Your Truth is Out There (Find Your Truth Book 1) (37 page)

“Thank you, Xtlar,” said Gsefx. “And, I’d like to apologize for accusing you of being in league with Ricnor. I won’t make any excuses, except to say that the last several rotations have been more than a bit stressful.”

“No need to apologize, my dear boy. Is there any word on Lhvunsa and Qilzar? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Oh yes, it seems I left the best part of the story out. With some assistance from our Earthling friends, they’ve managed to escape. We’re on our way to meet up with them now.”

“Thank the Gods,” said Xtlar. “That is good news.”

“Have him tell the cops about Ricnor’s gang,” said Henry softly as he nudged Gsefx.

“What was that?” said Xtlar.

“Oh yes,” said Gsefx. “I don’t seem to be thinking very clearly at the moment. Perhaps because I haven’t slept in several rotations. All that aside, during the escape, Lhvunsa, Qilzar, and our Earthling friends managed to trap most of Ricnor’s gang in their headquarters on the planet Mindaal. Unfortunately, the call that was supposed to go to the GCP never made it. Since you’re calling them anyway, can you have the GCP dispatch some units to Mindaal to pick up Ricnor’s gang before they find a way to escape?”

Xtlar stared back at the screen with a dumbfounded look on his face.

“Gsefx,” he said, “you’re telling me that over the past few rotations, rather than come to work as you were supposed to, you conspired with a handful of beings from a primitive planet, a planet that’s not even part of the Galactic Community, to not only rescue your wife and supervisor, but to also capture the most notorious criminal gang in the entire galaxy. Is that about right?”

“Well,” said Gsefx, “yes sir, that’s about right. Although, we still haven’t captured Ricnor yet. Sir, I know I’m out of a job, but if you give me another chance, I know we can still meet the deadline on the Pigawitts account.”

Xtlar could do nothing but laugh at this. The more he tried to stop, the harder he laughed. Soon, Gsefx and Henry had joined him, until all three were laughing, although while Xtlar’s was a jovial, laugh of pleasure, Gsefx and Henry were laughing more out of general hysteria than anything else.

“Gsefx, my dear boy,” said Xtlar when he’d finally gained the ability to speak again, “in the first place, you’ve never lost your job. If you recall, I may have had you escorted from the building, but I never fired you. Secondly, anyone who can do what you’ve just done is someone I want to work with for as long as I possibly can. Go and see your wife and Qilzar, and come back when you’re ready. In the meantime, I’ll make sure the GCP gets out to Mindaal and starts looking for Planvc.”

“Thank you, sir, for everything,” said Gsefx, breathing a sigh of relief for the first time in a very long while.”

Xtlar nodded, then reached forward and disconnected from his vidcon.

Gsefx took a deep breath, stretched as best he could within the confines of his cramped vehicle and looked over at Henry.

“Thank you for insisting we call Xtlar,” he said. “I haven’t felt this much at peace in a long time.”

“Hey, that’s what I’m here for,” said Henry with a smile.

“I’m going to put us on auto-pilot and go to sleep for a while, if that’s okay with you. It’s been a very long time.”

“Of course. I can’t think of anyone who deserves some rest more than you do.”

“Thank you, Henry.”

“Gsefx?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Lhvunsa scanned the horizon for her husband’s vehicle from the front seat of the ship that, up until a few sars ago, belonged to the most infamous criminal in the galaxy. They had been parked for the past thirty ebyts at the refueling hub and restaurant where they were to meet Gsefx and the Earthling artist, Henry. Lhvunsa was excited to see her husband again, to hold him in her arms and feel his lips against hers, but she was also a bit apprehensive. A lot had happened over these past few rotations, and neither of them were the same as they were when they were last together.

Will we be okay?
She thought.
Will our relationship be as good as it was before? How do we pick up and go forward after so much has happened?

And there was still the secret she had kept from him. The violence she never thought herself capable had now become second nature. Since her capture and rescue by General Alcorn, she had become as much a soldier as she had ever been an architect. Moreover, she was shocked by how quickly she had made the transformation. The self-defense training had been more about helping her feel better about the break-in than anything else. She’d never really expected to put what she’d learned into practice. But circumstances had changed and here she was, someone who was just as comfortable with an obliterator in her hand as she was with any of her drawing tools.

