---

“Put your weapon down and step out slowly – hands up.”

She wouldn’t do that.  If she was lucky, these men might be recruits, and she could scare them off.

They’d have her in their sights and would be able to gun her down if she peeked.  She needed an advantage.

Taking the sensor she’d been using, she set her system to overload every piece in it at once.  It was far too much heat for the device to run them all, and there was a component in the sensors she knew from experience would produce quite an uncomfortably bright flash when it overheated.

She chucked it out the gap.  Shots came in return, confirming her suspicions.  But none of the bullets hit the tiny sensor, and a moment later-

BANG.  It burst, and while it wasn’t the best cover, she leaned out and squeezed the trigger on her rifle.

A burst of rounds fired out, not hitting them, but hitting close enough to send some ducking.  Others, she saw, had recoiled – the bright flash had been worse through their scopes, enough to stun them-

But then she realized just how many there were.

She ducked back just as return fire came, flinching as round after round hit the piping behind her.  But the metal was thick, and only fools used rounds that could punch through things on a ship or station.

At least a dozen, she figured.  Only about four times as many as she’d first thought.

“Shit,” she said.

“Pirra,” Cenz flashed.

“Just stay down!” she signalled, waving him down and hoping he’d not try to go out.  Not try to do something stupidly brave again.

“Pirra, I just want to say how sorry I am.”  He was still going.

She tried to wave him down again.  This was not the moment for him to be feeling bad for getting injured.  She had to figure out something, and quickly.

“I know you threw your singing stone away,” he said.

That caught her off-guard.  “Wait, what?”

“I’m sorry, I looked up more after we spoke on the ship.  I didn’t know how bad it was for your people.  What it meant for you to have them – how hard it was.”

Their translators always did an incredible job of sharing the feeling behind words, reading inflections and tones and context to try and impart the most accurate portrayal of what a being was saying.  She didn’t know how Cenz’s kind even displayed emotion like sadness. In his current state it was hard for him to even talk, and yet he was trying so hard to impart the emotion to his words.

She’d never heard his voice more full of sorrow.

“It’s all gone,” he continued.  “Almost all of your people killed, your language and culture eradicated . . . and you had to throw it away.”

Pirra didn’t know what to say.  She didn’t know how she could possibly let herself delve into the emotions that moved him so much now.  Even at the best of times they were something she was scared to consider.

But it meant enough to him to bring up when he was, in all likelihood, dying.

Kneeling, she reached out a hand and touched the mechanical hand at the end of his arm.

The fingers closed around her hand gently.

“I’ll get us out of this,” she told him softly.  Her voice cracked all the same.

Now she just had to figure out how-

“Hey, who are you?” she heard a human shout.  Someone else was out there.

---

Six guns pointed to Kell, while another six kept their sights trained on the doorway.

“Identify yourself, immediately!” a man barked.  Half a dozen other voices were screaming orders.

Kell ignored them all.

“I am Ambassador Kell from the Sapient Union.”

Kell’s voice did not sound as it normally did.  A slip of something strange, inhuman, came into the tones.

And the men facing the Ambassador caught it.  To a man, those present felt fear enter their hearts.  Something in them was triggered by what the being before them had just let slip.

Its voice, the kind of voice that it would have used in ages past to cry out as it hunted life like theirs.  From the simplest bacteria to humanity itself, Shoggoths had preyed upon them.  Instinct existed in all such life to fear their sound.

One man, the oldest, spoke.  His voice trembled, but he did a good job of keeping his strength.

“I don’t care who you are, get out of here!”

But he made no move to force the issue.

“Am I to take it, then, that you will try to keep me from taking my compatriots out of here?” Kell asked.  The voice was simple, quiet.  But more of the truth of what it was slipped into its voice.

Part of Kell wanted them to listen.

But they didn’t.

“These are my prisoners!  Get out of here before I shoot!” the man yelled.  He was nearly to the breaking point, his hands shaking.  At any moment he’d let off a shot on accident.

Kell smiled.

“Good.”

---

< Ep 2 Part 27 | Ep 2 Part 29 >

---

Pirra jammed her sensor around the corner and staggered after it as it told her that the path was clear.

Her breathing was ragged, her muscles burned with pain, and she almost lost control of their movement.  But she pressed on.

Had they not been in zero-g, she could never have moved Cenz.  The large rocky parts of his body probably weighed hundreds of kilograms alone.

The guard had not shot her, and she found herself wishing he had.  At least she could have stopped her own bleeding – assuming she’d survived.

But the man had shot Cenz instead.

Her return shot had taken him in the armpit – he’d turned and presented it too much.  Why he’d even done it she couldn’t know, but he’d spat blood at her as he’d been dying.

