The New Era Chapter 23

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Ishod finished talking to Kestos and turned around to question his healers. "Who are you people?" he asked. "How did you heal me so quickly? Did you use magic?"
"Yeah, something like that," Pericula said. "Why don't you just be thankful you were healed and don't ask to many questions."
"Fair enough. Thank you for healing me, I am in your debt. Is there something I can do to repay you?"
"Actually, there is," she said. "We are travelers from Calet, who have only recently come within Dishon's borders. We have heard many strange rumors about a monster who is terrorizing the country. Could you enlighten us?"
Ishod nodded grimly. "That I can tell you plenty about. I am a soldier in the army of Dishon. I was stationed in Dishon's capital, Dishonia. Not too long ago, we were faced the prospect of total annihilation by our neighbor to the North Marram. Since your from Calet, you probably know that story, and I won't bore you by telling it again. Needless to say, we were filled with great relief when that threat was over. The whole city, in fact the whole nation was in a state of jubilation.
"One day, soon after, as I was reporting for duty, I was informed by my friend Nolli that Jolk was killed that night. I knew Jolk well, he was the owner of a tavern that I patronized almost every night. My friend Tomaz tells me that compared to other nations, Dishon has a low crime rate, and Dishonia itself has a very low crime rate. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but Jolk's death shocked me, I had never expected someone I knew to be killed in his home town.
"Jolk's death turned out to be simply one piece in the puzzle. That night, it turned out nearly thirty people had been killed. The whole city was horrified. King Recab equated the problem with a crisis situation, and put the city on full security. Soldiers were called to Dishonia from all over Dishon, and those of us already in Dishonia worked double shifts, day and night, trying to find out what was going on.
"It turned out all those deaths were the work of a single creature, and that night the creature attacked all the soldiers stationed. There was a great battle. I was posted on the opposite end of town that it was on, and so by the time I had journeyed to where the action was, the creature had retreated. I talked to my friends who were in the battle, some of them near the front line. What I heard was astounding. The creature had great strength, able to crush stones in his hand and lift great weights. He had spears thrown at him, arrows hit him, and swords strike his flesh, but none of these harmed him in the least."
"The news of this creatures greatness traveled quickly. The king was desperate. The next day he sent me to travel the whole kingdom, in search of some power capable of defeating the monster. I left that same day, accompanied by Kestos, whose speed could greatly increase the efficiency of our expedition. I have been traveling ever since, until we were attacked by a gang of robbers. They stole all our provisions, and tried to kill us. Thanks to Kestos' speed we escaped. It looks like the attack may have turned out to be good fortune after all, for Kestos brought me hear to be healed by you, and at last I have found a power capable of defeating the monster."


"Ladies and gentleman, we've been through a lot together. This team was formed a very short time ago, and yet already we've done so much. We saved the Icelers and started a new world order. We have successfully governed the Watchers in a non-democratic government for the first time since the days of Haket. I know there has been some tension in this group. We were forced to kill our leader Jistap. Gaius abused his power in Calet and had to be stopped. Pericula and Hans quit. Sulla was killed. Nevertheless, those of us who persisted, who stayed with the group, we have formed a bond. We truly are a team." Bakes looked around the table at those who left, Aked, Ziet, Ossar, Akristh, Eva and Estaci. "I know I'm taking a great risk by telling you this, but if we don't trust each other we'll never going to solve this problem."
Bakes paused briefly before continuing. "We seem to be just plagued by one problem after another. I don't know what's going on here, none of us do. There has been a rumor going around that I am behind these events, I am not. I did not, I repeat, I did not seal the doors. I don't know who did, or why they did it, but I had nothing to do with it."
"Bakes, how do you expect us to believe that?" Ziet asked. "The only one who knew enough about the computers to do this was you. At the time this happened, you were in complete control of the computers, nothing happened without your assent, and you yourself could do anything you wanted to, is that not correct?"
Bakes was unable to think of an answer, and stammered for a couple seconds before replying, "well that's what I had thought, but obviously it wasn't right. Someone else had more control then me."
Paying no attention to Bakes answer, Ziet continued. "And on top of that, how do you explain that the doors became unsealed for no apparent reason, right after Gaius was defeated."
Bakes mouth dropped open. "You're not implying that I was on Gaius' side."
"Why else would you kill Hans and Kyoko?"
Bakes head snapped towards Akristh so fast that those near him thought they heard the click. "How did you know about that?" he demanded.
The whole room was deadly silent, everyone was stunned by Bakes reaction. "How did you know about that," Bakes repeated loudly.
"It was only a rumor," she said softly, barely audible. "I wasn't being serious."
