Chapter 14

"I spy, with my little eye, something…." Trio said dully. Nobody really paid attention. They had been flying for hours, possibly days. It felt long enough to be years. The beauties of Space, such as they were when flying at Hyperactive speed, had become tedious and boring. So had everything else. They sat, stared at the walls and windows, and waited. Their state was such that they wanted to do something, anything, yet whenever someone made a suggestion nobody wanted to move.

"Now we know why this moon has been a secret for so long," the Doctor remarked for the 10th time, "who'd fly through this much of space without reason?"

Upon hearing the engines cough, 2TH glanced at the fuel gage. "If this lasts much longer—"

Suddenly a buzzer went off. The ship dropped out of its Hyperactive behavior, and they found themselves approaching a massive blue planet. Horizontal and vertical black rings surrounded it.

Their boredom and weariness vanished instantly, replaced by a sense of excitement and wonder.

"Is that it?" the Doctor asked in awe.

Princess Astrid, who had been formerly half asleep in a corner, shook her head. "No, that must be Xanjalin, the planet Eren'dor orbits. So that means the moon must be somewhere—there it is!"

She pointed to a small orange dot near the planet's equator.

The Condor, despite a late start, had actually taken the lead during the journey, so now other Separatist ships began appearing.

Trio guided his vessel towards the moon. Anxiously he glanced at the fuel gage. "I hope they have some kind of facility on this place, otherwise we might not be getting off it."

The Condor plunged into Eren'dor's atmosphere, such as it was. The clouds were reddish orange in color, and so was the surface. They found themselves looking upon a strange, lumpy landscape, something akin to Bryce Canyon only cruder and less artistic.

"I kinda pictured something else," Astrid remarked, "something grander."

"Maybe the Torque likes to be unpretentious," Trio quipped. Early on in the journey Astrid had finally told him what they were doing and why. Although a bit skeptical, he liked the idea of exploration and was curious to see how this would turn out. He examined a gage. "Well, the air is breathable. And I see a suitable landing space just over that ridge."

And thus they landed on Eren'dor. And honestly, it felt very anticlimactic. The place was still, lifeless, and desolate. Just clouds drifting eerily through the air and a dead, orange landscape.

"The ground sure feels strange," Astrid observed as they disembarked. Walking was weird, for the ground was squishy, like half-dried mud. "It doesn't feel like rock. Trio, what's so funny?"

"Look at it!" Trio laughed loudly, nearly doubling over, "This isn't rock, its cheese!"

"Cheese!"

"Red Leicester, to be precise," the Doctor announced.

And indeed it was. They laughed their heads off at the notion.

"So," 2TH said after they had managed to calm down. "Now what? Where do we find this Stone?"

The faces of the two Separatists showed uncertainty in all its wondrous glory.

"Wait a minute." Trio said sharply. "Are you telling me you guys don't actually know where this Stone is supposed to be?"

"Well…"

"No map or rumors or…or anything?"

Astrid starred at her feet numbly.

"Are you telling me you Separatists were so focused on getting the map to the moon that you never considered what would happen once you got there?" Trio demanded. He threw his hands up in the air. "Oh that's just terrific! Just terrific! What are we gonna do, excavate every square inch of the place? Or shall we eat our way to the center and see if the Stone's hidden there?"

"Hey!" Astrid retorted, "I was focusing on my mission! I figured since I was getting the map, someone else in High Command would work out the next step."

"Evidently they all assumed someone else was working on it," 2TH commented.

The rest of the Separatist fleet was landing now, and they were making the same discoveries: that they were on a moon made of cheese and that nobody had any idea of where to go from here.

"Well at least we won't have starvation to fear." The Doctor observed, trying to lighten the mood.

.

Alvin the Glut, flanked by several bodyguards, barged into the Supreme Leader's quarters, ignoring attempts made by the Federation guards to stop him.

"I want an audience!" he shouted.

"I want a better security force." Viggo said wearily. He eyed Alvin for a moment. Then he gestured to all the guards present to leave the two of them alone.

Alvin looked around the room. "I wish I could've let you know I was coming. You could've prepared something. I was going to let you know, but you cut off my transmission!"

"Hungry, are you?" Viggo said coldly.

"I'm called 'Alvin the Glut' for a reason, you know!" He gestured to his immense belly.

"Have an orange," the Supreme Leader said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"I hate fruit."

"Then stop complaining and tell me why you're here."

Alvin ceased his walking and stood before the man. "You know why. I was attacked in my home." He began yelling. "IN MY HOME! In my throne room in the middle of a party!"

Viggo was not perturbed by the outburst. "Sounds like a personal problem. And you should not make these things personal. And do you really think I care who crashes your parties?"

"You will when you're done hearing this! Remember that job you had me do all those years ago? The one where I—"

"No, I don't remember. And I would advise you to not remember it either." Viggo interrupted.

Alvin's voice lowered. "Right. Never let anyone know what I'm thinking. Of course, I don't think too much, so that's usually not a problem."

"Clearly."

"Yeah. But what is a problem is this: my stable boy stole my ship and he keeps eluding me! And then, just when I thought he was caught, his friends show up, rip my guards a new one, and then blow up my own palace! What's a poor crime lord to do?"

"You could act like a man. Or, come to think of it, maybe you're the one who wants a better security force." The Supreme Leader remarked.

