Chapter 9
Exiting the house, Korum quickly created a transport pod and headed toward a small round building in the heart of the Center – the gathering place for routine Council meetings.
Walking in, he greeted the other Councilors, nodding coolly toward Loris and a couple of his other opponents. While all of them could participate in the meeting virtually, everyone living on Earth had chosen to attend in person today, given the important topic at hand.
Taking a seat on one of the floats, Korum carefully watched the Councilors’ faces, seeking to gauge their collective mood. What he’d done to Saret’s lab building was bound to have frightened them, shaking their belief in the impenetrability of the Centers’ defenses. Some of the Council members failed to comprehend the necessity for technological progress, clinging to what was known and familiar instead of advancing with the times.
“Welcome, Korum,” Arus said, turning toward him. “I’m glad you’re able to join us today. Is your Mia all right?”
“She is, thanks,” Korum said, appreciating the concern. If anyone understood his feelings for Mia, it was probably Arus, whose devotion to his own charl was widely known. Although they didn’t always see eye-to-eye on every issue, Korum respected the ambassador and even liked him to some extent.
Arus inclined his head in response. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. Delia was worried when she heard about what happened.”
“Please tell Delia she’s more than welcome to stop by,” Korum said quietly, aware that the whole Council was watching their exchange. “I’m sure Mia could use a friend right now.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Korum could see a smirk on Loris’s face. His long-time enemy was clearly enjoying the situation, both the fact that Korum had fallen for a human girl and the entire debacle with Saret. Toxic rage crawled through Korum’s veins again, but he didn’t let anything show on his face, keeping his expression mildly amused. Let Loris enjoy his discomfort for now; the so-called Protector wasn’t going to be on the Council much longer, given his son’s now-almost-proven guilt.
“All right then. We have a lot to discuss today.” It was Voret, one of the oldest members of the Council. “The guardians reported to us that all of Saret’s dispersion devices have been located and neutralized, thanks to Korum warning us about them in time. Apparently, they had been scheduled to go off simultaneously in approximately thirty-two hours from now. We also found the designer who had the nano-weapon. He was in Thailand and has now been arrested. The weapon was already fully functional, and Alir thinks that Saret planned to use it shortly after he succeeded in unleashing the mind-control devices among the human population. Arus, you spoke with the United Nations?”
“Yes. I glossed over the situation when I explained it to them,” the ambassador answered. “They already have their hands full dealing with the military leaders who had aided the Resistance, and there is no need to scare them at this point. They just need to be aware that Saret is on the loose, so that their intelligence agencies can keep an eye out for him. I didn’t go into any detail beyond informing them that he’s a dangerous individual who needs to be apprehended promptly.”
“Good,” Voret said. “You did the right thing. They already don’t trust us, and if they knew about the mind-control devices, they would probably panic again.”
“And with good reason this time,” Korum said, thinking about Saret’s insane plan. “If he managed to get Saur to attack me, imagine what he could’ve done with human minds.”
“Indeed,” Voret said, and Korum could see him preparing to approach the topic that was likely of most interest to the Council today. “Now as far as the other events that took place yesterday . . .”
“Yes?” Korum prompted when the other Councilor trailed off. He knew exactly where Voret was headed, but he wanted to hear what he had to say.
Voret gave him an uncomfortable look. “Now, Korum, we all watched the recordings of the events, and some of the things we saw were . . . disturbing, to say the least.”
Korum smiled, not the least bit surprised. “Which part disturbed you the most, Voret?” he asked. “Was it the fact that Saret planned to annihilate us all in his quest to mind-fuck the humans? Or that none of us had a clue?”
Voret frowned. “You know I’m referring to the way you were able to breach the lab’s shields. We’ll address the Saret situation in greater detail once we have more information from the guardians, but first we need to know if we’re safe here, inside our Centers. Did you develop a weapon that can penetrate our force-shields?”
“I did,” Korum said, enjoying the expressions of shock and fear on some of the Councilors’ faces. “But don’t worry – I’ve also developed better shields.
Both are still in experimental mode, which is why no one has heard about this before.”
“And you used this weapon yesterday?” Arus asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yes. I had no choice once I learned how Saret had set up the lab.”
“How did you learn that?” It was Voret again.
“By scanning the lab building. Once I knew what Saret intended, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that he would have some pretty strong defenses in place. Which he did. I distracted him by feeding him an image of myself from three years ago and used the time to build the weapon based on my experimental designs.”
Voret’s frown deepened. “And when were you going to tell us about these new designs of yours?”
“When they were ready to be used,” Korum said evenly. Voret and the others forgot sometimes that Korum was under no obligation to share anything with the Council. He chose to do so for the good of all Krinar, but he had no intention of seeking the Council’s permission and approval on every project.
“Could anyone else gain access to this weapon?” Arus asked, focusing on the more important part of the issue. “Korum, are you certain no one else has these designs?”
“I’m the only one,” Korum said, understanding the ambassador’s concern. “None of my designers have been involved in this project yet, and no one has access to these files.”
“Not even your charl?” It was Loris this time, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm. “Are you sure she can’t steal the data and run to her friends in the Resistance?”
Korum gave him a sardonic look. “No, Loris. She can’t. Besides, what would the Resistance do with this information without your son? We all know now how useful he was to them . . . and to Saret.”