Meeting Kachori
Laes slid out of his seat and hurried over to the big metal door blocking the exit.
Didn't it turn into a wall before?
It didn't have any handles or knobs or mechanics that would allow it to slide in any direction... he tried pushing on it, but it wouldn't budge.
There was only the tiniest gap underneath. He might be able to fit his fingers through... but that wouldn't really be helpful.
He turned around and pressed his back up against it as he slid down into a sitting position. Then the door fizzled out and he fell backwards.
He stared up at the Invader who was peering down at him.
Was this Kachori? Her blue and emerald colours were very vibrant and she was taller than both Kosiker and Sevai had been. Then he remembered he was lying on the floor.
He scrambled to his feet and moved away from the Invader.
"Sorry... I uh..."
He couldn't think of an excuse. It was obvious he'd been trying to get out of the room anyway.
"Sorry."
"I hear you've been worrying about your 'friends,'" the female Invader said.
"Are they ok?" Laes questioned outside of striking distance.
"They are both conscious and unaltered in anyway... however, it seems we are having trouble seeing into the thoughts of the other Vortian."
"Lard Nar resisted the Irkens' mind tap several times so..." Laes explained, crossing his arms over his chest.
He rubbed both arms and took another uneasy step back.
"If we cannot determine his intentions, then he will be treated as a hostile entity."
"He's not hostile," Laes hurriedly defended his former cellmate. "He had to protect his thoughts to keep his crew safe... I don't think he's blocking you out on purpose... you can tell just by looking at him right? The Irkens tortured him badly, many times."
"Regardless, we will need to be sure he will not become hostile. This is for our own safety and for his."
"So wait... what's going to happen to him then?"
"We will keep him contained until a better method can be used."
Laes wondered what they meant by "better method." He probably shouldn't ask... but he was starting to get increasingly concerned for both Lard Nar and Darden.
"I'm guessing you were able to see my thoughts just fine...?" Laes remarked with an uneasy smile.
The Invader scowled down at him.
"Your thoughts are too easy to read. They flooded the system and nearly overwhelmed it. We had to turn it down to its lowest setting to keep it from malfunctioning."
"Oh... um... sorry about that..." Laes said rubbing the back of his head as he looked down at the floor.
"Now follow me. I'm going to take you to see Kachori."
Laes lifted his head and his eyes met the Invader's impatient scowl.
"I uh... oh... ok..." he responded.
He thought she was Kachori... but maybe this was Delarla? She sounded kind of like Delarla, but maybe not quite, so it might be someone completely different.
"Walk in front of me. I will tell you where to go."
"Ok," Laes agreed and he stepped past the Invader into the hall.
He thought he should probably be paying attention to the different doors and machines and rooms he past by, but his mind was already wandering again.
Lard Nar was locked away somewhere and who knows what was currently happening to Darden.
He wished he could help them in some way, but he already knew there was no way he could... he was barely above being detained himself probably, and even if he managed to escape from the Invaders somehow he'd still be on board their ship.
"Turn left, then keep going straight."
He nearly tripped when the Invader behind him said that. Oh right. He really should at least pay attention to where he was walking so he didn't accidentally run into anything... or anyone.
The hallway opened up into a large room that had more doors that disappeared as he approached.
There were a few guards from the looks of it. They were wearing visible armour, but they were also probably covered in invisible machines just like the scientists were.
There were spheres on top of pillars... they seemed to be glowing with a strange green energy. Some of them were connected together but the two closest to the stairs leading up to the control chair were separate.
A few Invaders were sitting behind some controls near the bottom of the stairs. All of them sat up straighter and turned towards Laes as he approached.
This was the control room... there wasn't nearly as much technology in here as he'd been expecting... the monitors seemed to be hardened holograms that vanished as soon as the Invaders looked away from them.
"Greetings Laes," the colourful Invader sitting on the chair at the stop of the stairs greeted him.
She was wearing a long shiny purple and blue gown rather than the uniforms everyone else was wearing.
"I'm Kachori. I've been looking forward to meeting with you."
Laes glanced back at the Invader behind him to see if he was supposed to climb up the stairs or not.
The Invader beckoned him away, so he took this as a sign to keep going.
He ascended the stairs slowly, expecting one of those glowing green spheres to zap him.
He nearly jumped when a barrier suddenly surrounded him and Kachori. It looked like a bright green flash at first and he was sure it was going to electrocute him.
"This is for our privacy," Kachori explained, motioning at the slightly green dome around them. "We can hear and see everything from inside, but no one can see us or listen in to our conversation."
Laes peeked out from behind his arms. He'd raised them to defend himself as he ducked into a curled up crouched position.
He glanced around quickly, making sure no green lightening bolts were going to start raining down from the barrier before straightening up.
"Sorry about that," he immediately apologized.
Hopefully his cowardly actions hadn't offended her too badly...
