Imperial Guard – 003 The Infinite Depths of Space

Chapter 7 Just Communication

"We are not taking her with us!"

The ferocity in Nami's voice caused eight pairs of eyes to lock on to her. Her sharp fangs bared, the anger clouding her features, she made sure no one would try to change her opinion about it. Jetreycka understood this. The pain in her leg did that for her. But there was something about Seylah that made her hesitant to take Nami's standpoint right away.

She sensed the fear. A kind of desperation even. It seeped into Seylah's voice. Changed the way she came across. But it did not change her opinion about who she was. Seylah was a member of a criminal organization. She might very well have committed her own fair share of unspeakable acts. Not to mention being responsible for putting them in a situation that would have resulted in either her or Nami's death. Now she was asking for help. Should we give it to her after what she did?

The violent shaking of the deck under their feet broke the uncomfortable silence Nami had created between them in which no one dared to contradict her.

"All right, all right," Trezka intervened. "Obviously something happened between you girls. But I think it'll have to wait. This place feels like it could fall apart in the next couple of millicycles, so we have to get a move on."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Seylah added, sensing the resistance still offered by Nami and Jetreycka.

"Like that's gonna make up for everything," Nami grunted.

"Yeah well, I'm not getting down on my knees. I just hoped your invitation was still open, that's all."

Jetreycka did remember Nami offering a way out and so did her friend, who looked at her instead.

"Jetreycka has a say in this matter as well."

At that moment she felt all the eyes fall upon her. As if she were the one to make this decision and cast judgment. She arguably suffered the most, but should she let that be a reason to condemn Seylah? Killing another person was unlike her. Condemning someone, a member of her own kind nonetheless, with death being the possible outcome would essentially be the same thing.

Whatever Seylah did to end up in this position would have to wait. If she deserved punishment for her acts, that moment would come. So the only thing that remained was the issue of trust. Was Seylah serious about this or was she only trying to save her own skin? And even if that were the case, would it matter to them at this point?

"I'm not sure." Seylah swallowed, opening her mouth as if to say something in return, then closing it as she felt a question burning. "I just wanna know why. Why did you join an organization like that and why did you change your mind?"

"I just… At least this way I could make a living for myself. A sense of belonging. I made a mistake. They didn't really care about me. They're only interested in money and pleasure." Clenching her teeth, she snorted and looked away as the anger returned. "You know how it goes. Once you get in you never get out. I figured you two had a good chance of making it through the fights to become one of us. Then at least there would be someone else. A real friend."

Nami snorted.

"If you treat all your possible friends this way, good luck holding on to them."

"And I'm sorry about that!" Seylah shouted. "What more do you want me to say? What happened to you I couldn't prevent. The way I've been acting… It's all… I just- I just didn't want them to do to me what they did before."

Self-preservation. It was a primal instinct possessed by all beings. It was the way Seylah's voice changed during that last part. The eyes that turned moist. Her shaking hands as she looked at them. Or was she looking down further?

"No, stop." To everyone's surprise it was Masai who spoke up. "You don't have to say more."

Stepping toward Seylah, then turning toward the rest of the group as if protecting her, she straightened her back and took a breath.

"Why are you defending her?" Nami asked, flattened an ear. "We don't know what else she's done."

"Because this is not right," Masai said in a firm way. "Is it true? Did you offer our help early on?"

Remembering that moment very well, Jetreycka replied instead.

"Nami, to be fair, you kinda did say that."

"I did. I'm not gonna deny it." She sighed. "Fine, if Jetreycka agrees you can come with us." Seylah breathed a sigh of relief. Giving her cheek a quick stroke with the back of her hand, she balanced on her legs. Her tail, which had frozen in an upright position, finally dropped down to the deck. "But," Nami added, continuing her unwavering stare. "If I suspect you're trying to deceive us, I will kill you."

"I'm not! I know you won't take my word for it, but I'm done. I want out. I wanna go back. Maybe even try to find my parents."

Nami nodded.

"Good. Let's go."

