by James Martin
“Oh, that’s where she is.”
Astraos interjected, “You guys have some unresolved business.”
“Stay out of my affairs, lover boy.”
“What affairs? You keep everything zipped up.”
Nate’s neck went red hot.
Lauren looked up at Astraos. “Are alien men open enough to give some tips?”
Nate was at a lost for words. He looked at them and pointed in the general direction of the ship. “Get in the ship.”
“I think you’ve hit a nerve.”
“We’re playing drums with his nerves. Look at his vein bulge and vibrate. That must be quite the massage.”
Nate clasped his hand on his neck and redirected the conversation back to the husband. He, much like male plythiens, had a knack for it. “What about the reward? Besides the fixing of my ship, which I may add is partly due to saving her ass.”
“We thought it unfair to have you leave with nothing. The females control the finances, so the other part of the reward won’t be money.”
“Not like he could keep it,” Macellus said, “There’s enough creditors after our ass.”
Nate shook his head, exasperated. “And why does he need to know that, Macellus?”
“Maybe he can smooth over a few, captain. Do you know—?”
The husband laughed. “We cannot help you there, either. No, we will be providing our services free for life. We would like to take the measurements of each member of your crew, so we can tailor form-fitting clothes and other attire.” He walked over to Lauren. “Would you like us to customize your blaster for you?”
“What would you do?”
He drummed his fingers. “We can do anything, distribute the weight differently, lighten it, less recoil, rapid fire.”
Macellus whistled. “How are you guys ever out of work?”
He frowned. “The more elaborate the labor, the less of us that can perform the task. Some of it is even outsourced, depending on the species; however, the main issue is that we work many more hours than any other species. We cannot be without work. And so, we are technically not out of work just our days aren’t as filled as we’d like them to be.”
“Hmmm.” Nate said, “Can we trust anything the ambassador has said?” This was a rhetorical question but the husband ventured an answer. “Probably not.”
Nate laughed. “Women, right?”
The husband shrugged. He extended his right arm and presented a few male plythiens. “These men will take your orders. Anything and everything you desire that can be designed, please ask, and we will do our utmost to provide.”
“Thanks.”
Lauren smacked her lips. “Clothes. I’m going to get so many clothes. . . Oh, shoes too!”
“Where are you putting all these clothes?”
“Don’t worry, Nate. I’ll have them build me a closet.”
“Where are they going to build you a closet?”
“Out on the bay, there’s tons of room.”
“That’s for goods we are distributing.”
“Well, you’ll have to distribute one less thing.”
He mumbled to himself and walked off. Somehow, he thought, this will become a bigger pain than a benefit. I just know it.
∞∞∞∞∞∞
Johnny gathered everyone on the bridge. He closed the door, then took out a jammer. “This will make sure no one can ease drop.”
Nate said, “Yeah, you got a lot of explaining to do.”
“I won’t be able to explain everything. But we can get started.”
“How did you know my name?”
“The overseers told me.”
Astraos whipped his head toward Johnny. “Did you say, the overseers?”
Nate frowned. As much as he claimed to love the randomness of the universe, he hated people being clued in on something he knew nothing about but was in the middle of. “You know them?”
“Maybe, I should start, eh, Johnny?”
Johnny shrugged. “Brief. If someone’s trying to ease drop, this jammer won’t hold them off for long. We don’t have much time.”
“Gotcha. The female I fought.”
“Yeah that crazy bitch that looked like Princess Wooshuda. Who was that? And was I—”
“She was a zolox. They are shape shifters.”
Pilox grunted—a sound that meant he was disturbed by the information.
Nate said, “I’ve never heard of a zolox.”
“You were never meant to.” Astraos sighed. “We committed genocide eons ago on them and the psychons.”
“I thought—”
“What you know is a lie. History morphs and bends, but we have annals from ancients times. Some are lost, some are not, some are skewed as well, but those in power have always known our biggest atrocities. We wiped out the psychons. I thought it was because of a perceived greater good to save ourselves. But I have a testimony that argues against that.”
“I’m not even going to try and decipher all that. What are you getting at?”
