Chapter 46: Doubting Allegiances
A flying vehicle returned to the West Camp.
‘I want this flying vehicle fully weaponised and ready to go within the hour,’ barked Tiberius to the captain who exited the flying vehicle.
‘Yes, Your Imperial Majesty,’ replied the captain. ‘It’ll be ready in half that time.’
‘That’s what we call efficiency,’ said Tiberius as he looked at Revals, who was holding a corn-on-the-cob.
Alex, Walter, and Hamlet were watching from outside Scott’s cabin.
‘Looks like something is happening, friend,’ said Alex to Walter.
‘They’re in a state of panic,’ said Walter. ‘I can feel the energy. It’s just like that time I was delivering muffins to the Enforcer Headquarters. Out of nowhere, I was hit with the fear I had left the oven on. I put the muffins down and sprinted back to the bakery just to find I was wrong.’
‘That must have been terrifying, friend,’ replied Alex as he rubbed Walter’s back. ‘I had that same feeling when I thought I left the bath tap running.’
‘It was a shock, but that wasn’t the really annoying bit,’ said Walter as his eyes began to dart. ‘When I returned the muffins were gone.’
Hamlet began to snigger. Walter grabbed Hamlet by her huge cheeks. ‘I know your pattern of behaviour,’ he said, raising his eyebrows. ‘I’m keeping a very close eye on you.’
Two technicians approached Revals. ‘We have built a prototype hand for you,’ said one of the technicians. ‘We were hoping you could test it, superintendent.’
‘Oh well, yes,’ said Revals as his face lit up. ‘Thank you.’ He looked over at Walter, who was nodding.
Scott poked his head out of his cabin. ‘Hey friends,’ said Scott. ‘Are we going to work now?’
‘Your shift started four hours ago, friend,’ said Alex. ‘It ends in ten minutes.’
‘Don’t worry, Revals has other things on his mind,’ chuckled Walter.
Hamlet raised her head and started sniffing the air. Then she started walking towards a row of cabins.
‘I say we follow the Sape,’ suggested Walter. Walter, Alex, and Scott scurried after Hamlet.
Around halfway along the row, Hamlet suddenly turned right to walk between several more cabins. Then she turned left. Straight ahead was a small tent with a sign that read, ‘RJ’s Underground Bakery’. Under that was another sign that read, ‘Best cakes, pies, and now cobblers. Only five Tibers a slice.’
Walter angrily pushed his way into the tent. It was crowded with Downs workers, a few technicians, and two enforcer captains. At the back of the tent, RJ was standing behind a small table. He was scanning phones to collect payment.
‘Hey everyone,’ shouted Walter. ‘Everything in here is free. Take everything you want. The prince has spoken.’
‘Oh no!’ screamed RJ. ‘I need the Tibers to survive.’
‘Nah, you’re running a scam,’ said Walter angrily.
‘I didn’t get the transfer of Tibers like the rest of you,’ said RJ in a panicked tone as he gestured towards the others with his hands. ‘I’m not a Downs worker.’
‘Oops!’ gasped Walter as he watched Hamlet eat the final eight cakes off a table.
RJ began to sob.
‘Damn it!’ said Walter. ‘What’s the damage? I’ll cover you.’
‘Damn!’ called out someone else from outside the tent.
Walter’s eyes darted from side-to-side.
‘A thousand Tibers,’ sighed RJ.
‘That’s steep, but I trust your numbers,’ replied Walter. He pulled out his phone to make a direct transfer to RJ. The phone buzzed and flashed red. ‘Insufficient balance’ appeared on Walter’s screen.
‘Don’t worry,’ chuckled RJ. ‘Just give me whatever you have.’
Scott, who had now positioned himself behind RJ, was staring at RJ’s screen. It had his account balance on it.
‘Hey friend, I’m confused,’ said Scott.
‘I know you are. What’s new?’ replied Walter. ‘I’ll help you once I’m done with him.’
RJ quickly covered the screen on his phone so that Scott could not see it anymore.
‘He has 22,450 Tibers in his account,’ blurted out Scott.
Walter quickly put his phone away.
‘Oh, it must have just come in,’ said RJ. ‘I wasn’t aware.’
