Page 16 of Neverwylde 6
Chapter 8
Interrogation
“The Triumvirate is ready to hear you.”
Kyber slowly got to his feet to follow the guard to the main conference room. Since his release from the medical lab, he’d been confined to his quarters. Packets of emergency rations were delivered to him, rather than allow him to eat in the commissary with the rest of the crew. For the time being, he was a pariah. Maybe Duruk thought he would taint the rest of the crew with his acts of heresy.
He was also required to have a daily body scan to check for any aftereffects, and to make sure he was regaining his health. With proper meds, food, and rest, his body was finally able to heal. But his mental and emotional health continued to suffer.
He would have given anything to go back to Kelen and ask for forgiveness. He wished he could take back the hurtful words he’d spoken because she may not have understood why they had to separate.
More than anything, he needed her in his arms and in his life, for however long they could be together. They had managed to survive on a planet that had tried repeatedly to kill them. Surely, after that kind of ordeal, they could find a way to survive being rescued.
He walked automatically through the long, winding corridors, not paying attention to where they were heading. Every warship was built identically. Doing so enabled crewmembers who were reassigned to be able to easily find their way around, and not spend valuable time having to relearn the ship’s schematics.
Midway there, he stopped, alerted to…something. Unconsciously, he took a deep breath through his nose. Immediately his body went on alert as Kelen’s scent filled his lungs.
Either she was here, or she had recently been this way.
His heart squeezed the breath from him and continued to constrict within his chest until he gasped from the pain. The guard turned to see why he was holding back and saw Kyber pressing a hand to his sternum.
“Are you not well, D’har?” There was no compassion in the man’s voice. Only irritation that Kyber was taking his time.
“I am fine. Keep moving.”
Kyber continued to test the air as they neared the chamber. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he wanted to see her. He needed to see her, yet he feared coming face to face with her. How would she react? How would he? His heart sped up in anticipation, but as he drew closer to the meeting room, her scent dimmed, meaning she was no longer present. She’d been here, but no more.
The guard paused in front of the door. Kyber entered where the six magistrates sat around the conference table. Hovering in holo form above its surface were the members of the Triumvirate. In the back of his mind, Kyber realized how the Law of Three from the planet continued to pervade his life. He’d never noticed it before, but these past months, after being forced to be aware of such relationships because their survival often hinged on it, he’d become more cognizant to similar coincidences.
Although he knew Kelen wasn’t there, he scanned the room anyway as the door closed behind him. There was a chair strategically placed behind him, but he chose to remain standing.
D’har Obbleest began the interrogation. “State your full name and rank.”
“D’har Kyber Nau Kil, once of the warshipIst Umberu.”
“You were assigned to theIst Umberuas a Por D’har. How did you come by your new rank?”
“I bested D’har Plat under the Law of Tooth and Nail.”
“And a weapon,” D’har Gormuc interjected.
Kyber frowned. “No, I did not use a weapon.”
“D’har Plat said you pulled a weapon on him. He states you used one of the weapons a Terran was carrying.”
“No, I did not. It was Plat who grabbed the weapon and aimed it at me in order to prevent himself from losing the fight.”
“And you have witnesses who saw this?” D’har Jeha sneered.
Kyber gritted his teeth but responded, already knowing where this was leading. “Yes. There were witnesses.”
“Who have already been ordered to lie for you,” Jeha remarked.
From that simple comment, and by the corresponding expressions on their faces, Kyber understood what the outcome to this meeting would be. These men were taking Plat’s word over his, and it didn’t take two guesses to figure out why. Sooner or later, the inevitable question would arise, but until then these men would play with him like a hunter with its catch before they decided to end his suffering.
They had already tried him and convicted him. All they lacked was the formality.
“Tell us the circumstances to you landing on the neverwylde planet,” Duruk ordered.
