Traitor

by Drew Avera

  He nodded again and gestured towards a large door at the back of the bar. "Does she know you're coming?" He asked, his voice sounding like crushed gravel and that was when Auden noticed the scars on his neck that had to be an indication as to why his voice sounded so damaged.

  Or maybe it was from shouting over the music every day?

  "No," she replied. "We were sent to see her by a friend. We need some help."

  "Then you should make an appointment," he said flatly.

  "It's an emergency."

  "How much of an emergency?" he asked skeptically as he shot a glance out to the crowd and then back to Auden.

  Tara stepped forward. "Life or death," she snapped. "Is that enough of an emergency to warrant a meeting with her, or not?”

  Naegele smirked as he pulled down another bottle of shimmering blue liquid that Auden couldn't tell if it was a real color, or an effect from the lights bouncing off it. "You go to the door, and I’ll open it for you. But remember, she doesn't like an uninvited guest. Do you understand?"

  Auden nodded in affirmation and then said, "Thank you."

  He smiled and gestured for them to move along, so they did.

  Auden stopped in front of the door and stared back at the bartender waiting for him to open the door. He smirked and reached with his one arm under the bar before Auden saw the door begin to open out of the corner of her eye. She turned her attention to the dark opening, inhaled, and stepped through while Tara followed closely behind her.

  They found themselves in a dark, narrow hallway. At the end of it were stairs leading up to the next floor which disappeared behind very dim lights that failed to illuminate it. She followed the light and walked gingerly up the stairs, grasping the handhold to steady herself as her courage began to waver.

  The large door slammed shut behind them and muted the music to a more tolerable level. Still, her trepidation was overwhelming as she fearfully climbed the stairs one step at a time. Each footfall produced a groan from the floor. It unnerved her each time as it sounded like an alert to her presence.

  "Why don't you go faster?" Tara whispered.

  Auden didn't realize how slow she was going until her sister asked the question. She hated looking weak to her sister, so she forged ahead, feeling the need to overcompensate by rushing the rest of the way up to the landing.

  The stairs opened to a dimly lit hallway and she paused a moment to let her eyes adjust. "Which room do we choose?" Auden asked as Tara closed in next to her. There were more than a dozen doors per side and the hallway ended with a single, white door at the end.

  "I don’t want to point out the obvious," Tara said, "but I think I would go with the white door."

  "Why is that?"

  "It stands out," Tara replied smugly.

  Auden shrugged. It wasn't the most ridiculous reasoning she had heard for making a decision. Now that she thought about it, she felt the same way, as if there was a reason it was different. "It's worth a shot, I suppose."

  They walked side-by-side towards the white door at the far end. The closer they got to their destination, the quieter the music became. Or perhaps it was merely Auden’s senses dulling with each step.

  She stopped outside of the door and Auden sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. It was useless. "Should I knock?"

  "It's more polite than just walking in," Tara replied.

  Auden wiped her clammy hands off on her cloak and steadied herself. "Right," she said before nervously rapping at the door.

  There was no response, neither verbal nor the sound of approaching footsteps on the inevitable creaking floors of the room.

  "Maybe it's the wrong door," Tara said.

  “Maybe so," Auden replied before the sound of heavy locks unbolting startled her. The door groaned open and the girls stood in shock as a figure loomed in the doorway before them.

  Silence greeted them, and the sway of the lone, dark figure draped in robes. Its face was covered by a hood as it stared faceless in quiet dissonance.

  Auden was mesmerized by the mysterious entity and she wondered what was behind the hood, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

  "Are you Nata?" Tara asked, breaking the fearful silence she shared with her older sister.

  "I am." The figure responded. The voice was like three feminine voices intertwined and speaking simultaneously. "Who are you?" The question hit their ears like a song.

  "We need help. A man is dying from a gunshot wound and we’re trying to save his life," Auden offered in response. It wasn’t the answer to the question she asked, but it broke the ice, nonetheless.

