Faria Prime
Kepler-62—989 light years from Earth.
Office of the First Prime, Kingdom of Faria
Sometime later, he was reading the latest fishery yield reports when he received another comm request from the same channel, seeing it was the changed agent again. What do you want from me, you evil scum?! He screamed in his mind as he carefully made his face bland before accepting the request.
The agent appeared on the screen, the unnatural, moronic smile it always had on its face noticeably absent, and he immediately knew something was wrong as both his stomachs flipped.
“Why did you not inform me there are Ma’Kin’Ati on this world, First Prime?”
His fear increased, as did his confusion about the comm request. What was it talking about?
“What? What are those? I don’t know what you are speaking of.”
The smile vanished, replaced with a vicious snarl. It began to practically scream at him, slinging saliva out of its mouth as the lifeless eyes turned into pure rage.
“Do not pretend you didn’t know of the Ma’Kin’Ati on your world, you disgusting creature! Our embedded programs have discovered there are almost two hundred of them right outside the capital, in a compound that is not connected to any infrastructure and completely isolated from the rest of the city.
We only noticed the compound when the programs detected signals emanating from it towards a satellite orbiting the first moon that suddenly appeared. We took control of a nearby sentry drone and sent it to examine the compound for ourselves.
The drone took several scans from above, and then it was jammed and disabled by the compound, but not before we saw the Ma’Kin’Ati within it. Do you dare to pretend you do not know what I speak of, or shall I show you our displeasure again? Perhaps I will poison the water supply to the capital and destroy more fisheries.”
“No! Please, I beg you not to do this! I truly did not know what you were speaking of, but I do know of the satellite orbiting the first moon. That satellite and the compound that sent signals to it is the Republic Embassy, but I do not know what they have to do with whatever you are talking about!”
“They are Ma’Kin’Ati, you stupid fool! They are the mortal enemy of the Masters, along with their abominable machine-kin, the Ma’Kin’Alit. Why are they isolated from the rest of the city? Why did we not know about their presence when we were blessed by the Masters?”
He stared at the livid agent, his mind trying to grasp what was happening as the changed continued to breathe heavily and bug out his eyes like a wild animal. Putting his hands out in supplication, he tried to salvage the situation before any more of his people were killed.
“Please, I will tell you what I know. The Republic embassy was built after you and the rest of the blessed had left Faria Prime, and the people within it are a species called Humans. I did not know they were Makin..ati and enemies of the Masters, or I would have informed you of their presence.
As you can see, there are other embassies and species on the planet. As to why they are isolated from the rest of the city, that is their preference when they establish embassies on other worlds.”
“We do not care about the other inferiors; they are of no consequence to us. They will be expunged like all others have been, but the Ma’Kin’Ati are the bane of the Masters, and they are on your world, defiling it with their presence and calling into question your worthiness to be blessed as one of the Chosen.”
Dread filled him, and his mind raced as he tried to think of a way to placate the agent and prevent their destruction. “I will order them to close their embassy immediately and vacate the planet. Now that I know they are hated by the Masters, their hate becomes ours, and we do not want them here anymore. I will have them expelled and destroy all traces after they have left.”
The agent eyed him balefully, seemingly unimpressed by his earnest attempt to make things right. A long, uncomfortable silence followed as he forced himself to maintain eye contact with the changed, who said nothing and continued to look at him as if he were lower than an amoeba.
He picked up a strange behavior of the eyes for the first time, a barely perceptible side to side movement. He also realized something else he had never noticed till now: the agent was not blinking normally.
Why am I only noticing this now? He thought to himself, finally recognizing it was these two things all along that had been subconsciously bothering him about the agent since he first revealed himself to be a pawn of the Masters.
The agent’s eyes became still, and it blinked for the first time as the moronic, meaningless smile returned to its face. Even the blink seemed unnatural now that he was paying attention to it, almost as if it was an afterthought rather than a biological necessity.
“No. You will not expel them. You will seize the embassy and all the Ma’Kin’Ati on this world and imprison them in a single location. You will also provide us with a medical lab and all the necessary equipment required to conduct genetic research, specifically whole genome sequencing.
We will need disposable qualified personnel to assist us in our tasks, as well as obedient warriors to provide security for the prisoners and the medical labs. We require molecular biologists, biochemists, pathologists, and experts of all related research fields.
Choose wisely, for they will not be allowed to leave the labs alive after we are done utilizing their services. Do not try to trick us by selecting scientists that are not the top experts of their respective fields; we will quickly be able to discern their level of expertise.”
He stared at the agent in shock, not believing what he was being ordered to do. He knew immediately what they were going to do based on its demands for the very specific equipment and scientists it was requesting he provide.
They were going to conduct illegal research to develop biological weapons, and they were going to do it on Faria Prime, which would condemn the entire Farian species to a quadrant-wide retaliation from all others for violating the Treaty of Sirius.
The consequences for such a violation were clearly outlined to all who signed the treaty, which the Kingdom of Faria had done. They would suffer the same fate as the Ominians did, perhaps even worse at the hands of the Ma’lit Domain, the primary enforcers of the treaty.
They might have a chance of survival if it was just the Ma’lit, but he was more terrified of a vengeful Republic of Humanity retaliating. They would exterminate the Farians with extreme prejudice, and no one would be able to stop them even if they were so inclined.
The agent was still waiting for his response, and he took a shuddering breath as his panicked mind tried to think of a way to deny the requests without leading to the destruction of the hatcheries.
“The Kingdom of Faria has guaranteed the inviolable rights of the humans on this planet when we granted them the land to build their compound on. That means the embassy is Republic territory, and if we seize it, it would be the same as if we seized one of their worlds or stations.
That would be considered an act of war; do you understand that? They would respond to such provocation by declaring war on us, and there would be 1,000 Republic ships in orbit within ten solar days, bombing us into submission after they tear our fleets to shreds. They will invade the home world with millions of troops, and we would not be able to resist; no one can stand against them!”
The agent smiled evilly at him, his unblinking eyes drilling into his own as it answered him.
“It is of no concern. By the time they arrive and invade, we will already have several functional viruses ready to deploy against them since their life code is mostly the same as before, and we just need to make some minor changes to account for their current genetic makeup. That is, if you do what we say and provide what we need quickly.
When they do arrive, the weapons will be ready to use, and their invasion will fail as they succumb to the new plagues we create. They might invade, but there will not be a living Ma’Kin’Ati alive on the surface or in orbit within ten days of their arrival.
By then, the plagues would have been unwittingly brought back to their space by their infected wounded, and they would be unable to claim vengeance against you as they suffer from the long overdue punishment of our Masters.
Within two solar months, they will effectively cease toexist,t and by then, we would have other plagues ready to deploy against the others from the samples provided by the foreign filth currently on this world after you seize them for us.
You will suffer; that much is true, but the Masters will reward you for your faith and your willingness to strike the first blow against the Ma’Kin’Ati when they arrive, for you will have proven that you are worthy of being selected as one of the Chosen after all.”
The surety with which the agent described the sequence of events after the seizure of the Republic embassy chilled him to his core, and he shivered despite the warm humidity of his office.
They do not care what happens to us at all; we are just tools to use until they no longer have a purpose for us. He thought to himself as the agent continued to smile viciously at him.
For all their promises of sparing them as one of the Chosen of the Masters, what he was just ordered to do would practically guarantee their extinction as much as all the viral bombs killing off the hatcheries, only it would happen in a matter of weeks, not years.
Desperate to buy themselves some time, he flicked his head in agreement as if he thought it was a wonderful idea and not something that wouldcaused the destruction of the Kingdom and every Farian currently alive in the quadrant.
Placing his dominant hand on the desk, he began to tap his fingers on it as he looked up at the ceiling, seeming to be thinking of a plan to do as bid while he was really thinking of ways to turn this to his advantage.
As much as the Republic was an economic competitor of the Kingdom, the humans were an honorable species. And as much as he was loath to admit it, if it wasn’t for them, the Kingdom would have been destroyed by the Insectoids after they wiped out the old Commonwealth.
The Kingdom was encircled by the massive Commonwealth, a mere two hundred light years from their core regions, and it would have only been a matter of time before those monstrous Hive ships would have swarmed into Farian space and glassed them as well.
Not a single Farian would be alive today if not for the Republic, and if thehumanss were wiped out before the Masters arrived, then the entire quadrant would be exterminated, save for the Ma’lit Domain.
He would do anything to save his people, but not this. Not in this way.
If all the others somehow did manage to defeat the Masters and their evil Bal’Ri’Kan, the Farians would be remembered as betrayers; the very name of their species becoming a vile epithet to be spat with vehemence upon the ground every time it wasuttered.
Their memories would be cursed by the billions to come, forever known as traitors and cowards. To be remembered in such a way is a fate far worse than the one that would befall them if he did the right thing and stopped such evil from being created and launched from their sacred world.
Never. I will gladly preside over the demise of Faria rather than allow such dishonor to be heaped upon my people.
