The Empire's Destiny

By Asso

Chapter Fifty-One

The Gambling of Life


Oh yeah. Life is a game of chance.

For the good guys.

And for the bad guys.

Given for assumed that the good and bad guys can be actually distinguished from each other.


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"The Mother Sphere now loomed over us. To miss the target now would have been impossible. But, at that point, this one was a problem that was not even to be posed anymore. It was no longer the case to strike precisely with the boarded weapons the exact point that, according to my calculations, would have determined the destruction of the Sphere and, together with it, that of all the others as well. The matter was much simpler. It was enough to let the missile on which we had embarked continue in its destructive race. It was enough to let it impact the Sphere."

In the quiet night, Tucker's voice sounded almost surreal.

"I and all my companions were silent, while looking at the Sphere that grew at a dizzying speed on the screen."

A cracking note sounded in the voice.

"But there was a difference."

Somber was that voice.

Somber.

As somber as the most somber night.

"My companions were waiting for the end. Of the Sphere and all of us. I was waiting for the clockwork mechanism I had devised and planned that it could snap. At the right time. Precisely at the right time."

Somber.

"And it did."

SOMBER.

"Perfectly."

SOMBER.

"I don't know if my companions realized it. Maybe yes. Maybe not. In any case it didn't matter at all. They couldn't have told anyone."

T'Pol realized that her temples were throbbing.

She was living through her Adun's voice the precise moment when he had allowed the frost to freeze his heart.

The beginning of his legend. The legend of Cain.

And the beginning of his damnation.

"None of them could have told anyone that they had seen me suddenly disappear from my command chair just as the missile was going to crash with all its load of atomic explosive against the Sphere. Whether some of them had noticed it or had not."

Somber. Somber the voice. Glum.

Tremendously glum.

And yet... somehow... rightly ... unfairly?... a thin note of pride vibrated in it.

And T'Pol understood why.

His words made her understand.

"The whole missile had been designed by me, or, better said, modified by me for its purpose. And for my intentions. At the precise moment when I gave the command to spring forward at full speed, at the precise moment when my subordinate's finger pressed the button that would have given the go-ahead to my command, at that precise moment the button would have also triggered another device, a devise that had been put in place by me personally and by me only, with no slight difficulty in making sure that nobody noticed it. A device making come up a signal that no one could have detected, in that space where only we and the Sphere were. No one. Except for a space ship that - but what a lucky coincidence, is it? - was thereabouts. Close enough to do what it should have done and far away enough to avoid the consequences of the Sphere explosion. A Romulan ship. The one where Valdore was."

Yes, T'Pol understood. And she could not but share, within herself, that surge of justifiable pride and make it hers own.

It was the 'magical engineer' who was speaking in him. The man of wonders.

And it was also the voice of the one who had known how to bend what the Humans called destiny to his will. Right or wrong it was.

The voice of the man who had... - The expression he would use leapt vividly into T'Pol's mind. - …who had kicked fate's ass.

Fate. What for the Vulcans was the indisputable logic of events.

But nothing changed, although it was called in different ways.

Tucker... Cain... her Adun...

He had bent fate... logic... to his will.

And how could he not to be proud of being that?

And...

And how could she not be proud of being the woman of a man like that?

His words now flowed fluidly. T'Pol realized that he was for the first time lightening the weight that had always weighed on his heart.

He wanted her to know everything.

The whys.

The wherefores.

Everything.

"The remote teleportation mechanism had not yet been improved by me in light of what I, later, had the chance to read in the notes of my alter ego of the other universe."

Tucker sneered softly.

"It could not have been possible at that time to put into action what has been possible to do later - that is when, acting from a very, very great distance, the teleportation mechanism allowed me and Phlox to be picked up and carried on a Romulan ship decidedly far away and then, from there, on Romulus - at the moment he and I were on the verge of falling prey to the incendiary and destructive explosion, by me myself triggered, that everyone thought that had erased me forever and, along with me, that damn doctor ... "- A note of not concealable relief, in that sarcastic voice. - "... that damn doctor I owe your life to, T'Pol."

T'Pol opened wide physically her eyes, as well as virtually the eyes of her mind.

So it was so!

Quietly, almost randomly, her Adun had revealed to her, even though in his usual sarcastic way, what he had promised her he would reveal to her. The way he was ... was dead, along with Phlox, just to reappear alive and well - and strong and powerful! - in the role of a Romulan Empire general before her incredulous eyes!

