Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1) (36 page)

“Not now, not from this vehicle fleeing the scene,” said Lhvunsa. “But, we’re not doing nothing General. We’re contacting the one you said is the only leader you would ever agree to serve. We’re contacting my husband, Gsefx.”

Gsefx focused on looking straight ahead as they rode the lift back down to the lobby and not at the four Galacticount guards surrounding him. He’d warned Henry not to say a word, as the Earthling’s escorts had forced him onto the previous lift. They were probably already in the lobby by now.

Gsefx had really screwed up this time and he knew it. No amount of fast talking or deal making was going to get him out of it, either. The GCP would be waiting for them just outside Galacticount’s doors and they would both be arrested for trespassing, slander, and whatever other charges Xtlar, Tsedle, and Pigawitts could come up with. He’d seen it before and had, in fact, participated in it as well, with other former Galacticount employees.

If it were just a disgruntled ex-employee looking to give the boss a piece of their mind, the charges were usually nothing more than a way for the company to flex their muscles and scare the individual into silent submission. But, if Xtlar was truly the one behind all of this, as it now seemed certain, there was little doubt that he and Henry would spend the rest of their lives rotting in a GCP prison on Elnor Prime, or worse.

They reached the lobby and exited the lift. Henry and his guards were waiting by the main doors. Henry looked as if he was about to say something as he approached but Gsefx shook his head to silence him. The less said the better. The guards opened the doors and escorted them outside. At that point, all but one of the guards, an Ilvian named Risplin, turned around and went back inside. Gsefx looked around, but there were no GCP vehicles anywhere in sight.

“My instructions are to escort you to your vehicle and watch you leave Galacticount property,” said Risplin, in response to Gsefx’s unasked question. “Should you decide not to cooperate in this request, or return to Galacticount property, you will be held by security until the GCP arrives, at which time you will be prosecuted to the full extent of galactic law.”

Gsefx was stunned, so much so that he had no idea what to say.

“What are we waiting for?” said Henry, who didn’t seem to suffer from the same problem. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

As Henry started walking toward the ship, Gsefx snapped out of his daze and hurried to catch up.

“I don’t understand this,” he said to Henry in a whisper when they were walking side-by-side again. “I expected the GCP to be here to arrest us and take us off to jail.”

“Don’t question it,” said Henry. “Just be thankful and let’s get out of here.”

“Yes, I think you’re right.”

They got to Gsefx’s vehicle, with Risplin right behind them, watching their every move.

“I need to reach into my pocket so I can unlock my vehicle,” said Gsefx, turning back to the guard. “I don’t want you to think I’m reaching for anything else.”

Risplin nodded. “Proceed.”

Gsefx reached into his pocket, touched his control, opened his vehicle, and moved to get in. As he did so, Risplin moved toward him and reached out his hand.

“On a personal note, Et Gsefx, I’ve taken no pleasure in my duties today. I’ve always enjoyed working with you and I wish you great fortune ahead.”

Gsefx looked at the guard’s hand, then shook it.

“Thank you, Risplin. I’ve enjoyed working with you as well. I will miss Galacticount and all of you who have made it such a great place to be. May great fortune find you as well.”

Gsefx climbed into his vehicle and buckled himself in. Henry was already in and ready to go.

“What is it, Gsefx? What’s wrong now?”

“Nothing,” said Gsefx. “Not here, at least. Let’s go.”

He fired up his vehicle, gave Risplin a final wave, and flew off. When they were safely off Galacticount property and far enough away to be well out of sight, Gsefx held up a tiny piece of metal and showed it to Henry.

“What is that?” asked Henry.

“You remember how I said it was odd that the GCP wasn’t there waiting to haul us away?”

“Yes, but …”

“Well, it was odder still that Risplin would say goodbye like that,” said Gsefx.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Henry. “I’ve had a lot of jobs, and have been escorted off the premises more than once. Just because the head honchos don’t like you any more doesn’t mean everybody hates you. The security guard is just …”

“Henry, for someone who sees the truth in things, you’re completely missing the point. He wasn’t actually saying goodbye. He was giving me this.”

“Oh, I see,” said Henry, whose face was turning a bright shade of red. “Sorry, I was just trying to help you feel better about losing your job. I know how much it meant to you. That’s all.”

