Chapter XXXVI

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Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria. Regalius, The Homeland, Central Region, Just Outside Of The Capitol City, The Arcturan Estate,

Current Day

Wendy rubbed her burning eyes. She had been up all night, yet again. The two previous days, as well as the ensuing overnight hours, were dedicated solely to the resolution of several food distribution discrepancies troubling citizens in the westernmost areas of Arcturius. She discovered the Homeland was shorting the shipments, yet still charging the Arcturan's for a full delivery.

The morning Letria brought with her several resolutions and solutions to present to the Chancellor for approval. Unfortunately, she feared the man might be the reason for all of the strange new issues troubling her and the Arcturan people. If this were the case, then she might have to take things into her own hands and do as she understood Jinah had done several times before...get what the people needed, illegally.

Arcturius' Western Sub-Region was conveniently located directly across the Lavidius Straits parallel with The Lavidius Collective's coastal capitol city of Davrosnok. The former matriarch had evidently reached out at some point to the Homeland's enemy and found a willing trade partner. Her kingdom's Sub-Region lumber was something the Lavidian's valued highly due to their lack of forests. Almost as much as the wealthy Homeland citizens valued T'choulian-crafted furniture, however, one was legal and only benefitted a few, whereas her solution fed hundreds of thousands and cost the Homeland practically nothing. "For what? Connor's ridiculous ego trip?" she wondered.

Wendy thought about consulting Jay and Geneticus before making the decision, but decided against it. She knew what they would say and did not have the inclination to battle with anyone else at the moment. She did detest politics after all and this was the embodiment of the word in its purest form. Well, that was the thought she consoled herself with.

...

Cenerea, 3rd planet from the star Letria. Regalius, The Homeland, Arcturius,

Western Sub-Region, Quadrant 7221.06-7652.88

Current Day

Wendy boarded her private aerialcraft to the Arcturan capitol for a clandestine meeting with a Lavidian representative by the name of Bon Toelerishni. The man insisted Wendy meet with him in an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. Its old rusty structure would interfere with the Homeland tracker devices and would serve as plausible deniability for Wendy if asked as to her whereabouts. She could easily say she was looking to have the building restored for some reason or purpose.

Wendy and her entourage of hand-picked, very elite, local Arcturan Royal Security Guards (ARSG) finally arrived at the designated meeting location in their two massive, red troop transports. She noted there were no other people or vehicles around.

Wendy's driver pressed a few buttons on her console and the exterior of the transport faded into a camouflage pattern as several armed Arcturan soldiers leapt from the machines to enter the building. They quickly snapped their weapons up, sweeping the barrels around the factory eventually landing on a shadowy figure stepping from the darkness carrying a large briefcase.

"Halt! Identify yourself!" shouted the security detail's captain.

"Lovely weather in Arcturius, today, isn't it?" the man asked and set the case down. He raised his arms in the air as he stood before the soldiers.

The guards lowered their weapons upon hearing the words. "All clear!" One guard turned and opened the rear armored transport's passenger door.

Wendy emerged from the vehicle and walked into the factory to greet the Lavidian Emissary. "Bon, it's so good to finally meet you in person," she said, extending her arm.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mother," he responded stepping forward to gently take the outstretched hand, lift, and lightly kiss the back of it.

Wendy nodded formally.

"To business?"

"To business," Wendy said with a smile.

It seemed that the Lavidians were more than overjoyed to discover Wendy's, well, Lucenda's interest in pursuing their previous arrangements with Arcturius. In their secret communications over the past few days Bonn and the other Lavidians even referred to the state by its proper name and not the generic Homeland-approved and very offensive title of Southwestern Region.

Wendy imagined if it weren't for the clandestine nature of things, it was almost as if the Homeland didn't exist and they were just two sovereign states negotiating a trade deal. She thought of this meeting as the beginning of something that would be very important when she, Jay, and Geneticus took over the Homeland.

"There is only one final formality, Mother Arcturis Lucenda..."

"Please, you can call me Lucenda, Bon," Wendy said. "It's more efficient."

The man nodded in acknowledgement and lifted the metallic briefcase onto the hood of the transport. He waved his hand over the top of the case and Wendy gasped. Five black Deoxcellirium tentacles extended outward and touched each tip of the man's fingers and the case unlocked.

"Deoxcellirium?"

The man froze and quickly looked up at Wendy. "What did you say?"

"Uh oh," Wendy thought, but it was too late now. "I said, is that Deoxcellirium?"

"How would you know what that is, if you don't mind me asking, Lucenda?" the surprised and clearly confused man asked.

Wendy thought for a second before responding. "I did go to University to become a certified Bioelectronics Engineer, Bon," she said, coolly.

The man locked the case. "I think our business is done here," he said and slowly removed the case from the transports surface. "I must be off..."

"Wait, Bon!" Wendy said, advancing toward the man. "Why are you leaving?"

No answer.

"Guards! Stop him!" Wendy shouted.

