Chapter 36: Added Value

Endymion absentmindedly batted at the two dangling little orbs with his right hand, sending them clacking into each other haphazardly, bouncing off the metal wall to their left, and generally swinging about at either end of the thick white rope that held them together. It didn't really occur to him how much he resembled a cat right now, mindlessly playing with the most basic of toys.

The two wooden balls, each painted to resemble the Earth and Moon respectively, and each hiding the precious treasure of the first two uncias of hyper-pure refined imperium in recorded history, had fortunately survived the sudden and unplanned laboratory movement. Endymion had looped the rope around an unused knob on the side of one of the vats, and seemed oddly occupied with it for the moment. An annoyed frown sat on his face as he played with the simple toy.

Behind him, on one of the many stainless-steel counter surfaces in the lab, was a rectangular crate, filled to near-capacity with clear cubes of pure refined imperium. Kunzite, hands on his hips, grimly looked up at the door at the south end of the catwalk above him.

"Your Highness, just let me handle this," Kunzite said, not turning to look at his charge as he spoke. "Obviously, circumstances forced us to do this, and I'm sure Cronus will accept that as long as we present it respectfully, but he's not going to like it."

"Circumstances," Endymion repeated, saying the word as if he found it poisonous in his mouth. "Makes it sound as if this was something that just happened, nothing that anyone could have done to avoid it." He looked over at his general, an expression of brooding on his face. "The random universe just bounced around its subatomic particles in chaotic patterns, creating the circumstance of me getting blackmailed by Princess Venus, and Cronus had nothing to do with it."

"Be that as it may, Your Majesty, we're best off at this point maintaining our amicable relationship, and that requires a delicate touch sometimes," Kunzite said sternly.

Before the conversation had the opportunity to actually heat up, the door above opening drew both of their attentions. Quickly, Cronus entered, purposefully marching across the catwalk, glancing down towards his two business partners down below as he moved. Several steps behind him, Tellu followed.

Endymion leaned up against the side of the vat, turning to look over at the far wall as Cronus took the staircase down to the floor level of the laboratory. Kunzite crossed his arms over his chest, trying to straddle that line between casual and imposing.

"I've been told there's a problem," Cronus said as he got to the floor, approaching Kunzite, peering past him towards the Prince. "You're asking to take a portion of the refined product for yourself?"

"It's not for personal use," Kunzite responded.

"Regardless, the terms of our deal were quite clear. All product refined in my laboratory, using my equipment and materials, would be handed off to me. I trust you're aware of this," Cronus said. "So, explain yourself."

"It's a requirement for this operation to continue," Kunzite said evenly, glancing up at Tellu, who loomed large behind her boss. "Another distributor approached us, they want to sell our imperium. They gave us no choice in the matter."

Cronus's expression wrinkled. "You would use my infrastructure to create product for a competitor? Unacceptable."

"This distributor possesses the knowledge and means to turn all of us in to the Galactic Imperium Agency. And they will, if they don't get our product. It's in our best interest to work with this distributor, that includes you."

"Don't assume you know what's in my best interest," Cronus said warningly. "Part of my arrangement with you is that I get to corner the market. Competing sellers who can match my product's quality drive down demand and can force my prices down."

"This distributor won't be competing with you, their plan it to sell on Venus only. Nobody else sells imperium on Venus. It will have no effect on you," Kunzite assured him.

Cronus stared over at the box of imperium cubes on the counter space next to Kunzite, then turned to look at the Prince, who was now giving a combative stare over towards the pharmaceutical kingpin.

"Princess Venus, then," Cronus muttered under his breath. "That's her endgame?" He dropped the stern parent facade for a moment, blinking rapidly. "Curious."

"We don't know all of the details," Kunzite added. "But it's imperative that she be given what she's asking for."

Cronus's forehead wrinkled, turning his focus back to Kunzite. "You should have brought this development to my attention. If Princess Venus is a liability to our operation, then my organization needs to take measures to protect ourselves from her."

"We are protecting ourselves by giving her what she's asked for. If she has a vested interest in our operation continuing, she has motivation to not turn us in," Kunzite pointed out.

"Regardless, I should have been consulted," Cronus remarked sternly. "These are my assets you're using to synthesize."

"It wouldn't have mattered what you thought."

Kunzite visibly winced, pursing his lips as Endymion entered the conversation.