That was how things had gone!

And this... - T'Pol found herself wondering if it was possible to limit the pride she felt for being her Adun. - This had been possible by virtue, once again, of the magical... yes! Magical! And to hell with every Vulcan logic! ...of the magical touch of his indomitable mind!

His voice, the voice of the unfathomable man of whom – one more time she perspicuously realized - she couldn't help but be the woman, continued.

Kidnapping her mind and her katra.

"At that time, the time of my new life and my new destiny, the range of teleportation could only act at a not much great distance. The distance, however, that separated us from the Romulan spacecraft, which... "Tucker grinned wickedly." ... not really accidentally, I have to admit, found itself travelling along the space paths in that lonely and perilous whereabouts fell entirely within the teleportation action range of those times, the teleportation that I hadn't improved yet. So, once the Romulan spaceship detected the signal, it acted. As programmed. And, with the devil's complaisance, it did with commendable readiness. I was picked up from the missile and taken to Valdore's ship. As established. As planned. And so, Cain disappeared. He was gone. As well ..." Tucker lowered his voice to a faint whisper. "... as well as his companions."

The voice went revived.

It regained strength.

As if it wanted to exorcise itself. And the telling.

"Cain did not see the holocaust his companions perished in, as, at the same time, the Mother Sphere was getting destroyed together with its lesser sisters and with their threat. Cain, while all this was happening, was moving away at full speed from the holocaust. On the Romulan ship. But, in some way, he too was dying together with his old comrades. Yes. Death wiped out him too. Another one would have arisen in his place."

Tucker hissed.

His voice became unpleasantly harsh.

"Tucker."

Low. And strong.

"I."


My faithful Admirals and Generals."

The Empress' voice rang loud and secure in the room.

"I have summoned you because I have been informed by our Head of the imperial scientific staff that our goal is next. A last leap to hypervelocity and our fleet will materialize in the space next to Romulus."

A break for effect. The Empress knew how to capture attention, even if, in effect, there was no need for it. But she felt she had to play all her cards. It was her who had to lead the game, without granting anything to him. To Mayweather.

"We will come out into the open. A powerful and redoubtable fleet that will surprise the Romulans, unable to realize how it was possible for it to reach their world, not only in spite of the fact that its exact location should have been unknown to everyone, but also in spite of any means of detection they have, thing that we were able to do thanks to the map you all know, but the Romulans don't. Yes, the surprise and amazement of the Romulans will be immense. Also in light of the fact that they do not even suspect that we know, that we are aware - even if we do not know the intimate reasons - of their covered actions in league with our dear former Chief Engineer. "

Another pause.

The Empress' gaze darted all around.

"But we must not forget with whom we are dealing. The space around us will be teeming with spaceships armed to the teeth and commanded by expert and capable captains. The missile stations on the planet will be immediately turned towards us and we do not doubt that they will be able to react immediately to our appearance. And we must avoid thinking that the Romulans will be unable to recover from the surprise with deadly readiness. They are the Romulans. Therefore it will be imperative for us to act. Quickly and with determination."

The Empress was silent for a moment.

Her eyes, beautiful and seductive, looked at the onlookers.

Her voice was heard again.

Calm yet charged with well-studied tension.

She repeated forcefully.

"Quickly and with determination."

The onlookers, all of them, were in tense silence.

They were listening.

All.

They were listening to their Empress.

Because it was the Empress the one who spoke.

In her spoke the strength of the Empire.

The members of her General Staff could also feel for her the male chauvinist resentment to have to be on the orders of a female and a female, moreover, who had come to her position by virtue of her undoubted qualities, certainly, but, also and above all, by virtue of her offering herself as a female to the males who could be useful for her rise to power. It was usual and even licit, in the Empire, but no female had ever come to hold the rank that she now had by virtue of her being a female and of her offering herself as such. Or, rather… as a whore.

And this was intolerable.

Not to mention the dangerous and slimy individual who, at that moment, was standing behind her, in silence, listening to her words, he too.

Many - and it was known - were more or less sordidly tied to him. And many - and this too was known - would choose him, in case he had decided to openly reveal himself for what he was. And what had recently happened at the moment the Head of the scientific imperial staff had displayed them the destiny they had to face had clearly shown what sort of… intricate and potentially dangerous relationship existed between the Empress and her so-said Gigolo.

All true.

Everything.

