by Z D Dean
It was a dynamic that Samix had learned to accept during her upbringing. Her mother was the compassionate care giver that would obsess over any danger Samix could face during her childhood. Her overprotectiveness hit its peak when Samix got into the command program in the Academe. Samix’s father, on the other hand, was always focused on her climb to glory. Sure, he was proud of her achievements, but there was always “the next step.”
Although either one taken individually would have driven Samix crazy, together they balanced each other out. Samix’s mother would preach caution, whereas her father would push her into taking risks to grow. As troublesome as they could be, Samix was excited to see them both.
The convoy rolled into the secure parking deck of the capital building and Samix was ushered towards an elevator. Although she was in front of her two remaining crew members, when she got out of her vehicle, she could see that they shared her goofy grin. Presumably, Axis was thinking about seeing his tribe and Jorloss his family. When the crew exited the elevator 10 floors below the secured parking area, Samix was separated from the rest.
She was put immediately on edge, not because she was worried about whether or not the other two would reveal Zade’s existence. They had decided not to reveal that information before they had landed. Rather, separating the crew wasn’t standard operating procedure when a ship returned. After securing the lost crew member’s belongings, Samix was led into a conference room where a de-briefer awaited her.
Sat against the back wall, as he was, Samix couldn’t identify the man. He looked vaguely familiar from the Academe, but she couldn’t quite place him. Engrossed in his computer, the de-briefer didn’t even notice Samix enter the room. As she moved around to take a seat, Samix caught a glimpse of what held his attention on the computer. Her heart dropped as she saw that he was reviewing the security footage from aboard the XES01. The footage was frozen on a frame that had Zade in full picture.
“We have some questions,” he stated flatly when he noticed Samix’s presence.
∆∆∆
Zade regained consciousness, no longer in transit. Even though his eyes were open the world was still nothing more than a black abyss, as he was still hooded. Being knocked unconscious was never a good time, but not something unfamiliar to Zade after multiple encounters with IEDs in combat. But it always surprised him how bad his head ached was when coming back to. After pushing the agony, which felt like someone driving an icepick into his skull, away Zade noticed that he was firmly tied to a chair.
He thought he hurt while in the darkness of the hood placed over his head; when his captors removed the hood and exposed a brightly lit office, it took all of Zade’s self-control to stop himself from vomiting. After a few seconds the pain behind his eyes began to subside, taking with it the urge to become sick, and Zade took stock of his surroundings.
With his head hung to his chest from the pain, the first thing Zade noticed was that he was tied to a rather elegantly designed chair which sat on what appeared to be an expensive rug. As he lifted his head to look around, he could see he was in a gigantic office, garishly decorated with a myriad of painted portraits hung along the walls. The portraits were of the man who was leaned against the large, dark, wood desk feet away from Zade. Not one to capitulate by breaking the pregnant silence, Zade simply glared at the man. The man openly scowled, his visage growing darker when he locked eyes with Zade. Although he couldn’t see directly behind himself, Zade sensed the presence of others standing there.
Most likely the security goons who abducted me, he thought.
The man against the desk was an elderly Xi’Ga, based on the graying hair upon his head. He was dressed in a flamboyant, brightly colored suit. The garish suit was perfectly tailored, matching the rest of the man’s appearance.
“Why are you here Mr., Zade, is it?” the man asked, a vicious smile that never touched his eyes, on his face.
With a brief passage of time, Zade’s head began to clear, and he wasn’t especially happy with the way he had been manhandled.
“I’m not really sure, but it appears a fan girl sent her thugs to kidnap me.”
One of the guards behind him stepped forward and struck Zade across the head. The strike sent stars across Zade’s vision and made his ears ring.
“No one speaks to the Chancellor that way,” the rebuke presumably coming from the man who had struck him.
Zade wasn’t one to capitulate to bullies but he also wasn’t a glutton for punishment. Seeing that he had little leverage, he answered the question more diplomatically.
“I am here because I have no way to get back to my home.”
“I don’t believe you,” the chancellor’s statement punctuated with another strike to Zade’s head from behind, this one hard enough to topple Zade to the floor.
The security individuals sat Zade and the chair he was tied to back in an upright position. Zade could feel the warm trickle of blood flowing down his neck and shoulder. Realizing he wasn’t going to win this encounter, Zade chose to maintain his dignity by being belligerent.
“Fuck you, Chancellor,” Zade started, then with a nod of his head, continued. “You should teach your boyfriend back there to throw a punch like a man.”
The chancellor started slowly closing the distance between them, monologuing along the way.
“Mr. Zade, the pain blocker function of your nanites was disabled after you were brought in this building. I’m going to enjoy teaching a backwards savage, such as yourself, his place.”
The coppery taste of blood, from his head hitting the ground just moments before mixed with the sudden uprising of bile brought on by the Chancellor’s speech, in Zade’s mouth. Before the man could get within arms-reach, Zade hocked a blood-laced glob of spittle into the Chancellor’s face. Zade had seen enough movies to know he wouldn’t be leaving the office he was being interrogated in. Having always been taught that “the man who lives by the sword, dies by the sword,” Zade decided that he wouldn’t go down without a fight, resisting to the end.
