Chapter 21

Buck came out of the bathroom to see Ardala holding an armful of clothes. "What's this?" he asked.

"I asked my staff to come up with some clothes you could wear while we're here. You must be getting tired of wearing what you've had on for the last few days."

He nodded, accepted the pile of clothes. "Thank you. That was very thoughtful."

"I'm going to go to Buffin's study. Meet me there when you change."

Buck watched her go. Many thoughts were racing through his mind. Finally he shook his head violently to clear his head. "No," he mumbled to no one. "She's up to something."

He went back inside the bathroom to change.

He entered the study to see Ardala sitting at the desk. He looked around briefly. "Where is the old man?"

"He left a note. He had to go to town to get another book. It's taking longer that he thought. He says it'll probably take another day to translate."

"Great," he said sarcastically. "Well, let's go get some breakfast then."

She agreed and they left the room. They'd only gotten a few steps before Minar came running down the hall, followed by a much slower Twiki. "Lach'et is gone!" Minar announced rapidly.

"What?" Buck asked incredulously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. We asked around and the staff said she left about an hour ago."

"She's probably heading into town to look for her brother. I wish she would've waited for us, but I don't really blame her for getting a head start. Well, let's all go downstairs and get something to eat. We'll go looking for her when we're done."

After breakfast, Buck sent Minar and Twiki back upstairs to wait for Buffin to return. He tried to send Ardala too, but she refused to let Buck go to town without her. Finally he relented and they both left the palace grounds. They had only gotten ten feet outside the palace gates before a man stepped out from behind an alcove.

"Excuse me, sir," he said.

Buck instantly brought his hands up in a defensive stance. The man raised his arms from the elbows up. "I am unarmed."

"What do you want?"

"You are the ones who came in last night… you had a medallion in your possession."

Buck cocked his head to one side. "How do you know?"

"I… was watching a program on the vids last night when they interrupted the show with a brief newsflash. Apparently it's a big deal when the Draconian princess shows up, no offense, Princess," he said as he gave a partial bow.

She ignored the comment. "Go on," Buck said.

"The interruption was only a minute, or so, but it was enough for me to see that woman drop the medallion and quickly stuff it back inside her shirt."

"So?"

"That is the same medallion I sent back to B'Linta to my sister."

Buck smiled and his eyes lit up. "So you're Lach'et's brother?"

"Yes! You know Lach'et?"

Buck cocked his head to one side, furrowed his brows. "Yeah. She's the one who dropped the medallion."

The man shook his head. "No, that was not Lach'et. I don't know who she is. I've never seen her before."

"You're kidding?" Ardala said hopefully.

"No. That woman who came with you here to Remian Four is NOT my sister."

"But she said…" Buck's voice trailed into the distance. "Oh, great. This keeps getting better and better. If she's not your sister, then who is she?"

He shrugged. "I do not know. If she told you she is my sister, she is an imposter."

"I found her in a bar in B'Linta," Buck said. "She said that her name was Lach'et and that you were being hunted by the B'Lintan Secret Forces. And she showed me the medallion and gave me the story that you were here and were in trouble."

"I am in trouble, but not from the B'Lintans. The Draconians are after me, no offence to the Princess."

Buck waved for the man to follow. "Let's get back inside the palace walls. It'll be safer than talking out here in the street."

Buck led the man inside the palace grounds where they stopped near the front door. Then he turned to face the man.

"If the B'Lintans aren't after you, then why were there two men in B'Lintan Secret Force uniforms looking for you?"

"I don't know… wait a minute, was one of them an older guy, with a mole on his chin, a scar on his cheek, and a big nose?"

"Yeah."

The man nodded. "He was looking for me for a personal reason. I owe him some money. See, I like to play ten and eleven."

Buck smiled slightly. "Okay. By the way, what's your name?"

"Biron."

"I'm Buck, and this is Ardala."

"Hello. By any chance do you still have the medallion?"

"It's inside," Buck indicated the palace. "We're having it translated right now. How much do you know about it?"

"Not much," he admitted. "Enough to know it could be very dangerous for the galaxy if someone gets his hands on where it leads."

Buck nodded. "Yeah, we know about the supposed 'ultimate weapon' inscripted on the medallion. So where did you get the medallion?"

Biron hesitated. "I…I'd rather not say."

"I figured. We can discuss that later. First I want to verify your story before we all get duped."

"Duped?"

Buck nodded. "Come with me. Ardala, is there a computer terminal somewhere that we can do a background check on Biron here?"

"Yes, of course. This way."

They followed Ardala through the foyer and into a small room just off the entrance to the grand ballroom. "This is the chief of security here in the palace."

A man looked over at them. On the wall beside and behind him were dozens of monitors showing nearly every hallway and room of the palace and grounds. "Morning, Princess," he said as he turned back to his monitors.

"Newtrino, I need you to do a background check of someone. Actually of two someones."

"Your wish is my command," he said.

"This man here claims to be Biron…" she looked at him questioningly.

"Hillanby," he finished.

Ardala nodded. "He claims to be Biron Hillanby of B'Linta."

"I am a research archeologist at the National University of B'Linta at Docker."

"Docker?" Buck asked.

"That's the name of the city."

"Right."

Newtrino took a moment to enter the information into his computer. When he was finished, he looked back up. "And the second?"

"The woman who came in with us last night," Ardala said forcefully. "She was using the name of Lach'et Hillanby, Biron's brother."

Newtrino brought up video from the night before and quickly scanned it until he captured a good close up image of Lach'et. He nodded, and began to type the information into his computer. Buck tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can I get a printout of that picture?"

"Sure."

He tapped a button and almost instantly retrieved a color image from a slot beside him. He handed it to Buck. "Thanks."

"What for?" Ardala asked.

"I want to take it into town to see if anyone's seen her."

"Good thinking."

Newtrino tapped Buck on the arm. "There's your girl now."

Buck looked at the monitor to see Lach'et coming through the front gates. He quickly turned and began to run through the foyer. Biron and Ardala rushed after him. They reached the front door before Lach'et could get halfway up the path. She looked up to see Buck, Biron, and Ardala moving quickly in her direction.

She reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a small, spherical object. She threw it down on the sidewalk. Suddenly everything turned black for nearly twenty seconds. When the smoke cleared, she was nowhere to be found. Buck swore silently to himself.

"We have to go after her," Ardala said excitedly.

Buck placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving toward the gate. "We will. Let's get Biron inside first. Don't worry," he said with a determined look on his face. "We'll find her. We'll find her."