"So it is true Bakes," Eva said, in a tone stinging with disrespect. "You were angry at Hans and Kyoko for capturing Gaius, so you had them killed. You also shut off the satellite so we couldn't see how the ship blown up."
Bakes pounded the table with his fist. "Damn it Eva, listen to me! I'm not on Gaius side!"
Eva looked Bakes straight in the eye. "I'm not going to listen to you Bakes, you're going to have to convince me first."
Bakes took a deep breath. "First of all, I did not seal the doors. I don't know what's going on here anymore then you do, and I admit it's strange but I did not seal the doors. Feel free to watch my movements on your monitors for the days preceding the sealing of the doors and look for any sign that I did this."
"Bakes, we're not going to underestimate you," Ziet said. "You know so much you could have created the program by pushing two buttons, while you were playing games on the computer and we'd never be able to pick it out."
Bakes briefly exploded into anger. "Well in that case I don't know what to do! Tell me Ziet, how can I convince you of my innocence?" Ziet remained silent. "When you think of something tell me, until then shut the hell up!"
Bakes continued in a much calmer tone. "Secondly, I don't know why the satellite hasn't been working for over two days now, but I had nothing to do with that either. I have a team of the most promeniant scientists working on the problem, including Dabrow, whose intelligence no one will dare question, and they can tell you the same thing.
"As for Hans and Kyoko, I ordered Livius and Lauto to kill them yes, I did not blow up the ship, killing everyone inside as the rumor apparently goes. I don't know why the others aren't back yet, or why the ship isn't responding to the communications we're sending, but I did not blow it up. Furthermore, I did not order the deaths of Hans and Kyoko because they had captured Gaius. Rather, I was left with no choice after they refused to acknowledge the crisis situation. They wanted democracy to return no matter what the cost, and they were willing to do anything for it."
"Hans was one of the team," Akristh said. "How could you kill him?"
"I told you, I had to protect our power so we could protect the city."
"Yeah, but don't you think killing him crossed the line?"
Bakes hit the table again. "Don't talk to me about crossing the line. I'm not talking about a line! There is no damn line I'm just protecting the city!"
Ziet sneered. "Come on Bakes, why did you really kill them?"
"I told you."
"Bakes, how did Hans and Kyoko get outside the city at all much less all the way over to Calet without a ship? How did they withstand repeated laser hits from Gaius and be perfectly fine?"
"I don't know."
"Well did it ever occur to you to try and find out? I recalled and watched the scene where they first reentered the city on my monitor. They said they had a story to tell, that all the Watchers needed to hear. You said you would call a meeting that night for them to tell their story, you never did."
"It didn't work out, there wasn't enough notice to get a meeting ready, I told them that later that night. The meeting was rescheduled for the next day instead.'
"But Bakes, you knew perfectly well they weren't going to be there the next day. What were you trying to cover up?"
"Nothing, I know no more about what happened to them then you do."
"Well you obviously didn't think it was important to figure out did you?"
"Look, I don't think it takes a genius to find out what happened. The Nathorites who came to our city just the day before had the ability to withstand multiple laser hits. Now, all of a sudden Hans and Kyoko have the same ability. The Nathorites had the ability to transport themselves anywhere they wanted. Now, all of a sudden Hans and Kyoko have the same ability. Are any bells ringing? Remember, Hans and Kyoko betrayed The Watchers and risked their lives to save these Nathorites. I think it's obvious Hans and Kyoko were working with the Nathorites."
The room was silent as they thought over what Bakes had said. "So what now?" asked Estaci.
"I think it's obvious," Ossar said. "We need to rescue all those who went out in the shuttle, if they're still alive."
"And what if Hans and Kyoko are still alive?" asked Eva. "Are you going to try and kill them again, Bakes?"
Bakes opened his mouth to answer, but Akristh cut him off. "No he's not. Hans is one of the team, you can't kill him."
"So was Jistap," Bakes responded. "So is Gaius."
"Before we do anything, we need information from Hans," Ziet said. "That he was working with the Nathorites is a sound theory, but we need to know for sure. If he is working with them, he can tell us what they're trying to do, why they want us to leave the city, and if they are behind the malfunctioning satellite. If he's not working with them, then we need to find out how he was able to do the things he did."
"Fair enough," Bakes decided. "Well bring Hans and Kyoko back for questioning, and then decide their fate later. The next question is, since the satellite is not working, nor communications to the ship, how do we find them?"
"We know what their course was," Estaci said. "We can follow that."
"And if that doesn't work?" Bakes asked.
"Then I guess we'll have to do it the hard way," Akristh said. "Talk to those who live outside the city, see if they saw anything. Check around."
Bakes sneered. "Do you know how long that will take?"
"If I have to go over every square centimeter of Fabulae, I'll find them Bakes, you can count on that," Akristh answered.