It was deep into the designated night hours at the ship and Roe only now
headed toward his chamber. He usually went to bed at a reasonable hour,
but there was the issue of deciding which planet should be invaded next,
and the Prime Admiral wanted to order a new line of ships, and there was
the question of who would replace the Prime General to be considered. The
next day was riddled with back to back meetings and it was about time he
got to sleep. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to massage the stress
out as he accessed the code to open his door. It slid aside with a sharp
hiss and the tired advisor finally lumbered into his room. Every night he
was greeted with a steaming cup of tea and tonight was no exception. He
headed toward his table, barely able to keep his eyes open from sleepiness,
when he suddenly stopped. Something was wrong. His antennae perked as he
glanced around the room. Something was different. The things on his
dresser were all askew.... He glowered at the dresser before storming
toward it and setting everything right. "The maids KNOW not to mess with
my things!" he burst out in a frustrated voice. He understood he was
sometimes rather particular about the way he liked things, but he was the
advisor to the great and almighty Tallest, the third highest ranking person
in the Empire, and he figured he had a right to have the maids not mess
with his personal items. He made another angry grunt before he headed back
to his table where his tea awaited. He sat down, but just sat there for a
long while. He was still tired and still angry about his dresser. It had
been years since he'd had to tell the maids not to move his stuff, and he'd
never had to worry about it since he'd hired Pra as Head Maid. She'd
always made sure things were right. She was completely trustworthy as a
servant.
A cold chill ran down Roe's spine. He didn't believe in 'feelings', but he did believe the unconscious mind could detect things that perhaps the conscious mind could not. He felt very unsafe at the moment, and he could almost imagine someone was waiting there - watching. Then again, there was probably no real danger. He did live on the securest level of the ship, and it was incredibly unlikely there would be some intruder. He moved to pick up his tea when he stopped. A bug - a small, black bug was swimming in his tea! "How did that get here?" Roe wondered as he stared menacingly at the insect. He'd have to order more tea. However, for the moment he was content to sit and sleepily watch as the bug made small circles in the greenish fluid. He sighed as it hopped out, none the worse for wear, and began to crawl about the table. It flexed its miniscule body and lifted itself into the air. It rose a few inches before it fell directly back on the table, landing with its feet up in the air. Roe started and squinted down at the creature. It was dead.
A chill attacked him once again. This time Roe decided to listen to his unconscious and left the room. Something certainly wasn't right, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. First he'd have to get a new room for the night and send a crew to examine his. He sighed and grumbled as he moved down the hall - he hated late nights....
The first thing Roe did the next morning, before he allowed himself to get bogged down in official business, was to ask the investigatory team about his room. Poison. His tea was poisoned and someone had been waiting for him to drop dead. The perpetrator hadn't been caught, of course, but he'd left evidence of his presence. He turned to Graf, who of course would be in charge of such an important investigation. "I don't want anyone knowing about this - I'll take care of this myself."
Graf scowled and stared at him with her steely lavender eyes. "That does not follow the general procedure, Sir Roe." There was obvious disagreement in her voice, but he was one of the few people she was required to listen to.
"Those are my orders - follow them. If I need your assistance, I'll let you know. The last thing I need is rumors of my impending doom flying about. Understand, Prime Agent?"
She rolled her eyes and kept her hands firmly pressed against her hips. A tinge of annoyance still laced her voice, "Yes, Sir. Come to me for anything you need, Sir."
Roe smiled - a rare genuine smile. They'd known eachother for a long time and each understood the other's brilliance. She was concerned for him, even if she wouldn't show it. He wiggled his antennae and briskly walked away. There was one more stop he had to make before beginning his already overscheduled day. He turned a few corners and directed himself toward the main transmission room, where the Tallest would already be reviewing important information for the day. He first paused before entering. Red and Purple generally kept their romance to themselves, but for some reason felt perfectly free flirting around him - he supposed it had something to do with the closeness of his professional relationship with the two. He activated the security code and the door opened.
"Give them back! I'm the one who ordered them, so I should be the one to eat them!" Purple chased Red around their twin thrones, trying to recapture a plate full of taquitoes.
"Oh, Pur," soothed Red as he mischievously gnawed on one of the stolen snacks, "Didn't they teach you to share in scholar training?" He cackled as he dodged across the room, always remaining a step or two out of Purple's reach.
