AnonyMouse
Senior Member
Sil sat quietly at her desk, where she had been most of the night. Her room was completely dark, except for the dim red light of her datapod and the blue bioluminescence of her eyes. She slowly stood and checked that the door was locked before returning to her desk and retrieving a small black cube from one of the drawers. It was a piece of ITF tech from her time as an agent. Sil attached the cube to her datapod and waited for the two devices to sync. The box could encrypt all communications going through it, to ensure no one listened in on her conversations. It also acted as a buffer between her datapod and the ship’s communications hardware, so no bugs, tracers, trackers, or malicious software could infect the ship.
Once she was satisfied that she had taken all the necessary precautions, Sil propped the datapod up on a small stand. A message was flashing in red on the screen: “One (1) missed call.” She had received the message hours ago, but ignored it all night. The timing of it bothered her, mere hours after Mechka’s death. After one last moment of hesitation, she took a deep breath and redialed the caller.
The person on the other end picked up almost immediately, as if he’d been waiting for her reply. A human male stared back at her, with a look of relief on his face. He was square-jawed and steely-eyed, with slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair which gave him an air of dignity. But his most noticeable attribute was his pressed white ITF uniform, and the decorations on his lapel, indicating he bore the rank of a commander.
“My god, I thought you’d never respond,” the man said, his voice deep and stern. “It’s been so long, I was beginning to fear you’d changed your number or didn’t wish to speak with me.”
“I needed time to prepare. The combined bounties of everyone on this ship exceeds half a billion credits. Surely, you cannot expect me to carelessly pick up the phone when an ITF commander dials me in the middle in the night,” Sil said, her voice cold and emotionless. But she added, in a slightly less vicious tone: “Even if it is someone I would trust with my life, I still have a reputation to protect.”
“As do I, Roschanna, but some threats transcend our individual allegiances,” Commander Garret Maxxon replied. He appeared to be walking through the halls of his ship as he spoke to her, but now he entered a private room and shut the door. She heard the lock click as he settled into a creaky leather chair and gave her his undivided attention. “I have no orders to pursue you or your people. This is about your sister.”
“She is not my sister,” Sil said, with a roll of her eyes. “We have gone through this a million times, Maxxon. We are not related by blood, not even distant blood. Sauphira is a descendent of House Aurelia, who were retainers of House Silmaris over a thousand years ago. They were a warrior clan in a time when that actually mattered. Every time you call her my ‘sister’ you are playing into her fantasy, her narrative. So, for the millionth time, I ask that you refrain from referring to that omnicidal psychopath as my ‘sister.’ She is not a warrior or a hero. Sauphira Aurelia is a monster and a master manipulator and you should choose your words very carefully any time you speak of her. Have I made myself clear, commander?”
Maxxon was momentarily taken aback by her rebuke. But, after a pause, he smiled slightly. “You haven’t changed a bit, Roschanna,” he replied, with a small chuckle.
“I am Tymari. Change is in our nature. The trick is making sure ignorant offworlders like you don’t know we’ve changed,” she said. “Get to the point. What happened? Word on the street is Bjorn Mechka was killed yesterday. You think Sauphira was behind it?”
“Unlikely. She always claims her kills. And, for what it's worth, most of us are glad he’s gone, even the corrupt ones. That guy was a real piece of work,” Maxxon said. “My mission is to track Sauphira and her cult, not avenge some pompous asshole who got himself offed in a diner. I had a man on the inside. An agent, like you. Within minutes of Bjorn’s death, she sent my man back to me.”
“My condolences,” Sil said with a look of genuine sadness. “I pray the body wasn’t too badly maimed. Have you notified his next of kin?”
“That’s the thing. She sent him back alive. Unscathed. Her people strapped him into a shuttle and shot him up to my ship on autopilot. They knew he was there all along. It’s like she wanted us to know she knows we’ve been watching her for months.”
“No, no,” Sil said, slowly shaking her head. “Check him for biological contaminants or explosives hidden in his body. Your man may have been turned. Quarantine him, interrogate him, do whatever it takes. You were a fool to send live assets down there and even more of a fool to take them back. With Sauphira, everything is a weapon.”
“She’s up to something,” Maxxon said, ignoring her warning. “I don’t know what frightens me more, the fact that I can’t figure out what she’s planning down there or the fact that the ITF doesn’t want me to stop her. ‘Observe and report.’ Those are my orders. Observe and fucking report!” He pounded a fist on his desk. “I won’t sit by and wait for another Vaemir IV. 3,000 people, dead in the blink of an eye. Women and children. I may have orders, but I have a conscience, too. If I get even the slightest hint she’s going to leave that planet, I will bomb it to rubble rather than let her escape.”
“And Sauphira will slither out from the ruins, like a snake. You will be court martialed, or worse. Your ship and crew will be given to someone with no conscience, and the world will turn on and on and on,” Sil said coldly. “And I suppose that is where I come in?”
Maxxon slowly nodded, much calmer now. “Yes. My hands are tied, but your people…”
“I will not drag Ezro and the others into this mess. Sauphira is your problem. You people created this demon when you unleashed hell on my homeworld.” She smiled nostalgically. “You know, sometimes, I almost believe her bullshit? I mean, what if she is an avenging warrior, an avatar of destruction, carrying the lingering hatred of thousands of dead Tymari? Maybe the reason you’re still alive is because she knows you’re one of the good ones. Maybe sending your spy back to you was a peace offering. You will not receive a second one. My advice to you: take the olive branch and leave before she changes her mind.”