  "Consulate?" Nata asked.

  It was a good assumption, Auden thought, and she replied with a questioning, "Yes."

  "Consulate business does not concern me, child. Please, leave me in peace." Nata shifted from the doorway and moved to close the door until Tara stepped in, breaking the threshold and causing the woman to step back and gawk at the boldness of the human child. "It's a bit more serious than that lady," Tara spat. "We need this man to live so we can find our parents. We’re on the run from the Consulate."

  Nata sighed and her shoulders slumped. "Fine," she sang under her breath. Even her contempt sounded elegant to Auden’s ears. She backed away and motioned for them to enter. "I'll hear you out, but I won’t promise anything."

  They stepped into the dark room together and Nata closed the door behind them.

  “You have five minutes of my time. Don’t waste it.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  "You've been in my custody for more than four hours, Commander Hoyt. Aren't you at all concerned with where your children are?" Admiral Hardak asked as he glared down his nose at the human officer. The disgusted expression on his face only made Kevin more determined to defy his superior. After watching him give the kill order against Captain Dickson, Kevin knew that working with the admiral would only put his children in more danger. He had to hold off for as long as possible and the clock was ticking before he and his wife's lives expired.

  "You sure are putting a lot of oversight into this investigation, Admiral. I'm curious as to why. That seems beneath your pay grade," Kevin shot back scathingly. "Perhaps you have a vested interest in silencing anyone who knows the truth because you’ve got your hands dirty? Maybe the Heshian insurgents are using you to get an upper hand on the Consulate?"

  Admiral Hardak scoffed at the remark, but Kevin could see a shift his demeanor. Gotcha, Kevin thought. It had been a longshot, but there had to be some kind of a tie. He didn’t think he would nail it on his first try, though.

  "You humans and your bravado is a delicate thing," Hardak said as he began pacing the room. His large, lumbering body only made a few short steps before having to about-face and go the opposite direction, but he made a show of it regardless. "You think that your unwillingness to cave to my demands is a show of strength, but it’s simply stupidity at its finest. Do you know why humans were recruited into the Consulate, Commander Hoyt?"

  Kevin reclined back in his chair, not to relax but to keep an eye on his wife as she sat quietly next to him fighting back tears. His eyes moved back to Hardak and he replied, "Please, why don't you enlighten me?"

  Hardak snarled, showing his jagged teeth in the process. Kevin knew the Heshians were a volatile species and that drinking the blood of their enemies was an archaic symbol that their proudest warriors still did based on tradition. It wasn't out of the question that Hardak would forgo tribunal execution and merely devour him in the interrogation room, and Kevin also knew that such an act would embolden the humans under the Admiral's charge, and a mutiny would be inevitable. So, Admiral Hardak’s hands were tied behind his back and there was nothing he could do outside the bounds of Consulate law to punish Commander Hoyt.

  At least for now.

  "I'll tell you the story, Commander. A millennium ago my people were slaughtered at war with the Nepham. Their sanctimonious policies crippled our economy as they tried to s
tarve us out of existence. We needed help against them, so we sought a capable, yet ignorant species to take up arms against them. That is when we discovered the Grotans, and soon after, the human race.

  “Your kind had already experienced spaceflight, but despite your technological advances, you were still at arms with one another. Like any creature with a small brain, you were unable to see the path before you. Your species jumped at the opportunity to fight a war with a superior race such as ourselves.

  “But just as human nature reared its head, you splintered and took alliances with our natural-born enemies. The Consulate had no choice but to recruit you into becoming peacekeepers for my kind to thrive. Yet, you and your people still bite the hands that fed you so many years ago."

  "Fascinating story, Admiral, but you're missing something," Kevin said indignantly.

  "What's that, Commander?"

  "You're missing the part where your kind was exiled from the Consulate until just a few hundred years ago when a new treaty was written. Humans have more of a claim to authority over the Consulate than the Heshian do, regardless of your hypocritical, superiority complex."

