Chapter One-Hundred-Fifty-Three: Juta - Part One

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  It began in dreams on the edge of my mind; faint whispers that echoed between the lullaby of deep sleep. Then it became more. Slowly I began to hear the echoes in the realm of reality. It took me some time to realize that it was Krotha trying to find a way in. It has been nearly a week since Solara laid all her truths bare before me. There are so many things that I must now consider. The questions that I did not know to ask… they were revealing.

  “Is there any update on my friends being freed?”

  Solara gives me a weak smile, “I am working on it, as I’ve said the seventeen times before when you asked.”

  My eyes narrow, “In less than a day the next challenge begins.”

  “Yes, I am well aware. None of your friends are in the first waves. They won’t even be competing for at least three weeks.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  She sighs, swiping through her interface, “The one with the green hair, Korra, she is the first, in three weeks, and two days, she is in the seventh wave for that day. The next is Arrum, four weeks, three days, in the ninth wave for that day.”

  Thinking of Arrum, I ask, “You still haven’t found Isola on the rosters?”

  She shakes her head, “She was on them originally, then she disappeared, but she isn’t listed on the death roll. I’m not sure where she is, it might just be a clerical error. Anyway, I have someone looking into it.”

  I nod, worry ebbing from me. Isola is the most precious person to Arrum. He will not leave without her.

  “Search harder.”

  Her eyes squint at me, “I am doing everything I can to help you, Kalon.”

  My jaw flexes, but I nod, adding, “I am sorry to pester, but they are important to me.”

  “I know. I’m…” she pauses, looking at her holopad, her eyes widening. She flashes a glance at me,

  “What is it?”

  “My master, Dargo, he said no.”

  My gaze falls lower. She had asked him for Etherius Prism Flower after I told her about the whispers from Krotha. This is problematic.

  She shifts, her brow furrowing, “He said that if you…” she looks up at me then back down, “If you come to him directly then he will give you some.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine?” she looks at me with a puzzled expression, “You can’t go back there.”

  “I am not withered like I was.”

  “Still it’s…”

  I shake my head, “I will not risk Krotha’s influence on me. If I must go to meet your master, then I will go,” I roll my neck, “Besides, there are words I would speak to him.”

  “Kalon, do not try his patience.”

  There is worry in her tone, more than just for me, I think she is worried I may speak some of the truths that she shared.

  “Your secrets are safe with me.”

  “Even from Luna?”

  My eyes lower before I nod. Such is what I promised to know their true connection. I never imagined how Solara and Luna were really connected. It was more complicated than I expected. Her actions and internal conflict made more sense once I knew it though. My word is my bond. The Sage taught me that. Such a thing is not easily forgotten.

  “Then we should go, the trip will take some time in a normal shuttle.”

  “We can’t take this ship?”

  She shakes her head, a strange expression on her face, “Unfortunately not, it would draw too much suspicion.” She moves towards me, placing a small holopad in my hand, “This has been specially designed to only transmit to my holopad, it is highly encrypted, so you can communicate with me whenever you need to.”

  “Can I…”

  Her face scrunches, “No, it won’t work to contact Luna, no doubt there are people monitoring her comms. You cannot risk such a thing.”

  I do not know much about holopads or communications, but Luna never seemed as paranoid as Solara about people intercepting her messages. It would be rude to question her more after everything she has done though.

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  “Thank you.”

  She nods, giving me a warm smile, “If you need anything, just ask.”

  ***

  Leaving the ship was a strange ordeal, the Dredak mercenaries tried to speak with Solara many times as we left, asking her for updated credentials for the charter. Something about funds being held. She seemed irritated by the request and surprised me with her colorful language and threats. This seemed to placate them. The shuttle we are flying on is one that I think Fennec would approve of. Ornate patterns flow across the walls, the seats are covered in something that looks like velvet but is smoother. You would not know it was a shuttle unless you entered it from the outside.

  “Tell me again why we can’t just break them out?” I ask.

  “You mean besides the chips in their necks that will kill them?”

  “Your team of mercenaries did fine dealing with mine.”

  “That’s different, I had a connection with the Warden to stop yours from blowing your head off.”

  “And now?”

  “She isn’t responding to my messages anymore.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Solara says, pressing the hair from her eyes and tucking it behind her ear, “Maybe she’s just a cunt. Doesn’t matter, I’m working on an alternative solution.”

  There is something here, something she is hiding. I am wary to press for it. She has given me much, and I have little to offer in exchange.

  “Also, as I said before, if you go around breaking things in a noble house’s domain, it will cause them to respond. You’re strong, but not strong enough to deal with all of their house’s resources.”

  “You said House Helenius is a small house.”

  She laughs, “Even a small house is too big for you, now at least,” she looks me up and down, “Someday though, patience, Kalon, someday you can burn their house down if you want.”

  “If I join your house,” I say, reiterating her previous offer from a few days ago.

  “Exactly.”

  She has tried to tell me many times since then of the benefits of joining her. It all started after she saw me shape runes. Once the truths were told, she asked me directly. I told her my place is with Luna. She is persistent though.