"My idea," Trezka agreed. In the meantime the station hadn't stopped trembling. What sounded like bulkhead doors closing echoed through the metal corridors. It was something Trezka had expressed her concern about. As the group started moving, with Nami keeping a close eye on Seylah who walked in front of her, Jetreycka wondered how they were going to escape. "It seems they're shutting down non-essential systems and sections. If they're depressurizing the docking bays and there's no power going to the airlocks, the shuttle can't pick us up down here. That is, if we can even find a way to reach them."

"My gun's stopped working," Weyan said. "Auto shutdown. Some warning about an unstable power supply. My light seems okay though."

"Whatever's happening out there, it's screwing up all our equipment," Azdar grunted, tapping his own weapon.

"Let's keep moving and hope we don't need 'em," Trezka urged. "We should reach the public sectors soon."

Due to their quick pace and the stairwells and ascending walkways as the alternative to the non-functioning elevators, it took the group less time than anticipated. The stim pack allowed for Jetreycka to keep up, keeping the pain in her leg to a manageable level. After climbing a few more of these, according to the station map, they had reached a public section which would eventually lead them back to the grand concourse. The only problem was, there was a sealed pair of bulkhead doors where there shouldn't be.

"Great. Now what?" Thylun asked after tapping the control panel of which the screen remained dark.

The station was still taking occasional hits. Jetreycka could feel the vibrations under her feet, but they had become less frequent and less violent. Still, this did not help their current situation until the station's engineers managed to get the power back online.

"D'you think anyone might still be out there?" Masai asked the group as she placed an ear flat on the door to listen.

"Could be," Nami replied. "If they've got power on their side, they might be able to open up for us."

"Worth a try," Trezka agreed. "Norgu? Would you be so kind?"

Either one of them would've been strong enough to try and grab the attention of anyone on the other side but Norgu was happy to oblige. The big Logri had been his usual quiet self the entire time, partnering with an equally talkative Azdar to keep the way ahead clear.

"Let's see if anyone's listening," he muttered under his breath.

Deactivating the light on his weapon he placed the pulse rifle on his back, then moved closer to the solid metal doors. Placing his enormous hands flat on its surface, as if searching for any weak spots in its construction, he balled the right one to a fist and battered on one of them a couple of times. Jetreycka was quite sure it wasn't a trick of the light. The metal actually dented under the amount of force he put into it.

"Is anyone there?" he bellowed, the sound of his mighty voice tickling her stomach. As everyone perked his or her ears in anticipation for a reply, he listened at the door for a short while before repeating the procedure. "If you can hear me, could you open up? I've got people trapped down here!"

For a moment it seemed his attempts had been in vain. The abandoning of the lower sections served as evidence that people had been evacuating. At least away from non-essential parts and the outer hull and toward the most heavily shielded sections. It took about ten ticks of silence. Without warning the doors split apart with a series of mechanical sounds, causing a rush of warmer air to spill over them due to the pressure difference.

The doors revealed a broader corridor behind it and at least the regular lights seemed to be on in this section, though dimmed to low levels. The human security officer stepped aside to let them in without further questions until they were all in the safe zone. As she closed the doors behind them, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Like Nami, Jetreycka used the bulkhead for support as she felt the last of her energy reserves disappear together with the survival instinct that kept her going.

"Are you all right?" the human woman asked, a look of genuine concern on her face. "You're lucky I was making my round and heard you knocking. I'm Saira."

"We're fine," Trezka answered after throwing a look in the direction of her injured crewmates. "Aside from a few injuries."

Allowing Masai to check up on her, Jetreycka felt like her leg was going to give out. The pain was still manageable, but now that the immediate danger seemed to have passed, it no longer felt like it was capable of carrying her weight.

"Still got a working hospital?" Masai asked. "I've hit the limits of my field kit."

The look of concern did not disappear from Saira's face. Throwing back her brown shoulder-length hair, she shook her head.

"Power failures are causing a lot of trouble and those shield impacts have caused some damage here and there. Without working equipment, we're treating injuries the best we can, but it's difficult. We've got plasma burns, broken bones and the common cuts and bruises. We're gonna have to sit tight until the situation's resolved."

Using every bit of willpower and strength left in her body, Jetreycka pushed herself off the wall, trying to regain her balance. Masai seemed ready to catch her, but moved back as she began to walk, following Saira who took the lead, looking over her shoulder as she tried to gauge everyone's physical condition.