As well as…

As well as the inner torture that each of them would have to cross if they had had to choose which side to stand on, torn between duty, honour, loyalty, complicity, careerism and... fear of losing rank and head.

But the words of the Empress...

Her way of speaking and attitudinizing...

It was the Empire!

The Human Empire!

And this was a recall - powerful, inescapable - none of them was able to escape from.

Therefore, each of them stood in religious silence drinking her words.

"But, my esteemed Generals and Admirals, despite the need to act quickly, with strength and determination, we have to keep well in mind a further necessity, equally important."

The Empress' gaze spaced all around, dwelling on each of the members of her General Staff.

And each of them went on remaining silent, waiting for her to spread her word.

"We, my faithful friends, will have to preserve from death and to carry in our hands the traitorous engineer you all know."

Here it was.

She had said it.

Everyone knew she would say that.

And everyone had hoped in vain that she wouldn't say it. Because everyone knew that this would put them in front of an insoluble question.

But she had said it, of course. Because it was entirely logical for her to say it. Exactly as she demonstrated with her subsequent words. A speech anything but puny. And well articulated. And eloquent. Even too much, damn it!

"I, and, I believe, all of you, we want to know from him an infinity of things it is certainly good and opportune we are informed about. It is necessary, therefore, to have him in our hands alive and well, which puts us in the difficult need to avoid the immediate destruction of Romulus - thing we can do by virtue of the lethal ray just he himself designed - on pain of his death. This is something to be considered with extreme attention, because the loss of the surprise factor is to be taken as more than seriously dangerous in the face of prepared and determined military forces the way we expect that surely those of Romulus have to be. Without neglecting, at the same time, that it places us in the need to understand how to bring him to us, in a precise and targeted way. Him and ..." - The Empress could not avoid saying it. Too strong was the impulse that urged her. "... the Vulcan bitch who made an attempt on my Imperial Majesty and whom he managed to snatch away from my just revenge."

It was just a moment. Then, the Empress regained promptly her grave and dignified attitude, the one that was opportune for her to have by reason of what she was and by reason of the very peculiar situation she was facing. And she spoke as if wanting to put in discussion her convictions themselves; her, all in all, entirely justifiable longings.

"All this raises an imperative question, my lords. Is it possible to achieve both things? That is to say to have in our hands the traitorous engineer who dared to do what he dared to do, if possible together with the Vulcan slut who dared to attack the Empire and, at the same time, destroy Romulus? Without risking that the first option will nullify the second? Or is it better to give priority to the destruction of Romulus, setting aside any opportunity to know what lies behind our beloved engineer, classifying the latter option as non-priority in respect of the destruction of Romulus? "

The Empress looked once more at her General Staff, letting her gaze frame each one with intention.

Then she spoke again.

Imperiously.

"I admonish you." - So she said. 'I admonish you'. - "I admonish you not to think of my august person, of what I personally would like."

Her voice rose an octave.

"I admonish you to freely express what you think it is better to do.

The voice rose up again.

"Then, I will decide."

The voice lowered.

"I am ready to listen."

The gaze flashed."

"Speak."

A long, bated silence.

This.

And what else could there have been?

Then... finally...

The Chief of the General Staff.

He spoke.

And his voice sounded firm.

"Romulus. Its destruction is our priority." He looked intensely at the Empress. "We can't take risks."

A murmur ran through the bystanders. And the Empress saw the heads nod in assent.

She nodded in her turn.

Her voice was sweet.

"I see. And ..." She smiled. Mockingly. Almost malignantly. "... so we have to give a damn about any possible threat hidden behind our ineffable reborn engineer? We have merely to be satisfied for his death together with the vulcan whore as a consequence of Romulus' annihilation? And to hell with any concealed danger that we will never know? And which could fell over us? Being we unable to face it, because unaware of its real essence and substance?"

Silence.

A heavy silence.

The Empress...

The Empress was right!

Destroying Romulus. Sure.

It was possible. They had the surprise factor on their side and the deadly weapon that had already reduced the planet of the Orion rebels to nothing.

It was possible. It could be done.

And, by hesitating, one could risk not only losing the opportune moment, the one and only real opportunity, but also incurring the destructive reaction of Romulan forces.

So, at first glance, not only could one, but one had to do.

Sure.

And then?

Would it have put an end not only to the threat of Romulus, giving at the same time the Earth the supremacy over the entire quadrant and even beyond, but also to the hidden threats that lurked behind the disquieting shadow of the dead Engineer, who dead was not, but who, in the event of an attack on Romulus, would finally die once and for all? Taking his secrets away together with him? Secrets... maybe terribly dangerous secrets.

