by Roy Anthony
Quora forced herself out of bed and dressed up in her uniform. She sent a message to the Ambassador, stating that she would like to end her investigation, and she was ready to depart from the planet. She was done.
The Ambassador responded promptly, as Quora predicted. She knew they would be eager to get her off of their planet, and she was just as anxious to leave.
A message had come from the Ambassador stating her spacecraft would be prepared for her departure, and she should be ready to depart within the hour.
Quora gathered her things, and she waited for the Ambassador to tell her that her ship was ready for departure.
Hours went by, and she received no information from the Ambassador or any other government official.
No one was responding to her messages, and it had been over five hours from the Ambassador's last response. She was curious about the delay and sent emails to Bolt and her editor, just in case the Damurians were trying to capture her on this planet.
Before she had a chance to panic, someone rang the bell to her room.
She opened it, and it was the Ambassador. He was accompanied by six of his subordinate officers, and they aggressively forced their way in her room. One officer calmly constrained Quora at the entrance of her room while the rest of the officers searched it. She tried to resist at first, but the Damurian controlled her effortlessly.
"Journalist Quoramehr Coraemin, how are you?" The Ambassador asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone.
Though he did not physically touch her, it felt as if he was examining her with his eyes. As if he had a hand on her pulse, checking her heartbeat and her blood flow to see if she was calm.
"I am fine," Quora said. "What is going on?"
The Ambassador did not answer her right away. He continued to examine her.
"We're sorry, but it seems your spacecraft has been stolen." The Ambassador said.
"What? By who?"
"An Activist." One of the officers abruptly said.
The Ambassador scolded the young officer with a look, and the officer's shoulders slumped down in embarrassment.
"Activist?" Asked Quora.
The Ambassador forced a smile and said, "Yes, Activist. We have a small rebel fraction that is against our government and our way of life. They are pretty much wiped out, except for a few, because our government is as strong as ever under our powerful leader Dorian, and the situation is completely under control."
Quora thought it could be Aris who stole the spacecraft. But she quickly came to her senses when she remembered how heavily watched she was, as a human, on Crimson. And how odd it would be for a Sapthian looking creature to simply navigate throughout planet Crimson.
"So, when can I leave?" Quora asked.
"We are working on getting you a craft to your home planet as we speak. It would be a couple of days for us to prepare it for you."
She began to think about Aris again, and maybe this was a sign of continuing searching for him. The thought to leave Crimson quickly vanished. She could not abandon him until she got an explicit confirmation that he had departed the planet, or she found him on it.
"I will prepare for my own departure. And I will continue my inspections for Journalist Aris." Quora demanded. The bad part about this plan was that she had to continue seeing the Sapthians. But this was something she had to deal with, she thought to herself.
The Ambassador looked dumbfounded. "Will you no longer leave?"
"Not until I get a clear verification of Journalist Aris whereabouts." She said firmly.
"I would have to notify my leader on this inspection. But what was the reason for your sudden change of mind? Your message made it seem like your investigation was over."
"It was over, but I don't want to wait here in solitude, I will go crazy here. An investigation will make time go faster and keep my mind occupied." Was the excuse Quora gave the Ambassador, but it had some truth to it because she did not want to stay in the room with her own thoughts the entire time while she waited.
The Ambassador said nothing. His eyes searched the room as if he was looking for something. "Just send us the location and time, and we'll have you there, once our great leader gives his honorable approval." The Ambassador slightly bowed at Quora, and he and his officers exited the room.
Chapter 22
Inside his Crown chambers, Dorian sat high as he glared down at his army of loyal officers below him. He was disappointed at the actions that had recently taken place. Especially at such a critical time of his rule on Crimson.
The Ambassador waited on his knees before Dorian. His lips kissed the blood, red floor underneath him. “I am sorry great leader. I had always suspected that Marumaru was an Activist. I should have acted on my suspicion. If you give me another chance, I will not let you down again, and I will expose and purge the rest of the Activist-rats that are hiding on our planet. Please give me a chance to show you my excellence.”
The doors opened, and Officer Lim made his way to the thrown with a prisoner behind him. “My leader.” Officer Lim said and threw his prisoner next to the Ambassador at the feet of Dorian. The prisoner was bloodied and tried to get up, but two officers kept him on his knees. “This is the Activist that poisoned a Sap farm-factory.”
“These pathetic Activists. They say they want to save Saps, but yet you poison an entire farm full of Saps.” Dorian angrily said and spit at the Activist.
“Yea, to spare them from living a life of being tortured.” The young Activist said, and he was violently hit in the mouth by an officer.
“You all see? This is why these Activists must be purged. Did you get any information out of him?” Dorian asked Officer Lims.
“Yes, my leader, he confirmed Marumaru was his point of contact when it came to getting information on what to do for the Activist movement. And she gave him the poison that wiped out the farm.”
“What’s his name?” Dorian asked officer Lims.
“Parmu, my leader.”
“Weakling. You Activists are the scum of our planet.” Dorian said to Parmu, as the young Activist sulked with his head down because he was ashamed he gave in to torture and told his torturers’ Activist secrets.
