The Novida Code

by David, JN

  At a pre-arranged signal from Lauren, I switched on the crystal by gripping it very tightly in my hand. Lauren's voice was loud and clear in my head:

  “Auxana, I don't think we should continue like this. It's not your fault, but mine. I should never have put you in this position. It's far too risky; you must go back home. You'll have to stay here for a while so as not to attract attention, but then you'll be able to claim you've learned enough, and go home safely to your family. Meanwhile, do nothing, and merge into the background. That's an order, Auxana.”

  The shock nearly made me lose my composure. I couldn't believe Lauren had simply dismissed me, without even trying to understand. I signalled to her that I was going to speak – long enough for her to listen to my message. I was hoping she'd change her mind, but at the end, she merely shook her head slightly. She'd made her decision and wasn't planning to go back on it.

  But I had every intention of making her change her mind. And, unfortunately, I already knew just how to go about it.

  7 Lauren

  I didn't hold it against Auxana for panicking during the first lesson. It was myself I blamed. I knew she had a very ingenuous nature, and yet I'd thought she could keep up this act for months on end.

  But when I saw her go to pieces under the gaze of the Efeghi professor, I realised my mistake.

  I didn't feel this incident would have any serious consequences, but it could arouse suspicion, and from now on, she was likely to be monitored. What's more, if she was that easily fazed, she'd have no chance on the path I was about to follow. It would be more sensible for her to back out, and as I knew she wouldn't listen to reason, I'd been forced to give her an order.

  I felt sorry for hurting her, but I knew I was doing it for her own good. I didn't pay much attention to her remarks about the Efeghi lecturer. I hadn't noticed anything particularly unusual about him. I put Auxana's overreaction down to stress and her lack of confidence, and spent the next few days concentrating on gathering information.

  We learned through Afren that terrorists had attacked an Efeghi convoy. Commandant Amar, out of the goodness of his heart, had contented himself with tracking down and imprisoning the culprits. The population had suffered no repercussions.

  I had got into the habit of walking with Auxana during our lunch breaks to the market in the city to gauge public feeling. I took this opportunity to verify this information. It was clear Afren hadn't been lying. Only those responsible for the attack had been arrested.

  This was bad news indeed. Commandant Amar's lack of repression removed any public incentive to risk life and limb fighting the Efeghis, who were posing no threat to them whatsoever. As I overheard beside a market stall, they were even nicer and certainly less corrupt than our former government.

  Impotent rage boiled up inside me. I was biding my time, hoping that the ongoing acts of resistance would end up wearing Amar down and pushing him over the edge.

  Two weeks later, we were treated to a demonstration by Efeghi soldiers of a sport that was very fashionable in their world and which very much resembled fencing. This sport took the form of a duel with a weapon rather like a sword, but with a double blade: one part being far longer than the other. Afren told us that this was the traditional weapon of the great Efeghi families. We also learned that the duellists almost all belonged to the great families from the war party.

  Split into pairs, there were six of them in the inner courtyard of the general headquarters, with its magnificent private garden belonging to the town hall. This garden had been created specifically for the personal enjoyment of the mayor, and had formerly been reserved exclusively for him despite having been financed out of public funds. There was a certain irony in the thought that it was thanks to the invasion that we now had access to it.

  Like all the Efeghis that we'd seen until then, the duellists were young and good looking. I often wondered whether the Efeghis had altered their appearance to influence us, or if their species really was so physically perfect. What's more, I didn't even know if our two species were genetically compatible.

  This was an avenue worth exploring. Until now, we'd only set eyes on male Efeghis. Maybe they had invaded us because they didn't have females to perpetuate their species. Whilst trying to devise a way to verify my theory, I was keeping a close eye on two duellists called Elden and Oniar. I'd noticed that Oniar often sat next to Commandant Amar in the refectory, and I supposed he must be influential.

  Elden, however, was new. Like Alden, he wore white gloves, and I'd noticed that the other Efeghis seemed a little wary of him. They appeared to be avoiding physical contact with him. Was he sick? Could one collect and cultivate the microbe in question and use it to infect other Efeghis? There again, there were numerous possibilities. I had therefore decided to watch them and, if possible, to hang around with them.

  They were very skilful, with graceful, lightning quick movements. This was bad news: physically, they would be formidable adversaries, especially against amateurs. I had hoped that their technological superiority would be coupled with some physical debility, but I was quickly disillusioned.

  I was able to observe how their weapon was used, with its double blade serving to grapple the enemy's main blade and wrest it off him. At the end of the duel, when Oniar sent Elden's blade flying through the air, I clapped my hands and shouted: “Bravo!”

  Oniar turned towards me with a smile:

  “Thank you, Miss.” He had that slightly slow diction typical of the Efeghis, and which was not lacking in charm. I stood up and went towards him:

  “Can I have a go?”

  My request surprised him, but he very soon regained his composure:

  “Of course. But we'll take it slowly; this weapon can be dangerous.”

  I'd suspected as much, but, given his skill, even if I tried to harm him, the only person likely to get hurt was me. I gave him my brightest smile and decided that if he had to be eliminated, I'd probably resort to more devious methods.

