Starfire: Return to Tamaran

Scene 10: Trust Issues

Blackfire had not expected Gormileaux to be back so soon. In fact, she had been hoping he would never come back at all. He had now called for an audience with Trogaar. Although upset about Gormileaux still being alive, Blackfire knew something was up, and she intended to find out why.

After learning she was invited to the meeting, Blackfire wasted no time making her way to the throne room that had once belonged to her father. The novelty of her own people under subjugation was starting to die out. For Blackfire, she wouldn't feel like the job was complete until she had finally killed her sister.

She still, however, got amusement out of holding information over the rest of the Tamaranians, particularly about what had become of the emperor. Blackfire had read the reports. Shortly after having Starfire dragged from the throne on the day Tamaran fell, Trogaar had ordered all of the subjects of the emperor present be killed. Then the emperor had been locked in the darkest cell in the palace's dungeon, though as far as the people were concerned, he was dead.

Now Blackfire had arrived at the meeting, seating herself as close to Gormileaux as she could. She had no intention of missing anything he said, because she had to know what he had done to plan her next move to get rid of him. Also, she might learn what his plan was to kill her.

Trogaar started the meeting as soon as the last officer was present and seated. "Commander Gormileaux, welcome back. You have returned sooner than I had expected. Surely you could not have acquired an extensive list of potential targets for us to invade already? So tell us, what is the reason for the early return of you and your men?"

With his head bowed so no one could see him smirking, Gormileaux replied, "My lord, we were following your orders to the letter, but we were forced to abort."

"And why is that?" demanded Trogaar.

"We were in orbit over a planet when another ship came out of lightspeed. As soon as they saw us, the crew began to fire their cannons at us. We only had just enough time to escape in one of our fighters. Fortunately, the debris was enough to damage their ship and cause them to crash onto the planet's surface."

Talking broke out all at once, but Blackfire remained silent. She alone had seen Gormileaux smirk, and she could tell he was lying about the circumstances in which his crew had lost their ship. Whatever the real reason, it had been deliberate. Of this she was sure.

Trogaar held up a hand to restore order, then he stared back down at Gormileaux. "Tell me, commander, what planet were you currently in orbit when this ship attacked you? Also, can you identify the design of this ship?"

"I can, my lord," replied Gormileaux. "The planet were orbiting over was Kraitoria. As for the ship, and it will be hard for you to believe this, but the ship looked like its planet of origin was none other than Krypton. I am not making this up. It looked distinctly Kryptonian."

Talk threatened to break out again, but Trogaar stood up now. "I highly doubt this ship that attacked you was Kryptonian, but an attack nonetheless is unprecedented. You say you were orbiting over Kraitoria when the ship attacked you?"

Gormileaux nodded, and Blackfire stood up. "Lord Trogaar, may I speak?" When he nodded yes, she continued to say, "Personally, I doubt this attack was orchestrated by the Kraitorians. The people there are nothing more than weak minded fools and pacifists. However, they are, assuming Commander Gormileaux's story is accurate, harboring criminals of war. Therefore, I propose we send a small strike force to find the attackers and kill anyone who tries to conceal them. I believe it will only take a single squad to carry out the mission."

There was silence as Trogaar, along with all the officers, considered Blackfire's words. Blackfire herself took the moment to turn her attention back to Gormileaux. He was staring back at her, looking suspicious. Already, she was using his own words to seize power and make herself look more important than him.