“Fucking xenos,” he’d said.  Tears had been in his eyes.

His death was senseless, pointless, and Cenz might follow soon.

She’d taken him through a series of narrow, winding tunnels, barely large enough for her to fit them both through.  It had been exhausting, but with the information she’d gotten from the guard’s system, she’d found that it significantly shortened their path back to the ship.

The effort, though, had not just been exhausting, but she was pretty sure she’d strained a few muscles – not to mention the injuries from when he’d crashed into her.  All her own fault, she’d been trying to keep him from crashing into a bulkhead, but she’d never had to transport a victim who was made of stone.

“Cenz, you awake?” she asked loudly, hoping to get any response.

Since the guard’s bullet had ripped through his side, the Coral had been unresponsive.  The water trapped in his inner suit was gone, and she could tell that his body was drying out quickly.

The rough rock had a huge gap in its side, a whole chunk blasted away.

Angry red filaments penetrated out of it, but had quickly curled up back into the rock.  Other than that, it only looked like rock; paler inside than out, but that was all.

Was he alive or dead?  She didn’t know, and the datasets she had on her system didn’t tell her any more.  Anatomical and medical knowledge about his people was minimal in her system’s libraries.

But she wouldn’t abandon him, not if she could help it.  She thought he was still alive, but in some kind of comatose state.

If he regained consciousness, he might order her to leave without him.  And it would be wise, but she did not think there any chance he’d get help in time, then.

“Pirra.”

A series of flashes in the corner of her eye were caught by her system.

“Cenz!” she said.  He couldn’t understand it, but he’d at least hear the sound.  His kind weren’t deaf, they just didn’t use verbal communication.

His polyps were limpy coming out of their holes; when he’d taken the hit they’d all retreated in so deeply to his rocky shell that they were invisble.

His lights flashed again.  “You should leave me,” he said.  Her system translated it in a very neutral voice, but his words came slower than normal, and that worried her.

“I’m not,” she said, reaching a new corner and shoving the sensor around.  Stopping both of their weight with her legs was hard, but she managed it.

No one down here.  She’d tried to pick one of the shortest paths she could, but still keep in some randomness.  After those three guards failed to report back in, she expected more squads to get dispatched – their dirty secret had been uncovered.

“I need to get into water,” Cenz flashed.  “I stayed inside as long as I could, but the air ran out.  I don’t have that long.”

“Don’t worry, we’re going to make it,” she said, dragging him around the corner.  “We’re not that far.”

Without a translation unit he wouldn’t understand, but perhaps he’d get the feeling.  She just hoped he would try to hold on.

But his polyps looked bad.  They could not stay upright and flopped over limply.  Was it from weakness, or from being out of water?

There was an opening here, just a hole in the wall half-filled with heavy piping.  Peering out, she saw nothing and began to pull Cenz out.

Maybe she should look for a water tap.  It surely wouldn’t be sufficient, but maybe it’d buy him some more time-

She noticed the shooter just before he fired, and jerked herself back.

His shot would have taken her head off if she’d not seen it and moved.

“Down!” she yelled, shoving Cenz back behind the pipes.

“We’ve got your other routes cut off,” a male human called.  “Surrender, now.”

She unslung the rifle.  She wasn’t about to give up – there might still be a way out.  Peering down the hall, she couldn’t tell if anyone was down there.  If they had been, then they’d have them surrounded with no cover at all.

“You are in violation of intergalactic law,” she called back.  “Summon my parent ship immediately – we have an injured being here.”

“You don’t get to make demands,” the man yelled.  “Come out immediately or we’ll not be taking you alive.”

The last shot had been aimed to kill her, so she didn’t figure there was any truth in his offer of clemency.

Sounds came from the hall behind them, and she realized that the talking had just been a distraction – if they came around that corner they’d be without any cover at all.

She slammed the butt of her rifle into a control panel.  Every panel like this contained a glass tube that would break in a depressurization event – a simple and foolproof way to make sure pressure seal doors would activate even if most other systems failed.

The door slammed shut quickly, shaking the floor.

It would take them awhile to force the door open or convince the system that there had been no depressurization.  At least in this kind of place, she figured it would.

Unfortunately, she realized too late that it triggered the door down the hall as well.

They were trapped.

---

< Ep 2 Part 26 | Ep 2 Part 28 >

---

Nec Tede looked shocked.  “Two of your people are missing?” he echoed.

“That is correct.  One of them is my chief science officer, Cenz – the alien in my entourage when we met.”  Brooks studied the man’s face, but he appeared genuinely surprised.

“And the other?” the Governor asked.

“Lieutenant Pirra, a Dessei,” Brooks replied.

“Another xeno, huh?  They do seem to stick together, don’t they?”