“The zolox were an enemy of ours. They looked to rule the galaxy. If they are alive, we are all in danger. We can trust no one.”
Johnny said, “You don’t know the whole story, Astraos. But the overseers will provide that in due time. He is right, you can trust no one outside of this group, not your family, not your friends out there, nobody.”
Nate said, “What’s the deal then? Astraos gave a terrible description of the zolox, and I get no explanation about what we are involved in and who the overseers are.”
“We have to take a trip to the overseers’ planet. That is all you need to know, for now.”
“I seem to keep being told limited information and ‘that’s all I need to know.’ So if I am going to put up with that crap, the real question is, what’s the pay?”
“Saving the galaxy.”
“Sounds cheap.”
Kat said, “Nate! Enough.”
He sighed. “All right. Only because these plythiens have really done a number here.”
The bridge gleamed, shiny and bright. It looked like the biggest game of Simon with the buttons no longer cracked, broken, or flashing in Morse Code, “help me.” Stations were updated and the chairs locked in perfectly with an automatic switch for harnessing, wires were no longer strung about, everything was tucked into the glistening metal hull.
There was a part of Nate that was going to miss the old Mariah, though. The beat-up quality, the aged veteran, it was the only ship he’d ever known that mirrored himself so well. Kismet. He grinned. Sometimes change is good.
Nate said, “So really, you got us all together to tell us nothing. And then, we’re supposed to save the galaxy. No, I mean, someone correct me here. This seems pretty ridiculous—”
“Oh, shut up.” Kat said.
The others laughed. Astraos and Lauren looked towards each other and smiled.
Epilogue
“Were you able to plant anything on the goods they received from your people?”
“No, Mistress. The male, Johnny, was scanning everything that came in.”
“You, of your own volition, decided not to tell me that? You did not bug them? Is that what I’m hearing? Is that what you’ve come to tell me? A failure?”
“I am sorry, Mistress. I took action without consolation.”
“Make it the last.” The Mistress smirked, for she would have ordered the same; however, a slave must know they cannot make decisions based on their own accord. Everything must go through her. A tainted moment passed where she felt she was being had. And that feeling was intolerable. “Grab a knife and stab yourself twenty times.”
Ambassador Jaziel grabbed the knife and positioned it at her belly—the tool of death waved with uncertainty. The Mistress decided she was too valuable of a pawn to lose. She would have to kill her if she resisted. Jaziel was such a weak willed female; her negating the serum would be unacceptable. “Stop. Come to me.”
Jaziel came, seeing her body move as sw
eat beaded down her cheeks. She tried to resist. She tried. But the desire to please the Mistress overwhelmed her senses. She exhibited minutiae control to not stab herself, but she felt as if she were a stranger in her own mind. “Yes, Mistress?”
“Bring me the plans for the new station. Adjustments need to be made.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Have you seen the plans for Earth?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Send as many husbands as are needed to guide the humans in its construction.”
“Yes, Mistress. How will we get them to work?”
“Are you questioning me?”
“No, Mistress. I—”
She held up a hand. “I have made arrangements for that. Be gone.”
Jaziel bowed her head and left, drowning in fear and the knowledge that her mind wasn’t hers.
The Mistress cackled. “Let us see how they do when everything crumbles and dies around them.”
FROM THE AUTHOR
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
SUMMARY
Part One
August 8, 2015
August 7, 2015
Galactic Calendar - 1258789 - Cheshir - Day 283
August 1, 2015
Galactic Calendar - 1258789 - Cheshir - Day 262
Galactic Calendar - 1258789 - Feels Like Summer
Galactic Calendar - 1258789 - Feels Like Spring
Part Two
August 9, 2015
Galactic Calendar - 1258789 - Feels Like Summer, Still
Galactic Calendar - 1258789 - Zolox - Day 297
Galactic Calendar - 1258790 - Cheshir - Day 007
August 23, 2015
Part Three
Galactic Calendar - 1258790 - Feels Like Fall Is Approaching
Galactic Calendar - 1258790 - Zolox - Day 022
September 3, 2015
September 4, 2015
Epilogue
FROM THE AUTHOR