Chapter 6: revelation
For a split second, no one moved. Not untill Sonny hit the ground, and remained lying down. He was not moving. «DAD!» D'Jok was in a state of shock, as he rushed over to his father, and kneeled beside him. «Dad? Do you mean to tell me that D'Jok, the striker of the snowkids, is infact the son of the infamous pirate chief Sonny Blackbones?» asked Calleigh. Clamp stepped aside and made a quick call. «Corso, we need the pirates here on Aarch academy. Sonny's collapsed». «WHAT? What happened?» Corso was furious. «Calleigh Mystic happened». «I thought they weren't allowed to talk to Sonny?». «They're not, but you know her..». Corso sighed. «Yes,I do». Even the pirates knew of Calleigh Mystic's abillity to always show up where she was not wanted. They themselves had a hard time keeping her of their trail. Caliegh had asked for interwiews with Sonny previously, but had so far been denied that. The pirates did not trust Sonny to be safe in her presence, as it seemed Technoid far too often followed her around. «We'll be there as fast as we can, take care of Sonny, and see if you can make him come to ok?». «Will do, see you soon Corso». Clamp ended the transmission and returned to the group that gathered around Sonny. Dame Simbai was examining him where he lay. «This is my fault, he wasn't strong enough, I never should have let him out of bed» she said. «You couldn't know Dame Simbai, Sonny is trained in making it appear that he is stronger than what's the case, it's a pirate survival skill». «But I still should have known» Dame Simbai said. Clamp sighed. «Dame Simbai, if Sonny didn't want you to know, he'd make sure you'd be unable to detect it. It's just who he is». Aarch made his way into the circle. «Your exellency, May I kindly ask you to have your droids remove Calleigh Mystic and her camerateam from the premisses? She is not allowed to talk to Sonny during the trial, and for the time being, Sonny has been placed in Dame Simbai's care for medical treatment. I personally would also ask Technoid to leave the premisses, as there is yet not determined why Sonny was removed from your custody. Here we will follow the judge's orders». Aarch bent down, and gently lifted Sonny from the floor and into his arms. He started walking towards Dame Simbai's lab with the pirate chief in his arms. D'jok followed him. As they all turned their backs on technoid when they left, they didn't see Duke Maddox evil smile. All wasn't lost. If he played his cards right, Sonny would soon be back in their custody, and then... Duke maddox smiled. Sonny posessed a lot of knowledge, and this time, he would gladly pass it on to them, without knowing it, Sonny Blackbones would be responsible for Technoid's oncoming war...
Aboard the black Manta, Corso, Artie and Bennet made ready to leave for Aarch Academy. All three pirates had a worried look upong their faces. Sonny collapsing was no good news. It indicated the seriousness of his illness. Corso had already talked to Dame Simbai and learned that Sonny was stabile, but asleep. But she wanted Clamp and the pirates assitance in further tests conducted on him. Corso was in deep thoughts. Dame Simbai had made mentionings of a substance that peeked extremely high on his bloodtests, and it worried Corso. Could the pill they had slipped him, however innocent it would be to a pirate, as a means to get out of a tight spot, have triggered a late reaction to chemicals in his body that made him sick? Where the pirates themselves to blame, or was this due to Technoid's recent «hospitality»? Corso didn't know, he had not had time to talk to Sonny about these things yet. And to top it all, Sonny had been too sick. But after all, not all was bad. Corso had learned of D'Jok and Mei's little secret. Sonny was thrilled. A grandchild. It made it easier for Corso to understand why Sonny wanted to go though with the case in court. A grandchild was huge, and Sonny, like any other grandparent, had strong desires to be around his grandchild, not as someone that snuck around in the shaddows, but really be there. If he was to ever have hopes of that, things needed to change. Sonny needed to clear his name, and have all charges removed. One could not count on Technoid's hospitality or immnuity, the only path they had not yet tried, was the one they were on now. Corso really hoped they would succeed. It had started to take it's toll on Sonny to always be on the run, afterall, he was not growing younger. All three pirates hoped in a small ship and headed for Aarch academy...
