* * * * * * * * *
Immediately, they pushed her roughly into the wall, and she was forced into an awkward position – sitting on her tail's braincase, her belly exposed to the sentries.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Peri.” She'd expected this kind of welcome, and military helped her not to flinch in the slightest. “I was sent by a group in the Fleet to talk with Marikihi.” She could hear her assailants shifting in the dark. “Marikihi
is here, I presume?”
“And what would you want with her?”
“She's a hunted Fehan. I assume you know that. Nearly every national government on Helan is after her in one fashion or another, and she barely slipped out of Orahi before she was caught forever. All the other great powers pursued her through space, even if she wasn't aware of it. Her ship barely got by the border checks before operatives closed in. My friends and I in the Fleet wish to offer her safe haven, where no one can co-opt her research.”
She could hear them shift again, and then one whistled roughly. “Tie her up and put her in a cell. We'll see what the bosses want to do with her.”
Peri made no move to resist the cuffs they slapped roughly on her – a pair connecting each legs, and a chain to connect all together and force her nose down between them – though she did curse a bit at how they dragged her to one of the cells in the deeper levels. She had one of the Fleet's best models of lockpicks concealed in the side of her mouth, but it probably wouldn't be good form to break out of their jail while she was still seeking an audience.
The little room they put her in sank deep into the roots of the bunker; no light penetrated here, and from what little she could feel, restrained in the center of the floor as she was, the walls were completely solid concrete, cold to the touch. It was clean, for which Peri was duly thankful; her thoughts ranged over what she was going to say next – assuming, of course, that Marikihi assented to see her. Safe haven, all the tools she could imagine to pursue her research... what more could a scientist desire?
Of course, there was every possibility that Marikihi was a captive of whoever was in charge here. With her Fleet ranking they couldn't simply kill Peri, and they couldn't ignore her either, but there was every possibility she might become a hostage. If her snout hadn't already been forced down, it would've curled at that thought. Let them try to keep her a hostage; she was ready to escape. Just not... yet.
She didn't need to wait all that long, in the end. The cell door opened and a paw grabbed her by the restraints and hauled her out into the warrens of the roots of the bunker. They took numerous turns, back and forth through the tunnels, no doubt deliberately trying to confuse her as to the layout, until she was finally brought into a large chamber and unceremoniously dumped on the floor.
Across the room stood Marikihi.
She had the look of a Fehan who once was used to looking happy, but has since forgotten how. The chase had clearly worn on her; her face and snout bore deep lines. Her eyes and fur were flat, expressionless. She looked exhausted.
Her voice had the bright pitch of the south.
“Unchain her.”
Peri felt the two Fehan flanking her unlock the cuffs, and she wiggled her legs and stretched her snout to regain feeling. This was good, on the whole. Marikihi seemed to have control of this situation.
“My Fehan tell me that you're a Fleet officer.”
“I am.”
“Why are you here?”
“We want to offer you a haven to pursue your studies. Your pursuers will not simply let you be on Taki. But no nation will dare attack the Fleet itself. You could not find a safer place.”
Marikihi considered her for a moment. “Do you know how you sound?”
Peri had no answer for that.
“You follow me across half of Fehan space, chasing me to the remotest part of an already remote planet, and then, finally catching up with me, you tell me that you will offer me safety from my pursuers. Peri, I don't know if you've noticed this,” her nose curled downwards in amusement. “You
are one of my pursuers.”
Peri's own snout turned as well. “I won't deny that. But surely you can see that there is a difference between the factions on Helan and the Flee – ”
“I'm not sure I can see any difference at all.” Marikihi sounded cold.
Peri waited to see if she would continue. When she didn't, she said, “The Helan powers have less use for you as a scientist than as a bargaining chip. The Fleet... suffice it to say that you could make a great deal of difference working for us.”
Marikihi sighed.”I know that.”
“You may well be able to pursue whatever you want. Your interests align so closely with our applications that we'd hardly have to give you any direction at all. You'd be almost as free as you are already.”
“So you say now. But if, in time, I wanted to do something the Fleet had less interest in...”
“I won't lie to you. We might have to suggest you avoid such endeavors. All the same, I highly doubt you'd find it more arduous than you would, say, back in an Orahi prison.”