Or could it rather be that the definitive farewell of that disquieting ghost would have prevented them from knowing those secrets, those threats, and therefore from defending themselves from them? Secrets as... as the disappearance of the previous Emperor, along with all his praetorians, something that damned engineering wizard had apparently more than something to do with? Or as the enigmatic connection that, as it seemed, linked the Chief Engineer's obscure and frightening shadow to the family that had given birth to the Empire? To its last scion? Who, it was well known, would not hesitate to stab the late Emperor in the back if only he had had the chance? And... and certainly also the current Empress.

"If I am allowed, my Empress."

His voice.

His mellifluous voice.

Mayweather.

But this time the Empress expected it.

Indeed, to tell the truth, she had wanted it.

Another gamble.

But life itself was a gamble.

She didn't let her well-drawn eyebrow rise, as her inner impulse would have push her to do.

She didn't let her immediate thought emerge to the surface of her visage.

*Okay. As expected. Now let's see if you really predicted everything, my dear Empress. And let's see if you are able to joust the way you must be capable of doing.*

Her face didn't betray any emotion and her answer was calm and sure.

"Granted."

"Very well. Thank you, my Empress."

Mayweather stepped forward, placing himself before the Empress, between her and the General Staff, so that he could be seen both by her and the others.

And these - those present - got ready to listen.

The comedy was continuing.

By now everyone knew the subtle struggle stirring between the Empress and her gigolo. Something had got broken in their action pact, nevertheless either of them wanted the deal to really break. Maybe... maybe it was just an underlying struggle between opposing strong wills.

Nothing more.

All right. Okay.

In any case, the comedy was continuing.

Everyone knew it. Everyone knew it was a comedy. By the unpredictable ending.

But, for the moment, it was continuing.

And it was definitely better that way!

Better not to choose. Be not to be forced to choose.

Better - much better - to merely stay listening.

"The suggestion of the Chief of Staff is completely understandable and, to tell the truth, the line of action he suggests is inescapable, in my opinion."

Mayweather's beautiful and brazen face turned to the Empress.

"I'm sure you agree with me, my Empress."

Then his face turned to the others.

"We cannot run the risk of losing what is perhaps the only opportunity for us to free ourselves from the threat of Romulus, as well as to take possession of its domain. Even more. We cannot run the risk of being erased by Romulus at the very moment where it's us who can erase it."

A thrill ran through the onlookers.

The Empress' Gray Eminence was contradicting the Empress!

Was the comedy turning into tragedy?

"But..."

The 'but" rang loud.

It shook the small crowd.

"But the Empress is right. It is equally true that we cannot afford to evade the threat that lies behind the exhumed chief engineer. It is too much what we do not know. Too much and potentially extremely dangerous, as well as disturbing. Therefore, we must have him in our hands. In order to know. And to be able to act. To take the appropriate countermeasures."

Mayweather turned to the Empress. He smiled amiably. A little too amiably? Who knows? Better not to ask ourselves too many questions.

"Your acumen, my Empress, is worthy of you. You have posed the exact problem. And, just as sharply, you have posed the primary question."

Mayweather turned back to the small crowd again.

His expression was grave.

"How can we comply with both challenges? And, before that, is it... is it technically possible to locate our dear engineer-ghost and draw him to us?"

The Empress nodded to herself.

Very well.

Her dear bulky lover was following the course of action she had exactly expected from him. She knew him well. Indeed - and a dark shadow enveloped the Empress' spirit for a moment - now she knew him even more. Enough to make her understand what was the right way to proceed.

He had many... let's say qualities. A lot. And among these - first among these - his hypertrophic ego. This, and together with this, his aptitude to appear without being, to show off without risking too much just to fulfil his narcissistic self, could be exploited to her own advantage.

She remained silent hearing what else he would say, foreshadowing with malicious taste what this would be.

And she wasn't wrong.

Mayweather turned abruptly. He turned towards a corner of the room.

He turned to him.

To Arthur.

"Our dear Director ..." His voice was mellifluous. Bad, without openly showing off so. "... who could give us the answer better than you?" Mayweather made a thin, malignant giggle. "You have already been able to provide us with such answers that providing us this one should be a real trifle for you."

