Prelude to The Return
Ted looked at the floor as he walked briskly down the hallway. The loud clack of his boots echoed down the corridor around him as each step made contact with the cold granite surface. He stared at the divided slabs in the floor as he passed them, watching as his foot stepped on, or over the seams in the floor. Though he looked on as he walked, his thoughts were focused elsewhere. He was thinking about the assembly of delegates he was sent to meet this morning. Even though the mistakes that had been made at the conveyance were not his own, he knew the Commonwealth would be looking for a scapegoat. He was not too worried…he still had friends within the delegates. After all, it wasn’t his idea to put the conveyance in the Alamo district in the first place; let alone having its defenses so poorly equipped and under-manned. Had it not been for he and his men, the damages would have been much worse. His men succeeded in reprogramming the fourth dimension warp to a series of daisy chain drop zones. Ted grinned momentarily as he pictured the expressions on the faces of the House commanders when they learned of the time warp progression. From the reports he had received, the Houses had not done too much damage…nothing he couldn’t handle anyway. There was rumor that Apollo had obtained technology from the Ecology Wars era. He had studied the histories, and he was aware of the robots from that time. He knew the capabilities and the weaknesses of such machines, and therefore he could plan accordingly. What concerned him more was the unknown. The Guardian’s Code group was something that troubled him deeply. Since finding out about the rebel group, he had as of yet been unable to infiltrate them. From what his sources had told him, the Commonwealth was just as concerned, if not more so than he. He could only do so much to prepare for and defend against such an enemy. Therefore, he advised the council to find and protect any and all known artifacts that may have survived time. The Guardians of the Code would know the existence of such artifacts and they would be able to guide the Houses in discovering their locations. If the Guardians of the Code helped the Houses find the artifacts, it could mean the end of the Commonwealth. He knew it…the Commonwealth knew it…and worse, the Houses knew it. He believed that is why he had been summoned here today. At last, he reached the door to the audience chamber.
He stood silently in front of the door, assembling his thoughts. The delegates, lower House officers, the High Chancellor and possibly the Oracle were all waiting within. They would have questions for him and they would have demands of he and his men. No matter, he had been around the block a time or two before…he would have answers and assurances that would make them feel more at ease. As he raised his hand to knock, the door opened, revealing a pair of Witnesses that were floating quietly just inside the doorway. Most men probably would have wet themselves. Or, at the very least been extremely startled by the appearance of the two Witnesses. Ted was not most men, he was unshakeable as he stood perfectly still, regarding the pair with mild contempt. He knew, that if need be, he could dispatch these two with very little effort. These Witnesses might have had minor modifications; still, his personal best was single handedly defeating seven Witnesses in the Combat Training Simulator Modules. One of the black globes ran an iridescent red eye over his body, scanning for data. A moment later, an electrosonic voice emitted from one of the dark spheres “Please enter Commander…we have been expecting you.” “Indeed…” Ted bowed with a slight flourish as the two Witnesses hovered aside to permit his entrance.