Ending up with Seylah walking next to her, Jetreycka had noticed how she hadn't said a word as she did the only thing she could, which was following the group. Figuring it was guilt gnawing at her, she decided to be the first one to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence.

"Are you all right?

Seylah's long elliptical ears perked up in surprise. Obviously she didn't expect that anyone wanted to talk to her after what happened, let alone ask how she was doing. Trying to guess her age, she began to suspect that Seylah was younger than she thought earlier.

"I'm… I'm fine."

"I'm not mad at you."

Watching the expression on Seylah's face change from surprise to disbelief, she wasn't sure how to continue the conversation. Another moment of silence followed in which she listened to the talks of her crewmates which were about the current situation for the most part.

"You're kind," Seylah said after a while, after passing the last corner on their way to the grand concourse. Glimpsing past the backs of her crewmates walking in front, Jetreycka could see the giant square that offered access to every other part of the upper levels. "I haven't felt… real kindness since…"

Seylah swallowed her words as they entered the grand concourse, which had been turned into a kind of combined shelter and field hospital. Temperature and lighting were still at comfortable levels, but all non-essential things like holo projectors and displays were offline. The few doctors present had their hands full treating all kinds of injuries, minor and major, and people of all races were taking care of each other in the best way possible. Seats and makeshift beds were reserved for the injured while everyone else had to make do with the floor. Trying to find an empty spot large enough for all of them to stay together was impossible, so they decided to split up as Saira left to resume her duties.

"Jetreycka!" Masai called from a slight distance. "I'm going to find you a doctor."

"Hyami!"

Deciding to stick with Seylah, as no one else seemed eager to share the girl's company, Jetreycka found herself an empty spot on the floor, a Vusstran and a human couple both making some room when they realized she was injured.

Apologizing for the inconvenience of being large and thanking them at the same time, she tried to position her leg in such a way that it hurt the least, which turned into an odd combination of sitting and lying down. Seylah sat down cross-legged next to her, the signs of discomfort still on her face as she watched her wrestle with the pain.

"Hey, I told you I'm not mad."

"It's not that," Seylah said, casting a skittish look over her shoulder, her voice close to a whisper. "They're here. Members of the Syndicate. They've spotted me."

"Listen, we're not gonna let them do anything to hurt you. I'll warn Masai when she gets back." She noticed how Seylah's hands trembled and her ears lowered to almost horizontal. How she tried not to move too much. But it was hard not to notice a group of Mantrins entering a space where most people were sitting or lying down. On top of that, her different outfit in turn made her stand out even more. "Seylah." As the girl looked up, Jetreycka slowly shook her head. "They're not taking you back."

"Comm's still out," Syrran said, shaking his head after checking system status.

Returning to her seat after a couple of light muscle exercises in the back of the shuttle, Freya sighed. They had been holding position inside the station's shields for a while, watching the fireworks from a position of relative safety. The Myr'shala knew where they were as they hadn't moved from their last transmitted position. It was just that they had to try and reestablish contact with the team for a possible pickup, whatever their chances were.

"With all those offline docking ports and bays they're gonna have a hard time getting to a pickup location," Freya remarked, trying to use her finger to return the shuttle's console to a spotless state out of boredom. "D'you think they've run into trouble?"

"Unless our systems and theirs return to normal operation, there's no way to know." Squinting against the light of a powerful explosion of volatile energy against the shield formed by a growing number of ships, he tried to estimate if it was still safe to hold their position. The battle had been going for a while now with neither side taking much losses. "Freya? Do you miss home?"

He had to admit, the question was quite a stray from the previous subject. Frowning in surprise, she took a few ticks to reply.

"A little. I've got two older hahna and one younger khomii. We're pretty close, so yeah, I miss them sometimes. And my parents of course."

"Hmm, Itan reminds me of my khomii. It's funny, because he says the same thing about me. He and his khomii Odrin like to go on survival trips. He invited me to join next time we get some leave."

"Not… really my thing, but it does sound like fun going all together."

"What about you? What do you do for fun back home?"

"Well, I do like to go out, although my walking trips are a little less adventurous. I like to read a good story from time to time and of course I've got my music. But I've always been a fly girl. My kharii and I built our own airplane together. You should see it sometime."

