Auditors of the Empire: Part VI (synch with site)

[Jimness]

Gib Ballons stood outside of his town-house. His body ached. Every one of his muscles from his neck to his ankles felt as if it was on fire. To reduce his stress levels,he had given to taking long walks after work, and tonight's had been especially long. His thoughts now turned to a small dinner, a large drink,and long bath.

As soon as he keyed in his security code, he sensed something was wrong. A premonition of danger flowed through him like a streamlet running down a hillside. Yet, when he entered his anteroom, everything was as it should be. After a quick glance around the room, he slowly took off his coat and hung it in the closet.

As he turned to walk in the kitchen, he was startled by the appearance of an Imperial guard standing in the hallway leading to the livingroom.

"Your presence is requested," the guard said simply.

Ballons eyed him warily. There was no point in reaching for his blaster, before his hand had extended half-way to its target, he'd be stunned, or dead.

"I trust you made yourself comfortable," Gib said, walking toward the guard. The guard made no comment, but circled behind Gib, physically urging him into the livingroom.

As Ballons entered the livingroom, he saw a man mixing drinks at the bar. Ballons recognized the face immediately, as he had seen it frequently at the Ministry. Though Ballons had never learned the man's name, he had seen him often enough in the company of high ranking Directors. Gib now understood who this man was and his position.

The man finished making drinks, handed one to Ballons and motioned for him to sit down.

"You took an especially long walk today, Ballons."

"Yes." He held his glass in his hand, not yet having taken a drink.

"Come, come, Ballons. Do you think if I had wanted you killed, I would waste my time doing it myself. I have minions to do those sort of things for me. Drink up, man, you're exhausted."

Ballons did as he was told. Ballons took hold of the arm of his chair. "If I may ask, Director, what is it you do want of me?"

"Why the most valuable of commodities, Ballons, information."

"I see. Could you not simply read my report? After all, we're both Imperial officials."

The Director smiled. "I now begin to see that you're a sly one, Ballons. I had always pegged you as a quiet, efficient, civil-servant. I would never have guessed you possessed a sense of humor."

"It's generally frowned upon in Auditing, Director. I've reined mine in for many years."

"Indeed. And what's suddenly possessed you to release the reins?"

Gib smiled. "Perhaps, I've finally come to realize what a terrible comedy we live in."

"So that there's no longer any point in maintaining your suspension of disbelief?"

"Exactly."

The Director poured Ballons another drink. "You should be careful, Ballons, such an understanding does not befit our times. Blessed ignorance is sometimes more crucial to one's continued existence than all the wisdom of the universe."

"No doubt, no doubt."

The Director took another drink. "Your report on the Republican cruisers sparked my interest, Ballons. I had my staff look into the matter and discovered that there was more there than even you uncovered. A missing shuttle here, a crate of blasters there. Some of these undoubtedly going to pirates, of course, but enough of a pattern to suggest that this was much better organized that simple pirate activity. Finally, our investigation pointed in one unmistakable direction."

The Director paused to let this sink in. "Let us say that a mutual acquantance may not be as loyal as he seems."

"I see," Ballons said. "And you wish for me to report on our meetings."

"Of course. One of my operatives will meet with you frequently to discuss this matter."

"I see. And how will this be accomplished?"

"Do leave that to us, Ballons, we're so much more experienced in this sort of thing. You've a long history of taking walks in Nogorow Park, my men will meet you there."

Gib finished his drink. "I suppose I have no choice."

"You're loyalty to the Empire is appreciated, Ballons. Thank you for the brandy. Please don't get up, we'll show ourselves out."

[JBMoney]

***

[Jimness]

With one hand on the frame,and the other holding the door, Gib Ballons stared out into the corridor just as he shut the door to his office. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. They puddled in his brows before their collective weight forced them down into his eye sockets. The salt stinged Gib's eyes and he opened and shut them rapidly to clear them of sweat.

Gib stood there at the door. The weight of his body pressed against the door and its frame. His forehead pressed against the back of this hands, which were cupped together against the door. Ballons felt his knees begin to buckle; he relaxed his stance to let blood flood to his calves. If he could have seen it in a mirror, he would have seen that his face was completely white. Bloodless. With even the veins buried deep inside of the skin.

He stood there a few moments, rocking slightly back and forth to allow his blood to circulate. He made no sound. Not a sigh. Nor a whimper. His breathing--sporatic as it was--was quiet.

Finally, Ballons stood up straight. He took on hand off of the door-frame and twisted around to look at his office.

Empty.

Ballons nearly jumped with surprise. He expected to find the Imperial Security Director, or one of his minions, or perhaps even Director Tolweer waiting for him. To find his office empty came as something of a shock. He felt sure someone would be waiting for him. His left hand still pressed against the door, Ballons twisted even further to his left to see if someone, or something, was just outside of his vision.

