The situation was an unexpected one for everyone in the room. Balthazar didn't expect that he would ever openly give Winston any hint about his plans to become an assassin again. Dick, Evelyn and Xander thought they might need to do a bit more convincing, but their discussion took an entirely different turn and Winston never thought that his grandson would be already planning further action against their enemies on his own.
It was finally Xander that broke the awkward situation between Evelyn, Winston and Balthazar. "Where are you planning to get a hold of the fake identity cards? What do you intend to do with them?" asked Xander.
"Can't really tell you that. But I can provide you information about others who would be using similar services. I need them to join the underworld. To get to the Nirbaadh pirates, I need to join similar circles, become an assassin," said Balthazar.
He began to put it all out as having the alliance military support him would make his plans work a lot more easily. Without providing them a few details, they would hardly ever accept to help him. So, he needed to give them the overall idea, but he was never going to share the details of it.
"You want to convince a bunch of murderers that you are one of them? How do you propose you do that?" asked Winston gritting his teeth. The more he heard his grandson talk the angrier he felt. It was not only directed towards Balthazar but also towards Evelyn and Walter.
He knew Walter had thought Balthazar to fight ever since his parents died. He knew that Walter inspired Balthazar along this path and suggested him to join the armed forces. Though he knew that Balthazar would have to face this sooner or later, but he still hated Walter for it. Now, he thought that Evelyn was doing something similar to Walter and to his shock Balthazar was already along an extremely dangerous path.
"I am already prepared for that. I already have a bit of experience in looking out for assassins. Even before the blast, I had dealt with a bunch of assassins they sent to kill me," lied Balthazar. Though he was a capable assassin in his previous life, he can't prove his skills to others directly. He was used to killing quickly without involving direct confrontation. He had to try and convince that he could defend himself. So, he started to lie to them.
"You were already attacked by assassins at the base?" asked Xander Drake. An assassin infiltrating a military base like the citadel Balthazar was in charge of, was a serious breach in security of the base. It needed some serious security upgrades at the citadel if someone managed to infiltrate a military base.
"Don't worry. I have already taken care of the issue. There was a mole among the members, but he is already dead in the blast. That is why I didn't expect such a method of attack in the hangar," said Balthazar trying to calm Xander Drake.
Hiding that Max was involved in the blast was already a crime by Balthazar. It could be considered a capital offence by most and was privileged information in the military. Xander was already angry when he came to know it and had thoughts to punish him severely.
It was due to his insistence that Balthazar wasn't promoted. He was three levels superior to Balthazar in the military hierarchy. Moreover, Balthazar was his subordinate. It was only due to the interference of Rodrigo and Evelyn that Balthazar wasn't punished. Now, listening another secret being revealed blew his top.
"Are you kidding me?" shouted Drake as he stood up. Xander liked Balthazar a lot for his achievements and his nature. But if there was one thing that Xander found hard to tolerate, it was disloyal and traitorous people.
"Even if you knew who the mole was and he died in the blast, we can't just leave like that," said
Xander. "It is one thing to hide your uncle Max's involvement in this disaster, but all the dead are being considered heroes and were awarded for their valor. Because you hid this, the traitors are being awarded the same honors as the injured veterans," continued Xander angrily.
"I know that. I have known that it would be unfair to the loyal soldier and if any information about this gets out, it would be a nightmare for the military. Most employees would lose faith in the armed forces and the current authorities and that is something none of us want," said Balthazar as he stood up looking at the enraged Xander in his eyes.
Xander was clearly someone who could easily intimidate people through his might and physique. Not being intimidated, maintaining a calm attitude and providing clear, valuable explanations was the best way to gain the confidence of such men.
"Just the thought of them having doubts that I might have information about them resulted in the disaster at the base. I have no intention of informing them about what I know and there might be more traitors in the military that I don't know about. If you brand the dead traitors as such, they might be more on guard against us. I am not willing to let that happen. So, whatever you say, I won't inform you anything about my plans," continued Balthazar staring at Lt. General.
"Calm down, Xander. He might have a fair point," said Evelyn putting a hand on Xander's shoulder and signalling him to sit down. "If we brand them as traitors, we might cause the knights of the old republic be on guard."
"Nevertheless, we need to have information regarding the traitors. We might get hold of more information if we investigate their relatives at the very least," continued Evelyn looking at Balthazar.
"Already did investigate them. I found them reporting to a person who was revealed to be a Rowley. On torturing the assassins sent after me, they also gave me two names, Rowley and Dave. I am sure that the Rowley family is involved, and they would be very good at covering their tracks," said Baltahzar.
"I would have informed the military if you were able to find anything from the ship. Even though you tracked it to Raymond Rowly, a simple statement from one of their elders put the investigation on hold. That is the reason, I would inform you of my plans unless my investigations reveal something you could use. Not only the military, even you are bound by the political influences," continued Balthazar pointing at Evelyn.
"Be that as it is, I still can't allow you to keep this secret from me. I am responsible for the investigation of the explosion related events since we came to know of the Nirbaadh pirates and their clients. I can't allow you to hide related information from me.," said Evelyn stubbornly. In her position, she couldn't allow such information to be hidden from her.