"They're mine," whined the violet Tallest. "And I want them! And sharing doesn't mean giving them all to you!" Purple made a mad lunge at his lover and fell flat on the floor. Roe hurried to help his monarch up.
"Are you all right, Sir?"
"Roe!" Purple pointed toward Red, "Advise him to give me back my taquitoes!"
"Er... Well, my Tallest -"
"HEY!" Purple turned his head to see Red giggling as he stuffed taquitoes down his throat. "Don't eat all of them!" Purple lunged once more, and actually succeeded in tackling his opponent. The two tumbled onto the floor with Purple landing on top. Red immediately wrapped his arms around him, making a low, seductive purr deep in his chest.
"Eep!" Purple stood quickly and looked around. "Now look! They're all over the floor!" He motioned to the leftover taquitoes that had been flung about during the chase.
"So?" Red crouched down, picked one up, and took a large bite.
Purple made a disgusted noise and pointed to a random communications officer. "You there! Get someone to clean this up. You!" He pointed to another random officer, "Order more taquitoes!"
Roe straitened his collar and cleared his throat. Purple was too flustered to listen, but he was able to get Red's attention. "Got something to say, Roe?"
"Yes, my Tallest. See, word around the Massive is that the troops are feeling rather restless..."
"Don't I know it!" Red flopped himself on his throne, "sitting around here all day is boooooooring!"
"Yes, well, I thought it might boost moral to have some sort of banquet - some formal affair the troops can all look forward to." He gave his leaders his most convincing smile.
Purple turned his head toward the conversation, "A banquet? That's a great idea! Red, let's have a banquet!" He jumped up and down with excitement.
Red glanced toward his comrade. "...okay. Formals aren't my thing, but it's cool. Organize it, Roe."
The advisor bowed his head and wiggled his antennae. "Yes, my Tallest." He walked out of the room, proud of his success. Certainly his would be murderer would attend, and then he could start getting an idea of who the traitor might be.
########################################################################
Through the mists of sleep Tah became somewhat aware of a repetitive beeping. She stretched and yawned, still entangled in the confusion that accompanies the early morning. She lifted herself up and peered about. The beeping came from her standard-issue alarm clock. She slammed her hand against it, switching it off. She groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and began the daily ritual of getting ready for the day. She'd been up half the night exploring that room of Keer's and today she had to interrogate some marauder who happened to be called in. Tah scratched her head tiredly. It was a good possibility this marauder could have been involved, but then again, evidence for that would have to wait. Right now the unlucky marauder was held in one of the detainment centers - for her protection of course. Tah took one last look at herself in the mirror to make sure everything was to regulation quality and marched out the door, ready for another day of work.
As she entered the detainment center she prepared her datapad. Her face was emotionless toward the numerous prisoners that stared at her with mistrusting eyes as a guard escorted her down the corridor. She really didn't notice them since her mind was focused on the task at hand. She waited as her escort opened the door to a certain containment room. Behind the door sat a rather short female with bright pink eyes and sharp features restrained especially for the interview. Another chair was set out for Tah at the opposite side of the room. She seated herself and tried to smile at the detained marauder, who grinned at her in a most disconcerting, wicked way. "Hello," she started, wiggling her antennae politely, "I'm here to ask you a few questions."
"I know," said the marauder in a strangely confident voice. "I've been waiting for you for the past few days."
"I'm sorry. There was preliminary investigation I had to do before visiting you. I assure you your detainment is meant for your protection."
The marauder rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just get this done, honey. I actually like my job, so the sooner you get done the better."
Tah blinked at the confrontational style of the small Irken. The way this woman looked at her - was she offering a challenge? She shrugged and glanced down at her pad. "Clay -"
" - First Class Marauder," interrupted Clay in a proud voice.
"First class? That is impressive..." It was so rare for such a short Irken to be a first class anything. She studied Clay for a moment, wondering about what must be her exemplary fighting skills. She made a note on her datapad. "Now Clay, I want you to tell me exactly what happened when you found Prime General Keer. Please, leave nothing out."
"You think I'm going to leave something out? What kind of -"
"I assure you I merely want you to think very -"
"Oh, shut up. Okay, listen to this. I got this message probe from Keer. I had no choice but to comply. See, it's not - or wasn't - exactly unusual for Keer to call some female to his room to make some sort of ... proposition. I thought I was safe but apparently he'd developed some sort of new short fetish." The marauder cringed at the thought.
