Sapien Loop 3 - Chapter 57: The Trade With a Twist

Chapter 57: The Trade With a Twist

Orcilla and Volo had just arrived back at the West Camp. The Hat Lady, with the help of Walter, had instructed the followers and the surrendered technicians to go back to their vehicles and enter combat formation. Octavius went looking for the Sentray but only found Ducky and two others.

Orcilla approached Octavius. ‘Where are the Sentray?’ she asked him in an annoyed tone.

‘They’ve gone off to stretch their legs,’ replied Octavius. ‘They’ll be back soon.’

‘We have an army breathing down our necks,’ said Orcilla as she waved her arms at him. ‘Back soon is not good enough. How about you spend less time sharing recipes with RJ and more time doing your job?’

‘You should be grateful we’re here at all,’ said Octavius in a gruff tone. ‘Our sacrifice saved you.’

‘It’s okay,’ said the Hat Lady as she looked towards the two of them. ‘Three Sentray should be enough. If we need more, I can conjure them up.’

‘I fear they might be more prepared this time,’ replied Orcilla, shaking her head. ‘We’re also missing Demadrian.’

‘We have their Emperor,’ replied the Hat Lady. ‘They might not be here to fight. If that’s the case, we’re better off if Demadrian isn’t here.’

‘Hey, RJ,’ called out Octavius as he waved to RJ, who was carrying a tray of funnel donuts. ‘I have an idea.’

Orcilla angrily sighed and walked away.

Twenty minutes later, Orcilla and Volo took to the skies above the West Camp to watch for when Cecil’s convoy would arrive. Walter and Alex were in the northern tower. Alex was watching the horizon through a pair of binoculars.

They did not have to wait long. Cecil’s convoy appeared on the horizon from the north.

‘Get ready,’ said Orcilla to the Hat Lady and Octavius.

The Hat Lady walked between the vehicles parked outside the camp. Octavius climbed onto Ducky and rode to the front of the convoy.

‘We’re here,’ said Cecil into his radio to Miro. ‘I only see one Sentray, and most of their vehicles have been stolen from us. I think we can take them.’

‘No, you negotiate as agreed,’ replied Miro firmly. ‘This could be another trap, and the Emperor’s life might be at stake.’

‘As you command, Grand Vizier,’ said Cecil.

Cecil pulled off his headset. He grabbed a megaphone and opened the hatch to his vehicle. The driver sped up his vehicle so that it would make its way to the front of the convoy.

Cecil stood up so that the top half of his body poked out of the hatch.

‘We come in peace!’ shouted Cecil into the megaphone. ‘We just want our Emperor back.’

Orcilla landed next to Octavius as she became visible. She gestured towards one of the vehicles. A technician rushed out with a megaphone and handed it to her.

‘Your Emperor is a traitor and a liar,’ shouted Orcilla into the megaphone. ‘We’re going to put him on trial and expose him for all his crimes and then sentence him accordingly.’

‘We want to make a deal,’ called out Cecil. ‘We have captured the mentor of the High Terrorist.’

‘Bring him out,’ shouted Orcilla. ‘We want to see him.’

‘Sure, if you bring out our Emperor,’ replied Cecil.

‘I’ll get him,’ said Octavius as he turned around and rode Ducky back to the camp behind them.

Octavius opened the door to the trailer where Tiberius was kept. The annoying music was still blaring out, and the lights were still flashing.

‘Damn it, have you shit yourself again?’ shouted Octavius.

‘Enjoy it,’ replied Tiberius. ‘That’s your future.’

Octavius ripped off Tiberius’ shackles. He grabbed Tiberius by the head and neck with one hand and pinched his nose with his other hand.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Orcilla and Cecil continued. The Hat Lady had now joined her.

‘We’ll make this exchange if you agree we conduct a DNA test on your Emperor,’ said Orcilla. ‘We would run this together so that no one could call foul play.’

The Hat Lady looked angrily at Orcilla. ‘What are you doing? We can’t give him up,’ she said with gritted teeth. ‘We’ve waited too long for this.’

