BXBX NOVEL Chapter 165 NO WAY!!
"…so we ended up making a deal that ensures peace and progress for everyone involved. Including the free sex slaves."
Babara was confounded. With a look of disbelief on her face, she asked Xzavier again to be sure;
"So Quaid is cool with all of this? Really?"
Babara had been in business with these people for years. As an active government official, she practically ran around with the same work circle as them. And as a very perceptive soul, Babara knew just how to anticipate most people responses, especially that of powerful people in this city. So far, Babara wasn\'t comfortable with Xzavier\'s version of how the governor had reacted. It just didn\'t make any sense.
Babara was well aware of just how prideful and egotistical the governor was. And yet, Xzavier was telling her that he had simply backed down without putting up a fight? Babara desperately wanted to believe him, for it truly seemed like Xzavier was convinced. The cynical, calculative part of her resisted the news vehemently. She hadn\'t expected Quaid to fold so easily. However Xzavier kept assuaging her.
"Nothing is truly impossible Babara. Quit being so pessimistic."
"Pessimistic? I am just trying to be real Xzavier!"
"Listen, before now, one would have deemed it impossible for a sex slave to be released by her master. But look how that all played out."
"That is precisely the reason I am worried! Can\'t you see? You took two women from him, and now you are trying take away the rest from him…surely you see why he cannot possibly sit idly by and let this play out…"
Xzavier rolled his eyes impatiently.
"Look, I appreciate your concern but I\'ve got this all figured out."
Thinking she was like that simply because she wasn\'t in the know. Xzavier made himself comfortable on the bed, and proceeded to fill her in on the details of their negotiations. He spoke of supplying the governor weapons in exchange for his promise to shut down the sex slave business.
He told her how even though he hadn\'t requested it, but Quaid had thought it good to offer him Princy Castle. Since it wasn\'t going to be used for his nefarious hobbies, it was now free to be used by another. As he revealed this particular detail to her, Babara\'s face turned miserably sour. Xzavier didn\'t see this, he simply carried on with his narration.
He proceeded to tell her how he himself suspected that it was just another ploy to keep him far away, since the castle was located in a remote location.
"…so, there\'s really no need to worry. As I said, it has all been tied up nicely. Everything is good now."
When Xzavier finished talking, Babara was quiet for some time. She sat at the edge of Xzavier\'s bed, with her elbows on her knees, and her palms supporting her chin. She digested and tore apart every single thing Xzavier had revealed to her, screening and double screening it all. It took a while, but, when she finally roused out of her own thoughts to address it all, she spoke in a cold, metallic voice that almost had a chilling, dead somber ring to it.
"Xzavier we need to leave this place immediately…"
Xzavier was surprised by her reaction. Did she not hear the good news at all? He wasn\'t sure what had her on edge, but she was making him nervous now.
"Why?" he inquired.
"Because you\'ve been tricked!!!" Babara got up on her feet and began to pace up and down, breathing and talking hysterically. "Oh Xzavier we have to go right now!! Trust me!!"
Xzavier still didn\'t understand. He didn\'t know Babara to be hasty about anything. He had grown to trust her judgment. So, if she was acting this way, it was clear that he was missing something.
"Calm down." He said as he sat up. "Talk to me, what\'s wrong?"
"Talk to you? Now\'s not the time for talking! We need to leave right away!"
"Babara be reasonable. I am not going anywhere until you tell me what has got you all hot and bothered."
Seeing that Xzavier was unwilling to cooperate until she gave him something to work with, she walked up to him and told him flatly.
"You can\'t have Princy Castle!"
A puzzled look darkened Xavier\'s countenance. Before he could ask why, Babara spared him the effort and elucidated;
"That castle can\'t just be handed over to you because it was the official residence of the previous Emperor. It is a symbol of royalty and excellence. Quaid cannot just give it away!"
Xzavier didn\'t reply her immediately but took a moment to go over what she had just told him. But Babara wasn\'t prepared to give him the chance to sit around. She stepped towards him with pleading eyes; "Xzavier please listen to me! You really need to be careful..."