“Thank you, Henry, I appreciate that,” said Gsefx, who now felt bad for mocking his friend. “But right now, I care more about getting my wife and our friends back alive than I do about that job. Let’s see what this is all about.”

He stuck the metal fragment into a tiny slot on the ship’s console and a string of numbers popped up on the vidcon.

“What does that mean?” asked Henry.

“Hmmm … it’s code.” said Gsefx, “But not the standard internal Galacticount code. This is different, somehow.”

“Can you break it?”

“Break it? Oh, you mean decipher it? Yes, I think so.”

Gsefx looked at it, then used the keys on his console to tinker with the numbers before finally leaning back in his seat with a puzzled look on his face.

“I’ve deciphered it, but it doesn’t make any sense.”

“What does it say?”

“Wait 30 ebyts, then call. Xtlar.”

“Xtlar?” asked Henry. “Isn’t he the one who just had us thrown out? The one who was most definitely lying about or hiding something?”

“Yes, the very same.”

“So what are we going to do?”

Gsefx checked the time.

“It’s already been nearly ten ebyts,” he said. “We’re going to wait another twenty and then call him. In the meantime …”

He was interrupted by an incoming call on the vidcon.

“Is that him calling you?” said Henry. “I thought he wanted us to wait.”

“He does,” said Gsefx. “This isn’t him. I don’t recognize the number.” He looked at Henry. “Sit back, out of view and stay quiet. If this is someone who doesn’t know about you, I’d like to keep it that way.

Henry nodded in agreement and moved as far away from the vidcon as he could. Once his friend was out of range, Gsefx pressed the answer key.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hello to you, my love,” replied his beautiful Lhvunsa, who appeared to be doing all she could to contain herself.

“Lhvunsa! You’re safe! Thank the Gods!”

“Yes, thank the Gods, and you, General Alcorn, his son Theo, and, of course, our dear friend Qilzar.”

“You’re all there? And everyone is okay? So the plan worked? Tell me everything.”

“Yes, my darling, I will, but let me just look at you for a moment. The General told me that you’d be okay, that you were better prepared than I might have thought, but I still worried for you. Did you find out who is behind it all? Was it Xtlar, as Qilzar and I suspected?”

Gsefx’s joy at seeing his wife slipped away suddenly.

“What? You suspected all along it was Xtlar? How did you … what made you … what do you mean?”

Lhvunsa held her hand up to silence him.

“Explanations can wait until we are together again. Things did not go completely as planned, and while we’re safe for the moment, we won’t be for long unless we take immediate action.”

Gsefx set his jaw and steeled himself for what was to come next.

“Tell me,” he said.

“The GCP never showed and Ricnor’s gang regained consciousness before we realized it. They also found a stash of weapons that were unaffected by what you did. We barely escaped but we managed to disable all of their vehicles. At least the ones in the local area. But unless the GCP arrives soon, they will escape.”

“I’ll take care of it,” said Gsefx, “just as soon as we finish here.”

“There’s one more thing,” said Lhvunsa. “Ricnor escaped.”

Gsefx tried not to react, but it was too much to keep in.

“By the Gods, how? He should have been rendered unconscious like everyone else.”

“Yes, my love, he should have but he wasn’t. We almost had him but he had help, and, well, there wasn’t anything we could do to stop him.”

This isn’t Lhvunsa’s fault,
he thought.
If anything, it’s yours. The whole plan had been a long shot anyway, so don’t go blaming her just because things didn’t go as planned.

“No, of course there wasn’t,” he said aloud, trying not to let his wife see his disappointment and unease. “I’m just happy that you’re all safe. We’ll figure a way out of this, I’m sure of that. We still have half the paintings, which means we still have negotiating power. Now, in the meantime, we must figure out a safe place to meet.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” said Lhvunsa. “How about where we met after our last visit to Earth?”

“Yes, excellent choice. We can be there in about three sars. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again.”

Lhvunsa smiled at him. “I will see you soon, my love.”

Gsefx watched as she reached toward her screen, pressed a button, and then disappeared from view. He sat motionless, thinking of how long it had been since he’d last held her in his arms. His thoughts scattered when a hand touched his shoulder.

“Hey, are you still with me?” asked Henry. “We’re not out of the woods yet. You still need to call that Xtlar guy.”