Lims looked to the side of him, and another officer stepped forward. “This is Officer Jarmu, he helped weed out these Activists.”
Officer Jarmu got on one knee and bowed before Dorian. Dorian acknowledged the Officer with a head nod, and the officer rose and took his place back in the formation.
“Officer Jarmu, you will be rewarded for this. This was a great find. We knew there were more Activists out there.” Dorian said. “What other information have you on the traitor, Marumaru?”
“I received this information before Marumaru was discovered. It was about a meeting I was supposed to have with Talbar, but when I arrived, I was told that Marumaru had already been there. I quickly became suspicious, and I let my anger be known with Talbar. I planned to question Marumaru the next time I saw her, but these revelations came out first.”
Dorian angrily looked over his officers. “You can trust no one.”
“I have brought Talbar here if you would like to question him,” Lims said.
“Yes, bring him in.”
An officer left formation to retrieve Talbar.
Talbar entered the chambers and was brought before Dorian.
“My leader,” Talbar said and dropped to his knees and looked up at his Dorian.
“Why am I hearing that you are having unscheduled meetings with a Activist?”
“My leader, I had no choice. Marumaru is dangerous. I feared for my life if I didn’t talk to her, and she said Officer Lims knew about it.”
“You should have feared me more!” Dorian yelled.
Talbar trembled in fear.
Dorian then looked upon Officer Lims with a hint of happiness in his expression. “Officer Lims, you are no longer Officer Lims; from now on, you’re the new Ambassador. You will be my fangs and pierce all who try to disrupt our government.” Dorian looked
down at the old Ambassador, his brother Talbar and he the Activist and said. “I sentence you all to death, for treason and incompetence.”
The old Ambassador looked up at Dorian in shock and let out a deep cry. Talbar mumbled incoherent words before all three were dragged out of Dorian’s chambers.
Chapter 23
On planet Xai, Bolt waited in an elegant lounge. The high rise buildings on Xai were all smothered in the skies clouds. The floor Bolt was on provided its viewers with a panoramic scene of the surrounding area. But one had to wait for the clouds to pass to get a decent view.
Profolmia was late for their meeting. Bolt was not used to being the one waiting. And if the circumstances were different, Bolt would have left, but he needed Profolmia, and she knew it. Bolt wouldn't be surprised if she didn't show up at all. What frustrated him the most was that he had very little leverage in this situation.
Swiftly, Profolmia entered the lounge with her entourage of security. Profolmia greeted a few of her friends as she made her way towards Bolt. The lounge was only for the elites on the planet, and she was the most powerful creature on Xai, so everyone in the room wanted to greet her.
Bolt stood up as she finally made her way to their table.
"Thank you for coming." Bolt said as he caressed her hand, which was a little rough, and even gave her hand a kiss.
Bolt could tell that when he kissed her hand, it caught her off guard.
"I almost didn't, but your message sounded urgent. I had to check on you. I might not see you again in years." She sat down.
Bolt knew that was a lie. She was a Galactic Politician, they cared very little about individuals who couldn't help them in some way, and Profolmia was no different. She was heartless.
Bolt couldn't help but chuckle.
"What is so funny?" Profolmia asked.
Bolt slowly shook his head and calmly said, "I put so much time and effort into preparing how I would sway you to help me in a time of need, and I just realized it was all for nothing. So let me just be blunt with you: if you help me with this situation, I will split my upcoming mission with your planet. There is a collapsing star that only I know the location of, and my logarithms predict that chunks of gold, the size of moons, will be discovered once the star collapses."
"Bolt, that is an interesting offer, but the law is the law. They have already been approved."
"I'm offering you half of, what could be, the most lucrative discovery of gold in our history, and you're telling me 'the law is the law.'"
She simply shrugged her shoulders and calmly pulled out a veil of a purple solution, and as she applied the liquid to her skin, she placed the veil on the table. "The GC planets have already ruled on it. How would it look if I reopened their investigation?"
"You would look like a member of the most dominant family in the Galaxy reopening a Criterion investigation. It has been done before. And now you're saying 'the law is the law,' and you don't want to offend GC members. The same being that said, the Criterion is only followed by the GC when it is convenient?"
The purple veil she placed on the table, abruptly, caught Bolt's eye. The veil reminded him of something. Quickly, he noticed it had the same sparkle, shine, and color as the dust that was in Quora's room and all over her clothes.
A suspicion began to flicker in the mind of Bolt. Quickly, the flicker started to shine in his mind like a sun, and he could now see clearly what was going on. Now the Criterion was convenient for her. So the Damurians must have promised her and other members of the GC something for their acceptance. Bolt believed it had something to do with this purple stuff.
"Look, there is nothing I can do about planet Crimson's entrance into the GC. But you have my word they will be heavily watched, and Earth will continue to be protected. You do understand my elite constituents will not accept planet Crimson's denial into the GC? But I have a proposition for you, there is a prisoner that escaped Crimson, and we have her in our custody. The fugitive has stolen your friend's craft and is apart of a rebel group on Crimson called Activists. You can return the fugitive to Crimson and pick up your friend, Quora, and make sure she doesn't make a big fuss about what she has seen on Crimson, and we can write up a law to protect Earth from Crimson." She explained.