The man froze and turned angrily. He stormed up to Wendy and whispered under his breath. "How in the hell would someone like you have any idea of top secret Lavidian technology and call it by its name without this being some sort of setup?"

"Lavidian tech? Please, I inven...erm, this is forty year old Confederation technology."

Bon laughed. "Seriously? That is a lie. If your people had this then, you would have...wait...let me think about this for a moment." The Lavidian scratched his head. "Okay its properties are most useful for intelligent storage design. What happened forty years ago? Think Bon, think. Son of a bitch, The Great War Machine? Is that...is that what they made that fucking device out of? That's why it's black!" The man set the case down and laughed out loud. "Oh to Letria, that makes so much sense! It never dawned on me until just now! This is why father never wanted to talk about it!"

"Exactly who are you, Bon?" Wendy inquired, intrigued by the man's intellect. "How do you know so much? You aren't just some errand boy for the Lavidius Collective are you?"

Bon bowed. "Since we are having such an open dialog, Lucenda, no, I am not just some field agent. I am the son of one of the Lavidius Collective's greatest scientists, Zakariah Toelerishni, however, I chose not to follow in my father's footsteps. Lab work has a tendency to become rather boring..."

"Are you talking about Zak? Zak Toeler?" Wendy laughed aloud at the utterance of the name, forgetting who and where she was for a moment. "The lab assistant? I thought your family name sounded familiar."

The Lavidian glared at her. "Lab assistant? Okay lady, what the hell is going on here? How on Cenerea would you know my father's nick name and speak of it in such a familiar tone?"

Wendy's mind was racing. She needed to come up with something quick before all of this went south. "Erm...my husband, uh, slave, HDF Scientist General Jay Levant...he lived with Harold Bouri and they were friends. Harold was his mentor..."

Bon began to relax as he nodded in understanding. "Okay, I see. This is all starting to make sense now. Your husband was acquainted with a very great man. He is known and respected by some in the Lavidian spy community as a hero, an agent of change...others thought he was a villain. Regardless, why would your husband want to work for the Homeland after learning of what they did?"

"Well, truthfully..." Wendy's response was silenced by the sound of a VTOL aerialcraft flying in from overhead.

She and her entourage watched as the silvery machine touched down outside the factory's open doors. Several Sassy suit armored Homeland soldiers bolted from its open bay doors to the ground and sprinted toward them with weapons raised.

"This is an act of treason and an unauthorized assembly. You are all guilty of colluding with the enemies of the Homeland and are under arrest by order of the Chancellor! Surrender now or you will die!" shouted the HDF assault squad's commander.

"Protect Queen Lucenda!" barked the ARSG commander as he grabbed Wendy and they dove behind a large metal engine. Bon ran with them. Several bullets splattered against the heavy object, narrowly missing the trio as the HDF began shooting.

The royal guard, standing in the center of the factory, collectively activated their red Sassy suits and returned fire with their illegal Lavidian weapons. They ducked behind the rusting factory machines littering the building's interior, but not before dispatching a handful of HDF soldiers.

Wendy peered around the oily, yellow motor, watching one of her brave Arcturan guards leap from the concrete floor and up onto a walkway above. In a flash, he zipped across the building and jumped behind a pair of enemy HDF soldiers on the other side. He killed them and three more enemy combatants before he was taken down himself. Wendy yelled, "No!"

"It's not safe here, Lucenda!" Bon said, grabbing Wendy by the shoulders and wrestling her to the ground. "Let the Guard do their jobs. We need to run!"

"Yes, ma'am, he's right," said the Arcturan captain. "Please, go with the Lavidian. We'll hold the HDF right here so you can get away!"

"It's no use, Bon; they'll just track me down!"

"Hold on a second," the Lavidian said, producing a small device from his pocket. "Give me your wrist."

Wendy lifted her left wrist as requested and watched the man sweep the device over it. The glowing numbers radiating through the skin blinked and then faded into nothing. She looked up at Bon in confusion.

"Let's go, they can't track you, now!" he said and grabbed Wendy by the upper arm, motioning for her to follow him toward the back of the factory. Several bullets whizzed over his head and Bon ducked back behind the engine. "What are you waiting for!?!!"

"What about Jay and my son? Connor will kill them!" Wendy screeched as she resisted Bon's grip on her arm.

"I just requested the Royal Guard at the mansion get all of the Sisters and Josh to safety," the ARSG commander said, typing a message into the secure datapad on his arm. "We are not sure where the Scientist General is, but the ARSG are looking for him. Please Mother, you need to go. We will take..." The man's eyes widened and his mouth froze in mid-sentence as blood began to trickle from the corners of his mouth. He fell forward with a bullet hole in the top of his helmet.

Bon quickly extracted a pair of pistols from his coat and expertly squeezed off two shots into an HDF sniper that had perched himself overhead, preparing to fire once more.

"Oh my Letria!" shouted Wendy, quaking from the adrenaline and fear coursing through her body.

"Come on, we need to go, now, Lucenda!"


Geneticus Book Two coming soon.    

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