Retired

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Several hours of walking through the tunnels brought us to the location I sought. We had to surface and walk for a few yards, but it was what we needed at this point. We all smelled like a sewer. That could not be helped right now.

I heard the princess gasp as she saw where we were headed. The sign on the motel said, "Hourly Rates".

"Your majesty, it might offend your sensibilities, but it will keep you alive."

"I will survive, Drake. Do you think the rooms have showers?"

I smiled. "I know they do, but you might want to wear a body condom when you get in one."

Several of the men laughed. This place was well known among the regular troops. I turned to one of my battalion troops who had managed to stay with us. "Go rent one of the party rooms, and let the proprietor know we will need lots of towels."

"Yes, sir."

Then I turned to one of my men. "Go to the local mega-mart and get us some changes of clothes. Nothing fancy -- just ordinary street clothes."

"On it, sir."

I turned to another one of my men. "Go with him. We will need cleaning supplies and bath products."

"On it, sir."

Then I turned to the royal couple. "No offence meant, but we are all going to forget how to say, 'Your majesty' for a while. You will just be Asta and Robert, a couple of party animals."

"I will make a deal with you, Drake. If you get us out of this alive, you have royal permission to use those names for the rest of our lives." The prince spoke with a tone of gravity.

"If I get us out of this alive, I will be happy just to be alive."

We had our room a few minutes later. I was glad this motel had these party rooms. They were large and had several bedrooms off the edges. I stationed sentries at each of the windows, and started to rotate people out for showers. Our uniforms and clothes went in the garbage a few buildings away. Then I casually set fire to the trash dumpster.

For some reason, it brought me a lot of pleasure watching the career bars, with the ribbons for my metals, burn.

We waited for two days. I made no contact with the troops during this time. I watched the news and when the space rangers arrived, I left the hotel to walk a couple miles away. I had left a note for the general of the gold unit to move the packages to a new location.

Once I was comfortable, I activated my bob. "All forces, this is Silver Two actual. You are to surrender to the Space Rangers, pending investigation. Space Rangers this is Silver Two actual. I am assuming command of your forces under imperial order until further notice. Anyone who flees surrender is to be terminated with prejudice."

"This is General Maragrass. Is that you, Drake?"

"Yes, this is General Drake Daemon."

"Is your package safe?"

"I have two packages in my care."

"Give us a location, and we will come pick you up."

"Negative on request until the traitors are identified. I have trusted too far at this point. I will turn myself in for scan once I am at base."

"I will send a car to pick you up."

"I will take a cab."

An hour later, I was dropped off at the gate to the command base. I walked up to the Space Rangers standing guard and placed my weapons in their care. Then I turned and placed my hands behind my back.

I was cuffed and escorted to the general of the Space Rangers. Once there, I was interrogated under a truth beam. I was cleared an hour later. Grand Marshall Pralla Waynscott ushered me into her office. "What are your commands?", she asked.

"Once everyone on the base has been scanned and verified, I will call in the shadow group. They will bring the emperor and his wife to us. Then we will scan them all. Have the scans turned anything up?"

"We have three traffic controllers, two officers and a member of the Praetorian Guard in custody for collusion to commit regicide. There are also a couple dozen people in custody for accepting bribes. This came very close to working."

"I know. Now we have a mess to clean up."

It was three days later when I contacted Gold leader. "Gold actual, this is Silver Two actual. Bring the bunnies home."

"What is the status code?"

"The status code is blood red."

"Affirmative, we will meet at the pre-agreed location."

I was on the shuttle that went out to pick them up. The Grand Marshall was standing behind me as the shuttle came down. "This is an awfully open area for a pick up, Drake."

"It is perfect -- trust me."

"What about those people over there? Any one of them could be a threat." When she spoke this time, the people she pointed out spun and drew weapons.

"Place your hands behind your back, Pralla. They won't bring out the packages until we are secure."

She looked at me closely. "You really don't trust anyone, do you?"

"It is not me who has to trust here. There are two very scared members of the royal family who have just had a very rough week over there."

Pralla and I turned our backs and placed our hands behind them. Gold leader came on board and slapped me on the shoulder. "Is she uncompromised?"

"I read her scan report myself. She is clear and so are both of the pilots."

"Ma'am, you may turn around."

We both turned around and watched as the people moved to the shuttle. When they came on board, Pralla asked where the royal couple was.

The prince chuckled as he pulled the hat off his wife's head and let her hair tumble down. "We were two of the people with guns pointed at you, Pralla." He then turned to me. "Is my father dead?"

"Yes, your majesty. They did not get him into the shelter in time."

Robert then put his hand on my shoulder. "You will call me 'Robert', my friend."

The flight back to base was uneventful. When the men on the ship saw the people there to scan and verify them, they started to question me.

Robert put an end to those questions when he stepped forward. "I would have myself and my wife scanned first. There should be no doubt about my loyalty to my father."

I had more respect for the man that was now our emperor than I ever thought possible.

The emperor turned to me. "You are in absolute command until I am verified."

I bowed to him. Then Asta came up and kissed my cheek. "Thank you, Drake."

I looked at the emperor with real worry in my eyes. That simple kiss could send me so deep into the dog house I would never see daylight again. Robert just smiled and walked down the ramp.