Chapter 28: Consideration of Court
Lieutenant Commander Sir Tar Nako paced in his quarters, his pressed blue cape billowed behind him as he crossed the length of the room and his food was left untouched. His modest living quarters filled with treasures and achievements seemed all but paltry now that he knew what was before him. The grand visions he had for his future were tumbling down a dark hole and out of his grasp, it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Things were not going to plan at all.
He had captured a Rajavan vessel and claimed it as his prize of acquisition, only for the short-sighted Knight Commander to scream that he did not chase after the pirates who were salvaging it. At the time he felt it was the right decision, a dozen pirate ships scattering in all directions of the void or an entire gene-harvester ship (mostly) intact and ripe for study? The reveal of the alien Creator level species onboard only confirmed his judgement correct, if he had chased after such pirates the creator would have slipped into the unknown, lost as so many other things in the painful dynasty. Nako thought such a precious find would have elevated his status to at least admirable, but it appeared the Councillor had an even lower opinion of him than Knight Commander Kotorn did.
Which shouldn’t have been possible really, unless sir Kotorn was whistling only the least flattering songs into the Councillors ear.
That was a possibility, Nako did prefer to lead by example and those below him were enamoured, while those above saw such fraternising as wasteful. Soldiers didnt need to be happy, they just needed to complete their orders.
Perhaps the Councillors opinion could be changed once Nako could explain his side of the argument. He had the audfiles of Kotorn demanding the selling of the Humans stasis pods and the humans themselves with his own voices of protest. Nako slowed his pacing, glancing over at the ‘Brazillian’ tapestry that hung alongside his others.
The Counsellor had not yet met the humans, wondrous creatures who could weave their emotions like music and who could not live without being surrounded by art.
Jasmine was a fine civilised maiden, while her looks were much to be desired for an insectoid such as himself, she could bring any sapient being into her fold with her mere presence and sincerity of empathy.
The counsellor, as powerful as he may be, probably couldn’t withstand such a charismatic Frequency. Nako chittered to himself, stroking his mandibles in thought.
Bring anyone into her fold, except him of course. While he was happy to stand by her side as an ally, he did not succumb to serve under her as most did.
Great allies they would be, with her burning song and his righteous strength they could bring in a new Dynasty to the Galactic Council. New Dynasties were always sworn in on the discovery of something monumental, his own people were the cause of the shift from Painful to Rejuvenation and now he would be responsible for the next shift.
Nako could feel his Calling beckoning him ever stronger and louder towards his fate.
His name alongside the Praetors and Princes of history, rescuing an alien maiden strong enough to invigorate a new crusade.
Now he was laughing to himself.
If Engine lord Viitoic was proposing was true, they would need all the help they could get.
The Rajava were returning, with all the power the humans have and probably more.
Now he just had to convince the Counsellor of that.
His spiralling visions of grandeur were interrupted by the comms device on his regalias collar, it blinked a pale blue as Tifera’s voice echoed through the translator.
Captain Tifera: Sire, permission to enter?
Nako looked over at his uneaten meal, and rolled his shoulders back, a hand over his collar button.
“Permission granted,” he replied and turned to face the door.
Captain Tifera was a hulking military-grade Zenthi model, a messenger class to be exact, so while she stood shorter than her infantry counterparts, there was no better match in Freq projection or speed. Perfect for serving side by side with a Lieutenant Commander.
She came carrying two large silver suitcases, one under each of her already hulking arms, she could barely fit through the already generously sized door. Tifera had smuggled out some of the many human weapons the engine lord had dismissed as inferior on his command. She placed them down before him and opened them for inspection.
“Are these to your liking, my lord?” Tifera asked stoically.
Nako gazed over the dazzling pieces of machinery, each one completely different to the other in size shape and colour. Their art even extended to weapons of war, a thrilling aspect to be sure, he nodded his head in approval.
“Its not a matter of if theyre to my liking, but if they are to his,” Nako replied, implicating the largest unknown factor of their current situation.