‘Pure incompetence, eh?’ said Walter, sniggering slightly. ‘You’re a bit of a thicky, aren’t you? It shows in your inferior baking.’
‘I don’t see the correlation,’ replied RJ, sounding offended.
‘The alternative explanation is that you’re a low-life scumbag,’ said Walter, leaning forward. ‘A pariah who belongs outside the fringe of society.’
‘You’re right, I’m incompetent,’ said RJ in a panicked tone.
‘And!’ said Walter, raising his eyebrows.
‘I’m an inferior baker,’ said RJ as he lowered his head.
Walter began dancing energetically in a circle. Scott and Alex looked at each and shrugged their shoulders.
After the brief celebration, Walter, Alex, Scott, and Hamlet exited the tent. They looked around at what appeared to be endless rows of cabins.
‘That’s nice,’ said Alex as he looked at Walter. ‘They’ve built us more cabins, friend.’
Walter turned to Hamlet for directions, but she was now eating RJ’s tent.
Back in the centre of the camp, Tiberius was eagerly watching the technicians and enforcers equip his flying vehicle.
‘I want powerful lasers,’ said Tiberius as he watched a technician fixing a gun to the front of the flying vehicle.
‘This gun fires metal projectiles,’ replied the technician.
‘Will it cause devastating damage?’ asked Tiberius.
‘Yeah, sure,’ replied the technician as his eyes bulged slightly.
‘Great!’ said Tiberius, rubbing his hands together. ‘Add three more.’
The technician added three more guns, and another technician loaded up a few missiles.
Around thirty minutes later, the flying vehicle was ready for Tiberius. He and the captain that was previously flying it climbed in. The flying vehicle took off in pursuit of the rest of the convoy.
In the Downs Region, Duffo had called a meeting with the executive council. Miro had informed him the cult was heading towards the region and that they should be ready in case he was unable to intercept them in time.
Henders, Hermon, Benny, and Head Enforcer had gathered in the hotel dining room.
Duffo burst through the entrance and headed towards the table where the others were sitting. ‘We have an emergency,’ he shouted. ‘The cult terrorists are making their way towards the Downs Region.’
‘Oh no, they’re going to kill us all!’ exclaimed Hermon as he waved his hands in the air.
‘Don’t act like an idiot,’ said Duffo as he slammed his hands down on the table. ‘Our courageous Emperor is going to cut them off and defeat the lot of them.’
‘Then why the dramatic entrance?’ asked Hermon as he looked at the others around the table.
‘I wanted to see who has it together and who doesn’t,’ replied Duffo as he stared at Hermon.
‘If you want to see who doesn’t, you’ll need to grab a mirror,’ replied Hermon curtly.
Head Enforcer sniggered slightly.
Duffo looked at Head Enforcer and then he looked back at the others. ‘Even though we are not in imminent danger, we need to show preparedness,’ he continued. ‘We must show the Emperor we are ready for anything.’
‘Head Enforcer,’ said Hermon, raising his eyebrows. ‘Make sure all citizens are back within our walls. I want the main gate securely closed by midnight tonight.’
‘Excuse me,’ said Duffo angrily.
‘No problem, you can be excused,’ replied Hermon as he smiled devilishly at Duffo.
‘You’re in great form today,’ said Benny, nodding while patting Hermon on the back.
‘Why are you even here?’ snapped Duffo aggressively as he looked at Benny.
‘He’s my friend, he’s reliable, and pineapple rice is on the menu today,’ said Hermon as he leaned forward.
Both Benny and Henders smiled.
‘What the hell!’ said Duffo angrily as he turned to look at Head Enforcer. ‘Are you going to let them speak to me like that?’
Head Enforcer did not respond or even acknowledge Duffo’s question.
‘I warn all of you,’ said Duffo. ‘This will not be forgotten. When my father returns…’
‘He will express great disappointment in how you have handled certain delicate matters,’ interrupted Head Enforcer.
Duffo spun around and stormed out of the restaurant.
A waiter placed five plates of pineapple rice on the table.
‘I say we split his dinner four ways,’ said Hermon as he looked at the plate intended for Duffo.
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:
All individual chapters can be found on my 