"What was that?" Cronus prompted.

The Prince of Earth pushed off the vat that he was leaning on, standing up to his full height. "We didn't have a choice, so your input wouldn't have changed anything. It was either this, or a prison cell. And that goes for you as well."

"Even still—"

"Maybe you should ask yourself, why were we there? What caused us to be in that position? Why were we placed at the mercy of Princess Venus, blackmailed into doing what she wanted us to do?" Endymion slowly started to round towards Kunzite and Cronus. "I don't recall getting to have any input in that sequence of events."

Cronus, unflinching under Endymion's subtle ire, reached up to adjust his glasses. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on!" Endymion snapped, getting Kunzite to flinched back. "We both know it, Cronus, you gave us up to Venus to save yourself! She told us. So I don't see how what we have to do to save ourselves is any of your business, when you put us there!"

Cronus sighed. "I was put into a difficult situation. I believed you and Kunzite would be arrested regardless. I acted in self-preservation. Any logical person would have done the same."

Despite his reasonable tone and logical argument, Endymion was only further enraged by his attempts to justify himself. "I've made you hundreds of billions of creds! Nobody else in the galaxy could have given you what I have!"

"Your Highness, I—" Kunzite desperately tried to intervene, but Endymion had been angered beyond acting reasonably.

"And you've shown me exactly how much value you place on all that, so honestly, Cronus, I don't particularly care what you think about our arrangement with Princess Venus. In fact, how about you just consider yourself extremely lucky you've retained our services after turning us in?" He moved in closer to Cronus, venting off several days worth of pent up frustration. He pointed over at the box of imperium. "If this is the worst that's come of your actions, you're doing very well."

Cronus, despite being given a window to reply, opted to just stare down the Prince, his distaste for his tone quite evident without the use of words.

"Now, we're the ones supplying you with imperium, and we're the ones refining it. This is how things are now. If you don't like it, then feel free to blame yourself."

With that declaration, Cronus shot Kunzite a quick little side glance, as if giving him an opportunity to speak up. When the white-haired general simply kept his lips tightly closed, Cronus turned away. Serenely walking back over to the iron spiral staircase leading up, his clicking footsteps the only sound to be heard in the lab. Both Endymion and Kunzite followed his movements as he trotted up to the catwalk, then crossed it over to the lone door out.

After what seemed like an eternity, Cronus was gone, the door shutting behind him. Kunzite immediately leveled a glare over towards the Prince, who seemed entirely unrepentant.

"I'm quite sure there was a better way to handle things than that," Kunzite muttered under his breath as Endymion went over to the box. With a couple taps of the Prince's finger, the bottom of the box started to glow a light blue and hover a tiny bit off the counter surface.

"What does it matter?" Endymion asked, an immature stubbornness in his voice. "Not like he can do anything about it."

"Maybe," Kunzite said. "That doesn't mean we should dare him to."

"He'll live," Endymion said ruefully, pushing the box of imperium off the counter, watching it slowly glide down to the floor. "You know I'm right, right?"

"I specifically asked to be allowed to handle Cronus today, and I really believe—"

"I'm not going to just let him come in here and talk to us like that!" Endymion snapped, swinging his arm up to point at the door. "He turns us in to the agency, and then thinks he can act as if nothing has changed a couple days later?!" He shrugged. "Not standing for that. And again, it doesn't matter. He needs us as much as we need him."

Kunzite grimaced, again giving a look up towards the door.

"

"We had the wall decorations alternating before, I really liked it like that," Serenity said, pointing up towards the east-side wall of Endymion's bedroom, where assorted artifacts and pieces of art were spread out across the pearl white surface. Three uniformed men of above-average builds were standing at her side, next to a few large boxes, judging the best, most preferred way to re-decorate the bedroom now that Princess Serenity was moving back in.

"Okay, so, we just have to sort of...slot everything back in?" the leftmost one asked, pointing up towards the wall. "The gaps are still there, I think, shouldn't be so bad." He turned to his two assistants. "Why don't you two start loading up the closet with her dresses?"

As the duo turned to comply with the request, the primary door swung open, Endymion entering and immediately turning about to take measure of his room.

"Any problems?" he asked, hands on his hips as he observed the two assistants lift up one of the boxes and begin to shuffle over towards the closet.

