Conspiracy

Chapter 1

In the back alley of a small desolate town on a backwater planet Jarred paces nervously. Despite the light breeze that blows over him from the cool fall air his expensive blue silk shirt clings to his large obese frame thanks to the layer of sweat that is covering his body. It would hard to imagine anyone who knows the man couldn’t possibly fathom why he would be nervous, after all he’s the regional governor in charge of thirteen worlds in the Abbydos region of the Helios Star Empire, above all else he’s a ruthless man who doesn’t hesitate to remind anyone, whether they be foe or friend, of just how ruthless he can be. So why was a man of his prestige meeting on such a backwater word not in under his control and who could terrify the man into such a cold sweat.

“Governor Jarred Ishmal I presume.” Asks a deep echoing voice. Fighting to keep from jumping out of his skin Jarred turns around to see the person behind who is behind him, the stranger is wearing a black robe with silver trim, Jarred is unable to see anything else as the stranger has his hood up shrouding his face in darkness. Jarred tries to keep his calm, for all his power he has no delusions that this man before him wouldn’t do things to him that would redefine the definition of pain if he upsets him too much. Not finding his voice just yet he simply nods his head to answer the question.

“Has the payment been made according to the given instructions?” Again, Jarred can only nod his head in response to the question. Reaching into the pouch on his hip he pulls out a small pocket drive and hands it to the stranger. Finally finding his voice Jarred manages to speak for the first time, “If you give me a moment I’ll give you my tablet-.” But the man simply cups his hand as if he’s waiting for water to drop in to it, suddenly an image appears in his hand. The image is wavy like looking at a object through a heat haze in the desert, the image is the information on the pocket drive detailing Jarred’s compliance with the payment instructions. Closing his hand, he pulls it back as his other hand stretches forward and hands Jarred a pouch.

“Put these items into the Synthron.” From his belt, he also removes a quartz crystal. “This crystal contains all the information the Synthron will need to be able to combine the ingredients and load it into several tea bags. Have your daughter drink tea twice a day for five days and she will make a full recovery. This concludes our business”

Jarrod looks up from the items he has just been given to ask a question, but the robed man has already started to walk away. He is getting ready to call out to him when the robe man’s body becomes translucent and disappears without a trace. Letting go of the breath he didn’t even know he was holding Jarred clutched the items chest as tightly as a drowning man holding a life preserver out at sea. Gathering his wits, he heads back to his shuttle to take him to his family and put this whole awful event behind him.

A few miles away from the sleepy small town the robed man flickers back into existence as he walks towards a sleek red and blue fighter. Waving his hand casually as if saying hello the fighter comes to life as several external lights come on and a ramp lowers to the ground. Entering the fighter, he walks up to the cockpit he snaps his fingers, the flight computer comes online starting the fighter’s autopilot, and soon the fighter lifts off the ground heading towards space. Heading back into the small cargo hold he removes his robe, the man is of average height with a narrow face and ebony hair in a simple braid. He is wearing a beige tunic with brown pants and thick leather ankle boots. Over his clothes he is wearing a metal harness with a white crystal the size of a fist in the center and several tubes connecting to gauntlets with etching of circuit boards all over them. Placing his robe in his locker he then begins tracing his left hand over one of the circuits on the inside of his right gauntlet the circuit activates, and the tubes disconnect before retracting into the harness. Placing his right hand over his heart he says, “and now I rest, the deepest of rests until I am needed once more.” The harness unlocks in several places allowing him to remove it and place it along with his gauntlets in his secure locker.

Heading into the cockpit he sits down in the pilot’s seat and begins checking his instruments when he notices a blinking light. The light indicates someone has left him a message. Pressing the button, he hears the voice of an old friend. “Arash my old friend I hope everything goes well for you out there amongst the sea of infinite stars. I wish this was only a social call, but you must come back to Ioh. Alareish is dead.”