Frontier's Shadow: A Space Opera Adventure (Frontiers Book 3), page 19
“I…” She wasn’t sure how to answer the question.
Tai clenched her hand with reassurance. “You’ll find the perfect time to tell him. I’m sure of it.”
Marissa hoped she was right.
Tadrosia
The shopkeeper shook his head. “I’m sorry, no. I haven’t seen them.”
Jason frowned and flicked him a coin for his troubles. “Thanks for your time.”
He continued on through the dank Huugli marketplace. The search hadn’t gone to plan. The immense size of the region meant finding Kevin and Kione would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Aly approached from one of the adjacent pop-up stalls.
“Anything?” he asked her.
“Nothing. Whoever kidnapped them did it quietly, or—”
“Everyone’s covering up for them.”
“Right.”
From ahead, the dust kicked up in the air, and a hover tank turned into the marketplace, heading their way. A Tadrosian stood on top peering at the Huugli going about their business. Jason grabbed Aly by the hand and pulled her behind an empty shop, fixing the hoods over their faces.
“You don’t suppose they know we’re down here, do you?” Aly asked.
“Hopefully it’s just a standard patrol.” Jason led her onward through the back of the shops where they made their way to the other side of the marketplace. Across stood one of the more permanent structures they’d seen.
On the wall above the door was the same four-starred shape Jason had noticed on the collar of all the Huugli they’d met since arriving on the surface. “Let’s take a look.”
He and Aly stepped through the door and entered a vast empty space. Backless wooden benches were spread throughout, while at the end of the room a lectern stood with the same star affixed to the front of it.
Jason walked toward it and found a book. He flicked through it, unable to understand any of the strange text, but he knew a bible when he saw one. “This is a temple.”
Aly nodded. “I think you’re right.”
A flurry of voices sounded from the door. Jason directed Aly to the side exit, and they both burst back out into the street. A flock of the religious gatherers arrived and took their seats inside. As curious as Jason was, they had to keep moving. Night was rolling in, and it would only get harder to continue their search.
Akava hated working on the surface. He dreaded when his rotation came around. Not just because he had to live in the vile environment of his home world, but the excruciating surgery that went with turning him into a Huugli.
He told himself it wouldn’t be forever. However, as many times as he said it, it never made it any better. Every stint he was on Tadrosia without a filtration mask, knocked years off his life.
All in the line of duty as a Tadrosian undercover operative…
He spluttered, and from the corner of his eyes, a pair of figures burst from the door of a nearby Huugli temple. Their hoods fell from their heads for the briefest of moments.
Akava did a double take. Their skin tone was categorically not Huugli. Or Tadrosian for that matter.
But who are they?
The strangers placed their hoods back over their heads and rushed off.
Akava activated his commpoint with a press of his earlobe. “Akava to Control. Two intruders in sector eighty-three. One male. One female. Requesting further instructions.”
Forty-Six
Valkeris Station
The door to the examination room opened, and Kirahvin ambled in. She wore the same blank, expressionless face Susan had seen a thousand times in other doctors.
“I’ve studied the scans,” Kirahvin began. “Unfortunately, it appears my initial findings were unfounded. While humans and Tadrosians are similar, the two are still incompatible with one another.”
“Can I look over your readings, Doctor?” Susan asked her.
Her counterpart handed her the holographic data tablet, and she did her best to study the information. Luckily for her, the language of DNA was universal. Regrettably, Kirahvin was right. The two species were incompatible, which meant any means of solving their procreation dilemma would be impossible.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, handing back the data tablet. “I wish we could’ve helped more.”
“The search continues.” Kirahvin smiled, but Susan could tell she was hurting inside. “I want to thank you for your help. And, Marissa Caldwell, I hope your baby brings you great joy.” With that she left them, and a Huugli cleaner entered to sterilize the room.
A pang of guilt appeared on Marissa’s face, and Susan put a hand on her shoulder to console her. “Don’t feel down. You’re already performing a miracle. It’s a lot to ask someone for a second.”
“I know. I just feel for these people.” She stood. “What do you think will happen to the them?”
“They only have two paths. They either discover the key to proliferating their species, or they don’t. If they can’t, all that’ll be left of them will be a hollow world and hundreds of empty space stations.” The Huugli cleaner caught Tai’s attention, and she began to ponder. When she’d asked Kirahvin about the species, the Tadrosian doctor had been guarded about her answers.
“Doctor Tai, what is it?” Marissa asked.
Susan pulled a medical scanner from her pocket. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Our patrols have found nothing.”
Councilor Hahkiri shook his head in frustration at Major Vuhven. “They may have them on the move?”
“Maybe, but I think it’s more likely they’re holed up in a subterranean vista. So far we’ve only searched four percent of the habitats.” His head of security indicated to the hologram. “And even with our best people, they aren’t the easiest places to search.”
Hahkiri stared at the holographic representation taking up the bulk of his office. “What do you suggest?”
“It depends what outcome you want.”