"Really?" It was not uncommon for their people to have or combine some unusual pastimes, especially when combining a modern way of living with ancient tradition. Itan told him that his family's connection to nature was at a spiritual level and considering his job that was unusual too. But building and flying your own airplane was not an answer he had ever heard before. "I'd love to see it."

Freya smiled. Judging by the dreamy look on her face, she relived memories of soaring above the plains and forests of southern Sogowa in her own flying machine. It was hard for him to imagine what that felt like. Until her daydream was disturbed by a reading on the sensors.

"What's that?"

"One of the defending ships is firing electromagnetic pulses at the battling fleets." Checking twice, to make sure the sensors weren't acting up given the current conditions, the verified result still surprised Syrran. "That's our ship."

"What do you suggest, Baika?"

Squinting against the light of another blast of energy that hit their combined shield, Raeth was eager to come up with a plan. It was the only lead they had so far. Crossing her arms as she leaned back in her seat, he could almost see the little cogs in her head turning.

"It's not like I've deciphered anything that looks like a language, but we could try to respond by sending the same signal back to them. We need a carrier of some kind."

"How about modifying a torpedo?" Jirro suggested.

"Hmm, they might consider that a hostile response," Raeth answered, giving it some thought. "We need something that is powerful enough, but fairly harmless."

"An electromagnetic pulse?" Houn suggested as he flattened an ear.

He and Le'tan had turned around in their seats to add their brainpower and it seemed to pay off.

"That could work," Baika acknowledged with a nod. "A series of electromagnetic pulses with the same frequency pattern."

"I can use the forward shield emitters to generate the pulses," Jirro confirmed. "Give me the data and I will make it happen. That does mean that we'll have no forward shields when we are transmitting."

"Start preparing," Raeth ordered. "If there's a chance that we can put a stop to this madness it's worth a try. Le'tan? Houn? Standby to break formation and position us beyond the shield perimeter."

With everyone knowing what to do, they had the ship ready in no time. As Le'tan moved the Myr'shala past the combined shield of the defenders in what looked like a safe window, Jirro dropped the forward shields and concentrated the energy into the forward emitters.

"Our systems are still acting up. I'm not sure if I can replicate the exact pattern, but I'm ready to fire."

"Do it."

Watching the battling ships in the distance, Raeth listened to the charging and discharging of the shield emitters as they delivered the energy waves in their direction. As the waves were invisible to the naked eye, Jirro had the computer display the sensor output on one of the secondary viewers which showed the waves travelling in the direction of the hostile ships.

For a moment, it seemed to have no effect. The battle continued and Raeth felt how his breath caught when a stray beam narrowly missed the Myr'shala. And then, all of a sudden, the sensor image began to display electromagnetic waves travelling back toward them. Too weak to further disrupt their systems, even without shielding, but it was definitely a response.

"It's working!" Baika cheered, unable to contain her excitement. "I'm deciphering their response as another pattern. It might actually be a language of some kind. Just not something we can understand."

"All ships have ceased firing," Jirro reported. "The Hytharians and Xhi'tha are standing down."

"Not sure what you're doing, but our systems are back operating within normal parameters," Majih said through the open connection with main engineering.

"Raeth, with your permission, I would like Jirro to send this pattern back to them as well," Baika said.

"Proceed."

After sending back and forth a couple of more series of pulses, the unusual way of communication ceased. No more pulses came back from the alien fleet.

"D'you think we've ticked them off?" Raeth asked.

Flattening an ear she shook her head.

"I don't think so. Their ships are holding their current positions. I-"

Raeth couldn't describe the strange feeling that seemed to envelop him all of a sudden. It was like a slight tingling in the air. A feeling of comfort being wrapped around him like a blanket. And then, an ethereal voice speaking to him. To all of them at the same time. A wonderful sound to listen to, even though he sort of knew his ears were being tricked into hearing something that wasn't there.

"Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm."

At that moment Raeth realized he stood in front of his seat, startled into getting up. It was the comforting feeling and the pleasant sound of the voice that made his shoulders sag into a relaxed state. As if every bit of tension drained from his muscles and every worry vanished into thin air.