‘I’m not going to abandon Julio,’ whispered Orcilla to the Hat Lady. ‘If we can prove he’s an imposter, they will put an end to him. It’s a win-win.’

‘Your proposal is preposterous and insulting,’ called out Cecil. ‘However, I’ll humour you, and I’ll raise it with our Grand Vizier.’

Cecil dropped back into the vehicle. He picked up the handset to his radio. ‘I have good news, Grand Vizier,’ he said to Miro. ‘The Emperor is alive; they’ve gone to get him now.’

‘That’s great,’ said Miro. ‘Are they willing to hand him over?’

‘They’ve made an absurd request,’ chuckled Cecil. ‘They want to perform a DNA test on our Emperor.’

‘If we agree, will we get him back?’ asked Miro.

‘That’s the current offer,’ said Cecil. ‘Do you want me to tell these terrorists to go to hell?’

‘Accept the offer,’ said Miro firmly. ‘The DNA test is perfect. It will end their vile lies about our Emperor.’

‘Good point, Grand Vizier,’ replied Cecil. ‘I didn’t think of it that way.’

Octavius arrived back with Tiberius. He was holding him at arm’s length because of the smell.

‘What is that stench?’ asked Orcilla.

‘He’s shit himself something awful,’ replied Octavius. ‘Look! It’s dripping out the leg of his trousers.’

The Hat Lady walked back among the vehicles in disgust.

Technicians from Cecil’s convoy carried out Julio, who was still asleep.

‘We agree,’ shouted Cecil, who once again poked his head out of the hatch of his vehicle. ‘Our technicians will conduct the test together.’

‘How did you capture him?’ shouted Orcilla. ‘What did you do to the underground city?’

‘A clever stealth operation,’ shouted Cecil. ‘Don’t worry. Your precious High Philosopher is alive and well.’

‘I think he’s lying,’ whispered Octavius to Orcilla.

‘I’m sure he is,’ replied Orcilla. ‘We still need to get Julio back. I rather not push this issue any further for now.’

‘Are you having second thoughts?’ shouted Cecil.

‘I’ll get my technicians to set up a medical tent between our two convoys,’ shouted Orcilla. ‘Does that suit you?’

‘That works fine with us,’ shouted Cecil.

A short while later, a medical tent was setup. Orcilla, accompanied by Octavius, who was carrying Tiberius, Aganon Jr. and two other technicians, entered the tent from one side. Cecil, three senior enforcers, and three technicians entered the tent from the other side. A few seconds later, two enforcers who were carrying Julio entered into the tent.

‘Let’s do this then,’ said Cecil, nodding.

‘Let’s not!’ shouted Tiberius. ‘I’m the Emperor. My word is the law.’

‘I’m sorry, Your Imperial Majesty,’ replied Cecil. ‘As you’re currently being held hostage by a bunch of mad terrorists, the Grand Vizier is in charge.’

A technician grabbed Tiberius’ arm, and another technician jabbed him with a needle to draw blood. An enforcer forced Tiberius to open his mouth while a technician swabbed the inside of it.

‘You bastards!’ shouted Tiberius once the swab was removed. ‘I’ll have all of you whipped.’

‘Shut up, shit-pants!’ shouted Octavius.

‘What have you done to him?’ asked Cecil angrily. ‘Why does he smell like that?’

‘It’s self-inflicted,’ replied Orcilla. ‘You can clean him up once this is done.’

‘I’ll make you smell this until you choke on your own vomit,’ said Tiberius as he glared at Orcilla.

‘Shut up or I’ll force you to eat your own pants!’ shouted Octavius as he shook Tiberius.

‘Please, let’s at least pretend to be a little civilised,’ said Orcilla as she watched the technicians begin processing the DNA.

‘A terrorist pretending to be civilised is as ridiculous as a Sape riding a bicycle,’ chuckled Cecil.

The bickering between the two sides finally stopped. They spent the next two hours staring angrily at each other.

The technicians were now on a computer looking through the DNA database of the frozen Alset family members.

The technicians looked at each other and nodded. Aganon Jr. stood up and looked at the others in the tent.