"Not yet," Serenity said, still slightly terse and just a hint of bitterness in her smile towards him. "And there won't be, will there?"

"Sweetie, nothing could motivate me more to make sure that there are no problems between us than the last few cycles," Endymion said smoothly. "Everything's fine."

"We won't be disturbing any of your things, obviously, Your Highness," the lead mover commented. "You have nothing to worry about."

"So," Endymion said, sidling up behind Serenity. "Now that you're back, you want to do something to celebrate?"

"Why don't we...feel things out for a bit first?" Serenity turned around to face her husband. "Make sure we actually have something to celebrate."

"Well, let's at least go down to the main hall and have lunch with my father," he suggested. "He'll be thrilled to see proof-positive you're back."

With that, he bent down a bit and scooped her up bridal-style in his arms, Serenity going a bit limp to allow him to pick her up into the air.

"

Wrapping her arms around her torso slightly, Viluy quickly ran up the small boarding ramp into the B class starship, the windy conditions on the tarmac urging her to find the shelter of the ship interior as soon as possible. A few beats after she entered the main chamber of the modestly-sized ship, the ramp retracted into the floor beneath her feet and the ship began to close up. She looked around the main compartment, then turned her focus entirely towards the cockpit as Cronus entered from it.

"Afternoon," Cronus said, watching the ship's entrance seal. "Your communicator is turned off?"

"Yes," Viluy responded. "I really don't see why we couldn't have this meeting in your office, or mine."

"I just want an additional layer of security right now," Cronus stated. "Endymion knows where our offices are, he doesn't know about this ship."

Viluy quickly sidestepped over to a bench built into the right side of the ship's wall, sitting down on it. "Are things really that bad? I was under the impression he was still coming to work every other day like before."

"He is," Cronus acknowledged. "But he has taken things personally, I was wrong to assume that he'd understand the bigger picture. And it's driven him to act spitefully."

Viluy pursed her lips, tapping her fingers on the bench spot to her left. "Well, as long as he's being paid, I imagine that—"

"I prefer to avoid risk, if at all possible," Cronus stated. "And the Prince now represents some degree of risk."

"Lot of risk going around right now," Viluy muttered. "Princess Venus out there, doing who knows what, knowing our secrets. It's not what we're used to."

"Right," Cronus said. "We've been careful and cautious for the last decade, and now with the finish line in sight, suddenly it feels as if we're just waiting for someone to swing the axe." He leaned up against the wall next to where Viluy was sitting. "I think we need to try to eliminate some of the sources of risk. Do what we can to take control of our situation as much as possible."

"Eliminate Princess Venus?" Viluy asked. "That's hardly my area of expertise, if that's what you're referring to."

"No, no, not...not that. Well, maybe, but that presents us with an entirely new set of problems." He turned to Viluy. "Have you been studying the footage from the laboratory? How well do you think you understand their process?"

"Oh, I couldn't help but be fascinated by it, so I've spent virtually every free moment studying it. It's definitely a complex process, not something you can trust to just anyone. Dare I say, probably quite dangerous and volatile as well. But, yes, I have confidence in my understanding of it."

"Do you believe you could execute the formula in the laboratory immediately, should the need for it arise?" Cronus asked.

"I would need a competent assistant. But, yes, I could do that. Maybe the first batch or two will be a punt, but I understand their process and their methodology." Viluy nodded.

"Viluy, you understand it would be disastrous if our supply of imperium were suddenly cut off. If Endymion and Kunzite were suddenly unable to synthesize for us, and it turns out that you can't copy their formula, even for twenty days, our infrastructure falls to pieces. Only say that if you're completely sure you have what you need."

Viluy folded her hands together and rested her chin on top of her knuckles. "I'm sure, Cronus. I've reviewed footage of their process dozens of times, I understand it. Not just the what, but the why."

"Because it has to be you," Cronus continued. "It can't be me, I'm far too busy with my other commitments to spend every other day in the lab. And there aren't any other people in the galaxy with the level of required expertise who would work for me."

"I can do it," Viluy said. "I just...I don't understand, do we just...fire them? I don't see how that would work, that'll just invite more risk. And we don't have any raw supply."

"I'm handling that side," Cronus said. "Here's what I need from you now." He steepled his hands together and pointed them at Viluy. "Go to my summer house on Triton and increase security. You're not to leave, and you're to be kept under constant protection indefinitely. Do whatever you like while you're there, but stay secured. I'll contact you with further instructions soon."

