I want to say Thank you to all of the readers of this fic, andI want to apologize that it took so long for me to come backto complete the story. Something came up that took me away from the story. I hope you like rest of it. Thanks again!
Fifteen minutes ago…
He came to the darkened cellblock as a precaution to his plan, and wanted to make sure that the soldiers he had hired followed his instructions without error. Standing deep within the recessed shadows of the hallway, he noted that things were not going the way he had actually planned, for the prisoner had quickly disarmed the small knife from her foe's right hand, and then drove her fist into the female assailant's exposed jaw.
The prisoner knelt over the unconscious soldier momentarily when another hired soldier appeared behind her with his weapon drawn. The soldier should have killed her at point blank range, however he chose to coax the prisoner into picking up the disruptor he had kicked over to her.
She refused, of course, as he knew that she read the move as the soldier's inexperience. He didn't expect her to move as fast as she did, as she whirled herself around unexpectedly, throwing the small blade at the armed soldier, sinking it deep into the forearm that held the weapon, causing it to fire upward, missing his intended target badly.
Stupid move… he thought, recognizing that these soldiers clearly lacked the training that they bragged about having when the mission was given to them. His instincts had warned him that such a thing would happen.
Just as he was about to take matters into his own hands, the obscured figure withheld his action, as the last soldier he hired ran up the hallway, firing his disruptor at her awkwardly, which prevented her from picking up the disruptor so she could arm herself. She, instead, took to the air, flying past the unseen observer, unaware of his presence, away from the trio of assassins, and down into the hallway, disappearing into its darkness.
The pair checked their compatriot's condition realizing that she was still bereft of her senses, and decided to leave her behind. They took to the air awkwardly, in pursuit of the escaped prisoner.
He was about to leave as well, but footfalls further up the hallway clanged loudly as someone was quickly approaching. The female soldier would be visible to whoever it was, and would most likely be asked questions that she would not be prepared for. He ran over to the semi-conscious soldier, and dragged her back into the darkness.
I am sorry my dear… it's unfortunate for you that you're in the wrong place at the wrong time…
Now…
"I think she went this way…" the winged figure whispered discordantly into his companion's direction, while fluttering his wings rapidly, unable to maintain his altitude, all the while clutching onto the red-drenched cloth that he had used to tie off his bleeding forearm. He found it very difficult to concentrate onto the task at hand, considering the fact that he had just removed a miniature-throwing blade from his wound a few moments before.
"Are you sure…?" a burly figure asked roughly, coming up from behind, hovering with sluggish grace. "The way you're coddling that scratch, it's a wonder that you would have the slightest idea."
"Look, Turlak… how was I to know that she had that blade?"
"We were warned that she was crafty and not to underestimate her… and as usual Ghanja, you weren't paying attention…" Turlak scoffed. "We were lucky that I showed up when I did, otherwise you'd be laying unconscious with Verdya back at the cell block."
"Yeah, I was lucky…"
But, don't worry; Hol has my full attention now… Ghanja thought darkly to himself, grimacing each time he applied pressure with the cloth. I won't make the same mistake again. She'll pay for this…
"Well, at least my mission was successful," Turlak, grinned, clutching onto the object that he held tightly in his left hand. "Hol won't be getting any help from anyone, now."
He looked up and around the area, realizing that the stalactites hung gloomily about everywhere within the vast cavernous cave.
"She couldn't have gotten far… let's move."
She gazed down at the two figures below her fearlessly, as they headed deeper into the cavern. A smug smile broke across her face, as she knew that she had succeeded in eluding her would-be pursuers by melting herself within the shadows of three huge stalactites just above the winged attackers. Doing this by using her hands, and her feet to pin herself up against the cave ceiling, fighting the gravity that attempted to pull her from her perch.
I was right… they're mercs… and not very good ones at that… Shayera thought with amusement. Then her face turned grim, as she realized that she was disappointed that it wasn't Kragger that had tried to shoot her in the hallway. Then the smile quickly returned. Hmmmm… let's see if these clowns are stupid enough to lead me to him...
With that, she released her grip from the inverted cones of jagged stone, and dropped a full meter downward, then silently expanded her wings outward, catching the up draft of the slight breeze within the cavern. Quietly, she turned and glided herself upward near the ceiling, toward the pair of the two distracted mercenaries, who were unaware that the hunters had just became the hunted.