“Are you sure you want to gift a praetor inferior weaponry?” Tifera inquired, her long antennae-like ears upon her head flattening in concern.
“Inferior doesn’t mean less deadly,” Nako responded, picking up a piece of the brass-plated ammunition and weighing it between his fingers, “I’m sure a demonstration of the device in the hands of an experienced warrior could tell us otherwise,” Humans had surprised all of them in the most profound ways, Nako was willing to stake his life that there was more to the projectile weaponry that had simply been overlooked, “besides, it’s not power I’m gifting his Honour, its rarity…”
Nako gave a silent order to close the cases, Tifera bowed her head before acknowledging and fulfilling the request.
“I’m sure the praetor will appreciate your gift, Sire,” she complimented his forethought.
“Yes, my gift…” Nako returned his arm beneath his cape, passing the bullet between his fingers unseen as he returned to pace, “Any word on which Praetor requested my presence?”
“Not officially, no,” Tifera responded, “but I can tell you the closest Royal ship that requested gate access,”
Tifera was good at that, knowing what to look for outside the basic parameters, only an experienced and seasoned soldier was capable of such things, which is why Nako preferred to have those under him loyal.
“Proceed,” Nako replied as he paced.
“The ship’s name is ‘Star-Needle’. Registration number 0127538, the ship belonging to His esteemed Honour Sir Mal Karakt, first Praetor of her Imperial Grace Akkaritia,” Tifera answered solemnly, the gravitas of the name stopped Nako in his tracks.
A first Praetor, the favourite mate of an imperial queen, certainly not the usual ambassadors the imperium sent out to inspect novelties such as himself.
“And you are sure of this information?” Nako’s composure slipped as he asked for clarification.
Tifera bowed her head low as she confirmed her answer,
“Cross checked the logs myself, my lord,”
Praetors, those blessed individuals who sired the next generation of life within the imperium, most never left their queens’ side without express permission. First’s especially so, since they held such close and personal bonds with their queen. To have such a free reigning Praetor have heard his name? To have requested his audience specifically? Such events were, more than astronomical, they were downright mythical.
And the universe once again aligned the stars for him.
“Perhaps he was simply the closest ship in the area?” Nako rationalised out loud, trying to squash any hopes from burgeoning out of the darkness, but Tifera asked the unspoken.
“My lord…” The gruff captains voice was low, a rare moment of vulnerability as she asked, “If the Praetor offers you a chance at presenting yourself to court, would you take it?”
Nako paused, his back to her.
“If it were offered, yes,” he answered truthfully, of a thousand males born there was born but one maiden, Princes of far nobler a birth would throw themselves into gauntlets just to prove worthy of consideration, “but, my time with the rangers is not something I look at with scorn,” he returned to face her on his path, “but if I were to leave, I shall pay the credits necessary to balance your score,” Nako pulled back his cape and saluted his captain, “I would have no other as my attendant,”
Tifera bowed deeply, her cold exterior pulsing with waves of gratitude.
“You are far too generous my lord,”
“I am pragmatic captain, I’d rather be followed than feared,” he shook his head, and laughed “besides, I highly doubt the Praetor would present me at court, he’d have over a dozen sons at least! Far better candidates than I!”
The tension settled between the two, Tifera pushed the crates to one side while Nako took a seat at his terminal. There was one last matter they needed to deal with, although he had hoped the situation did not need his intervention. A notification sat waiting for him. Nako sighed, never a moments peace or reflection these days, he tapped the screen and waited for the computer to relay the message.
The bubbly voice was a welcome sound.
Namegiver Jasmine: Hello Nako! Just Jasmine checking in, the company really did a number on the guys, it might take longer than I thought to get them on side, but nothing I can't handle, good luck with everything on your end! Live long and prosper!
Longer than she thought hmmm, Nako had planned to visit Jasmine and run her through more etiquette lessons, between the alien weapons and an alien maiden Nako wanted to put forth his best impression tp the Preator of their uniqueness.