Sonny felt a dozing headche on the way. He had woken up just minutes earlier, and found that his normal clothes had been removed and replaced with something that looked like a hospital gown. It made him realise how serious this had to be. Dame Simbai handed him a cup of a hot herbal tea. «Drink this Sonny, you should feel better shortly». Sonny looked at the tea with scepsism. His pirate instincts were as always set on survival mode, and something told him this tea, whatever it was, would make him fall asleep. «What kind of tea is this?» he asked, smelling it. «It's from the Wambas planet, it is meant to make you relax». She said. Sonny nodded, his hazel eyes were watchfull as ever. «Did anyone check what Calleigh Mystic had taped before you stoped her?». Dame Simbai cought on to what the pirate chief was wondering. «Don't worry Sonny, she had no way to get it broadcasted. D'Jok took the tape from her». «Good» Sonny seemed to relax a little more as soon as he heard this. Dame Simbai had to smile. «I heard congratulations are in order!» she smiled. Sonny couldn't hold back a smile. «It's fantastic news, even though they are still a bit young». Dame Simbai sendt him a look over the top of her glases. «If Mei's mother had it her way, it would be no child at all». «WHAT?» Sonny seemed relaxed, but the way he spoke made it clear that he strongly disagreed with the woman. «She did ask Mei to have an abortion». Sonny clenched his fists. «I'm not surprised, coming from her». Dame Simbai herself had witnessed how Mei's mother had tried to manipulate everyone around her at a party, Sonny had removed Mei from the situation and calmed her down, and told Corso to handle «The dragon» wich was the pirates name for the inlaw from hell. «Mei's grown stronger and more confident since then, she wouldn't take that from her mother anymore» he stated. Dame Simbai nodded. «Mei has grown, thanks to the help she had from you and the pirates». Sonny nodded it, and took a big sip of the tea. It tasted sweet, like he had tasted this tea before. Dame Simbai read the question before he could speak it. «Yes, you have had this tea before, but you can't remember from where, and I am not at liberty to tell», «Fair enough!». Dame Simbai looked at the monitor again. She frowned. Sonny couldn't help but notice. «What? Something wrong?». Dame Simbai knew, that with his expertise, Sonny would have no trouble reading what her screens said. «Have a look» she suggested, and had Sonny see the holoscreen. Sonny stared at the screen. He didn't say anything. But Dame Simbai saw how he clenched his fists. «Do you know what this is Sonny?» she asked. Sonny had already revealed that he knew something. «yes I do, and it spells bad news for anyone ever connected to Technoid. If I'm correct, we have very little time to prevent several people from getting sick». Sonny reached for his transmitter. «Corso, take Artie and Bennet, and come to the Aarch Academy on the double, and ask Stevens and Klerko to run the Black Manta for the time being. We got work to do, and time is ticking». Sonny stoped when he heard Corso laughing. «Don't get all stressed out Sonny, we're already here» with that, the transmission ended. Seconds later, the three pirates came into the room, followed by Clamp and D'Jok. «Sonny!» Corso walked over and hugged him. «Are you trying to scare me into an early grave, by collapsing like that?». Sonny smiled. «No, just keeping you on your toes» he teased back. Then, he grew serious, and looked at Clamp. «Clamp, have you had any of the bloodwork tests Dame Simbai ran on me, done to you?». Clamp looked confused. «No, but I'm not sick..». Sonny was already on his way out of bed, when Dame simbai grabbed his arm. «Oh no, back to bed Sonny». Corso, Artie and Bennet had to turn away, to hide their laughs. Seeing Dame Simbai stoping Sonny from doing what he had intended to do, was a hillarious sight. Even D'Jok was struggling. Sonny hid his frustration. «Ok, but Corso, make sure Clamp gets tested ASAP. If I'm right about this, Technoid has a double plan with things, and it's starting to crack, this makes them dangerous, more than ever, and we have to stop them». Sonny lay back in the bed, drained of energy. Dame Simbai looked at him. «I told you to relax didn't I?». Sonny didn't care to reply. He had given his orders, and needed to rest. He had hidden his fears from all of them. Now, as they left him be in his room, Sonny could finally think things through. This was beyond bad. Why had he not realised this sooner? Technoid would not let anyone leave, no matter how low their security clearance was. All of the scientists had been forced to eat their meals in a large messarea inside the compound. Clamp and himself made no exceptions. Now, it made sence, why the food was for free. It contained small amounts of a substance that would cause something that occured as natural internal bleedings, killing a former emlpoyee that knew too much without it looking suspicious. Sonny realised what those short weeks in captvity had meant for him. It was due to the quick thinking of his pirates, that he had been saved. Sonny felt cold chills running down his spine when he thought of what technoid had planned for him. It would be the end of everything. It would make him no more than one of their droids, except he'd be made from flesh and blood, not a tin can. Sonny knew he had taken a huge risk this time, allowing himself to be captured and imprisoned. He had not expected to be sedated by technoid, nor that they would alter his transmitter. But Clamp had told him that they had found it, and melted it. It had taken some of the presssure of, but still, many unanswered questions remained. Sonny knew he would be safe untill he was stronger, now, he had to stretch that to the very limit. He didn't do this for himself, he never did. This was for his former collegues, his son, his doughter in law, his grandchild, for his late wife... as always, whenever he thought of her, he felt a sting of guilt. Was there anything he could have done differently back then? Sonny had gone through that same question, time and time over. He knew he had made the only possible choise, but, he would never get rid of the guilt. Sonny sighed, and fell back towards the pillows. He had too many reasons to carry on to give up. D'Jok still needed him, as did Mei, and the unborn baby. He had to do this for them, for everyone. Sonny felt the pressure was weighing him down. Right now, his knowledge could well be the last possible wall that stoped Technoid from taking over the world. If they got hold of him again, they would kill him. Sonny wasn't going to give up just yet, he relaxed himself as much as he could. Then slowly, he fell into a deep sleep..