  Kevin's words got a rise out of the admiral and Hardak spun to face him, slamming his fists onto the metal table with every bit of strength he had. He growled and seethed. Saliva spewed from his mouth in a mist. "Do not taunt me, Commander," he snarled.

  Kevin didn't flinch and merely looked up at the ranking officer in bold defiance before rising. "And don't patronize me, Admiral. We both know what's going on. You're just too much of a coward to admit that there's a Heshian uprising and you want to use the power of the Consulate to annihilate what’s left of the Nepham. And when you're done with that, you'll destroy the rest of us as well."

  The men stood in silence, glaring at one another with antagonistic hatred until the admiral finally spoke. "You're a clever little man, Commander Hoyt, but let's see if your confidence can carry you into the next phase of the interrogation."

  Admiral Hardak moved to the door of the interrogation room and Kevin looked down at his wife who could no longer fight back the tears.

  "What do you need, Admiral?" Lieutenant Kretzschmar asked from the other side of the door.

  Hardak glared at Kevin and then spoke, "Take the commander down the hall and persuade him with pain to admit that he's a traitor." The Admiral ordered.

  "And what about the female, sir?" The lieutenant asked.

  A smirk formed on Hardak’s face as his eyes fell upon Sarah. "Leave her to me."

  Chapter Twenty

  "Who sent you?" Nata asked as she led the children deeper into her room.

  Auden looked around at the undecorated walls and dim lighting trying to get a clue about Nata’s personality. She hadn't even seen the woman's face, much less ascertained what kind of person she was. It was difficult to put all of your hope into a stranger. Not that they had much choice.

  "Chuck said that you could help us," she replied after giving up on trying to figure Nata out. It felt like a lost cause at this point.

  "Who is Chuck?" The woman asked as she shifted her head in a way that Auden could only presume was her way of glancing back at her.

  "What do you mean who is Chuck? He's the Grotan man who sent this to you. He lives in the scrapyard on the side of the city." Auden questioned whether or not she should've given so much information, not wanting to reveal who was helping them just in case this person was not who they thought she was.

  A sound eerily reminiscent of a chortle emanated from the petite woman as she rifled through a cupboard on the other side of the room. "I think you mean, Chulukmasulatuka," she replied.

  Auden counted the syllables on her fingers and smirked. "Yes, he just identified himself as Chuck after our father had difficulty pronouncing his name correctly."

  Nata closed the cupboard and returned to the center of the room, facing the humans. "That sounds like the Chuck I know," she said with an inflection on his name. "But tell me, child. Why would he send you to me instead of coming himself?"

  Tara cleared her throat and answered, "Chuck said that you two had a falling out and that you might not help him if he came to you."

  A tsking sound emanated from behind the hood and then she responded, "You would think that the years would be more forgiving than that," she said meekly.

  Auden took charge of the conversation once more as she stepped towards Nata, crossing her arms over her chest as she'd seen her father do hundreds of times when he wanted to get down to business. "Yes, you might think that. But time is running out and what we need to know is whether you will help us," she said flatly.

  Nata shifted her body weight in a way that Auden could only read as being taken aback by Auden's confrontational tone. She hadn’t meant to be, but it was hard not to mask the worry she felt about her parents.

  "You're very bold for a child," Nata said, her voice even with a tinge of scolding to it that Auden felt in her heart.

  Her conviction shrank as a wave of guilt washed over.

  "I feel weird," Auden said as she reached out to take hold of something.

  Tara took hold of her hand and studied her older sister. "What's wrong?"

  Auden's legs felt like a wet paper as she collapsed to the floor and groaned from her sudden weakness.

  Nata stepped forward and pulled the hood off of her head to reveal her identity. With every ounce of strength that Auden had, she looked up, her muscles screamed in agony bearing the weight of her head, but she refused to look away.