“I suppose I shall give her the space she needs,” Nako muttered out loud for Tifera to hear, “What are the standing orders for interaction with the humans?”
“Currently Sire, they are no contact outside the Engine Lord, even you are barred from contact outside direct orders.” Came the reply, as though she had the answer prepared.
“Well then,” Nako relaxed his shoulders, “then I suppose I should abide protocols then,”
Nako pressed the terminal’s screen and recorded his reply.
LC Nako: Namegiver Jasmine, I want to thank you for the status report, while it is unfortunate that your progress is slow I have every confidence that you can undo the ill that has burrowed under their shell. Should you require my presence please do not hesitate to send a request, I shall answer once my duties allow me to do so.
May your calling be clear.
Chapter 29: Hurts to Remember
Jasmine walked down the halfway repeating a calming mantra in her head, trying to imagine the waves of the beach as she approached Ryo’s door.
The yacht was giant, enough to have a small ball room on one of the lower decks, so naturally Ryo had chosen a room on the complete opposite end of the ship to her.
She thought it was probably so that their frequencies couldnt interfere with each other, he was the only other human with a translator and his frequency always seemed to prickle and crash against hers when they were in the same vicinity. It was just easier when they were far, easier to think and easier to sleep that way too. The ocean in her mind gently lapped at the shore, the subtle sounds of sand and surf pulled from her memory calmed her. Jasmine took a deep breath but hesitated before knocking in the door, she didn't want to come on too strong or bubbly, even though a day had past the tension was still thick in the air.
She wanted to extend the olive branch.
Maybe it was too soon?
She took another deep breath to stop second guessing herself when Ryo’s sharp voice rattled in her head.
“I can sense you’re(Bright/annoying) there,” he informed her, then adjusting his tone to a softer one, “what do you want(of me)?”
Jasmine pulled back her hand, the sadness and hurt still lingered in his mind.
It felt so lonely.
“I wanted to ask you something,” she answered with her own inner voice, leaning with her back against the wall, “would you be willing to join a meditation session with Xant and me?”
She paused for an answer, and when she didn’t get one she added, “You don’t have to, I just thought I’d ask if you wanted to try some of the new ‘upgrades’, make the best of a bad situation…(that you never asked for.)”
Jasmine closed her eyes and tried to feel for the subtleties in his aura, curiosity and excitement flickered in his response.
“What kind of powers?” he asked, small flashes of posed hands and childlike imagination peered through the gloom.
“Oh, uhh,” truth be told she wasn't expecting him to reach out for the idea so suddenly, she was sure she was going to have to try harder to bring him on side, but progress was better than not! “well, for starters, we can sense where other people are, we can change other peoples emotions and do other things with our telepathy, if were good enough we can swap memories and emotions or block them out entirely, at least that’s what Xant is teaching me now-”
The last suggestion created such a strong reaction Jasmine had to step back from the door.
Her body became overwhelmed with energy, an unobtainable opportunity presented before her, the gasp of a last hope in her throat as Ryo’s door sung right open.
“You can block out memories?” he demanded an answer, an honest answer.
The hoodie that usually obscured him pulled away enough that Jasmine stood face to face with the young man. His eyes were the colour of fresh chipped slate and filled with expressions betrayed by the translator.
She allowed her answer to seep through her body, her shoulders relaxed, a hand raised to hold her arm and her ocean drew in.
“Yeah,” she voiced it outloud, so he could hear as well as feel, “I blocked some stuff to help me sleep better at night,” The echo of horrors had faded, but she had not allowed herself to forget completely. As the ocean withdrew, still air surrounded her and gentle snow fell in the back of her mind. Those haunted eyes, that were so, so tired smiled back at her.
“Okay,” he replied, “I’ll do it,”
The hostility had eased enough she wasn’t afraid to smile back, it was like she had offered him the solution to all his problems.
Then again, she very well might have done.