Anger bubbled inside the councilor. “They kidnapped two individuals from this station in plain sight…”
“Then I’m afraid standard patrols won’t cut it. We should use all means available to us. If we send a message to the Huugli that what they’ve done won’t be tolerated, then—”
“You’re talking about sending in aerial forces and further ground units…” Hahkiri peered from the observation gallery down at their dying world.
“Yes.” Vuhven waved his hand over the hologram. “A random bombardment of these zones should eventually smoke them out.”
“That’s a lot of blood on our hands.”
“Collateral damage.” Vuhven shrugged. “But at least we’ll have made our intentions clear. What if they kidnap Tadrosians next time?”
Hahkiri pondered long and hard. While some might consider the Tadrosians’ treatment of the Huugli harsh, he took pride in the fact that under his watch, the servant race’s life expectancy had lowered the least of any leader since taking office. “No.”
Vuhven’s eyes widened. “But, Councilor—”
“You don’t get it, do you, Major? If I direct this kind of action, it’ll throw production schedules out the window, not to mention the lives of miners we rely on. That is unless you’d like me to send down your security forces as replacements?”
Vuhven straightened his back. “No, Councilor.”
The door to the observation gallery opened, and one of the major’s adjutants rushed in. “We’ve received word from an undercover operative on the planet. Two alien intruders have breached the orbital perimeter and landed.”
“Where?” Hahkiri asked.
The adjutant pointed at the holographic image. “Right in the middle of this settlement.”
“Have they been identified?”
He nodded. “They’re an exact match for the individuals known as Jason Cassidy and Alyssa Rycroft.”
“The humans from the Earth ship,” Vuhven said. “They’ve gone looking for their people against our wishes.”
“We should’ve assumed this might happen.” Hahkiri sighed.
“What are my instructions, Councilor?”
Hahkiri rubbed his head. He couldn’t allow off-worlders on Tadrosia, no matter the cost. “Go in and get them. Dead or alive.”
Tadrosia
The church was quite elaborate for something built underground. While spartan mostly, there was a large ornament matching the four-pointed pendant around Lahtala’s neck on the rear wall.
Kione approached the Huugli leader sitting on one of the many wooden benches. “You wanted to see me?”
Lahtala put out a hand, and Kione took a seat. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he said of the crystalline emblem. “It represents the four corners of the galaxy where the message of the Firstborns has spread.”
The spiritual man had spent the little time they’d had together explaining his religion. Kione found it fascinating, but like all denominations of any faith, there seemed more questions than answers. Most of his ponderings were for the Firstborns themselves. Kione knew that his race was ancient. That was proven due to his connection with the six million year-old sphere discovered on Orion V.
Am I one of these Firstborns or a Guardian as Lahtala believes?
Kione struggled to understand why he was alive if the Firstborns were extinct. “Where do you think the Firstborns sent the Guardians from?” he pressed. “If they’re all dead—”
“We don’t know their methods,” he said. “We simply have faith that they can do it, and they do it for the right reasons.”
Kione did his best not to mock his words. “I wish I could tell you I was here to help you, but—”
Lahtala put his hand up and smiled. He pulled out the book he’d shown Kione earlier and flicked to the page of the Guardian, which looked like a member of his race. “A time will come when darkness spreads,” he read from the text beside it. “A Guardian will lead the people to the light, and the sins of the past will be extinguished.”
Kione pondered the words. They were vague and could be interpreted in any number of ways. “You’re saying the occupation of your people is the darkness and I’m here to lead them to a promised land?”
“Perhaps.”
Kevin entered the temple, but he stayed back, clearly wanting to give them their space.
“Can I ask you a question, Lahtala?” Kione said.
“Of course.”
“If I wanted to leave, would you grant it?”
The Huugli man’s face betrayed little emotion. He closed the book and placed it by his side. “It would be contrary to the wishes of the Firstborns to keep you against your will. But, I do have faith that if you are who I think you are, you’ll stay.”
One of Lahtala’s followers hurried in, nudging Kevin aside. “Master, something’s happening on the surface! The Tadrosian forces are mobilizing like never before!”
“That’s unlikely—”
“It seems they’ve discovered two more off-worlders on the planet!”
Kevin stepped toward them. “Jason and the others must’ve come looking for us.”
“Can you help them?” Kione asked.
“It would be difficult,” Lahtala told him.
“What will the Tadrosians do to them?”
“Suffice to say, they’ll likely not see tomorrow if they’re caught.”
Kione glanced at Kevin and then back at Lahtala. “If you get to them before the Tadrosians, I’ll stay here with you.”
“Kione—” Kevin began.
“If that is what you wish.” Lahtala turned to his offsider. “Find them. Now!”
Forty-Seven
Valkeris Station
The Huugli janitor finished up sterilizing the examination room, placed her cleaning equipment in a small caddy and left Susan and Marissa to themselves.
“You haven’t said much,” Marissa said.
“Hmm?” Susan looked up from her medical scanner. “Yes, well, let’s just say I’ve discovered something very interesting.”
“Can I get a jump on the scoop?”
