Change of Plans

“Boss, what’s going on?” Mickey was clearly concerned. After only a few minutes in a private room with a Dragon Rider, he had come out and started ordering his team to back off of their positions. That was enough to cause anyone concern on its own, but there was something in the Lieutenant’s voice that he had never heard before.

“The problem’s being handled. Just do what you’re told and shut this down! No questions.” Larry’s voice had a disconcerting edge to it. Mickey wasn’t sure what about it was so disturbing, but he was definitely bothered by the tone the Lieutenant was using. Nevertheless, he trusted his leader’s judgement, so he put away his binoculars and started his way back to the shuttle.

Colton, on the other hand, was a bit less cooperative. “What are you playing at, boss man? I don’t have any intention of pulling out until I know exactly what’s going on.” He even went so far as to stand during the statement, a pointless gesture considering the fact that the person he was talking to wasn’t there to see it. The people sitting around him, however, were quick to notice that Colton was clearly insane, and their expressions made this line of thought clear. After a few glances around himself, Colton sat down again. “Look, boss, there’s clearly something you’re not telling us. What’s going on?”

Larry made his way through the crowd. If he was right, there was something Drake wasn’t telling him. No, that wasn’t quite right. There was something Drigondii Sheii’Cronell wasn’t telling him. Drake was either gone or sealed away right now. He had to be Drigondii for what he was doing right now. Drake Kendrick wouldn’t have had the heart to do the things for which Drigondii was responsible. As he thought about it, he felt a warm tear building in his eye. “Colton, I said no questions. Shut it down. Meet me in the shuttle in two hours.”

Sighing, Colton stood again and started walking out of the stadium. “Fine. Whatever, boss. Let’s just pack up and leave the city to blow. That’s a fantastic idea…” He threw his arms up in another unseen gesture. Looking around, he realized that he was again making a pointless expression and dropped his arms. “In any case, this just seems like a really strange thing to do when you rushed us down here so fast from Drury Lane.”

Over the wireless, a round of agreements could be heard. In response, Larry said, “I’ll tell you what’s going on when we’re all back on the shuttle. Just get there. Now!” He started pushing his way through the more crowded part of the contestants’ area toward the exit. Silence followed this last order. The hesitance heard in his voice earlier had been replaced by anger. The Lieutenant was not known for being tolerant of insubordination.

After a few minutes, Larry had made his way back onto the street and was nearing the entrance to the subsurface drainage system where the pulse-car he would take back to the shuttle was parked. When he rounded the last corner, he finally ran into what he was expecting ever since he stepped out of the private room. There was an Armadian special forces unit scanning the area, and they were looking for any Resistance members, which he happened to be.

Walking up calmly, Larry called out to the investigators. “Excuse me,” he said, “Hi, I’m the Lieutenant, reigning World Kohstr Champion. I’m going to be defending my title later this week. Listen, I dropped my deck into the drains a block or so away. Is there any chance I could get through to that entrance and try and find it.” A few looks went around, and a whispered conversation took place between two of the men in the unit. They book looked at him again, and the shorter of the two looked back to Larry and nodded. “Thanks, guys.”

“Sure thing,” the man said. “Hey, good luck this weekend. You’re going to need it. You’re up against a Dragon Rider this year. He’s an Osgordian named Grie Khuda’Mundi, and he’s the Armada’s best player.” He smirked at Larry, who nodded his head in thanks and headed through the entrance into the drains. Sure enough, they hadn’t checked down here. There were probably different units for different layers of the city. Smiling to himself, Larry got into the pulse-car and headed for the outer edge of the city.

By the time he got his pulse-car into the cargo hold of the shuttle, the rest of Larry’s team had already assembled in the main cabin of the shuttle. Closing the cargo doors, Larry walked into the cabin and removed his helmet to a room of disgruntled team members with arms crossed and backs against the bulkhead. “So, what the hell is going on, Larry?” Summer was clearly pissed, but it was the fact that she used his first name that surprised Larry the most. She hadn’t called him that in years.

“He’s here, Summer. Drigondii Sheii’Cronell is in the city.” While Colt and Mickey burst into an uproar, Summer and Angus joined Larry in gazing at the deck. After a few seconds of eye-rubbing, Larry raised his hands to silence his comrades. “Look, there’s nothing we can do with Drigondii here. And there’s nothing we need to do. As long as he’s in the city, no explosives are going to go off, no assassination attempts are going to be successful, and no one with ill intent is going to make it within a mile of the stadium. There are Dragon Riders all throughout the stadium, which tells me that there are Valkyries watching the perimeter. That’s why I called this off. There’s nothing to worry about, and I have to get you guys out of here before we’re found out.”

“Won’t people notice when you don’t show up for the tournament? I mean, you came and registered. They know you were here. It’s going to be very suspicious when you don’t show.” Angus had a good point. There was no way Larry could get out of taking part without being held suspect, particularly after his interaction with that special forces unit earlier.

“I’ll come back as soon as I get you guys to safety. I can’t let you stay here, though, and I wouldn’t be able to rest if I didn’t know you had made it. So,” he clapped his hands together, “Mickey, get in that cockpit. Get us in the air and head for the nearest friendly dock.” Mickey nodded and headed into the cockpit, closing the door behind himself. “Colt, I want you to double-check our weapons inventory. If we’re missing a single bullet, I want to know as soon as you’re done.” Colt grunted in acknowledgement and headed into the cargo bay.

“So, did he talk to you?” Summer waited until Colt had made it down into the cargo bay to bring it up, but Larry had known it was coming.

“Yeah, but there wasn’t a whole lot said. He just said what he needed to say to get us to leave, and there wasn’t a whole lot else to say after that. I mean, were we going to chat about ruling the world and what that’s like for him or what it’s like for me to be fighting against him? No, there wasn’t anything to talk about. What about you? Did you get what I asked you to pick up?”

Angus pulled out a small cloth-wrapped bundle. “Sara sends her regards and hopes Nora’s doing well. She invited everyone to dinner, though obviously the Lieutenant and his crew aren’t welcome. Just family, so no suits. They’re back in the old Kendrick house. The dinner’s next Wednesday. Also, she wanted me to give you this.” He reached into his pocket and handed Larry a small Thorlinthian data drive. “She wanted to know if you knew what it was, so I’m assuming something mysterious is on there because I’m pretty sure she knows what a data drive is.”

Larry chuckled. “Yeah, she does. Thanks, Angus. I’m going to check this out.” He held up the data drive while he put the bundle in the pocket opposite his Kohstr deck. He then walked into his room and shut the door.

“Well, that was pleasant, wasn’t it?” Summer smiled up at Angus.

“Yeah! If pleasant has a completely different meaning these days. Come on. Let’s go to bed. I haven’t slept in days.” He wrapped his arm around his wife and led her to their room.

Soon, the main cabin was empty, save for the lone sound of wind rushing over the hull of the shuttle as it passed over the Atlantic.

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