-*-
Xant had spent the last half hour or so setting up his room for the meditation session, the space needed to be clear of any distracting items, but he was finding that impossible with human surroundings. Pillows and cushions on the floor, drinks of water for his human companions, and he was beginning to think he may just have to throw white sheets over everything else.
He had already pushed the bed and desk to one side of the room and wondered why there needed to be so many superfluous chairs and even smaller, less useful table sides to accompany them.
While he admitted the decorations were pretty, they did little to lighten his mood like they did Jasmine, so he tucked them away in the endless walkin.
The minimalist space reminded him of his hab-room back on Uleesia, minus the red coloured plants of his formative years.
Satisfied with the space he had created, Xant made himself comfortable and soothed his own inner voice.
“Xant? You in there?”
Jasmine had returned with Ryo in tow, Xant had of course felt the pair returning, humans were like beacons in the dark, others naturally flocked to their signal.
The human male stiffened as he entered the room behind Jasmine and laid eyes on Xant. The doctor looked up and refused to advert his gaze, while they had been in the room together many times this was the first time Ryo had acknowledged Xant in any sort of capacity.
Defensive, cold and dark, it was strange for Xant to feel such a frequency and deny its interference, his strength had grown in ways he’d not noticed, a reflection on his former self.
Ryo withdrew his leer, pulling down his hood further while Jasmine awkwardly folded her legs underneath herself sitting besides Xant.
Ryo copied Jasmine, sitting cross-legged but looking way more comfortable in doing so.
“So, she (miss sunshine) says you can help me block memories,” The human stated, inviting Xant to interpret it as a question.
Xant looked at Jasmine who shrugged unhelpfully.
“You're better at explaining it than I am,” She chuckled nervously.
“I suppose it would be irresponsible of me to assume you could define lessons you have not yet mastered, Jasmine.” Xant said.
“Ouch, but fair,” she acknowledged.
“But you said you could block memories to help you sleep, can you do that or not?” Ryo demanded, Jasmine deflected.
“I can block my memories, some of the time (alcohol helps too though),”
Ryo’s frequency aggression began to pulse out, Xant was quick to step in and distract him.
“You can block memories, once you’ve learned how to control them, but it is not what I would advise on a first session,” He explained to Ryo.
Ryo leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees while his hands held his chin and mouth from view.
“So what do you suggest for a first session?”
“Oh,” Jasmine interrupted sheepishly, wiggling her fingers, “will you need to uhh, stick you fingers in his ear?”
“What?” came the alarmed question.
Xant realised that Jasmine had not been entirely upfront with Ryo about how the mediation sessions were conducted. The bond of trust between he and Jasmine on their first session had had weeks to form, Ryo was at best, dismissive of Xant and that did not make for a great connection. But, the young prince had not flown off in a fury, he was still there willing to listen.
Xant calmly removed his gloves and showed the other human his nerve tendrils, extending them out past his fingertips.
“While we can speak and feel freely through the translator, it has many filtering and safety measures built within it. To have a pure, unaltered connection we need to join nerve endings. But, I have not tried to join since Jasmine altered my brain,” and made him more human, a condition Xant was ever unsure of.
“If it means we can block out my memories, I’m willing to give it a try,” Ryo admitted.
“I commend you on your determination,” Xant complemented, rising from his seat to take one next to the human.
Ryo looked nervously at the aliens tendrils as they twisted and twitched in the air.
“It's easier if you close your eyes,” Jasmine offered the advice, Ryo was quick to take it.
“I’ll need you first to quieten your mind,” Xant instructed, raising his hand to Ryo’s ear, “find your most happy memory, one where you are at peace,”
While Jasmine had to actively concentrate to find ‘the beach’, Ryo’s outer interference disappeared quickly, the gloomy presence melted away to a stillness. Xant carefully and slowly matched the quiet of Ryo’s mind, threading the nerves into his ear and soon, out of that quiet an image began to emerge...
It was a clear and starry night, the moon made the fresh snow glow.
