The Ninth: Invasion (7 page)

“It’s time for dinner anyway,” Tyra said dejectedly.  “I wonder what my mother’s got cooked up for us.”

“I certainly hope you are referring to the meal itself,” Rhea said.

Tyra let out a laugh.

“My mother, cook?  I doubt she’d know which side of a spatula to hold.”

She was still laughing as she led the squad back into the large, ornate structure.  The dining room was ridiculously oversized.  The ceiling was as tall as the structure itself, with massive hanging chandeliers made from expensive looking jewels.  The chairs were made out of wood with intricate patterns.  Brent chuckled to himself as he wondered if they were hand made or something similarly outlandish.

After the last trooper had taken his seat, a fanfare sounded.  Horns and drums announced the arrival of the Governor and his wife.  The pair sat at the end of the table in two chairs purposely larger than the rest.  A plethora of servers appeared out of nowhere, quickly and gracefully dropping off plates of colorfully arranged meals.  The troopers, accustomed to the rations on the station, weren’t entirely sure if they were being served food or some kind of artwork.

“So dear, tell us all about your friends,” Mrs. Lucchesi asked as she gracefully ate.

The troopers tried to mimic her eating style as they began on the meal.

“What do you want to know, mother?” Tyra asked coldly.

“I don’t know.  I’m not all that interested in the military myself.  Which of them is the strongest?”

“That would be Cassandra,
ma’am
,” Cain said, as he intentionally slurped his soup loudly.  “She’s easily stronger than most of us combined.”

“I see.  I had thought that would have been Mr. Murdock.  How about the bravest?”

“That would have to be Dante,” Marie said politely.  “One time, he was going to take on an entire army of Weavers by himself.”

“Really? Fascinating.  I wonder exactly how Mr. Murdock ranks.  How about intelligence?  Which of you is the most cunning?”

“Brent,” the squad said in unison.

Mrs. Lucchesi was startled by the answer.  She surveyed the troopers at the table, trying to guess which one they meant.  Brent clamped down on his expression, hiding any traces of his own surprise at the unanimous response.

“Why are you so interested in my squad mates, mother?” Tyra asked.

“No reason.  Tell me about this Brent person.  How exactly has he proven this place?”

“You have something up your sleeve, don’t you mother?”

“You caught me red handed I’m afraid.  I had hoped your friends would be up to a little game of mine.  Something to help me get to know them all better.”

“Oh, a game!” Cain half-shouted with the blissful grin of an idiot.  “I
love
games.”

“What kind of game?” Tyra asked suspiciously.

“A guessing game.  You tell me something about one of your troopers, and I see if I can guess which one of them you are talking about.”

“Why would you want to do something like that?  You said you aren’t interested in the military, so why would you want to know about my squad?”

“That’s simple,” Cain said distractedly, trying to cut through something on his plate.  “She’s hoping we’ll give away more than we realize.  Once she knows our secrets, she has a measure of control over us.  It’s blackmailing basics.”

“You must be Brent, then,” Mrs. Lucchesi said with a forced smile.  “You are rather quick.”

“Sorry.  Nice try, but wrong,” Cain said with a wide grin.  “What are the stakes of this little game?  Normally I’d play for credits, but in a game like this information is
far
more valuable than a handful of credits.  How about we play for information itself?  When you guess wrong, we get to ask
you
a question.”

Mrs. Lucchesi eyed Cain cautiously.  Suddenly, she let out a laugh that was more of a squeal.

“No deal.  You’d have the advantage.  I obviously don’t know you all very well, and if I had to answer a question every time, I’d run out of secrets.”  Mrs. Lucchesi sounded more like a bookie than a Governor’s wife.

“You cut yourself short.  I’m sure you have secrets to spare,” Cain said with a small smile.  “But I see your point.  How about this?  When you make a wrong guess, we can ask you a question, but you get to decide if you answer it or not.  You can reject up to two questions before you
must
answer one.  Fair enough?” Cain asked.