"I am not willing to put my life and lives of others in the hands of people like you. You are the prime director's sister and your actions will be dictated by political pressures. Moreover, in this way, you would have plausible deniability and blame it on me. And I can always plead insanity caused due to disaster at the base," said Balthazar in a flat tone. It was clear from his tone that he didn't care about Evelyn.
Everyone in the room realized by this time that it was not just his loyalty to the alliance military and his sense of duty that is pushing Balthazar to investigate the enemies. It was clear that he considered this issue a life and death matter for him and his family.
"He is a tough one. Obviously, he wouldn't trust me, if he didn't even trust his own family to be capable of getting any information," thought Evelyn. "I am not going to get any information from him directly. The only thing I can do is let Dick help him. In this manner, I will at least have some modicum of control. Moreover, he could also claim insanity if I force him legally to reveal his secrets. That would lead to a total waste of money and resources."
She couldn't force the Blyth's to reveal all the information they had. Forcing them to cooperate is impossible. That is a lot harder than forcing Rowley family to cooperate, which she couldn't do either. She had come here hoping to get Balthazar under her to have a source of information at the Blyth family. She never had any interest in recruiting Balthazar for clandestine operations. Her only interest was to get some information from the Blyth's using the Patriarch's grandson.
Winston, Dick and Xander had always known her intentions. She always knew that Winston wouldn't support her attempts for obvious reasons. She brought Xander along thinking that Balthazar being his subordinate might actually be more willing with him present. Dick was a familiar face to Balthazar and hence, she got Dick to help convince Balthazar.
She always considered that Winston would be the person hindering her attempt the most today. If Walter had been at the planet, he would directly send her back. Without Walter, she thought that she had a good chance to have a Blyth working for her. But never did she ever expect that her target himself would be the one who would be against her. Unable to change his mind, she had to concede.
"Hmm...," sighed Evelyn as she realized she wouldn't be able to achieve her objective completely today. "I can only accept his condition and maybe slowly gain his confidence later," she thought. "At least, I would have plausible deniability, if he screwed up with something. Moreover, he seems to be strong willed and capable. He might actually find out something we can use with a bit of support."
"OK, I will agree to provide you technical support. Dick will also be your liaison to my outfit. But you will be in probation till you provide any valuable information proving yourself or you accept my original proposal train with the outfit. You can contact Dick for everything including your issue with identity cards," said Evelyn finally giving up on her original plans for now.
"That would be best for all of us. Don't worry, I am not stupid enough to try and destroy my enemies on my own. I only intend to collect evidence or create a situation that will prompt action from the alliance. That is the only way, I would be able to beat them, especially if they have the backing of the knights of old republic or the Nirbaadh pirates," said Balthazar.
Though Evelyn had finally accepted that she would let him try on his own, Balthazar knew that she would try to monitor him through Dick. Yet, their discussion finally reached some sort of conclusion. Though it wasn't to the liking of either Evelyn or Balthazar. No good compromise ever satisfies all the parties involved. Xander and Dick were quiet, and it looked like they were willing to accept this arrangement.
The only person who was completely not satisfied with the way this meeting turned out was Winston. Before the meeting, he held the hope that even in the worst case, if Balthazar directly accepts Evelyn's offer, she wouldn't put him in any highly dangerous situation.
Yet now, not only is Balthazar accepting Evelyn's help which she would definitely use to pull him to her side, but also Balthazar was definitely going to do something illegal or dangerous as he asked for fake identity cards. This scenario was worse than the worst case he imagined.
During their talk, Winston had half a mind to knock out Balthazar and keep him in the mansion till he reconsiders these unsafe plans. But by the time, Evelyn conceded, he also understood that he couldn't stop his grandson and even if he uses force, Balthazar would surely find a way to escape and continue.
Right now, he just wished that his grandson had told him of his plans beforehand so that he could help him directly instead of Evelyn being involved. Walter had contacts that would be able to provide anything that Balthazar needed. In his perspective, it was a better option to seek Walter's help than Evelyn's.
"I will be waiting for your reports. Hope you don't make a mess of things. Remember, there are a few things from which even Winston would not be able to protect you," warned Evelyn as she got up to leave.
"I beg pardon?!" interjected Winston. "If he does go after the Rowleys, it them that have to be worried. Not us," he continued looking at Evelyn. "The Price family have gotten too soft lately. They have almost forgotten how they managed to gain their power."
"Hmph!" said Evelyn as she walked out of the room followed by Dick and Xander. Though Winston's last words held no meaning to the others, it looked like Evelyn was shaken by it. The Blyths have been supporting her family for a long time and so she had taken them for granted, but it looked like they were not willing to budge on this.
She knew that if the situation called for it, her own family would discard her if there ever came a situation where the Blyths were no longer willing to support them. Seeing Winston support Balthazar made her rethink that may be Balthazar was much more capable than she thought.
She immediately made a few calls and started preparing for the scenarios where Balthazar failed or was successful and could get some incriminating evidence about the Rowleys. "It is all in your hands now kid," she thought as she reached her ship and lit a cigar. "Don't disappoint us," she sighed openly.