Chapter Five: Conspiracy Theory
"So you wanna talk about it?" Link asked as they made their way to the living quarters.
"About what?" Da'an asked.
"About what that woman did to piss you off so much," Link said.
Da'an sighed. "It started about three years ago. Lili was a member of the resistance, and I was unaware of that. Our shuttle crashed in the Appalachian Mountains, and Lili was injured. I took care of her until her comrades came to her aid. That was when we started getting close, so I asked her to share with me. Some time after that, I was cut off from the Commonality and devolved into an Atavus beast. She was the only one who reached me. I do not think I would be alive today if it was not for her. She was the closest human friend I ever had. Then things started to come apart. She tried to overload the core of the Mothership to destroy it. I was on it at the time as Zo'or's prisoner. He accused me of having ties with the Liberation Movement. Everyone thought she had died, but she had actually been sent here by Agent Sandoval."
"I guess you weren't too sad when she left considering she tried to kill…you and everyone else," Link said.
"I was angry at first, but only at first. I started to think that maybe she did not know I was on the Mothership," Da'an said. "You are the only person that I have told that story to, but I forgave her. I figured she would not have done it if she had known I was on the ship. Then, she came back. Her shuttle was shot down by a Taelon missile from the Mothership, and she was injured along with her husband Vorjak. She crashed in Antarctica, where Agent Sandoval retrieved her and then proceeded to capture me. She tried to drain my energy in order to save her unborn child."
"What's wrong with that? It sounds like she was desperate," Link said.
"Oh bullshit she was!" Da'an spat. "She was a pregnant human with an altered metabolism that could not handle Earth's atmosphere. For goodness sake, she was gone for almost a year! How long does it take to figure that out! Then, she has the audacity to come back to Earth pregnant and knowing that her delivery date was coming soon. She knew the risks and she couldn't handle the consequences for them! She put herself in that situation, and I'm supposed to get punished for it! I'm supposed to get sacrificed for her goddamn mistake!"
"Whoa, wait. She was your friend, and she tried to make you take the punishment for her stupidity?" Link said. "What an asshole!"
"Thank you! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that way!"
"Sounds to me like she had it coming. She gets on a shuttle and goes to a planet that she knows will make her sick, and to top that off she's pregnant! And this woman's supposed to be a marine pilot?"
"She was a marine pilot in the SI War, if that helps to explain."
"Okay, Da'an, not to offend or anything, but what in the hell did you see in someone that selfish and that stupid?"
"She's a little manipulative liar," Da'an said. "She had me believing that she only wanted what was best for humanity, and worst of all she's still got other people convinced that she's so damn compassionate. They think she's the Virgin Mary just because she had sex with a Jaridian. My species has been raped by Jaridians for thousands of years. No one ever called us saints!"
"Oh man. Sounds like good riddance to bad rubbish to me," Link said, trying his best to conceal the humor he found in all of this.
Da'an sighed. "Let's try to keep this between ourselves. Liam, for some reason, gets upset when I call Lili out for the lying, selfish, ungrateful whore that she is."
"Don't worry. It's between you and me," Link said.
Liam met Da'an at the entrance to the Taelon living quarters about thirty minutes later. He shook hands with Link and hugged Da'an. "I expected you later," he said.
"I couldn't sleep," Da'an said. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Liam said. "Shall we?" He opened the door for her.
The Taelon living quarters was a large temporary barrack set up for them with mobile cots organized in two rows with energy showers hanging over them. In between the rows was a set of tables with computers, communicators, and blueprints of the area the aerial armada was to attack. The Taelon pilots were going over the plans while healers and scientists were organizing and refining their tools.
They immediately stopped what they were doing to acknowledge Da'an.
"I take it that the move went smoothly," Da'an said.
The Taelons nodded in unison.
"If there are any concerns, address them now," Da'an said.
"Well, actually…" Mi'en started, but her voice trailed off.
"What is it?" Da'an asked.
"Does something feel a little…off about these Jaridians?" Ta'lay asked hesitantly.
"What do you mean?" Da'an asked.
"Well, the Jaridians who escorted us have been surprisingly…courteous," one Taelon said. "They have not uttered slurs at us or even given us dirty looks."
"Glad they been treatin' you that way," Link said. "We had to sit in front of a bunch of racist Jaridian warlords for about four hours straight."