Gsefx shook off the daydream of his beautiful wife and of holding her in his arms once again. Henry was right, there was still a lot to be done.

“Yes, but first I need to call the GCP.”

“The police? Are you nuts? We just got thrown out of your building, and you said yourself that you were surprised they weren’t waiting there to haul us away.”

“But they weren’t and we need to make sure Ricnor’s gang doesn’t escape.”

“Call this Xtlar guy first. Find out what his involvement is in all of this. It won’t take long to figure out, then we’ll call the cops.”

Gsefx thought about it, but couldn’t decide what to do. His instincts told him to trust Henry and call Xtlar, but his logical side told him the clock was ticking and that he needed to call the GCP now or Ricnor’s gang would get away, and they would all be doomed.

“Gsefx,” said Henry softly, “you brought me on this little adventure of yours for a reason. For some strange reason, you trust my ability to see the truth in people, or beings, for lack of a better word, even though it’s an ability I’ve never claimed to have. But now that I’m here, trust my instincts, not just about people or beings, but about situations too. Call Xtlar, it’s the right move.”

Gsefx nodded in agreement, reached over to the vidcon and punched in the number to Xtlar’s direct line. It took only a moment before Xtlar’s image appeared on the screen.

“You’re late,” said the Fweurlian. “I wasn’t sure you’d call at all, but I’m glad you did.”

“I wasn’t sure I was going to call either, knowing what I know,” said Gsefx. “Tell me, sir, how long have you been working with Ricnor and his gang?”

“Ricnor? You mean the Ricnor, of the Ricnor Criminal Gang? Gsefx, have you completely lost your mind?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Xtlar, you’ve been in on this from the beginning, otherwise you wouldn’t have had Galacticount security throw us out before I could get to the source, which as it turns out was you all along.”

“Gsefx, what in the name of the Gods are you talking about? I had you thrown out because it appeared you had falsified those files in an attempt to frame Pigawitts for something he clearly hadn’t done. I was trying to save you from yourself, and get you out of there before things went too far and you found yourself in a corner with no way out.”

Gsefx started to say something, but Henry grabbed his arm.

“Gsefx, he’s telling the truth,” he said. “He’s not involved with Ricnor.”

“Gsefx, what in the name of the Gods is going on with you?” said Xtlar.

Gsefx rubbed his eyes and let out a long, deep sigh.

“It’s a long story, sir, but the short version is that Ricnor kidnapped my wife, and Qilzar and someone at Galacticount is involved.”

“By the Gods!” said Xtlar, a look of shock on his face, which turned to horror as the depth of the situation sunk in. “Oh Gods, Gsefx, I am sorry. Lhvunsa and Qilzar both? And you thought I was involved … no … you thought Pigawitts … but surely you could tell that the files had been falsified? A cursory look wouldn’t reveal anything, but anyone with your skills would have looked deeper and easily found the …”

“I didn’t look at the files at all,” said Gsefx, his heart sinking as he realized who had betrayed him. “I trusted the one who gave them to me, and he knew it. He knew I wouldn’t look at them.”

“Who?” asked Xtlar. “Who gave you those files, Gsefx?”

Gsefx felt his heart breaking as he revealed the name of the traitor.

“It was Planvc. It’s been Planvc all along.”

“Planvc?” said Xtlar. “I find that hard to believe. I can’t imagine he’d even have a job if you hadn’t been watching out for him all of these turns.”

“I’ve watched out for him, Xtlar, because he has always been unfairly discriminated against simply for not being a native of our galaxy. Add to that his lack of social graces or political savvy, and yes, he was someone who needed a friend. Put all that aside and you’ll find that Planvc is a brilliant accountant, and certainly intellectually sharp enough to pull this off. Especially when it’s the last thing his best friend would ever suspect of him.”

If Xtlar still had his doubts, he didn’t voice them. His reply was, instead, much softer and more compassionate.

“I’m sorry, Gsefx,” he said. “I know you valued his friendship. Even so, I must send security to pick him up.”

“He’s already gone,” replied Gsefx. “I told him to go before I came up and interrupted your meeting.”

Xtlar let out what seemed to be an exasperated sigh. “Very well, I’ll contact the GCP and have them start looking for him.”