The spy, who turned out to be a she rather than a he, was caught the very next morning. By the simplest of methods. Verim and Chief Rupin released some false information and when the spy, a native of the planet Lurgos, tried to transmit it to Drazok, the transmission was picked up and traced to the room of a housemaid. Lurgos was the Zaidus system’s leading AUP-member planet and this maid had once held the much grander position of personal assistant to Ambrose Ramsweir, that disgraced member of the AUP Directorate who lost his own grand position when the Horrible Cholarian Business revealed he’d been hand in glove with Drazok. Not that the Directorate didn’t know he was. They were just mad he got caught. Once he was out of a job, she was too, but had pleaded to stay on Cholar because Lurgos was AUP’s staunchest supporter in the Zaidus system and she said everyone there would shun her for having been associated with a failure like Ramsweir.
Keza was the one to tell us this, having heard all about it from someone who’d been on hand for the arrest.
Under questioning, the Lurgosian woman admitted — almost boasted, really — that she had only remained on Cholar because Ramsweir wanted her to. He believed if Drazok ever managed to regain even some of his old power, he and Ramsweir might be able to overturn that pesky Cholar-shall-never-join-the Association-of-United-Planets decree and re-open negotiations. Her job was to watch for anything that might help Drazok in that regard and relay the information to him on Prexath, putting the message in code and pretending it had come from a friend. Which should have aroused suspicion right there, as I doubt he had any. Except his Borelian impersonator, of course. And he must have been a very good friend to agree to pose as Drazok on a place like Prexath. Or been offered a really, and I mean really, good reward.
The Lurgosian woman hadn’t been sure if Challa and Kadi’s disappearance was something Drazok might find useful or not but reported it to him anyway and was not remotely sorry about it.
“He should never have had to go to that awful place,” she declared, her eyes shining — Keza’s informant said — with fanaticism. “He is a great man. And Ambrose is a great man. Together they will rise above adversity and restore AUP to its rightful place as masters of the universe.”
What else she’d told Drazok she refused to say and was taken off to a mental health facility.
“Her arrest made for quite an exciting start to my young friend’s day,” said Keza. “Her brother had one also. He works in communications and took a message from the kidnappers late last night.”
“You mean there finally was one?” I asked, torn between relief and apprehension.
“A very short one. Just, ‘We nearby. We have children. We give children to them who give most money’.”
“But that’s awful,” said Kirsty. “It means the skellums are planning to sell them to the highest bidder.”
“I am afraid so. But Chief Rupin does not think it was planned. More that they are responding to an offer from another party.”
“Most likely Drazok.” I shivered. “Did the Supreme Ruler make a counter-offer?”
“Yes, but not knowing what the other party offered, all he could do was pledge to better any amount put forward.”
By late afternoon, the kidnappers’ response to this had still not been received. Leastways, not as far as we knew. Even though Taz hadn’t seemed annoyed about us listening in on meetings and conversations, he truly didn’t want us worrying and ordered us away in a kind but firm tone if he saw us hanging around when anyone brought him updates. We still did our best to keep on top of things, and it was fortunate he had not yet noticed us skulking in some bushes outside his private office when Verim and Mr. Skoko came to show him and Ezrias the contents of a package Mr. Skoko had received.
“Rupin had Blag Dalgo’s pocket computer thoroughly checked and it appears the wretched fellow was telling the truth about the cloaked ship’s co-ordinates not being on it,” Verim told him. “But a short time ago, he told a guard he ‘might’ be able to recall them from memory if he had sufficient incentive. Such as royal assurance he will not wind up on Prexath.”
“A concession Your Majesty will not have to make,” said Mr. Skoko. “I have here a device from Ralgon that will make Dalgo’s assistance unnecessary. Cholar and Ralgon have the most highly developed technologies in the Zaidus system and beyond, but in some areas, Ralgon’s is superior. As you must know from the cloaked ship and the fact I was able to monitor the ransom transfer more imperceptibly than you could.”
Even when Ralgon had been an AUP-member planet, it had only ever been a conditional member, and one of the conditions was that it didn’t have to share its technology with other AUP-members. And it never had, or with its independent planet neighbours either, so I guess it did have a lot of stuff people didn’t know about.