Tyra wasn’t sure how to react to the interplay between her mother and Cain.  Mrs. Lucchesi thought about it for a moment before nodding.

“Sounds fair to me, so what’s your question.  I did guess incorrectly, after all.”  Her mother sounded like she was actually looking forward to the game now.

“Is this meat or some kind of building material?” Cain asked staring at his knife embedded in the food.  “I can’t seem to cut it.”

Everyone at the table laughed at the sudden shift from seriousness.  Even Angela was forced to laugh at the joke.

“Neither, that’s a local delicacy.  It’s a kind of hardened bread.  You are
supposed
to dip it in the soup until it becomes soft again.  The mixture of flavors and textures is divine.”

“
Now
you tell me.”  Cain lifted his knife, taking the hunk of bread easily off the table.  He dropped both into what was left of his soup.  It looked like a harpooned whale swimming in an orange sea.  The troopers restrained bursts of laughter at the sight.

“I suppose it’s my turn now,” Cain said as he waited for the bread to soften.  “Let’s see, one of us comes from five generations of farmers.”

Mrs. Lucchesi studied the table.  After a short while she pointed firmly at Owen.

“You,” she said confidently.  “Do you like the life of a farmer?”

“It’s good clean work.  What am I supposed to do now?” Owen asked.

“You give me a hint about one of your other friends.”

“Oh, right! . . .  Should I say him or her?” Owen cast a glance at Cain.

“Just say ‘one of us’ Owen,” Cain answered.

“Okay,
one of us
switched everyone’s partners on the fourth exam.”  Owen chuckled to himself as he remembered the scene.  As Mrs. Lucchesi stared at him blankly, he realized she had no idea what he was talking about.  “Sorry, ma’am.  That was the combat exam.  We were dueling sims.  Wouldn’t have won without him . . . one of us.  Sorry Cain, I blew it.”

Cain shrugged and Mrs. Lucchesi looked around the table.  After a while she randomly pointed at Ronald.

“Sorry, not me.  Do you play this kind of game with all your guests?” Ronald asked idly.

“Maybe not this one, but ones like it.  It’s a sign of a good hostess to keep her guests entertained.”

“I see.  I suppose it is my turn to give you a hint.”  Ronald thought for a moment.  “One of us nearly bled to death after a heavy-gravity sparring match.”

Mrs. Lucchesi’s eyes widened and the Governor dropped his spoon into his soup.  The troopers were stunned; they hadn’t expected anyone to intentionally bring
that
up.  Mrs. Lucchesi noticed the stunned faces and pointed at Ronald again, the only one without a surprised expression on his face.

“Still not me,” Ronald said with a smile.  “Do you have something against your daughter being in the military?”

“I choose not to answer that.”

“I suppose those are the rules of this
game
,” Ronald said with a hint of annoyance.  “Time for another hint.  One of us is a heavy-worlder.”

Mrs. Lucchesi quickly pointed at Cassandra.

“Sorry dear, but those rosy cheeks give it away.”

“No reason to be sorry; I’m happy with them.  One of us is a loud mouthed bookie.”

Mrs. Lucchesi burst into laughter.  She was laughing so hard she couldn’t keep her finger steady as she pointed at Cain.

“Guilty as charged,” Cain said with a grin.

“So do I get to know your name?”

“They call me Cain, ma’am.  Among other things I’d rather not repeat in polite conversation.”

Cassandra laughed to herself.

“Time for another hint.  Let’s see what else I know,” Cain said thoughtfully.  “One of us fought off an entire
army
of troopers during the fifth exam and managed to hold them off long enough to win.”

Mrs. Lucchesi studied the table and chose Angela.

“Not me, although I probably could if I wanted to,” she said with a proud, wicked, smile.

“Your question?”

“Don’t really have one.  Cain, since you are so interested in this game, why don’t you ask for me?”

“Do you have a problem with that, ma’am?” Cain asked.

Mrs. Lucchesi shook her head.

“Okay, why is everything besides your beautiful residence in such poor repair?”

