Relieved, Kat relaxed her shoulders, but then her brother continued talking.
“But truthfully, I believe the Makaen are our best bet to get Lucas back. They have the strength, the killer instinct and the will-do-anything-for-credits mentality to get the job done. Furthermore, if we can get them to cooperate, we could leave to rescue Lucas this very day. He could be back with us within a few days, safe and sound. But in the end, it’s up to you.”
Kat hated that her brother had lulled her into a false sense of security only to spring the trap moments later. But she hated it even more that he was right. This time. They needed help, they needed it quickly and the Makaen were available. Every second Lucas was in the hands of the Zzjitzzeëns, the chance of his survival diminished. Getting Lucas back alive was the priority. For Lucas she could stand a few more days in the close proximity of Dykan. It wouldn’t kill her, would it? No, but she could get her heart broken if she let him get too close. And she wasn’t sure she would be strong enough to stop him. Still, a broken heart was a thousand times better than losing Lucas. Losing him would be forever; a broken heart could be mended eventually. For Lucas, she would do it.
Kat blew out a breath and faced Mitha. “Okay, tell me. How are we going to do this?”
Kat had listened to Mitha, and even though the details still had to be worked out, the plan actually had merit. What she was less enthusiastic about was her role in it. She didn’t like to deceive and lie to people. It wasn’t in her nature. But she would do it for Lucas. She repeated that sentence in her mind like a mantra.
“It’s best if we go to my palace to work out all the details,” Lirid proposed. “My palace has dungeons, which is perfect for our plan.”
Her brother’s palace was situated on the outskirts of the city. It was a lot smaller and older than the palace their sister lived in, but it was still impressive. It was also the only building on the planet that still had old-fashioned dungeons in the basement. In ancient days, the dungeons had been used to lock up prisoners, but nowadays there weren’t many prisoners on Cassidiri anymore—mainly drunken tourists getting arrested for causing a nuisance—and those who did get arrested were held in the cells of the high-tech office building the law enforcers occupied. A few weeks a year, Lirid opened parts of the palace to the public. Tourists could take guided tours of the dungeons with actors playing prisoners.
The first part of their plan was finding the Makaen and getting them to listen to them. That was the hard part. Kat doubted Dykan would hear them out willingly, which meant locking him and his crew up to make them listen. The dungeons would do very well for that. No one came in the dungeons when there weren’t tours scheduled, so they wouldn’t be interrupted. Furthermore, with the Makaen hidden away in her brother’s palace, her sister hopefully wouldn’t find out what she and Lirid were up to. Her sister was a stickler for the rules and regulations, and locking up visitors to their planet wasn’t exactly the warm welcome the queen wanted to promote. It also was a criminal offense. Yes, what they were going to do was illegal, very illegal. Kat wasn’t worried about the consequences for themselves should they get caught, but it would embarrass Ziri tremendously, and that was what Kat didn’t want. Her sister was a respectable person, an example to her people. She would be mortified to find out her own brother and sister were felons. Kat hated going behind her sister’s back. It made her stomach churn, but there was no way they could involve the queen of Cassidiri in their dealings.
“Is it okay if I go home first to take a quick bath and put on some clean clothes?” Mitha requested. “After almost three days in the brig, I’m not smelling so daisy-fresh anymore. And neither are you, Lirid.”
Lirid smelled himself and grimaced. “Yes, let’s bathe first, but be quick. We have no time to lose.”
Luckily, Kat had her own room in her brother’s castle for when she stayed over. She also had clothes there, so she didn’t need to go to her own small apartment in the city. Arriving at the palace, Lirid told her to come to his office when she was ready. There they would wait for Mitha.
After bathing, Kat made tea to calm her nerves and walked into her brother’s office. Lirid was sitting behind his desk, bathed and smelling much better, his eyes flickering with anticipation. Kat knew that look all too well.
“Okay, what have you done?” Kat asked nervously, putting her tea on a side table and sitting down in the chair on the other side of the desk.
“I’ve sent out my personal palace overseer, Astir, and three of his men he trusts to keep their mouths shut,” Lirid replied. “They’re searching for the Makaen. I told them to arrest them on sight.”
Kat exploded. “Damn it, Lirid! You were supposed to wait until Mitha and I were back before you did something. We need to think carefully about every move we make, not act on emotion. We don’t want to make mistakes. And we can’t just involve others. What if our sister finds out?”
Lirid shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t want to wait. And we’ve already determined that we need to capture the Makaen. I don’t see what the problem is. The sooner we have the Makaen, the better. Astir will find them and bring them here. That’s all he has to do. Well, that and keep his mouth shut about it and don’t ask questions. We can trust him.”
Lirid could be so arrogant sometimes. He thought he always knew better, and if things went south, others had to clean up the mess for him. This was another brilliant example. Lirid had thought it to be wise to send overseers to capture the Makaen. He just didn’t think about the consequences of his actions.
Kat sighed. “The palace overseers aren’t warriors. They only have experience with handling drunken tourists trying to pee against the palace walls.”
Lirid nodded. “I know that, but they are men with authority. They can handle this.” He leaned back in his chair, his fingertips touching.
When her brother remained quiet, Kat lifted a finger up in the air.
“Just an observation.”
“What?” her brother asked.
“Remember the enormous scary-looking green aliens on Blackway space station?”
Wincing, Lirid nodded. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget them. They were ugly.”
“Yeah, they were, but that’s not the point.”
“Then what is?” Lirid asked impatiently.
“Only two Makaen”—Kat put up two fingers to emphasize the number—“were able to beat half a dozen of those mean bastards to a pulp. With ease. They didn’t even break a sweat. And you want to capture six Makaen, natural-born warriors as you called them, by sending in four men who never fought a real battle in their entire lives.”
Lirid looked confused. “What are you saying?”
Kat sighed again and pinched the bridge of her noise. Sometimes her brother could be such a doofus. An arrogant doofus.
“Let me put it this way: do you want me to write the apology note to Astir’s widow for getting her husband killed now, or do you want me to wait until the Makaen have broken every bone in his body, including his neck?”
Lirid gave her a blank stare.
Kat waited for the lightbulb to go on in her brother’s brain. “I can do a presentation with sock puppets, if you prefer.”