Brooks scowled.  “Surely you can find them with your colony’s sensory system.”

The man laughed.  “Oh, Captain, I’m afraid out here we don’t have the kinds of resources you have in the Sapient Union.  We can’t afford a full internal sensor system – at least, not yet.”

Brooks crossed his arms.  “Their disappearance seems remarkably suspicious, Governor.  I expect them to return unharmed.”

“I promise you that my people would never harm them,” the man replied.  “But I will dispatch some teams to find them, just in case.”

“Thank you.  Tell me Governor, do you think anyone else in the colony might be a danger to them?”

“I trust my people, Captain, but I can’t make guarantees.  Don’t forget that I have enemies in this system, and there are traders from both colonies here.  We can’t rule out such . . . outside interference trying to damage relationships between us by targeting your people.”

“You never mentioned this danger,” Brooks noted.  “I should have been informed if you thought this was a serious risk.”

“I didn’t think it was serious – only that we can’t rule it out.  I do have to add, though, Captain, that if your people have caused trouble then they will have to face justice.”

“Justice like what you wish to do to Apollonia Nor?” Brooks asked.

“Captain, that is an internal matter, and I advise you to stay out of it,” the Governor replied.  “We are not members of your Union yet.”

Brooks leaned closer to the screen.  “If you wish for membership, there are standards of behaviour expected of you.  Not to mention standards if you wish to remain in friendly trade relations.”

The Governor did not seem phased by that.  “I hope your people return soon, Captain.”

The call was ended.

Brooks turned to see that Urle was waiting.

“I sent your message, Captain,” he said.

“Was there any response?”

“Yes,” Urle replied.  “3,627 new civilians have transferred aboard the Craton, as of twenty-two minutes ago.”

Logus looked between the two men in confusion.  He felt certain that that number was not correct; he could not recall the precise number, but he did know that they were facing a net loss of civilian population; after the events with the Leviathan, over two thousand were leaving.

Brooks turned to him.  “What do you make of the Governor, Doctor?”

“I firmly believe he’s lying,” Logus replied.  Concern furrowed his brow and he shook his head.  “He’s playing some kind of game, I fear.  Something foolish.”

“The man’s been playing these insane colonial politics so long that he can’t think outside of them,” Urle noted.  “If he hurts our people, does he think there will be no repercussions?”

Brooks frowned and considered a moment.  “The man is either completely insane, or there’s something important we’re missing.”

“I vote that he is suffering from a severe psychosis from his unhealthy environment.  The state of his colony is abysmal; this place is dying,” Logus replied.  “No one one could be ignorant of that, and yet he deludes himself.”

“He’s legitimately desperate,” Urle said.  “If things get much worse here, then there’s a real chance that one of the other two colonies might step in – and his people might welcome it.”

Brooks was silent again, his gaze distant.

“We need time,” he noted.  “Time to find our people, and time to convince the Governor to let Nor leave with us.  Time to find out what’s going on.”

“Time gives him more chance to enact more plots,” Urle said sourly.

“Yes – if he feels pressured,” Brooks replied.  “Which means that we need to make him think he’s going to get what he wants.”

“We just can’t lie,” Logus replied with a frown.  “If we make promises, we’re obliged to keep them.”

“I wouldn’t lie,” Brooks said.  “But time ultimately will play to our side.”

Urle nodded, and Logus frowned.  “Is that the significance of your question and the answer, Captain?”

A smile crossed Brooks’s face.  “Commander Urle sent the message to a specific transmitter on the Craton that we use as a way to signal there’s trouble.  Her response is not about people, but how many hours and minutes until she can arrive.”

Logus let out a laugh.  “So the Governor gets excited thinking you might be willing to play his game and you call for the cavalry.”

“Yes.  But she’s 36 hours out, which is a long time for our people and Apollonia Nor.”

“Too long,” Urle noted.  “Captain, permission to send out our drones in a search-and-rescue mode.”

“Granted,” Brooks said.

“Aren’t they part of the ship’s security system?” Logus asked.

Concern creased Brooks’s face.  “Yes.  We’ll be more vulnerable until they return.  But our people are out there and we want them back.”

Urle sat up suddenly, alarm clear on what was visible of his face.  “Sir, did you give Ambassador Kell permission to leave the ship?”

Brooks snapped his gaze to Urle, his face tightening.  “I certainly did not.  He shouldn’t even be able to get out the doors.”

“I just ran a scan, Captain, and he’s not on the ship.”

---

< Ep 2 Part 24 | Ep 2 Part 26 >

---

“What was that?” one of the searchers said immediately.

She jumped towards the ceiling.

“It’s a distraction – they went high!” she heard the shout over the comm, and knew they’d been spotted.  It had been a dim hope to remain fully unobserved, their sensors would have spotted them.  But she’d hoped for a few seconds.