"We both know LAW is useless to the powerful. Whatever planet or planets that are protecting Crimson will continue to protect them. So they can violate laws to lesser planets without punishment." Bolt said while he looked into Profolmia's eyes to see if an ounce of truth was in her soul. "What are the Damurians giving you? What power do they have over the powerful?" Bolt grabbed the purple veil. "Is it this!? What is this!?"
Profolmia snatched it out of the hand of Bolt, and when she snatched it, Bolt felt that the skin of her hand was now smooth. Her security team crowded their table, but she kept them from attacking Bolt with a simple raising of her hand.
"I'm no longer asking you to transport the fugitive and retrieve your pesky little Journalist friend, now I am ordering you. And she isn't to say a word of what she has seen on Crimson to anyone." Profolmia said in an authoritative tone.
"Tell me what that is! Did it come from Crimson!?" Bolt demanded.
"You have no leverage, Bolt. You revealed to me that you have a secret mission that the GC doesn't know about. I can have you brought up on conspiracy."
"Tell me!"
"I will tell you nothing, cause there is nothing to tell." She said confidently.
Bolt calmly looked around to gather his composure, and then he focused once again on Profolmia. "You're right; I have no leverage in this situation. You are in control, but you know I have enough influence to, at least, put up a fight, and I will use my influence if you don't tell me the truth of the matter."
She smugly looked at Bolt, but quickly covered up her expression with a more calm demeanor. She was thinking of her next move. Because she really wanted Quora to leave that planet and she wanted Quora to do it quietly, that was the real reason why she showed up to this meeting.
From the look in her eyes, Bolt knew Profolmia was going to get Quora off of that planet by any means necessary. She preferred to do it quietly and under Quora's own decision because Profolmia wanted to legitimize Crimson. Bolt wanted to protect Quora and thought of a way to reassure Quora's safety. "I will transport the fugitive, and I will retrieve Quora from Crimson without a problem, but first, I must know what is really going on. I deserve that much." Bolt compassionately explained.
Profolmia smirked at Bolt and slightly leaned back in her chair.
"You know the skin condition my species has? Where we get these tiny, ugly, annoying bumps all over our bodies? They're not life-threatening, but it does not look good for political optics. They're just an eyesore."
Bolt knew of it but looked at her puzzled at the question.
Before Bolt started to explain, she cut him off. "It was the reason you didn't want to take our relationship public. But don't worry, I understand, I was raised in a political family, so I know the importance of optics. And someone in your position is seen in pictures across the Universe. If you were to ever acquire a mate, their pictures would be seen as well, and you would want someone who looks would appeal to the masses. My species have been looking for some kind of cure for this skin condition for ages. We sent scientists from almost every civilized species to scavenge the Universe for a cure, and no one could find nothing, until now. On planet Crimson they have a unique fungus that grows rapidly and very easily on their planet. And the fungus could not be recreated in a lab. Its called Palox." She slid the veil towards Bolt. "It is the key ingredient in this solution. We offered the Damurians planets worth of precious metals and UNI-Currency. But they didn't want it, all they wanted was to become a member of the GC."
Bolt held up the veil to the light and examined it. He said nothing at first. He didn't know what to say. There was nothing special about the purple solution.
"All for this." He finally said. "This planet could possibly use my species as a
food source, an entire planet. This, so-called, structure of the best-civilized planets the GC pretends to represent is all full of shit. For a simple lotion, this planet will be allowed into the GC? A planet that doesn't even deserve to apply for membership within the GC will be allowed in because they have the ingredient of a none life-threatening skin condition?"
"And was Earth that much better when it was aloud in the GC? Your own species was poisoning its own atmosphere and ocean. You all would have wiped out your own species if it wasn't for Tohlemax, saving your planet, cleaning up what your species was unknowingly destroying. Bolt, your planet was allowed in because of its dirt. The founder Tohlemax loved the way Earth's soil nourished the plants on his planet." Profolmia exclaimed. "This is how our politics work, you know this, you just never thought your species would be at risk."
"You have the power of the GC, the most powerful force in the Universe." Bolt said. "Why don't you just take the resources you want from them? It has been done before."
"Going to war with planets is the old way of doing things. We have other means of securing resources from planetary governments. When war is so transparent, it doesn't play well with the masses." Profolmia explained.
Bolt thought of something to say, but he couldn't think of anything to counter her argument. She was right. But he couldn't admit it to her. The thought of explaining the inevitable decision he had to make, which was to play ball with the GC and do what they requested, to Quora begun to eat away at him.
From Bolt's point of view, he only had two decisions, destroy his entire career and go against the most influential leaders of the GC, or play ball and try to change things from the inside. The latter decision was the most reasonable for Bolt.
"That's everything?" Bolt asked.
"That's everything," Profolmia responded. "I will send you the coordinates to Crimson."
Bolt knew there could be more information that she was withholding from him, but he accepted that that was all he was going to get.