Xzavier appreciated her quick thinking, it had done them both some good in the past. But presently, it was starting to become annoying. Xzavier was completely banking on the fact that Quaid needed him, maybe liked him even. He wasn\'t prepared to side Babara on this at all! Despite the fact that she had never been wrong before. As he prepared for another counter, suddenly his sixth sense started tingling. His base instincts reacted immediately, sending him into high alert mode.
Babara frowned when she noticed the change in Xzavier\'s countenance. She asked worriedly;
"What\'s happening? What\'s wrong Xzavier?"
Xzavier lifted his finger to his lip and bid her to be quiet. Then he tiptoed towards the door placed his ear on it. Babara\'s heart was beating loudly now. She was a person that was awfully suspicious of everything and everyone. And right now, Xzavier was giving her reason to be all the more suspicious.
Xzavier was on high alert. He could feel something in the air, but he just couldn\'t place his hands on it. He turned towards Babara whispered to Babara in a very low tone;
"Do you hear that?"
Babara was confused. What was Xzavier talking about, it was deathly still outside. There wasn\'t even a single sound. With her eyes looking like those of a wild animal, she lifted up her hands frantically and replied him in a harsh whisper;
"What the hell are you talking about?! It\'s dead quiet outside!"
"Exactly!" Xzavier rasped back. "Nothing!"
Now Babara was confused. Was Xzavier going mad? Was it abnormal to be quiet by this time? It was late night already. But apparently, Xzavier thought otherwise. Years and years of training and field missions had hardwired Xzavier. If he thought something was off, something was definitely off. He turned towards her and mouthed very quietly, almost too quiet to be heard.
"Babara don\'t be scared. I need you to move back towards the edge of the room and stay low."
"What?!"
"Just do it!" Xzavier growled angrily.
He had never raised his voice at a woman before, but right now he was as serious as a heart attack, and Babara had constantly been second guessing his every move. He was done with that bit. Xzavier could practically taste the danger in the air now. It was so thick that it sickened him. And yet, he couldn\'t place exactly what the source of it was. One thing he knew though- the silence was overbearingly loud. And that wasn\'t a good sign. He had to get a move on.
With the agility of a cat, Xzavier sprinted towards his gear tucked safely at the foot of his bed, and deftly brought out his high definition infra-red goggles. With the infra-red technology built into the system, he could scan past the walls around him, and see his outside environment. Without hesitation, and with Babara panicking in the background, Xzavier lifted up his goggles to his eyes. An involuntary gasp escaped his mouth almost immediately.
The sensitive ears of Babara picked it up quickly. She didn\'t know what the problem was,
Xzavier on the other hand kept his eyes fixed on his goggles. He was still very much in a state of perpetual shock,
"NO WAY!!" Xzavier thought silently. "No way…"
And yet, it was as clear as it would ever be. Right outside the walls of his bedroom, crouched on the floor like grasshoppers, littered around in a thick cluster of large numbers, were dozens and dozens of human figures lying in wait in the dark. They sat as still as immovable statues, huddled together in the darkness, waiting for the order to strike.
"NO WAY!!" Xzavier was still shocked. Here he was, sitting like a fool in the bedroom, literally about to fall asleep, thinking that he and the governor had come to a mutual understanding. What a fool he had been! What a big, bloody, fat fool!! Babara had been right all along! And worse still, he hadn\'t been able to see it, right up till the very end. In fact, if he wasn\'t seeing the host of evil men who had surrounded him in the dark, he probably would have maintained his ground.
In the midst of the ensuing crisis, Xzavier began to get a clarity of mind that came almost too late. His mind was doing loops around the same subject matter- QUAID! In that moment, Xzavier felt like he was running mad. The monumental betrayal was staggering in different proportions. Xzavier saw the darkest side of humanity he had refused to acknowledge. Suspended in a world of his own, momentarily detached from reality, and briefly incarcerated in a mental prison of his making; Xzavier saw the true depth of man\'s depravity, avarice and deception.