Beg, Steal or Borrow – Half Truths and Whole Lies
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
The amount of time some people put into building their own myth never ceased to amaze Rh’vaurek. He understood the purpose for it, and was guilty of it himself, but some men pushed it so far that it became an art form, or an ostentation, depending on your point of view; Aehkhifv i-Llweii Latasalaem was one of those men.
Once inside the central complex where security was so subtle as to appear non-existent, it was easy to forget that this building was not a grand and ancient home but the central hub of an intelligence network and a monument to the achievements of one man. Every inch of the place was part of his message, from the grandiose scale of the marble-slabbed hallways to the aged drapes and furnishings that suggested they had stood in place for centuries but which in reality were modern luxuries ingeniously integrating all the benefits that technology had to offer, and the message, in Rh’vaurek’s opinion at least was underestimate me at your peril.
The Senator barely glanced up from his screen as he entered the room, but Rh’vaurek recognised the impatient flick of his hand and took the chair opposite, a fire burned in the grate despite the season making the room uncomfortably warm, Latasalaem was running to fat, Rh’vaurek observed, the polished leather creaked beneath him as he folded his arms, as he noted the growth of an additional chin since they had last met.
Finally Latasalaem heaved himself back and turned his gleaming black gaze on Rh’vaurek. He linked his hands across his stomach, “You came, then,” he said as though he had presented him a choice in the matter. “I take it you didn’t bring her with you.”
“t’Khellian or Iawaain?” Rh’vaurek’s question was disingenuous, he knew exactly who Latasalaem meant, but at times it was prudent to divert the man away from certain topics and he wanted to know if this was one of those times.
“You are already on very shaky ground, Raedheol,” which answered Rh’vaurek’s question clearly enough.
“My apologies, Khrein. I could not reach t’Khellian when I received your order to evacuate, I had to give priority to moving certain sensitive equipment over searching for a petulant dynast … she didn’t wish to be found,” he shrugged suggesting that he might have done more but he didn’t see the point.
“So you two still haven’t put aside your differences?”
Rh’vaurek shook his head. “She’s just not the forgiving type. That whole incident appears to have tainted her view of me irrevocably,” he lied.
Latasalaem snorted, “You did shoot her I suppose, but forty years is a long time to bear a grudge … hmmm, Well, she can take care of herself, the woman’s as savage as a kaa`hhz. I was reading the first reports from our listening posts of the attack on your space station … quite a fiasco. I’m rather pleased that it is nothing to do with our operation. I am right that it was nothing to do with our organisation Rh’vaurek, am I not?”
Rh’vaurek was quick to reassure him, “Quite right, though I think if we look harder, we’ll find our friend Iawaain’s hand in there somewhere.”
“A defection of all things! I thought that you would keep a closer reign on your operatives.””
“What could I do? Isha had sold her for information. As Iawaain was no longer any use to me, I chose to let her go.”
“You should have stopped her.”
“Isha is not my operative.”
“Don’t play word games with me, Raedheol. Who is running that place, you or Isha?”
Rh’vaurek pursed his lips and prudently changed the subject. “You mentioned the attack, Aehkhifv, were there details?”
“Two ships lost, signs of federation reinforcements approaching and strangest of all a ship that by all accounts is not yet fully commissioned abandoning the attack. What do you make of that?”
“Someone hoping to make a name for themselves caused an incident that if successful would draw the attention and the support of parts of the senate. They realise they have failed and escape hoping to distance themselves from it,” Rh’vaurek suggested. He crossed one leg over the other and linked his hands over his raised knee; Latasalaem was giving away nothing, barely a blink to moisten his onyx stare, nor a twitch of the lip to indicate amusement or agreement.
“And if I tell you that the ship which ran away is registered to the hfirh Illialhlae …?” Latasalaem continued.
