Coming to Assalin was a risky move. It was one he’d planned to make, eventually, though under different circumstances and at a much later time. But the alien invasion had caught him by surprise and derailed all his carefully devised plans. Well, perhaps not derailed, not if he could speed things up. To do so, however, he needed more information. Right now, he felt too much like a blind man trying to navigate in a brightly lit room. That was not a feeling he enjoyed. He needed to be in control—and control required knowledge.

It was a risky move, yes, but Zax was no stranger to risk. How could one gain power without risk? It was part of the game—a game he was very good at playing.

And so here he was, marching resolutely across the hanging walkways of Assalin, thousands of feet above the ground. This was one risk he had to take, because this was the only place where he could find the answers he sought.

His step slowed—in stark contrast with the beat of his heart—as he came within sight of the Palace. It had been so long since he’d seen it—really seen it, with his own eyes, rather than on the holonews.

This is way too early, he swore to himself.

Ignoring his feelings, he quickened his pace as he took deep breaths to calm his nerves. The black marble walls quickly loomed high above him.

It’ll be fine. I’m only going downstairs, after all. And no one will know who I am.

His scrambler was still active. Some of the security checks would pick up on it, but by the time they did he’d be long gone. More concerning was the SSO’s office. He knew from experience that his device would be disabled as soon as he stepped in. There were a few rooms like that throughout the Palace. Not as many as one might think, as the technology to pull it off was both extremely complex and extremely expensive. There likely were more of them now, but not in the halls he would walk—it would be a waste of resources.

As soon as he entered the building, he headed for the elevators, ignoring the reception desk in the lobby. Millions of nanocameras were now filming his every move, so he needed to be quick. Besides, he knew the way... assuming they hadn’t changed anything since the last time he was here.

Most people who visit the Palace go up, not down. The jewels and diamonds that covered the walls and railings disappeared as soon as he stepped into the underground hall. Everything was simpler here, stripped down to the bare minimum. Smoothed out rock with metal plates, and open corridors with very few doors. In these parts, the doors were oddly made of wood; but he knew the more secure rooms, deeper in the compound, were made of alundil.

It took him five minutes to reach the vestibule. As expected, guards were posted here. He counted four. They’d heard his footsteps as they all stood at the ready, facing toward him, gripping their phasers. Security in the Palace was no joke—he was glad to see this, at least, had not changed.

“I need to see Dame Khorah,” he said as he reached the men.

One of them was looking at a device in his hand. He frowned.

“Why are you scrambling your appearance?” he asked.

Damn it! They would not have noticed so quickly before.

“I am on a confidential mission from the Emperor. My identity is to be known only by him and the Secrets Senior Officer.”

“Convenient,” grunted one of the other guards.

“How do we know you’re not just making that up?” asked another.

Zax dug into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It was a small black thing made from the same material as the walls above. On it were engraved the Imperial Wreath and a couple of words around it.

The guards stared at it for a moment, then looked at each other.

“Is that what I think it is?”

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“Yeah,” whispered the one with the device.

“I thought—”

“Doesn’t matter what you think. Or any of us, for that matter. Better let the man in.”

All four fell quiet as they stepped aside. One tapped a code on a floating holographic keypad, and the metallic door slid open.

Without a word, Zax stepped in.

He slowly looked around as the door closed behind him.

The room was large, with plain white walls and a bunch of cushions on the floor. In the center was a chair, but no desk. On the chair sat a woman with long silvery hair and green eyes. Her hands slid across the air, wiping text off as she read.

Evashi Khorah was the Imperium’s Secrets Senior Officer. If anyone knew anything about the Drill, it would be her.

He cleared his throat.

“Dame Khorah. My name is—”

“Zax Iden,” she cut him off without even a glance in his direction. “Your information popped up as soon as you stepped through my door. Since you did not have the decency to announce your visit, I am taking the time now to read up on you. A small price to pay for your rudeness, senator.”