"What's the cause for paranoia?" Viluy asked.

"I just want to make sure you're kept out of harm's way," Cronus stated. "We should go now, I'll take you there." He turned around and went up to the cockpit.

"Um...Cronus," Viluy said, getting to her feet. "Thinking about it, if you're proposing what I think you're proposing...our only solution will be to get rid of the Prince and his bodyguard."

Cronus paused just before stepping into the front of the ship, then turned around to face his lead scientist. "I agree with that assessment."

"Well...is that really something that we'll be able to get away with?" Viluy asked, sounding just a little uncomfortable. "N-not to say that you haven't already thought about all this, in fact I'm sure you have, but...well...how?"

Cronus bowed his head slightly. "That's my concern. Your concern is simply keeping yourself safe until the work is done."

"

Endymion, mouth agape slightly, looked at the several hundred ship pieces scattered about the floor of the hangar, admiring the symmetry and organization of the parts. From the massive hull pieces to the tiny electronic circuitry, everything seemed to be in clear and identifiable order. Kunzite was standing right next to him, holding up a device about the size of his finger, with two long wires extending out from either end.

"You...you pulled apart your whole ship?" Endymion asked incredulously. "By yourself?"

"I didn't know who to trust," Kunzite pointed out, giving the device in his hand a little shake. "And I was correct to."

"How did…how long did this take you?" Endymion asked, still looking rather shocked.

"It doesn't matter, Your Highness, what matters is that my fears have been confirmed," Kunzite said in a hushed whisper. "This is a tracking device, a transmitter. It didn't show up on any of the scans, so I had to find it manually. It required a complete deconstruction of the ship, but I found it. It's currently inactive. If I had to guess, I'd say it's somehow programmed to activate at a certain trigger. Maybe the ship executing a jump."

"What made you think to do this?" Endymion asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I was already suspicious, but...did you notice that Viluy hasn't shown up at the facility on Earth ever since our confrontation with Cronus? I checked, she hasn't been in her office at all."

Endymion swallowed, putting aside his shock at his general's little deconstruction project. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"Not by itself," Kunzite admitted. "But it got me thinking. If Cronus wanted to replace us. That is, continue the imperium operation without us, what would he need?"

Endymion stared at the tracker in Kunzite's hand. "Our raw supply. Our formula. And someone with the expertise to follow our formula."

"Very few of those, and even fewer that Cronus could get. In fact, probably just one. Viluy has the education and experience to execute our formula, as well as the ability to understand the why, not just the what." Kunzite nodded slowly. "So what if Cronus decided he didn't want her to be anywhere near us, in case we started to suspect she would be used to replace us? Suppose he decided to keep her somewhere far away and safe?"

Endymion shrugged. "He doesn't have our formula, so—"

"Oh, even you don't believe that," Kunzite admonished. "He's probably got a hundred hidden cameras in the lab. I mean, it's always been a slightly uncomfortable reality. We're working in his laboratory, if he wants to monitor us there isn't much we can do. If he wanted to know our process, it'd be trivial for him to get it. And then, he just needs to get our raw imperium."

"Uh-huh," Endymion said. "So he plants a tracker onto your ship in the hopes that you'll lead him to it." His frown became more pronounced. "And in his mind, what happens then? He steals it, puts Viluy to work in the lab, and tells us to just...not come in anymore?"

"Obviously not," Kunzite said. "We'd be a massive loose end. If this is actually his plan, then he must intend on disposing of us."

The Prince exhaled out of his nostrils. "He can't honestly believe he can pull that off," he muttered.

"I would suspect that he does," Kunzite countered. "And it can't be ruled out. He's a very wealthy and intelligent individual. He wouldn't do this if he didn't have good reason to believe he could pull it off." He gestured towards the Prince with his right hand. "This is why I said it was important to be diplomatic with Cronus, now he thinks we're a liability."

Endymion nodded, mulling things over silently.

"In any case, I found the tracker, so we'll have bought ourselves a bit of time. But our options are limited. I'm sure Cronus won't be making himself available to us either. Clearly there's some sort of...spy or double agent working for the palace, we'll have to figure out who could have planted this thing."

