CHAPTER SIX
Tmish
came out of the building and the cheers from the crowd almost made his eardrums
burst. There were thousands of people, lined up in front of the building,
staring at him as he walked down the steps to the microphone.
"People
of Taran!" He raised his two arms into
the air. "I am here again before you, because I have new things to tell
you. More projects to share with you…"
The speech
continued, much like all the others. The man knew, he
was standing at the front of the crowd, studying closely the man that was
giving the speech.
Yes…He had charm,
he was a perfect politician: smart and charming…The people loved him…There was
no question about it.
He continued
speaking about his plans to turn the Taranians into a
space-faring race…Despicable…He had taken the oath to uphold Starfleet and its
interests…And now look at him…
The man shook his
head sadly and turned around, moving away from the crowd.
It was going to be
difficult to get him out, but he was going to get him out…
The red mobile
turned to the left and narrowly missed another mobile that was part of the
traffic jam.
Retan was gripping
the armrests of his chair nervously as the speed of the vehicle grew with each
passing second and Sylvia's turns got more and more risky.
Behind them, the
black mobile with the governmental agents inside was desperately trying to keep
up. Something which they weren't achieving…
"Are we losing them?" Sylvia asked
as she turned the wheel to make the mobile pass a few centimeters away from a
large truck.
"Uh…"
Retan didn't see the black mobile anymore. "I think so."
"Good…But we
should keep moving fast before…Woah!"
In the distance,
there were three black vehicles blocking the entrance to the city.
"They're
trying to get us to stop!" Retan said. "What are we going to
do?"
Sylvia accelerated.
"Don't tell me
you're going to try to crash right through them!!!" Retan exclaimed,
staring at her in disbelief.
She said nothing,
just stared in a look of cold determination at the mobiles that were blocking
the traffic.
"You're
insane…" Retan threw his hands up in defeat. "I should have known
that teaming up with aliens was risky business."
Sylvia suddenly
said: "Take the wheel."
"What?!"
"Take the
wheel, now." She said. He accepted without discussion. She took a
strange shaped object from her pocket and leaned out the window, aiming the
front of the object at the black mobiles.
"I was hoping
that this wasn't necessary…But we have no choice." She said, more to
herself than to Retan.
She pressed the
largest button on the strange object and there was a loud noise and a flash of
light. Retan remembered the same flash of light and the same sound in the woods
the night before.
An orange beam of
light fired from the beak of the object and struck the middle black mobile and
it exploded, sending one of the enforcers flying into the air. The second burst
of energy that Sylvia fired totally annihilated the vehicle, leaving a safe
passage for the red mobile to go through.
When they had
gotten far enough away from the governmental enforcers and the traffic, Sylvia
brought them into the woods.
"That was
amazing!!" Retan said as they exited the mobile. "Was that the object
you used to shoot me last night?"
She nodded:
"Yeah…It's called a phaser…"
"'Phaser'…"He
repeated.
"That's right…"
Sylvia began looking around the forest, obviously searching for something.
"What are you
looking for?" He asked.
"My ship…And
if possible, my associate who still hasn't answered me…" She said.
"I see…"
He said.
"Ah!" She
suddenly said, grinning. "This way!"
She pointed in a
direction and they began walking that way. After a few minutes, they came to a
small clearing of grass.
She took her small
badge from her pocket and pressed it: "Sylvia Burnel to Arrow.
Disengage cloaking device authorization Burnel-Four-Four-Eight-Seven."
Retan had no idea
what she was talking about but he was sure that something wondrous was about to
happened…He waited…
…and waited…
"What's
wrong?" He asked after a moment.
"The ship
isn't answering me…" Sylvia advanced into the clearing, her hands
brandished in front of her. "It's not here anymore!"
"Sylvia…"
He gestured at the clearing. "There was nothing here since we got
here."
"You don't
understand…But it doesn't matter…" She walked back to him. "We need
to get back into the city…I don't know where my associate is…But I have a job
to finish."
"A
job?" He raised an eyebrow. "And you need my help?"
"I'll find a
way to get rid of Tmish…With or without you…I can't
ask you to put yourself in danger for something you don't even know."
He smiled:
"I'm already in pretty deep trouble as it is. And I wouldn't mind getting
rid of Tmish." He nodded. "I'm going with
you."
She smiled:
"Good…"
"I have a
question." He said as they began walking back towards the place where they
had left the mobile. "Why do you continue this mission without your
associate? Why don't you just leave and put this back to another day? We have
time don't we?"
"No." She said.
"We have no time…And I have a duty to perform. If no one gets rid of Tmish, Taran will become
something it was not meant to be…At least not yet."
He admired her
sense of duty, although all her talk about Taran
becoming what it wasn't meant to be was confusing.
They arrived back
at the mobile and Sylvia said: "We need somewhere where we will plan our
next move…"
"You want to
capture Tmish?" He asked.
She started the
mobile and said: "Capture…And if necessary: Assassination."
He couldn't help
himself…He winced.