Chapter 34: Kidnapping X - Appeal for Help

Having someone share the burden of knowledge and hopefully getting Alecto’s support wasn’t the only reason why Belevere shared everything with him.

If Belevere remembered correctly, the Florent Group and the Maxime Group were embroiled in an intense rivalry that encompassed every conflict short of open warfare. Thanks to the clandestine nature of their conflict, the Florent Group has been getting the upper hand constantly in their battles.

The young Florent Group’s strength was in an upwards trend while the Maxime Group has stagnated. Now the latter was putting forth all of its efforts into stopping the Florent Group, grasping at whatever straws they could to get a leg up.

There was no way that Alecto wouldn’t know of the predicament his father was in. With luck, Alecto might even manage to convince his father to throw his weight behind them. 

With backing, her new faction will no longer be completely vulnerable to Vesmelda’s machinations. 

If Alecto told his father about all the things Vesmelda did, Lord Maxime will have new ammunition to use against the Florent Group in the form of dirty laundry. Perhaps he might even launch his own investigation on Vesmelda or notify the BME. 

If the BME found out, they’ll definitely look into it.

One of the BME’s self-ordained responsibilities was the enforcement of mech piloting. They had been the ones to set the minimum age for piloting, and anyone they caught violating that rule received harsh punishments. 

They were so ardent in their enforcements of their rules that things they considered heretical to all things mech that the parts of the galaxy where they held power have grown accustomed or even subscribed to their beliefs and ruling willingly.

As the saying goes: wherever there were mechs, there were the BME. Although it was exaggerating the BME’s power a bit, it still illustrates quite nicely how ubiquitous the BME was in the galaxy.

As much of a powerhouse the Florent Group was locally, they were nothing compared to the BME that spanned across the galaxy. If Vesmelda was investigated and they found something, Vesmelda will be finished.

The only problem was that everything happened almost ten years ago. Belevere wasn’t very optimistic that even the BME with all of its advanced technology could dig up evidence that Vesmelda would have no doubt obfuscated or destroyed.

Annabelle’s testimony, while important, wasn’t damning enough in the absence of supporting evidence. If nothing else, the BME was fair. 

That was the only reason Belevere hadn’t gone to them directly—she didn’t want a reputation for crying wolf that might come back to bite her further down the line. 

She looked outside. They were nearing the Administration building. It’ll be less than a minute before they reached the nearest stop, which was pretty close to the building itself since the Administration building was such a well-frequented location.

As the tram slid to a smooth stop at the station, Alecto looked up from his comms.

“Okay, Belevere. I’m done. Sorry; there was a lot of stuff to send so it took a while.”

“No, it’s fine. You made it in time, so no harm done.” Belevere smiled at him. Alecto looked away. 

The motion oddly reminded Belevere of how Annabelle acted, but she shook away the thought. Alecto lacked Annabelle’s unique appeal that she couldn’t explain. It was foolish to compare those two.

Alecto accompanied her off the tram. 

“Alright, let's hurry to the building. We’re short on time,” Belevere said. Without waiting for Alecto’s reply, she took off running. After a while of running, though, she realized that she was running alone.

Where did Alecto go?

She looked back to see him lagging far behind her, so she slowed her pace, letting Alecto slowly catch up. “How did you become so slow all of a sudden?” she asked.

Alecto gulped air as he ran, barely sparing the effort to answer her question. “What do you mean I’m slow? You’re just fast!” he managed to gasp out.

“Fast? Oh, right.” 

Alecto was on the slower end of their class. Ranged mech pilots often underwent less physical training and conditioning since they didn’t require outstanding physical performance. Alecto’s prefered mech type was a heavy bombardment unit, the slowest of all mech types.

While even some riflemen ran to dodge shots or find a better position, heavy artillery mechs had the range to avoid return fire and the armor to simply defeat any attacks that managed to reach so far. They rarely needed to move.

While the pace was merely fairly above average for Belevere who could sustain it all the way to the building, Alecto looked like he was going to drop if he ran for much longer. His stamina wasn’t that great in the first place and sprinting really took a lot out of him.

Reluctantly, Belevere slowed down even more and let Alecto take the lead instead.

