Jon stood on the balcony looking over the shimmering city. The SAR teams hadn't been able to locate Terri, her co-pilot or the downed fighter. The thickness of the forest hampered their efforts. He had dispatched additional SAR teams and had gotten permission from the Eutharan port control to land a detachment of his marines. They were scouring the forest on foot, but so far haven't turned up anything.
He had been asked if he would like to allow shore leave to the city. But for now he had declined, all he needed right now was more problems. It was bad enough he was confined to the Palace until it was deemed safe to walk the streets. To make things worse the King and Queen monopolized Deatra's time. He hadn't seen her in almost a day and as a result had shut down his section of the palace.
His marines were ordered to allow no one access until he spoke to Deatra. Numerous requests for his presence had come but he had ignored them all. If he couldn't step outside of the palace then he wouldn't step outside of this room. He refused to be a prisoner and let them be in charge.
'Admiral, ' Rick's voice said over his com.
"Admiral Hunter here," Jon said as he turned from the view and stepped back into the lush room.
'Sir, the Eutharan ground control has ordered us to remove our troops. They say they will... ' Rick's voice said.
"WHAT!" Jon yelled.
Rick paused for a second, 'They said they will continue the search but our troops are not needed. They say they know the terrain better than us and we're just getting in the way of their search.'
Jon's face turned red as he struggled to remain calm, "What's the status of Brin'tores?"
'She's back with her team, sir, ' Rick's voice said.
"Good dispatch her and her team to the forest and have them continue the search. They're not to let anything interfere with their orders. Is that understood?" Jon said. He was already stalking towards the doorway to his room.
'Understood Sir, over and out, ' Rick's voice said.
Jon stared muttering to himself on the way towards the doors, "How dare they... They want me involved, I'll involve myself. They want my presence, they'll get my presence... They'll regret this choice..."
Jon threw the doors open to his chambers and startled the two marines standing outside. They both turned and saluted the second they recovered. Jon glared around him as he stepped out of the room.
"You two with me, have the rest of Death's Hand meet us in the courtyard in full battle armor," Jon said as he strode off.
Jon's royal guards that were stationed at various points through out the halls quickly formed up in ranks behind him. The two marines walked point in the front, weapons at ready.
Jon and his entourage entered the courtyard to the surprised looks of the royal house guards and royals a like. Standing in the center of the courtyard was Terri's raptor squadron, fully equipped and armored. Jon continued past them headed to the main chamber. The squadron quickly fell into place around him and strode past them.
Jon reached the end of the corridor and in front of two large doors were three Eutharan marines dressed in Royal colors. He stopped short in front of the sergeant and quickly glanced at the other two. Their faces did little to hide the astonishment of the display before them.
"Open the doors Sergeant," Jon said in a barely controlled voice.
"I'm sorry my Prince, but the Royal family is in court. If you could wait over there," the sergeant waved towards some plush couches lined against the walls. "I'll inform them you seek audience once their meeting is over."
Jon glanced over and snorted, "For the past day I have been invited to these Royal Courts. Now that I show for one, I'm denied entry?"
"I'm sorry my Prince, but once the court is in session I can't disturb them," the sergeant said.
Jon raised his finger and poked the Sergeant in the chest, "You will open these doors right now. Do you understand me?"
The Sergeant stepped back, "I'm sorry, I can't do that..."
"Can't or won't?" Jon snapped back.
"Can't..." the Sergeant replied.
Jon took a step back, "Remove them from my path."
The raptor team immediately responded to the order and moved towards the three Marines. Jon heard the sound of many people running down the corridor and glance back to see what it was. Jon was a little impressed; they had sent two squads of royal marines.
"Hold a second," Jon said. He turned to face the group running towards him as a Captain came to a halt and saluted.
"Prince Jon what can we help you with?" the Captain asked.
"You can open the doors to those chambers and let me and my men through," Jon replied.
The Captain glance over at the Sergeant on guard, "Sire, it's a closed session."
Jon sighed, "You people have bugged me all day to come to a session. Now that I'm here I'm not allowed in?"
"Sire excuse me, but it looks like you're here to start a fight," the Captain replied.
Jon smiled, "Now you see the larger picture. That is exactly what I'm going to do."
"Sire?" the Captain asked.
Jon pointed at the doors, "They're going to open one way or the other. I'll be walking through them. If you're standing when I do or are flat on your back is your choice."
The raptor team and Jon's guard pulled in closely to protect Jon.