"We need a permanent solution," Endymion reasoned. "You get rid of that tracker, in a few days they plant another one. Or find some other way to find our supply, that's not going to do us any good."

"If we just...stop coming into the lab one day, then he'll view us as a massive liability. I doubt you'd be interested in holing up inside a safe room for the rest of your life," Kunzite said.

"Very few people in the galaxy who have the ability to synthesize imperium properly," Endymion said under his breath. "And he must agree, since he's protecting Viluy." He pursed his lips. "So. We see to it that we're his only option for chemists."

Kunzite sighed. "I'll...I'll look into that, but it's very likely that it won't be possible. If Cronus wants her protected, then she'll be as protected as anything in this galaxy." With a grimace, he forced himself to the next leg of the conversation. "Your Majesty, as unacceptable of a solution as it may seem, there is...there's always the agency."

Endymion silently turned towards Kunzite, wearing a caustic look.

"It's certainly not optimal, but...we could make a deal with the agency. With the things that we know and have, it'd be...it'd be a good deal."

"Kunzite, come on," Endymion said in a low growl. "You can't be serious. Never the agency."

"It's just, it's going to be very difficult to find another way out of this," Kunzite said. "At least if we go to the agency, you'll...you'll survive."

"Never the agency," Endymion repeated. Kunzite nodded tiredly, having already resigned himself to that particular answer before he had even asked the question.

"I'll, um, I'll start putting the ship back together." Kunzite said, clearly not looking forward to figuring out how to execute an assassination mission against a target who was guaranteed to be protected and was anticipating an attack. "And dispose of the tracker."

Endymion suddenly swung his right hand out, tapping the back of his fingers against Kunzite's chest. "Wait. Why don't you put it back in the ship?"

Kunzite raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I've just had an idea." He crossed his arms over his chest tightly. "How long before you have to make an imperium run?"

"Six days," Kunzite answered immediately.

Endymion sighed. "Well, we'll need some help. But I think I might have a way to get Viluy out into the open."

"

Kasios heaved a great sigh, studying the single slip of paper he was holding up in front of him, almost hoping that the text before him might change on a closer examination. Of course, no such transformation took place, and he was left to digest the rather sobering facts on them.

He glanced around his massive bedroom, of which he was currently the only occupant, suddenly feeling quite small thanks to the surroundings dwarfing him. Not a feeling he was used to experiencing.

The door was thrown open, the elder Serenity entering energetically. It was almost infectious, her obvious excitement, but Cronus still couldn't manage much more than to spin his chair around to face her.

"So, she's back? For real?" she asked. "She hasn't suddenly packed up and left?"

Kasios simply nodded his head. "I had lunch with her several days ago, seemed happy. Had lunch with her again yesterday, still seemed happy."

She bent down a bit, putting her hands on her knees. "Oh, good! I...I mean, I assumed you called me over here so we could celebrate, but...I mean, I can't help it, there was this tiny part of me that was a little concerned that maybe she had run off again."

Kasios blinked a few times, head tilting down towards the purple carpet beneath his feet.

"I-if you're looking for answers on...what caused all this, then...I'm sorry, but I truly don't know. She hasn't told me any more than she's told anyone else." Serenity straightened back up. "You know, if you go back a few generations, there is some...I don't want to say mental illness, nothing that bad, but...just a little off. Little odd behaviors, and it did occur to me that…"

Kasios sighed, getting Serenity to stop her rapid-fire speech and take a more close-eyed measure of the High King of Earth.

"Um...Kasios, you don't look particularly happy," Serenity said slowly.

"I'm not," he acknowledged. "I'm not here to talk about your daughter, although obviously it's good that she's back. There's been a...recent development. Well, maybe not all that recent, but...it's gotten to the point where I feel obligated to not keep it a secret anymore. You've got a vested interest in this, so I thought I'd start with you."

Serenity's smile vanished off her face, and she quickly closed the distance between her and the High King. "What's the matter?"

"I've made some decisions in the last decade," Kasios stated. "Decisions that I...I have to stand by, given the information that I had at the time. But, because of those decisions, well...there are some problems with the Kingdom right now."

"

Cronus stared down at the disc-shaped communicator on his desk, fingers nervously tapping at the wooden surface next to it.

And just like that, it buzzed to life, vibrating and chiming to get its owner's attention. He grabbed at it, lifting it up to his mouth and quickly pressing the center button.