"No, Balvak had a talk with the soldiers after that," Liam said, "and told them to stop bothering the Taelons. Renee and I were there when he did."
"It sounds to me like they are trying a little too hard to win our favor," Ta'lay said. "Think about it. They never got upset over Da'an's outburst. They took the time to organize all of this perfectly and neatly for us. They even have a storage tank back there with their best foods ready for our use. Now, I have not been to too many summit meetings Da'an, but I am quite sure they never treat any Taelon this well."
"If Balvak did behave that way, it is strange," Da'an said. "That would entitle that a Jaridian officer commanding his platoon actually relayed Balvak's message to his fellows, and they actually complied. That's never happened to us before. "
"They are doing everything in their power to keep us here," Mi'en said. "I'll bet Balvak even told the generals to stop calling you names after that, didn't he?"
"He did do that," Liam said. "Maybe we're just reading too much into this."
"Maybe," Da'an said. "Well, if anything else strange occurs, you know my frequency. Be safe out there tomorrow."
The Taelons gave Da'an the Taelon greeting. Da'an, Liam, and Link returned the greeting and left. Right afterwards, the three huddled together to discuss what they had heard.
"I don't think we should worry about this," Liam said. "The Jaridians' motives seem to be from desperation, and that's why they're trying so hard to treat us right."
"If they were that desperate, why are all these soldiers walking around like nothing's wrong?" Link asked. "It sounds like they have plenty to spare. Also, if they were desperate, why hasn't this whole Citadel been scratched? Pretty well-fortified for a severely understaffed military."
"Vorjak told us at the briefing session that all of the fighting has been concentrated outside the Citadel," Da'an said. "If the situation was as desperate as they have been letting on, that would mean that the Jaridian rebels were strong enough to push towards the Citadel."
"So the situation's not as desperate as they're letting on," Liam said. "That doesn't mean they can't use our help."
"Your friendship with Lili is overriding your logic," Da'an said to Liam. "You used to be willing to investigate any Taelon operation at the slightest hint of a conspiracy, but you will not investigate into this?"
"It sounds to me like you two are looking for a reason to prove her wrong just because you hate her—why, I don't know," Liam said.
"Then, prove me wrong," Da'an said. "Prove me wrong by assisting Link in an investigation."
"I'm not going to play into your paranoia," Liam said. "I'm sorry, but I trust Lili."
"Is that because you think you've known her longer, or because she's a human?" Da'an interrogated.
"I'm not going to do this with you, Da'an," Liam said. "I'm going back to my quarters, and, for your sake, I suggest you do the same."
Liam marched back to the human living quarters where he was stationed.
"Da'an!" a familiar voice cried.
It was Renee. Balvak had asked her to check and make sure his orders had been carried out and the Taelons had got into their living quarters with no problems. She had been close enough to hear them, but the three had been so insulated at the moment that they never saw her coming.
"I believe you," Renee said. "I decided to take a little walk to the Jaridian hierarchy building—you know, where the civilian government's supposed to be."
"Yeah," Link said.
"The twelve topmost floors have been completely cleared out and sealed off, and I haven't met one single member of the hierarchy," Renee said. "The staff told us that since the hierarchy's been deposed for thousands of years, they decided to disband the it and renovate the area to make space for something useful."
"Why in the hell would the citizens allow the high council to shut down an entire branch of their government?" Link asked.
"Maybe the citizens didn't allow it," Da'an said, "and that is the problem."
"Do you think we're fighting on the right side?" Renee asked.
"I don't know," Da'an said. "Are you two willing to look into this a little deeper?"
"No problem," Link said.
"I'm with you," Renee said.
"Link, the Jaridians have a large library full of chronicles of the Jaridian history. They are supposed to keep it up to date," Da'an said. "Take Ta'lay, go to the library and see if you can find out when this alleged civil war started. Renee, go to the fourteenth floor of the hierarchy building. The secretaries there keep a record of all the minutes of any type of hierarchy event. Find out when their last event was held and when they decided to renovate the top floors. Report to me and only to me when you learn anything. Do you know where I am, Renee?"
"Yeah," Renee said.
"What about you?" Link asked.
"I am going to have a little talk with these alleged peace officers," Da'an said. "Then, I'm going to make a few calls."