“I choose not to answer that either.”

“That’s your right.  Angela, time to give out a hint.”

“Me? But
you
asked the question.”

“True, but she guessed you last.  Give out a hint.”

Angela shifted uncomfortably.  She glanced around the table, obviously wondering what she knew about everyone.

“One of us . . . fought off the attack of over a hundred Weavers.”  Angela scratched her head.

Again, Mrs. Lucchesi’s eyes widened.  She carefully studied the troopers.  In the end she pointed at Dante.

“When the girl said Dante was the bravest, you shifted.  So you stood against so many Weavers
and
survived their attack?”

“Your powers of observation are impressive, but you are incorrect,” Dante said politely.  “I did take a step against a large group of Weavers, but they were not focused on me.  I don’t really have a question for you either.  Cain, would you mind taking my turn?”

Mrs. Lucchesi shifted nervously but didn’t protest.

“What else can I ask?” Cain asked aloud, resting his hand on his chin in a thinking pose.  “I already asked about the bread thing.  I know!  Tell me, are you going to reject Core Industries’ claim on the mining base?”

Both Rhea and the Governor were caught by surprise and coughed.

“That’s a rather serious question for such a simple game,” Mrs. Lucchesi said, trying not to sound surprised.

“Well, I ran out of simple questions.”  Cain shrugged.  “You explained the bread thing.  The other buildings are in poor repair because the local region’s economy is scraping bottom.  Meanwhile, you are funded directly by the government.  Thus your home is absolutely fabulous because your monthly stipend is the equivalent of a fortune.  I was wondering how you are going to react to CI’s interest in the unmanned mining outpost.  If you accept, there will be prosperity in the region again, but you won’t be able to live as lavishly.  If you reject their claim, you’ll continue to live like kings over the broke commoners.”

“Are you certain you are not the brightest in the group?” Mrs. Lucchesi asked with daggers in her eyes.

“Quiet certain,” he said with a blissful smile.  “I’m just well informed.  Now, you chose not to answer the last two questions; you
must
answer mine.  That’s the rule of the game.”

She stared at him with such malice it was a wonder it didn’t harm him.  Finally, she let out a small sigh and straightened in her chair.

“We plan to accept Core Industries’ claim.  Truth be told, I’m bored entertaining guests from the local region.  I’ve missed interplay like this, and with CI’s assistance, maybe I’ll be able to lure other silver-tongued devils like you to my table.”

“Do you want another hint, or are you tired of the game?” Cain asked with a smile.

“I’m quite interested in hearing about this person you hold in such high regard.  After that little display it’s obvious you are quite cunning, but you say there is one even better in the group.”

“Wonderful!” Cain said as he lifted the soggy bread out of the bowl.  “My bread is soft!  It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full, and I’m
dying
to try this.  Why don’t the rest of you tell her about Brent.”

Cain started chewing on the soft bread, obviously avoiding Mrs. Lucchesi.  She looked expectantly at the rest of the troopers.  The troopers exchanged glances; none of them had expected things to turn out as they had.  Suddenly, Tyra started laughing.  One by one the troopers stared at her.  Her parents and even Cain focused on her.

“Looks like you met your match, mother.  I’ve waited years for this.”  Tyra smiled contently as she stopped laughing.  “Cain was the best bookie on the station, maybe anywhere.  However, compared to Brent he is just a master of parlor tricks.  Brent has passed every obstruction placed in front of him.  He has risked life and limb to protect his friends and been to the brink of death and back.  Although, despite all that, he is incredibly humble.”

Tyra’s voice broke for a moment and she paused to wipe at a tear.

“Even though he has accomplished such amazing things, he is the first to praise others, to give credit away.  Thanks to him I’ll probably get credit for one of his greatest achievements.  I’m not going to point him out to you mother; after what we’ve said he wouldn’t want the attention.  But trust me, if you pay attention, it will become obvious which one of us he is.  After all, he nearly saved me from
you
.”