Chapter 6: Not As Planned

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

Tyler and I were standing outside the gates of the Governors home, which looked the same as the last time I saw it, minus all the flames and craters, and it had more guards along the fence now. Tyler was just having his information processed by one of the gate guards, and I was left to look out and over the lawn, searching the many windows. I felt the familiar mind pressure I came to associate when only Krystal was around. It has been too long for me to remember exactly which window was hers… but maybe I should implement some mental barriers, since I'm not allowed to communicate with her…

…Still… at least I will be able to see her. We walked through the gate as the guard got done typing on the holographic arm pad that he had somehow activated with a wave of his hand. When I passed him, my goggles were down, but I still saw him give me a cold and hostile glare. I didn't feel all that comfortable when he was behind my back, but I figured if I turned and looked, that would only cause me more problems than I needed at the moment.

We stopped at the main doors, and I saw Tyler reach to open them, but they opened before he even touched the handle. Inside were two guards, and one of them had opened the door, but the other had remained in a stance with his rifle at the ready, which made me feel more ill at ease. Following Tyler, we made our way through a series of doorways, and then we entered a doorway and into a room with two familiar fox Cerinians. This time however, there were four guards in the room, but they looked like heavily armed and armored juggernauts.

"Greetings, we are the replacements for the previous diplomat from Earth. My name is Tyler, and this is my associate, he will be the one you will be conducting business with." Tyler said when we were in the middle of the room.

The Governor nodded slightly as he said, "Welcome, I trust the transition was pleasant?" Tyler nodded, and the Governor continued, "We had been expecting you at a later time, considering how it has become dark already."

Where is she? And as if she had heard me, Krystal entered the room. I smiled beneath my helmet as I watched her walk towards her parents with her staff in hand. She is just as beautiful as eve-

A glare I hadn't ever expected to see was shot at me from her, and I swear I saw flames dancing in her eyes. A lump formed in my throat as I felt a pressure surround my mind, and I instantly regretted not forming the mental barrier sooner. I started to solely focus on an image of a brick wall, and I saw Krystal's eyes narrow suddenly, and I didn't realize that Tyler had started to walk away until I felt his hand grip my shoulder and I heard him say, "You alright, sir?"

I turned my head towards him, and almost spoke, but caught myself just in time, and nodded. He let go of my shoulder and started to walk away towards the main doors, but I took one last glance back towards Krystal, and I mentally let down my barrier temporarily, Sorry… and then it was back up again.

Following Tyler, I didn't want to even look back at Krystal, a fact that saddened me beyond belief. I had thought I would've enjoyed just seeing her again, but the look in her eyes, it felt like she was ready to kill me, let alone tolerate my presence. So much has changed… and I'm not even sure if it is for the better…

(Krystal's P.O.V.)

That human sure has some nerve checking me out, I should have blasted him with a simple freezing spell just to teach him a lesson… but his mind, why does it feel familiar somehow? I turned and faced my parents as I asked, "Do I really need to show them to the rooms they will be staying in?"

"Yes dear… you and the diplomat need to get acquainted with each other tomorrow anyways." My father said, and I looked away when he mentioned getting acquainted.

I sighed as I started to walk towards the doorway, and I reached down into my pocket, and made sure that the one thing that made me tolerate humans was there. Stepping into the hallway, I closed the door behind me, and took my hand out from inside my pocket. I started to walk past the humans as I said, "Right this way, I will show you where your rooms are located…"

(Tyler's P.O.V.)

I looked over just as Wolf crouched down, but when he stood back up, I turned and followed the blue fox down the hallway. Diplomatic duty, guarding a kid, and making sure everything runs smoothly… maybe I can even see some local sites before we get rotated back to Earth. It would sure make up for being assigned to a milk run like this…

After we rounded a hallway, I looked over and saw Wolf looking down at a picture, and I looked at it as well. Before I could make out much detail, I heard Krystal stop and say, "Ok, we are here…" I looked back forward, and didn't notice Wolf stretching out his hand. Krystal turned around to face us just as I saw Wolf's hand reaching out to her with the picture, but what happened next, not even I was prepared for.

Krystal swung her staff sideways and slammed Wolf in his side with a decent amount of force, and he fell into the wall. I quickly went to his side, and I heard him wheeze from inside his helmet, and I grabbed my rifle from my back and held it towards the blue fox. Damn… not even twenty four hours into duty and I'm already failing my task…

"NO human is ever allowed to touch me!" Krystal shouted as she pointed her staff at Wolf, and I heard the pounding of feet down the hallway. We were soon surrounded by a dozen armed guns, and I heard a strange whirring noise, but I kept my rifle trained on Krystal as I felt a tugging on my pants. Kneeling down, I heard Wolf quietly say, "Tell her… I said, she dropped this." And then I saw him hold the picture out again, just this time slower.

The fire in Krystal's eyes seemed to burn brighter temporarily, and I said, "He says you dropped that…"

She reached out and snatched the picture from his hand, and when she moved her staff away from Wolf, I lowered my rifle, and reached down and helped Wolf stand up. When he was leaning against my shoulder, the guards lowered their own weapons, and I opened the door, but kept my eyes on them as I made my way into the room. "You may all return to you posts…" Krystal said as her eyes seemed to water up.