"Sire, we have rules. As long as there is a session going on we can't disturb it," the Captain said.
"Ok, I'll bite. How long has this session been going on Sergeant?" Jon asked, not taking his eyes off the Captain.
"Most of the day," the Sergeant replied.
"According to your laws I'm a Prince and allowed access to any part of the Palace at anytime, day or night," Jon said.
"Yes Sire, but..." the Captain said.
"No buts, I want access to that chamber right now and my bond mate. I have urgent things I must discuss with the King and Queen and my bond mate. If you don't open it I will remove you by force and open it myself," Jon said.
"Sire, I can't..." the sergeant began.
"Remove them," Jon growled.
Immediately, the raptor team sprung into action. The sergeant's men, quickly followed by the two privates were disarmed and unconscious. The rest of the marines behind Jon's guards were starting to press forward. Jon's eyes never left the Captain's eyes as he reached around behind his back and grabbed the hilt of his dagger.
The Captain eyed the unconscious men warily. He was in a spot, and not an easy one at that. On one hand, Jon was a Prince and he had sworn to follow all orders of Royalty. One the other hand, three of his men had been assaulted and Jon was about to disturb a convened session of the Royal court. He looked back up into the emotionless eyes that stared at him and then at the guards around him.
"Captain," Jon said.
The Captain's eyes shifted back to Jon.
"If you do what you're thinking of doing, I promise you people will die," Jon said calmly.
"Sire, you have put me in a position I have never been in," the Captain said.
"Then Captain, I suggest you gather your men and leave right now. I'm going into that chamber and no one is going to stop me. If you try you will be the first to die here today and then your men will follow," Jon said in a stronger voice.
"I... I," the Captain stammered.
"Think of it this way Captain. If you do try to take us into custody, you and your men will be guilty of an assault of Royalty. If you're not worried about what I'll do to you, chew on this. What will my Bond Mate do to you when she gets her hands on you for assaulting me?" Jon said. "I promise you, I'll not go quietly."
"Sire you have put me in a position and I have no way out. Either way I have to deal with my actions. If I walk away, I answer to the King and Queen. If I stay and do my job, I deal with the Princess," the Captain said as he took a step back.
"So what you're saying is we're at an impasse," Jon said.
"Yes Sire, I can't really take you into custody or those you command. Yet I can't just leave either," the Captain said.
Jon stepped two steps back, "Close ranks."
The Raptor Team formed up in front of Jon with the two marines right behind them.
"You four come with me," Jon said pointing at four of his Royal guards. "The rest of you hold your positions. They're not to pass you, call in additional support if you need. Sergeant Ihasen of Death's Hand has command. Do not let anyone past this point until I return."
"Yes Sir," Ihasen said.
Jon turned and walked towards the doors. The Captain of the Eutharan Royal Guard took a step forward. Ihasen brought his weapon up and pointed it at the Captain, which stopped him in his tracks.
"Please, remain where you are Captain. I've no wish to shed blood here, but we will do what we have to," Ihasen said.
Jon smiled as he threw the doors open and stepped into the large room.
Every head in the room turned towards the loud boom of the doors, following Jon as he strode down the center of the room and towards the King and Queen. That's when he noticed Deatra seated to the right of the Queen. Deatra's face showed no emotion as she watched Jon approach the raised dais. The King looked briefly at the Queen a look of surprise registering on his face. When Jon stopped before the thrones, Deatra finally smiled briefly.
"Prince Jonathan..." the King began.
"Jon," Jon said.
"Prince Jon then," the King said smiling. "What can I do for you?"
"You can let my people continue their SAR operations," Jon said glaring at the King.
"Oh, I thought they were involved," the King said.
"One of my officers has informed me that they have been ordered to return to the ship," Jon said folding his arms across his chest.
"Captain Hedraas!" the King said.
The captain stepped from the group of people on Jon's left and bowed to the King.
"Have you heard anything of this order?" the King asked him.
"No Sire, I was not aware that any such ordered had been given," Hedraas said.
The King stood up and walked to the edge of his raised dais. The looked out over the people gathered before him, "Duke Nadeo are you not currently in charge of the SAR operations?"
Duke Nadeo stepped from the crowd and bowed to the King. The aged armor her wore creaked and his cape fell loosely behind him. He walked up next to Jon before he replied, "Yes Sire."
"Have the ADF's people been ordered back to their vessel?" the King asked him.