Dame Simbai checked her alarm. Sonny was unaware, but she had rigged a silent alarm to keep an eye on him, now, it reported that he was sleeping. Corso looked at her. «What was that alarm?». «Nothing to worry about, it just told me that Sonny is sleeping. He needs to rest to recover his strenght». Corso nodded. He had a hard time trusting anyone outside the pirates organization, Dame Simbai, Clamp and D'Jok were the extreme exceptions. Sonny had been handed to Dame Simbai for medical care. It wasn't the first time. Corso still remembered that Sonny had been poisoned when they were on Paradisia years earlier. Their main objective had been to hide from Technoid where they wouldn't go looking for them. D'Jok and Clamp being there, had been a bonus for Sonny. Corso still remembered all that had happened, when Bennet and Artie had brought him to the snowkids villa, unconsious. Dame Simbai had placed him on her examination bed instantly, before long, she had conducted a thorough scan on him, and found him to have been poisoned. Thanks to her treatment, Sonny had remained alive, untill Magnus Blade, who went under the identity of Lord Phoenix, had managed to give Sonny an antidote. Since then, Sonny had grown very cautious about going anywhere alone, not that Corso would have let him. Sonny was too important for the pirates survival. Corso focused on what he had been asked to do. On a holoscreen infront of him, he could see the results of Sonny's most recent test. The colummn in the middle worried him. It was a normal substance, they all had a lower amount of it in their bodies, but this increased level, was dangerous. Sonny suspected it could be that Clamp had it too, but not in the same levels as himself. Corso checked the levels. Sonny had been had it, altough lower levels. «We got a serious problem gys..»
Judge Allegi could hardly believe what Duke Maddox presented her with. «I need to see real evidence of this allegation».
Duke Maddox nodded. «You'll have it, and we request Sonny Blackbones turned back into our custody. We'll take care of him, and make sure he is treated for his illness». Judge Allegi felt like something didn't ring right. «Your Excellency, it is highly likely that you and your company caused him to get this sick in the first place. Why would I turn him over to you if that was the case? Are you afraid of what he might tell in his testimony?». She decided to confront the duke up front. «Technoid had nothing to do with what happened to Sonny in that courtroom, that you have to blame on the pirates» Judge Allegi knew Technoid was a powerfull enemy, one that it was not wise to get on the wrong side of. She decided that it was urgent she got to talk to Sonny, find out what he knew, and fast. Technoid feared the mighty pirate chief more than anyone else. Clearly, Sonny could bring the mighty company of law and order in the galaxy, to it's knees. Judge Allegi sensed this case was getting bigger than just a normal court case. This was about more than Sonny beeing guilty or innocent. He was a gigantic threat to Technoid, and they would do all in their power to stop him. She sensed that turning Sonny over to Technoid, would be equal to signing his deathsentence. She was soon to learn the magnitude of the case...
Sonny looked at Corso with a worried expression. Then he looked at Bennet and Artie, then Clamp and Dame Simbai. «This is bad, we're running out of time. Corso, find everyone on that list you got from Technoid's hightech security vault. Get someone to gather them and have them innoculated». «With what Sonny? there is no cure for this».
Sonny's hazels grew dark. «You're wrong Corso, we had the cure all along, we just never used it, cause it would enable Technoid and the flux society to detect us». Corso's mouth fell open when Sonny's words made sense. Dame Simbai gasped. Sonny turned to her, a sly smile played on his lips. «Technoid think they won, they didn't. They gave us a chance to retalliate, and come out as victorers. We will reveal the truth about one of Shilos's many myths. We will use the flux no one thinks is anything else than a myth». Dame Simbai looked at him. «So. It's true? It does excist?». Sonny nodded it. «Yes, Dame Simbai, the most powerful flux in the galaxy, the seed of Shiloh, is real»...
Now, it is getting exciting. There is more action to come soon. Want to let me know what you think of this?