As he continued to stare at the ceiling and tap his fingers, the beginnings of a desperate plan came to him. Looking back down, he locked eyes with the evil agent’s and smiled while he continued tapping his fingers on the desk before speaking. “I have an alternative plan I think you will agree with if you are willing to hear me out.”
The agent’s smile widened beyond what should have been possible for a Farian, looking positively demonic as it flicked its head in agreement. Hoping his ploy was successful, he held up both his hands and began to plead with the insane creature.
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“I serve the Masters in all things, but I also want to limit the suffering of the Kingdom as much as possible. Even if the weapons work as you promise and all the humans die, their allies will not allow their deaths by such a manner to go unpunished.
I ask that you allow me to approach this in a slightly different way, though the end result would be the same. If you provide me with samples of the viruses you have in the hatchery bombs, I can claim that we discovered the Republic was engaging in illegal genetic research with the intent to use biological weapons against our people.
The others know the bad relations between our two peoples, and most will not believe it, but that does not matter. I will demand they grant us full access to verify the intelligence we just received, and of course they will refuse, which will give me the pretext I need to violate the sovereignty of the Republic Embassy.
Once our military forces have taken control of the embassy, we can plant the viral samples you provide us and use that as evidence to prove that the Republic was in fact engaging in outlawed biological weapons research.
Not only will this give us an advantage and allow you to use the humans for research, but it will also delay the response time of the Republic military forces and cause a schism to emerge between all the factions currently trying to form an alliance against the Masters.
You get what you want, and the Masters will arrive to find the quadrant in a state of conflict and tension, instead of a quadrant unified as one to stand against them. This will also ensure that we Farians are not exterminated fully and some of us will survive to claim our status of the Chosen, as promised.”
The agent’s smile vanished, only to be replaced with a snarl as it narrowed its eyes suspiciously. “Do you think we are fools, you filthy amphibian? If we provide you with viral samples, what is to stop you from using that to create a cure instead of doing as we say?”
“Then do not provide us with the samples directly. Have some of the others that have been blessed, like you, handle the samples and plant them in the embassy themselves. This way, you can be assured we do not have access to the samples, and my plan can proceed without the risk of us developing a cure.”
The agent’s eyes resumed the barely perceptible side-to-side movement for what seemed like an agonizingly long time before the snarl suddenly vanished, and the moronic smile he hated with all his being returned.
“Done. I must watch you more closely, First Prime. I did not realize you were capable of such deviousness. Make sure you use it only in the service of the Masters; I would hate to have to lose the productive working relationship we have developed between us, and I do not wish to have to train another; it is tiresome.”
The veiled threat was not lost on him, and he kept his face bland to hide the sheer relief flooding through his body from the short reprieve the Kingdom had just received with the main agent agreeing to his proposal.
Now, he only had to make sure to properly execute the desperate gamble for it to unfold the way it had in his mind. The agent resumed speaking, repeating its requirements for the equipment and personnel needed for the weapons research before asking him a question.
“When will you demand access to the embassy, and how will you go about it? I want to be there when you do it to ensure there are no attempts to deceive the Masters.”
It was time for thefirst, and most important part of his plan. He pretended to be hurt by the insinuation of disloyalty and manufactured a dejected look for the benefit of the agent before replying, nervously tapping his fingers on the desk as he answered the question.
“The quickest way would be to contact Ambassador Skarl and order him to demand immediate access to the embassy from the human president herself. She will, of course, reject the demand, and then I will order the embassy and the humans on the planet to be seized immediately after the rejection of our demands.
I will open a channel andthree-wayy it with you, the ambassador, and myself so you can see and listen for yourself that we are loyal and doing as you command. I need at least eight solar hours to get security forces assembled and ready to seize the embassy, as well as to send the orders for the personnel you require and get them to the primary genetic research laboratory here in thecapital.
I am sure you need time to get the viral samples ready for planting them as evidence in the embassy as well. I will contact the ambassador now and inform him of our plan so he is ready when it is time to execute it after all preparations have been made.”
The agent looked at him for a few moments before flicking its head in agreement. He activated the comm controls and opened a null space channel to the Ma’lit outpost, tapping his fingers nervously as he waited for the connection to be made.
“What is that vexing tapping sound?” The agent demanded as they waited for the ambassador to respond. Forcing himself to look embarrassed, he stopped the tapping before replying. “That isme;, my apologies. I tend to tap my fingers when nervous or stressed, and I don’t even realize most of the time. I will try to be mindful of it.”
The agent glowered at him but did not say anything in response, nor did it tell him to stop doing it. After some time of extremely uncomfortable silence, the connection was finally made, and Skarl appeared looking as if he had just woken up, though his eyes were alert and full of worry.