"Go ahead," he ordered.

"Looks like it worked, transmitter started broadcasting about eight secundas ago. We tracked through the jumps, and then it started moving real slowly out in the middle of deep space. Best we can judge, it got out there, docked onto another ship. Just docked less than a secunda ago."

Cronus nodded. "Coordinates?"

"X is four thousand ninety-five point one, Y is thirteen thousand eight hundred and two point fifty-one, Z is four hundred seventy-one point eight. If my assumption is correct, the ship he's docked to is following a linear path, so it'll be easy to track."

"Eustace, get your ship within range of his current location," Cronus instructed. "This will require precision on our part."

"I'm already moving, sir," Eustace replied. "Got Viluy with me, we're ready."

"Let's go over it one more time," Cronus said. "The moment Kunzite leaves, you jump to where he was and attempt to locate this ship. Make sure there are no other ships in the area, and then take the shuttle, by yourself. Take as long as you need to, but inspect every single location on the ship for any sort of traps or bombs. Once you are confident the ship is secure and safe, Viluy comes over to verify that the imperium is genuine, meets purity expectations, and that the amount is sufficient. Viluy, please check all of it manually, the last thing we need is to carry this out and then find out our supply is insufficient for our operation."

"Got it, boss," Viluy responded through the transmission.

"Once we get confirmation, we need to secure Endymion and Kunzite, make sure they do not leave the premises," Cronus continued.

"

"He's down in the laboratory," Tellu chimed in on the group conversation. "Me, Cyprine, and Ptilol are on the floor right above him, ready to go."

The three young women were sitting around a small circular table in one of the break rooms, huddled up around a single communicator that had its volume turned down significantly. Ptilol kept glancing behind her, keeping an eye on the entrance, making sure nobody unwanted walked in despite the sign denying entry they had put just outside in the hall.

"Take them seriously," Cronus instructed. "Particularly Kunzite. And remember, you can't kill them, under any circumstance." He cleared his throat. "I trust that everything will run smoothly in my absence."

Cyprine sighed. "Can't you postpone the meeting? You really should be on the line and present for this, it's so important."

"Some things, yes, but not this. You know how our stockholders can be," Cronus replied. "So, I'll be going dark now, I probably won't be able to answer calls. But everyone knows their role. When I get back, I'll expect that Endymion and Kunzite are being held captive and that we've secured their imperium supply."

A gentle beep indicated Cronus had dropped off the group conversation.

"Viluy, make sure you keep communicating," Ptilol asked. "This needs to go perfectly."

"

Endymion slowly poured the beaker of blue liquid into the funnel, barely glancing upward as the door above his head noisily opened. A few footsteps on the catwalk gave further evidence to someone having entered, and as soon as the small quantity of chemicals had been dispensed into the large vat, he turned to look up. Cyprine had her hands on the red railing, looking down at the Prince.

"Shouldn't Kunzite be here by now?" she asked. "Something the matter? Where is he?"

"Everything's fine," he replied flatly. "Sometimes picking up the product takes longer than expected."

"Um...is this going to be a problem for us?" She looked around the large laboratory. "How much of this can you do by yourself?"

"We have a system, it's fine," Endymion said, turning his focus over to a small collection of dials in the side of the vat. "I've done this over a hundred times now, I'm pretty familiar with it."

Cyprine looked like she wanted to say something, but simply turned around and returned from where she had entered, boots clicking on the metal catwalk.

Endymion, after watching her depart, glanced down at a black wristband on his right arm. He twisted his arm around to look at the bottom side of it, seeing a single tiny little green indicator light on it.

"

Viluy crammed herself into the single-person shuttle, sealing it up behind her. A single control console in front of her was really all there was to speak of in the extremely-simple little ship, serving no real purpose other than to act as an escape pod.

"It's not going to be a problem," Viluy said. "It's going to take me some time to make sure that we have enough imperium to be completely independent, so as long as Kunzite shows up by then, it's fine."

"You said the ship you found was massive," Ptilol countered.

"Oh, absolutely," Viluy answered, tapping her earpiece before engaging the thrusters on the shuttle and beginning to detach it from the main ship. "It's a huge freighter."

"It's gotta have more than enough, then," Tellu pointed out. "Why would they have a ship that big if they didn't have enough to fill it?"