Whatever he gave her… it must've hurt her more than she did him… I closed the door, just as Wolf tore off his helmet and fell to the floor…

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

I was holding myself off the floor, but barely. Taking a few short breaths, I said, "Get me something… paper towels or toilet paper, something…"

Tyler's footsteps receded, and I heard him looking around, but when he came back, he said, "There isn't any in this room, I will be back soon."

The door opened, and I heard Tyler stop walking as he said, "Oh, Krystal? Would you know where I could acquire napkins or something familiar?"

"Is he alright?" I heard her ask with a surprise tone.

"Yes, you just winded him is all… but about the napkins…"

"Oh, yes, this way." Krystal said, and then I heard her footsteps receding, along with the pressure on my mind. When they were gone, I did my best to keep the warm liquid I felt within my mouth, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before I couldn't hold in a cough. I shook my head as I slowly reached over, and clutched my throbbing side. It just had to be the one I am still recovering from…

Ok, so I need a revisement of my current situation… Krystal apparently hates humans, yet she carries a picture around of me… she is cold, instead of that warm person I met, and she is also very strong, courtesy of me not knowing beforehand. This day just keeps getting better and better… what, like five hours ago or less, I was in school, enjoying a regular day back to normality, but now I'm on another planet again, a throbbing pain, and a blood filled mouth. Maybe it would've been better if I had just stayed in bed this morning…

…oh good… Tyler's back. Tyler walked over to me with a pile of napkins, and I started to stand up, and I moved towards what I guessed was the bathroom. When I entered, it wasn't a bathroom, but it had a sink, so I leaned over the sink, and let the blood flow from my mouth. I coughed vigorously and heard Tyler ask, "Are you alright?"

When I stopped coughing, I faced Tyler and said, "You probably don't know, but last time I was here, I was shot in my side by one of the rebels pistols… I try not to exert myself too much or hit my old wounds, especially the one in my…*cough*… side."

I grabbed a napkin he had placed nearby, and I was soon wiping my mouth as I ran the water in the basin, getting the blood out of the sink. I cupped my hands and got some water, and then rinsed my mouth thoroughly, multiple times. When the water in the sink didn't swish with a red tinge anymore, I turned it off and wiped my mouth.

"H-Hey… Since I'm the diplomat, what are the terms that they want, and our terms?" I asked, and a cough came soon afterwards, but yielded considerable less blood.

"The Cerinian's want to move some of their people onto Earth… to, assimilate our two races together… now; we want the same type of technology they have. However, our government doesn't want Cerinians of U.S. soil…" Tyler said.

Standing up, I held myself off of the sink as I said, "Those are both reasonable requests, anybody can tell you… the Cerinians would be at a loss for only sending people over instead of actually getting anything in return… wait…" I shook my head slightly as I rubbed my face, and said, "My best guess, is the only reason our side isn't agreeing, is because they are worried about some other country getting hostile from our boost in alien technology… or…" I stood up fully now and faced Tyler, "They don't want some of our citizens and theirs getting into violent acts…?"

Tyler chuckled as he walked away, and he said, "Your sharp kid… but yes, that is entirely why… just, you have to find a way to tell them that. Handlers aren't allowed to give the diplomats ideas, so you need to figure this out yourself. And the last diplomat completely ignored the fact that those issues would come up…"

I sighed as I walked out of the washroom, and I limped over to a chair, and sat down in it. I took my locket out from my pocket and set it on the table.

"How much have you been briefed on Cerinians…?" I asked Tyler as I fiddled with my locket. He came over and sat across from me as he sighed.

When he set his hands on the table, he said, "All I know is that they are highly advanced, they are based on a hierarchy system of government, and they seem to have animalistic traits… such as advanced sight, heightened hearing and smell, along with other benefits from whatever animal they represent."

Shaking my head, I frowned as I looked at my locket and I said, "I fell in love once…"

"We all do, but with who?"

I glared at my locket harshly, before my gaze softened into one of remorseful sadness, "Her name is Krystal…" I looked up and saw the disbelieving look cross his features, and then I flickered open the locket latch. The holographic image of Krystal appeared, with the smiling face I have come to remember, along with the tiara I had wanted to ask her to wear should I have ever gotten to see her again. I genuine shocked gasp escaped Tyler as I leaned back in my chair, "Krystal, daughter of the Governor, a telepathic, and extremely kind hearted, along with beautiful in my eyes. We managed to save each other's lives over a month ago, but I had also almost died too…"

"Did you say Telepathic?"

Nodding, I grabbed my locket, and looked closely at the image, and I said, "This is why they said I wasn't allowed to speak as the diplomat… they said that our relationship would interfere with the negotiations… but with the way she was acting earlier, I'm not even sure she would remember my voice, but the others don't want to take that risk."

"Krystal can really read minds?" Tyler once more asked, and I smiled as I said, "Well… I didn't learn about it right away. I began to notice when…"