“Ambassador, I apologize for inconveniencing you at such anhour;, please wait while I include our... advisor in our conversation.” He said quickly to prevent Skarl from speaking. Skarl's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the agent, and he wisely kept quiet as the agent’s comm channel was included.
Now, all three of them could see each other, and he nervously tapped his fingers as he began to speak slowly and clearly to ensuretherer was no confusion about what he was about to say.
“Ambassador, I have terrible news. The Intelligence Directorate has discovered a plot by the Republic to poison our hatcheries with biological weapons, and we need to verify the disturbing reports for ourselves.
We need your help in this matter. In eight solar hours, I need you to speak with the Republic president and demand they grant us immediate and full access to theirembassy, ano order their people to submit to interrogation by our government.”
Ambassador Skarl stared at him in shock, his skin turning pale at what he had just been told. He stammered several times before he finally responded, his voice croaking indisbelief.
“First Prime...are you sure it is wise to speak of this over the null space relay? We cannot trust the Ma’lit assurances of privacy regarding such a sensitive subject.”
“Ambassador, I want the others who might be potentially eavesdropping to hear this conversation. If what the Intelligence Directorate is saying is true, then the Kingdom of Faria wants every power in the quadrant to hear our accusations.
Be ready eight solar hours from now. We will speak again at that time, and I will provide you with an official statement outlining our accusations and the demands of our government. Is that understood?”
Skarl eyed him for a long moment, his skin even paler than before as his features became distraught. Only after he stopped his nervous tapping did the ambassador finally acknowledge him. “I understand, First Prime, and I will obey.”
“Thank you, Ambassador Skarl. We will speak to you then.”
He jabbed on the comm panel, and the second screen displaying the ambassador winked out, leaving only the agent still up on the first screen. The agent stared at him with a vicious, evil-looking smile and flicked its head several times, clearly happy with him.
“Notify me when all is in place for the seizure of the Ma’Kin’Ati compound. Send me the location of the lab; I will go there now and prepare for the arrival of the people I requested. I will have the blessed secure the viral samples and wait near the compound until it is time for them to enter it. Contact me in four solar hours and update me on your progress.”
He started replying when the agent rudely disconnected the channel from its end without letting him speak. He stared at the now black screen, infuriated with his sudden dismissal by the evil scum.
It took all his willpower to refrain from ripping the screen out of the desktop and flinging it across the room. He was First Prime, the second most powerful Farian in the entire Kingdom, and he was tired of being treated like a servant in his own home.
Leaning back in his seat, he breathed deeply to calm himself as he thought of his plan again, praying to the creator for help, not just for him but for Skarl and the Kingdom. He would watch it burn before he allowed such wickedness to come out of its waters.
He had done all the evil he did because he wanted the Kingdom to survive, but not this way. He will not allow the Farian species to sully itself with such dishonor just to live as slaves. Better for them all to die and be remembered for their sacrifice than to live as servants of such hateful creatures.
I hope you understood the message, Skarl. I need you now more than ever, my hatch brother.
* * *
Skarl remained seated for many minutes as he looked at the blank screen in front of him, his mind refusing to believe what was happening. He ran to the smaller, personal safe by his sleep tank and palmed it open before removing his encrypted personal datapad.
He ran back to the comm station and activated the playback, deciphering the tapping multiple times as he replayed it repeatedly and copy-tapped the battle code on the datapad screen.
Soon, he finished verifying the taps, and each block of code became words on the small screen when he activated the hidden cipher application masquerading as an AI diet planning assistant.
Danger. Evil. Agents. Take embassy. Take humans. Use them. make weapons. Viruses. Plagues. Faria. Will not. Do this. Never. Tell them. Tell truth. Everything. Send mates. To you. Try same. For hatchlings. Do it. For Kingdom. For King. For me. Love you. Hatch. Brother.
He read the deciphered words over a dozen times, his thoughts becoming frantic as the true import of his hatch brother's message dawned on his mind. The First Prime was telling him to warn the Republic, and the evil agents were going to make them seize the embassy and capture the humans to use for biological weapons research.
As soon as he told the Republic the truth, he would seal the fate of the Farian species when the agents of the Masters discovered what he had done. He glanced at the message again, focusing on one part.
Faria. Will not. Do this. Never.
He read that part several more times, the words giving him the courage he desperately needed to do what his hatch brother was asking of him. By doing this, he would be condemning the future of Faria to death, but the First Prime knew this.
Faria. Will not. Do this. Never.
For all they were willing to do and had already done to save themselves from extinction, the First Prime was telling him now: this they would not do. He would rather die than allow such evil to be wrought on their world; this price was too much for them to pay to keep living.
