Chapter 206 - Asylum (2/2)
”Anyway. I don't care about your experience in spy work. Tell me how you are still alive and why you wanted to meet me?” asked Balthazar.
”Yes. Yes. I need your help. You are the only one I could come to,” said Khalid.
”Clearly not the answer to my question and I don't have much time. If you are expecting anything from me, you better make yourself useful and answer my questions quickly,” said Balthazar.
”I will. I will. I trained along with lieutenant colonel when we were young. We came from the same batch. I was very good at software and my previous job was quality testing during which I had decent knowledge about updating software of various systems deployed by the military. I was also known to be a gambled and was under debt to some unsavory forces. So, she contacted me and told me that she could get rid of all my debt and provide me a fortune if I helped her sabotage the defenses systems of the citadel,” explained Khalid.
”So, you were the one who actually caused the issue with the systems in the citadel?” asked Balthazar angrily. He had suffered a lot in his past life due to the incident at the citadel and he hated all who were responsible for it. Even though, he managed to keep the citadel from falling the second time, he still had the memories of his past life and bore a lot of hatred towards the ones responsible. He wanted revenge and felt that he lost the chance to avenge himself personally after the explosion killed Jane as she was the only one whom he could ask for answers. His rage was clearly visible in his eyes and even the tone of his voice changed as he heard Khalid. This put Khalid on the guard and even Glen was a bit surprised that his cousin would take the matter that seriously.
”Yes. I was under duress. I didn't want to do it, but I was forced by using my family. They had pictures of them and threatened me. I had to help them,” said Khalid in fear as he saw the expression on Balthazar's face. ”I did as they bid, but I didn't take any money either. I didn't want anything linking me to them. I had no contact with any of them.”
”Still haven't answered my two questions. I suggest you start with how you managed to escape,” continued Balthazar in an angry tone.
”That was easy. I have also put a back way to determine the true information sensed by the defense systems. It concerns the safety of the citadel and I was at the same place as you. So, I needed to be able to make a retreat if necessary. It would provide me with notifications if anything dangerous happens. When you announced a state of alert, it was very surprising, and I was sure that someone managed to set the systems right. I was sure that soon the traitors would be routed out if you managed to find out about the hack in the defense systems. So, I decided to escape,” said Khalid.
”You were seen near the ship that exploded. You were noted to be present. Else, they wouldn't have marked you as dead and would probably marked as a deserter,” said Balthazar. ”High chance that you would still be marked as one.”
”Of course, I went to the hangar. I wanted to escape and disappear. The ones who threatened me would also try to silence me after the incident. I expected the pirates to attack us at the hanger, though didn't expect it to be a suicidal one. I went in and then walked away from the hanger along with a few volunteers under the excuse that I would train them,” said Khalid.
”So, you were a deserter,” said Balthazar.
”No, I just put my distance from the hangar as I didn't want to die. I was just being careful. I didn't leave the citadel. I didn't want anything to do with Jane after it was clear that her plan failed. We all knew we were liabilities and were on guard, but I bet no expected the explosion,” said Khalid. ”After the explosion, I realized the extremes these people were willing to go, just to keep their name clean. So, I feinted my death. I just ran away from the citadel but realized that I was considered dead due to the explosion and as I didn't give my name to the volunteers, no one suspected anything.”
”So, you got lucky. That is your reason for your escape?” asked Balthazar not knowing what to make of it. He had expected quite a lot from him as he managed to evade both the knights of the old republic and the border forces. Knowing that it just happened due to a bit of prudence and him being away from the hangar was just disappointing to him.
”Why did you want to meet me, then?”
”Because you were the one who escaped even after the explosion. Cause you were the one who managed to capture them by updating the defense systems after you have identified the issue which was supposedly impossible to identify,” said Khalid in an excited tone ”Please, tell me how you managed to do that so that I wouldn't make such a mistake again.”
”That was just luck. You can modify the defense systems to not report any foreign sh.i.p.s that are close to the moon but can't actually prevent them from being noticed by other devices and personnel. A trusted subordinate had informed me of a private vessel and that is the only reason, I followed up,” said Balthazar.
”Hearing what I told, it looks like I have just been lucky. Just as luck as Khalid or probably much luckier. Without my knowledge of my past life that is the only way it would appear to others. Or they would think that I am purposefully not revealing something,” thought Balthazar as laughed inside at the ridiculous circ.u.mstance he was in.
”Seriously?” asked Khalid unwilling to accept a reason so ridiculous.
”I assure you one thing. It has got nothing to do with any issues in your work. I only realized the problems in the defense systems due to its effects. I could only realize it because the ones who asked you to do it were foolish enough to not think thoroughly about their request. Their plan had too many flaws to begin with,” said Balthazar. Though most of the things he just told were true, the words he used gave the impression that the reason he managed to save the citadel was something within his control, but he is unwilling to inform anyone about it.
”So, it wasn't my mistake,” said Khalid. ”Still, they wouldn't let me be. So, I came to you to request asylum.”
COMMENT 0 comment VOTE Load failed, please RETRY Privileged
More Privileged Chapters
Download the app and become a privileged reader today! Come take a sneak peek at our author's stockpiled chapters! Download Table of Contents Display Options
Background default yellow dark
Font Nunito Sans Merriweather
Size
Paragraph comments Chapter comments Write thought login liked newest Author:
© 0){ Chapter :
Author: Machine Translation
Editor: