yenus frowned at him. "No. The Vasyke just sent me here."

  "Then you're free to go." Richmond turned to the Lilri. "Go downstairs and free everyone else you have in custody for the Necrodrome."

  He stayed in the holding cell to make sure the Lilri didn't interfere when the prisoners left. They passed through the door, turned down the corridor, and filed out to the street, where they vanished into the surrounding neighborhoods.

  CHAPTER 15

  Richmond climbed the stairs to the Vasyke's residential tiers and headed for his apartment. He'd struck a blow for freedom--or he hoped so.

  He'd killed Temobos. That was a step in the right direction, but someone else was bound to take his place--someone other than Richmond.

  The Vasyke always went through power struggles. Some of these Vasyke had to be planning to get rid of Richmond right now. They would be stupid not to, considering the threat he posed to their rule.

  His friends crowded around him when he got back upstairs. "Did you really kill that son of a bitch, sir?" Leatherwood chortled. "I would love to have seen his face!"

  "He didn't have a face to see," Jolok snarled. "The captain blew his head off."

  "You don't really think you can ban the Necrodrome, do you?" Niur asked. "The Vasyke won't take that lying down."

  "I don't expect them to, but we can't blow the warheads until we find a way off the planet. We can't do that tonight." Richmond turned away toward his own apartment. "I'm going to get some sleep. We can work on this in the morning. We'll go down to the airfield and see about arranging a warship to take us off the planet."

  The friends broke up and returned to their own apartments. Richmond went to his and found the smallest, most modest bedroom in the place.

  It was still bigger than any other residence he had ever seen in his life. He really didn't want to stay here.

  He considered sleeping on the floor or one of the couches instead, but he supposed he owed it to himself to experience this finery at least once before he wound up back in the Chronon Vanguard ranks. This would make an interesting story to tell when he finally made it back there. His men wouldn't believe it--or maybe they would, when Hayes and Leatherwood confirmed it.

  Richmond kicked off his shoes and started to pull off his shirt to go to bed. He pulled down the covers and sat down to rub his head and think about everything that happened tonight.

  His hair was starting to grow again. He'd have to take care of that too, starting tomorrow. He didn't know how he'd do it. The Vasyke didn't have hair.

  In fact, none of the Narillian species had hair. So how had the Thalek shave his head when they gave him medical treatment at their desert compound? He'd have to ask Zuna.

  He turned around, stretched out on the mattress, and turned his head to stare out past the veranda at the view. It relaxed him. The smell coming from the atmosphere helped him drift back to the desert. The illusion took over that he was still out there, instead of lying in this soft comfortable bed behind the palace walls.

  His eyelids started to get heavy, but then five Lilri and five Yenus burst out of nowhere. He didn't see anywhere on that side of the room that they could have been hiding. How did they get in here without him seeing them?

  He didn't have time to think about that before they pounced on top of his bed, pinned him down, and attacked him.

  The Yenus started punching and kicking him all over. Richmond tried to sit up, but they overpowered him and held him down. He couldn't protect himself.

  One of the Yenus hauled off and clubbed its bony forelimb across his face. The creature's armored exoskeleton cracked his cheekbone and stunned him--and then something sharp stabbed him in the ribs. He winced and groaned, but he couldn't do anything about it.

  The ten attackers smothered him in blows. The Yenus hit him in the head a few more times and he started to drift out of consciousness.

  He stayed alert enough to feel every strike. The Yenus did the heavy beating. Their armor could do the most damage.

  Richmond faded a little farther out of his mind, but the pain in his side kept him wide awake through the whole thing. He tasted blood, and he couldn't breathe properly. Things only got worse when the attackers broke his ribs. They bruised and battered his whole body before they dragged him out of bed.

  He didn't see where they were taking him until they threw him down on a cold stone floor somewhere in the dark.

  He curled up right there, hugged his arms over his stomach, and shut his eyes. This wound in his side was bad. He needed to do something about it, and fast, but he couldn't do anything.

  The attackers left him alone. They didn't even station any Lilri to keep an eye on him or hold him at gunpoint--as if he could do anything to anyone in this condition.

  Richmond didn't dare to move. Even breathing cost him every ounce of his willpower just to stay alive.

  He might have passed out a few separate times in the night. He assumed it was night because it was still dark. He didn't hear a single sound. No one was in here with him. He almost wished the Lilri would just come along and shoot him.

  Why did the Vasyke keep putting up with him if they hated him so much? Those Yenus could easily have killed Richmond just now. They could have stabbed him a little higher and gotten a lung or his heart. He would have bled out before they even got him out of the room.

  They hadn't done that. They'd only stabbed him once. They'd made sure to do it in a way that wouldn't kill him--not right away, at least.

  He shivered in a ball of wretched misery on the floor. Blood loss and shock filled him with cold. He couldn't get warm to save his life. He couldn't focus on his surroundings, but the room was too dark for him to see anything anyway.

  He snapped wide awake when a blast of daylight blinded him. He barely registered where he was when the opposite wall slid up.

  He froze to the floor when he stared out through the hangar at the Necrodrome. He was back in the holding cell--and he was completely alone this time.

  The guard screen dissolved in front of his eyes. The hangar stood open and empty between him and the gate. No ships occupied the hangar this time. He searched and searched, but he didn't see a single ship anywhere.

  Richmond didn't understand why the attackers had brought him here. He was still lying there trembling in a cold sweat when twenty Lilri soldiers entered the holding cell through the door.

  They lined up against the wall and leveled their rifles at him. "Let's go!" one of them barked. "Get out there and start the bout."

  Richmond still didn't understand how he could start a bout when the Vasyke didn't provide him with a ship. He wouldn't have been able to fly a ship anyway. He could barely see straight.

  But the threat of their guns forced him to sit up. He winced and groaned when he pushed himself onto his hands and knees.

  He had to waver there while his vision swam. When he did haul his eyes into focus, he saw the soldiers still standing there.

  He staggered to his feet and lurched a few yards before he had to stop again and catch his balance. He almost fell over before he stumbled the rest of the way into the hangar.

  The guard screen reestablished the instant he crossed the threshold. He stopped there and almost toppled again when he glanced behind him.

  The Lilri didn't stay in the holding cell. They filed out as soon as the guard screen returned. The soldiers didn't need to stay. He couldn't go back inside.

  The hangar didn't look right without any ships in it. His footsteps echoed off the walls.

  He blundered as far as the gate and squinted into the light coming from the sky. The Necrodrome sounded too quiet, even with thousands of spectators lining the stands.

  He still didn't see how he could go through a bout without a ship or any other combatants. Who was he supposed to fight--himself?

  The spectators burst into cheers when he stepped out onto the course. Did they know something he didn't?

 

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