RETURN OF THE SHADOW - Chapter 165

“You have a contact among the Maliks, who let you know that they are aware of the event?” asked Lucius surprised. Without official announcements, most families would tend to keep it quiet.

“It was just an accidental release of information. They seem to be quite happy when they heard of the deaths,” said Balthazar.

“Either way. It is good to have someone among the Maliks as an acquaintance,” said Lucius.

“Hmm,” nodded Balthazar. “There is one thing I was concerned about though. Even if the captain and ShouryaPrasad were dead, wouldn’t it have been better to let out information that they were captured rather than killed?” he asked Lucius. “It would be better to announce that they have capture to rile up the others who might have been in collaboration with them, right?”

“No. The best way to frighten anyone in collaboration them is to inform that these guys died,” said Lucius.

“Wouldn’t they calm down on hearing that their collaborators died?”

“You think they would believe the information from alliance? No,” said Lucius. “It was a sudden black operation which none in the alliance were aware of. Most wouldn’t condone it because it was against the Nirbaadh pirates and they don’t want to antagonize the Malik and the Khans, but any collaborators would hardly believe it if they released the information that they captured the captain and Shourya.”

“It is a valid assumption,” realized Balthazar. It being a secret black op, any collaborators of the knights would expect the information released to be falsified or possibly a trap. If the members that launched the attack had the brains to keep it secret till it was successful, it would be extremely foolish of them to release the true details of the operation so soon or not to capture anyone at the top of the hierarchy among the enemies.

“So, the announcement of the death of these two would rattle them more. We already have people observing the Rowleys. Contact had been made with the Maliks and Khans as they would love to help against anyone who were in collusion with the pirates,” explained Lucius.

“All right. I will leave this to you guys, then. You seem to have it all under control,” said Balthazar as he went back to the seat which he was using to play the game.

“Ya. Leave it to us. You have about two more hours left for the ride. Keep your emotions under control and don’t lose your focus,” said Lucius. “Anything else?”

“I doubt I can get anything more from you,” said Balthazar to which Lucius just simply smiled.

“However, there is this person called Dave,” said Balthazar.

“The one who was working with Raymond Rowley and we don’t even know how he looks like,” said Lucius.

“But a good chance he was one of the Nirbaadh pirates as he was working with Raymond,” said Balthazar.

“That is the most prevalent theory among us too. We believe he is a Rhodium level agent of the Nirbaadh pirates. We will put out feelers for his appearance, again,” said Lucius.

“In that case, I will get back to my game,” said Balthazar as there was no point in talking to these two any further. He knew that he might be able to find out more from the use of somnium tech by checking the news.

As Balthazar was talking with Lucius about the event, there has been a great commotion among the Rowleys. They had already heard about the attack on the Nirbaadh pirates and had been roused away in the middle of the night for an emergency meeting called by the patriarch of the family.

The patriarch, Rowan Rowley was already sitting in a meeting room and he had summoned all the elders and the members of the family who had knowledge of them collaborating with the knights of the old republic. Few of them were already arguing with one another if them collaborating with the knights was a mistake or not.

Rowan had been waiting for a long time for his brother, John Rowley to join before they could start. John soon joined the meeting with his nephew, Ryan Rowley. Ryan was also the elder brother of Raymond Rowley.

He was the one who had introduced Raymond to Dave and hated both Balthazar Blyth and Dave as he considered them responsible for Raymond’s death. Their father, Ragus Rowley became a member of the knights during one of his travels, which was the reason for the family to join their agend. As John arrived alongside Ryan, they both took seat alongside the others and Rowan finally decided to speak out.

“We have prospered a lot due to our partnership with my brother Ragus’ friends for the past two decades. Though, he was in collusion with some antisocial elements, we have discovered that the advantage of having access to the resources from further reaches of the space which we have successfully explored, outweighs the danger it might bring to us a couple of decades ago in the same room,” he started.

“Now, we have assembled here to discuss about the danger of being alienated by the alliance due to the decision we made during that assemblage,” said Rowan. “There is a high chance that the alliance has captured the ShouryaPrasad and RanaPratap. I don’t need to stress the fact that we would be in extreme danger if they manage to get any proof of our collusion with the pirates.”

“In that case, it is best if we have the family move out to a safe place from the mansion,” said one of the elders. His name was Rhett Rowley and was a strong advocate of not collaborating with the knights for the past few decades. If he was the patriarch, he wouldn’t have allowed the collaboration, but now he always tells them to be on guard against the knights as they didn’t know much about their aims.

“No. I am not sure if they have any information. We know that the Blyth and Price families are leading the attack. If they had any chance of getting proof against us, they would have already formed a barricade around our planet, but we are still able to contact with our clients and there is no decipherable change any place around it,” said John Rowley.

John and Ryan had already had cross checked if any moves were made by the military forces or the forces of any other family before coming to the meeting. They have also contacted Ragus regarding it and double checked the situation from his contacts before joining the meeting.

“You want us to stay here because of a hunch?” asked Rhett. His question though aggravating to both John and Ryan was a compelling argument. They can’t have stake the entire family’s future based on a hunch. The alliance could be waiting to gather more information, or it could be deploying more men against them. Even the patriarch of the family would ridiculed and pushed of his position if he blindly gives such an assurance.

“Can you be sure that they don’t have any one captured? They are not foolish enough to kill them without trying to glean any information beforehand,” said Rhett.

“But if we attempt a large-scale evacuation of the family members, it is as good as saying that we are culpable. We might be giving ourselves up,” said Ryan.

“Yes. It is foolish to move all the members of the family. Even, if they have proof, we can provide all the information about our explorations to get some leeway. We are quite useful to them and only few of us actually have the information. We can barter for something, even if we are caught,” said another one of the elders.

