Cyprus wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she shivered. Recli had demanded to cool the Terminus down to uncomfortable temperatures. She had argued at first, but her will to fight died when she caught the murderous glint in his eyes.
How often did he fight the urge to spill her guts out onto the cold steel?
She instinctively looked over her shoulder as she walked down the corridor. She half expected to see him lurking behind a corner, orange eyes glowing in the shadows. Another one of his demands- keep the lights down. Weren’t lizards cold blooded?
Her tablet vibrated and she pulled it out from the satchel slung over her shoulder.
“Granddad!” She exclaimed, holding up the pocket-sized hologram of Giantis' head, “It’s good to see you.”
It really was. Seeing his wrinkled face brought a surprising but welcome warmth to her heart.
“Likewise, my dear” His eyes narrowed, “Are you okay? Is there an issue with the life support system?”
She stepped into the bright lights of the flight deck, and the door automatically closed behind her. She was grateful for the comforting illumination, it made her feel safe.
She smiled and waved away the comment, “Oh, uh, no everything is fine. I think there’s just an issue with the lights.”
“And the blanket?”
“Oh! You know what I think I might be coming down with something. I’m just feeling a little chilly.”
Giantis frowned and studied her, “Cyprus, I’ve done a lot of thinking and perhaps I was too rash in my decision to send you out there.” He seemed to struggle for the words, “say the word and you can come back I’ll reinstate your seat.”
A part of her longed to break down into tears and accept the offer. Anything to get away from Recli, anything to put distance between her and the Hokkonians. But she couldn’t, she started something and she would finish it. That was the Atik way.
“I’m fine Grandad,” She said in a quiet voice, “It’s going to take some getting used to, but I think I can make a real difference stationed out here.”
The old man gave her a sad smile and nodded, “Well if you change your mind...”
“You got it.”
A cough to clear his throat, “well of course I’m not calling just to socialize, I wanted to inform you that a full crew has been hired and dispatched, along with a replacement group of engineers. A tragedy that story is, I’m sorry you had to experience that on your first day.”
She knew this was coming, but she was hoping it would still be a while. She couldn’t let anyone discover Recli.
“Yeah it was certainly sad.” She shuddered at the mental image of the decapitated engineer.
Giantis shook his head, “Suicide, and a Union service station of all places!”
Cyprus swallowed, “well it is quite lonely out here.”
“Yes well, I can’t say we haven’t learned our lesson, there has been a complete overhaul to the crew shifts on all union stations. We won’t let this happen again.”
“I’m glad to hear that Grandad, how long did you say it would be until the shuttle arrives with the new crew?”
The hologram shook as the old man hacked a cough into his arm, “sorry, ahem, shouldn’t be more than a week.”
A week? She had a week to find a way to get Recli off the station and onto someplace more permanent. Maybe Giantis would have information on Reloculan.
“Cyprus, did you hear me?”
“What? Oh sorry Grandad, what were you saying?”
“I said, I have a new assignment for you if you’re up to it.”
“Oh! Yes of course, what is it.”
There was a faint scrape of metal from outside her door and she felt her heart quicken. Was it Recli?
“I would like for you to attend a meeting with the Hokkonians on Ordan. These meetings typically don’t involve union business. However, our treaty demands a third-party union representative when any nation meets with a civilization outside of our territory. I was going to send a Council member from Terminus eight, but I figured you could use the experience.”
Another faint creak, it was soft but it quickened her heart rate nonetheless. “Uh sure Grandad I can do that.”
He smiled, “It’s settled then, I’ll inform Council member Shlif of your involvement, and he’ll be in touch with the details.”
“Okay that’s great. I have a question, what do you know of the Relocs?”
Giantis raised his bushy eyebrows, “enough to pass a history test, what do you want to know?”
“Are they still, you know, active?”
The old man sighed, “their story is a sad one I’m afraid, the kind that doesn’t have a happy ending.”
“Give me the short version.”
