Page 40 of Neverwylde 6
“D’har Kyber, if that was your ship, what would you do? If you were facing the same set of circumstances, with a damaged ship and having a group of people escape, criminals you’d decreed as traitors, what would be your next course of action?” Major Baffrey questioned in a laconic manner.
“I would immediately head to the nearest repair dock. At the same time, I would send word to Seneecian High Command to tell them what had transpired, and request they direct their closest ship to follow the shuttle to wherever it was headed.”
“Which is exactly what I would have done,” Pfeiffer remarked. “So don’t you find it odd that D’har Duruk chose to come after you himself?”
“There has always been animosity between me and my brother,” Kyber acknowledged.
“Which, to me, make’s the man’s actions appear to be borderline vengeance.”
“Plus, he’s putting the lives of his crew in jeopardy, if the ship is as disabled as you believe it is,” Williamsburg noted.
“Oh, it is,” Kelen spoke up. “Those warheads also took out a huge chunk of the ship’s underbelly.”
“Vengeance is not beyond my brother’s ambitions,” Kyber added with obvious sarcasm.
“Okay. Then let’s assume with reasonable clarity that he’s on his way here in order to exact revenge on you. On what you’ve done to his ship, and to his reputation.” Pfeiffer pursed his lips for a moment. “What do you think the chances are he’s notified Seneecian Command of his intentions?”
Kelen glanced at her husband who had a surprised look on his face. “I see where you are taking this, Colonel. You believe Seneecian Command may not have been informed,” Kyber said.
“You think Duruk has gone rogue?” Kelen interjected. She glanced at the other three men, who appeared to be thinking the same thing.
“I thought it was required that every deviation to orders had to be reported and approved,” Baffrey remarked. “Otherwise, it would be construed as treason.”
“You are correct,” Kyber agreed. “You cannot change or deviate from direct orders without approval.”
“So how long would it take to get a new set of orders from Seneecian command?” Williamsburg queried.
“How far are we from Seneecian space?” Kyber asked. He turned to the colonel, who checked his monitor.
“I can’t tell you how far you were when your shuttle escaped the warship, but from this outpost…six days.”
Stunned, Kelen raised her hands. “Wait, wait! When I was called in for questioning, there were several Seneecians, including Duruk, in attendance.Andthere were three others there in the form of holos. I assumed those three holos were the Triumvirate.”
“They were,” Kyber acknowledged.
“But if we were six days from receiving any reciprocal information…”
“Did you notice the holos did not speak? Nor did they react in any way to the questioning, or to the answers given,” her husband pointed out.
“They were fake?”
“No, they were real. They just were not in real time.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “We know there are times when decisions must be made within minutes, sometimes seconds, rendering it impossible to receive approval or new orders. That is when an adjunct trial or meeting is called. It is held in the same manner as a real-time meeting, and the Triumvirate reviews it once it is finally received on-planet.”
“So, it’s possible Duruk could have convened an adjunct meeting to tell them of his decision to go after the shuttle, correct?” Baffrey wondered.
Kyber shook his head. “No. The Triumvirate is never called upon for a change of orders. Only for matters such as questioning prisoners, and for sentencing said prisoners, and other matters which directly involve other planetary species.”
Pfeiffer sat up straighter. “Then it appears your brotherhasgone rogue, and he’s entered neutral space without notifying Command. Or, on the off chance hehasnotified them, has gone ahead and come after you before receiving confirmation.”
“I agree with your assessment,” Kyber said.
“Which means, one way or another, Duruk has broken protocol,” Kelen pointed out.
“Yes,” her husband agreed. “By his actions, he has also committed treason, and is therefore subject to arrest the moment he re-enters Seneecian space.”
“Colonel.” Kelen leaned forward in her chair. “You didn’t bring us back here to discuss the arrival of the Seneecian ship.”
“You’re right. I didn’t. I have a proposal I wanted to bring to your attention, but D’har Duruk’s actions seem to back our original supposition we mentioned earlier.”
“That there’s something on Neverwylde the Seneecians don’t want discovered,” she reiterated.
“Which begs the question, what?” Pfeiffer looked directly at Kyber. “D’har, how would you feel about heading an expedition back to that half planet to find out what makes it so valuable, that your brother and fellow Seneecians are willing to risk being called treasonous to protect it?”
