Thursday, December 19, 2024

The Viscount of La Soutain (6)

 6

Samh 9.05.1342 8:00

 

Geodor had slept well and had been up before dawn, heading to the capital of Anorraq, Tyrol City. Now, he sat in the anteroom of the castle palace, awaiting an audience with the Count of Anorraq.

“Ah, Viscount Elwynalam, what a pleasure to see you. I assume that from the mishap right before you returned home, your mission went well?” the Count asked after ushering him into his office, shutting and locking the door behind him.

“I suppose that depends on what you mean by ‘went well.’” The Count raised his eyebrows but made no response.

“Your information was correct,” Geodor continued after a moment. “The Xiepvuians have constructed a rather substantial base on the far side of our moon. I have no idea how they managed to do it, though.”

“Well, that’s rather simple,” the Count responded. “It’s not as if we live in a science fiction novel where some strange-looking alien creature inhabits every planet. Xiepvuians look just like us. I assume some have assimilated into our planetary population or they may have recruited Samhis loyal to Xiepvuian money or a combination of both. These people have taken a vacation to the moon to help work on the project. As soon as it had a stable launchpad and moonstation, they could have landed there directly.”

“I did find three people working at our moonstation who are involved,” Geodor said, handing him three paper files and a memory stick. “Unfortunately, time ran out before I could do much more than scratch the surface of what was going on. I estimate they have been working on this for over a year.”

“The biggest question is why?” Anorraq mused aloud.

“I have nothing solid, but I am pretty certain they need minerals.”

“But Thelxinoe V-1398 doesn’t have any resources. We already determined long ago that mining any of our moons would be useless—hence the reason they were allowed to become tourist attractions.”

“The moonstation isn’t set up for mining. It’s an outpost. A place to gather troops before an invasion.”

“You think they would dare to attack our planet directly?”

Geodor nodded. “Everything I uncovered points to that conclusion.”

“I will let Emperor Grangschmidt know at once. Unfortunately, we can’t inform the Sultan of Upsilon Andromedae and the Galactic Congress until we have additional, solid proof.”

“There is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you.”

“Go ahead.”

“When a person dies, I believe it is important to have a family, to carry on for them.”

“Really, Geodor? I didn’t expect you were the type of person to harass me about not being married.”

“I wasn’t talking about you. I want to find a wife. Almost dying up there made me realize that I have no one to take care of my sister if something happens to me.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier to find a husband for her? Your lifestyle and positions are not exactly conducive to being entangled with someone.”

“Like you, I have my own ideals. Although I may end up in an arranged marriage of convenience, I would never force my sister into one!”

“Point taken. Find the girl and let us run the checks on her before you propose. The last thing we need is a fortune hunter getting ahold of you. It would be very challenging to keep all your secrets from your wife—even if it were only a marriage of convenience.”

With that, both men parted—each deep in thought about the problems before him.

The full ebook is available HERE or check back tomorrow for the next chapter.

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