Athena’s office

Early morning day of the wedding

“One agent says he might have seen our new boss in the Emporium. That’s all I could find out just yet. But I will continue to look and start concentrating on the Emporium. But you know how it is these days with the invasion and sell off of the planets. So we are going to focus on what was there a few years ago. I will get back to you when I know more,” said Athena’s assistant.

Athena sat and contemplated what to do concerning her new boss. The question was if she could trust her with what the intelligence division really did. Even though it was small it had a few very well placed sources. So could she trust him with all the secrets that they held. Some of them even she didn't know about there were stores and stores of intelligence spanning thousands of years.

Even though she didn’t know what all the secrets were, she knew enough of them. That’s why it was really important for the person who knew those secrets to be trustworthy. But it was more than just being trustworthy; the person had to be smart and savvy enough to understand how to use those secrets. So was her new boss this person or would he see the secrets and fall on his face trying to use them.

But at the end she decided to wait and see about the information that she would get from her assistant and decide then about what she would tell her new boss. Till then she would continue to do the jobs which were hers to do.

As more information started coming in they started getting more hits in the Emporium mostly around the Octor system. From that they started nailing down on everything of importance that happened around there. That was when one of the analysts saw Wolf on some surveillance footage but he didn’t have the clearance to know where the footage was taken. So he told his supervisor till it reached Mary’s desk. Mary was Athena’s assistant so she had the proper clearance to view the footage and all its associated data. Once it was finished she went to Athena with the information that she had.

“So what do you have for me now? You know he is going to the wedding tonight and I would like an answer before then,” said Athena.

“If you don’t mind me asking why do you have to know before the wedding tonight. Just so I’m clear you are talking about the Patriarch's daughters wedding,”asked Mary, Athena’s assistant.

“Because I was invited to the wedding by the Patriarch a few minutes ago. Also l got the paperwork from the purchase of the company and the Patriarch owns ten percent. The invitation said that he was looking forward to discussing my multiple jobs. Which could only mean the side of my job which is intelligence. So I want to know if I should tell him he doesn’t get access to what goes on behind these doors. Of course I would say it in much nicer words. That’s why I have to know I have to decide between the Patriarch or our new boss,” said Athena.

“Ok, so let me tell you what I’ve got. You are going to like this once we found out about the Octor connection we drilled down on it. One of the analysts was going through footage that we collected from one of the missions that we were conducting for profit. In the footage he saw Wolf with Jacob and forwarded it up the chain till I got it. But you are never going to guess which mission the footage was from,” said Mary.

“But I will take a guess anyway. Since you mentioned Jacob I’m going to say the mission was the Uzbaz spy. So tell me how I did,” asked Athena?

“You got it right. If you remember, we tracked the spy to an apartment. We put the apartment under surveillance but another team moved in. Which we later confirmed was Kalnas,” said Mary.

“Maybe we should talk to the Uzbaz princess about our new boss, maybe they know something. Would you contact the princess and ask for a com meeting at her convenience,” asked Athena.

“Sure I will let you know what time she is available. Mary said as she left the office to contact the princesses' people.

Once Mary left Athena started thinking about Jacob. What was there to say about him she thought. He was great with a sword, a weapon that was said to be an extension of a person. It was thought that swords could be Imbued with power. There were people who spent their life trying to do that she knew. But that wasn’t what this reminiscing was about. This was about the cousin that she lost. She had tried to find out about what happened on the mission that her predecessor sent him on. But there were secrets that even she couldn’t know.

As always thinking about Jacob brought tears to her eyes now that he was dead. Killed when the Emporium was destroyed. Before she could really start crying about him Mary told her that the princess could speak to her now. Athena quickly composed herself and switched to the right com channel.

“Hello princess,” said Athena, bowing her head in respect.

“Hello Athena, what is it that I can do for you,” asked the princess.

“You know that favor that you owe me I’m calling it in,” said Athena

“So what is this favor you want that is worth calling in that chip that I owe you,” asked the princess.

“I saw a picture with you and two other people in it. I was wondering if you would be able to tell me anything about one of them,” asked Athena.

“Send me the picture and I will see what I can do,” said the princess. A moment later a picture appeared on her screen. “Let me guess you want to know about the one to my left. So what do you want with him,” asked the princess.