"Well, that's what I'm going to confirm," Viluy stated. "Eustace checked the ship, it's clean. And he said he found the storage chamber, filled with sealed barrels. Said he found an open barrel and did a purity scan, it's the ninety-nine percent stuff alright. No ships in the vicinity either, it's all looking very clean."

"Well, I'm happy things are going great on your end, but I don't like this. Kunzite is Endymion's general, basically follows him around everywhere. That's his life. I just feel like there's something weird going on," Ptilol continued. "What does he have to do other than get back to his Prince as fast as possible?"

"Well, it's moot until I confirm the imperium, so just wait for my call," Viluy said.

"

Endymion took note of his wristband, this time observing that a second green indicator light was now dimly shining from it. Smiling to himself, he glanced up towards the red door leading out, and then began to slowly lift a half-empty sack full of white powder up and began to spill it out into a trough.

And then, the door crashed open, Tellu barging in with a loud bang and quickly looking down to find the Prince of Earth. He pulled the sack back and set it on the ground, realizing that it was time for the show.

"Nononono!" Cyprine spilled into the room a few steps behind Tellu, arms out towards her larger colleague. Tellu, however, had already gone over to the railing.

"He's over a minuta late, what's going on?!" Tellu snapped, scowling down at Endymion.

"Traffic?" Endymion suggested, letting a hint of snark into his voice now. "Who knows."

"You should know, he's your guardian!" Tellu countered, Cyprine slowly putting her arms back at her sides and giving a tense look over towards her green-haired companion. "We expected him here by now, and we have an agreement about the work done in this lab, so why isn't he here?!"

Endymion sighed, reaching up to take the respirator mask off of his forehead and toss it to the floor in front of him. "Why is it so important to you?" he asked.

"Because—"

"Is it because you need to kill us?" Endymion asked.

Tellu's mouth clapped shut. Cyprine let out an oath under her breath.

"You need him here so badly, because you have to kill us both at the same time, since we're loose ends?" Endymion continued. "Is that it?"

Tellu, with a growl, vaulted over the railing down to the ground level. Cyprine glanced out the open door and nodded, prompting Ptilol to enter as well. Both of them followed Tellu down, the trio of girls quickly advancing on Endymion.

The Prince, in the handful of beats he had before the confrontation turned physical, reached down and gave his wristband a squeeze.

"

Kunzite immediately flicked a series of metal switches on the dashboard of The Falconeri, activating the jump engines and setting it on a pre-plotted course, as soon as his wristband began to flash green. Within less than a secunda, the ship had gone from a dead float out in the middle of empty space to a violent jump forward.

"

"Where is he?" Tellu demanded, pressing the tall, thin frame of Prince Endymion back into the southern wall of the laboratory, all pretense having been dispensed with.

"So I'm right, then?" Endymion asked. "Is that the plan?"

Tellu reared back her right hand's fist and slammed it into the concrete wall next to Endymion's head. "Where. Is he?"

"How do you plan on killing the Crown Prince of Earth and getting away with it?" Endymion grunted. He was quickly answered by Tellu wheeling him around and pushing him into a steel cabinet. With a dull thud, he slammed into it and crumpled halfway to the floor.

"We're asking the questions," Cyprine said, having recognized the need for a more direct approach as well. "Tell us where he is, tell us how to get into contact with him, right now. Or we start making this hurt."

She and her twin went to either side of Endymion and lifted him up by his shoulders.

"You guys aren't very good at treating your assets well," Endymion muttered, worming out of their grip.

"You're no asset anymore," Ptilol taunted. "You don't have anything of value now. We've got your product, we've got your formula, we've got your replacement. Now you're just a liability that needs to get trimmed. So, tell us where Kunzite is, and this won't hurt any more than it has to."

The three girls kept him surrounded, as much as it would have been pointless for him to try running away.

"You're awful confident in yourself," Endymion said. "Sure you're not being a little premature?"

Tellu whipped her fist right into Endymion's right eye, knocking him to the concrete floor and drawing a loud gasp.

"Where is he?" Tellu continued to question, placing her right foot on Endymion's back and pressing down. "This just gets worse until you tell us what we want to know."

"You want Kunzite?" Endymion gasped out, trying to push himself to his feet. Tellu relented on the pressure on his back after a moment, letting him slowly unfurl himself. "You want to know where he is?"

