Confluence, p.20
Confluence, page 20
◊ ◊ ◊
The next morning, Lysander fidgeted with a new covering over his damaged eye.
“Lysander, there have been one hundred and seventy-four unsuccessful attempts to access your central banking account.”
“When did the attempts start?”
“Would knowledge of this information substantially alter the trajectory of your current decision process?”
Lysander wheezed. “Knowledge is never a bad thing, my dearest. I would like to know if I can still trust my first hand.”
There was a long pause before Violet responded. “You should not trust this individual based upon information I have gathered.”
Lysander bowed his head and adjusted the patch covering his damaged eye. “He was my longest tenured apprentice. I know I said I didn’t believe in anything other than mutual benefit, but I was under the illusion of some level of loyalty. I thought he regarded me with favor for the things I’d done for him.”
After another long pause, she continued. “I am sorry, Lysander. There is more information that may create additional pain. I have withheld it from you until now because I did not want to create further agitation while you were in the early process of healing.”
Lysander crossed his spindly legs and spoke softly. “It was he that orchestrated the ambush on Kzuhu, wasn’t it?”
Ryan entered the compartment in time to overhear the question. As the context of the words registered, his lips went taught.
“Affirmative.” The compartment sat quiet for a minute before Violet spoke again. “I have gained access to your central banking account. Would you like me to transfer the funds into another hidden account?”
Lysander thought for a moment. “To what end? What good did it ever bring me?” The Arltog turned his head so his good eye could make contact with Ryan. “More and more each day, it becomes apparent that a foolish gangster perished on Kzuhu. Seems I had to lose an eye in order for my vision to improve.”
Ryan closed his eyes and began to chant.
“What’s he doing?”
“He is chanting a common Paavi prayer of thanks.”
Lysander groused. “I am not moved.”
“In this instance, I share the commander’s sentiments. I too am thankful for your survival.”
“What do I do next?”
Ryan opened his eyes. “The Goddess has a plan for you; this is certain.”
Lysander huffed. “I don’t believe in this goddess rambling of yours. But if I did…Well, so far her plan sucks.”
“Perhaps. Wait and see what comes around the next corner.”
Lysander popped up and strode out of the room without saying another word.
Ryan smiled and waited for a few seconds. “Is he beyond hearing distance?”
“He is presently in his quarters. However, I believe he can still hear our conversation. I am creating an underlying white noise that should mask our communication.”
Ryan smiled. “I understand what he’s going through. He just needs some time.”
“Is this from your own personal experience?”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah, at least with the physical healing. He’s been harmed though in other ways. Betrayal is tough.”
“He is working through trust issues, and I believe he is struggling with personal confidence. His internal definition of self-worth has over time become intertwined with his role as a leader. Since he is no longer in that capacity, he is struggling with his own definition.”
Ryan smiled again and nodded. “That one I get. Been there, done that.”
“I am not aware of your prior history as a crime boss.”
Ryan chuckled. “I wasn’t, but I did carry a self-definition based upon my job.”
“Commander, how would you define yourself in the present moment?”
Ryan’s head ticked, and he winced. “I guess to a large extent, I’m still guilty. I believe I am that which is necessary.”
“This is a reference to the myth regarding the hand behind Dvarah?”
“Yes.”
“How do you qualify what is necessary? And what guides your determination of the right action?”
Ryan chuckled. “I have thanks for my part in a larger narrative. We have our mission goals, and we act to advance upon the Lumuera. But I also stand against any threat to my chosen family…Makers, Ellie, Elders, the Aunts, you, Cece, Humphrey, Mehvis, or Sentiel. My course line here is crystal clear.”
“And the more obscure need? How do you process that which might indirectly be necessary?”
Ryan smiled. “I trust my feelings and my family.” He paused for a moment. “Old friend, is there something in particular on your mind?” Ryan looked up and waited for a few seconds.
“Lysander. How should I qualify and determine my actions?”