  “The resources of my house are much grander than Luna’s. Not that her house is poor, but they are not Draconis. The things they would offer you, her house could never compete with. Wealth, titles, even worlds to call your own someday.”

  “I have no interest in those things.”

  She sighs, “Because you’re not thinking about it clearly. If you had real power, you could put your people on worlds under your control. To protect them.”

  Her words feel almost desperate, like she is afraid once I leave the shuttle, she will lose her leverage.

  “Love is a great aspiration… but being able to control your fate and the ones you care for,” she raises an eyebrow, “Isn’t that what you really want?”

  “Why are you trying so hard now?”

  She presses her tongue against her cheek, turning to look at the display holos for the ship, something I know she doesn’t need to do, it’s running on autopilot. She moves her hand through a few of the controls, pretending to be busy.

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  She pauses her hand, “I’m just worried.”

  “About?”

  “Dargo wouldn’t have requested you come in person, unless Leora wanted him to. Which means there is likely some goal she has by having you return. I’m… I’m worried that it will lead to a path where I won’t see you again. I… I don’t have many friends, besides Becca and Claude.”

  “And Luna,” I add.

  She nods, looking down at her hands, “And Luna.”

  “You should tell her the truth.”

  “I… I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  I sigh, shaking my head, “She will find out someday, better from you than someone else.”

  She looks at me, “What about the other thing, will you tell her of Zarae?”

  “Yes, that I will not keep from her. She must know.”

  “Will you tell her that I knew and did not say?”

  “I…” my brow furrows, “I told you that I would not tell your secrets, the one who told me, that I will keep.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Though I think it would be better from you.”

  She shakes her head, “No, it wouldn’t.”

  ***

  “Vessel RS429-BZ996 I have your moniker marked as Black Falcon. This is Federation Space Command identifier TXCN99-3-48. Your vector shows you will be docking at a planet that has been designated a Category 3 zone, per regulation SC56902-324 all ships must submit a flight plan and provide proper credentials. No flight plan from you has been received.”

  Solara moves towards one of the panels swiping the holo over it.

  “Federation Space Command this is Black Falcon. How’s the weather over there?” Solara asks.

  There is a pause on the comms. A new voice enters the channel.

  “Black Falcon, weather is good enough to bird watch.”

  It is strange, the conversation feels unnatural and different from when Fennec spoke to them.

  “Keep an eye out for Sparrows, I hear they are bad luck this time of year,” Solara says.

  “Will do, safe travels Black Falcon,” the voice on the comms says.

  Solara moves over to the main helm display inputting new commands. Saying nothing of the interaction.

  “What was that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How did you get them to leave you alone? When Fennec…”

  “Ah, simple, I used the Imperium’s override phrase. Inquisitor Victoria gave it to me, since I’m her squire, as is Luna, remember.”

  “I am still coming to terms with that.”

  There is a resentment for this Inquisitor. She appears to be a puppet for some god or goddess that I do not know. Solara says she worships Balencia. But she also said that Balencia is a disgraced Goddess with no real house to call her own. There is convolutedness in this. I should ask her more once my friends are safe.

  “Alright, look here,” Solara says, swiping her hand on a holo, bringing up a map, “The maintenance shaft here should get you to the fifteenth floor. After that, you’re on your own, as I said before, that bitch Warden Adona isn’t replying to me.”

  “Understood,” I say, tightening my new boots with a dial like she showed me. They form snuggly to my feet. I would ask her more, but I feel the darkness rising inside me, twisting and turning through each fiber of my being. Soon Krotha’s whispers will be words. I need that Etherius Prism Flower.

  “You’ll need to get familiar with this,” she says, pulling out a large laser cutter, handing it to me.

  It is lighter than I expected, different in its style to the ones we used before the masters forced my people into the Grand Hunt.

  “It’s a breaching laser, should be able to cut most doors down to size. You adjust the…” she begins.

  “I know,” I say, adjusting the dial of the laser. There is little mechanical difference between it and the ones I am used to. She smirks at me.

  “Also, should go without saying, but no killing innocent civilians, if you do, I suspect Dargo will act.”

  “What about the soldiers?”

  “I wouldn’t take a warrior’s blade before battle,” she says, turning from me now to look at a display, “Besides, anyone stationed planet side is directly from House Helenius.”

  “Meaning?” I ask, placing the plasma edge blades on my new utility belt.

  “Scum, all of them, anyone who traffics prison worlds for entertainment deserves to die.”

  Her eyes tell me she believes that, a sentiment I can agree with.

  “Kalon,” Solara begins, looking down at her hands again, “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

  “I have made up my mind. I will not be Krotha’s pawn.”

  Solara nods and opens a small case, from it she pulls a smaller device, no bigger than my fist. I have never seen anything like it.

  “This is a one-time use item. They are stupid expensive, and not to mention very illegal to use,” she says, placing it gently into my hands, “Be very selective with how you use it, and only use it if you absolutely must.”

  “What does it do?” I ask, admiring the spherical device.

  She grins.

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