Zade watched with a satisfied smirk as the Chancellor momentarily froze in confusion when his face was accosted by Zade’s fluids. The satisfaction was short lived because, as soon as the chancellor stepped aside to clean himself up, a kick sent Zade and his chair careening into the leading edge of the Chancellor’s desk. The impact immediately broke Zade’s nose, making his head spin as he crumpled to the ground.
Laying on his side, unable to protect himself, Zade watched as the security team surrounded him, their faces promising punishment for his insolence. The Chancellor’s confusion must have turned to rage because when the kicks and punches started, he could hear the Chancellor screaming in the background. Zade tried to focus on the Chancellor’s rant, an attempt to pull his attention away from the beating he was receiving.
“How dare you?... Who do you think you are? “… my daughters honor and reputation!”
Snippets of the Chancellor’s tirade were making it through to Zade, but he still couldn’t understand what, prior to Zade’s belligerence, had driven the chancellor into such a rage. The nanites in his body had been doing well keeping pace with the abuse but must have run out of resources to repair Zade’s body. A kick from one of the guards broke a couple of ribs, because it became increasingly difficult for him to breath and a tunnel of darkness was beginning to surround Zade’s vision.
It became difficult for Zade to think, due to the punishment, but what little cognitive ability Zade had left, he focused inward. He made his final peace, knowing that he would die on this planet, an unfathomable distance from home. His only comfort, memories of his family and friends. Just before the lights went out for the final time Zade heard a new voice, over the grunts of the guards who were laying into him, in the room. It seemed familiar, angelic almost, but, in his current state, he couldn’t place it.
“Father, what is going on here?”
Chapter 16
The debrief, which felt more like an interrogation, went wel
l although it took far longer than Samix had hoped. The majority of it focused on Zade, his inclusion in the crew, and his actions during the mission. The de-briefer was concerned that Zade may be an agent for the Galactic Domain but after describing, in detail, Zade’s actions to protect the ship and crew, the concern was gone. After the portion about Zade, the debrief took on a more standard tone, focusing on the mission as a whole. Samix discussed how the new ship operated and gave some sustains and improves. The incident on Earth had already been discussed with a focus on Zade, but towards the end was discussed again from an operational perspective.
Satisfied with the information gathered, the de-briefer turned off his recorder and informed Samix that she was free to go. While Samix waited for her security detail, she chatted with both Jorloss and Axis. They had both been treated in much the same way as Samix, but their debriefs were focused on their field of study. They also learned that almost 200 years had passed, on the planet, since they had left. Shorter tests of the warp engine had been conducted and the technology was now commonplace. The Unity now had the ability to expand their reach even faster, incorporating developed species and growing stronger as they did.
The news, although fascinating, was of little importance to Samix as she wanted nothing more than to see her parents. After what seemed like a lifetime, the security detail was assembled, Samix said her goodbyes, and headed to the penthouse of the capital building. The floor had been her family home for the past 200 years and hadn’t changed one bit since it had been occupied by them. As soon as the elevator opened, Samix’s mother came rushing to wrap her in a warm embrace. Relief laced her voice as she burbled on about how worried she was for her only child. Samix returned the embrace and just enjoyed the love, warmth, and comfort her mother always seemed to bring to Samix’s life.
When her mother finally lost steam and began to slow her rambling, Samix spoke up. ‘
“Where’s father? I figured he would be here to greet me as well.”
“Shortly after your ship landed, he was called down to his office for some emergency,” her mother said. “You look absolutely starved, let me make you something to eat while we wait for your father.”
Samix was planning on heading down to her father’s office, but at the mention of food her stomach let out an audible grumble. Realizing she hadn’t eaten anything since just before the ship left warp, Samix decided her father could wait and headed inside to enjoy her mother’s fantastic cooking. With her family’s hectic schedule, most of the time, food was prepared by the family chef; however, her mother would cook every chance she got and she was great at it.
As Samix enjoyed her first home cooked meal since the day before she left on mission, she and her mother chatted. Samix learned that, under her father’s guidance, the Unity had integrated two new species and expanded the core region to include 12 of the previously tier two planets. It was growth that the Unity hadn’t seen in millennia prior to her father being elected. Finally, the conversation turned back to her father’s absence. Samix gently probed and pried the answer out of her mother.
“You know he never tells me the whole story but, he did mention that a potential Domain spy might be trying to infiltrate the Unity government, and that he had to figure out more,” her mother divulged. “I really think he wanted to be here. But it must have been important, he left in such a hurry.”
Figuring her father was just digging through a stack of reports, and wouldn’t mind the interruption, Samix gave her mother a quick kiss and linked up with her security detail to head down to her father’s office. At first her mother protested but eventually relented, and told Samix to remind her father about the family dinner they would be having that night. Her father’s office was only two floors down in the secured building, but in was customary throughout her life, she had to take her security detail with her.