Nadeo was known for his dislike of outsiders and Jon he would despise. He had been after the hand of Deatra for years and now that she had found a Bond Mate the dreams of his sitting on the throne were gone. He gave Jon a side glance as he answered, "Yes Sire, I felt we would be able to conduct the search better with out interference."
Secretly the King already had known this. He had given the order to Nadeo himself he wanted to capture the downed pilot, interrogate her, and study the strange fighter she had been flying.
Jon's glare swung off the King and onto Nadeo. Nadeo almost laughed, when the time came he would kill this outsider and control his fleet.
"Nadeo, the downed fighter was flown by Jon's sister, a princess of the 2nd rank. I want you to rescind that order and allow them to continue the search for her. You're to assist Prince Jon's people in anyway he deems necessary. Do I make myself clear?" the King said as he fixed Nadeo with a stare.
"Yes Sire, I'll relay your orders right now. May I be excused?" Nadeo said bowing once again.
The King waved him off as he took his seat back, "Prince Jon anything else I can do for you?"
Jon looked back up at the King, his expression softened but his eyes remained cold as he spoke, "Yes Sire, may I have my Bond Mate back? I haven't seen her since we arrived here at the palace. Also I would like to explore the city, but the guards aren't willing to let me out the gates."
"Sure," the King turned to Deatra. "Deatra you may leave with your Bond Mate and you're both free to explore the city. Only thing I ask is in addition to your personal guards you take a squad of Royal Marines. I'll assign a Captain to you."
"Sire if you don't mind, I know of a Captain I would like to have as my guard. I was impressed by him and his men," Jon said as Deatra took his arm when she reached him.
"Sure, do you know his name?" the King asked.
"No Sire, but he is at the entrance of the chambers and I would ask he and his men not be admonished for letting me in. He really had no choice Sire," Jon said.
"Why would I do that? You are always welcome in this chamber any time of the day or night. No matter if it's in session or not, we need you to learn everything you can," the King smiled.
Jon bowed, "Then Sire if I maybe excused and my apologies for interrupting the council."
The King smiled and nodded his head. Jon turned around and walked towards the door with Deatra in tow.
The whole way back to his room Jon pondered what had happened in the chamber. Something wasn't right, he knew there was more going on; the question was what. Jon was sure the King was playing some type of game, nothing on Eutharan was done with out his approval.
Once inside their rooms he spoke, "What is he up too?"
Deatra sat down on the large couch and motioned him to sit down next to her. Once he was seated she answered his question, "He's doing what he usually does, manipulate the people around him. You're an unknown..."
"Stop, use what we have been practicing for the past several months," Jon said holding up his hand.
'This better?' Deatra's voice said in his mind.
'Yes, I would rather he didn't know what we were talking about. This is safer if he has listening devices, ' Jon's mind answered back.
'He can still over hear if he has the right people stationed close by, ' Deatra thought to Jon.
'But you should be able to sense that. I have the shields you taught me in place, so someone would have to pry to get in, ' Jon thought back.
Deatra nodded, 'As I was saying, you're an unknown. He's not sure what to do about you. He can't kill you out right because of your position in the ADF. He can't afford to risk a war right now. Mom wouldn't let him kill you because of me.'
'So, your mom supports you and me?' Jon asked.
Deatra shifted her position, 'No, my mom will support him. But she will also do no harm to me and killing you would harm me. I'm almost sure my father has other plans in place to take care of you. They kept me in court to see how long it would take you to break and come there.'
Jon leaned back and put his arm around Deatra as she leaned into his shoulder. Jon thought to Deatra once he settled, 'I didn't break, I went there because of the orders for our troops to pull off the surface.'
Deatra smiled, 'I know, you won a victory with him today. Although, in his eyes he won and managed to get you to do what he wanted. You did correct to bring up the matter of the orders first before asking I be allowed to leave with you. That told him the reason you came was his orders. So, while he views the entire thing as a victory, you also leave doubt in him as to how far he can push you.'
'Maybe I should have just ordered our people to continue the search. But, I wasn't sure of how he would react to that and the last thing I want right now is a conflict. Although, I did dispatch Brin'tores and her Raptor Team to continue the search for Terri.'
'You did? That will get his attention.'
'If he finds out about it, it might.'
'True.'
'He's trying to manipulate me, I didn't expect this from him. I expected a more out in front attack from him.'
'He won't, he's the King and he has to always have away out of everything. He will use people against you, like Duke Nadeo.'
'What's the Dukes deal with me? I got the impression he hated me from the looks he was casting at me.'
'He does, he has been after my hand in marriage for years. If I hadn't found you I was to be married to him when I returned home. You have in a way crushed his dreams of ever being King.'