"How long was between the time you got the message probe and the time you found the Prime General?"
"I was in training room B5 at the time, so it took about five minutes to walk there. ...I took my time."
Tah made a note. "Alright - what did you see when you opened the door."
Clay sighed, as if she'd told the same story many times before. "I activated the sensor so he'd know I was at the door. He didn't come so I activated it again. After the third time I considered leaving, but thought I'd get in trouble if I didn't at least see him. I opened the door using an emergency access code and the first thing I see is him hanging over his bed, all beaten up. It looks like someone first punched him in the face then kicked him around a little. I'm - used to seeing the dead in battle. It wasn't too bad - I went right to Massive Security and reported the incident." Then her voice turned angry. "I didn't think they'd put me in here!" She glared at Tah with an expression of pure resentment, puffing up her tiny frame.
"In what condition was the room when you found it?"
Clay paused in thought. "I didn't really look around, but nothing seemed out of place. I mean, his room is weird enough."
Tah unconsciously nodded in agreement as she asked her next question. "Were you ever involved with the Prime General?"
This caused the fiery marauder to erupt. "Was I involved? NO! What kind of Irken soldier do you think I am? Not only is it against regulation, but he must have mated with half the females in the unit! I'd be a laughing stock! You think I'm some sort of floozy or something? I like to party, but I'm not some tall-hunting sex object who'll mate with anything an inch above their head!" The woman squirmed against her restraints as she yelled at the startled investigator.
"Er - alright." Tah took note of Clay's reaction. "I believe you. ...I think that's all I want to ask you for the moment."
Clay's brilliant pink eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she asked in an almost helpless tone. Her voice then regained its confidence. "Don't tell me you're going to make me stay longer. What is the point here? Aren't I more valuable training for the next ground battle? Come on!"
Tah thought for a moment. There really was no reason to detain the woman. If she was involved in the murder, it wouldn't be worth it to try and escape the Massive. Tah could see this marauder's Irken pride was too great to try and abandon her unit. "Okay. Guard, release her." She smiled at the obvious look of surprise and pleasure that spread over Clay's face. She hopped to the ground and arched her head up to look at Tah.
"You're smarter than you look, but you're rude." She smiled and crossed her arms.
"What?"
"You never told me your name? What kind of investigator are you?"
"I - I'm sorry. My name is Tah."
"Tah." Clay tried the name in her mouth, as if tasting it. "Eh - it's okay." With this final observation the short marauder walked out the room, giving every guard she could find a look of extreme superiority. Tah smiled after her.
/* Finally finished it! I'm sorry it took so long to update - I'm a new college student with little to no time management skills. Was this chapter very boring? Not much has really happened yet - *sigh* Got any suggestions or ideas? I'm willing to listen to anything.*/
A cold chill ran down Roe's spine. He didn't believe in 'feelings', but he did believe the unconscious mind could detect things that perhaps the conscious mind could not. He felt very unsafe at the moment, and he could almost imagine someone was waiting there - watching. Then again, there was probably no real danger. He did live on the securest level of the ship, and it was incredibly unlikely there would be some intruder. He moved to pick up his tea when he stopped. A bug - a small, black bug was swimming in his tea! "How did that get here?" Roe wondered as he stared menacingly at the insect. He'd have to order more tea. However, for the moment he was content to sit and sleepily watch as the bug made small circles in the greenish fluid. He sighed as it hopped out, none the worse for wear, and began to crawl about the table. It flexed its miniscule body and lifted itself into the air. It rose a few inches before it fell directly back on the table, landing with its feet up in the air. Roe started and squinted down at the creature. It was dead.
A chill attacked him once again. This time Roe decided to listen to his unconscious and left the room. Something certainly wasn't right, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. First he'd have to get a new room for the night and send a crew to examine his. He sighed and grumbled as he moved down the hall - he hated late nights....
The first thing Roe did the next morning, before he allowed himself to get bogged down in official business, was to ask the investigatory team about his room. Poison. His tea was poisoned and someone had been waiting for him to drop dead. The perpetrator hadn't been caught, of course, but he'd left evidence of his presence. He turned to Graf, who of course would be in charge of such an important investigation. "I don't want anyone knowing about this - I'll take care of this myself."