Marikihi shuffled over to the chamber's side wall, where she flipped a switch. Immediately, a block of concrete folded out; pale light from the evening sky filtered into the room. She stared out for a moment, apparently lost in thought. “Why must I make this choice in the first place?” She sounded as tired as she looked. “I don't like this political nonsense. Why can't you bastards leave me alone?”
Peri stayed silent, letting her play her thoughts out.
“You don't seem like an evil Fehan to me. But if I could never see another uniform again in my life, I'd count myself lucky. Your work is everything that's wrong with our people.”
Suddenly, one of her guards spoke. “Who sent you?” Peri turned. The speaker wore civilian clothes, but Peri could tell from her poise that she'd once belonged to the Fleet.
“You're Rama.”
The Fehan regarded her warily.
“The records showed you'd apparently deserted. I assume you ended up breaking Marikihi out of Orahi prison?”
“Yes.”
“That was a clever bit of misdirection with the train. Fooled even me.”
Rama gave a noncommittal twirl of her tail. “The question still stands. Who sent you?”
“I told you already – a group of Fleet officers – ”
“
Which Fleet officers?”
Peri hesitated. If Marikihi was who she thought she was, this might not go down very well. “My immediate superior is Oerra.”
The reaction was just as she'd predicted. Marikihi did a double take, Rama swore loudly, and even the other guard looked a little off-balance. Peri winced internally, but kept her expression calm as she said, “I know what you might have heard – ”
“What, that she's the most brutal of the Admirals? That she sacrifices soldiers as though they were little more than pawns in board games? That she – ”
Marikihi interrupted Rama's outburst, “Tell me. Is Oerra the commander that ordered the bombardment of Sathan and Katifa?”
“No.” Peri lied without hesitation.
“She's lying,” Rama said immediately. Marikihi watched her silently.
“That decision was made by a group of Fleet officers, who saw that there would be little other way to reduce the enemy strongholds without a huge loss of life.”
Rama whacked the ground in amusement. “So the near-xenocide of two species doesn't count as a 'huge loss of life' in the Fleet's books?”
“Both the Sathi and the Karron are still alive, though in small numbers. Groups of them are already being integrated into new, harmonious compounds on the surface of the two world, as rehabilitation of both biospheres continues – ”
“You really think that the subjugation of a few remnants is particularly impressive next to the demolition of entire civilizations?”
“There was unfortunately very little choice in the matter, Rama, as you should be well aware. We've seen Karron records; they came closer than anyone ever knew to destroying our civilization entirel – ”
“
But they didn't.”
“No, they did not. But they'd threatened us, and there was no guarantee they would not eventually return to the idea of hostility.”
“You might say that, bu – ”
“Rama,
enough.” Marikihi snapped. “I've heard your arguments, and I can see your logic, Peri. But I will not be going with you. I realize I may not eventually have choice in the matter, but while I still
am able to decide for myself, I will refrain from serving monsters. As long as I can.”
“Not everyone in the Fleet is li – ”
“Like Oerra, I know. But that is who you would bring me to, is it not? No, don't bother lying to me. If she sent you, there's little possibility she wants you to bring me for anyone but herself. She would like to increase her own power, I don't doubt. And while I might be doing my research, I would still be very much a hostage.
“I refuse to walk willingly into captivity.”
“Please, Marikihi, hear me ou – ”
“What could you tell me that you have not already told me? Your phrasing might be different the second time around, but the words are still the same. 'This is the lesser of two evils.' But I refuse to believe there is no third way.”
Quite suddenly, something flashed in Peri's field of vision – an alert from her communicator implant. At the same time, the door to the chamber burst open, and a young Fehan started to shout: “MARIKIHI! THEY'RE HERE! TWELVE SHUTTLES, EN ROUTE.”
“What is this!?” Marikihi turned furiously on Peri. “You were to distract us while your friends arrived?”
“No,” Peri said, and for the first time her voice betrayed worry. “Those aren't Fleet shuttles. They're shuttles from Thira. From Helan.” She looked up at Marikihi.
“I told you you'd be hunted.”
Previous Story in Arc.
Next Story in Arc
I think we've got enough material here to start working on the next update.