But there was a larger issue than all of that. She had taken life from the universe, which meant she could never bring life into it. While that bothered her, she had no regrets over the lives she’d taken. From the moment she had first held an obliterator in her hands at the start of her weapons training, she knew this outcome was a possibility. Whether or not she was aware of it, she had prepared herself for this eventuality. Had she not taken the action she had at Ricnor’s headquarters, they would all be dead or still imprisoned in Ricnor’s cells—herself, Qilzar, General Alcorn and Theo. It had taken all of them, working together, to escape, and she would not mourn the deaths of a few violent criminals, even though the personal cost she had to pay was high.

I just hope Gsefx will … well … in truth, I’m not sure what I’m hoping for,
she thought,
other than that we will find a way to be okay.

A noise from the rear seat shook her from her thoughts. It was the General. Apparently some Earthlings didn’t breathe properly when they slept and made sounds unlike anything she’d ever heard before.

“What a horrible sound he makes, don’t you think?” said Qilzar, who sat next to her in the pilot’s seat. “I can’t imagine how anyone gets any sleep around someone who makes that kind of noise.”

“It’s called snoring, and it’s not so bad,” said Lhvunsa, concealing her true feelings about the horrific sounds. “The General and his son are good souls. We wouldn’t be here without them.”

“True enough,” said Qilzar, an uncharacteristic smile on his face. “I like them both as well. And he’s right, you know. The General, I mean.”

Lhvunsa gave Qilzar a curious look. “About what, exactly?”

“About Gsefx. About him being the kind of natural leader everyone wants to follow. If you remember, I said as much not so long ago, which is why I was always so jealous of him. But all of that’s behind us now. Lhvunsa, after what we’ve been through, you need to know that while I may be his supervisor at work, I would follow him anywhere—and I would follow you, as well.”

Lhvunsa reached over and took Qilzar’s hand. “Thank you, Qilzar. That means more than you know.”

Qilzar squeezed her hand and smiled, then seemed to catch something out of the corner of his eye.

“Ah, they’re here,” he said, turning fully toward the front. “Shall I wake our friends?”

“Not just yet,” said Lhvunsa, standing and moving toward the door. She bent down and gave Qilzar a kiss on the cheek. “Give me a moment with my husband, first.”

“Of course, my dear.”

Lhvunsa opened the vehicle door and stepped outside just in time to watch Gsefx and his Earthling companion land their ship. In a span of time that at once seemed to pass by in a flash and last forever, Gsefx was in her arms and all that had happened over the past several rotations just melted away, for they were together once again. Later, when she would reflect back on this moment, Lhvunsa would try to recall how long they embraced, but the only memory that would ever be clear to her was how the entire galaxy paused as she and Gsefx stood at its center. As they held one another, she knew, beyond any doubt, that their relationship would be just fine, no matter what the galaxy might throw at them. She could have stayed in that moment forever, and would have, gladly, but they were interrupted by the sound of someone shuffling around close by.

“As much as I hate to break up your reunion,” said the voice attached to the shuffling, “I think we’re being waved in.”

Against her every desire, Lhvunsa pulled her body away from Gsefx, kissed him one last time, then looked toward the speaker.

“And you must be Henry,” she said, reaching out her hand, “my husband’s newest best friend, and the galaxy’s foremost artist.”

“At your service, ma’am,” said Henry gently taking her hand and nodding. He released her hand and pointed at Lhvunsa’s ship. “But I really think they want us to get inside.”

Lhvunsa looked back up to see Qilzar, Alcorn, and Theo motioning for them to come back inside the ship.

“I guess we’d better go,” said Lhvunsa, a conspiratorial smile forming on her lips.

“After you, my darling,” said Gsefx.

Lhvunsa climbed back up into the ship first and looked around.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Why the rush for us to get back into the ship?”

“Shhh … listen,” said Qilzar, working some controls on the console, as the others followed close behind and began reuniting with one another. “I was checking to see if there had been any news reports and, well, see for yourself …”

The vidcon lit up with a news broadcast.

