Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Treading Water

"Yes, which is why Dr Krill and the others should have just received my panic signal and will be coming for me any moment."

He couldn't help but let the smug smile cross his face as he reached up and untied the saturated silk scarf, that too which he discarded in favor of less weight and a better ability to breathe. He even took a few seconds to undue his vest and discard that as well, letting the items of clothing float away into the darkness leaving him in only his tan trousers and a white Victorian dress shirt.

He had kicked off the shoes first thing.

"Ah yes, the homing device. Quite a useful object, considering that it is embedded inside you as I recall. Burned to your ribs or something like that?"

He nodded, "Yep." He tilted his head expecting to hear the sound of rushing footsteps at any moment.

"MMmm while clever, you friends will not be coming for you."

Adam frowned, "What do you mean."

The Rundi made his way around the upper edge of the basin, "You see, the thing about electronic devices of any kind is that they are relatively easy to sabotage if you know what you are doing. Even if they are implanted on the inside of a person."

He turned to follow the movement of the Rundi, "No EMP, since there was still lights on at the party."

"Well that's because I am not using an EMP. Or at least not in the conventional sense of the word."

"Is this the part where you monologue about your evil plan and give me time to escape."

"It isn't an EVIL plan. I Am trying to do what is best for our galaxy, and to make that decision I need to know what I am dealing with. If it helps you feel better, you are not the first person I tested."

"Go on?"

"I have long been trying to find someone who seemed the most likely to keep this universe under control. I didn't bother with the Vrul or the bran or any of those as they are easily thwarted. I quickly discounted my own species as the presence of water, so common on other livable worlds, is poison to us. I thought the Tesraki might do it, and for a while they did, but I soon had to discard them in favor of more promising prospects. Burg seemed like a good idea until I learned that stripping them of their slime was an effective way of terminating them."

Adam bore his teeth, "What was all that about not killing me?"

"Oh you misunderstand. I haven't killed anyone. Everyone who has stepped into my holdings has always come out alive, and in some cases with a very handsome sum for their troubles. Granted the Burg was a little less cooperative than the rest I will admit, but I did my best on that one. Anyway, the point being is that I have been testing species for a s long as I can remember, to know their real capabilities under pressure, and this time it is your turn. As far as it goes, Adam Vir, I chose you, not because of who your are, and not because of some personal vendetta. It wasn't even because of my admiration for you."

He adjusted his monocle on his face.

"I chose you simply because you were the only human that I knew of who had a secret important enough to use as blackmail, and one which is likely to keep your mouth shut when all of this is over."

"Secret! What secret?"

"Your little interspecies tryst with the saint of Anin. My bet is that if you aren't willing to go public with it yet, you would rather not go public with it at all. Think about all the backlash that could accompany a revelation like that. Recruitment would go down, support for the alliance would fade away, and there would be even more people willing to form isolationists groups, which you cannot afford to deal with right now. If you are a smart man, Adam Vir, you are going to do my tests and you are going to keep your mouth shut after they are over."