Page 28 of Inceptive (Ingenious #3)

28

ZACH

Z ach had pushed the council’s long table against the back wall to give extra standing space to Max, who’d requested the meeting but hadn’t arrived. Zach sat at the head of the table in his plain black suit and white shirt. His beard was longer, and his bangs hung over his brows, deliberately shaggy to ward off interest from the women. A male aide accompanied him everywhere. Zach spotted Will in the front row in a shapeless brown tunic and leggings issued by the Triangle. Their gazes met and softened. Zach’s efforts to meet him privately had been thwarted by council sessions and the physical labor of moving an uprooted people back into ransacked homes. The Triangle’s communication devices had been banned as spy traps.

His greedy staring drew a remark from Astrid about the close friendship upsetting parents with unmarried daughters fearful of being kidnapped as breeders.

Calling the fears ridiculous, Zach soon realized the women of the council were dead serious. They’d voted against a surgical unit staffed by the Triangle’s bots that would be programmed to improve their reproductive system. If Fort Hope had manipulated servants in the steam lodge for centuries without guilt, the perverted Triangle would be even more ruthless.

As for using Dante’s medical facility? They suspected Dante’s loyalty had been tampered with. They questioned the abilities of a mayor who wasn’t stabilized by a wife. His marriage would also save at least one young woman from being kidnapped. For all their perversions, the Triangle revered marriage. A wife was safe from abduction.

Though Zach argued that Fort Hope owed the Triangle a huge debt for saving them, his people clung to a simple life of farming and trading goods and services.

The council women wore their lace collars high and tight, as if an inch of skin would inflame the commander and his advisors.

Max had requested the meeting to officially confirm ownership of the territories before incineration and reconstruction. Elliston and his government were giving the Triangle ownership of the Island Federation and the Trading Post in exchange for settlements in the vast uninhabited outlands. Skills and initiative would determine placement, not privileged rank. In other words, the Islanders farmed and worked their way up the social ladder. The Triangle’s government ruled them until they established eco-independence.

After the surface of the Island Federation and the Trading Post was incinerated, Max planned to turn it into an air base for exploration across the ocean.

Max arrived last, striding down the center aisle with Quiggs, Jagger, and Beau following. The commander’s navy jacket with a gold sash, dark green pants, and feathered tricorn hat was his full regalia that stated no going back after this session’s agreements were finalized. He stood at the podium facing the table, with his husband and two friends standing on each side, their hands folded behind them in a soldier’s stance.

Max spread pages of the treaty on the slanted surface of the podium and waited for the council to unfold the copies in front of them. “As each clause of the treaty is read, the council will accept with a nod or veto with a raised hand. On my honor, I will answer all questions truthfully.” He waited for questions.

“We have read the treaty,” Zach said. “Proceed.”

“The council agrees that the basin, the Island, and the Trading Post must be incinerated, and Islanders must be transported to the outlands of the Triangle Alliance.”

All nodded.

“The Triangle Alliance recognizes that Fort Hope, its rampart, basin, and sanctuary belong to the descendants of the creations of the Carolina Sanctuary’s guardian. The Island Federation has no claim.”

All nodded.

Elliston, sitting in the front row and invited as the self-appointed general of the Island Federation, pursed his lips. He’d had no choice but to accept being transported as a farmer to the outland.

“The council agrees that Fort Hope gave the oceanic domes’ survivors ownership of a forested territory now called the wasteland and withdrew all claims on the Island Federation and its grid.”

All nodded.”

Max turned around and regarded Elliston. “As is decreed that Fort Hope has no rights over the wasteland, the Triangle Alliance will negotiate leasing rights with the true owner of the wasteland—the Island Federation.”

Leasing rights? What, when, why? Zach frowned as council members whispered for him to say something. What could he say except they’d just confirmed having no rights to the wasteland.

“As leader of the Island Federation until transported, I’ll negotiate the rights for my people.” Elliston’s eyes glittered at an opportunity to escape a future as a farmer.

“Excuse me?” Will raised his hand. “Per the original written agreement, Fort Hope bestowed the title and all rights to the viceroy. After the toxic gases leaked through the ground, the wording wasn’t challenged. No one accepted responsibility for the damage.”

“I am the deputy viceroy, assuming the title of viceroy after the death of your father,” Elliston snapped back. “You forfeited the claim by faking your death and betraying your people.”

“I, William van Diehn, am still the son of the late viceroy,” Will declared.

Zach supported him. “The rightful heir who faked his death because Elliston forced you into an engagement.”

“His father, my good friend, sanctioned the marriage,” Elliston retorted. “I was to be the viceroy by marriage, a perfectly legal succession.”

Max arched a brow. “However, you aren’t married.”

Elliston sputtered. “Will’s citizenship was revoked. I am entitled.”