The door opened, and Doctor Kirahvin entered, giving Susan no time to reveal to Marissa what she’d learned.
“I appreciate you waiting. My people have cleared the area, and you’re free to return to your ship,” she told them.
“Doctor, may I ask a question?” Susan moved toward her.
“Of course.”
“Do you want the solution to your race’s problem or not?”
Kirahvin appeared taken aback. “I don’t understand what you mean. I think it’s obvious—”
“The Huugli female in here. We got talking, and she told us some more about her species and the Tadrosians.”
“If you want to know more about our two races, speaking about it with a janitor isn’t—”
Susan raised her hand. “Is it true you evolved on separate continents?”
It didn’t seem a conversation Doctor Kirahvin wanted to have, but she entertained it regardless. “It is.”
“A phenomenal occurrence.” Susan nodded. “It seems unbelievable from the perspective of how life took shape on my own world, but I guess the galaxy can throw up some wonderful things.”
Kirahvin gestured them to the door. “I agree.”
“But are our worlds so different after all?” Susan waited for a reaction from her counterpart, but none was forthcoming. “You brought us in here to help save your species. Why have you been lying to us?”
Marissa looked at Susan as if she were crazy, wondering what she was going on about. She pulled out her medical scanner and handed it to Kirahvin.
“I did a thorough scan of the Huugli. What I found was unexpected.”
The Tadrosian doctor wasn’t interested in checking the readings she’d taken.
“They’re not just another race of beings or a sub-species. They’re as Tadrosian as you are.” Susan glanced at Marissa, whose jaw had dropped. Doctor Kirahvin didn’t share the same expression.
“But you already knew that, didn’t you?” Susan said to her. “Obviously there are subtle differences between yourself and the Huugli. This comes down to the environmental factors of being separated for the majority of your history. It may also be the reason why the Huugli didn’t contract the Donari disease.”
“Are you saying the Huugli can procreate?” Marissa asked.
“Yes, and from the readings I’ve taken, there’s no reason to believe the Huugli and the Tadrosians couldn’t interbreed.”
“Everything you say is true.” Kirahvin sighed. “We discovered it not long after the disease swept through our people. We surmised that two or three generations of crossbreeding with the Huugli would cease its effects.”
“Why didn’t you do it?” Marissa asked.
“Our leaders didn’t believe it to be a suitable solution.”
“Yet you sent your best scientists across the galaxy to find a cure that was sitting right on your doorstep.”
“It’s not as simple as that. You must understand the place the Huugli hold in our society, not to mention the ramifications of our two worlds becoming one. It’d be a monumental contamination of our culture and the end of the social structure as we know it.”
“That mightn’t be such a bad thing,” Marissa scoffed.
Susan couldn’t have said it more succinctly if she’d wanted to. “Doctor, if you don’t consider this option, your species is doomed.”
“We still have time,” Kirahvin said defiantly.
“I fear it’s running out. Soon your space stations will be filled with Tadrosian corpses while the Huugli rise up and take your place among the stars.”
“Perhaps,” Marissa mused, “it’s an outcome they both deserve.”
Tadrosia
The sun had begun to set on Tadrosia, and the dust from the mining operations kicked into the air, bathing the area in an eerie blue glow. The deadly heat had disappeared, and the night had become icy cold.
Jason wrapped the hood around his head as best he could, though it didn’t make him any warmer.
“This is worse than the vacuum of space,” Aly said, shivering.
“If it’s any consolation, if I had a jacket, I’d give it to you,” Jason told her.
“And they say chivalry’s dead.”
The township was becoming deserted with the vendors of the marketplace packing up for the evening and returning to their homes. From what Jason could gather, their habitats were the dome-topped open-cut mines spread throughout the area.
What better hiding place for Kione and Kevin.
On the outskirts, they made their way to one of them. Just as Jason was about to escort Aly inside, a piercing scream zoomed overhead.
Three crafts whizzed above the area ominously. They were huge. Much larger than the escorts the Argo had encountered when they’d entered Tadrosian space.
“Troop ships…” he said.
“How can you tell?” Aly asked.
“I just can.”
Beyond the entrance to the habitat, lines of Huugli parted as a line of hover tanks rolled toward them. The pair covered their faces up so as to not be found by their powerful spotlights.
Aly clutched Jason tightly. “Do you think they’re looking for us now?”
“The way the Huugli are reacting to the Tadrosian security forces makes me think something’s changed, that’s for sure.” Jason directed her into the habitat’s entrance. “Let’s keep moving.”
They entered the large community beneath the ground. It wasn’t as cold as on the surface, due to the dome acting as a windbreak, but it was just as squalid.
Jason peered over the railing on the top level and straight into the deep, cavernous hole below. There didn’t appear to be a bottom to it. Homes were cut into the surrounding rock, housing the vast amount of people.
“There must be ten thousand of them living down here,” Aly said in wonder.
“There’s probably another thousand habitats like this throughout the region.” Jason didn’t dare do the math. If finding Kevin and Kione wasn’t already a big ask, it was now almost an impossibility.
