Nightfire Warriors - A Space Opera

47. Sleuthing With The Enemy

A'Dimsyte is enraged. He's staring out the glass wall in Seeker Headquarters, gazing at the galaxy—when I, accompanied by JT and Lily, limp in, filthy, covered in blood—and immediately launches into a lecture why it's always Abigail's warriors who get into the most trouble. He can't fathom how the Cluster broke into a space station without anyone realizing and kidnap someone. He doesn't forget to include the part about JT lying to Abigail about where he was going. Turns out, JT has a few connections with the Cluster, and that's how he and Lily got to the planet in the first place. He's very vague about it, however, and doesn't want to explain full details.

I don't have a chance to explain my side of the story. I'm not able to tell A'Dimsyte I saw Frankie with Isabelle. Or even tell him that the Nightfire spacecraft was somehow miraculously in our reach. He's too busy getting off at insulting us.

Abigail arrives, Kendall following her. My mentor and the leader of the Nightfire fixate me with their eyes, and I'm not sure if they're proud of me, angry, or relieved that I'm alive.

It's later found out some of the Cluster had infiltrated as imposing Seekers. These past invasions have been planned for months.

"The Cluster is really smart!" Lily swears.

"Yeah, and one of them looks like that evil boy from The Good Son," I add on.

"This will be an incident I'm not going to let slide!" A'Dimsyte says to Abigail through his teeth. "Eliminate him from the tournament now."

Abigail sniggers. "I was planning to," she confesses. "But as you know, it's not really up to me. It depends on who the other mentors vote for."

"Then find a mission that sends him home crying!" A'Dimsyte screeches. "You have no idea how much time I have to spend fixing his mess! He should have never been picked for Joffrey! This never would have happened!"

"It would have," JT says. "The Cluster found a biochip into his brain. He was tracked inevitably."

"What?" It sounds like Kendall is choking.

I approach JT delicately. "It was the Cluster who planted it. Are you sure?"

JT shakes his head. "They didn't plant it, but they used it to find you. The Cluster somehow found out you had a tracking device in your head from one of their infiltrators." He pauses and gulps. "The mole has to be in Nightfire. I don't know how else they could have known."

A'Dimsyte is appalled. "And how would you know something like that?"

"Let's just say a little birdie told me." And I have no idea what JT means by that, but everyone else seems to. His mysterious answer r somehow gives them the little birdie's specific name anyway. I see it in their expressions. "It also explains why the Zusks attacked the first time," JT adds. "They were after Sag."

A'Dimsyte doesn't believe the information at first, but reconsiders. "But how is everyone flying around the universe undetected? What kind of technology are these scumbags using?"

"I don't know, Sir," JT says.

"Well, figure it out, now!" A'Dimsyte roars, then he turns his attention to me. "And what do they want with you?" he asks me personally.

I'm intimidated. "I—I..." I stutter.

"Speak up!" he impatiently interrupts. "Jesus Christ! Are you telling me these lizards turned you into a retard? Can you speak, boy? Enunciate, damn you!"