"I know thaT!" Alvin yelled, "And now I've learned that his friends are part of the Separatists! The people you're supposed to destroy! So the way I see it, this is all your fault, so you owe me a new palace!

Viggo nearly stood up. "I owe you—"

"a NEW PALACE AND A NEW cENTENNIAL cONDOR OR ELSE!"

"Or else what?" Viggo said with an icy smile.

"Or else I'll tell everyone who that boy is!"

Viggo's smile became a perplexed frown. "Boy? What boy? And what is he to me?"

Now it was Alvin's turn to smile. "Maybe nothing, but to a certain General Vast…"

"Ah. I see now."

"Yep. The last job you ever hired me for."

"So you kept him as your stable boy, did you? Perhaps we should reveal this to Vast. The humiliation of it all would be amusing." Viggo paused as he remembered something. "What became of the boy's mother?"

Alvin's grin died. "I…don't know."

"Oh no?" said the Supreme Leader, his tone soft and dangerous.

"She escaped. She stole a pod and flew off. The pod was damaged, I think. There was a firefight. I don't know; it was so long ago. What I do know is no one's seen her since. So she's probably dead!" he added brightly.

Viggo smiled slyly. "And you were saying I owed you something. I think you owe me something, Alvin."

"Say what?"

Viggo pressed a button on his chair. "Lord Snot, I think you'd better get down here. Better hurry. Now, Alvin, as I recall, I paid for two kidnapped members of the Vast Clan—and you admit to me now that you only got one. I want my money back."

Alvin's temper flared in an instant. "Why you dirty little—!"

The door opened behind him but he did not notice. Lord Snot entered, looking bewildered. "You wished to see me, my master?"

"Lord Snot, permit me to show you another thing the Torque is capable of," The Supreme Leader waved his hand and Alvin the Glut rose squealing into the air as if suspended on wires.

Snot whistled. "I'm gonna have to learn that one of these days."

"And so you shall…later," Viggo walked over to the Alvin, "now, either a great deal of money is going to fall onto this floor—or your blood is. Which will it be, Alvin?"

"Viggo—we can do a deal! I'll buy you a dozen LED Floodlights made of stainless steel! With changeable lenses!"

"What?"

"Sorry, I was panicking…you keep the money, you don't buy me any palace, you can kill the boy and I'll get the ship! Fair enough?"

Viggo twisted his hand and Alvin's throat constricted, as if being squeezed by unseen hands. His voice rose in pitch along with his anxiety. "Or perhaps I'll make a gift to you of a thousand marks and write off the palace debt! How's that?"

"You can do better," Viggo twisted his hand even more.

"Right, I can! Right, how about this—my checkbook is in my pocket! Make out a check to yourself!"

Viggo smiled. "What have I done to deserve such generosity? Lord Snot, get his checkbook."

"Yes sir, but…I don't know how to write a check."

"I thought as much. I'll do it." He returned to his chair and languidly sat down as he flipped through the book. "Alvin, you've made out checks to Silent Sven's Fish Stall? Don't you know that man likes to sleep with trout in his bed?"

"Say, you don't do that too, do you?" Lord Snot taunted.

Alvin was shouting again. "Of course not! And Viggo, I deeply resent such questions! You oughta teach your apprentice better respect for his superiors! This should be business, not personal!"

"HA! I'll respect 'em when I actually see 'em! And I'm not seeing any right now!"

"Why you—!"

"Now don't take it personal!"

The Supreme Leader sighed. He was already beginning to regret having Snot for a pawn. "You and Dagur are becoming alike in my eyes." It was unclear who he was actually talking to. "Speaking of which, where is Dagur? He has not reported to me like he was ordered."

Lord Snot shrugged.

Alvin said, "Is that the loony who likes making people watch movies? I saw him when I arrived. He was running about chanting something about his sister escaping."

Viggo looked up sharply. "Why would his sister be escaping? Escaping from what?"

Alvin managed to shrug, despite the fact he was still floating in mid-air. "I dunno. He was rambling something about her being a traitor or a traitoress. He couldn't make up his mind what the term was. I figured he was crazy. He is, isn't he?"

Viggo was looking very thoughtful. "Lord Snot, I was going to have you escort our friend to the cells—"

"What! That wasn't part of the deal! That isn't good business!"

"But master, there aren't any cells intact," Snot said over the protests, "after what General Vast did to them—"

"I said I was 'going to'. You loudmouths had better let me finish, because, Alvin, I've changed my mind. As a reward for him bringing me this information, Lord Snot will see you to your new quarters. They'll be right next to his."

"What!" Lord Snot exclaimed. He looked at Alvin repulsively. Alvin grinned nastily back.

"I'll make you sleep with the fishes, boy!"

"Silence! Lead him out of here and leave me alone!" Viggo said with sudden anger. He almost trembled with excitement. He could see it now. Dagur was trying to find a ship that his sister had taken, his sister whom he was calling a traitor. If she was a traitor she could only be a Separatist! And as there were no Separatist ships on the Shattermaster, she must be escaping on a Federation ship! And those ships had trackers installed in them. And where would a fleeing Separatist go, if not to rejoin the rest of the Separatists, who just so happened to be flying to Eren'dor at this very moment?

He pushed a button. "Mr. Larsen, the Lady Heather has stolen one of our ships. Find out what ship it is and track it down at once!"