Even though he could have gone the easy route and slowed down considerably, Alecto chose not to do that. Instead, he powered on at his fastest sustainable pace without even a complaint. 

Belevere looked at him in a new light. So he had it in him after all... 

After so many years of taking classes together, it was her first time seeing Alecto push himself so far. It didn’t fit his bookworm reputation.

With their brisk pace, they soon reached the building. This late at night, not just anyone could come and go, so there were two guards in exoskeletons standing by near the entrance. When she and Alecto made clear their approach, they raised their weapons cautiously.

“Who’s there?” one of the guards asked.

Although she knew how deadly the weapons could be, the guards were just posturing. As they got closer, the guards lowered their weapons, probably notified by their cameras and other sensors of Belevere and Alecto’s identities.

Belevere slowed down in front of them, Alecto joining her a second later, panting like each breath was going to be his last.

The guards looked at him incredulously before they turned to Belevere and bowed respectfully. “How may we help you, Lady Odis?”

She looked past them into the glass doors. The receptionist was staring at her.

“I need to go in and see Director Saquest,” she looked back at the guards. “May I please pass?”

“Certainly.”

The two guards shouldered their weapon at the same time, their discipline reflective of their training. While one of them continued keeping watch, the other beckoned to Belevere and approached the side of the door. He produced a keycard and the door unlocked with a click. Slowly, the glass doors swung inwards. 

Nodding her thanks to the guards, Belevere marched in. After greeting the receptionist, she headed straight to the elevator. The way to the director’s room was still fresh on her mind. She had been there recently after the tournament.

It didn’t take long for her to find her way to the room and she knocked twice.

Thunk thunk.

“Do you think he’s asleep?” Alecto asked when there was no reply.

“He probably is.” Belevere admitted that was likely. It wasn’t even five in the morning yet. However, she wasn’t about to give up now. The director was probably the only person who had mechs on standby. 

There wasn’t anyone else that might lend them to her, and even if there was, it’d take too long to ask and receive the mech. By then, she might have already lost track of Annabelle.

She knocked again. “Come on, come on.”

Still no reply, so she began to knock harder. There wasn’t anyone in the building except the director, so she didn’t have to worry about the noise.

The hallway filled with the sound of her knuckles on wood while Alecto looked on uneasily.

“Won’t he be pissed when he wakes up? What if he doesn’t lend you the mech?”

Belevere shook her head. “I don’t know. But he’s my only choice.” 

Hearing her words, Alecto seemed to be thinking about something.

After almost two minutes of knocking, she finally heard someone knock back, pounding on the door on the other side, startling her. She froze and the door opened. Direct Saquest’s angry face peered out at them.

“What’s the fuss about! Don’t you know what time it is?” he demanded.

“Sorry. Director,” Belevere began, ducking her head. “But I have something to talk to you about.”

“Is it going to take long?”

“...It’s a request.”

The director frowned. “Wait for me to change.” Then he closed the door before Belevere could get another word in.

“He looks pretty mad. Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Alecto asked. 

Belevere shook her head. She leaned up against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor to wait. “Yes... Most likely, since it affects him. I’m not totally sure, though.” She sighed.

Alecto hesitated and then sat down next to her, fidgeting. 

The two of them waited outside in silence. There wasn’t anything to talk about this late in the game. When the door opened again and a bleary-eyed Director Saquest looked out, they scrambled to their feet.

The director was dressed in a suit, but he still had sleep marks on his face.

“Well then. What do we have here? Come in...”

He headed back inside and Belevere followed. Alecto closed the door behind him and joined her . 

Belevere looked around for anything that might have indicated that the director basically lived in his office, but she couldn’t find anything. Hidden door, she guessed.

The room was filled with bookcases that might have a hidden switch. Sadly, she couldn’t spot anything out of place. The director cleared his throat, snatching her attention back.

“So, Belevere... I hope you know what time it is right now,” the director said. “Whatever you have better be good.”

Belevere swallowed. She hated her powerlessness and the fact she had to rely on someone else to save Annabelle. In the future, that will change, but she needed that power now.

“Director Saquest, Annabelle Florent was kidnapped,” she began. “Less than an hour ago, I woke up in the middle of the night from a headache due to the side effect of a sleeping gas. When I realized what had happened, Annabelle was gone.”