No. That side too was empty.

At last convinced he was alone, Ballons slumped against the door, his hips and his shoulders pressing heavily against the wooden panel. He closed his eyes. He tried to breathe deeply. But, finding that difficult, he took several smaller breaths, each one slightly deeper than the last.

This cleared his head a little. He thought he could feel the electrical impulses of his brain slow down. With his eyes closed, he saw nothing but bright orange. It was like the darkness of space, except that it was a bright--almost phosphorescent--orange. Shooting into this world of orange were bolts of green. Spears of green, like lightning, scattered across this orange landscape, skittering and sputtering as it moved back and forth within his vision. It reminded Gib of the tropical storms he'd seen on his homeplanet long ago.

Gib opened his eyes and stood up. He needed to sit down before he collapsed.

He stumbled forward, his hands catching the edge of his desk. Hand over hand, he inched his way to the chair behind his desk and sat down.

What's wrong with me, he thought. He felt frail. Weak. As if the slightest breeze would blow him away.

When did I sleep last, he thought. He counted his fingers, as a schoolboy might during an examination. Three. . . four. . . no five days, he reckoned, at last. Yes, five.

He slumped further in the chair. He couldn't go on this. Physically, he'd collapse eventually. And then Imperial Security would have him. They'd pluck him up and send him to a clinic. That's what they did, Ballons had heard. They wore their opponent down and then, after he'd collapsed, they shuttled him off to a clinic where he was never heard from again. Ballons knew of someone they'd gotten their hands on. . .Orus something or another, from accounting.

Or maybe it wasn't Imperial Security who would get him. Tolweer might be behind this. His pirates or something. Maybe that commodore or admiral of his was making a play for power and Tolweer meant to eliminate Ballons so not to endanger the coup-d'etat. Yes, that was plausible enough. Ballons had seen that in his day too.

Ballons couldn't make his mind about who exactly presented the biggest danger. Each side was potentially capable eliminating him from the scene, the way a gardener pulled out a weed and tossed it aside. Already Ballons could see the lines drawing up in the office. He could hear it in the way people greeted him. The timbre of their voices, the hollowness of their eyes when they looked at him. The knew he was marked for elimination and sought to distance themselves. Yes, Ballons had seen that too.

But he had to find a way out of this. Find a way to escape. A path to freedom for himself and his family. He would not go down without a word, or, at best a whimper, like so many of his colleagues before him. . .

Sleep came slowly. The orange fires burned low, but never completely burned out and the green lighting troubled Ballons sleep.


[This message has been edited by Jimness (edited 02-26-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Jimness (edited 02-26-2000).]

[lucie]

O extended an eyestock in the direction Tora had been looking. "Who? The unclad human female in the cage?"

"Holy guano! Don't look! Pretend you aren't here! Aw, cripes." Tora began to move quickly away, grabbing a handful of his partner and dragging him along.

"Tora, darling. How absolutely marvelous to see you again." A nearly spherical Valpasu female seperated herself from a crowd observing a Goszii ritual self-immolation and trotted in their direction. "Two years and halfway across a galaxy, yet you found me. How delightfully romantic!"

Blix turned at the sound of Tora's name, frowning at the interruption. The T'tuon paused, looking questioningly at her. Blix smiled brightly and said "Goodness, not again. It seems he has a female in every spaceport. I'll just go remind him he's on duty"

"Uh, Smaapaa, this really isn't a good time" Tora tried to slip away from the four jewelry encrusted arms twined about his neck. "I'm sort of on duty. Besides, what about, uh - "

A second Valpasu, this one enormous with rippling muscles on all eight limbs and a sullen, angry look on his face had moved in behind the female. "I thought I told you to stop chasing Saampaa years ago, Dug." Three fingers encirled Tora's skinny throat and plucked him from the female's grasp. "Now I'm gonna hafta turn you inside out"

"Wait! You got it all wrong! I never ulp-"

"Some people just got no sense of what's right" The hand began to squeeze.

"Damnit", Blix muttered, starting toward the fray. "Okay, you bully - ". She stopped short as Lutto pulled her back.

"Would it not be better if you let your bodyguard work this out for itself? It is not your proper place to see to his safety. Come ahead with us to the party. One of my family will stay to see that your servants know where to find you." Gently by irresistable Lutto pulled Blix away from the struggle, off the main street and into a dimly lit alley.

[Eddioboy]

"Where are you taking me?" asked an irritated Blix. "Slow down..."

Bosoal Lutto chirped a couple of sentences in Tutuo. Bosoal Frix bowed curtly, then turned back to the main street. His pristine, colored robes nearly brushed across the broken glass and stagnant alley water underfoot. Blix realized the T'tuon were not actually a head taller than she was, but were floating above the ground. They must be wearing anti-grav harnesses of some kind, she thought.

