:: Chapter Forty Five ::
Guzzling down food still proved rather tricky. Theron needed to take slow and deliberate bites, or rather, spoon fulls of his soup but he was making progress. Between the kolto treatments and his own implants dulling his pain and aiding his recovery, he'd begun feeling quite a bit better and sat up in bed going over the three mission reports. One written by Jenna, a rather brief recap provided by Andronikos and an overly detailed report, including medical records, by Doc.
"There is no report on your experience there," he said and turned to his neighbor in the next bed over.
Lord Scourge merely shrugged, giving his own dinner a scrutinizing glare while it dripped from his spoon back into the bowl. "I rarely write any but ask what you need to know."
"Were there any other patients there? Doctors, scientists, guards? Anyone who could have interfered with their battle or rescued them from the rubble?"
"No. I was the last one left, along with Jarak and the guards you disposed of."
"Then they must have rescued each other or more likely, Arcann survived and brought Eliza with him, based on whats-her-name's vision."
"So it would seem."
"And Senya was questioned about the layout of the Spire, their containment blocks?"
"Evidently but remind me, how long has it been since she last visited the Spire herself?"
"A couple of years…" Theron considered and understood his point. "Arcann could have made changes in that time and he would return to a place where he feels safest."
"Exactly."
"Did you share these observations with the others?"
"They never asked," muttered Lord Scourge and he pushed his tray aside. "I'm being poked and prodded daily, told that I will be cured one way or another but no one has engaged in a sensible conversation with me or included me in the search for Eliza."
"They're likely just giving you peace and letting you rest to recover."
"Wasted efforts," Lord Scourge pointed out, dismissive as ever, though the thought of his impending end did resurface the monologue he'd delivered to an unconscious Theron.
"What can you tell me about my daughter?" he asked, seeking to test Theron's feelings toward his child.
"She uhm, hang on, I've got…" Theron began and browsed his datapad until he found a holograph of Cyara.
"That's the most recent holograph Eliza has, taken right before she came here to Odessen."
"She does look like me."
For a second Lord Scourge closed his eyes and concentrated. Considering that if he centered himself enough, he would feel what any loving father ought to but only the void greeted him. "What is she like?"
"She's… very easy going and accepting toward anyone she meets. Full of love and care, always wanting to help. Headstrong and inquisitive, there are never enough answers to give her. Eliza says she can throw quite the temper tantrum as well but I've never witnessed it for myself."
"She sounds like her mother."
"And her father. You really don't feel anything?"
"No. I'm aware that I should. I realize I should feel guilty at the fact I cannot love her or even be proud of my daughter but there is nothing."
Theron received his datapad thrust back into his hand. "So, where does that leave things for you?"
"Nowhere. I'm a hollow shell now, Shan, and even if my body were restored, I cannot remain a part of their lives. I saw the anguish in Eliza's eyes on Nathema and she would always suffer in my presence. My daughter would hope for more than I can give and I would be forced to disappoint her for a lifetime."
Lord Scourge stretched out and heard the small crack of a bone adding weight to his words. "It is best Cyara continues to believe I'm dead."
"You know Eliza will never accept that."
"No, I don't imagine she will."
A dour cloud hung around the Sith Lord, noticeable to everyone but him, while he sunk back into his bedding. "Do you love her?"
"Eliza?"
"My daughter."
"Ah." A frown crossed Theron's face—how was he supposed to answer that? "I care a great deal about her safety and well being, of course, but—"
"Would you take care of her as you would your own? Have you, in all the time you've been with Eliza?"
"You're her father and I'm not convinced I'll ever make for a suitable parent. Besides, Eliza and I weren't together when I met Cyara, I was still with my wife. Ex wife."
"Curious. I somehow believed you'd been together for the past years… Who then, has been at her side?"
"That's a discussion you need to have with Eliza when—"
Theron's words got cut short by Lord Cytharat and Malavai storming into the medbay.
"We know where she is!" Lord Cytharat announced and while he hooked his datapad up to the large holovision suspended between the two medical beds, Malavai elaborated.
"She's on Zakuul with Arcann. Vowrawn managed to get eyes on them by reaching out to one of his contacts who sent a spy droid, a small sphere, to explore the Spire from outside."
The holovision activated and Jonas joined the group while Lord Cytharat informed them, "This footage was recorded yesterday, we just received it."
From quite a great distance, the Spire came into view and the camera honed in on the uppermost level. A massive transparisteel dome—the throne room of Zakuul—reaching high into the atmosphere. Near floating among the stars in the sky but the droid's field of perception ignored their beauty and zoomed in close enough to become an invisible witness stood by the other two figures within the dome.