All faces turned to the poor Director of the imperial scientific staff. Once again, willingly or not, he found himself in the spotlight and he did not like at all that the human serpent whom... whom he had dared already to challenge and practically ridicule in front of everyone, called him so abruptly into question.

This did not promise anything good.

He managed, however, to dominate himself.

He spoke quietly.

He relied that the Empress was on his side.

Would it have been enough?

Well, he had to hope it to be so.

"What answer, sir?"

And there was a touch of disrespectful teasing, in that question.

Everyone noticed it.

And it was difficult to hide the smile that wanted to emerge on everyone's face.

On the faces of the onlookers.

On the face of the Empress.

Not on Mayweather's face.

Dry, his expression. Dry, his reply.

"Can Tucker be located and brought to us by means of the teleportation?"

Then, his voice went blatantly sharp. And blatantly mocking.

"Does the careful study of the notes of your admired master allow you to give us the answer?"

The Director floundered internally. What did he have to answer?

His gaze darted all over around.

He was thinking if it was possible to do what Mayweather had asked him, everyone thought. But what he was looking for was not the answer to the question posed to him, an answer he already knew. What he was looking for without showing it was the face of the Empress. Her gaze.

He caught it. He caught her almost imperceptible nod.

So then, he looked straight at Mayweather.

And answered.

With quiet confidence.

"His notes permit me that, sir. And my answer is positive."

A buzz that grew louder and louder, until it became a messy clamour, rose from the crowd, while on Mayweather's face a distorted grimace of surprise got drawn, that he was unable to suppress.

While no one could notice the satisfied half smile that hovered briefly on the Empress' visage.

Mayweather tried to get a grip of himself.

"You ... you mean that...?"

"It seems clear to me what he means." The calm voice of the Empress made itself be heard, instantly dominating the loud buzz of the crowd.

Mayweather turned abruptly toward her.

His eyes were bad and she found herself trembling internally.

But she knew how to dominate herself.

And she knew how to behave.

"My trusted counsellor, Your Excellency Travis Mayweather..."

Her voice was sweet. But that way of addressing him, so pompous, so formal, so stately... Everyone's ears were upright. No one let escape a single breath.

"...you have been able to turn to the right person and, by grace of the gods, his answer takes us out of the hindrance. We can fiercely attack Romulus by surprise and, at the same time, have in our hands the cursed reborn engineer."

She concluded suavely.

"And after all it doesn't matter then too much, at this point, to have the Vulcan whore together with him."

The Empress smiled slyly.

"Perhaps it will be possible, if she will be sufficiently close to him within the action range of the teleportation, but even if this does not happen, she will be condemned to die atrociously in the holocaust that we will unleash on Romulus. And, although not exactly corresponding to my and our auspices, this will still be a very sweet revenge. Of which we will be capable of making very good use."

Mayweather didn't move a muscle. He perceived that the Empress was holding out a trap for him, or perhaps, more simply, that she was pursuing some hidden design of hers. But he could not figure out what it was, its exact nature. Consequently he let it go, pretending nothing.

But he had to try to understand.

"My Empress, I thank you for the recognition you grant me."

Then he tried to take up the situation again. He had to lead the game, bringing the Empress to reveal herself.

And he fell into the trap.

"Of course it remains to understand one thing."

Mayweather turned again to the Chief of the imperial scientific staff.

"You say ..." His eyes winked slyly. "... and there is no reason to doubt your words, right? ... you say you can locate that damn ghost in the flesh and bring him into our hands. But how long is the lapse of time you need to do it?"

Mayweather turned around himself a couple of times, so as to make sure that everyone could see his face. Then he stopped, planting himself wide-legged and looking once more at the Director.

"You see, my capable Director, it is entirely presumable, obvious I would say, that practically at the instant our fleet will materialize in the skies of Romulus our Empress will give the order to attack. It will take a few minutes - ten, maybe a little more - to make operational the destructive beam that will make a clean sweep of Romulus and this is the amount of time you'll have in order to locate and bring in our hands, in the comfortable cell that awaits him, our beloved wizard-engineer."

His voice lowered. But it could be heard clearly.

And it was stinging.

"Tell us, o our capable Director, are you able to do what you say you can in this very short time?"

All faces were facing the Director. All of them. No one was watching the Empress.

She was sitting in her seat, not at one end of the table, but in her Imperial chair against the wall.

All around the large table were the members of the General Staff, each of them with their faces turned towards the Director, and Mayweather stood before the table, between it and the Empress, with his back to the table and to her and with the face pointed at the Director.

