This is Chapter Two in my sci-fi series starring Kreke, a man of mystery and intrigue, solving crimes throughout the galaxy with his investigative reporting. Each installment will contain the link to prior chapters:
Kreke: Intergalactic Investigator - CHAPTER ONE
Now, on to Chapter 2:
Colonel Lanthrop grabbed his pre-packed emergency getaway pouch out of the safe and instructed his AI to wipe all data contained in its memory banks and all relevant systems. He’d been expecting the necessity to bolt but thought there would be more time. He’d been leaving that investigative reporter, Kreke, breadcrumbs of information but the man was even better than he’d given him credit to have pieced it together so quickly. He was out the hidden chute and into the waiting mini-sled just as the Imperial Police were gaining entrance to his quarters.
High Commander Shr’e Alblee looked around at the disheveled quarters. Dresser drawers pulled open, empty hangers in the closet, the open and empty wall safe. He detected the distinctive burnt ozone smell of electronics that have experienced a systemwide chemically induced wipe sequence. Fury rolled off him in waves as he ordered his men to conduct what he already knew was a useless search.
He touched the comlink at his ear. “Lanthrop’s gone. We won’t find anything but my men are making the search regardless. We’ll be back at the base before dawn. I’ll await His Majesty’s summons for the mission report. Shr’e Albee was not a man accustomed to being thwarted and the Imperial Emperor even less so. The upcoming mission report would not be a happy occasion. Heads would roll and Shr’e Alblee could only hope that one of them would not be his.
Andrea nervously tapped her fingers on the arm of the control master chair. Spread around the room were holograms of her counterparts, some across the world, others across the galaxy. She should be paying attention to the droning of Ambassador BinTo, but her mind was on her earlier conversation with Kreke. Did she end the convo soon enough? Had he noticed her nervous twitch? Lord, she was going to have it pull it together before tomorrow night.
At last, the meeting was over and the holos winked out one by one. Andrea left the meeting room and headed back to her office pod. She programmed a soy latte from the auto-chef and sat down at her control center. Joy, the office AI, chimed softly and informed Andrea she had received a summons to the Executive Suite and was to report immediately. Angela’s already pale face drained of its remaining color and she quickly took a gulp of the still-too-hot drink. She knew people who had been suddenly called to the ES and were never heard from again. Her inattention must have caused her to make a major mistake that was noticed by the wrong people.
She stepped on the auto-glide channel that Joy opened on the floor and rode it in silence to the transport tube. The bounce to the ES lasted only a few seconds but it seemed like a lifetime to Andrea. Her mind struggled to ascertain the reason for this summons, but other than being a tad distracted, she could find no serious errors as she searched her memory of the meeting. The tube opened into a huge sterile white corridor that was totally devoid of activity. This was not how she had pictured the Executive Suite. A panel slid open silently to her left and a security droid stepped out.
“Please step forward and turn slowly in a full circle.” The droid subjected her to a full-body scan then announced, “Follow me. I will be your escort to the Inner Sanctum.”