“Those are all viable suggestion for the situation when we are actually caught. John and I have already made plans for such a situation. We don’t need to worry about the lives of the innocent among our family members, even in the worst-case scenario,” said the patriarch, Rowan lifting his hand to signal the others to stop.

He sent had projected a list of places on the screen. These were clearly locations beyond the current borders of the alliance that they had managed to explore with the help of the knights. It was clear that he had gathered the maps and information related to these places to barter for the family’s freedom.

“So, why did you have us convene here?” asked Rhett.

“To take a few precautionary steps,” said Rowan. “It is a fact that a raid was made on the Nirbaadh pirates. We don’t know if they managed to capture someone or not. As John told, moving the entire family is a not an option, but we need to make sure that the alliance doesn’t hold us responsible. So, I suggest that Ragus’ family be pushed out of the family. They will not participate in any of the decisions or participate in businesses directly.”

“Brother, how can you do that?” asked John Rowley angrily as he stood up for his nephews and family.

“We have played it quite close in case of Raymond Rowley. The Blyths don’t believe us and you know the amount of power they can rally. My nephew did a stupid mistake of killing the last remaining descendant of the current patriarch. We need to be much better prepared,” said Rowan in a loud and angry tone.

“Even if they aren’t caught and have spilled out names, they would sooner or later do so. You know that Walter Blyth was known to be someone close to Evelyn Price. He has his methods,” he continued.

“So, anyone who was in direct contact with the knights will be subjected to this treatment. We can’t have any paper trial linking any person that might be named from today onward. They will leave our planet and will be moving from now on. We will tell anyone who comes to question us that they have left our facilities today. This is necessary so that we won’t be harassed by the alliance,” said the patriarch in a tone of staunch finality.

“That includes you too, my brother,” continued Rowan looking at John Rowley. His eyes almost teared up when he had to tell his younger brother who had been as his right hand for almost all his life that he would be considered as an outcast.

All the men and women in the room were shocked when they heard the patriarch expatriate his own brother and right-hand man. Even Rhett, who had always suggested that they stop their collusion with the knights was extremely surprised by this decision from Rowan.

“Does anyone have any other suggestion that would help us out of this predicament or anything in addition to this?” he asked looking at the others in the room. None of them spoke anything nor did John and Ryan which was taken as their consent to the patriarch’s plan.

“In that case, let us not talk of this any further. You all know what to do. Don’t panic in case of any attack. We can always barter for our freedom in the alliance, but we can’t recklessly provide any information about the knights. The alliance might be forgiving and reasoned with, but the same can’t be said of their adversaries,” said Rowan as he moved away from his chair towards the exit while signalling to John and Ryan to meet him. The three of them made their way to the patriarch’s chambers.

“I am sorry, brother. A lot of them were in panic and started to ask unreasonable things of me. I had no better idea than this. It would also prevent them from taking any action towards you for the time being,” said Rowan as they settled in his chambers.

“I understand Rowan. I have no issue with your decision. It is the fate of my children and that of my nephews that is of more concern to me,” said John. John had three kids who were not in the same planet and didn’t attend the meeting. Similarly, Ryan also had another younger brother who was hardly any older than Balthazar.

“I don’t mind protecting them, but if anyone is caught, you both would be named to be in direct contact. So, they will take action against you. I can assure you that no legal action would be taken against them openly, but as we both have noticed, they work quite well in shadows,” said Rowan.

“I understand, but I still request you to protect my daughters,” asked John. “As for Sebastian, even I don’t know what he is doing. He has long been lost to me.”

“Fine, I will inform them and have them return to the family mansion. They will be treated the same as my own children in all aspects. I promise you that as they are in the mansion, their lives would be no less secure than my own,” said Rowan. Being his right hand man, John handled a lot of shady stuff for Rowan and he felt that anguished by the fact that he couldn’t do anything but kick him out of the family in this manner. He had decided to treat his niece as his own daughters from this point of time.

“Ryan,” said Rowan turning towards his nephew. He found Ryan’s situation to be pitiable. Ever since, Ragus joined the knights, he had been extremely distant to the family, including his sons. Moreover, his younger brother, Raymond has recently lost his life killed by the same people they were colluding with and he still couldn’t do anything about it. His father, Ragus wasn’t of much help about it either. Ryan felt more lost than anyone in the family for the past few days. Now, he had to leave the family due to him being in contact with his father.

“I am willing to help you in any way, I can. Your kids are still too young and so is your wife. You are not in the same situation as your uncle. You have to choose, but either choice will be a great burden on your children and wife,” said Rowan.

“I will leave them in your care, uncle,” said Ryan without giving it a thought. He had already decided on his course of action in the meeting after he heard the decision of the patriarch. “Since, Raymond’s death, it had been clear that my father is not in his right mind. A couple of decades ago, he would have killed himself in an attempt to avenge Raymond. Now, he doesn’t even care. I need to know if I am actually doing his bidding or if he is forced. I plan to search for Sebastian and then, make further plans.”

“Ryan!” shouted John in anger. “I can’t willingly let you follow the same madness that had made me lose my only son.”

“Uncle, don’t forget that I was the one who first found about Seb’s intentions and informed you with the hope that you would stop him,” said Ryan in a calm tone as he placed his hand on John’s shoulder to calm him.

“But I cannot deny that father was no longer the same for the past few decades. Sometimes, I feel that he doesn’t even care for us. You can’t deny that either. We refused to listen to Seb and thought that he had been a fool for leaving us, but now I see that he had long realized them to be shady folk,” continued Ryan.

“Where would you even find him?” interjected Rowan.

“He had been in touch with me. I have a way, but I will set out for him alone. I doubt, he would trust anyone else,” said Ryan.