"I'm Raeth, House of Meztar. Who are you? Where do you come from?"

"We come from a realm beyond yours. Entered your reality when your portal tore a hole into its fabric. Our attempts at communication failed. We misinterpreted yours. Is there any way we can rectify what we have done?"

"Would you like to come and meet us? Aboard the station?"

"We have picked up the same desire from countless minds among you. Even though not all of them are pure, we believe the experience might be beneficial. We look forward to meeting you, Raeth, House of Meztar. Forgive us for not being able to express our name in your language. But we can make you feel."

For a brief moment the feeling of comfort made place for something else. Like experiencing beauty in its purest form. A pulse of euphoria. And at that same moment, he caught a mental glimpse of what the aliens looked like, right before the feeling disappeared. As the mental connection broke, reality felt rather dull, if only for a short while. It took the crew a few ticks to realize what just happened. They had finally made contact through a kind of telepathic link. It seemed that their crude way of trying to communicate had tempted the aliens into trying something else.

"Was that… what they look like?" Le'tan asked.

"I've never seen something so beautiful," Baika muttered.

Both were baffled by the experience. Even Jirro expressed his admiration and Raeth hadn't shaken off the feeling of joy either. It was in fact strengthened by his own desire to turn a misunderstanding into a successful first contact.

"And we're going to meet with them."

"What is it, Seylah? Thought you were one of us."

That they wouldn't just let her go was to be expected. That it would come to an armed standoff in the middle of the grand concourse, surrounded by injured people wasn't. It turned out there were quite a few members of the Syndicate seeking refuge between the visitors. Trapped aboard the station like everyone else, it was an effective strategy.

Being civilians, they could even be called residents of the station. Without uniforms and without flaunting any markings that branded them members of the organization, they blended in perfectly. Their concealed weapons were not even a violation of station regulations. The Imperial Guard status of Trezka's team had allowed them to keep theirs, even in the public sectors, and that turned out to be a good thing.

"She was never one of you to begin with," Trezka barked.

"Oh, so she's doing the talking for you now," the Togrothian mocked, adding a scornful laugh.

Nami was pretty sure he was the one guiding people into the pit. It appeared he had managed to escape with only a few scratches, although she couldn't be too sure that the bloodstains on his fur were his only.

"Listen, I'm done!" Seylah bit back. "I'm out! I don't wanna be a part of it anymore."

"That's not up to you to decide."

Trezka scoffed.

"Watcha gonna do about it?"

Her threatening step forward made the Togrothian and his bunch, which was made up of a number of different species, tighten the grip on their weapons. Blasters, although smaller than their own caliber, were still deadly. The visible illegal modifications made them about as dangerous to the user as to the target.

Meanwhile, the station's security personnel tried to gain control of the situation. Forming a triangle with the two groups, their goal was to prevent anyone from firing the first shot. Which was the same for the group of Mantrins, trying to estimate if their adversaries were willing to take the chance. Seylah was her own person. She was not theirs to keep.

"All of you, drop your weapons! There are innocent civilians around here!"

Those civilians had backed up as far as possible, away from the possible firefight, in what little space they had. Some of them even held on to their own sidearms. Not pointed at anyone, but in defense should the situation turn ugly.

"Hand her over, and we'll go in peace," the Togrothian sneered, adding a sharp-toothed grin of mischief.

"You are not taking her," Jetreycka said, putting emphasis on each individual word.

Ticks began to feel like millicycles, in which both parties eyed each other, looking for the sign of a first move. A first move with lethal results for sure. Her hands wrapped tight around the grip of Trezka's blaster, Nami felt the beating of her hearts in her throat, a trickle of sweat from her armpit seeping into her shirt. The tenseness of the situation had reached a critical point. If they didn't budge, the only way out was to pull the trigger.

Apart from the consequences there was a strange sensation that withheld her, no matter how tempting it was to wipe those sadistic smirks off their faces. A kind of tingling. Like electricity. It was distracting and it made her wonder if these were her nerves and mind trying to play tricks on her, or something else.

