by Maia Starr
There was much commotion in the room as everyone began to speak over each other. They did not know that a rebel force existed. They did not know that their one capture of a ship in order to speak and communicate with the capital city, did not belong to the capital city at all. They did not know about the rebels.
I continued, "I can only speak your terms of peace with the rebel faction. But we are a small band in our own society. We only send ships out for hunting supplies and females once a year or less, as we don't need as much. I can speak terms of peace with the rebel leaders, but not with the capital city. Any rebel going into the capital city to speak with the capital city leaders would be killed."
There was much uproar as they continued to speak to each other about this new information. I took this time to look at Avery. She was pissed. In all our talks, I had never told her that I was a rebel. I had never told her about what it was like on Kaethon, about the constant civil war between the capital city and the rebel outpost of the Blue Mountain. I did not tell her because I did not want her and her mission to decide that I was useless, that my warriors were useless for their meeting mission. I kept it to myself, with good reason.
"Thank you, Captain Ankon. As you can see, we did not know of this information. You will be led to your cell until we know further of this matter," the vice president said. Then I saw Avery get up and march over to him and whisper something in his ear. Then he continued, "You will be escorted not back to your cell, but instead to a new place. You will be escorted to proper living quarters. You will be under guard, of course, but I hope that you will find your new quarters more comfortable."
I nodded to the vice president and looked at Avery before being let out of the room. I assumed that this was her doing. She did not want me in a cell like a prisoner or captive, but as a political leader visiting Earth for negotiations. Now they knew I could only offer those negotiations to the rebel band. Perhaps they would think it is a start. News from the rebel band of peace with the humans would indeed spread to the capital city, and could spark communications of their own.
Chapter 9
CAPTAIN JAMIE HOLT
I did not like the fact that Avery was spending a lot of time with the captured captain. I knew it was part of her research, but I could tell that she was attracted to him. How could I tell? Because she looked at him the same way she looked at me. I knew her responses. She would get flushed and her cheeks would turn rosy and she would move uncomfortably. These were all the reactions that she was having when she would be in contact with the captured Kalazaron. It pissed me off. But I had a mission to run; this was bigger than any of us.
So, as I sat there with the council listening to the Kalazaron tell us that he was part of a rebel force, I grew angry. Did Avery know this? She had spent more time conversing with him than anyone else. Had he told her this? Had she kept it secret just to make me look like a fool? We had captured a useless Kalazaron for our cause. Now he was being escorted out of the room only to hear that he was being given comfortable accommodations. I grew angrier.
"Vice President Thompson, may I speak with you in private?" I said as I stood at attention at his side.
"Yes, in my office now," he said angrily. He was pissed at me. This was my mission, after all; Avery didn't even know that it had existed in this way. I was looking like a failure and I was pissed. I had to do something to save myself and I knew exactly what that was going to be.
"This mission cannot be a failure. We are bending many laws here just to do this. Now we have someone that cannot even bring a message to the majority of the Kalazaron race!" the Vice President shouted at me.
"Yes, that seems to be the case. However, we had a split second to make a decision whether to capture or be captured when faced with an enemy ship. We didn't exactly get the time to question if they were in positions of power before taking them," I responded.
"Yes, I suppose you are right. This is a mess though; we will need to figure something out. Perhaps it is salvageable if this particular Kalazaron takes the message back to his rebel base that the humans seek peace or will begin to capture their ships as well, and that message will spread by word-of-mouth to the capital city. There is still hope."
"Vice President, if I may say so, I would advise that you would send the message with a lieutenant of the Kalazaron that we have captured. I believe this captain is of high value and should stay here on Earth."
"Why is that?" He asked.
"I have heard Ambassador Jones say that the captain is a hybrid of sorts."
"Hybrid? What do you mean?" he asked.
"I cannot be sure; you will have to ask her and perhaps look at her notes and journals. But I have overheard her say that he is a hybrid of a human female and a male Kalazaron."
He gasped. "That is impossible! I do not see how. It has been known that they cannot mate successfully and produce offspring."
"That is only what we have heard; as you can see, we do not know much about them. We did not know about this rebel existence, or perhaps the Captain is lying about the rebels. How would we know? But Ambassador Jones is good with research and I do not doubt her intelligence."
"Thank you, Captain Holt. Perhaps this mission and the cargo that you have brought back can be salvaged. If he is a hybrid, there is much that we can learn. Our scientists can learn a lot from him, take samples of his blood, study him. We can also study the ship that you brought back and learn their technology so that we can better fight it. We will make do. You are dismissed, Captain. Good work on this mission."
"Thank you, Vice President," I said with a salute and began to walk out.
"Captain! Wait," he shouted.
"Yes, Vice President Thompson?"