John Stewart stood silently within the darkness of the cellblock as he stared down at the scorched holes on the mattress of the bed. With no response to his calling out her name moments before, the sweat on his brow began to reflect the worry in his mind, causing him to consider the possibility that Shayera might not have survived the apparent attack.
Suddenly the familiar hum of machinery whirred back to life as the cellblock became illuminated within it's emanation of bright lights, making it easier for him to look around further, and to finally reveal what he desperately needed to know.
She's not here! His heart began to beat again as he realized he'd been holding his breath.
Corporal Karos entered the cellblock, assessing the damage, leaving behind a small group of thanagarian soldiers that had joined him to help investigate the disturbance. He noted the blast marks within the cellblock, pondering what had happened to cause this incident.
"I am confused, John Stewart." Karos commented quietly, with a puzzled look on his face. "Why would Lieutenant Hol try to escape… especially now?"
"Escape? You're kidding, right?"
"I'm sorry, my friend… but, that is what the evidence shows…"
"Evidence? Look around… what do you see?" John asked solemnly.
Karos took a step towards the middle of the cellblock. "Well… somehow the Lieutenant must have caused an overload in the power matrix, and knocked out the prison shields, which led to the weapons fire in here, and last but now least, I see that the Lieutenant isn't here, which means that she must have escaped."
He turned and faced John. "Is that not what you see? It's really quite obvious."
John's expression was unbelieving at what he'd just heard. It's obvious that you know nothing about Shayera Hol… he thought.
"I see… well, take a look at this," he said as he approached the metal bed, kneeling down, next to the singed areas of the mattress. "These burns on the mattress… are from an angle…"
He demonstrated by using the line of sight method with his finger visually tracing from the burned hole on the mattress to the scorched blast point on the metal pole of the bed.
"There were at least two blasts that ricocheted off this post, one onto the mattress… and the other onto the floor. Which tells me that the shots came from over there."
John turned towards the entranceway. "Someone was definitely firing at Shayera, and she tried to find cover at her bunk. From what I can tell, she had no choice but to escape."
Standing up, John looked over at the young corporal.
"And there was something to what you had said yourself. Why would she choose now, this moment, to make her escape…? It doesn't' make any sense… there was no reason for her to escape…" his voice trailed off, as he realized that his speculations reminded him of all of the times he witnessed the methods that Batman utilized whenever he had studied a crime scene.
A thanagarian soldier walked in and gestured to Karos, beckoning him to follow him back into the hallway.
"Those are good points, John Stewart… but… excuse me."
John stared at the floor when something else occurred to him that he had failed to mention. What if this attack was somehow coordinated with the attack on P'thal? That would mean that there is a group of soldiers out there that wanted Shayera dead at any cost.
"John Stewart!" Karos's voice called out, a moment later.
Corporal Karos was standing a few meters to the right of the entrance to the cellblock, as John came out.
"What's up?" John asked.
"We have a problem… over here." Karos gestured, pointing downward.
John walked about a meter from the entranceway, rounded the corner to his left, and was shocked to see a crumpled body on the cold stone floor.
"She's dead…" Karos commented. "Her neck is broken…"
"What…?"
"It's possible that Lieutenant Hol may have been more desperate than we thought, and did indeed take this opportunity to make her escape…"
"You can't be serious… there's no way that Shayera would do this…" John remarked incredulously, as he knelt down to take a closer look at the body.
"Do you know who she is?"
"Yes… her name is Private Verdya Lam…"
"There's no blood on her…" John noted.
Jumping back to his feet, John walked briskly toward the spot where they saw the droplets of blood earlier, kneeling down, looking up at the entrance of the cellblock, then back in the direction of the corpse that laid hidden a few meters away to the left. He knew that there was something missing, something that could put some sense to all of this.
No way that this was an escape attempt… John hypothesized. Someone went to a lot of trouble to force Shayera out of her cell… and then made it look like it was…
Footfalls on stone resounded off the corridor walls as more thanagarian soldiers came down the corridor to stop next to where John was examining the floor.
"Karos…?" a winged soldier said as he looked down onto the human.
"Ensign Nor…" Karos saluted.
"So, its true… the traitor took a life?"
"It looks that way, sir."