He stood in the snow, warm clothes, cold face.
Gentle, peaceful, silence.
An old memory, a dear memory, Ryo was so much smaller in this image than the one that sat beside Xant.
Small, innocent, happy.
Ryo stood between two figures, holding each of their hands.
His mothers long black hair and smiling face,
His fathers tall figure and the red burn of a cigarette.
The security and love of family.
Ryo squeezed their hands tighter.
“This is your centre,” Xant guided, “How you perceive the world, and how others feel you in it-”
But Ryo’s grip on the memory became tighter, time froze, the silence turned from peaceful to stagnant.
Desperately trying to hold it in place, unchanging, eternal.
Xant tried to ease his grip.
“It doesn’t have to be focused so tightly,” he warned, drawing on the falling snow as an example, “it needs to be the whole memory not a single frame,”
But Ryo’s grip became painful…
he looked up at his mum, her smiling face.
Her smile became a blank stare when she talked on the phone to no one.
A mask to hide her desperation when he asked her what was wrong.
An answer she gave when her first answer wasn’t enough.
He held her wrists, his small hands could barely wrap around them.
She had scrubbed the floor so hard her fingers were bleeding.
That awful smile on her lips when she told him it was to make sure the bugs didn't come back.
He didn’t want to live with bugs all over him, did he?
Ryo looked to his father.
The man became so tall he couldn't see his face any more,
he couldn't meet his gaze without fear, without pain.
He didn’t dare look at the shadows in his fathers eyes.
“You better not turn out like her,”
The cigarette smoke added bitterness to his voice, the fire burnt so harshly it hurt.
“Weak,”
There was no longer a face on the man before him.
Long dark fingers coiled around his throat.
A clench fist sunk into his stomach.
He sat in the cold of a classroom, entrance exam before him.
The snow fell gently outside, the last of winters grasp.
He lifted his pencil, and went to write his answer.
But he couldn’t read the paper.
It was crawling with beetles.
No one else had noticed, if he spoke out he’d be expelled, he’d ruin his future.
But there were too many bugs on his hands.
He needed to get them off, they wouldn’t go away…
He raised his pencil, and aimed for one on the back of his palm-
The memory broke, shattered to pieces as the pain shot through them.
Ryo ripped himself away, clamoring backwards, sweat pouring down his face, heart racing in his chest.
His aura returning to the disgusted dark cloud.
“I said I wanted to block those memories!” he snarled, “Not relive them!”
Xant lay still on the floor, trying to sort out the memories running through him.
What was his, and what was Ryo’s, what was a dream and what had occurred.
It melded into each other without rhyme or reason, he had been taken again by the human memories and swallowed whole.
Jasmine’s warm presence brought him back to reality, lifting him up from the floor, her fingers screamed with concern, blocking out the Freq-aggression Ryo was flinging at them both in full force.
“Are you alright Xant?” her voice a whisper, holding back the power of her panic.
He raised a hand over hers.
“I will be Jasmine,” he reassured her and stood on his own two feet and tail.
“Whatever!-” Ryo exclaimed, insulted he was being ignored. He jumped off the floor, trying to run from the room, but crashed straight into Beau.
“What on earth is going on in here?” the mountain of a man asked, he peered in and pulled a puzzled expression, “ya’ll having a party without me?”
Panic rushed into Ryo, as he quickly tried to deny it.
“Nothing happened-”
“We're trying to suppress awful memories,” Jasmine offered an explanation, “but they’re too fresh to contain at the moment,”
“Suppress memories huh?” Beau's eyes looked between Xant and the flustered Ryo, clearly not liking the situation he had stumbled upon. Beau lowered himself to be eye to eye with Xant, “is that a service or a feature?”
“It's an option,” Jasmine replied firmly, standing between Beau and Xant, a barrier to protect her friend, “Xant wasn’t doing anything Ryo didn't ask for.” she answered a question Beau had not asked and Xant was once again forced to realise there was more going on that what was being said.