Kachori covered her mouth as she chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I've watched your thoughts and I've read Sevai's reports. Your current reactions are entirely expected."
She motioned for him to come closer.
"You and your friend have been through a lot haven't you?"
"Yes, and the only reason you can't see Lard Nar's thoughts probably is because he's gotten used to blocking out Irken mind probes..." which was actually pretty impressive.
Laes didn't think he could ever do something like that.
"He's not being hostile. He's being defensive..."
Oh shoot. She wanted him to stand a bit closer but he hadn't moved yet. He quickly took a couple steps forward so that he was standing right in front of her.
"Perhaps I can ask Sevai to speak with him directly..." Kachori mused. "He can be quite personable, although he sometimes gets caught up in talking about unrelated matters."
"Some of your people seem kind of..." Laes was trying to find a word that wouldn't sound very offensive... but he couldn't think of any.
"Emotionally distant?" Kachori questioned, and Laes nodded in agreement.
Those were a much better words than any of the ones he'd been thinking... oh shoot. Invaders read minds... how was he not a melted puddle of goo right now?
She stood up and Laes stumbled backwards. She was about as tall as the male Invaders, but she was very colourful. Her green and blue skin shone like rare stones in the light, and her nearly transparent wings suddenly emerged from somewhere.
"I won't lie to you... my people are not very good at speaking equally with other life forms... we don't normally interact with races that are able to travel beyond their planets, and when we do seek a new planet, we are usually looking for a place to grow our young."
"Grow...?" Laes repeated, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Why did he say that...? He already knew what she meant! He didn't need an in-depth description... he really really didn't.
She smiled down at him, but it didn't look like a happy smile. Her mandibles clicked together once.
"No matter how advanced our technology is, we cannot grow our young in tubes like the Irkens can... they simply will not grow. We've tried everything we can think of, but our offspring will die unless they are placed inside a living host."
Laes could feel the colour drain from his face. He wrapped his arms around his torso and lowered his head to hide his horrified expression.
The Invaders were going to use Vortians like before... his people were going to get eaten from the inside out.
He started to tremble.
Oh galre... he was going to be sick...
"Please calm yourself Laes," Kachori spoke, stooping down so that she was eye-level with him.
"My people would never use a race as advanced as yours for such a purpose... but you have to understand that unless we are able to find compatible hosts, my people will eventually die out... our medicines will only keep us alive for so long, and while we have ways of stopping the flow of time, once we are awakened we will still be faced with the same problem as before."
"So... Chakri..."
"She was grown inside a volunteer subject. A Bludonian. In exchange we offered them a piece of our technology... they weren't very interested, but they were giving me my child, so I insisted."
"I... I see..." he sucked in a breath.
Wait... a piece of Invader technology was given to the Bludonians...? So that device Bann merged with was actually Invader technology... or at least it appeared to be altered Invader technology with both Vortian and maybe Irken technology mixed in.
The Resisty had been on that planet right...? Did Lard Nar alter it maybe? Why would he never bring that up though? What was it supposed to do before it was turned into a cloaking device?
His chest still felt tight. He didn't want to think about what that Bludonian must have gone through... but Bludonians were known for being too friendly and nice. They didn't seem to care too much about material things.
He didn't think they saw their bodies as material things... but maybe they did.
"So... what are you going to do with us?" he asked. He also wanted to ask a bit more about the piece of technology they gave to the Bludonians, but that question wasn't as important.
"We will stay here long enough to help your people rebuild your planet's infrastructure and to make sure any physical symptoms of the Irken occupation are dealt with."
"What about the Irkens?"
"Our original plan was to capture them and have them reprogrammed to serve us. Their purpose was to act as our protectors... but Sevai seems to think that having Irkens separated from their planets and their computers may result in a different kind of reprogramming... a more natural one maybe."
She let out a sigh and placed a hand on her cheek.
"In order for us to abandon our primary objective, we will need to receive approval from our planet's counsel... Sevai is speaking with them right now... but despite his enthusiasm and his ability to talk... our people are very skeptical, and they will be very difficult to persuade."
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he winced and kept his eyes fixated on the floor.
"You have some of our DNA. All the Vortians we've tested have a small amount, but it seems those with pink or blue pigment in their skin have slightly more than average."
"Oh... really?" Laes wanted to duck away but he realized he probably shouldn't. "Um... how many Vortians have you tested?"
"I believe you are the eighth one," she removed her hand from his shoulder and rose to her feet.
The eighth? Then... "where are the others right now?" Hopefully they'd been brought back to Vort. Maybe their memories had been erased.
Kachori's antennae lowered a little, and all traces of her smile vanished.
"Most of them are not responsive... I'm sorry. The toxin was too strong for some of them, and the others resisted having their minds read and collapsed."
Laes' eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. "They... they're all dead?"
"Two are dead. The others are alive but non-responsive."
