Chapter 329
“He’s on his way now?” Suierrillax asked, incredulous. She already had her hands full with a near-endless stream of paperwork, and this was the last thing that she needed.
“Yep,” Jarberry said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “It moves up our timeline a little bit, but we can work with it. You’ve got things handled here. I’ll meet you both when I can.”
“Jarberry, don’t you dare-“
Before she could finish, the imp already vanished. She shook her head, trying to hide the smile. It had been frustrating wading through never-ending administrative blocks for Kyle’s return. This development would only add to the complexity, as technically he wasn’t reinstated by the Collective. His apartment had been released, his assets seized, and his privileges as a Collective citizen revoked.
Moreover, his former sponsor was not currently held in high regard. Their reputation was tarnished after the disaster on Kertan Six, coupling an incompetent raid with a gross overreaction on behalf of Angela Corthus. The mining company had to sell off tons of assets, including several of their more lucrative mines just to stay operable. While the Collective would reinstate him in their own sweet time, the lack of a sponsor slowed things down.
At first, she’d asked if Jarberry could simply sponsor him, but as part of the Collective Guilds, they were prohibited from doing so. Worse still, the report that came back indicated that Kyle was still heavily injured. C Grades had certain expectations throughout the Collective Guild system, and if he was truly damaged to the point of near-incapacity, their hands would be even more tied.
And, to top it all off, there was even some concern that Kyle had been infested with the awakened fungus that started the whole mess in the first place. The Collective was in the process of reaching out to the membership for representatives, and were planning to hold a full hearing and examination to determine the outcome. His early arrival would only add complexity to that timeline, as they needed to figure out what to do with him in the interim. A lot of bureaucrats were going to have a very bad time, Suierrillax among them.
And she was thrilled. No matter the outcomes, no matter the headwinds, her Courier was coming back. The headaches and preparations really didn’t mean much in light of that simple fact. Plus, she doubted his condition was as bad as people were making it out to be. She remembered how underestimated he’d been during his Practicum; his lack of flashiness causing most people to ignore him early on. She’d known he was special then, and that hadn’t changed now.
With a grin, Suierrillax sent a message to D’Oillelat. The goblin queen was learning the politics game well, and they were already cooking up a plan to help speed things along for his return. They would just need to accelerate their timelines.
~~~
Jarberry zipped across the Hub at full speed, only bothering to maintain four different layers of stealth active. Time was of the essence, and he wasn’t going to allow his desire for a perfect plan to ruin a perfectly good one. Ghork’s message indicated that Kyle had managed to subdue a peak D Grade attacker who was affiliated with an anti-Archdrake group. This made sense, given that Jarberry intercepted a message from a certain goblin reaching out to the same group.
He'd been hoping for more evidence, and had been tracking everything the scholar said and did since his interaction with Kyle; even going so far as to steal his nav bracelet to get copies of all the messages prior to the trip to Kertan Six. The bracelets were meant to be nearly impossible to steal and use, at least for anybody below B Grade, but Jarberry was a noted exception to that rule.
Removing the bracelets was the trickiest part, after that he simply needed to shift his mana signature to be an exact match for the person who owned the bracelet, and he’d be in. In this case, he’d copied over hundreds of messages exchanged with several Gray Conglomerate businesses, all looking for insider information on upcoming planetary bids. His exchanges regarding Kyle specifically were related to his theory that Mayhew had used a World Tree Seed as a life-saving measure, and from context Jarberry could tell that this scholar, Finn’el, was communicating with the intention of this anti-Archdrake group gaining access to the World Tree Seed.
Ideally, Jarberry would have liked to wait and see what else the goblin was getting up to before elevating further, but for now, he needed the leverage. The mark he’d placed on the scholar indicated that he was still at his residence; a humble home with an attached garden and lab module. It was a cute space; larger than he thought the goblin should have been able to afford, but still reasonable for a D Grade entering their twilight years.
With a wave of his hand, he activated Stasis Field, rendering the space magically inert. Flicking his wrist, the seals around the door unraveled for a moment, as did the handful of silent alarms designed to go off if the seals were broken. This level of security wasn’t unheard of for D Grades, but again was far beyond the norm. Activating Phase, Jarberry strolled through the now-mundane door, restoring the alarms and seals as he allowed them to resume function. In his experience, it was always best to relock the door after coming in. Less surprises that way.
The goblin was sitting at a desk, focused on a handful of screens in front of him. The imp took a snapshot of the screens, superimposing an image of them with Illusory Projection as Stasis Field activated once again. The goblin didn’t even notice as his time slowed, giving Jarberry the setup he needed to activate his signature skill, Collector’s Avarice. The space around the unsuspecting goblin shrunk, the projected illusion along with it, as he was drawn into a small box that fit in the palm of Jarberry’s diminutive hand.