"Miss Antarres. We have ushered you away from the crowd for a reason..." uttered Lutto. Bosoal Konnus seamlessly picked up the thread of the conversation, speaking as though the same mind was deciding to speak through a second mouth. "We detect that you are in danger."

"Danger? What do you mean?" Blix eyed the two suspiciously. The pair of aliens glanced at each other momentarily, then turned again to Blix.

"We have...mind-sight. Vision," Lutto seemed to be searching for a word. Konnus tried, "we use much more of our minds than humans do!" Both aliens smiled and nodded in unison, satisfied with their explanation. "We are enabled for various helpful abilities, through use of the force."

Blix's eyes narrowed. "The force, huh? You guys probably haven't spent much time around humans, but just how little a girl do you think I am to tell me a story like that? Hmm?" She tapped her foot impatiently. She considered finding Garabash's party on her own.

[JBMoney]

***

[lucie]

Tora took a vicious swipe with a sharp-nailed foot at where he hoped his opponent's vulnerables would be. The panic-stricken look and abrupt back-pedaling told him his instincts had once again been correct. Tora pressed his advantage, causing the Valpasu to take another step back and trip over a strategically located O.

Saampaa gave an outraged squeal. Shoving Tora out of the way, she ran to her stricken swain, now sprawled in a heap of rotting gutter sweepings.

"Bully!" she screeched at Tora. "Keep your murdering feet offa my boyfriend!"

As she bent over her victim, making syrupy cooing noises and asking is oo hurtums, Tora and O ducked around the crowd and scanned the street for Blix and the T'tuon.

"Damn, O. I can't see a thing on this street. Can you spot her? Tora tried in vain to see over the various heads and appendages in the crowd as O oozed up a light pillar.

"I do not see her or her chance companions" O said, sliding back to the ground. "I do not think she would willingly go on without us."

"Well, someone must have seen which way they went. Even in this crowd a group of painted-up T'tuon with a human would stand out. Think we outta start asking around?"

They had reached the end of the street and the crowd was beginning to thin. Tora stopped and look back a little uncertainly.

"Lose something?" said a husky, amused voice from behind him, causing him to start and whip around quickly. Damn, he was sure no one had been behind hima second ago.

Tora looked up into the face of a red-haired human woman, dressed in a black shimskin and lounging against the wall of an apothecary stall. There was something familiar about her, although he was quite certain he had never seen her before.

[JBMoney]

bump

[Eddioboy]

"None of your business, toots," replied Tora gruffly, while kicking aside a wicker basket. Ehh, Blix was nowhere on this street, he thought. The fight was over, and the last of the crowd disappeared into the market throng far up the block. Except for this cool cat in the slinkies, thought Tora. She looked perturbed by his answer. Who was she?

"You will answer my questions, you twist-limbed beast" said the woman, who now stood away from the wall, and began to saunter toward Tora. Her eyes indicated there was more to her than Tora suspected at first. Shockingly, O began floating through the air, shaped like a perfectly rounded, undulating sphere. The woman held one hand toward O as though she were doling out the very air that suspended him.

Tora instinctively unfolded his sharpest claws, and advanced. "You better tell me who you are right now, sis-" Tora barked when suddenly something wrapped around his neck and constricted his throat. Tora, held in place, gasped and tried to cut the rope, or cord, but he found nothing there. His voice was reduced to a choked whisper. It took several seconds for Tora to accept what seemed impossible: that the woman was strangling him from five feet away.

With both of her hands held before her, the mysterious woman trembled with exertion. She flicked her hand to the side, and O flew straight through a curbside sewer grate. Tora, struggling for breath, heard a splash. The woman relaxed slightly, her eyes reflecting less intense concentration than from a moment before. "Now then," she sighed. "You will answer my questions truthfully, and then I will release you. Who is the woman traveling with you, and where is she now?"

***********

Blix, wandering away with the T'tuon, was distracted. She was finding it hard to remember everything she wanted to do today. There was the party, and she wanted to go there with the others...the others! Suddenly Blix remembered a struggle. The mental fog dissipated, and she turned back.

"Be at peace," uttered Lutto. "There is no reason to go back there, remember?" Lutto rested a comforting hand on Blix's shoulder.

"There is no reason to go back there," repeated Blix.

"Bosoal Frix will ensure your friends' safety," cooed Lutto. Blix thought his wet, black nose looked kind of cute pushed up like that. 'Pet' cute, not 'cute' cute, she thought. His eyes glowed a warm, yellow hue.

"...will ensure my friends' safety," said Blix. She was bored of all this talk now, and hoped the T'tuon were ready to get walking again. She didn't mind that her head felt a little bit clouded again, as long as everybody was safe.

[This message has been edited by Eddioboy (edited 05-24-2001).]