In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,6
I leave?”
Larz smiled at him and patted his arm. “So you do want to be involved then? I hoped you would. But not so fast. This one is complicated, and we have some things to put in place first. It’s going to take time.”
“How much time and what kind of things? Where exactly is Gatifrey anyway?”
“It’s far from here, maybe halfway back toward home, and way at the edge of the Manifree Galaxy, or what the Alliance called ‘Bode’s.’ It’s a spiral galaxy, and Gatifrey itself is a relatively small planet, about the size of Earth, but with fewer land masses. Its primary one, which is an island continent called Lirricall, has long been used as a penal colony.”
“A penal colony? Like a prison?”
“Yes, set up hundreds of cycles ago by the Gatifreyans and offered as a place for other planets to exile their prisoners and separate them from their own general population by placing them in some remote location. The planets pay for their prisoners’ incarceration there. It’s actually the Gatifreyans’ main industry, in fact. There are a few other land masses as well, where some smaller cities are, and it used to be an Alliance planet during the war.”
“So they don’t like the Axis?”
“No, the Gatifreyans aren’t friendly to the Axis in any way, shape, or form, so the colony was also used to house a lot of Axis prisoners of war, alongside criminals from all over the galaxies. The entire Gatifreyan population of Lirricall works in the colony as guards, medical staff, or support personnel.”
“Okay. And they don’t like us—is that going to pose a problem?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. We’ll still need someone on the inside to coordinate the recovery. That’s where you’ll come in. You’ll have to go in as a prisoner undercover; I was thinking maybe as a disgraced Army officer who sold state secrets, or something like that. The other prisoners could make it hard for you, though.”
Kylon smiled. “I’m not afraid of any prisoners. But would my being Tygerian really present so great an obstacle?”
“It definitely would. At least with the guards, as the Gatifreyans hate us. And a lot of the prisoners will too. There are pirates, traders, and such in the prison. I need to put some people on the inside first before you arrive to act as your allies, as well as to help locate the boys and make contacts and plans. Then I’ll send you in to arrange the extraction. That will lessen the time you have to spend there.”
“Don’t we have a military base on the planet?”
“No. We have an embassy with a small military presence on Gatifrey because my father insisted on it after the war. But I’d hardly even call it an embassy, really, because every time we request permission to break ground on a larger facility, or send in more people, something invariably gets tied up in mountains of red tape. There wasn’t much the Gatifreyans could do to stop a Tygerian presence on their planet, but they’ve been throwing up obstacles every step of the way since we arrived. They hate the idea of the Axis ‘occupying’ their territory.’
“But I’ve been in touch with the new ambassador, a man named Spenkoss, after talking with the Farlian trader. The ambassador has located the boys inside the prison.” Larz shook his head. “The commandant was less than happy about complying with the ambassador’s request for records, by the way. Our man actually had to park himself in the commandant’s office and refuse to budge until they handed them over. He found two young Tygerian males listed on that roster.”
“What? What did they do to wind up in prison?”
“No idea,” Larz said, shaking his head. “But that’s where they are. Both men are charged with ‘crimes against the state.’ The charges date from about a cycle after they were brought to the planet.”
“Crimes against the state?”
“Yes. I don’t have any other details, though the ambassador is trying to get more information. He’s asked to see them, but he’s been denied that by the commandant. I’m sorry, I should say, ‘there have been delays.’ He wouldn’t dare deny it, but it really comes down to the same thing.”
“Who are these boys?”
“I don’t know for sure. The ages listed would be about right. But their names were changed when they arrived. Maybe to hide them. I confess I don’t understand the Gatifreyan culture well enough to decipher the paperwork.”
“Can’t King Davos get involved?”
“He is involved, but the commandant is