"Now wait a minute," John interjected, standing up.
"I'm afraid that I cannot… human." The thanagarian junior officer said eying John with pure mistrust.
"Where's the body?"
"Over there, sir." Karos pointed.
Nor stepped over to where the slain victim was laying, stared at it for a moment, then stiffened up, and turned abruptly to Karos.
"Karos, I will inform the Commander about this situation. You on the other hand, will take the men, and do an aerial hunt. Find her… and if you have to…" his voice lowered. "… you have permission to shoot to kill."
"Sir? You found the Commander?" Karos asked.
"He was never missing," Nor declared quietly.
"Sir, there may be a chance that Hol may actually be innocent… perhaps we should…"
"That, Corporal, is not our concern,." Nor interrupted.
"Yes, sir."
Ensign Nor walked off rigidly, heading back down the hallway, as John stared after him.
Man… he looks familiar… he thought.
"I am sorry, John Stewart." Karos offered.
"Can you stand there and tell me, that this is as cut and dry as he is trying to make it?" John asked, his voice beginning to feel the nervousness increasing within his body.
"I have my orders…"
"Come on, Karos! Think!" John cried out, desperately trying to maintain his composure.
"Does any of this make any sense to you! She was about to be heard at the Tribunal! There is no way she would jeopardize that!"
"It doesn't matter what I may think…" Karos rebuked. "What matters… is that I follow orders. Once again, I am sorry that this did not work out for you. Please… do not interfere."
"Sound the alarm!" he yelled.
Karos turned, and with a mighty sweep of his wings, took off into the air.
"Lets go!"
The plumed soldiers all took to the air, preparing themselves to hunt down the woman that had not only betrayed their people, but as they now also believed, had murdered a young private that was only doing her job.
As the three-toned signal began to blare across the cavernous insides of the mountain, John Stewart stood within the hallway silently, ignoring the screeching noise. All he could do was realize that there was someone here that would go to any length to see that Shayera would die! And they made sure that this time he would be powerless to stop it.
The hell I can't! he thought, sprinting back down the hallway, in search of the infirmary.
"You idiot! I can't believe that you lost her!" Turlak barked.
Ghanja stared off blankly as they settled back to the ground, darkness all around them. He did manage to stop the bleeding on his wound, but that did not make him feel any better. Disappointed that he would not have his chance to redeem himself, Ghanja silently cursed to himself.
"Turlak, I'm sorry… I thought that she'd gone this way," he said apologetically.
Suddenly the alarm echoed loudly throughout the cave, signifying the discovery of the lieutenant's escape.
"Well, it doesn't matter now. Someone else will have to kill her." Turlak smiled inwardly, looking around. "He's not going to be happy about this at all… not at all! C'mon!"
The pair headed down a dimly lit hallway unaware that the object of the alarm was only a few meters behind them, adhering to the shadows, spying their every move, focused on finding the one that had caused all of this trouble for her, and in her mind, she would not be denied her vengeance.
Pilar P'thal sat up in her bed angrily, as she struggled with putting her arm into one of the sleeves of her uniform. The pain was beginning to subside since the painkiller had begun to take effect, but it didn't make it any easier for her to move her arms around. Hearing the alarm had awakened her, and she realized that it meant an escaped prisoner was on the loose. P'thal knew that her friend was in trouble, and needed her help.
"Need a hand?"
Pilar wheeled around to see a stone faced human staring back at her.
"John Stewart! What is going on?" she asked, exasperated.
"It seems that your populace here, believes that Shayera has murdered a soldier so that she could escape from her detention cell!"
"That's preposterous!"
"I know. Pilar… they've been ordered to kill her on sight!" John exclaimed.
"Did Kragger give the order?"
"That's what I think…" he voiced while helping her with her other arm. "At least that's what Nor said."
"Ensign Nor?"
"Yeah… I believe that was his name!"
P'thal thought for a moment.
"We need to find Kragger, and I think I know where to look! Let's go!" P'thal instructed.
"Not yet! I need to get my ring first!" he looked at her sternly.
"I told you John, that whoever attacked me, also took your ring."
"Yeah, I know, but I know where it is, and I need you to take me to it."
"How is that possible?" P'thal asked with disbelief.
"No time to explain… we gotta go!" John said as he raced out of the infirmary.