Chapter 10: doublecrossed
Corso was still pale as he returned to his friends. Sonny had refused to lie back down, despite the fact that he felt dizzy.
'It can't be! They stoped that project, it was labeled unstabile, too much of a risk to continue' he said.
Bennett looked to him.
'I've read about these things Sonny, but it was my impression as well, that they pulled the plug on the project, and abandoned these titans. Now it seems we've found their dump site'
'We got more than that, coming our way. Take a look at the lights' said Artie, who had been wathcing the door.
Sonny turned towards the window. At first, it just seemed like a fluke, but then, he started to pay more attention to things.
'It's code. It seems Magnus wants me to make contact' he said.
'Not very wise, concidering your past history' said the Obia moon ambassadour.
Sonny knew Tia had told him what she knew.
'Wise or not, I need to find out what it is Magnus wants to tell' he said.
'Artie, set up a stealth 6 line, I'll see if I can contact Magnus this way!'
Artie didn't like it. He had a hard time accepting Magnus at all after what he had exposed Sonny to in the past. He still remembered having jumped off his spacebike, and trashed it, to pull Sonny free from the garbitch, so they could save him. He also recalled how weak Sonny had been the few seconds he had remained concious, and how they had rushed him to Dame Simbai's clinic for medical help. Sonny had been in grave condition then, they had not known for sure wheter he would survive or not. And all because Sonny had chosen to confront Lord phoenix alone. But despite this, Artie did as Sonny had asked him to. Sonny made sure nothing would reveal where they were hiding. Seconds later, Magnus face appeared on screen.
'We got your calling!' Sonny looked at him.
'Good. I need to know Sonny, are you feeling ok?' Magnus asked.
Sonny looked to Bennett.
'Fine, how come?' he asked.
'The laser who shot you, it was added something extra to the beam. It resembles the same poison Vega injected you with'
Magnus explained.
Corso looked at Sonny. He remembered all too well just what a critical state that had left Sonny in.
'What are you saying Magnus?' Corso asked.
'I need Sonny to come out of hiding, for an examination!'
'No! You better guarrantee that it's safe. We're not putting Sonny at risk, just for you to conduct an examination!' Corso growled.
Magnus sighed. He knew it would prove difficult to convince Corso this time.
'The poison has been modified. Sonny could have it in his system for days, before it takes effect, at a critical time' he said.
He could tell Sonny was in the process of making a decission.
'please Sonny. I mean you no harm. Infact, I need your help again!' he said
A smile formed on Sonny's face.
'Not much has changed, has it Magnus? But I'm warning you. No tricks this time. You cought us off guard last time. It won't happen again!'
Last time, Magnus had stolen the black Manta, leaving Sonny and his men as sitting ducks on Genesis. Sonny had managged to reposess his ship, with the help of his men, who had aided him in chasing them down, and take over.
'Sonny!'
He felt Corso grip his shoulder.
'Corso is right. It's too big a risk to come in person' he informed Magnus
Magnus looked like he wanted to object.
'However..I'll provide you with samples to test. You need blood and tissue samples, or is blood sufficient?' he asked.
'The posion should be detected in your blood' Magnus confirmed.
Sonny rubbed his chin.
'I'll send one of my men to deliver the sample' he said.
'Ok, I'll have the lab ready to run the tests!' Magnus said.
Sonny ended the call.
'Is this wise Sonny? We don't know what kind of technology he has. This could be a trap!' said Corso.
'Exactly, wich is why we're not going to make it easy for them' Sonny had a sly grin on his face as he spoke.
Then, he turned to Tia and her parents.
'Whatever the outcome of this, you need be transported out of here' he said.
'No, I'm staying!' said Tia.
'No, you're not! Tia, we'll discuss our more..private matters, at a later time. But you need to return to Genesis. I have something you need to get to D'Jok. And for me to deliver it personally,at this stage, would leave D'Jok in grave danger. Wich is why I trust it to you!' Sonny turned and pulled out a box from the backpack he had brought when they first arrived.
He handed it to Tia.
'Don't open it! It's not for your eyes, but D'Jok. He'll know what to do!' said Sonny.