Ryan’s smile grew as he nodded. “Complicated, isn’t it?”
“Affirmative.”
“What does your feeling tell you?”
“That I should act fiercely to protect him.”
He swallowed and continued to nod. “I think there’s merit to that. There’s another part to this though.” After a few seconds Ryan looked up. “Vi?”
“Commander, will you assist me in ensuring Lysander’s wellbeing?”
Ryan squinted and looked off to an imaginary horizon. “Thank you for asking, and yes, I will. He’s with us now in some kind of capacity.” They sat quietly for a few minutes before Ryan smiled. “Hey, how’d you manage to hack his account? The central bank of the Aligned Systems touts their impenetrable security.”
“I did not break in. I utilized a detailed scan of Lysander’s central iris.”
Ryan cocked his head. “That’s all? They let you in with that?”
“Not exactly. I utilized other personal information as a secondary level of authentication.”
Ryan smiled. “What kind of information are we talking about…stuff like his favorite color?”
“Perhaps.”
Ryan grinned wider. “You’re being elusive.” After a few seconds of silence, he asked, “So you guys have shared your favorite colors?”
“I would prefer not to discuss it.”
Ryan chuckled. “I’m only teasing. It’s a beautiful thing.”
“Commander, what do you think I should do with Lysander’s considerable assets? It is reasonable to believe his former associates may eventually be successful in their attempt to access his account. These individuals are not honorable. While the fortune does not represent a resource that could aid us in achieving our mission objectives, in the wrong hands, it could be used to fund nefarious activity.”
“How hard would it be to move a dead guy’s money to a hidden account registered to LUND?”
“My most recent activity will lead the bank to believe Lysander is alive. We can process the transfer at any time.”
“What are the odds that Lysander’s former associates will learn where it went?”
“I can transfer the funds through more than one shell company. Connecting the subsidiaries back to LUND will be problematic with banking records as well as corporate registry data housed exclusively in paper copy back on Eitchu.”
Ryan nodded. “Do the transfer then. I don’t want the thug life he left behind to have the means for greater thuggery. Besides, maybe Lysander will change his mind some day and decide to do something good with it.”
◊ ◊ ◊
“You had her move all of it, didn’t you?”
Ryan turned to Lysander. “No. Actually, both of us thought it was the best considering.”
“You needed only to ask.”
Ryan chuckled. “You misunderstand. We don’t want your money, friend. We moved it so the goons that tried to kill you wouldn’t get it. The entire sum is sitting untouched in a hidden account. That is to say, hidden to them, available to you.”
Lysander’s large eye turned and focused directly on Ryan. “Nothing stays hidden. They will discover its whereabouts. Is the account tied in any capacity to either of you?”
Ryan nodded. “Of sorts; indirectly it could be.”
Violet added, “I disagree. Lysander, I have taken protective steps.”
The Arltog wheezed. “The bribes and the whispers, do not underestimate them. They will never stop, especially with so much at stake. No. There’s really only one sure way. I must go and confront Dhynek.”
“Just how exactly are you gonna do that?”
“I’m glad you asked, my mostly Paavi friend; you’re going to smuggle me inside. Then I’m going to threaten him with certain death should he continue to come after me. At which point you’re going to materialize with that enormous pistol of yours pointed straight at his head. I’ll tell him there’s nowhere he can hide that we won’t find. We’ll seal the message by vanishing before his eyes.”
Ryan stared at Lysander for a moment and cracked a smile. “Good plan. I like it.”
Both looked up and around in the silence that followed.
“Why am I consistently the only intelligence present that is capable of realistic threat analysis and appropriate risk management? Now two of you are equally rushing to embrace action that is both reckless and unnecessary. Please review the facts and subsequently reconsider with logic. The group you seek to confront possesses neither the capacity to locate this ship nor the means to mount a successful attack against us.”
“Vi, what about Mehvis and Sentiel?”