He did not like the first conclusion that presented itself – the beginning of a bid for power. Destabilising the empire by causing an attack and blaming it on her own house. It was ridiculous; Isha would not expose herself to that sort of danger … even if to exonerate herself from any accusation of involvement. Then why hadn’t she left when she had the chance … she’d deliberately not answered him when he tried to find her …
Rh’vaurek realised that he had not spoken for a full minute and immediately afterwards that that Latasalaem was staring at him and chuckling softly.
“I can’t discount the possibility either, it seems preposterous, doesn’t it … but who can tell with her? She’s no longer under my control.”
If not for that admission Rh’vaurek might have thought that Latasalaem was toying with him, but for him to admit that he wasn’t in control impressed just how serious he was taking the possibility. If Isha had not already told Rh’vaurek who was pulling her strings then without doubt he too would have made the same conclusion as Latasalaem (http://ds5.co.uk/sms/index.php?page=post&id=71 for anyone who cares!).
In the hearth a log shifted and split sending a spray of sparks up the chimney and a draft of heady woodsmoke into the room. “She’s had us both fooled, Rh’vaurek. I tell you, when I catch up with her I’m going to pull her fingernails out then I’m …”
“If anything needs to be done, I’ll see to it,” Rh’vaurek interrupted before he felt compelled yield to the temptation to tell his employer to shut his fat mouth or else to shut it for him.
“That’s what I like about you,” Latasalaem said, resting his cheek on one lightly closed fist. “You’re utterly unencumbered by any finer feelings. Hmmph, I know you’re screwing her, I just feared she’d compromised you.”
“Me?” Rh’vaurek scoffed outwardly as inside he wondered who else on DS5 was feeding information directly back to Latasalaem, “just making the most of a bad situation, she's willing enough when pressed.”
“And speaking of bad situations, what in Areinnye (hell) happened with Iawaain?”
Rh’vaurek shifted in the cloying heat he was already beginning to stick to the old leather chair, and Latasalaem, it seemed had hardly begun. He stretched his legs, crossing them at the ankles; like it or not, this was not going to be a comfortable afternoon.
OFF:
Rh’vaurek Raedheol
and
Senator Aehkhifv i-Llweii Latasalaem
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek
Post Details
| Title | Half Truths and Whole Lies | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek | |
| Posted | Wed Apr 22, 2009 @ 10:48am | |
| Location | Cariel III | |
| Timeline | Not long after the attack on DS5 |
Once inside the central complex where security was so subtle as to appear non-existent, it was easy to forget that this building was not a grand and ancient home but the central hub of an intelligence network and a monument to the achievements of one man. Every inch of the place was part of his message, from the grandiose scale of the marble-slabbed hallways to the aged drapes and furnishings that suggested they had stood in place for centuries but which in reality were modern luxuries ingeniously integrating all the benefits that technology had to offer, and the message, in Rh’vaurek’s opinion at least was underestimate me at your peril.
The Senator barely glanced up from his screen as he entered the room, but Rh’vaurek recognised the impatient flick of his hand and took the chair opposite, a fire burned in the grate despite the season making the room uncomfortably warm, Latasalaem was running to fat, Rh’vaurek observed, the polished leather creaked beneath him as he folded his arms, as he noted the growth of an additional chin since they had last met.
Finally Latasalaem heaved himself back and turned his gleaming black gaze on Rh’vaurek. He linked his hands across his stomach, “You came, then,” he said as though he had presented him a choice in the matter. “I take it you didn’t bring her with you.”
“t’Khellian or Iawaain?” Rh’vaurek’s question was disingenuous, he knew exactly who Latasalaem meant, but at times it was prudent to divert the man away from certain topics and he wanted to know if this was one of those times.
“You are already on very shaky ground, Raedheol,” which answered Rh’vaurek’s question clearly enough.
“My apologies, Khrein. I could not reach t’Khellian when I received your order to evacuate, I had to give priority to moving certain sensitive equipment over searching for a petulant dynast … she didn’t wish to be found,” he shrugged suggesting that he might have done more but he didn’t see the point.
“So you two still haven’t put aside your differences?”