“What does this device do?” Taz inquired.
“Uncloaks cloaked ships. I did not say anything about it before because, until recently, my government was only experimenting with it and I was not sure I could procure one.”
“But you did, so what are we waiting for?” said Taz. “Let’s find that ship.”
“Where do you think they’ll try from?” I asked, wondering, not for the first time, if Mr. Skoko was just an intergalactic guardian. To get hold of a new Ralgonian invention, he would have had to have had an awful lot of pull on Ralgon.
“The starport, probably,” said Simon. “Control room.”
“We’ll never get in there,” I groaned. “Security will be too tight.”
“We could just ask them to take us,” said Jip.
“Yes. We don’t always have to do things furtively,” said Arlyne.
Kirsty shrugged. “Worth a try, I suppose.”
By the time we raced around to the palace entrance, Taz, Ezrias, Verim, and Mr. Skoko were coming out of it, accompanied by Vostia, Lyetta, and Chief Rupin. All of them looking a little less despairing than they had since all this started.
Skidding to a halt I said, “Let us come, Taz. Please? If you find the ship, you’ll find Challa and Kadi. And we want to be there when you do.”
Taz sighed. “You do manage to keep your little ears to the ground, don’t you? Very well. Come along.”
At the starport, it took Mr. Skoko quite a while to scan Cholarian space. When he finally looked up from the screen on his uncloaking device, the news was only partially good.
“I am afraid the cloaked ship is no longer orbiting Cholar, Your Majesty. But I did manage to pinpoint where it had been. It left earlier today and went out of range at these co-ordinates.”
Taz glanced down at the screen. “So, it is lost to us,” he said bleakly.
“Not at all. I can track it. It will just take some time. And access to a spaceship so we can follow and get it onscreen again.”
Hearing that, the starport manager hurried off to have a royal cruiser prepared.
“Why would they have left orbit?” Vostia asked Mr. Skoko. “Could it…could it be because they have already handed Challa and Kadi over to Drazok?”
“No,” he replied quickly. “They left hours ago, and if Drazok had them I am quite sure he would have contacted you by now.”
Agitated, Taz ran his fingers through his hair. “But, still, why would the kidnappers leave orbit? Though no specific ransom was asked for, they were clear enough about wanting one, so why leave before making a set demand and collecting the agreed upon sum?”
“According to the friend I consulted to gain insight into the Quorlian mind, there could be a variety of reasons,” Ezrias told him. “They could have lost interest in the venture. They could have taken fright over something. They could have had too many people interested in making a deal and become overwhelmed. They could even have taken a fancy to the children and decided to keep them.”
“If it was because something frightened them, the Quorlians might be making for their home world,” Verim mused.
“I doubt it,” said Mr. Skoko. “Quorl is a nine-day journey from here and the message said they would be near. I would take that to mean they are heading for a much closer planet. I suspect they left orbit because, in another day or two, the cloaking device will have to be recharged. That is partially what this device does — drains the other one’s power. And once its power runs low, the ship it is cloaking becomes visible. Better then to head for a planet they can orbit freely and transport down to a hide-out on its surface.”
“I will check their records to see if there is any particular planet they are known to favour,” said Chief Rupin. “Using closeness as our criteria, I would say our choices are Orec, Shavo, and Lurgos, all less than two days away. Borel is even closer, but I doubt they’d go there. It has warrants out for their arrest.”
“Do we have more than one royal cruiser at our disposal?”
“Yes. Four in all. Anytime the Supreme Ruler is aboard one, a special distinguishing panel is lit in the rear of that particular cruiser.”
“Then it might be a good idea to have all of them go out. One setting course for Orec, another for Shavo, another for Lurgos, and the fourth criss-crossing the entire area. I would want to be aboard the one making its way to Lurgos. Before the tracker lost them, there were indications the Quorlians’ destination might be Lurgos.”
“Then why have the other ships set course for Orec and Shavo? Without you and your tracker aboard, their crews will not be able to pick up the kidnappers’ trail.”
“To confuse the enemy. If Drazok were to get a lead on the kidnappers’ ship, he wouldn’t be able to uncloak it like we can, but he could go where he suspects it’s going, get there ahead of it, and lie in wait. That way, he could dispense with ransom negotiations — in which he runs the risk of being outbid by the Supreme Ruler — and simply seize the children.”