‘Do we have the results?’ asked Cecil as he tapped his knee.

‘We have good news,’ said Aganon Jr. ‘Emperor Tiberius is a distant relative to the other Alset family members.’

‘When you say distant, you mean uncle, right?’ asked Cecil.

‘No, I mean possibly fifth cousin,’ said Aganon Jr. nodding.

‘You can’t trust this bastard,’ said Tiberius. ‘He messed up my guns.’

‘We can all confirm the results are accurate,’ said a technician from Cecil’s team.

‘See, are you convinced?’ asked Orcilla as she stood up.

‘Clear cut,’ sighed Cecil. ‘The guy is a fraud.’

‘You’ll regret that,’ said Tiberius as he smiled at Cecil.

‘I don’t see any reason why we should make a prisoner hostage swap if he’s not really the Emperor,’ chuckled Cecil. ‘The guy’s worthless.’

‘He’s the guy you’ve been calling Emperor this whole time,’ said Orcilla. ‘We didn’t cook him up.’

‘Technicians, check to make sure he isn’t someone else shapeshifted into our Emperor,’ ordered Cecil.

‘Get away from me, idiots,’ said Tiberius angrily as the technicians grabbed his wrists and touched his upper body.

Orcilla sighed and shook her head as she watched the technicians.

‘He’s in his natural form,’ said one of Cecil’s technicians.

‘I told you,’ said Orcilla.

‘I need to consult with the Grand Vizier,’ said Cecil as he got up to leave the tent.

‘Consult with me,’ shouted Tiberius. ‘I’m your Emperor!’

‘Hurry up!’ shouted Octavius. ‘I can’t handle this stink much longer.’

Cecil picked up the radio handset in his vehicle. ‘We’ve been had,’ said Cecil into the radio. ‘He’s not Hamish Alset. He’s not the rightful Emperor.’

‘I’ve had my suspicions for some time,’ replied Miro. ‘I didn’t know what to do. These terrorists have helped us expose him.’

‘So, do we still make the swap?’ asked Cecil.

‘Yes,’ said Miro firmly. ‘Yes, we do. He needs to be dealt with formally.’

A few minutes later, Cecil returned to the tent.

‘Did your mother give you permission to make the swap?’ chuckled Octavius.

‘We have a deal,’ said Cecil as he glared angrily at Octavius.

‘Next time you see me, it will be your last,’ said Tiberius as Cecil’s technicians helped him towards the exit of the tent.

‘I won’t ever see you again; my nose will give me hours of prior warning,’ chuckled Octavius as his technicians picked up Julio.

A few minutes later, outside the tent. ‘Get me some clean clothes now!’ demanded Tiberius.

‘Pull his pants off and hose him down,’ said Cecil to his enforcers.

‘You will address me and you will address me as Your Imperial Majesty,’ said Tiberius angrily as he stared at Cecil. Cecil ignored Tiberius and re-entered the tent.

‘Our business is done for now,’ said Cecil to Orcilla. ‘We will be back.’

‘That’ll be fun,’ replied Orcilla.

Cecil left the tent. Outside the tent, Tiberius had been stripped naked and was being hosed down by the enforcers. Tiberius was shouting angrily at them.

Orcilla, Octavius, and the technicians left the tent and walked back towards the camp. The Hat Lady, who was previously invisible, appeared next to Orcilla.

‘I suppose you spied on us the whole time?’ asked Orcilla.

‘I couldn’t stand the smell,’ replied the Hat Lady.

‘It was unbelievable,’ chuckled Octavius. ‘I’m going to need my nostrils blasted with high-powered jets.’

‘I noticed they have new infrared gear, so I won’t be invisible anymore,’ added the Hat Lady.

‘The flying teams,’ said Orcilla. ‘They might have taken them down.’

‘The lack of contact is a bad sign,’ said the Hat Lady.

‘We’ll keep trying to contact them and the underground city,’ replied Orcilla.

Meanwhile, Walter and Alex were still watching from the northern tower.