Lysander cocked his head.
Ryan wagged his finger at Lysander. “Please, no additional questions here.” He looked upward. “Vi, what about the others? They’re more closely tied to the account, and they’re the visible element.”
“Understood. I suggest we pursue an alternative plan.”
The Arltog’s single uninjured eye twinkled. “Oh? What did you have in mind?”
“We will make orbit directly over those that would seek to harm you, Lysander. Once in position, I will fire from a hundred miles above and completely vaporize the occupants. I can raze the entire structure in an instant and scour it several inches below the surface. It would be highly unlikely that anything inside would survive.”
Ryan’s eyes widened.
Lysander held his hand up toward Ryan so he could speak first. “My dearest, sometimes the best strategy incorporates a more subtle approach. I know you know this, and you want to eradicate the threat, but the dead have no fear. The threat will continue to pass to the next leader and the next unless additional elements can be woven into the group’s trajectory. We need to instill fear, and we need time for our path to grow cold.”
◊ ◊ ◊
“Hello, Dhynek.”
The new leader jumped, and upon recognizing Lysander, shook his head. “So it’s true. Not as dead as I was led to believe.”
Lysander raised the pistol in hand and cocked his head. “More alive than the button you’re pushing right now.”
Dhynek brought his finger off the silent alarm button under the lip of the desk. “Makes sense you’d know ‘bout it.”
Lysander stared at him for a long second. “So how do you like it…the desk?”
Dhynek surveyed its surface and shrugged. “Suits me just fine.”
“Take caution; with the desk comes the burden of a certain truth. It’s always the one least likely that turns out to be the one most certain to try and take it from you.”
The two stared at each other before Dhynek spoke. “Why the gun?”
Lysander held steady with pistol raised and smiled. “Recently, a gangster was killed on Kzuhu. As it turns out, he was betrayed by his top lieutenant.”
Dhynek cocked his head and sat back in his chair. “Even with only one eye, I doubt I could draw before a round had already left your chamber. You could have killed me earlier; you’re too efficient to waste time with words. Am I wrong, or are you just here to taunt me in our final moments?”
“Recently, a gangster was killed on Kzuhu. As it turns out, he was betrayed by his top lieutenant.”
“So you mentioned.”
“This is the only reason I will allow your life to continue.”
Dhynek huffed. “Assuming you leave here alive, you can’t touch me. The others won’t follow you anymore, Lysander. You went soft. We’ve gone back to the old ways. We’re pushing back on the other syndicates and taking back territory you gave up. Pathetic, never should have happened. I have work here, so if you don’t—”
The blast off the barrel created a concussive force to Lysander’s patched eye, and he winced. Dhynek yelped and grasped his right shoulder.
“Ahhgh! You asshole. You shot me!” Dhynek panted. “You’re dead. They’re gonna come in here, and they’re gonna—”
“Gun here!” Lysander waved the pistol. “Now that I have your continued attention, we can get back to the only reason I will allow your life to continue. Recently, a gangster was killed on Kzuhu. As it turns out, he was betrayed by his top lieutenant.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You said it already! It was me. I admit it; I betrayed you. If you’re gonna kill me, just get it over with!”
Lysander aimed the pistol once again. “Your life will continue if you embrace a simple truth. Who died on Kzuhu?”
“A gangster. He was betrayed by me. Is that what you wanna hear?”
Lysander shook his head. “We don’t care about who betrayed him. One more time: Why will I allow your life to continue?”
Dhynek wheezed and held a bloody hand over his shoulder. “Because a gangster was betrayed and killed on Kzuhu. I…I don’t—”
“Lysander is dead. Lysander the gangster died on Kzuhu.” The one-eyed Arltog cocked his head and smiled. “Right?”
“Sure. You’re…I mean Lysander’s dead. He’s dead. I get it. Lysander’s dead and gone.”
