Story Hub: [link]
\\~~~\\ ++++ //~~~//
The High Council reconvened in the war room. While the clock had ticked over from one day to the next, the members of the council had yet to rest, there was far too much to do. The first rays of morning sunlight trickled through the skylight as the council members took their seats. Alas, despite the call for all-hands-on-deck, barely half of the council had attended, and even Queen Celene failed to appear.
Lady Aphros took her seat in the first chair as usual, Aré sat beside her in the second chair, and Lady Ze and Lady Herme took their places on the opposite side of the table in the seventh and eighth chairs respectively. Aphros’s composure was shaken, her hair unbrushed, and her makeup was smudged. Aré’s frustration radiated off her like a tangible heat. Ze’s armor was still dirtied by dust and debris from when she crashed through the walls of the Multiversal Power Stationtm. Only Herme had taken a moment to have a shower and change out of her lab coat into a more formal suit and skirt, although in her rush, she dressed up more for a board meeting than high politics.
“Where is Lady Hade? I know she was in the palace this morning,” Aré demanded an answer.
“You know how she is,” Herme replied. “She’s likely come and gone. Perhaps she’s with Her Majesty, and that’s why they’ve been missing all day?”
“For Heaven’s sake, I know I can’t expect Chrona and Helio to show up on short notice, but she has no excuse,” Aré slammed her fist on the table. “What about the four stooges?”
“They were in Zodiac for their regular duties. They’re on their way back right now,” Herme explained.
“Ourano and Posei?” Aré continued.
“Still in the middle of their mission, so communications are sporadic,” Herme revealed.
“And what about-?” Aré began to ask.
“She’s with Helio,” Ze cut her off.
“Great,” Aré settled back into her chair. “I’d say I’m going to have a word with each of them, but I know it would be pointless.”
“Let’s just lay out the facts of the case,” Ze took charge, “we have the attack on the power station and the incident that occurred at the palace right under our noses. Lady Aphros, would you like to start?” The other three turned to the first chair, who remained silent and lost in her own head.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, I promise I was listening, I’m a little off my game today,” Aphros admitted. “I broke character in front of Serena tonight and made a fool of myse…No, forget it. I’ll focus on the task at hand.” She took a deep breath.
“Fine, I’ll start us off while you recollect yourself,” Aré sighed, yet her expression softened. “Let’s start from the top,” the noble began, “Late at night on the 20th, Aphros assigned the three princesses to tour the new power station. She revealed this information to select members of the press on the morning of the 21st so they could publish an article announcing the visit to the public on the 22nd. However, during the evening of the 21st, the palace received a cryptic letter threatening the princesses and the power station. The timing of the letter was obviously suspicious, if not near impossible. How did we even get the letter so quickly? Do we know which mail carrier delivered it to the palace?”
“The short version is, we don’t know,” Aphros revealed. “I’ve had my people searching high and low for where this letter came from and how it ended up in the palace, but nothing has been discovered so far. It was either snuck into a mailbag during the route, or it was directly placed in the palace by some unknown means.”
“Highly concerning,” Aré commented. “And that doesn’t even go into how they learned about the visit so quickly. Do they have a mole, a spy, a listening device? Are they intercepting our messages or something more?”
“I’d like to believe that it couldn’t be possible for a mole or a spy to be within the palace,” Herme stated, “but I know that’s not true.” Her gaze turned downward.
“Speaking of moles, the chief engineer of the power station, Carus Lambros, was determined to be a turncoat by the Second Princess,” Aré continued. “From my understanding, he has assaulted a civilian – A trespassing photojournalist by the way, we’ll get to him later – sabotaged the security system, set up a timed explosive with the intention of causing serious damage to the facility, and might have been responsible for the station’s staffing issues.”
“I had the pleasure of speaking with the administrator,” Ze chimed in, “while he didn’t want to admit it, it seems he delegated a great deal of the station’s day-to-day operations to Carus. For all intents and purposes, Carus was doing both the job of the chief engineer and most of the administrative work while the actual administrator did very little.”
“It’s a wonder why he was tempted to defect,” Aré commented, “but was being overworked really the whole reason he would sell out his whole kingdom?”
“I can’t say,” Ze replied, “all I know is that Carus had been working for that same administrator since he was a boy. The administrator admitted he constantly blocked Carus from being transferred or pursuing any other opportunities.”
“Ah, they preyed on years of his bottled-up frustration,” Aré observed. “Sounds like a miserable story that will have a miserable ending.”
