Page 43 of Infiltration

The entire level had been his clan’s living space. When Clajak was a boy, he’d had a full suite that included a classroom for his tutored classes, a personal workout space, and a couple of guest rooms for his friends. Beyond the public and shared spaces, the five family members had each possessed separate suites to pursue personal interests. There were an additional five guest suites, but the areas in use hadn’t been enough to fill the whole floor. There were dozens of empty chambers at the back of the apartments.

Yuder headed to the one at the far end of the corridor and stepped inside.

Though it had no furnishings, it smelled of cleanliness. The staff kept up everything, even those chambers that had never been, and would likely never be used. The polished stone floor was dustless. The lighting panels on the walls were as well, and when Yuder ordered them on, they lit immediately, perfectly maintained.

He gazed at the wall where he knew a closet hid. The closet was no secret. What was behind it was. He crossed to it and opened the panel.

It was a large space, nearly a room itself. Yuder snorted softly. The residence hearkened to an era when Kalquorians had multiplied their population easily, when an emperor and empress might have half a dozen children or more. Their extended families would be huge. Brothers, sisters, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and their attendants had filled the cliff residence to capacity.

By the time Yuder had been born, it was considered a feat to have two siblings…and an absolute miracle if any of those siblings were girls. He’d gaped at pictures his mother had shown him of Imperial Families from hundreds of years ago, displaying dozens of people, half of whom were female.

He had no idea why secret passages and rooms few were aware of riddled the cliff, but he suspected some enterprising royal from those ancient days had simply wanted a place to hide from so many others.

He faced the lighting panel at the back of the closet and slid his fingers behind it at shoulder height. The panel swung open, and the framework on which it hung slide back and aside to reveal a rough-hewn granite corridor beyond.

Chapter Eleven

Yuder’s mother had shown him a number of the hidden places she’d known of, though not all. Her ability to disappear at a moment’s notice where he couldn’t find her had convinced him of that. Later, Clajak had revealed a hiding place she’d shown him and Yuder had no clue existed. Yuder had discovered more over the years of searching, in the hope of mapping the place for security’s sake. He’d given up after a few decades. Being an emperor, clanmate, and father had taken too much time to allow for seeking the hidden places. He’d realized there were too many secret passages to discover them all.

He stepped in the tunnel and hurried along its craggy length to reach his destination. As he went, motion-activated lights woke to show him his path, a great boon when he descended several flights of stairs cut in the rock. Even after nearly two centuries of life, he marveled at the ingenuity of those who’d somehow brought automatic recharging power and illumination to the hidden places with no one beyond their discoverers the wiser for it.

He reached the level he sought after a couple minutes of traveling through the rock. There were numerous empty chambers there. None led him to exactly where he wanted to go, but one came quite close. He passed through a door into another closet and paused.

He listened closely, but heard nothing but the quiet hum of machinery. After a few seconds, he triggered the door leading out of the closet.

He stepped in the cliff’s climate control chamber. A glance around the room full of computer panels lining the floor in stacked rows to the ceiling assured him no one from the cliff’s maintenance was present.

Yuder pulled a head stocking and wig from the pouch on his belt. He secured his memorable steel-colored strands at the nape of his neck and stretched the headpiece over it. Then the black wig went on. His clothing, an old unarmored brown formsuit similar to what the maintenance crew wore, was a far cry from anything else he was typically seen in. As long as no one looked closely, he might be able to avoid attention.

A plus was the third level of the Royal House cliff wasn’t deemed a high-priority security area. Only basic and nonessential operations such as climate control were on the floor. Half a dozen guards patrolled the area, mostly at its known accesses.

Yuder was nowhere near those areas, but he ordered the door to the hall open only an inch at a time as he kept a careful watch to make sure no one was around. When he was sure the corridor was empty, he activated a portable frequency disruptor on his belt. Thanks to the device, security vid recorders in his vicinity would no longer transmit their signals to those watching monitors elsewhere. The device was illegal outside of the Royal Guard and the military, but he’d be hard pressed to explain himself if he were caught anyway.

Confident he was as unobserved as he could be, Yuder entered the hall. A couple of quick strides, and he entered the next room, a small office space he’d confirmed hadn’t been used in years. It also had a secret passage, accessed from a public restroom in the building’s lobby. As the passage went nowhere else, Yuder had felt comfortable admitting its location to Oiteil and Ospar.

The men waiting for him inside jerked, then relaxed as they recognized his face. Oiteil and Ospar chuckled. Terbal offered a smile.

Yuder froze as the door shut behind him. Dramok Terbal was an unexpected and unwelcome surprise.

Terbal had once been a close associate and good friend to Dramok Maf, the traitor who’d set off Kalquor’s recent civil war. Their break when Maf had resigned from the Royal Council…when it was still unknown Maf had been the mysterious Basma, rebel against the empire…had been public. Terbal had led the charge to pardon Yuder when he’d been convicted by Kalquor’s court system, which had set a number of Kalquorians against the government. Many had joined Maf’s side.

Yuder believed Terbal’s actions had been a ruse. He was convinced the councilman had continued to be Maf’s henchman during the war, using his position in the Royal Council to undermine it and the Imperial Clan’s authority. Nothing was ever proven, however. To the loyal empire populace, Terbal had been a hero to defy Maf, the courts, and the Galactic Council of Planets.

Yuder would as soon trust the handsome but physically unremarkable councilman as he’d clan a Tragoom. He made his feelings on the matter clear. “What’s he doing here?”

“I asked him to come,” Oiteil said. “I realize we haven’t often been on the same page—”

“We don’t even read the same books.” Yuder’s gaze skewered Terbal. “If I’d known you were coming, I wouldn’t have shown up for this.”

Terbal bowed, his expression the very picture of deference. “I understand your feelings, Imperial Father. Had I not rushed to your defense when the court found you guilty, trouble might have been averted. I hold myself responsible for much of what happened during the war. I was thoughtless in my zeal to make myself seem blameless after being known as Maf’s friend. I wanted to distance myself from his treachery. Fighting for your freedom was the best means to that end. I’m sorry I used you for personal gain.”

Yuder regarded him. He’d only ever heard Terbal swear he’d defended Yuder because it was the right thing to do. He’d never said it was for selfish reasons. Had it been his motive all those years ago? To cleanse himself of Maf’s odious stench?

Yuder folded his arms over his chest. “I’m shocked you’ve chosen him for an ally, Oiteil. You’ve been open about your feelings as to Terbal’s past actions.”

“I’m focused on the present, Imperial Father. We need any help we can get, thanks to the latest developments on Kalquor. Terbal has been at the forefront of those concerned over the rising trouble spots.”

Yuder’s gaze slid to Ospar, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet. “What are your feelings on the matter?”

---