The Prince of Darkness

Chapter 8: Exploration

I sigh, then go back into the ducts. I crawl around looking for an infirmary fo something to heal my burns. I come onto a meeting between Lincoln and probably one of his high ranking officials.

"Is the course set?" Lincoln asks.

"Yes sir', but the course makes no sense. It is all over the place, and there's no important destination." The man says.

"The course is made, so our pilots can get to the actual destination they need, but it's also so this ship is always moving, so the Resistance can't find her." Lincoln says.

"Sir' are the Resistance actually going to come for one girl?" The guy asks.

"For her yes. She is a powerful crystal-user." Lincoln says.

The man made a face.

"Don't underestimate her. She is powerful. I was in the interrogation room with her, and I felt it." Lincoln says.

"How do you know she won't do anything to fight us?" The man asks.

"Oh she definitely will. In fact, you should expect it. The thing is that I can keep an eye her. I had a dream and we interacted, and I know we have a crystal bond now, so if I need to check on her I can." Lincoln says.

The man nodded, but his face showed that he was very confused.

"Yes sir'." The man says.

The man leaves the room, and I watch as Lincoln stalks somewhere else. I was going to follow him, but then the pain in my wrists, and ankles flared up, and I was reminded that I needed to find something to heal them, and if not heal them, at least soothe them. I groan, and then continue crawling through the ducts, and looking through the vents. I eventually found what I was looking for. I looked around, and didn't see anyone in the room, so I dropped down into the room.

Luckily I had my crystal, because it protected me for the most part, even though I still got burned. It wasn't incredibly bad though. I run my wrists under cool water, while I stuck my feet in buckets of cool water filled to reach my ankles. When the pain subsided I wrapped my wrists and ankles in clean clothes, and I tied them in place, gently. I rummaged through the cupboards looking for something for the pain.

When I found some I took a few pills, then guzzled water, then stored the pills in my pockets of my wrap. I heard the door start opening I quickly jumped up, then climbed back into the vents. In the vents I started crawling around again. Now when I looked through vents I actually take time to look around the room, and gather intel. I manage to see some of the weapons they were building, and other new gadgets.

I also take notice of some new ships that were absolutely stunning, and I knew Olivia would love to fly. I look around, and see a door towards the back, and near a corner. I study the ducts on how to get there. When I have it remembered I follow my memory. When I come to a stop I look through the vent, and what I see astounds me.

I was looking at basically a throne room. The throne room was a very imposing red. Almost everything was a blood red color. There were touches of gold though. The room had one chair, and it was on raised platform. There was nothing else in the room, except guards, and two figures.

I knew the one kneeling was Lincoln. The one on the throne was actually a hologram, and I figured that Lincoln was talking to Marth. Marth had hologramed himself imposingly huge, and I also noticed his guards were also holograms. What kind of person holograms himself imposingly huge, and along with his guards. Someone who wanted to show who had the power in the room, and someone who had a really big ego.

I could see they were talking about something, but I couldn't hear what they were talking about. The ducts went all the way around the room. I decided to quietly make my way around them to find a place where I could hear them. The quiet part was going to be hard. I had a bottle of pills in my wrap, and ducts weren't the best stealth mode option.

I hoped my crystal would help me, even though I wasn't sure if that was one of the things crystals could do, even though I was pretty sure it wasn't. I sighed, then started creeping around towards where they were talking. I could see a vent that was right over the throne. I bit my lip wanting to know if I should risk it. I figured I could.

When I was behind the vent I made sure I was to the left of it, so I couldn't be seen, but I could hear. I could hear them speaking, even though I had to listen hard.