"I'm going to break your fingers next," Tellu warned.

"I need my fingers to do the work that your boss needs me to do," Endymion said, getting up to his full height.

"Not anymore," Cyprine taunted. "Now, where is he?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Endymion said with a smirk.

Cyprine and Ptilol glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes, as their confusion over Endymion's seeming level of comfort with this supposedly helpless situation began to manifest. Bluster was one thing, but the Prince seemed awfully comfortable with facing down his imminent execution.

"X is four thousand ninety-five point one.Y is thirteen thousand eight hundred and two point fifty-one."

After the initial surprise of Endymion offering up coordinates passed, Cyprine was the first to realize that the numbers he was reciting were familiar. She looked at Ptilol, who was just putting the pieces together herself. Tellu was last, starting to understand the implication as Endymion gave the final coordinate.

"Z is four hundred seventy-one point eight." He shrugged. "Somewhere around there."

Almost as if on cue, the communicator in Cyprine's back pocket began emitting audio. A woman's voice. All three of Cronus's lackeys jumped.

"Hey, we have a problem."

"

Viluy was holding a jagged piece of crystal in her hands, kneeling on the floor, a tiny scrap of paper on the floor in front of her. She was surrounded by several open black barrels, each one filled with clear crystals. Eustace, a large, dark-skinned man with a shaved head, was standing by her side, keeping watch.

The main storage room of the massive ship was indeed lined with endless shelves of barrels, towering towards the ceiling, space being utilized with maximum efficiency to give the room a rather cold and clinical feeling. However, despite the seemingly promising find, Viluy was frowning.

"This definitely isn't imperium," she said. "Not even close. I mean, the first barrel, the one that was left open, that was, but...I've opened others, and these are basically...the kinds of things you'd use for decoration—"

"Get out of there now!" Cyprine immediately ordered.

Viluy didn't need to be told twice, leaping up to her feet. She and Eustace hadn't gotten two steps before a piercing alarm sounded off from a tube-shaped device hanging from Eustace's belt.

"Proximity alarm!" he shouted.

"

The Falconeri came out of its jump, the decoy freighter clearly visible in front of him. Kunzite pushed forward on the thruster lever, sending his personal ship careening right for the middle of the hull. In a matter of beats, he was just a couple hundred haplouns from the side.

He reached up over his head and pulled down hard on a red handle. An industrial mining laser, modified to slot into a housing built into the top of The Falconeri, roared to life and began burning a destructive beam right into the broad side of the ship. Within fractions of a beat, it burned right through the hull.

"

They barely had enough time to realize what was about to happen. Just enough time to understand what the endgame of this little game of misdirection was. The left-side wall was ripped open violently, and everything in the room was pulled hard towards the opening.

Viluy made to scream, but her ability to make sounds ceased as soon as the massive storage chamber was exposed to space. The air she had in her lungs was pulled out, tearing through the tissue of her lungs, making sure that her final few beats of life were painful as well.

She was thankfully spared the full brunt of asphyxiation, as being rapidly yanked towards the opening in the side of the ship got her to slam her head against one of the loose barrels, knocking her out. As she closed her eyes for the final time, she was just barely able to make out The Falconeri, turning away from it's work and jumping back in the direction it had come from.

"

The communicator had gone silent. Cyprine stared down at the disc, a look of horror and shock on her face. They thought they might have been able to make out the start of a scream, just a few beats ago, but that was the only clue to what might have happened. Ptilol's mouth was hanging open, and she continued to look at the communicator, hoping that it might suddenly give something more than just dull static, but each passing moment was another reason to believe the worst.

Slowly, all three women turned to look up at Endymion, who looked quite happy with himself, giving a knowing smirk. His posture slacked a bit. And though nobody noticed quite yet, the armband on his left wrist was populated with a third green indicator light.

"Yeah," he said.

"

END OF ARC THREE

A/N: If you've made it this far, congratulations, you are now done with arc three of five of my story! Thank you so much for sticking with me for this long, and I hope you are liking what you have read to this point.

So, obviously writing has slowed a bit lately, and I can only blame work taking more of my time, as well as a few other commitments. Hopefully I can get back to at least one a week one I start arc four.

Other than that, again, thank you for reading my story, and hopefully you were able to hold on through that last portion. :) Arc four coming soon!