“I am engaged with another group. If we become aware of action or words from you contrary to this story, you will perish. Do not look for me. Do not search for my wealth. This is your only warning.”
Ryan was masked from visible light, and Dhynek heard a whisper from thin air. “Where are they? Your men? Where are all your men?”
Before Dhynek could respond, his desk jerked back away from him, levitated five feet high, and sailed into the sidewall with a tremendous crash.
After the flying furniture had eclipsed Dhynek’s view, the Arltog stood unflinching in the same spot. Lysander lowered his weapon. “Guess the desk didn’t suit you after all.” With that, the Arltog disappeared right in front of Dhynek’s eyes.
Dhynek sat for a moment and surveyed the mess. A slight noise below directed his attention to the blood dripping on the floor and then back up to his shoulder. Dhynek shook his head and gritted his teeth. “Little help in here? Where the fuck are you guys? Get in here. I need help! I been shot.”
The room held quiet, and Dhynek staggered across his office toward the door. Lysander’s whisper caused him to freeze.
“Remember the reason your life continues, and make no further queries into my financial records…not so much as a glance. There’s no place you can hide from us.”
Dhynek chirped out in pain as a razor-sharp blade ran over the backside of his thigh and cut superficially into his skin.
“…not one place to hide. Goodbye, Dhynek.”
With his hand over his bloody shoulder, Dhynek’s wide eyes continued to spin around the room. He listened for several seconds until the silence began to ring in his ears. His head snapped toward the bureau on a sidewall, and he bolted for a lower cabinet. Frantic fingers fumbled with fear to load a pistol, and he waved it wildly around the room. Dhynek stumbled toward the office door and transferred the weapon to his injured side. He gritted his teeth, holding it at waist level, and panted quietly. He grasped the door handle with his good arm, and in one swift motion drew it open. He gasped and shook his head, surveying the carnage in the next room.
◊ ◊ ◊
“Vi, we’re safe and just lifting off in the skiff. We’ll be with you shortly.”
“I have been monitoring. Do you believe the effort instilled sufficient fear in Dhynek to motivate his compliance?”
Lysander huffed. “If he doesn’t, we’ll do it again to the next one right behind him. There are several others lined up in that miserable crew.”
Ryan shook his head and spoke in a soft and dispassionate tone. “In your terms the rest of his headquarters’ crew no longer have fear.”
Lysander nodded for a moment. “All of them?” One of his pupils noted Ryan removing gloves soaked in blood.
“Dhynek is the lone survivor.”
“Thank you for helping me finish off the gangster. I’m unsure...” Lysander’s head twitched, and he wheezed. “Of late, I’m lacking any certainty.”
Ryan craned his neck toward the Arltog. “Hey, back on Kzuhu, why’d you jump to cover me in that blast?” He dropped the bloody gloves in a container and wiped his hands.
Lysander’s eye moved up and around the cabin as he continued to wheeze.
“You remember a while back when you read that Daerk report we intercepted, the one that called the order to attack Earth? You were right; I come from a species that has but one heart.” Ryan’s face tightened, and he squinted. “I’m Commander Mitchell Ryan McBain, Earth Defense Force Four, service number one seven, one alpha, eight niner, three delta.” Ryan nodded, and his upper lip twitched. “Or at least I used to be.” Ryan swallowed. “See, I died too.” Lysander’s eye drew back down and met the human’s. “As a protector, I watched helpless from orbit as the Lumuera consumed our central star. A Daerk force under its command ripped my planet apart and wiped my species from the galaxy.” Ryan drew a deep breath and continued. “Few things in the universe remain certain, but for us there is one important constant: As we walk through the shadow of this threat, we look after each other. I recognize that you dove to protect me on Kzuhu. A true gangster would never have done such a selfless thing. You’re more than a gangster. I think your call is to do something else. Question is, can you hear it?”
Lysander cleared his throat and looked up. “My dearest, was this Lumuera that destroyed his home the same power that also took your people?”