“I want any information you might be able to give me,” asked Athena.

“For that I will have to ask the Queen. Even the favor I owe you is too much for this. I will call you back when I have the queen’s answer,” said the princess before she disconnected the com signal.

The princess went straight to her mother to discuss this matter.

“Mother Athena from Magtayo shipbuilding company is asking for information about Wolf. What do you want to do about it,” asked the princess?

“Tell her what you want. I will trust you on this matter. Remember he came through for us with the ship and the Ucdaz so try not to give too much away. I would like to be able to use him again if we can. Also maybe try to see why Athena is interested in him,” said the Queen of the Uzbaz.

“Ok, I will go and take care of it and let you know what I got tomorrow morning. Have a good night,” said the princess as she stood up and bowed her head and headed out.

Athena’s office

“The princess is calling back. I'm putting her through,” said Mary through the intercom.

“Athena I spoke to my mother and she was wondering what you wanted with the person in the picture,” said thePrincess.

“How about we call him by the name that I know him by. The name I have is Wolf. Is there something you would like to add concerning his name,” asked Athena.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“No, that’s the name we know him by as well,” said The Princess.

“As to why I want to know, I should think once I called in the favor it wouldn’t matter. Of course you said you had to speak to your mother concerning this. But she obviously said you could speak to me about Wolf. So my calling in of the favor stands as a chip I’m holding so why don’t you just tell me already and stop fishing for information. We both know that that’s what you are trying to do,” said Athena.

“I’m sorry I had to try. You know how it works in this business, get as much information as you can. As for what we know about Wolf the truth is not much. What I can tell you is his companion while he attended Kalnas’s college was your cousin Jacob. He was also very close to Kalnas. Also he has bought a moon in the Octor system. He is very smart and I will end it with this. You know how mother doesn’t respect men but she has a large amount when it comes to Wolf. I wish you luck in your endeavors to come,” said the Princess.

“As I you,” said Athena as she broke the connection. Which left her some time to think about what she just learned which wasn’t much. But the one thing that stood out was that the Uzbaz Queen respected Wolf. Which said a lot considering that it was known that the Uzbaz Queen didn’t respect any men. But that left her with a problem to figure out with not enough information to go on. But she didn’t have much more time to worry about it. She had to go get ready for the wedding.

“Mary, could you tell my driver that we will be heading home in a few minutes,” said Athena.

Athena got home and went straight to bed. She had been up all night and needed her sleep to think clearly for the wedding. Once she woke up she took a shower and dried herself off and got dressed. For this wedding it would be in Athena’s right to wear the colors that matched the House she came from. But she wanted to show loyalty to the new boss of the company she worked for. So she dressed in a nice gown with the company's patch on it on one side. On the other she wore the Stone family crest. With that taken care of she headed out to her transportation to the mansion where the wedding was being held.

Wolf

After Wolf finished signing the paperwork he handed over a package to Kaltor. “I want you to give the package to Bebe tomorrow,” said Wolf as he got up and left.

Wolf went back to his room and started getting ready for the wedding but first he did a few katas. Then he took a shower and got dressed. Once he was dressed he buckled on his sword belt and headed out. Wolf ended up purchasing a sword from one of the temples that practiced the art of making swords. Wolf felt that this sword would be a good sword for this occasion so when he saw it he bought it.

Wolf decided he would walk over to enjoy the fresh air for a while. Once He needed the edge of the mansion grounds, something started bothering him. Wolf looked around and tried to figure it out but still couldn’t see what was bothering him. So he continued on and eventually got to the front gate. From there he was directed to a spot that was set up for the ceremony. As Wolf felt that he wasn’t really part of the celebration he took a seat in the back row.

Slowly the seats filled up and then the ceremony started with people walking down the aisle. Then it was the bride's turn and slowly she started walking. She had just passed Wolf when he noticed the person in front of him start reaching for something. It looked like he was going for his sword. Wolf reacted on instinct and stood up and pulled his sword and drove it though the guy in front of him.

With that started the mayhem of other people charging the bride with swords brandished. There was another person on Wolfs left moving towards the aisle. Wolf pulled his sword out of the person in front him and started moving to put his back to the bride. The person moving forward noticed that he wouldn’t be able to get to the bride unless he went through Wolf. So he started swinging towards Wolf. With that started a fight that lasted a minute. It was a good test of Wolf's skills with a sword. He was tested but eventually his opponent tripped over a chair and fell forward right onto Wolf’s sword.