He itched his nose, “The short version… well they were at one point a great civilization, one that rivaled Hokku in terms of size and power. Their military however was proportionately tiny, and when the civil war came… they didn’t stand a chance. Because of their location, Reloculan caught the brunt of Hokku’s crusade, and the planet was practically decimated.”
“But the Relocs are still alive, are they not?”
Giantis nodded, “a few escaped, not many. By the time they knew what was happening, there was already a blockade surrounding the planet. Only the personal cruisers were able to slip through.”
“Okay but what about on the surface, there has to be Relocs alive there.”
The old man peered at her, clearly hesitant to answer. “Why are you so interested in that place.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
She shrugged, “I just heard some rumors on Kleth’altho, seemed interesting.”
Whether or not he believed the answer, Giantis seemed satisfied. “Yes, Reloculan and its inhabitants live on, though to what quality of life that is, I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“They have dedicated their lives to ‘the cause’. The cause being the destruction of Hokku. They’re radicalists, they believe their whole purpose in life is to kill as many Hokkonians as possible.”
So that’s why he didn’t want to tell me. Too similar to my own agenda.
Cyprus licked her lips, “Do we have a contact there? If there’s an established population why hasn’t the union tried to- I don’t know, assimilate them.”
The old man picked at his wispy grey beard, “well the truth is that we’ve tried countless times. They simply have no desire to join us.”
“I find that hard to believe, they must be hurting for resources, there’s so much we could offer them, we could even help them-“
“No.” Giantis interrupted, “That is why they don’t wish to join, because our terms have always remained the same, they must give up their fight.”
“But-“
“If Hokku discovered we allied with terrorists well,” He unleashed another body heaving cough into the crook of his elbow. “It would not end well.”
Cyprus frowned, “well maybe I could try again, you’ve always said I was a diplomatic prodigy.”
The old man hesitated “I’ll give you the information to our contact. I’m not sure if you’ll have better luck than your predecessors but perhaps you’ll figure something out we haven't.”
She gave the old man a warm smile and thanked him. With a cough infused goodbye, he signed off and the holographic image winked out. She leaned back in her chair with an exhausted sigh. She hated lying to him, but she had no choice. Hokku had to fall, and if it meant breaking his trust than it was worth it. By the time he found out what she was doing, it would be too late to stop it.
Besides, she needed a way to get Recli off of Terminus 14, any means possible.
“That sounded promising,” Recli’s deep hissing voice came from behind her.
Her heart leapt in her throat and she whirled around. He was standing in the room only a few feet behind her.
“Recli! Uh yes, yeah it sounds good.” She said quickly, “I think we might have found a legitimate hideout for you.”
The lizard grinned, “I was talking about your meeting.”
“My meeting?” She furrowed her brow, “The one with the Ordanian.”
“And the Hokkonian. That’s a valuable opportunity.”
Cyprus nodded and the apprehension grew, “I suppose it is a pretty good opportunity, could give us insight into how the Hokkonians operate, on a political scale and a societal-“
“There will be HWNDs there.” Recli said, cutting her off, “It’s an opportunity to get some.”
Cyprus' stomach turned to stone, “You want to steal their HWNDs? But it’s a union sanctioned meeting, the moment we attack them the Ordanian will-“
A guttural laugh ripped out Recli’s throat, “There will be no one left alive to report.”
She gave him a frantic shake of her head, “You don’t understand, the Ordanians are cunning, they’ll be watching closely. They have spies everywhere.”
Recli's grin vanished, but his fangs remained visible. “You can’t pass on this opportunity, human. This is our chance.”
Cyprus raised her hands, “I understand, but we can’t just kill everyone there. The Hokkonians will know, and the Ordanians will raise the alarm before we even get off the planet. This is not the way we do it.”
“You think too much in favour of your government, little mammal. You said it yourself, they do not want to help us.”
“Not yet!” Cyprus blurted out, “But I’ll convince them, if we do this right they won’t have a choice but to support it. But we need more time.”
The massive lizard thought about her words with a tilt of his head. His overwhelming predatory aura threatened to consume her. She had to actively fight to maintain her wits.