“You seized control. You had no right to call me a traitor!” Will jumped to his feet.

“The Triangle Alliance does not side in this dispute,” the commander calmly said. “Before fighting begins, the combatants should know what the leasing rights involve. Tell them, my Quiggs.”

Quiggs, in a stained white lab jacket and dark brown messy hair, looked as if he was physically dragged from his project to attend the meeting. His round face brightened. “The toxic gases contain a rare element,” he said, gesturing with his hands in emphasis. “Like fossil oil, they’ve churned beneath the surface and have become a… oh, interesting…” His green eyes glazed over.

“Quiggs, goddammit, stay with us!”

“Huh?” He blinked at his husband. “Oh. I’ve figured a better extension of distance with an improved design of…”

“Simplify it,” Max suggested.

“The gases contain elements of an aircraft fuel that covers greater distances. It enables the exploration of other continents, using the islands as a launching station. Max, it’s wonderful. We need the rights to drill!”

Max scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Stick to inventing, my good friend, Quiggs. You’re a bad negotiator.” Beau laughed at Max’s irritation.

“I’ll seek terms beneficial to my people,” Elliston promised.

“Only after you collect your share,” Will taunted him. “Like donating blood to yourself and those who sided with your invasion.”

Zach heard the angry murmurs of the council. Yeah, they remembered the deaths of the patients stranded on the Island.

“So, how is leadership settled here?” Max asked.

“I say they fight like we fight!” Beau hopped from foot to foot. “Our law says a soldier who defeats the commander becomes the new commander.” At Quiggs’s hiss, he added, “As long as Max is my friend, I’ll not fight.”

“The Triangle is grateful,” Jagger deadpanned.

To the surprise of all, Zach encouraged a fight. “Settle this now. Move the podium. Give the challengers room.”

“I can’t fight him,” Will protested. “He’s served years in law enforcement before my father appointed him the deputy viceroy. He boxes to keep fit!”

Elliston discarded his jacket and shirt, exposing muscled arms and a solid chest. “See what you threw away?”

“Ooooh, he’ll fight mean.” Beau rubbed his hands together.

Elliston stared at Max. “The winner becomes the viceroy?”

“Yes. No one intervenes.”

“I’m the rightful viceroy.” Panic raised Will’s voice to a squeak. “Help me out, Zach. You remember how worthless I was at physical labor.”

Zach bit back a smile. “The rules are whoever knocks the other down and pins him to the floor to the count of ten wins.”

“Any restricted moves?” Elliston assumed a proper boxer’s stance. “Like kidney punches, crotch hits… killing blows?”

“What!” Will’s face reflected horror. He searched for an exit. People deliberately blocked the aisle. He backed away, bumping up against the side wall.

Zach’s people hated Elliston but were wary of Will’s motives. He’d led an army to the tunnel, and only Zach had listened to his reasoning, with Beau and Max as witnesses. His people also disliked knowing that Will engaged in man-love and had lived with Zach. Will and Elliston could fight to the death without anyone objecting.

“Say when.” Elliston posed with utter confidence, while Will scrambled to find a way out.

Max and Beau watched intently.

“When,” Zach drawled.

Elliston swung right with full strength and speed behind his fist. Had he connected with Will’s jaw, he’d have broken it. The left punch pulled back before hitting the stone wall when Will swerved. “A schoolboy’s trick,” Elliston jeered at him. Savoring the fear on Will’s face, he never saw the side kick that struck his chest, knocking him flat.

Elliston lay unmoving as Beau counted.

“For fuck’s sake, pin him if you want to win!” Quiggs yelled at Will.

As Beau shouted nine and Will turned away with arms raised in victory, Elliston leaped to his feet to deliver a blood-pissing kidney punch. A spinning back kick to the crotch disabled him. He fell to his knees, then curled on the floor.

Will pressed a foot to his neck. The panicky mask vanished. “Stay down, scum, or I swear I’ll kill you.” The venom in the words would’ve tested the immunity of the townspeople.

At the count of ten, with Will’s foot pinning his opponent, Max declared William van Diehn the rightful viceroy.

Zach bounded to Will and swung him around in a hug. “I knew you’d win.” He wanted to tell Will that he knew all along that Will would use wits and speedy kicks to knock down Elliston. Zach lowered him, aching for more than a slow slide down his body. He paused with their lips an inch apart, longing to kiss him until both were breathless. He set Will down, mindful the council would have words for him later about his unseemly hug.

Will’s wide smile faded when Zach stepped back. They both knew this marked a new beginning for all parties—a totally new concept of the future rising from the ashes of the past.

As mayor, Zach must campaign for a hospital and allow Dante to introduce medical bots to Fort Hope. Before leaving for the outland, Will would negotiate leasing rights to improve the lives of his people, who would finally own land.

A beautiful beginning.

And the end of Zach’s time with Will.