Rh’vaurek shook his head. “She’s just not the forgiving type. That whole incident appears to have tainted her view of me irrevocably,” he lied.
Latasalaem snorted, “You did shoot her I suppose, but forty years is a long time to bear a grudge … hmmm, Well, she can take care of herself, the woman’s as savage as a kaa`hhz. I was reading the first reports from our listening posts of the attack on your space station … quite a fiasco. I’m rather pleased that it is nothing to do with our operation. I am right that it was nothing to do with our organisation Rh’vaurek, am I not?”
Rh’vaurek was quick to reassure him, “Quite right, though I think if we look harder, we’ll find our friend Iawaain’s hand in there somewhere.”
“A defection of all things! I thought that you would keep a closer reign on your operatives.””
“What could I do? Isha had sold her for information. As Iawaain was no longer any use to me, I chose to let her go.”
“You should have stopped her.”
“Isha is not my operative.”
“Don’t play word games with me, Raedheol. Who is running that place, you or Isha?”
Rh’vaurek pursed his lips and prudently changed the subject. “You mentioned the attack, Aehkhifv, were there details?”
“Two ships lost, signs of federation reinforcements approaching and strangest of all a ship that by all accounts is not yet fully commissioned abandoning the attack. What do you make of that?”
“Someone hoping to make a name for themselves caused an incident that if successful would draw the attention and the support of parts of the senate. They realise they have failed and escape hoping to distance themselves from it,” Rh’vaurek suggested. He crossed one leg over the other and linked his hands over his raised knee; Latasalaem was giving away nothing, barely a blink to moisten his onyx stare, nor a twitch of the lip to indicate amusement or agreement.
“And if I tell you that the ship which ran away is registered to the hfirh Illialhlae …?” Latasalaem continued.
He did not like the first conclusion that presented itself – the beginning of a bid for power. Destabilising the empire by causing an attack and blaming it on her own house. It was ridiculous; Isha would not expose herself to that sort of danger … even if to exonerate herself from any accusation of involvement. Then why hadn’t she left when she had the chance … she’d deliberately not answered him when he tried to find her …
Rh’vaurek realised that he had not spoken for a full minute and immediately afterwards that that Latasalaem was staring at him and chuckling softly.
“I can’t discount the possibility either, it seems preposterous, doesn’t it … but who can tell with her? She’s no longer under my control.”
If not for that admission Rh’vaurek might have thought that Latasalaem was toying with him, but for him to admit that he wasn’t in control impressed just how serious he was taking the possibility. If Isha had not already told Rh’vaurek who was pulling her strings then without doubt he too would have made the same conclusion as Latasalaem (http://ds5.co.uk/sms/index.php?page=post&id=71 for anyone who cares!).
In the hearth a log shifted and split sending a spray of sparks up the chimney and a draft of heady woodsmoke into the room. “She’s had us both fooled, Rh’vaurek. I tell you, when I catch up with her I’m going to pull her fingernails out then I’m …”
“If anything needs to be done, I’ll see to it,” Rh’vaurek interrupted before he felt compelled yield to the temptation to tell his employer to shut his fat mouth or else to shut it for him.
“That’s what I like about you,” Latasalaem said, resting his cheek on one lightly closed fist. “You’re utterly unencumbered by any finer feelings. Hmmph, I know you’re screwing her, I just feared she’d compromised you.”
“Me?” Rh’vaurek scoffed outwardly as inside he wondered who else on DS5 was feeding information directly back to Latasalaem, “just making the most of a bad situation, she's willing enough when pressed.”
“And speaking of bad situations, what in Areinnye (hell) happened with Iawaain?”
Rh’vaurek shifted in the cloying heat he was already beginning to stick to the old leather chair, and Latasalaem, it seemed had hardly begun. He stretched his legs, crossing them at the ankles; like it or not, this was not going to be a comfortable afternoon.
OFF:
Rh’vaurek Raedheol
and
Senator Aehkhifv i-Llweii Latasalaem