  "You've never seen one of my kind before have you?" Nata asked. Her voice was a triumphant chorus washing over the human girls’ ears. It was more deafening than the Grotan music they waded through in the square just to get to Nata in the first place.

  "Your kind of people have always felt superior. That was the problem with humanity and why we had to wait millennia for you to become smart enough to comprehend the existence of more superior lifeforms. Yet, confidence outranks your intellect, and you come into my home and demand that I give of myself to help you. You’re brash, you’re brazen, you’re selfish," she said.

  “And you’re hurting her,” Tara shrieked.

  Tears streamed down Auden's face, as agonizing pain coursed through every fiber of her being, but she refused to look away.

  Tara held onto her sister's hand but couldn't find the strength to stand up against the being who seemed so intent on disciplining her sister that she couldn't see the pain she was causing.

  "Please," Auden choked, forcing the word out of her mouth through the knot in her throat.

  Nata’s eyes penetrated Auden’s soul and in a matter of seconds, Auden knew everything that she needed to about the Nepham woman. There was a reason ancient humans thought they were angels sent by God. And there was a reason why they were feared as gods.

  "I'm sorry," Auden choked.

  And just as quickly as her torment began, it washed away. She felt the weight of the universe lifted from her shoulders as the woman with translucent skin smiled stoically.

  "You are forgiven," Nata sang as tranquility was restored in the room. "And yes, I will help you."

  Tara helped Auden to stand and the two humans gawked at the Nepham woman fearfully. They trembled, but despite it all, Auden was thankful that the woman relented.

  “Thank you,” she uttered as her young sister stared at her in astonishment.

  Nata smiled. “I just need to grab a few things.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kretzschmar snatched Kevin up from the chair by one arm. His grip was like a vice and Kevin was powerless to stop the behemoth forcing him up from his chair. "Where are you taking me?" Kevin asked, his defiance marred by fear.

  Kretzschmar was a known monster in certain circles. He had been a model soldier for the Heshian Empire until his recruitment into the Consulate. One doesn't change loyalties without a reason, though, and most of the men in Kevin's circle questioned Kretzschmar’s motives.

  "You know what's c
oming, Commander. Unlike your friend Captain Dickson, I obey orders," Kretzschmar said through a snarl.

  Kevin eyed his wife warily, his eyes pleading apologies that he couldn't say out loud. Tears welled in her eyes and she failed to maintain her composure. This action was to incite fear by separating them and threatening them with torture.

  Then again, most fear tactics didn't result in the murder of another human being. Next, Kretzschmar unshackled Kevin's chains from the table and dropped the lock onto the surface as he pulled Kevin away from his wife. Kevin seized the opportunity and grabbed the lock with his free hand and smashed it against the side of Kretzschmar's face with every ounce of strength he could muster.

  The monster stumbled, possibly concussed, but definitely pissed off.

  Kretzschmar growled, baring his teeth as he loomed over the frightened human.

  "There's more where that came from," Kevin spat. His confidence in the fact he just hurt the beast outweighed his judgment, however, as Kretzschmar acted with lightning-fast reflexes, yanking both of Kevin's arms downward and driving his knee into the human man's face, breaking his nose and splattering blood all over the deck.

  Kevin collapsed and his head swam from the assault. He had never gone toe-to-toe with a Heshian before. He was wise to fear them, but he always assumed that they bled like any other man. But here I am doing all the bleeding, he thought spitefully.

  Kretzschmar grabbed Kevin by the collar and dragged him out of the interrogation room. Still dazed, Kevin could hear a muffled conversation taking place around the corner.

  "I'm sorry, sir, but I was unable to hack into Commander Hoyt’s AI," the voice he could only assume was Lieutenant Harrison said. The fearful pleading of the man's voice matched Dickson's description of the man perfectly.

  "Then why are you on my ship telling me your failures when you should be on his ship trying to crack it?" Hardak seethed.

  "I was just trying to keep you informed, sir."