Beau stood slowly, towering over Jasmine, the hard line of his gaze looking her over and she stared harshly back.
The bright, warm glow became frantic but she did not step back or let her eyes waver.
Freq would not work on Beau, he had clear size, experience and skill over her, but she stood her ground all the same to protect Xant from him.
Did Beau see what Xant had done to Ryo as a threat?
Did it cross some cultural taboo Xant wasn't privy to yet?
“Tsk,” The sigh escaped Beau's teeth, in a moment the tension was gone, and a small laugh followed. “Geeze girl, what do you think I’m gonna do? I was just worried is all, you talking about suppressing memories, that’s some scary stuff...” He stepped to the side of Jasmine not backing down but de-escallating his approach, “but if you say its safe then, I want him to have a look,”
“A look?”
“Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard right?” Beau tapped his forehead and waited for her to relay the message. “Do to me, what you did to him, I’ll be the judge on if its what he asked for,”
Xant began to worry about humans and wanting memories erased, what horrible experiences could Beau be hiding? Was human warfare as strenuous as their own galactic war front?
“In a moment,” Xant told Jasmine, “once I’ve calmed down...”
Jasmine furrowed her brow with concern.
“You don’t have to push yourself Xant, I don’t want you going comatose on me again,”
“Don’t worry Jasmine,” He said, steeling his nerves for whatever beau had waiting for him.
Without a translator Xant had no choice but to join with Beau, his nerves tickling the large man ear as they slid inside the calm...
Sweltering hot day, cool sweet tea, the laughter of friends and family, the soft fur of a friend on his lap.
The happy memory contrasted with the dark
Endless stretch of desert, the air burnt his lips and nose, it cracked his skin.
Blood stained the sand, screams filled the air, fire burned.
Heavy, hot, strangling.
Dead eyes, empty shells, small bodies.
Beau stood and watched.
Xant tried to draw away, the images, the memories he saw gruesome, but he felt nothing.
No memory was that clear and yet so hollow.
Like it wasnt whole.
The man stood apart from his memories, as though they weren’t his but he was holding them within him.
Was this what he wanted to show Xant?
‘I don’t remember a lot of it…’ Beau’s voice spoke, ‘its probably best I dont,” the soldier stood and waited, staring at Xant, waiting for a reply.
Xant breathed out slowly, feeling the challenge the human had presented him, the transference of memories was like second nature to them, thankfully, he had recently received an abundance of practice. Xant unfurled his own dark memories and showed the human.
The empty eyes of the Vassal stared back at Beau, hollow and hungry.
The fear for his life, the screams of his companions, the acid and the inches that stood between Xant and the death threatening to swallow him.
The dread and the dark, the hopelessness and fragility, washed away by the river at their feet.
Xant sat amongst the grass, admiring the beauty of its construction, the arrangement of the stars and the sounds of the station around him.
‘I am not your enemy, through misstep and misunderstanding I shall be patient’ Xant sat on the black sand beach, watching the colours change with Jasmine, smiling beside him, ‘just as you have been patient with me,’
Xants hand pulled away slowly, Beau quickly put his finger into his ear and twisted away the sensation.
“Jasmine,” Beau stood, his voice gravely quiet, “tell your friend I meant no disrespect, but I understand him a little better now, hes not as alien as the others.”
Jasmine nodded, worry welling in her throat.
“Ryo,” Beau turned to the boy, who had made himself apart of the wall, “don’t go looking for quick fixes…”
Ryo nodded silently, and watched as Beau left the room.
“Xant?...” Jasmine held her friends hand.
He squeezed her fingers back.
Human’s care deeply for those close to them, they care so deeply it causes them and their loved ones pain. Xant understood it better now, they were small of number and barely knew each other, but the desire for connection was still there. The desire to protect those they cared about, to preserve what was human.
“I’m alright Jasmine, I can stand,” his ears twitched as he gave her a side smile, “but I would not be opposed to a drink,”
-*-