“If hatred and vengeance really are her only motivations, you and your people aren’t safe. You took her knife. You took her arm. You faced the demon and lived.” His eyes narrowed upon her. “She will come to collect, Roschanna. Are you one of the good ones now, because you certainly weren’t back then?”
An eerie silence fell between them. After what seemed like an eternity, Sil muttered a curse in her native tongue.
“Send me everything you have on her.”
Once she was satisfied that she had taken all the necessary precautions, Sil propped the datapod up on a small stand. A message was flashing in red on the screen: “One (1) missed call.” She had received the message hours ago, but ignored it all night. The timing of it bothered her, mere hours after Mechka’s death. After one last moment of hesitation, she took a deep breath and redialed the caller.
The person on the other end picked up almost immediately, as if he’d been waiting for her reply. A human male stared back at her, with a look of relief on his face. He was square-jawed and steely-eyed, with slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair which gave him an air of dignity. But his most noticeable attribute was his pressed white ITF uniform, and the decorations on his lapel, indicating he bore the rank of a commander.
“My god, I thought you’d never respond,” the man said, his voice deep and stern. “It’s been so long, I was beginning to fear you’d changed your number or didn’t wish to speak with me.”
“I needed time to prepare. The combined bounties of everyone on this ship exceeds half a billion credits. Surely, you cannot expect me to carelessly pick up the phone when an ITF commander dials me in the middle in the night,” Sil said, her voice cold and emotionless. But she added, in a slightly less vicious tone: “Even if it is someone I would trust with my life, I still have a reputation to protect.”
“As do I, Roschanna, but some threats transcend our individual allegiances,” Commander Garret Maxxon replied. He appeared to be walking through the halls of his ship as he spoke to her, but now he entered a private room and shut the door. She heard the lock click as he settled into a creaky leather chair and gave her his undivided attention. “I have no orders to pursue you or your people. This is about your sister.”
“She is not my sister,” Sil said, with a roll of her eyes. “We have gone through this a million times, Maxxon. We are not related by blood, not even distant blood. Sauphira is a descendent of House Aurelia, who were retainers of House Silmaris over a thousand years ago. They were a warrior clan in a time when that actually mattered. Every time you call her my ‘sister’ you are playing into her fantasy, her narrative. So, for the millionth time, I ask that you refrain from referring to that omnicidal psychopath as my ‘sister.’ She is not a warrior or a hero. Sauphira Aurelia is a monster and a master manipulator and you should choose your words very carefully any time you speak of her. Have I made myself clear, commander?”
Maxxon was momentarily taken aback by her rebuke. But, after a pause, he smiled slightly. “You haven’t changed a bit, Roschanna,” he replied, with a small chuckle.
“I am Tymari. Change is in our nature. The trick is making sure ignorant offworlders like you don’t know we’ve changed,” she said. “Get to the point. What happened? Word on the street is Bjorn Mechka was killed yesterday. You think Sauphira was behind it?”
“Unlikely. She always claims her kills. And, for what it's worth, most of us are glad he’s gone, even the corrupt ones. That guy was a real piece of work,” Maxxon said. “My mission is to track Sauphira and her cult, not avenge some pompous asshole who got himself offed in a diner. I had a man on the inside. An agent, like you. Within minutes of Bjorn’s death, she sent my man back to me.”
“My condolences,” Sil said with a look of genuine sadness. “I pray the body wasn’t too badly maimed. Have you notified his next of kin?”
“That’s the thing. She sent him back alive. Unscathed. Her people strapped him into a shuttle and shot him up to my ship on autopilot. They knew he was there all along. It’s like she wanted us to know she knows we’ve been watching her for months.”
“No, no,” Sil said, slowly shaking her head. “Check him for biological contaminants or explosives hidden in his body. Your man may have been turned. Quarantine him, interrogate him, do whatever it takes. You were a fool to send live assets down there and even more of a fool to take them back. With Sauphira, everything is a weapon.”
“She’s up to something,” Maxxon said, ignoring her warning. “I don’t know what frightens me more, the fact that I can’t figure out what she’s planning down there or the fact that the ITF doesn’t want me to stop her. ‘Observe and report.’ Those are my orders. Observe and fucking report!” He pounded a fist on his desk. “I won’t sit by and wait for another Vaemir IV. 3,000 people, dead in the blink of an eye. Women and children. I may have orders, but I have a conscience, too. If I get even the slightest hint she’s going to leave that planet, I will bomb it to rubble rather than let her escape.”
“And Sauphira will slither out from the ruins, like a snake. You will be court martialed, or worse. Your ship and crew will be given to someone with no conscience, and the world will turn on and on and on,” Sil said coldly. “And I suppose that is where I come in?”
Maxxon slowly nodded, much calmer now. “Yes. My hands are tied, but your people…”
“I will not drag Ezro and the others into this mess. Sauphira is your problem. You people created this demon when you unleashed hell on my homeworld.” She smiled nostalgically. “You know, sometimes, I almost believe her bullshit? I mean, what if she is an avenging warrior, an avatar of destruction, carrying the lingering hatred of thousands of dead Tymari? Maybe the reason you’re still alive is because she knows you’re one of the good ones. Maybe sending your spy back to you was a peace offering. You will not receive a second one. My advice to you: take the olive branch and leave before she changes her mind.”
“If hatred and vengeance really are her only motivations, you and your people aren’t safe. You took her knife. You took her arm. You faced the demon and lived.” His eyes narrowed upon her. “She will come to collect, Roschanna. Are you one of the good ones now, because you certainly weren’t back then?”
An eerie silence fell between them. After what seemed like an eternity, Sil muttered a curse in her native tongue.
“Send me everything you have on her.”