“I’ll recommend for the administrator to be reassigned as a pencil pusher somewhere dull, boring, and out of the way,” Aphros declared.
“Very well, but if Carus’s situation is true, could he not be the one who leaked the information to the other extremists?” Herme pointed out.
“Maybe, but I don’t know if the timeline adds up,” Aphros replied, “I spoke to the administrator directly to tell him the princesses were coming, but I don’t know when Carus learned about it.”
“The administrator wasn’t helpful in giving exact dates either,” Ze added, “I think he was so used to relying on Carus for everything, he just sailed forward without taking time to record important events or remember things properly. Plus, even if Carus was their source, it doesn’t rule out the idea that they had others.”
“Good point,” Herme sighed.
“Something still doesn’t sit well with me over this whole incident,” Aré clenched her fist. “These guys had all this information, they had a man on the inside, they got in quickly without anyone knowing, yet they fumbled it so fast.”
“So? They were prepared but couldn’t stick the landing, wouldn’t be the first bozos like that we’ve dealt with,” Aphros commented.
“It’s not just that, they seemed too ready,” Aré continued. “The power station’s head of security was out sick, all their security robots and cameras were disabled ahead of time, and the plant was practically running on a skeleton crew.”
“It’s a mostly automated plant, Aré, they don’t need that many employees,” Aphros pointed out.
“I know, but they’re working with even less than that,” Aré explained. “I’ve been reading reports from the facility. Their overall staff has been trending downwards since it was brought online eight months ago, and several staff members were put on extended leave over a week ago for one reason or another.”
“What are you implying?” Aphros was sure what to make of the facts.
“Well, I have a theory that the reason they got in so quickly was because this wasn’t the first time they broke in,” Aré declared. “But more importantly, all this indicates that their operation was planned far in advance. A simple mole wouldn’t be enough to explain their foreknowledge. If the princesses were their goal, whoever planned this would practically have to see the future.” The room went silent for a moment before Ze spoke up.
“Planned far in advance, but the second the princesses were involved, they knew and pivoted to take advantage of that,” Ze put the pieces together.
“Yet, despite this meticulous planning and near clairvoyant level of information gathering, they fumbled the whole operation,” Aré stated, “whoever planned this and the extremists we captured are not the same people.”
“Then I’m afraid to admit it, but,” Aphros gulped, “that whole ordeal was a complex diversion, and what happened at the palace was their real goal. And considering that the incident happened the second Ze left, I can say that with 100% certainty.” The blonde slammed her head on the table. “The only silver lining is that the media was oblivious to this whole thing.”
“Aside from that photojournalist,” Ze added, “but he’s been stripped of anything that could contain photos and sworn to silence.”
“Did we find out if the intruders took anything else?” Herme inquired.
“As far as we know, just the two,” Aré replied.
“Speaking of the whole ordeal being a diversion, my discussion with Jace Regas lends credence to that theory,” Ze added. “According to him, he learned the locations of all the bombs over the enemy radio, because ‘some Idiot’ was carelessly spouting them out. Jace asserted he was smart enough to know the person wasn’t lying, but he still doesn’t know why they blatantly ruined their own advantage. It really makes no sense, yet all the bomb locations were correct. It was no lie or trick.”
“I can’t help but notice that among the prisoners we took, we’re short one traitorous engineer and one blabbermouth Idiot,” Aré chimed in.
“He must be far cleverer than his actions let on,” Aphros added, “He played the part of a bumbling fool, but his machinations must have wheels within wheels. He threw all his supposed allies under the bus as part of an elaborate scheme. And it clearly worked as he not only escaped undetected, but he took Carus with him and apparently siphoned energy from the power station during the incident, completely uncontested. We’re either dealing with the luckiest man in recent history or some evil mastermind.”
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
As the Idiot prepared to take a bite out of an olive, he was beset by the worst sneezing fit of his life.
“The heck? Someone must be talking smack about me,” the Idiot wiped his nose before sinking his teeth into the olive and then screaming in pain as he bit into a pit. “Agghhh, these aren’t pitted olives! They’re just regular olives!”
\\~~~\\ //~~~//
“Let’s hope that’s not the case,” Ze commented. “That brings me to another matter, this Adaman character who targeted Caenia. He was some kind of machine disguised as an incredibly muscular man and was near invincible. Even Caenia couldn’t put him down with her full power. Serena had to lure half of him into one of the power flare vents, while Princess Atlanta dealt with the other half.”