A chime interrupted them both and she turned to see a notification flashing on her tablet. It was a message from her Grandad, the Reloculan contact.
“Duty calls.” She hated the emotional warble in her voice.
The shadari said nothing and turned away, the scraping of his talons on the metal floor echoed down the corridor. Once she was sure he was out of earshot she slumped in her chair and allowed the tears to flow freely.
***
The cockpit of her personal cruiser felt crowded with Recli’s hulking figure behind her. Breathing was difficult, not because of claustrophobia but because she couldn’t stop imaging Recli’s claws piercing the back of her chair and skewering her torso. She was aptly aware of every miniscule movement that he made, and deeply disturbed by his ability to remain still.
“Still no contact.” Recli growled.
She readjusted her grip on the controls and checked the console for the thousandth time. The Reloculan contact responded to her message almost immediately and they planned to meet shortly after.
It took them little over four hours to reach Reloculan, but their instructions were to wait for an escort once they entered orbit. That had been an hour ago.
“This is a waste of time, just land.”
“Their instructions were clear, if we wait just a little longer I’m sure they’ll be here. We have to do this properly if we want Reloculan as an ally.”
Recli hissed and Cyprus half expected his massive fangs to penetrate her skull.
“Who is that?”
Cyprus glanced up at the viewport and narrowed her eyes at a small shape in the distance. The fact that it had remained invisible to the long range scanners was not a good sign.
The console chimed with a request for communication. She motioned for Recli to remain hidden and accepted the transmission.
The grey-skinned face of a Hokkonian appeared, his expression one of pure contempt. “Greetings, Union cruiser, You’re speaking with Commander Wraitharos, leader of HWND division four. What is your business here?”
Oh great.
Cyprus wiped sweaty palms on her legs and cleared her throat. “Good to meet you Commander, my name is Cyprus Atik, captain of Terminus 14 and council representative of the outer layers. We’re here on Union sanctioned business.”
The Hokkonian frowned, “What sort of business could the Union possibly have with terrorists?”
Cyprus forced her voice to remain neutral, “I’m afraid that the nature of my business is my own. The Union does not recognize Reloculan as a terrorist organization. We have several contacts who do not claim allegiance to those you wage war with.”
The captain scoffed, “A humanitarian mission then?”
“Like I said Commander, my business is my own.” She gave him a sweet smile.
After a few seconds of mutual glaring, the Hokkonian snorted and shook his head, “Safe travels Councilwoman, we’ll be sure to add our records of your arrival on Reloculan so we can follow up and… ensure your success in your humanitarian aid. The Sovereignty cares for the well being of all people within Dromedar.”
With that he closed the communication and his face disappeared. The Hokkonian ships continued with their patrol, flying a little too close as they shot past.
“Should have shot them down.” Recli growled.
For once Cyprus found herself agreeing with the alien.
Another chime sounded and the face of the Reloculan contact appeared. He was reptilian like Recli, although his head was much smaller. He reminded her of the garden snakes she used to catch back home on Gasaan.
“Greetings Councilwoman.” He spoke with surprising sophistication, “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, we had to ensure your intentions were pure and devoid of any Hokkonian influence.”
“You were listening?”
The reptile dipped his head with a look of discomfort, “Again I apologize, we can never be too safe.”
“I understand, uh…”
“Geldhern, Councilwoman. You can call me Geld.”
She smiled, “A pleasure to meet you Geld, I trust your eavesdropping proved we’re not allies with the Hokkonians?”
The snake flicked out a forked tongue, “An escort is already on their way, we look forward to sitting down with you.”
“Likewise.”
On cue, three Reloculan ships appeared through the atmosphere's veil of clouds. They slithered through the air like giant mechanical snakes, a crude imitation of the piloting biologicals. The snake-like ships were scuffed and covered in patches of various sizes. The vessels were certainly not in any condition to greet dignitaries from another nation.
“Finally.” Recli said.
She could feel his claws gripping the headrest of her chair. The faint tearing of fabric as he ripped into the cushion was all she could hear.
Cyprus said nothing and followed the Reloculan escort down onto the sand filled planet.
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