So nobody could see the Empress, her expression, at that moment.

No one except him. The Director.

And he immediately caught the repeated almost imperceptible nod that once again the Empress did with her head and eyes to him, without anyone else being able to see it.

So then, he answered promptly.

He didn't understand.

But he trusted.

And, on the other hand, what else could he do?

He had no longer anything to loose in regard to the snake in human form who had addressed him. Sooner or later, that individual would have made him pay dearly his inconsiderate behaviour. But he had much to gain if the Empress - the one who, at that moment, was secretly suggesting to him what to say - had, thanks to him, won the game.

And so then, to hell with it!

*My dear Director, you have already challenged and ultimately humiliated His Excellency Travis Mayweather once. You did it and you're still alive. Even more, you could have something whose delicious savour you, incredibly, have been able to taste. So then, enjoy the pleasure of challenging and humiliating him a second time. And come what may!*

He replied, therefore. And he did it without hesitation. He did it confidently and determinedly.

And this did not pass in vain over the small crowd nor over Mayweather. The Director revealed himself once again for what everyone had understood he was capable of being, in spite of all vulnerable frailty he apparently showed off.

A tough cookie.

Very tough.

"I can do it, sir."

This was the moment.

The Empress realized it perfectly.

She spoke, before Mayweather could find anything to reply.

"Good. It seems we have all the answers we need."

Everyone's attention shifted to her.

She smiled. Then she assumed a thoughtful expression.

"Could it be useful to avoid any risk by determining the position of that damned one and drawing him to us... before?"

Mayweather almost winced.

"Before?"

"Yes. Before. Not at our last leap out of warp speed, but before. Now, I mean. We're not far from Romulus. Our last jump in hypervelocity to reach it will be very short."

Mayweather's eyes widened. And he was not the only one.

"But this is..."

A light went on in the Director's mind. A light that enlightened his eyes too. Here was what the Empress wanted!

She caught that light and realized that he had understood. So she intervened immediately. She gave no time for Mayweather to finish his sentence or for any other to speak.

"Dangerous. And stupid. I realize."

She stood up, royally.

She made a nonchalant gesture with her hand.

"Forget my words. Tucker's disappearance from Romulus at this moment would put in alarm his... let's call them allies. The surprise element would be lost."

The Empress looked sharply at each of the onlookers.

"Let's proceed as planned. In exactly two hours the chief navigator has the order to make the last jump in hypervelocity. Be everyone ready. To the last leap at warp speed. To the jumping out from hypervelocity. To the battle.

Her gaze turned to the Director.

"And you, Director, be ready to do what you said you can do."

The Director nodded.

"Yes, my Empress."

"Very well."

The Empress turned her gaze to the onlookers again.

"I retreat to my quarters. I leave to you, Your Excellency Travis Mayweather, the task of presiding over the operations. No one better than you can do it. I'll be back with you all when we materialize in the skies of Romulus."

The Director listened, like everyone else.

But for him the Empress' words had a different light.

In her quarters.

In her quarters!

While Mayweather was busy conducting the operations!

There, he should have sent the engineer magician. There! There, he and the Empress would talk to each other. There. While the damned Mayweather was absent, engaged in the duties that the Empress had assigned him.

There - and now, immediately after he had successfully carried out the localization and the abduction of that living ghost - the pact between the Empress and that black shadow would be established. Or there would have been no pact. And what would have happened in either case was impossible to know.

A gamble.

One of the many that life placed before everyone.

A gambling game in which he risked his life.

But he had already put it at risk. And, therefore, nothing changed for him.

No. It wasn't true. In reality, things could change. For worse, if the Empress had failed in her intent. For the better, if the Empress had achieved her goal.

Her life was entrusted to her. And hers too.

His gaze lingered over her.

She was cruel, ruthless. Bad.

But she wasn't afraid to gamble.

She was... great.

He hid a smile.

And definitely ... hot.

His eyes continued to look at her, as well as those of everyone else.

In a different way.

She made an imperious gesture with her hand.

"Dismissed. Everyone in his place."

And having said that, she turned and quickly gained the door, heading her quarters.

One by one, the others also left, each of them moving towards his own job place.

All.

He too, the Director.

Even Mayweather.

As last.

His suspicious gaze fixed on the Director's nape.


End of Chapter Fifty-One

TBC

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Given for assumed that the good and bad guys can be actually distinguished from each other.

Is it possible?