“Oh, like a Termin-” Aphros began excitedly.
“Yes, exactly,” Aré interrupted her, earning a pout from Aphros. “It must have been serious if Atlanta felt the need to step in. If there was any way she took after her mother, it was a certain reverence for her powers and knowing when to use them. She’s not one to use her magic frivolously.”
“But more concerning than his incredible strength was his single-minded focus on Caenia. Apparently, he was only there to fight and potentially kill her,” Ze revealed. “Again, very bizarre considering she was only assigned to be there a week prior.”
“Just one more mystery,” Aré sighed.
“Hmm, Adaman,” Aphros tapped her chin.
“Does the name mean anything to you?” Herme inquired.
“It sounds vaguely familiar, but I’m not sure from where. Maybe if I saw him,” Aphros mused.
“Unfortunately, all the security cameras were disabled during the incident, and none of the journalist’s photos that we’ve looked through so far have depicted him either,” Ze shook her head. “On the subject of Adaman, I’d like to bring attention to the three who helped bring him down and took credit for neutralizing the bomb threat, Jace Regas, Medy Regas, and Penelo Gataki.”
“Why? Because they ignored protocol, charged blindly into danger, and Penelo nearly got herself killed?” Aré pointed out.
“But they did help save the day, Orion attested to that,” Aphros countered.
“True, they threaded the needle this time, but nine times out of ten, they would have gotten themselves needlessly killed,” Aré shot back. “Forgive me if I’m not eager to reward their behavior.” Aphros glared at the other noble and prepared to deliver another biting remark.
“I agree with both of you,” Ze snuffed out their argument before it could start. “I recommend a half-measure punishment. Acknowledging their contribution by giving them an opportunity to put that energy towards more productive efforts. Not quite a reward, not quite a punishment.”
“You’re only saying that because you’ve taken an interest in that Penelo girl,” Aphros smirked. “I bet you’re eying her to be part of the royal guard in the future. Shame on you playing favorites.” She wagged her finger. The whole room went dead silent, the other three nobles staring at Aphros, wondering if she could hear herself talk. “What? Is there something on my face?”
“I approve Ze’s plan,” Herme quickly righted the conversation.
“Seconded,” Aré agreed.
“Wha? No discussion?” Aphros was taken aback. “Fine, but I get a say in what they do. This could be a chance to fix my mistakes with Jace.”
“Very well, then let’s circle back to the final and most pressing issue,” Aré nodded, “the break-in at the palace, which conveniently occurred right as Ze left the premises and the rest of us were focused on the incident.”
“Just thinking about it is making me lose my composure,” Aphros admitted, “but this was a result of my lapse in judgment, and I’ll take full responsibility for retrieving-” Aphros’s words were abruptly cut off by the head maid, Penth, bursting into the room without warning while holding up her phone.
“Penth, I thought I made it clear there would be no interruptions to this meeting?” Aré stood up furiously.
“Lady Aré, you must see the news, this might be the worst case scenario!” Penth exclaimed as she slid her phone onto the table. Lady Herme was the first to pick it up and nearly fainted at the sight of the news on the screen.
“Let me see, let me see,” Aphros hopped the table as Aré merely walked around it, and Ze moved to catch the distraught Herme. The second the blonde’s eyes were laid on the screen, her heart sank. A photo of what she assumed to be Adaman fighting the workers in the power station, Irene caught near the middle of it, and the other two princesses visible in the distance watching the fight. The journalist’s photos had been published online, and now the whole world knew about the recent incident. After witnessing her fears come to life, Aphros took a deep breath and exclaimed, “Oh Fu-!”
May This Fantasy Continue A Little Longer…
>>>~~~~<<<
In wake of an unexpected incident, the first thing you must do is determine how this happened and how can we prevent it from happening again.
Author's Note: And that closes the book on Volume 4. This one took about a year and two months from writing the first paragraphs to posting the final chapter online. I hope to get the next one done a little quicker but I know it's too soon to hope for that. It's been a fun volume and I've learned a lot while writing it. Namely that I won't be setting so many chapters in a row in the same location during the same event.
Right now I have to get back to working on Volume 5 and other stories I'm eager to write. I have no idea when Volume 5 will start right now, but I do have some stand alone short stories lined up in the meantime. Maybe I'll finally get one of those other long runner stories off the ground. As for now, look forward to all the other wacky stories that come out of this blog as we wall wait for Maid in Fantasy Volume 5: Call of the Countryside (and other Odd Tales).
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