'She really is with Arcann,' Theron saw to his own surprise and he damned the lack of audio.
Eliza stood in plain sweats and a t-shirt, stun cuffs clearly visible on her wrists, watching a holomap projected before the throne. Engaged in busy discussion with Arcann who at one point put his hand on her shoulder in a gesture that appeared far more amicable than Theron would have expected.
"That was strange, right?" Jonas was the first to speak up when the two disappeared from sight and the spy droid lost track of them.
Malavai shook his head, having reviewed the footage already. "Strange is yet to come—here."
The footage skipped ahead and this time, Eliza's stun cuffs were removed while she and Arcann stood in a bedroom. Still entertaining whichever discussion there was to be had and Jonas' jaw dropped when he watched Arcann remove his belt and tunic.
"Uh, please tell me they're not about to—"
"No, nothing of the sort," said Lord Cytharat. "Judging by their interactions, I suspect he is telling her about his injuries, just keep watching."
Their comments fell on deaf ears with Theron who's sole focus was on the screen. Trying hard to read their lips in order to understand what Arcann and Eliza might be discussing now but her back was turned most of the time and the Emperor of Zakuul had grown rather speechless.
"Gross," Jonas commented a second time when Eliza cupped Arcann's cheek.
"Shut it," Lord Scourge, equally intrigued by the footage, chided.
By the time Eliza lifted her shirt to bare her own scars, and appeared to giggle at something that was said, Theron's reluctant smile had grown into a full grin. He had his own suspicions about what she was doing, what they were witnessing and it offered the first true sign of hope he'd felt since waking up.
The twosome on the holovision turned outside onto the balcony where dinner was served moments later but the real surprise was what followed. For a split second, Eliza's eyes caught the droid and she stared directly into the camera before subtly nudging her head to the side. Masking her gesture by running a simple hand through her hair to keep Arcann oblivious.
The droid's camera followed her movement and Lord Cytharat, knowing what was coming, slowed to footage down to a half its speed. He zoomed in on Eliza's left hand now placed in her lap underneath the dinner table.
"Watch," he encouraged.
The hand idly resting in her lap sunk down to her side and Eliza curled and splayed her fingers, signaling different numbers at four-second intervals. Tapping in quick succession for anything beyond the number five, all the while keeping her smile and attention trained on Arcann.
Once she finished relaying her message and took a glass of water in her hand, Lord Cytharat paused the footage and turned to the others.
"It's some sort of code, no doubt, but I don't recognize it. I can't associate it with any patterns or alphabet, neither in basic nor in Sith," he admitted to his own regret.
"That's because they don't represent letters," Theron realized and cast a glance at his best friend, his smile widening by the second.
"Sneaky, clever girl… did you teach her that?" asked Jonas, mirroring Theron's grin.
"No but she's worked with the Republic military before and they use the same brevity codes as we do in the field."
Malavai raised a brow. "Would either of you care to enlighten us?"
"Play it again so we can write everything down and go over it step by step," Theron suggested.
"Okay, that right there," he began and paused the recording, "is a two-seven followed by a three-six and a one-four. Two-seven is code for a hostile target, the three-six indicates the target was apprehended and one-four is the unique identifier for the rank of Supreme Commander."
"Which tells us Jace Malcom is at the Spire and was imprisoned by Arcann," said Jonas.
"Right." Malavai tried to follow along and made notes of his own.
"Next up." Theron played the next segment before pausing once more. "She shows us a two-five—a friendly target. The three-three after signals that the target is secured and safe."
"And that would be her way of letting us know that she's alright?" asked Lord Cytharat.
"Sure looks that way." Jonas confirmed and went over the set of signals that followed, musing while he wrote them down, "A four-two… enemy engaged, and a nine-one… That's mission in progress."
"That much is obvious," Lord Scourge commented.
"Yes but the last part is important. She also signals a five-nine, often used during covert operations when we can't risk backup blowing our cover. It literally means withhold support," Theron elaborated further, "and that last code, the seven-three means the situation is under control."
"Okay, let me get this straight," began Malavai and he reviewed, "The Supreme Commander has been imprisoned by Arcann. Eliza is safe and well, as we can see, and she has the situation under control. She has a plan of her own to deal with Arcann and doesn't want us coming to her aid?"
"Exactly." Jonas grinned. "I have to admit, it's clever."
Lord Cytharat sat forward, a hand idly stroking his chin. "But what is her plan?"
"Isn't that obvious? She's got Arcann eating out of her hand. I mean come on, has anyone ever seen that creep without his mask? And who the hell treats their prisoner to dinner?"