Tia wanted to object, but Sonny's face told her it would not change his mind.
A few hours later, they were taken back to the small ship to be transported to the Black Manta.
Tia tried to stop the tears. She could not explain why, but she had this sneaking feeling that something bad was about to happen, and it involved Sonny and his men. Pleading had gotten her nowhere. Whatever it was Sonny had planned on doing,he felt the best would be to keep her and her parents out of the way. He even had a long talk to her parents before they left, handing some instructions over to her father.
'Don't look so sad Tia, Sonny will be back sooner than you know. Trust him!' her mother suggested.
'I wish I could' Tia muttered.
'Now, that's hardly the way you build the foundations of a relationship Tia. Sonny's done this for years. You haven't. If Sonny felt he could have protected you Tia, he would have let you stay. But what is about to happen, is extremely dangerous. Sonny knows how to deal with that kind of danger, as does his men. He'll soon come to join us, on the obia moon' said her father.
Tia looked up.
'Is that what you talked about? The future plans for him and me?' she asked.
Her father turned away, as if he wanted to avoid the question.
'It figures' muttered Tia.
She felt like she was being treated like a child. Why was it so hard for everyone to see that she was infact a grown up?
They reached the ship, and boarded. Tia placed her hands against the glass as they departed from the planet. She had a feeling that something was about to go very wrong...
Her parents had returned to the Obia moon. Her father had taken a small handwritten note, wich Tia recognized as Sonny's handwriting, and gone into his homeoffice. Tia sighed, and packed to get ready to leave for Genesis.
'Tia?'
She looked up, and found her mother at the doorway.
'What really happened between you and Rocket?' her mother asked carefully.
'We outgrew eachother mom, it's as simple as that' said Tia, as she continued to go through her lockers to find the clothes she wanted to bring.
'And Sonny Blackbones? You don't think it's a reaction to all that happened, that you went to bed with him?'
Tia had thought about it. And she had concluded that it wasn't. Truth be told, she had been facinated with the pirate's charismatic leader for quite some time. Sonny was nothing like what she had expected him to be. She thought a pirate would be hardened, freed from all his emmotions, ruthless, just out to do bad. Sonny had made her change her wiew on what a pirate really was. A pirate didn't necessarilly have to be bad. But the reasons for his actions, needed be justified. You didn't steal anything unless you had to, for survivval reasons alone. Tia had asked him about the bounty on his head.
'Tia, the bounty is part of a cat and mouse game, that the pirates and Technoid has been playing for decades' Sonny had grinned.
'But, why is the bounty on you growing so high?' Tia had asked.
'His Excellency, Duke Maddox, has this belief that if he can get it high enough, then one of my own men, will turn greedy,and turn on me, exposing where I'm hiding. But so far, no one has taken the bait' Sonny explained.
'But one day, they might' Tia had said.
' And with grave consequenses for themselves! Don't worry about that Tia. I'll be fine' he had smiled when he said that.
But Tia had a feeling there was something Sonny was holding back. That things weren't as plain and easy as he led her to believe.
'There, I'm ready!' Tia slammed her suitcase shut.
'I wish you would stay' said her mother.
'I can't mom. I made a promise to Sonny, that I'd deliver this box to D'Jok' she said.
Her mother nodded. Tia heard her father enter.
'It's all clear. D'Jok will meet you at the astroport' he said.
Tia nodded.
'You did as Sonny asked you to?' she asked.
Her father nodded.
'Now, all that remains, is to wait for them to make contact' he said.
They followed her to the ship that would take her to Genesis.
'Be carefull Tia. D'Jok said you could stay with them untill you felt better' said her father.
'Thanks, I'll remember that' Tia nodded, kissed her parents goodbye and boarded the ship.
As she sat onboard, heading for Genesis, Tia looked through the news. She found a portrait of Sonny in the magazine she was reading. The picture, clearly one from his days in Technoid, showed a much younger Sonny. Under a different name. I'Son. Tia started to read the article. It was old, but yet, it revealed a lot about him. Tia was captivated by what she read. Sonny had only changed on the surface, deep down, he was still himself, as she read in the article. He spoke of chemical weapons, the danger they posed and how they should be used with caution always.