A low moan escaped from his lips as an overwhelming grief for the end of Faria came upon him, and his body trembled as he thought of the billions of innocent eggs and hatchlings that would soon float on the surface of the waters.
They would be condemned to a painful and terrifying death, to never know the joys of living their second life on dryland. They would never experience the lustful joys that come during the lunar alignments, when all Faria surrenders to their instincts and enters the waters of their birth to make the next generation in a planetwide orgy.
He thought of his first life with his hatch brother, remembering the sheer joy they felt while racing against the male hatchlings, their slick bodies surging through the currents as their short, powerful tails propelled them.
Memories of the desire he saw in the eyes of the females when they defeated all others and proved their fitness came to him, and he could almost feel again the suggestive way they wrapped their tails around his own and pulled him closer to them.
Inseminating the eggs of his mates. Watching as they turned into hatchlings. Living his youth again through them vicariously as they enjoyed their first life of innocence and true freedom under the surface.
He would not be there to meet them when they finally leave the waters to make the journey to dryland; he would not be there to watch them anxiously as they struggled to use their new arms and legs for the first time to cross the tidal zone. They would not hear his shouts of encouragement.
He would not be there to welcome them to dryland, to let them feel his fatherly pride and love as he led them to their new homes where they would begin their second lives, like his father did for him.
Like burial corpses drifting down into the aphotic abyss, all that made them Farians would vanish into nothingness. They could save themselves and live as slaves; all he had to do was disobey the wishes of his First Prime, of his hatch brother, and remain silent.
Faria. Will not. Do this. Never.
Pressing a control on the comm panel, he placed the datapad against the port and pressed the download icon as he saw the countdown to erasure approaching two solar minutes, a security measure embedded in the Ma’lit null space relay system to guarantee the destruction of sensitive communications.
The datapad chirped a few moments later, indicating the download was complete. He picked up the pad with a trembling hand and looked at the holo screen displaying the time over his sleeping tank.
It was in the middle of the sleep period on the station, and he thought of the two new staff members added to his group before they departed from Faria. The First Prime never said anything about them, and the absence of any mention of them told him what he needed to know.
They were changed, and they were watching him, perhaps even now at this very hour. He decided to take no chances, and he accessed the Ma’lit intra-station message system. He quickly found the recipients he was looking for and sent them a copy of the decoded message as well as the playback of the conversation.
He pointed the datapad screen at his face and toggled the record feature, seeing the tiny blue light come on above the screen as both his hearts slammed against his ribs. He turned to face the entry door of his quarters to keep an eye on it as he began to speak barely above a whisper.
“The ones who control the Balrikan have infiltrated the Kingdom and are forcing us to do their will by holding our eggs and hatchlings hostage with viral bombs. They have already killed almost 100 million of our spawn. If we do not do as they say, they will kill the rest of them. Please forgive us; we love them and are willing to do anything to save them.
They are planning to seize the Republic embassy and capture the humans within it to use them for experiments to make viruses and plagues to kill you all. This we will not be part of; this dishonor, we are not willing to bear just to barely live as slaves of the evil ones. Two of the agents controlling us are among my staff, spying on me and making sure I obey.
Their names are Jirll and Urlak; they are being controlled by the Masters and are dangerous. If I am found dead or disappear, it was them who did it. The First Prime has ordered me to warn you of all this, knowing they will set off the viral bombs and kill our future.
All the Farians on the station have biochemical explosives within our blood. The catalyst to activate it is within the cooling unit in my quarters, the Farian Cider; it says 3rd Harvest on the label.
Drinking it will cause any Farian to detonate within forty-three solar minutes, with the explosive potential to destroy everything around them within a radius of twenty galactic meters. All of us combined in a single area will destroy a large area of the station. Please understand why we did this and forgive us.”
He turned the recorder off and sent the video he just made to the same recipients before deleting the video and placing the datapad within the inside pocket of the whale fur robe he was wearing. It was time to do what the First Prime had asked of him, and he strode over to the entry door.
Palming it open, he barely had time to register the two Farians staring at him with moronic smiles and dead eyes before they lunged forward and grabbed him. He tried to cry out, but hands harder than any flesh he had ever felt grabbed him around his throat and cut off his air.
He struggled pitifully as he stared at the face still smiling at him with its dead eyes now filled with evil malice, feeling his own eyes growing dark as his brain ran out of oxygen. He never even noticed the other one grabbing the sides of his head from behind him, and his world suddenly shifted sideways with a resounding crack that he heard but did not feel.
