History of the Galaxy II

[sachmo]

The sudden and quite unexpected appearance of a thin shaft of light burned into Bill Langley's skull like a laser bLast. He put his hands up in front of his face to try to fend the beam off.

"Chief Langley? Is that you, Bill?"

For a few moments, the words did not register. Suddenly, Langley realized that the person was talking to him. His throat cracked from disuse, but he was able to croak out a few words.

"I'm Langley..."

Suddenly, the shaft of light grew wider as the door was opened. Two large figures moved into the room. Each man laid one of his arms over his shoulder and began to drag him from the room.
Langley let his head fall to his chest. So it was to be another questioning session, then? They know everything now. What more could they possibly get from him?
They carried him outside of the room. The light still burned, but now it was more like a flamethrower to the skull. His eyes teared up, but he tried to look around and gather what information he could. Something seemed out of the ordinary. He could hear people talking all around him, but he could not make out what they were saying.
Suddenly a cup of cool water was thrust against his lips. He gulped as much as he could, but it was quickly pulled away.

"Careful, Bill. You'll make yourself sick. Take small sips."

He turned his head to face the blurry shape as his mind tried to process the voice speaking to him. He had been through so much these past...days? Months? He could no longer tell.

"We're taking you out of here, Bill. I know you've been out of contact for a...time, but the movement is underway."

Langley's head snapped up.
"Ambrose. That is you, isn't it?"

A chuckle came from the blurry man.

"I know this must come as a shock, Bill. I'll explain everything to you, but I want you to know that I'm on your side. We are moving against Chairman Hartnell, and thanks to the work you did we've been able to achieve almost total surprise. The Chairman has escaped with a small fleet, but we will bring him to justice."

Now Langley began to chuckle.
"Really? You are moving against the Chairman? Tell me, if you were so keen on the idea, why did you have me arrested? Why did you have all of those people killed? We were moving against him and YOU BETRAYED US!! Why toy with me like this? Just throw me back in the hole and be done with it. I don't know anything else."

Silence fell over the room. The murmuring voices stopped, and the shapes froze in place. Langley knew he was defeated. He had known it from the moment his own security forces took him into custody. He just wanted it to be over.

After a time, Ambrose spoke again.

"Bill, there are many things about the movement that even you did not know. As you are now very aware, Chairman Hartnell was a very suspicious, distrustful man. He knew every move you were about to make. He was going to let you continue plotting before bringing you in so that he could find out the loyalties of everyone involved. When you came to me, it was about to come to a head. He was getting nervous about the support you were gaining, and so he was about to have you all killed. I moved first, and in doing so saved your life, and more importantly, the life of the movement. It won't bring back the lives of those lost, nor the citizens on Foothold and other worlds lost in this war, but with the Chairman on the run, maybe we can stop this war before we all die."

Langley didn't know what to believe, but he knew that he didn't have many options. If Ambrose was staging all of this to torture him, then it would all be for naught. Langley had nothing left to offer. All that remained for him was revenge, and he knew Ambrose would be prepared for that. He didn't know the truth, but for now he would assume that what Ambrose said was true. If it wasn't...well, that really didn't matter.

"What do you want me to do?" Langley asked.

"Do what comes naturally, Bill. Save the Corporation and help us bring Hartnell to justice. Without him, the Tyreans won't accept peace. Then, help us end the war. After that, I'll bet you can do pretty much whatever you want."

Langley rubbed his eyes, and was able to make out the face of the former Chairman's assistant.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do."

[ May 30, 2003, 22:46: Message edited by: sachmo ]