CHAPTER FIVE
After
a few minutes of driving through the traffic, Sylvia got accustomed to driving
the vehicle and now could drive as well as any Taranian.
She glanced over at the wounded man; he still looked in pretty bad shape and
was staring blankly out the window.
"Are
you all right?" She asked.
His
shoulders moved slightly, he was probably attempting to shrug: "I don't
know…" He said.
"Who
were those people?" She asked.
"Governmental
enforcers…They are under the direct orders of the president and are the most deadly
force on the planet."
Sylvia
sighed: "Great…"
"But
you are not from this planet…Aren't you?" He said.
She
blinked; she didn't know what to say to him: "Uh…" She hesitated.
"Don't
bother to deny it…" He said with a wan smile. "I was in the woods last
night…I heard you and your accomplice and I saw your…your flying device land in
the woods."
What the hell… Sylvia
thought with a mental shrug.
"You're
right." She said. "I am from another world."
He
smiled: "Ah…Finally you admit it."
"Yes."
She nodded. "But this is very dangerous information…I don't want you
screaming this from the top of every single building in town."
"Agreed…"
He nodded. "But…Explain me."
"Explain
what?"
"Explain
to me what you really are? Are your intentions peaceful?" He asked.
"Oh!
Absolutely…" She said. "I came here with my…my 'accomplice' and we
want to take the president of your world back with us."
"President Tmish?!" The
man seemed surprised.
Sylvia
didn't know the name of the president, her sister hadn't told her, so she
nodded: "Yeah…I guess so."
"Yes…No
one really knows where he came from…Word has it he was found in the desert and he
had no memory…Since then, his rise to power has been explosive." He looked
up at her. "Is he from your world too?"
Sylvia
didn't know why she was revealing everything to this man…Maybe it was because
he was in such a pitiful state, or maybe because Sylvia felt that she owed him
an explanation after everything that happened to him.
"Yes."
She said. "He came here because he was fleeing from authorities from my
world and he thought he would be safe here…He also believed it was a good place
to satisfy his megalomaniac tendencies…"
"How
far is your world?" The man was now getting more interested in the outside
world than just what was happening on his own little world. Sylvia could see it
in his eyes.
"Hmmm…Well…It
must be a five dozen lightyears away or something…I
don't really know."
"Five dozen lightyears!!!!" His eyes went wide. "That's
amazing!"
She
smiled. In her mind, that same distance was something she considered as short.
But to this man, it was beyond the universe…
"So…Why
is the government after you?" Sylvia asked after a moment.
"I'm
not sure…But I have a pretty good idea about their reasons." He said.
"I am…well…not a real partisan of Tmish's
presidency. I have made this known by numerous remarks in my speeches to the
world."
"You
make speeches?" She asked.
"Yes…I'm
the director of a computer-building company. It's the largest one on this
planet." He said with a hint of pride. "I'm oftentimes interviewed by
journalists or asked to make speeches to my employees. I have never hidden that
I do not like Tmish and his ideas."
"I
see…So Tmish wants to kick you out of the playing
field; raise his chances of winning…"
"I
see no other explanation." The man said.
"So
what shall we do?" She asked.
He
pondered a moment, and then said: "I have a deal."
Great…Sylvia
sighed inwardly.
"I
shall help you take president Tmish back to your
world, and in return, you take me with you." He said.
Sylvia
frowned.
"Well?"
He asked.
"I
don't know…I need to ask my associate."
"We're
not going back there!" He gestured back in the direction of the center of town where the accident had happened. "The
city is probably crawling with governmental agents."
"I
can't do anything without her consent." Sylvia said. "But for now,
I'd appreciate any help you can offer."
He
frowned: "Well…I don't suppose I have any choice. If I don't go with you
the government will pick me up with their eyes closed." He shrugged.
"Okay…I'll help you."
"Good…Now,
first we need somewhere to stay." Sylvia said.
"We
can go to a small hotel in the suburbs, the rooms are terrible but the
breakfast is excellent." He suggested. "We can't go back to my
apartment; they will be waiting for me."
"Okay…You
just need to tell me where that hotel is…"
"Right…"
He nodded. "Take left at the next street…"
"How
in the world did you manage to lose him?"
The president demanded.
"We sent two
agents to apprehend him…But it seems he was successful in overpowering both of
them and escaping." An said, her arms folded
across her chest.
"He must have
had exterior help." Tmish said, frowning at the
prospect of having a whole conspiracy going on against him.
"Yes…Actually…"
An was reluctant to reveal the bad news to her
president, but she had to. "A woman was spotted with him…She helped him
escape. We have no record of her on any of our files."
He jumped…No
record? That was impossible. "Get me my computer." He ordered.
"Your…?"
"Now!!"
He interrupted, pointing at the small laptop lying on his bookshelf. An nodded briskly and brought the computer over to him.
"Now get out of here." He said.
She retreated
without another word as the president activated his computer.
The computer was
the last thing he possessed from his past life in the Federation. It was a
standard Starfleet laptop with an independent computer system that had an
extensive database. Everything from planets, ships, personnel…
He picked up the
report that An had left and took out the bad-quality
picture of the woman who had saved Retan from the governmental agents he had
sent. He scanned the photo with the computer's integrated scanner and it began
searching through its records for anyone matching her picture.
It found her…
Sylvia Burnel, a
civilian trader who did a lot of transporting during the Dominion war. She was
known across the Federation for her impressive piloting skills, skills which
didn't rival those of her sister, Agatha, who had recently disappeared.
"What is she
doing here?" Tmish asked himself.