  He showed me how to hold the weapon, which wasn't light. I took the opportunity to look slightly flustered by his touch, and could tell by his expression that he quite liked me. All the same, he hid it well and remained totally professional. I had feared – at the start of our infiltration process – that our enemies would force themselves upon us physically, but I was soon proved wrong. It seemed that the Efeghi culture was totally respectful towards women.

  In fact, their code of honour appeared to allow men to make only discreet advances, as I'd been able to ascertain on several occasions. The women opted freely to respond. Oniar refrained from going even this far as he showed me the various Efeghi combat positions.

  I supposed that in his elevated position, he had to be more circumspect in his choice of bed partner. This suited me for the time being. I wasn't yet ready to go down that road. Meanwhile, it would be a good idea to get to know him. So I asked him to fight a duel with me.

  I sensed his hesitation, and then he replied: “I think that this display will do for today, young lady.”

  “Please”, I asked plaintively, “just once.”

  Elden and Oniar exchanged glances. Elden found my insistence amusing, apparently attributing it to his friend's charm. Oniar still hesitated.

  “Please!” I repeated. I was counting on the politeness of the Efeghis, who seemed to find it hard to refuse a woman anything.

  “Very well, but promise me you'll be careful!”

  “It's a promise”, I smiled.

  We took the duel very slowly to start with, then speeded up a little. Oniar easily adapted to my pace, and the bout began to seem like a real duel. I was careful not to appear too adept, but there was no need: Oniar was far better than me. His desire to prolong the duel was all that prevented me from being disarmed within the first few seconds.

  The other spectators, earthlings and Efeghis together, soon gathered around us to cheer us on. I'd have preferred to be able to observe them, but the duel required all my concentration. I would
have liked to be able to say that I did it deliberately, but it was entirely by chance that the accident happened: during an ill-timed movement, Oniar's blade scored my arm.

  I dropped my sword with a cry. Oniar immediately let go of his, and gently took my arm. The wound was bleeding and I heard a cry followed by a thud. One of our companions had just fainted. I had no time to see who it was, for Oniar was already ripping off a piece of his tunic and compressing the wound.

  “I'm so sorry,” I whispered to him as he turned round to call for assistance. “I got carried away.”

  “It was my mistake, Miss”, he replied gravely, helping me to sit down on the ground. “I have far more experience than you and I have no excuse.” He looked down at my arm, which he was still compressing: “I'm really sorry, but that wound will leave a scar.”

  “It doesn't matter”, I murmured. I smiled into his eyes: “It'll remind me to be more careful in the future.”

  “You are very generous, Miss.”

  “Lauren”, I replied, still smiling. I saw his expression soften, and he repeated: “Lauren…”

  We were interrupted by the Efeghi doctor, who had just arrived on the scene. He examined me rapidly and stuck a gel over the wound. He then asked me – rather insistently – if I was feeling OK. He appeared very shaken by the incident.

  I'd already seen him, as he had examined all of us one evening, a few days after the start of the classes. I'd have liked to know what he was looking for as I'd thought he looked somewhat perturbed while he was examining me. However, nothing had come of it, and I'd ended up pushing it to one side.

  Judging by his pallor on seeing that I was injured, I realised that it was after all very significant. I was important in the eyes of the Efeghis and I needed to know why. I vowed to try and break into the infirmary and consult my dossier at the earliest opportunity. I could well have done with Auxana's help in this, but couldn't go back on my decision. It was too risky.

  I used my supposedly debilitated state as an excuse to lean momentarily on the arm of Elden, who was nearby, inside the circle of spectators. He gave a start and pulled his arm away. All the other Efeghis, including Oniar, jumped in a similar fashion.

  This was very interesting. I acted as though nothing had happened, and accepted Oniar's help in getting me back to my feet. As I turned round, I saw that the student who had fainted was Auxana and that Olden was helping her up. We were both accompanied very gently back to our respective rooms.

  I would have liked to meet up with Auxana that evening, but I knew that I would then have probably ended up breaking my promise not to ask her for help once again, thereby putting her in danger. So I stayed in my room to mull over the day's events.

  After two weeks of discovering nothing, I'd at last made some headway. I'd have to break into the infirmary and discover the truth behind the enemies' interest in me, find out who were those white gloves that avoided any physical contact, and maybe seduce Oniar. If I had the courage, that is.

  In the morning, I left my bedroom earlier than usual. I wanted to wander through the corridors for a while to discover more about the security system that blocked our access to the rest of the HQ. To keep this from Auxana, I left at six, as we usually met up in the corridor at 7 o'clock.

  That was why I was able to catch sight of Olden slipping silently out of Auxana's bedroom. And try as I might, I couldn't keep the look of stupefaction from my face.

  8 Auxana

  After being dismissed by Lauren, I found it a real struggle to keep up the charade, and it was even harder now that I also had to put on an act in front of her. It was imperative that she should believe I was resigned, for if I did anything to arouse her suspicions, she'd figure out my plan in no time and do all she could to prevent me from going through with it.