Repeating the breaking news out of Mindaal, the GCP is reporting that in a daring raid on what was believed to be the headquarters of the infamous Ricnor Gang, it has apprehended more than three hundred suspects. Along with the suspects, the GCP has also discovered an unspecified number of warehouses of merchandise believed to be stolen, as well as an untold number of weapons and vehicles. Said one GCP official, “We are just scratching the surface of what’s here. It could be several rotations before we have a total of just how much stolen merchandise and other items we’re going to find.” Officials said this raid came after nearly a full turn of deep undercover work. They also would not comment on if Ricnor himself was among the suspects apprehended.

“Bastards!” spat a clearly disgusted Alcorn. “I guess it doesn’t matter how evolved you get, politicians never change. They let someone else do the work and then they take the credit.”

“Now, General,” said Lhvunsa, attempting to articulate the voice of reason, “would you prefer they had told the truth? That an accountant, his wife, his boss, and three Earthlings, who, in the course of fighting for their lives, also just happened to bring down the Ricnor Gang?”

“I don’t know,” said Henry, “sounds like a pretty compelling story to me. The truth usually is.”

“It makes no difference,” said Qilzar with a wave of his hand. “What’s done is done and we need to plan our next step.”

“As usual, Qilzar, you are correct,” said Alcorn. “I will let it go. But before we plan our next step, how about something to eat. I’m famished, and even though I don’t speak your language, I’m pretty sure that’s a restaurant over there. So what do you say we go and grab a bite?”

“We should probably stay out of sight,” said Qilzar. “Ricnor is still out there somewhere and who knows what kind of spy network he has. We still don’t know who his boss is.”

“Actually we do,” said Gsefx quietly.

“We do?” Asked Qilzar, turning toward Gsefx. “Who is it?”

“Was it that Pigawitts fella, like you thought?” asked Alcorn.

Lhvunsa watched the pained look on her husband’s face grow deeper as he struggled to answer.

“Gsefx, what’s wrong?” she asked. “Who is Ricnor’s boss?”

“It’s Planvc,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “It’s been Planvc all along. All this time, he’s acted as though he was my best friend, all the while betraying me, betraying us, and we had no idea what he was doing.”

“Planvc?” said Qilzar. “That can’t be. He’s not …”

Lhvunsa, never taking her eyes from her husband, reached over and silenced the Dremin with a gentle touch to his arm.

“It was him, Qilzar,” said Gsefx, “there’s no room for doubt … and I will say no more about it for now, except that we needn’t worry about hiding from him. Xtlar has the GCP looking for him and I doubt he’ll be too concerned with us.”

Gsefx looked over at Qilzar.

“However, Qilzar is correct that we should keep a low profile. Would you and Theo mind going into the restaurant and bringing back some food for us?”

Qilzar seemed surprised, first by the support and second by the request. He quickly glanced at Lhvunsa, who smiled at him and nodded her approval.

“Yes, Gsefx, of course,” he said, rising from the pilot’s seat and moving toward the door. “Come along, Theo. I apologize that this will be your first introduction to intergalactic cuisine, as it’s far from the best we have to offer, but I’m sure we can find something everyone will enjoy.”

As Qilzar and Theo left the ship, Gsefx took the pilot’s seat. Lhvunsa sat down next to him and overheard Henry ask Alcorn something about ‘finding his truth’ as they settled in toward the rear of the ship, but she gave them little attention. She was too concerned about her husband.

“I can’t believe Planvc could do this to us, to you,” said Gsefx, as she took his hand. “He wasn’t just my friend, he was my closest friend. I trusted him. I just can’t believe he could betray us like this. More than that, I can’t believe he fooled me so thoroughly. I didn’t see any of it coming.”

“I know how hard this must be for you, my love,” said Lhvunsa. “You were always so close to him, but it wasn’t your fault. He fooled everyone. He fooled all of us.”

“That’s no excuse, and you of all people, Lhvunsa, should know it. But that doesn’t even matter. What I really don’t understand is why. Why would he do this to us? To me?”

Lhvunsa took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. She hated what she was going to have to say next, but Gsefx needed to hear it, and she was the only one who could say it to him.

“Gsefx, you must listen to me very carefully now,” she said. “You are a kind, wonderful, caring soul who wants to see the best in everyone around you. That’s one of the things I love about you, but it also tends to blind you to the faults in others.”