There was only one
logical explanation…
They had found him…
"An! Get back
in here!" He shouted and she immediately re-entered his office.
He shut his
computer and said: "I want every single one of your agents on the lookout
for Retan and for this woman." He grabbed the photo of Sylvia Burnel and
showed it to her. "She may be our greatest threat yet."
"Yes,
sir." She took the photograph.
"Dead or
alive…You understand me, An?"
"Perfectly."
She gave a small smile and exited the room.
The small hotel
where the man known as Retan had brought Sylvia was not very glorious…But it
certainly was appropriate for the situation they were in. They needed to be the
most inconspicuous as possible.
Sylvia was lying on
the soft bed in the small room they had rented; Retan was taking a shower in
the bathroom. She was pondering the situation…
So…She had come to
remove a former Starfleet Intelligence operative from this planet before he
interfered too much in their natural development, she had discovered that the
president—Tmish, he called himself—was trying to
eliminate anyone trying to stand in his way, like Retan. And she had
unfortunately become mixed into a dangerous affair and was probably being
chased by the government of this planet now.
She needed to call
Agatha…
She pulled the
communicator from her pocket and tapped it: "Sylvia to Agatha, come in
please."
Nothing.
"Gathy come in!"
"Who are you
talking to?"
Retan walked into
the room, he was wearing a towel around his waist and his hair was wet. He had
just come out of the shower.
She showed him her
communicator: "I'm trying to call my sister with this."
"Ah…of
course…"
She tried a few
more times while Retan changed.
"Any
luck?" He asked as he came back out of the bathroom, he had changed
clothes and smelled of something fruity.
"Nope."
She shook her head in frustration. "I don’t understand…"
"Maybe they
got to her…" He said.
"'They'?"
Sylvia raised an eyebrow.
"You know…The
government." He said. "Maybe they found out you were working with her
and took her into custody."
Sylvia felt her
stomach knot as she thought about that possibility.
Retan seemed to
think it was best to change the subject: "So…Are you going to tell me your
name?"
She blinked:
"What?"
"I told you my
name…Why don't you tell me yours?"
"Oh!
Sure!" She nodded. "Sylvia…My name's Sylvia."
"Sylvia…"
He repeated with a smile. "That's a pretty name for an alien..."
"Thanks…"
She smiled.
Retan walked to the
window and looked through the curtains: "It looks quiet…Maybe no one
followed us."
"I hope you're
rig…" Sylvia was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Retan frowned:
"That's odd…"
"Too
odd…" She said, moving cautiously towards the door. She looked through the
eyehole…
Standing behind the
door were two agents in black governmental suits.
"Dammit…" She whispered to herself.
"What is
it?" He asked.
"'Governmental
enforcers'," She said. "They must have followed us somehow…"
"We have to
leave!" He said, becoming agitated. "If they catch us…"
"Shhh…" She put a finger to his lips, silencing him.
"If we stay calm, we can get away from them. There's a window in the
bathroom, we can climb out."
The enforcers
behind the door knocked again upon it as the human and the Taranian
exited the room through the window in the bathroom. Sylvia felt the weight of
her phaser in her inside pocket; she hoped that she wasn't going to have to use
it, the primary objective of the mission she was on
with her sister was to keep president Tmish from
causing premature evolution on Taran. If she started
firing phaser beams all over it would only worsen the 'evolution' the Taranians were going through at the moment.
Sylvia and Retan
ran towards the mobile that they had left in the parking lot of the hotel,
suddenly, Sylvia stopped in her tracks.
The mobile! They
must've recognized it! She realized.
Retan was about to
enter the vehicle, he turned and saw her standing in the middle of the parking
lot: "Sylvia! We have to get out of here!"
"No," She
shook her head. "We can't take the same vehicle."
She moved towards a
grey mobile with shaded windows and asked Retan: "Do mobiles have any
security system of any kind? And can we make them work without a personal
identification object?"
He looked confused,
but he answered: "Uh…You can start a mobile without anything. And security
systems are not necessa…"
Sylvia slammed her elbow into the left window
of the mobile, Retan jumped back. A spidery crack appeared on the glass, she
hit the window again and it shattered to hundreds of small sharp shards.
"Uh…"
Retan stared as Sylvia opened the door from the inside and entered the mobile.
"Get in."
She ordered. "Those governmental enforcers will be here any mom…"
There was a loud
explosion sound and Retan ducked, Sylvia just looked around in confusion.
The governmental
officers were approaching, holding metallic objects in their hands, presumably
the sources of the noise.
"Get the
mobile moving!" Retan awoke her from her reverie.
She pressed the
button to accelerate and the mobile's engine roared to life, in a swift
movement, she got the mobile out of the parking lot. Leaving the two agents
behind…
"Nice
driving…" Retan said, letting out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, they heard more explosion sounds.
There were mirrors
placed on the two sides of the mobile so that the driver could see what was
happening behind the vehicle. Sylvia glanced in the mirror on her side and saw
that a black mobile was following them; one of the agents had his upper body
sticking out the right window and was shooting at them with his weapon. A type
of weapon that reminded Sylvia of the powder-propelled bullet weapons that
people on Earth used to use.
Sylvia continued
accelerating faster and faster, there were no other vehicles on the road so
there was plenty of room for possible errors she would make.
That was until she
saw the traffic…
Indeed, in the
distance there was a rather large traffic jam. Mobiles were advancing
slowly along the large road that led into the city.
"Oh no…"
Retan said as he saw the traffic. "…Uh…Can you pass that?"
She sighed:
"Only if I take the risk." She smiled grimly.