'Sounds like he could be trouble for us and the ADF.'
'Yes, he controls the Royal garrison here in the palace. Jon, you have to watch your back when he's around. He's a viscous man and will kill you the first chance he gets.'
'Maybe I should have him have an accident.'
'You can't he has done nothing to you and if you attack him and it gets linked back to you the King will have grounds to have you executed. Not even I can stop that.'
'But if he attacks me, I have the right to defend myself?'
'If you can prove it, he rarely gets his hands dirty. His lackeys do most of his dirty work and they rarely get caught. When they do slip up nothing links them back to the Duke.'
'So do you think it's safe enough to bring the girls down?'
'I don't see why not, Oojoung and the dogs will be with them. You can assign Terri's Raptor Team to them as extra guards.'
'Ok, I'm going to have them shuttled down. Denise Wilson has finally recovered from her sickness and Dr. Wilson has asked she be allowed to get some fresh air.'
'Just assign what guards you think they'll need. I can't see anyone hurting the girls when they're here. Children are revered here because birth are far and between.'
Jon nodded and stood up, "I'm going to get a shower and then we can explore the city with the girls when they arrive. Can you call and put the order through for permission for them to be brought down?"
Deatra stood up and said, "Sure and when I'm done I'll come wash your back."
Jon grinned, "Right wash my back and I'll wash your front."
Deatra laughed as Jon turned and walked towards the bathroom.
Terri stared at her fighter, several panels stood open. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out what was wrong with the damn thing. The ships AI had took control and stopped her spin, even landing it in this clearing. However, she couldn't get the engines back on line. One of the spider bots stopped and clicked, and whirred at her.
"What? I can't understand a damn thing you're trying to tell me," Terri said.
The small bot made a bunch more different sounding noises and then moved on.
"Just my luck, a bunch of bots and no one here that speaks botish," Terri muttered to herself.
Terri was just about to sit down by her tent and eat something when the bushes on the far side of the clearing rustled. She spun round behind her fighter and unslung her rifle, closing her visor in the process.
Terri was watching the tree line when six Eutharan Marines broke through the under brush. They were dressed in Royal armor and spread out into defensive positions when they saw the fighter.
"Princess Hunter," a male voice shouted.
Terri activated her internal coms, "Death's Hand one, secure all systems and initiate lock out procedures. Authorization one-three-zulu-baker-one-one-zero."
'Authorization accepted Captain Hunter, Lock out procedures and security systems activated, ' a female voice said through her nanites.
The male voice called her name again as the six marines slowly approached.
Terri finally stood up and stepped from behind the fighter, "Afternoon boys."
The marines stopped and looked in her direction, the Captain stepped forward, "Princess Hunter?"
"The one and only, what can I do for you?" Terri said as sent the command for her visor to rise.
The marines all bowed as one and once they straightened up the Captain spoke again, "Thank god you're not hurt, Prince Hunter will be happy we have found you."
"Thank you, as soon as I get my fighter back online I'll go join him at the Palace," Terri turned to continue working on the fighter.
"Princess, we will escort you to the Palace. Your fighter will be towed back to the Royal Airbase for repairs," the Captain said.
Terri stopped and looked up at the Captain just as twelve more marines broke into the clearing. "No, I don't think so. You're all more than welcome to stay here and guard me while I work on my fighter. But, I'll be flying back to the Palace alone."
The Captain took a step forward, "I'm sorry Princess but my orders are to escort you back to the Palace and to have your fighter towed in if it was still in one piece."
Terri fingered her rifle as she spoke, "Captain if you or your men lay a finger on this fighter or me you'll regret it. This is ADF military hardware and I'm under orders to make sure it's secure. As for me, I'll make my own way back to the Palace in my fighter."
"Again, I'm sorry Princess; these orders come from high up. We're under orders to escort you to the Palace and toe your fighter in with out without your permission. I would prefer you come along quietly."
Terri closed her visor as she raised her rifle, "That won't be happening, now you boys piss off before I start punching holes in you."
"There are eighteen of us Princess, you can't be serious," the Captain laughed.
"There are seven of us, we can and will us all force necessary to prevent the capture of the Princess and her fighter. I suggest you boys do as the Princess said and be on your way," Brin'tores' voice boomed as she and her team stepped out of the trees behind Terri.
The Eutharan marines not to be out done raised their weapons and spread out as the Captain spoke, "Then I guess we will just have to burry the bodies."