"Are you guys feeling this-"

The creature's appearance wasn't as sudden as her mind let her believe. It materialized in a display of bluish white radiance. It's 'body', if it was even a corporeal form to begin with, in the shape of a butterfly and fully transparent. Wings like thin glass tendrils extending from what would be the thorax. The head was round in shape, the eyes glowing in the same color as the rest of its body, with no visible nose or mouth, if it even possessed these. There was something kind about these eyes, if Nami had to describe the way it came over to her.

The creature hovered at a height above the heads of most, in the middle of the triangle formed by the three groups and captured everyone's attention to such a degree that some forgot to aim their weapons. It was as if its presence alone dissuaded everyone from continuing on the current path of violence.

"Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm."

Two more of the creatures appeared, hovering above the crowd, as if to spread their message of coming in peace.

"Are these the aliens?" Thylun asked no one in particular.

"They've gotta be," Masai answered.

Where many uttered sounds of admiration as the other creatures moved around with an occasional gentle flap of their wing-like tendrils, others even adhered to their particular faith, whispering their prayers. Their appearance had such a profound effect that everything else was forgotten. Not even the vibrations under their feet, of the station's non-essential systems coming back online. Or the holographic billboards resuming their cycle of commercial ads.

The one creature that tried to keep the peace between the three groups by its presence alone did not move one bit, its wing-like tendrils moving as if they caught a very light breeze. Nami noticed everyone, including herself, had dropped their weapons by now.

"Fine…" the leader of the pack of criminals uttered. "Fine. Take her. Let's go boys."

Behaving in an almost dignified manner, the gang members of the Hazarr Syndicate, under the watchful eye of the station's security force, packed up and left. Wondering why they didn't arrest them on the spot, Nami figured it had something to do with the way the creatures seemed to suppress violent tendencies.

"They messed with the wrong crew," Trezka grunted. "We could've taken 'em."

Nami chuckled.

"Trez, as much as I like your confidence, that could've turned real ugly."

"Arrghh."

Sucking the air through clenched teeth, Jetreycka collapsed on one knee as her leg gave out once more. Merely shifting her weight the wrong way seemed to have dire consequences.

"Are you all right?" Nami asked, lowering herself to the deck beside her friend and giving Trezka her blaster back in the same motion.

"M-My leg," she panted, her face twisted in agony as she tried to move it. "I can barely move it."

"I need a doctor over here!" Masai called, looking around for a response from anyone.

Instead of a doctor, help came from an unexpected quarter. The alien watching their group swooped down to their level as in slow motion, remaining ever graceful. Being so close to the creature, Nami could feel a certain warmth radiating from its glasslike body.

"Don't be afraid. Let us help you."

Jetreycka responded with a slight nod. With her consent, the creature drew even closer, a number of the thin tendrils from its wings growing longer as they found their way to Jetreycka's injured leg. As they touched her skin, caressed it with gentle sweeping movements, she gasped as in relief. Nami felt it. As the creature maintained some sort of mental connection to those around it, she could feel it take away Jetreycka's pain.

And the same tendrils found their way to her own injured arm, treating it in a similar way. The pain and stiffness disappeared. As she pulled down the makeshift bandage after the tendrils released her arm, she found out, to her astonishment, that every trace of the wound caused by the sword had vanished as if it never even happened.

A brief moment passed, in which a single tear left the corner of her friend's eye, after which the tendrils retracted and shrunk back to their previous length. Unable to believe what just happened, Jetreycka pushed herself up, shifted her leg and to her surprise was able to stand without a trace of the pain.

"Hyami. Thank you so much."

The creature bowed its head for a brief moment before flying back up with a single gentle flap of its tendrils. Its companions were showing off their abilities as well, healing the injuries of those caught in a situation beyond their control.

"Raeth to Trezka."

"Trezka here. We're fine Raeth. We got the girls out and they've been treated a little rough, but they're doing much better now thanks to our newfound friends."

"That's all I wanted to hear. Listen, we planned a more official meeting with them in the embassy wing. Everyone's welcome, though you might wanna come back to the ship first."

"We all wanna get out of this armor. Drop off the guns." She chuckled. "And I'm not sure if these creatures have a sense of smell, but eh… you get the point."

Raeth laughed.

"Come back to the ship. Docking location's in your wristcom."

"Right. Let's RTB everyone. And try not to get snatched along the way this time."