Wolf, realizing that no one was coming from in front of him, turned around to see more fighting going on. So he moved that way and engaged an attacker. Once this one was done everything was under control. He saw that the fight was well in hand so Wolf quickly went back to the hotel. Careful to make sure he wasn’t followed without looking suspicious.

Athena

Athena was on the way to the mansion when she got a call.

“Mary what do you want can it wait,” asked Athena

“No, it's about the DNA test you had me run on our new boss's hair. We got some preliminary results. The results are a familiar match to your family,” said Mary

“You want to repeat that please,” said Athena with surprise in her voice.

“The results match. You know our protocol: we run such tests twice. They both matched, what do you want to do, asked Mary.

Athena wasn’t sure what she should do because as far as she knew she knew where all of the family was. To learn that she had a family member that she didn’t know about was shocking to say the least. But the question was what to do. The answer was to speak to this new family member first. So she told her driver to speed up. But she ended up in traffic and got delayed. When she did show up the only thing she saw was a mess and bodies everywhere.

Back at the mansion

The attackers were quickly identified as mercenaries based on intelligence that was previously collected. The intelligence also indicated who their main customers were. But that was a problem for another time. Now the wedding had to go on it would be inappropriate for the wedding not to go forward once the bride started walking down the aisle. So the ceremony was moved and there was a quick wedding. The meal afterwards was canceled due to previous events.

The next morning

Patriarchs briefing

“Uncle, tell me what you have found out,” asked Calnor.

“Well you already know who the mercenaries were thought to work for. It also looks like that the mercenaries are a branch of the family that shall not be named. That is what we know about the attacks. As for Wolf we aren’t sure where he is. When the team got to his hotel room it was empty of everything that belonged to him. There is no sign that he left so we won’t know what happened there but I will put some people on it,” said the head of intelligence for the Shemra Clan.

“Ok, forget about Wolf for the moment. I want you to focus on the family. They can’t just be on the moon, they have to have other places find it all. When we retaliated for the rape it was our right especially now that Rexha was getting married when we did it. Them coming after us at the wedding was uncalled for and just plain not taking what was given. We could have done more but we only took one person. They shouldn’t have come again.

“So find it all I want to know it all everything. I want to know where they keep their money. I want the whole family wiped out. Now go and get the justice that is required for this clan,” said Calnor.

“It shall be as you say nephew,” said Calnor’s uncle.

Bebe

Bebe was surprised to see that Wolf was gone the day after the wedding. But there were things that had to get done namely the company that she was going to build. With that spirit she was meeting with Kaltor one last time.

“Ok I just have a few more papers for you to sign,” said Kaltor.

After the paperwork was signed Kaltor started speaking again

“Wolf wanted me to give you something,” Kaltor said as he gave a package to Bebe. After he gave the package to Bebe he got up and left.

Bebe opened the package and looked inside there she saw a pad she pulled it out and turned it on and it started playing.

“By the time you get this I will be gone. In this pad I have left everything that I think you will need. There are a few ship designs and a design for the space station. At the end of the day you are in charge as I’m not there to disagree. So do what you think will be best.

“Also you should know that if you want to expand the business to other areas you can. But you should make sure it will benefit the space station. One thing I learned is that it’s never good to be involved with too many things at once. So choose those new businesses wisely.

“Finally, don't forget that you have a family that loves you,” with that said the pad stopped and shut off. This left a lot for Bebe to think about with the weight of the job firmly settling on her shoulders.

Ship

Wolf appeared and I knew what I must do. I had the robots bring him to the medical bay. Once he was secured I started. I tried stopping as it was causing him such pain he was screeching even though I gave him a sedative. So I started looking through what it was in my programming that was making me do these things. I didn’t even know that I had such a machine. What I found scared me to the very core. I was writing on Wolf soul. This machine was writing on Wolf's back like a tattoo but it was going to his soul. What was worse, I didn't know what I was writing. Which just meant that stuff had to get worse. They got worse by whatever was controlling me started heading for the star.

“I’m sorry I failed you master,” Ship said as it exploded.