"Bring Ambassador Jones to me. While she is with me, confiscate her notes by any means necessary; is that clear?"
"Yes, crystal clear."
I knew exactly where to look for Avery. She would be with the Kalazaron Captain. I walked over to his new living quarters and was pissed to see that it was better than my own. But he was being seen as a dignitary and representative of an entire planet and alien race, and we were working toward peace with them. He would need to be treated well from here on out.
"Is Ambassador Jones inside?" I said to the guard outside the door.
"Yes, Captain. She is in there alone with the Kalazaron warrior. She insisted on being alone with him."
"Insufferable woman," I said under my breath as I opened the door.
"Why did you not tell me you were with the rebels?! Why did you not tell me that rebels even existed on Kaethon?!" I heard her voice shouting as I walked in. She was a headstrong woman and now she was giving it to the Kalazaron Captain. Perhaps she did not know about him being a rebel. But why was she being so familiar with him? Enough to be yelling at him in this fashion, as though they were lovers? That question made me angry as I moved into the living space.
"Ambassador Jones!" I shouted and startled both of them. I guess they were not expecting company. I wondered what they would be doing had I waited a while outside the door. It felt the tension among them. It was chemistry. I knew it well because I had experienced the same sort of arguing passion with her before. She liked debate and argument. It aroused her. Now she was doing it with a Kalazaron warrior.
"Captain Holt, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Vice President Thompson requested that I send for you and bring you to his office," I said, standing at attention in a cold manner.
"Now?" she asked.
"Yes, now," I said to her.
She turned to the Kalazaron captain and said, "I am not done with you yet."
"I look forward to it," was his response.
He said it in a sexual way and I moved toward him and said, "Do not speak to her in such away. This is an ambassador; you will treat her with respect."
"You mean the same respect as you treat her with?" he said, coming toward me. I was ready for this. I had been waiting for this. I knew that he could not be as
strong as the other Kalazaron warriors.
"Yes, I do treat her with respect. I am a human, after all. It is something you could never understand, alien freak!" I shouted as I moved toward him.
"Stop! Don't do this!" Avery shouted as she grew frantic. I charged straight at the Kalazaron and he charged at me.
Boom! Our chests met together in a crash. We bounced off each other but quickly recovered. I hit him with a right hook up across the jaw. His head turned. Bam!
His left fist hit me under the ribs and it knocked the breath out of me, but not the anger. I pushed my leg behind his and swiped his legs out from under him and he fell backwards.
I could hear Avery yelling, "Come quick! The captain is attacking the Kalazaron!" she shouted out the door to the guards.
I jumped on top of the Kalazaron captain and began to pummel him as his hands went up around my neck and squeezed. I was struggling to breathe. I was almost losing consciousness. Then arms grabbed me and I was pulled off by the guards. I was disappointed; I was not done.
"Captain Ankon, are you all right?" Avery shouted.
"Yes, just a few scratches," he said, staring at me.
"Get him outside!" she shouted to the guards about me as they moved me toward the door. I waited outside and recovered. Two minutes later, Avery came out the door.
"Have you lost your mind?! We are trying to make peace with this race and you are attacking. We already have so much to make up for by capturing them. We are trying to make it right and you attack him!"
"They are fighters. He will get over it. It is their way of life. Now, to the vice president. This guard is going to escort you," I said to her bluntly. It pissed me off that she was sticking up for the Kalazaron warrior. I knew she was doing it because she cared for him and not just because of some diplomatic regulations.
"I regret ever letting you touch me," she said as she leaned into my ear and whispered the words in a harsh tone.
She stomped off with the guard to see the vice president. If I didn't have a mission to take her notes and research, I would have gone back in and finished what I started with the Kalazaron. Instead, I moved away and went to the ambassadors living quarters. I took her tablets and journals that she had on the ship. These notes would now go to the vice president and to the scientists. Any amends that could be made between Avery and I were now gone. I blamed the Kalazaron warrior; I would do all that I could to make sure that his time on Earth was a terrible one. Suddenly knowing that he could be studied and experimented on for the rest of his life gave me satisfaction. I only had to do my part.
Chapter 10
AMBASSADOR AVERY JONES
It was a shock to me when I stood there listening to Captain Ankon tell us that he was of a rebel faction. I had spent many hours speaking with him on the Harvest 80 and not once did he mention this. There were many times when he refused to answer questions about his home, and I had assumed it was because it was too painful for him. I assumed that he lived in or near the capital city of Konthos. If he did not live in the capital city, I assumed that he was of that government; after all, he was a captain. Never once did I think that there was a separatist group. I stood there shocked with the rest of the council as he told us what he really was. I felt dumb because I should have known this as a researcher. I felt betrayed because I thought that he had opened up to me in our conversations.