So his scrambler was disabled, as expected.

At least, there were no cameras—not here where secrets were supposed to remain secrets.

“Pardon the intrusion, Dame, but I have questions of vital importance that require the utmost secrecy. Considering your position, I am sure you can understand. But, before we start, allow me to show you something.”

He moved closer to the woman, holding out the ring.

“You know what this is?”

She stared at it for a moment, then nodded. “It means you have the Emperor’s ear and trust.” She glanced up. “I wasn’t aware anyone had one of these. I mean, aside from—”

Zax clicked his tongue as he shoved the precious item back into his pocket.

“Please don’t waste my time with small talk. I need to know everything you know about the Gandoran Drill.”

The woman blinked. “How do you know about that?”

He quirked a brow. “Do I need to show you the ring again?”

“Ah. Of course.” She sighed. “What would you like to know?”

“Everything. Start at the beginning.”

“The artifact was discovered on a small rimworld colony over a century ago. It is egg-shaped, made of unknown material, and was found floating above a pit in a small rock chamber. We still do not understand how it got there. The SSO of the time was sent to investigate and to find a way to bring it back to Assalin—”

“You have it here?”

“Not exactly. I mean, we did for a while, but it quickly became apparent the artifact was disrupting the weather. Before it could do any significant damage, it was moved again, this time to a secret asteroid base with no weather to disrupt.”

“That was smart. What have you learned from it since?”

The woman shifted in her chair and wiped away what little data still floated before her.

“It feeds on thilium energy.”

“Excuse me?”

“Any energy, really. You can throw anything and everything at it, it will just absorb it as if you’d just tapped it gently on the side. We still don’t understand how it does it, but that’s what it does. We were also able to open it. From what we discovered inside, we can guess it was some sort of transportation device. There is a dashboard with controls we do not yet understand, though we assume they could be used to move the ship and alter the weather.”

Zax crossed his arms, pondering.

“You are considering using this as a weapon, aren’t you?”

“Of course. If we can master the technology, we could create earthquakes or hurricanes at the press of a button.”

“How does one get to this asteroid base?”

She pointed at the wall behind her.

“There is a secret gateway in the back that will take you there and nowhere else.”

“Is this the only point of access?”

“No, we have two more—one at the IAS on Bernice, the other on Sinturi.”

There weren’t many scientists left in the Imperium, and those it still had—at least the official ones—were all headquartered at the IAS. The gateway on Sinturi also made sense, as that world served as military headquarters, and you would want maximum protection for such a powerful artifact.

Zax looked at the SSO as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Thank you, Dame Khorah. Now, there is just one more thing we need to discuss.”

“Yes?”

“You can’t tell anyone about this.”

“Of course.”

He took a few steps closer, locking eyes with the woman. “And when I say no one, I really mean no one.”

“Well, yes,” she muttered. “I’ll have to make a report, but I can leave the details out. I—”

“No.”

“What?”

“You don’t understand.” He smiled sweetly at her as he brought his right hand out, holding a small cylindrical object which he slammed against the woman’s neck. “Nothing personal, but I can’t risk word getting out. I’ve worked too hard to have everything ripped apart by some zealous government agent.”

The woman’s eyes widened as realization hit her. She tried to speak, or move, but it was too late. The cold metal against her skin had injected billions of microscopic nanobots into her bloodstream, and they affected her nervous system even as they drained her.

Her skin went white as her body was pumped of all its blood, then the bots retreated into the metallic device.

Zax pulled it off the neck and Evashi Khorah slumped to the floor.

He turned and walked toward the wall she had pointed at. It did not take long to find the control pad. The surface slid to the side as he pressed against the cold panel, revealing the gateway.

Because it was designed to only handle one destination, the usual dashboard was replaced with a single button.

He pressed it.

The dark frame shimmered as it connected, lights swirling within.

Zax stepped through as the wall behind him quietly slid back into place.