Chief Rupin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Yes. Drazok knows we are looking too and will be watching all we do. It makes sense to give him so much to watch he cannot be certain which of our leads, if any, are paying off. I will have all the cruisers prepared and make sure no distinguishing panel is lit on the one carrying us.”
Though I really wanted that us to mean us, as well, I was sure Taz would never allow it, just in case things got dangerous out there.
But, to my surprise, he turned to us and said, “I could order all the ships to make sure they were carrying no unauthorized passengers, but that would take time we cannot afford. Remembering how easily you managed to stow away on the Derridus, I think it is probably better if I know where you are.”
“So, we can come?” I asked in delight.
“You may come.”
It didn’t take long for the royal cruisers to make ready, but none of them got more than halfway to where they were going. Orec, Shavo, and Lurgos were all still AUP-member planets, and armed patrol ships from each intercepted Taz’s ships, hailed them, asked their destinations, and refused to allow them to go any further.
For security reasons Verim thought he, Taz, and Vostia should step off-screen before we made visual contact with the Lurgosian captain who stopped our cruiser, and he advised Taz to let Chief Rupin do all the talking.
“What is the meaning of this?” the chief demanded when this captain’s face appeared. “I am Rupin Mev-Borik, Chief Royal Guardsman of Supreme Ruler Taziol IV of Cholar. We are travelling to Lurgos to —”
“Your reasons are of no interest. I am Captain Zyoth, of the Lurgosian Defence Force, charged with keeping at bay all vessels from suspect planets. Cholar has been declared a suspect planet.”
“Suspect planet?”
“One of the planets suspected of being the source of an unfamiliar and potentially deadly virus circulating about the Zaidus system.”
“We have heard of no such virus.”
“Cholar is not an AUP-member and does not enjoy the many benefits accorded to those who are. The AUP Directorate has warned all its member-planets of the danger and insists we take this and other precautions until it has passed. Even if it is mere rumour, we were told what we must do, and will act accordingly. Ships from suspect planets will not be allowed to enter Lurgosian space. Ships from non-suspect planets will be allowed through, but subject to inspection upon arrival at Lurgos to ensure they are not carrying passengers native to suspect planets. Any that are will be told they cannot take suspect planet passengers down to our planet’s surface. And any denizen of a suspect planet attempting to land on Lurgos surreptitiously in a connector ship or some other type of SASC (surface and space capable) craft will immediately be arrested and quarantined.”
The chief’s jaw tightened. “By now those on Lurgos must have heard the children of Cholar’s Supreme Ruler have been abducted and are being held for ransom. We have reason to believe they have been taken off-world. That is why we are attempting to search for them on the planets nearest us.”
“Yes, we have heard of the abduction. I understand and sympathize, but I have my orders. Ships from suspect planets are to be kept away from Lurgos. Its leaders will not, cannot, imperil the Lurgosian people.”
Only Verim’s restraining hand on his arm kept Taz from springing onscreen to say something along the lines of him personally imperilling the Lurgosian people if he was not allowed to go to their damnable world to search for his children.
“Be still,” Verim said softly. “This sham blockade could mean Drazok and the Association are again in collusion. The sight of you would confirm this ship as the one in closest pursuit of the prince and princess, and its destination reported to Drazok. The one Cholarian to whom the Lurgosians would grant entry.”
Taz clenched his fists but stayed where he was.
Chief Rupin argued for a while, but he argued in vain. Our cruiser, and the others, were forced to turn around and go back to Cholar.
“This ship’s armed,” Simon said angrily after we’d complied. “Armed as good as that one was. Maybe even better. Why couldn’t we have just blasted our way through?”
“That would have been most unwise,” said Verim. “We do not yet know Challa and Kadi are being taken to Lurgos. We cannot start an interplanetary war on the off-chance.”
Mr. Skoko looked up from the tracker, which he’d been fiddling with throughout the argument with Captain Zyoth.
“No off-chance,” he said triumphantly. “We managed to get far enough for my tracker to pick up vestiges of the cloaked ship’s trail. And it is headed for Lurgos.”