After the first greeting, I went straight to the Kalazaron captain’s living quarters to give him a piece of my mind. I wanted answers. But I was not expecting for Jamie to barge in and begin a fight, though I should've seen it coming. The entire trip back to Earth he had been acting like a jealous boyfriend even though we had not coupled since before the capture of the ship. I think he felt some sort of ownership over me, and I grew to dislike him more and more every day. Now that dislike was sealed as he went after the Kalazaron captain out of rage that began as though it were two children fighting.
Now, I was being led to the vice president’s office, and I knew why: because of the rebel information. He was going to lecture me about my lack of knowledge, or so I thought.
"Tell me about the Captain Ankon. Is he a hybrid?" he asked as soon as I walked in.
"What? Where did you hear such a thing?" I said in shock over his words. I had told no one. I wondered if the vice president had figured it out for himself just by seeing him.
"Captain Holt said he might be a hybrid. Is it true?" he asked me. Of course, I should've known that Jamie would be the first to want Ankon to suffer by being experimented on.
"I am not sure. I think he may be, but he has never said that he is," I lied.
"You are sure of that?" he asked me as he moved from his desk and walked toward me. "Your notes are being taken from your living quarters as we speak. If we find that you are lying about his hybrid station, you will be suspended. For how can we trust you on this project if you are going to withhold information?"
My eyes grew wide at his words. "You are doing what?! You cannot do that. That is my research. They are my notes and I have worked hard for them. I am the one that paid for this mission, after all. Therefore, I own the data."
"No, you do not. You went on the mission under the banner and approval of the United Planets Association. Technically, we own the data. Of course, you can continue to be a leader on this project and continue your research. You will get your data and notes back after we have made copies. But you must be truthful, Ambassador Jones."
I sighed, knowing that my notes did say that he was a hybrid. It was in some of the first notes I had taken in my journal when Ankon had asked me how I knew that he was a hybrid. I was backed into a corner. "He is a hybrid. He has not given me many details and refuses to talk of his parents. But he is human female and male Kalazaron offspring."
"Good, that is better. Why, may I ask, would you keep such information from me? Have you grown fond of this Kalazaron warrior? We have all heard the tales of the power these male warriors hold over the human female. I always thought them to be myth, but are you proving those myths right?"
"No, I withheld it for two reasons. One, because I am not entirely sure if he is lying or not. I did not want to report on a lie. Two, I did not want to start a fury of scientists trying to experiment on him. This is a diplomatic project where we are trying to make peace. What sort of peace can come from the Kalazaron knowing that we are doing experiments on one of their own?"
"Yes, I see your point. But that is not your decision to make. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Vice President Thompson, it is crystal clear."
"Good. You are dismissed until we figure out the next steps to take. Your notes will be returned to you in time," he said.
"Thank you, sir," I said, restraining my anger as I began to walk out of his office.
"Ambassador," he said.
"Yes, sir?"
"You are correct about the experiments. Having a hybrid of a human and a Kalazaron is too valuable. We will probably send a lieutenant back to Kaethon with the message of peace. But the Captain will stay here indefinitely. I know the council well enough to think ahead on what their response will be, and this will be the way. We will start slowly just with a blood draw to confirm that he is hybrid. Once he is confirmed, I do not know the types of experiments that will be conducted on him. You must prepare yourself and think of him as a subject of science, as I cannot have your compassion getting in the way of this mission. Is that clear?"
I turned and looked at him and faked a smile as I said, "Crystal clear."
"It is inevitable. If there are hybrids out there, we need to be prepared."
"I understand. Let me know when I can be of assistance, as Captain Ankon trusts me. It will probably be an easier time for you to get him to participate if you use me."
The vice president smiled at my compliance and said, "I will keep that in mind, Ambassador Jones. Good day."
"Good day. Oh, and by the way, Captain Holt just attacked Captain Ankon only moments before I arrived here. It was
quite a fight. If I were you, I would keep Captain Holt far away from Captain Ankon, unless you want your valuable hybrid to be murdered on your watch by one of your men." The vice president's jaw fell open as I walked out. As I walked down the hall, I was already planning. I was planning an escape.
Over the next three days, I laid low. The news of the hybrid spread like wild fire. Not only did it spread amongst the scientists, but amongst the public. I did not know how they found out, but there seemed to be a lot of holes and leaks in the United Planets Association. There were many people gathering around the building in protest. As I walked outside between buildings, I could see them on the lawn outside the fence. Many of them were holding signs with the names of women, missing women.
"Where is my daughter?!" shouted a man.
"My sister! Do you have my sister?" another woman shouted. There were many shouts and voices, all asking for women that had gone missing in space. They wanted answers, just as I had wanted answers about Dr. Jade Roberts. As I walked to my car, I knew that I owed one person an explanation to that question.