Renegade

Renegade Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The V.I.P lounge of Alice's Kingdom was different from the floor below. It was mostly black leather seats around short black tables. A few larger couches that were also made of black leather circled a wall that was made of one way glass to let whoever was in the lounge above look upon the dancers below, but the people below couldn't look up. Another wall that looked out on the street was made of the same type of glass.

Adi Balan, an Indian man of average height dressed in a fine white suit, was reclining on one of these couches when his wife showed Aria, Dacia, and the guards in.

"Welcome, welcome Dacia," he said enthusiastically, hugging her gently. Then he turned to Aria. "And the Crown Princess! Such an honor to meet you in person." Adi, his wife, and all the others in the room, besides Caleb, James, and Dacia, bowed when Adi said Aria's name.

"You don't have to do that," Aria said shyly.

"Please, sit down," Adi gestured to the couch across from him. "I am Adi Balan, your cousin Dacia's boss."

Aria settled on the couch opposite of the man. Caleb, James, and Dacia all sat around her.

The woman from before brought over a tray of nuts and fruit and sat down next to Adi. He introduced her saying, "This is my wife, Theresa."

"Hello," Aria replied. She gestured to the guards on either side of her. "These are two members of my personal guard, Caleb and James."

The two guards nodded their heads politely.

Adi started to speak again. "Now that we have all the small talk and introductions out of the way, let's get started on why we are all gathered here. Princess Aria, I assume Dacia has told you the basics of our situation?"

"She told me that you have information about where Rex is."

"Yes, I do. But did she tell you about the rest of the situation?"

"I don't know what else you're talking about."

Adi looked at Dacia. "You didn't tell her?" he asked.

"I didn't want to freak her out anymore than she already was," Dacia declared.

"What is going on here?" James broke in.

Adi breathed in and said, "The Rex situation is more complicated than we expected. Recently, I got intelligence that confirmed the existence of R'Nari concentration camps built in various systems. Rex is on Hallion, the largest of these camps."

Horror flooded through Aria. Of course she had heard rumors about these camps, who hadn't, but no one really thought they could exist. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Is Rex still alive?" she choked out, barely able to hold back tears. "Is there any hope?"

"Yes, princess. There is," Adi said, comforting her. "But one does not simply fly a spaceship into R'Nari territory."

Dacia clarified her boss's statement. "That's why we got you the projector for your birthday. The map can also be hooked up to compatible ships and used a navigation system. Luckily, the Guiding Star is one such ship, so that is one hurdle out of the way."

Adi nodded to his wife and said something in Hindi. Theresa stood up and left to get something. One of the things Aria had learned at the Imperial Academy was various languages, but Hindi was not one of them.

The small woman returned shortly with a computer chip on a lanyard. She spoke softly, the first time since they had been in that room. "None of us wish to see our princess hurting. This chip contains a map upgrade for the projector with all of the known R'Nari worlds, including Hallion."

Quickly she put the lanyard around Aria's neck and sat back down. Dacia moved next to Aria, forcing Caleb to move over and put an arm around her cousin.

"Everything will turn out fine, Aria," she said gently.

Lifting her head up, Aria muttered, "I thank you all for your help, but I need to go home now," and left the room, Caleb and James following close behind her.

***

"Aria, please. Talk to me," Dacia called out, while knocking on the door in front of her.

Right after Aria left Alice's Kingdom, Dacia had quickly but politely finished the conversation with her boss, and then left herself. Adi was very understanding of the situation. Now she was standing outside of the captain's cabin on the Guiding Star, begging her cousin to come out and talk, instead of staying in her room by herself.

"Go away, Dacia. I don't want to come out. Not right now," Aria replied. Her voice sounded hoarse from crying, which she had been doing.

"Then I'll come in. I need to talk with you. Plus Caleb and James are getting worried you might hurt yourself."

"Fine."

The sliding metal door opened to reveal Aria sprawled out on the bed, still in her outfit from the club. She rolled over and made room for her cousin on the bed.

Dacia didn't sit down. Instead she stood next to where her cousin was lying down. "First things first. Go take a shower," she said, "Get yourself clean."

"But I thought you wanted to talk," Aria argued.

"Then I will sit in the bathroom while you shower and we can talk then!" declared Dacia.

At this, Aria got up off the bed and walked to the private bathroom that was included with the cabin. Dacia gave her time to get undressed and in the shower. After that she followed her cousin into the small, adjacent bathroom and leaned on one of the walls.

"Good Lord, she's serious," Aria muttered.

"We are family, little cousin. And as such we should each other out when another family member is in trouble. Now, something else besides the obvious is bothering you," she said. "What is wrong?"

"Dacia, do you know what relations are like with the R'Nari now? It would be suicide to fly this thing straight into R'Nari territory."

"Is that all that is bothering you?"

Aria finished her shower and turned off the water before answering.

"It's against the law. Going into R'Nari territory, unless sponsored by the Emperor, is illegal. I can't do it. I can't break the law."