"I can see that much but it doesn't explain my sister's vision, the state of despair she saw him in."
"It could be Eliza's been working on this for a while and got under his skin about something very personal," Theron offered and he glanced back up at the screen. "Is there more?"
"Yes," Malavai told him and took the datapad to transfer the entire recording over to Theron's, "but it is only further conversation until she falls asleep on him and Arcann brings her back inside, closing the curtains."
"I would still like to see for myself, thank you."
"Vowrawn also provided us with the exact frequency for the spy droid's feed which will go live each time it detects Arcann or Eliza, or both of them," Lord Cytharat informed them all. "I will pass you those details as well."
Lord Scourge quietly caressed one of his tendrils while he contemplated the situation. "What do you suppose she intends on doing? Is she merely looking for an opening to free herself or is she attempting to turn him to our side?"
"Who knows," said Jonas, "but at least we've got eyes on them now."
"Yes, this helps. I suggest we inform the interim Commander and Lana about this situation as well as the other three who were on Nathema. Offer them some peace of mind." Malavai finished transferring all information to Theron's datapad and got up.
"And we should consider sending a small, covert team to Zakuul. Not to interfere but to standby in case whatever she is up to takes a bad turn."
"Please do," said Theron.
While he had complete faith in Eliza's abilities and felt reassured having seen her now, he didn't dare trust the man she was with. A volatile and aggressive war criminal who could turn on her for the tiniest misstep or the smallest perceived slight.
"Always playing with fire, isn't she?" Lord Scourge commented as though he'd read Theron's thoughts.
He nodded. "And she hasn't gotten burned yet but how long before that luck runs out?"
—
"Commander," both Jenna and Andronikos began the second they finished watching the recording.
They paused and turned to each other, grinning and both entertaining the same thought.
"Permission to lead a team to Zakuul?" asked Jenna.
Me'ghan rose from her seat and paused the video. "Granted. Andronikos?"
"I'm with her." He thumbed back at Jenna.
"Good. Bring Kendra and Jorgan with you for additional firepower should you need it," Me'ghan instructed.
"The Dare, my ship, has been outfitted with cloaking technology we got from the Balmorra haul. Fly her to Zakuul but be mindful to avoid patrols and find somewhere to lay low. No one is to make a move unless we say so."
"Understood," Jenna said and together with Andronikos, she left to prepare her team.
Lana blew out a small sigh and furrowed her brows in deep thought. "We'll have a riot on our hands at this very base if she lets him go or brings him around to our side."
"Eliza is not that stupid," offered Charlie while she reviewed the footage a second time. "She'll strike him down if an opportunity presents itself."
"How can you be sure? They're clearly bonding and getting personal."
"So? She'd begun to love Ravage, in a sense, but that didn't stop her from killing him despite their history."
"I don't know, I'm uneasy about this," muttered Lana.
"Trust her. What she's doing now is no different from what I would do in my Cipher days, what many spies are trained to do. Working with the tools you've got."
Charlie cast half a glance in the blonde's direction. "You should understand her tactic better than anyone, as the former head of Intelligence."
Lana pursed her lips and grew somewhat rigid in her seat. "I am well aware but Eliza wasn't trained as a spy or agent."
"She was inventive enough to fool you when she freed me years ago."
"I knew what she was up to! She only got away with it because I trusted her."
"Then trust her now!"
"I'm with Charlie," Me'ghan added, "I have faith Eliza will make the right call if an opportunity presents itself. Let's not forget the grief Arcann—"
"Is that my son?" Senya walked into the war room and her eyes immediately caught the video playing. "They're both on Zakuul?"
Without waiting for a response, and oblivious to the concerned glances exchanged between the other three, she drew nearer the holoterminal. Tears welled up in her eyes when she witnessed the moment where her son unmasked his face—she'd never known the full extent of his injuries.
"He must be in so much pain…" she gasped.
"Can you identify where they are?" Me'ghan drew up at her side while Charlie quietly took notes.
"That's Thexan's room."
"Thexan? Your other son?"
"Yes… His death must have been so difficult on Arcann. I think I understand now what Liyana felt… his sorrow, if he's been revisiting the past."
Senya zoomed in on the footage and near touched a finger to her son's face on display. "Oh but this is good, right? They seem friendly. She's… kind to him."
"It appears so…" Me'ghan tried to hide her doubts.
"Maybe there's still a chance after all, for him to become a better man." Hope renewed sparked within the concerned mother and she blew out a sigh of relief. "Maybe this is what will save him and end the war…"
Behind her, Charlie furrowed her brows, convinced of quite the opposite while Lana merely shook her head and walked away.
