Chapter 29 - A death in the family (1/2)

”Wait. Wait. I have to stay here too?” asked Balthazar. Staying there with Bolena was definitely not a part of his plan.

”Of course, you do. You are in the same situation as your sister and Robert. Albert will be providing security and anything else you need. We will inform you of the updates as soon as there are any,” said Winston.

”I have to work. I can't wait here til god knows when. Bel and Albert are going to be by my side all day long. Do we really need to stay in this bunker till Max is captured?” asked Bolena.

”Yes, at least till we are sure that there would be no more attempts on your life. Definitely for a week or so. Till we make a definitive plan and improve upon the security available at your workspace,” said Arthur trying to assuage her.

”You said Elaine is tracking him on an armed vessel, right? If you have their location couldn't you just blow their shuttle to kingdom come and be done with it?” asked Balthazar.

”Given all the ridiculous things that Max had done, it was suggested to by me to shoot him to death, but Walter insisted that it is in the best interest for all of us to capture him alive. And the fact that he tried desperately to escape us and the amount of support he was provided by his mystery helpers had the council convinced with Walter's decision. He personally followed behind Elaine along with his team,” said Arthur.

”That makes sense. How is Robert by the way?” asked Balthazar. He was both concerned for Robert and wondered Walter's state of mind is, that he followed after Max himself. Max was Walter's only remaining biological son, but he seemed to be intent on capturing him and interrogating him by what Arthur just told.

”Robert had his arm cut off by Max in his attempt to kill him. If Elaine hadn't reached in time, Robert would have lost his head too. Walter went bonkers again. He almost strangled Silas awake in anger that he managed to get himself fooled by Max,” replied Arthur.

”Robert had his arm cut off?!”

”Also got a deep gash on his neck, Max just missed lopping off his head. He is in surgery right now, but it is expected that we could attach his arm back and would be back to perfect health in a couple of days.”

”Anyways, please continue to stay in the bunker till we give the say so. Bolena you can work from the bunker itself. No direct meetings only virtual ones,” said Winston as he cut off the call.

”Sorry, I have to keep you here and I suggest you be cooperative,” said Albert. Thus, they were stuck in a room with no one but each other. Albert occasionally went out and got a chance to meet with other, but Balthazar and Bolena got bored by the day.

The night they began their time in lock down, they came to know that Robert was successfully out of surgery and his consciousness returned. Both Bolena and Balthazar talked to Robert to make sure that he was all right.

The next day onwards, it was only the two of them with occasional appearance of Harry or Albert. Bolena spent all her time on the computer they got into the bunker and lead the experiments on the nano-technological bots which are to be used to transfer data from human body to warframes, through internet.

Bolena had a lot of work and spent her time doing it, but Balthazar was just bored. By afternoon of the next day, he had requested Albert to get a somnium V.R. technology helmet. He spent most of the day creating an arena framework, so that he could start practicing his weapon and also fight against Robert.

Once that was done, he spent his entire time in the arena practicing his weapon or fighting with Robert. Soon, even his regular class with Salazar was also continued in the same arena.

This period of them in the bunker endured for a total time of one week till they finally got a call from Arthur regarding Max's escape.

”Max managed to escape. Elaine almost caught up to him but some pirate vessel showed up to assist him. Elaine's ship was blasted to pieces, but they managed to get into a escape pod and landed stealthily on a nearby planet. Walter's ship which was following them managed to get a hold of their position and pulled Elaine and her team onto their ship,” said Arthur as soon as the call connected.

”So, what does that imply for us?” asked Balthazar depressed. He knew that it implied continued isolation for him but asked anyway to be sure.

”We are going to announce tomorrow morning that Max has been disowned by us for commercial espionage, escaped from us and announce a reward for him. Walter insists that we would rather have him dead than him escape. Yassin is also announcing an award for him, but only if he is alive.”

”Walter is still pursuing him?” asked Balthazar.

”Yes, I don't think he would let him off after he tried to kill Robert,” replied Arthur.

”So, my suffering continues?” asked Bolena in a sad and frustrated manner.

”I'm sorry. But we did manage to improve the security at Apropos, by a lot. The Patriarch had Bruce Kane to revise the entire security setup. You probably would be able to resume back to your usual life in a couple of days,” said Arthur trying to calm her.

”Well that is something I could look forward to,” said Bolena as she turned towards her computer and continued with her work.

”When can I return?” asked Balthazar. He realized that if Max isn't caught then he probably wouldn't be allowed to return back to Asklepian anytime soon. They would probably just suggest him to stay here with his sister for the remaining duration of his medical leave.

”Just, stay with your sister, Balthazar,” said Arthur like he had expected. ”We might make arrangements to transport you back to Asklepian in a day or two.”

”That's better than I expected,” said Balthazar pleasantly surprised.

”Yeah, you can also stay there with your sister which I suggest.”

”No, I like the other idea better.”

”That's what the Patriarch thought. We will see according to the situation.”

”OK. Hope you call me with some good news the next time.”