Graf scowled and stared at him with her steely lavender eyes. "That does not follow the general procedure, Sir Roe." There was obvious disagreement in her voice, but he was one of the few people she was required to listen to.
"Those are my orders - follow them. If I need your assistance, I'll let you know. The last thing I need is rumors of my impending doom flying about. Understand, Prime Agent?"
She rolled her eyes and kept her hands firmly pressed against her hips. A tinge of annoyance still laced her voice, "Yes, Sir. Come to me for anything you need, Sir."
Roe smiled - a rare genuine smile. They'd known eachother for a long time and each understood the other's brilliance. She was concerned for him, even if she wouldn't show it. He wiggled his antennae and briskly walked away. There was one more stop he had to make before beginning his already overscheduled day. He turned a few corners and directed himself toward the main transmission room, where the Tallest would already be reviewing important information for the day. He first paused before entering. Red and Purple generally kept their romance to themselves, but for some reason felt perfectly free flirting around him - he supposed it had something to do with the closeness of his professional relationship with the two. He activated the security code and the door opened.
"Give them back! I'm the one who ordered them, so I should be the one to eat them!" Purple chased Red around their twin thrones, trying to recapture a plate full of taquitoes.
"Oh, Pur," soothed Red as he mischievously gnawed on one of the stolen snacks, "Didn't they teach you to share in scholar training?" He cackled as he dodged across the room, always remaining a step or two out of Purple's reach.
"They're mine," whined the violet Tallest. "And I want them! And sharing doesn't mean giving them all to you!" Purple made a mad lunge at his lover and fell flat on the floor. Roe hurried to help his monarch up.
"Are you all right, Sir?"
"Roe!" Purple pointed toward Red, "Advise him to give me back my taquitoes!"
"Er... Well, my Tallest -"
"HEY!" Purple turned his head to see Red giggling as he stuffed taquitoes down his throat. "Don't eat all of them!" Purple lunged once more, and actually succeeded in tackling his opponent. The two tumbled onto the floor with Purple landing on top. Red immediately wrapped his arms around him, making a low, seductive purr deep in his chest.
"Eep!" Purple stood quickly and looked around. "Now look! They're all over the floor!" He motioned to the leftover taquitoes that had been flung about during the chase.
"So?" Red crouched down, picked one up, and took a large bite.
Purple made a disgusted noise and pointed to a random communications officer. "You there! Get someone to clean this up. You!" He pointed to another random officer, "Order more taquitoes!"
Roe straitened his collar and cleared his throat. Purple was too flustered to listen, but he was able to get Red's attention. "Got something to say, Roe?"
"Yes, my Tallest. See, word around the Massive is that the troops are feeling rather restless..."
"Don't I know it!" Red flopped himself on his throne, "sitting around here all day is boooooooring!"
"Yes, well, I thought it might boost moral to have some sort of banquet - some formal affair the troops can all look forward to." He gave his leaders his most convincing smile.
Purple turned his head toward the conversation, "A banquet? That's a great idea! Red, let's have a banquet!" He jumped up and down with excitement.
Red glanced toward his comrade. "...okay. Formals aren't my thing, but it's cool. Organize it, Roe."
The advisor bowed his head and wiggled his antennae. "Yes, my Tallest." He walked out of the room, proud of his success. Certainly his would be murderer would attend, and then he could start getting an idea of who the traitor might be.
########################################################################
Through the mists of sleep Tah became somewhat aware of a repetitive beeping. She stretched and yawned, still entangled in the confusion that accompanies the early morning. She lifted herself up and peered about. The beeping came from her standard-issue alarm clock. She slammed her hand against it, switching it off. She groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and began the daily ritual of getting ready for the day. She'd been up half the night exploring that room of Keer's and today she had to interrogate some marauder who happened to be called in. Tah scratched her head tiredly. It was a good possibility this marauder could have been involved, but then again, evidence for that would have to wait. Right now the unlucky marauder was held in one of the detainment centers - for her protection of course. Tah took one last look at herself in the mirror to make sure everything was to regulation quality and marched out the door, ready for another day of work.