After arriving at the correct floor, Samix noticed that it was completely deserted. She had expected it to be mostly empty. It was the weekend, but there were always at least a few people around to handle emergencies. She moved to the back of the floor to find that the two guards, always posted on either side of her father’s office door, were also absent. She knew that they would never stray from their duty, so she assumed they were in the office. With no one to ask if her father was busy, Samix quickly swiped her identification chip under the scanner by the door and was rewarded with the click of the locking mechanism releasing. Security protocol ensured that there were only three people that had unfettered access to the office; her father, her mother, and herself.
When she walked in the office, leaving her security outside, what she saw wasn’t nearly what she expected. Her father was perched on the edge of his desk, glaring at a poor soul who was being beaten mercilessly by his security detail. She shut the door soundlessly noting that the only thing she could hear was the dull thud of boots and fists impacting the motionless body. Not able to stomach any more of the gruesome display she spoke up.
“Father, what’s going on here? Is this really more important than seeing your daughter?” she asked.
The guards and her father all turned to face her at the sound of her voice, the former ceasing their beating and giving the individual on the ground a brief reprieve. The guards stayed around the downed person, but her father moved to block her view of the entire spectacle.
As he stood directly in front of her, her father answered, “it is more important when it directly involves you.”
Before Samix could ask for further clarification, the chancellor lashed out with a slap. It caught Samix in the face, causing her to sidestep. She quickly looked from the figure on the ground to her father. Her father was wearing a nasty scowl that she had only seen once before, when she had skipped out of command classes, for a day, to hang out with a boy.
After being slapped by her father Samix had a better view of the man on the floor. The security detail had worked him over pretty well. She assumed the individual was a man based on his size. Not an inch of exposed flesh was without bruise or fresh blood, Samix couldn’t even tell what color the man was. The clothing was the only thing that identified the man. As one of the guards shifted uncomfortably, from foot to foot, Samix got a clear view of the man’s shirt. It was black and had a design which Samix had just recently become familiar with, a white triangle with a white beam on one side and a multicolored beam on the other. Zade had told her it was a logo for a musician he liked.
“You ungrateful bitch! How could you sacrifice everything I’ve worked for? Everything you’ve worked for? You have nearly ruined everything by becoming familiar with this Domain agent. If I weren’t here to fix your mess, your reputation would be ruined, and you would never follow in my footsteps, becoming the first female chancellor of the Unity,” her father screamed at her, so close she could feel his breath on her face.
As the final piece of the puzzle fell into place, the color drained from Samix’s face, she felt sick and weak. Her legs unable to hold her up any longer, Samix fell, drew her knees to her chest and began to cry. The unmoving specimen on the floor of her father’s office, beaten to within an inch of his life or worse, was Zade. She couldn’t even see his chest rise and fall.
This is all my fault. I tried to keep him a secret from my father and my father a secret from him. Now he’s paid the price for my mistakes. She thought to herself as she rocked back and forth silently weeping.
“What have you done? Zade was no secret Domain agent. He’d never even been off his planet!” Samix yelled as she stood and rounded on her father. Her sorrow turning into equal parts numbness and cold fury. “He was a warrior from a species that could barely make orbit. When he got trapped with us, he did nothing but try to help and protect us, asking for nothing in return. He risked his life multiple times for beings his mind shouldn’t have even been able to process, let alone befriend. He saved me, your precious little status symbol, at least once on the trip, a trip you forced upon me to help bolster your own reputation!”
Samix had become the assailant, getting directly in her father’s face, punctuating every sentence with a sharp jab to his chest. She started screaming, but by the time she had finished speaking her mind she had regained her self-control and her voice held an icy edge.
“You know how nobody was ever good enough for your little girl?” Samix asked her father, the question was rhetorical, but he nodded. Samix pointed at Zade’s broken body and continued. “He was. He matched me physically and mentally. He had a mental flexibility that I have never seen before, doing things with our technology that nobody had ever thought of. I cared for him, and you killed him. You ordered your thugs to beat him to death. His only crime was not being born on the right planet. I will never forgive you.”
After she had finished speaking, Samix turned to leave the office. She needed to get away from everyone, to be alone so she could process everything. Before she could get too far away, the Chancellor grabbed her arm and ordered his security out of the room. As the last man closed the door behind him, the Chancellor lead Samix to the seating area in the office, away from the bloody scene by his desk.
The sight of his daughter’s grief finally broke the blind rage that had overtaken him. As the rage abated his rational mind had come back to him. He took a second to order his thoughts before he began.
“I’m sorry, Samix. I didn’t know. After the security footage was reviewed, analysists suggested that Zade could have been using you to get information for the Domain. No one knew he didn’t have any ties to the group,” he apologized. Even though he was the Chancellor, responsible for the well-being of the entire Unity, his daughter was still the most important thing in his world.