With his work done, he disabled the wards on the front door again; reestablishing them as he took off into the sky. By the time the goblin scholar realized he’d been taken, he’d already be in an Archdrake Supremacy prison. Kyle Mayhew was going to need leverage for his transition back to the Collective, and Jarberry wanted the Survivalist on his side, now more than ever. The imp let out a soft sigh as he snagged a private teleporter toward the nearest Archdrake Supremacy embassy. If only we had more time.
~~~
A broad smile crossed Kyle’s face as he looked out at the approaching lights of the Hub. He’d grown numb to it over the years, but the sight of it after so long nearly took his breath away. The Hub was a nearly-endless chain of stars, bound by massive construction that siphoned energy away to fuel the temperature regulation and habitations on the surrounding planets and civilizations. Without A Grade power at play, it was a feat of engineering that would have been completely impossible. Even with it, the sheer size and scope of it was a testament to their power, and the power of the Collective as a whole.
“Are you ready to land?” Ghork asked, looking at Kyle. “It sounds like we’ve got a welcoming party ahead of us.”
“I’m excited,” Kyle admitted. “And thank you, to both of you. I’d be dead, or worse, if it wasn’t for your rescue.”
“Don’t get sentimental on me, now,” Ghork said with a smile. “Fair warning though, you’re going directly into a quarantine. There’ll be a holding period as well while they figure out what to do with you.”
Kyle nodded, prepared for the quarantine, at least. He felt a little less certain about the difference between it and the holding period, though ultimately, he understood that the re-entry procedures were out of his hands.
Seeming to notice the excitement dwindling, Ghork reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “Come on now, don’t get too glum. You’ll still get the bounty credit for bringing that one in, after all.”
Ghork jerked his finger toward the bound Ger’Sinh, who had regained consciousness, though his mana was being constantly siphoned away by Phaegos. The man had struggled at first when he’d woken up, but at this point just seemed resigned to his fate.
“Damn Collective and their damn protocols,” Drandor grumbled, approaching a hangar station situated on a stony moon.
At the squat man’s reaction, Kyle remembered something important. “Drandor, I never asked which of the Guilds you work with.”
“Bah! I’m not a part of your Collective. Just do some occasional contract work for friends, or to pay back favors. My people like our independence, thank you very much.”
“You’re not human?” Kyle asked, genuinely surprised.
“If you weren’t the guest of honor I’d punch you in your face for that,” Drandor grumbled as Ghork let out rumbling laughter.
“I didn’t mean to offend,” Kyle said quickly, backpedaling.
“Well, you did,” Drandor said with a huff. “Can’t even be bothered to learn about anywhere outside your own back yard.”
“Give the kid a break,” Ghork said between chuckles. “He didn’t exactly have much reason to study unincorporated space.”
“Well, he damn well should’ve. What’s the point of Collective education if they don’t even talk about the other powers?” Drandor asked, clearly to himself. As they approached, he turned and gave Kyle a withering stare. “I’m a dwarf. And, should you ever branch out beyond your Collective, you’ll find that the Clan Alliance holds up just fine on its own. No need to negotiate with a bunch of outsiders to stay successful.”
“Last I heard it, you hired our friend Jarberry to get his hands on something you couldn’t do yourself,” Ghork replied, clearly enjoying needling the dwarf.
“Bah! That was different. Individuals hiring individuals is entirely different, and you know it.”
Ghork raised his hands in defeat, and let the matter drop. Kyle made a note to do more study of unincorporated space when he had some time, potentially during his quarantine. He’d never really heard whispers of a Clan Alliance before, and he wanted to know more.
“I apologize for offending, I’ll do better looking forward.”
“See that you do,” Drandor responded, though most of the heat left his voice. “Now, we’re about to land. Good luck to you, Mayhew. Jarberry called in a hell of a favor to keep you safe, I’d hate to see that trust squandered.”
“Always good flying with you, Drandor,” Ghork said with a smile, standing as they entered the hangar. “I look forward to when our paths cross again.”
“If there’s any justice in the world, that’ll be a long ways out,” Drandor said, though he rose to clasp the ogre’s hand.
Kyle walked up and gave a shallow bow. “Thank you again. I’ll do my best to make sure that the favor was worth it.”
With that, he stepped off of Drandor’s ship, where a small coalition waited in the bleak hangar. One group was made up of a mix of humans and skrell, all wearing the uniforms of the Archdrake Supremacy. The moment Ger’Sinh was taken off the ship, he saw them shuffling in place, clearly agitated. The second was a pair of goblins from the Courier’s Guild, who were whispering between themselves. The last was a phytan, the swirling mass of algae a deep purple. It also gave off a powerful C Grade aura, unlike the others which were only in upper D Grade.
“Courier… Mayhew… I am… Creisus. It is good… that you have… come. However… there are several… irregularities that we… must explore. We would ask… that you stay here… until quarantine ends. Your hearing… begins in… two days.”
“Wait, a hearing?” Kyle said, unsure if he heard the words correctly.
The phytan swirled agitatedly in the air, though their tone stayed perfectly flat. “Precisely. You… are facing potential… removal from the Guilds. Furthermore, accusations have… been made that… you have unfairly profited… from the destruction… of Kertan Six.”