  Not out of malice – far from it – but for my own safety. Lauren had never been able to understand that you don't help people against their wishes. Similarly, she'd never grasped that it's impossible to set off an avalanche and then stop it: she had set me off and now I couldn't stop myself.

  During the following afternoon, I kept my distance a little. We had several more lessons, all demonstrating with great subtlety the superiority of the Efeghi culture over ours. For them, the concept of honour was sacred, famine and war were non-existent, and nature was respected. After instilling all this into us, Afren pointed out some contrasting examples on Earth and asked us to explain them, under the pretext of trying to understand our culture.

  The reactions from his audience varied: from the admiration in our row to hostile silence from the students at the back.

  I tried to act in accordance with my role, showing admiration for the Efeghi culture while refusing to criticise our own. But I found it incredibly hard to keep my cool with Afren. I knew that he'd cost me a friend. What's more, I was sure that Lauren was mistaken in not attaching any importance to his white gloves. I had a feeling they were highly significant.

  Over the next few days, Lauren didn't give me any crystals. Not that I was expecting any as I knew she'd be working alone for the time being. Unfortunately, I also knew that there wasn't much I could do without her help. But what I could do was to brush off any suspicions that might have arisen during the first lesson and show Lauren I was quite capable of fighting. And so much the better if this also provided the opportunity to obtain information.

  So I decided to seduce Olden and glean what I could through him. This wasn't an easy decision. I wasn't sure that I could go through with it and I knew that having any misgivings at the wrong moment would be catastrophic. But I had no choice.

  A few days later, we had a medical examination. The Efeghis wanted to check that their earthling volunteers were in good health and, if need be, to provide any necessary treatments. At least, that's what they told us.

  But I spotted too many high-ranking Efeghis watching this “innocuous” examination. I also noted a certain agitation on the part of the chief doctor just after he'd finished with Lauren. She was already leaving the room and couldn't have seen the doctor having a word with the most senior-looking Efeghi, nor the expression on the face of the latter as his eyes followed her.

  I used the long wait in the queue to catch Olden's eye as he stood near the Efeghi officers. He came up to me.

  “Is everything alright, Miss Reyn?” he asked with a big smile.

  “Yes, but it's such a long wait…” I said, pulling a face.

  “Would you like me to bring you a chair?”

  “If it's no trouble…”

  “Not at all!” he replied as he went back to the other officers, who were laughing and joking in their own language; he responded to them with the smile typical of the males on these occasions. The soft expression left his face as he turned towards them, then returned as he came back towards me with the chair.

  I imagined that all this was how the Efeghis expressed their interest in a woman. And by requesting a service from him, I'd encouraged him.

  Over the next few days, we bumped into each other several times. I let him know I was interested whilst taking great care to play it cool. To begin with, this ploy helped me conceal what I was up to from Lauren, but very soon I also noticed that Olden found it a seductive combination.

  The day of the sports demo provided the chance I was waiting for. I noticed that Lauren was very closely following the two duellists. The reason became clear to me during her duel: she had decided to seduce Oniar, one of the most senior officers in the headquarters.

  She even had the brilliant idea of provoking an accident. When I saw her bleeding, it occurred to me to use the oldest trick in the world: I cried out and pretended to faint. As I was hoping, Olden came to help me up. I was genuinely trembling in his arms, for I knew that that night, my decision and my willpower were going to be put to the test.

  He was very solicitous and especially delighted with this chance to hold me in his arms. He took me back to my room while Oniar escorted Lauren. I waited for her to go into he
r room and then turned towards Olden:

  “Could you stay with me a while?” I implored. “I don't think I'm up to being left on my own.”

  A smile played on his lips and he replied, “Of course, Miss Reyn.”

  “Call me Auxana”, I said, showing him into my room.

  I offered him a chair and made my way towards my little kitchen, offering him a cup of tea.

  “No thank you Auxana”, he replied, sounding too close. I turned round to find him right behind me. We gazed silently at each other for a moment. Then I lowered my eyes. He reached his hand towards me and softly fondled my cheek. I began to tremble.

  Gently, he took me in his arms. I remained like that for a long time, trembling slightly in his embrace, and then looked up at him. His eyes were tender, but his emotions were totally under control.

  I pretended to fall for this tenderness and murmured: “Olden, I don't know if…” Placing his lips on mine, he silenced me.

  He kissed me gently, alternately glancing at me to be certain of my reaction. I knew that I'd only have to push him away and he'd stop, but I let him carry on. Then, his kisses became more insistent, and I began to respond.

  After a while, he guided me towards the bed. I was very scared but all his movements were unhurried and gentle, and I let him put me on the bed and lie down next to me. He stroked my cheek again, and murmured:

  “Don't be afraid, Auxana…”

  In response, I kissed him, and we lay like that for a long time, clasping each other on my bed. He waited for me to relax, and then his soft kisses descended towards my neck while his hands unfastened my uniform.

  He moved slowly down towards my breasts and stopped at the top of my bra. He seemed slightly startled and I had time to wonder what Efeghi women wore instead before he overcame that obstacle and I stopped thinking.