"But... can they become responsive again or are they... just... breathing?" He questioned, dragging a hand down his face.
"You must be feeling upset by this news. I apologize. It wasn't our intention to harm them," Kachori told him.
She continued: "Originally our mind-reading technology wasn't compatible with your peoples' advanced ways of thinking. We are used to probing the minds of people far less intelligent than your own. Vortians had also come in contact with our toxin before, so we expected them to have some immunity to it... unfortunately this wasn't the case.
Three are being held inside stasis pods. Two are being kept alive by machines. Unfortunately the only way for us to undo that kind of damage is to bring them back to our home world as our most advanced technology is forbidden to be used off of our planet."
"So... you're going to bring them back to your home world to fix them right?" Laes questioned, managing a forced, yet somewhat hopeful, smile.
Kachori's expression remained the same as she spoke: "That is what I wish to do, however, this is also a forbidden thing."
"Why?"
"The counsel will not allow any non native of our planet to set foot on it."
The Invaders were almost more paranoid than the Irkens...
"If you can't help them, why are you keeping them alive?" he asked, since that was the next question that popped into his head.
"I suppose I'm hoping they will change their minds, though admittedly it would require a miraculous act from something far more advanced than us for them to do so..."
"And the dead Vortians?" Lard Nar decided to press.
There were seven of them who were nearly dead, but she hadn't mentioned the whereabouts of the last two Vortians.
"Where are they...?"
"They were the first to receive the toxin. The dose was much too high. They were beyond any kind of help we could give them so... I believe they were given to Delarla for research purposes."
"Their families will want them back..." Laes said, fidgeting a bit with his hands. "They'll want to know what happened too..."
"Yes, and I'm sure you will be able to explain it just fine."
Laes pointed a finger at himself.
"Me...? ...Why?"
He wasn't good at talking to people... and giving parents or partners or children the terrible news that their loved ones were dead... he really didn't want to do that.
"Sevai suggested selecting a representative from among the Vortians, and since you know the most about us, and you also have a connection with the Tallest who we may want to negotiate with at a later time, I decided it should be you."
"But I'm just an engineer... I ramble a lot... and if I panic I faint... there are definitely smarter, stronger, better Vortians for the job..."
"I've seen your thoughts Laes. I know how you react to different situations. This is why I'm asking you to represent your people."
"But I'm..." he was trying to think of more excuses. He really thought he had more of those.
"Think about how you've been speaking with me," Kachori remarked.
Her mandibles moved a little. She was smiling again.
"I'm the leader of this expedition, yet you're already asking me pointed questions very naturally."
Wait... he was? Oh cripes... when did that start happening? Wasn't he talking to her the same way he used to imagine talking to Tallest Miyuki?
She paused, giving him some time to think about what she said. Then she continued, "maybe your purpose is to speak to leaders from different planets. My people believe everyone has a purpose. This could very well be yours."
He hadn't thought about leaving Vort until he was taken away from it, and he never in his wildest fantasies believed he would be destined to advocate for his people and negotiate with a much more advanced race than his own...
Even though he had spoken to the Tallest a few times in the past, he didn't really think it had made much of a difference. How was he supposed to make a difference now? He didn't even know that much about the Invaders...
"Lard Nar could represent Vort better than me... he talks to different people from different planets a lot more than I do..." Laes began rubbing his arm in a nervous manner.
It probably wouldn't be fair to ask him to do something like that right now though... Lard Nar didn't even want to be a captain anymore, so he would definitely object to being the representative of Vort.
"But... ok. I'll do it... just..." he sucked in a breath and slowly exhaled as he rubbed the side of his face. "Darden was taken from Vort right? So that means he's with us. He's an ally. He shouldn't be treated as an enemy."
Kachori nodded. "That does make sense. I believe Sevai is arguing in favour of allowing him to return to Vort for further observation and research purposes. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you spoke to the counsel as well."
"Can I see Lard Nar after?" Laes asked, giving her a hopeful look.
"It's against protocol..." Kachori admitted, glancing at her followers.
Most of them had returned to the controls. Holograms of the area and of the ships' different readings were in front of their faces. A simple swipe of the hand seemed to change whatever they were looking at.
"But if you think it would help the situation, then I will allow it."
"Thanks," Laes responded. He offered her a smile before turning towards the stairs. "I guess I should get going... but yeah. Thanks for explaining everything... it um... it helps with the paranoia quite a bit."
"Considering the last time Vortians had contact with us we were using them to grow our young, your paranoia is justified." She lifted her hand, and the barrier around them dispersed. "Kosiker will bring you to the counsel's communication room."
Author's Notes: Doesn't it warm your heart knowing Chakri's egg was placed inside of a Bludonian where she hatched and grew, eating all of its innards, before tearing her way out of its body?
What a joyous and wondrous occasion! They should totally celebrate that milestone every year.