As she entered the detainment center she prepared her datapad. Her face was emotionless toward the numerous prisoners that stared at her with mistrusting eyes as a guard escorted her down the corridor. She really didn't notice them since her mind was focused on the task at hand. She waited as her escort opened the door to a certain containment room. Behind the door sat a rather short female with bright pink eyes and sharp features restrained especially for the interview. Another chair was set out for Tah at the opposite side of the room. She seated herself and tried to smile at the detained marauder, who grinned at her in a most disconcerting, wicked way. "Hello," she started, wiggling her antennae politely, "I'm here to ask you a few questions."
"I know," said the marauder in a strangely confident voice. "I've been waiting for you for the past few days."
"I'm sorry. There was preliminary investigation I had to do before visiting you. I assure you your detainment is meant for your protection."
The marauder rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just get this done, honey. I actually like my job, so the sooner you get done the better."
Tah blinked at the confrontational style of the small Irken. The way this woman looked at her - was she offering a challenge? She shrugged and glanced down at her pad. "Clay -"
" - First Class Marauder," interrupted Clay in a proud voice.
"First class? That is impressive..." It was so rare for such a short Irken to be a first class anything. She studied Clay for a moment, wondering about what must be her exemplary fighting skills. She made a note on her datapad. "Now Clay, I want you to tell me exactly what happened when you found Prime General Keer. Please, leave nothing out."
"You think I'm going to leave something out? What kind of -"
"I assure you I merely want you to think very -"
"Oh, shut up. Okay, listen to this. I got this message probe from Keer. I had no choice but to comply. See, it's not - or wasn't - exactly unusual for Keer to call some female to his room to make some sort of ... proposition. I thought I was safe but apparently he'd developed some sort of new short fetish." The marauder cringed at the thought.
"How long was between the time you got the message probe and the time you found the Prime General?"
"I was in training room B5 at the time, so it took about five minutes to walk there. ...I took my time."
Tah made a note. "Alright - what did you see when you opened the door."
Clay sighed, as if she'd told the same story many times before. "I activated the sensor so he'd know I was at the door. He didn't come so I activated it again. After the third time I considered leaving, but thought I'd get in trouble if I didn't at least see him. I opened the door using an emergency access code and the first thing I see is him hanging over his bed, all beaten up. It looks like someone first punched him in the face then kicked him around a little. I'm - used to seeing the dead in battle. It wasn't too bad - I went right to Massive Security and reported the incident." Then her voice turned angry. "I didn't think they'd put me in here!" She glared at Tah with an expression of pure resentment, puffing up her tiny frame.
"In what condition was the room when you found it?"
Clay paused in thought. "I didn't really look around, but nothing seemed out of place. I mean, his room is weird enough."
Tah unconsciously nodded in agreement as she asked her next question. "Were you ever involved with the Prime General?"
This caused the fiery marauder to erupt. "Was I involved? NO! What kind of Irken soldier do you think I am? Not only is it against regulation, but he must have mated with half the females in the unit! I'd be a laughing stock! You think I'm some sort of floozy or something? I like to party, but I'm not some tall-hunting sex object who'll mate with anything an inch above their head!" The woman squirmed against her restraints as she yelled at the startled investigator.
"Er - alright." Tah took note of Clay's reaction. "I believe you. ...I think that's all I want to ask you for the moment."
Clay's brilliant pink eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she asked in an almost helpless tone. Her voice then regained its confidence. "Don't tell me you're going to make me stay longer. What is the point here? Aren't I more valuable training for the next ground battle? Come on!"
Tah thought for a moment. There really was no reason to detain the woman. If she was involved in the murder, it wouldn't be worth it to try and escape the Massive. Tah could see this marauder's Irken pride was too great to try and abandon her unit. "Okay. Guard, release her." She smiled at the obvious look of surprise and pleasure that spread over Clay's face. She hopped to the ground and arched her head up to look at Tah.
"You're smarter than you look, but you're rude." She smiled and crossed her arms.
"What?"
"You never told me your name? What kind of investigator are you?"
"I - I'm sorry. My name is Tah."
"Tah." Clay tried the name in her mouth, as if tasting it. "Eh - it's okay." With this final observation the short marauder walked out the room, giving every guard she could find a look of extreme superiority. Tah smiled after her.
/* Finally finished it! I'm sorry it took so long to update - I'm a new college student with little to no time management skills. Was this chapter very boring? Not much has really happened yet - *sigh* Got any suggestions or ideas? I'm willing to listen to anything.*/