‘Look at that, they’re leaving,’ said Walter, shaking his head. ‘They didn’t even come in for tea.’

‘I think they might be lost, friend,’ replied Alex.

‘No, they wanted to cause trouble,’ replied Walter. ‘They did the last time they were here. Things are different now. The big guy is back.’

‘Maybe it’s better they didn’t join us for tea,’ said Alex.

‘Good point for a change,’ said Walter, grinning slightly. ‘Let’s go and check on my assistant.’

‘I didn’t know you had an assistant,’ said Alex, sounding surprised.

‘He’s completely hopeless,’ chuckled Walter as he began to climb down the ladder. ‘I’m sure you’ll love him.’

‘I love to help a friend in need,’ said Alex as he followed Walter down the ladder.

Walter and Alex walked towards the centre of the camp. ‘That’s him carrying some funny-looking food,’ said Walter as he pointed at RJ.

‘Oh that’s RJ,’ said Alex. ‘He’s already our friend.’

‘Are you sure it’s RJ? I thought he was called MJ,’ shouted Walter. ‘I guess he’s just that insignificant that I can’t remember.’

RJ turned to look at Walter. He shook his head and then continued carrying the plate of food to a table.

Orcilla, the Hat Lady, and Octavius joined the Downs workers and technicians for tea. Volo attended to Julio, who was still unconscious. His condition appeared unchanged.

They had almost finished tea when Demadrian arrived back.

‘You made it just in time,’ chuckled Octavius. ‘You almost missed out on RJ’s new donuts.’

‘What’s going on?’ asked Demadrian. ‘I saw the technicians repositioning the vehicles.’

‘We had visitors,’ said the Hat Lady.

‘I know, I’m not stupid,’ said Demadrian aggressively. ‘What did they want?’

‘They gave us Julio back,’ replied Orcilla.

‘What did we give them?’ demanded Demadrian impatiently.

‘We gave them their fake Emperor,’ replied Orcilla as she picked up another funnel donut.

In rage, Demadrian flipped the table over and roared ferociously at Orcilla.

‘This idiot has gone off his nut,’ shouted Walter from the next table.

‘You had no right!’ shouted Demadrian. ‘He’s mine!’

Octavius stood between Orcilla and Demadrian. ‘He won’t be Emperor anymore,’ said Octavius as he put his hand on Demadrian’s chest.

Demadrian shapeshifted into a Sentray and then struck Octavius across the face with his claws. Octavius grabbed Demadrian by the neck and then slammed him to the ground. Demadrian immediately leapt to his feet and swatted Octavius with his tail, causing Octavius to stagger backwards.

Hamlet, who was sitting next to Walter’s table, charged into Demadrian, causing him to flip upside down and to land on his head. Demadrian once again quickly rose to his feet. He was about to slash Hamlet with his claws when Sapiod X grabbed him from behind.

Demadrian was about to flip Sapiod X over his shoulder when the Hat Lady grabbed his leg and then shapeshifted him into a small child. This caused Sapiod X to fall over.

‘No!’ shouted Demadrian in a squeaky voice as he stared angrily at Octavius. ‘Let me get him!’

Hamlet grunted in rage and then bit a huge piece out of a table.

‘Enough of this,’ said Orcilla angrily. ‘We have much bigger problems. The Empire still occupies the Downs Region, and we don’t know what’s happened to our underground friends.’

Suddenly there was a loud round of applause. The technicians were taking their positions for their evening performance.

‘Forever tone-deaf to the moment,’ said Demadrian in his squeaky voice.

‘I admire the consistency,’ said the Hat Lady as she continued to hold Demadrian.

Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide

Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide is the final book in the Sapien Loop trilogy. It continues directly after the events of the second book. The world above and the world below merge into one world. The conflicts in the underground world are brought to the surface. The new ruling elite attempt to crush any resistance from above and below in an attempt to create a new global empire.

Currently, three books from the series have been published on Amazon; see the links below:

• Sapien Loop: End of an Era
• Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time
• Sapien Short Stories: Missing Links

All individual chapters can be found on my @captainhive account.

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