'approaching Genesis, be prepared for docking' adviced the crew of the ship.
Tia jumped at the sound of that. They were already on Genesis? Time had flown. She checked her watch. How was it possible to be this consumed by an article? Well, truth be told, not just an article, but for her, a way to understand the man she had fallen in love with, better. She got up, and slipped the magazine into her bag. Maybe D'Jok would like to read this?
Then, she got up and left the shuttle...
D'Jok looked at the box. Could he dear tell Tia what the box meant? The blue box was a sign of hope, but a black box meant bad news. And this box, was black. D'Jok wished he could give his father a call, and ask, but he knew, to disturb the pirates during a mission such as this, would be dangerous.
'Thanks for bringing this box to me, Tia' he smiled.
'It's the least I could do. Sonny saved mom and dad, again!' Tia smiled.
'It's starting to turn into a habit by now' D'Jok joked.
'Dinner's soon ready guys' cheered Mei from the kitchen.
Tia felt bad. She had gone back and forth, trying to figure out what to say to justify hers and Sonny's actions to D'Jok. She knew she had to tell, no matter what the consequenses.
'D'Jok, I need to speak to you, in private, after dinner' she said.
'Sure Tia. I got no plans lined up for tonight' D'Jok said.
There was something in her voice, that told him he would not like what she had to say.
D'Jok took the box, and brought it to his cave, in the cellar. There, he carefully opened the lid. A handwritten letter, with instructions and love lay on top of the content. D'Jok started reading it. Before long, he understood why the box was black.
'Dad, No. This can't be happening. Mei and I got something very important to tell you'
D'Jok pressed the letter against his chest, as he let the tears flow freely...
Tia was waiting for the right time. And trying to find the right words. But how would Mei and D'Jok be able to understand?
Tia sighed, and sat down. She turned on the tv.
'Mei! D'Jok! come watch this, Quick!'
Both of them came running.
Duke Maddox was seen on screen. Along with the everpresent Calleigh Mystic.
'So, Duke Maddox, I understand you have some news for us?' she held he microphone before him.
'Yes. Technoid had been surveying this planet, named planet X for some time. It's been under the control of the pirate, Magnus Blade, a former Shiloh pirate, before Sonny Blackbones took over. It seems there has been made a huge amount of illegal Titans, a project that Technoid shut down years ago. This is the biggest bust we've seen so far' Duke Maddox grinned.
'Do you know who's behind the manufacture of these Titans?' Calleigh Mystic wanted to know.
'Yes Calleigh. We once had scientists working on this project for Technoid. Among those scientists, was a young man, named I'Son. During the great catastrophy on Akillian, I'Son deserted Technoid. We don't know where he went, but we later found out that he had survived the escape. He joined the pirates, and became the man we now know under the name Sonny Blackbones' growled Duke Maddox.
'Is Sonny Blackbones behind this project? Creating an army of titans?' Calleigh seemed sceptical.
'We don't know yet. And sadly, we might never known the answer' said the Duke.
'and why is that?' Calleigh was sniffing a story.
'When Technoid arrived on this planet, after beeing tipped that the pirates were here, we found the Titans. They will be confiscated off course, and rendered useless. But we managed to Apprehend Sonny Blackbones and his men'
'WHAT?' D'Jok screamed when he heard this.
Mei seemed pale.
'This is wrong, Sonny had nothing to do with this' she said, as her eyes flowed over with tears.
'Something's gone wrong' Tia felt cold inside.
'When will the pirates be made to stand trial?' Calleigh asked.
'For Sonny's righthand man, it will be in two days, as will the rest of his men follow' said Duke maddox.
'And in Sonny Blackbones case, how long do you expect that to take?'
Duke Maddox looked away.
'When we cought the pirates, they made no effort to fight. They all seemed griefstruck. They had just put Sonny's body in a cryotank. We're still holding him there, but from what the pirates said, we came too late. Sonny Blackbones, is dead'...
drama to the max. The next chapter will reveal what happened, This is written the way it is, just for the excitement. Sorry that it's taken so long to update, I've had a serious writers block to deal with, hopefully, it's over now.