“Cenz, you head for the exit, I’ll distract them,” she said.

“Negative,” came his reply.

She realized he hadn’t jumped when she had; he had remained down below.

It made some sense; they had angles that would put the guards at a disadvantage, but that didn’t make their weapons any more effective.

Then she saw him run out at the nearest soldier.

She couldn’t see them aim and fire from her cover, but the shots slashed through the Coral’s suit like it was made of paper.  They pierced a cloning tank, leaving clean holes that the liquid inside spilled out through.

Cenz went out of sight, but shots continued to ring.

Pirra was in shock.  Had the Coral just sacrificed itself for her?  Had it been expecting her to cover it?

Before she could even overcome her shock, she heard a scream through the comm.

“It’s got me!”

“It won’t go down!” another cried.  The shots stopped, and she dared to put her sensor over the cover, risking her hand rather than her head.

Cenz’s suit had gaping holes ripped in it, and most of the water had poured out.  But through that she could see part of the powered skeleton of the suit still intact.

There was nothing else in it.  None of the rocky body she had only ever caught glimpses of.

And It had one of the soldiers pinned to the wall.

As the other two rushed it, she saw something scuttle by below.  Chunks of rock held together with thick pink strands, covered in things that looked like wilted flowers.  A pale, clearish plastic suit covered most of it, giving just a glimpse of the rock and polyps beneath.  It didn’t walk like a human, but crawled with a sprawling gate, like a bizarre spider.

They were flashing patterns, and she was shocked as her system provided an audible translation.

“Run, Pirra!”

She kicked off the ceiling and grabbed a bar on the side of a piece of equipment to swing herself around and give her the momentum to head towards the door.  Letting go, she began to sail through the air.

“Behind!” the voice came over the comm signal.

She saw the two begin to turn, their rifles raising.  She couldn’t hurt them back, but she didn’t want to die without at least making a last act of defiance.  She raised her own sidearm.

Cenz lunged for one of them.  The man was caught off-guard, and the Coral smashed into him.

The other soldier tried to snap his aim to Cenz, but when the being became mixed up with his comrade, he began to lift his rifle back towards Pirra.

She couldn’t take him out of the fight, but she could neutralize his weapon.

Her sidearm barked once, twice, three times.  The first two shots hit the man’s armor, bouncing off and doing no harm.  But the third hit his rifle itself.  Gouging into the side, it deflected off the barrel.  But the soldier bit out a curse and dropped the weapon, shoving it away as the chamber flashed and it mis-fired.

The man stumbled back, and Pirra hit the floor hard on her shoulder as her path from the ceiling finally brought her to the floor.  Pain jolted through her, but she didn’t drop her sidearm and shoved off towards the soldiers.

Cenz was still embroiled with the man, his strange body seeming like it was a match even for the larger human who surely had enhanced muscles.

The man’s hand was grabbing for something sheathed on his side; a glint of light revealed the knife.

Pirra didn’t know if it could harm the rock that consisted of most of Cenz’s body, but if he stabbed one of the polyps, a part of Cenz would die.

Catching a grip bar on a cloning tank with her hand and breaking her momentum with her legs, she swung her sidearm up to the man’s neck.

“Drop it!” she yelled over an open frequency.

The man’s helmet tilted towards her, but he didn’t drop it.  No, he pulled it back for a thrust-

She pulled the trigger.

Maybe the man was certain his armor would protect him, but at point-blank range, with the muzzle against the thin armor of his neck, it didn’t.

The round tore through, but couldn’t pierce the other side.  Blowback splattered her hand, and the man went still.

Cenz let go of him, and Pirra raised her handgun to the man she’d disarmed.  He had been fumbling for his own sidearm, his composure finally broken – but now he froze.

They were only a couple meters apart, and she didn’t think her sidearm could pierce his armor at even this range.  But the man clearly did not want to risk it.

The last one had finally stopped struggling, still pinned by Cenz’s suit.

Cenz rose, flashing to her.

“Thank you.  Good work.”

Pirra nodded.  Hopefully he’d understand that, but he was without his own system.

She waved to the door for him to go.

“Let’s go.”

She’d taken her eyes off the surrendered man, and saw a hint of movement; the man was going for his pistol again.

“No!” she said.

He got it clear of his holster and fired at the same time she pulled the trigger.

---

< Ep 2 Part 23 | Ep 2 Part 25 >

---

Her fingers flexed on the grip of her sidearm.  She felt naked in the cloning chamber.  Though the cloning tubes provided cover – likely very valuable cover to the colonists – they did not provide any concealment.

Right now there did not appear to be anyone else present.  There wasn’t a lot of need, other than the occasional check-in.  The systems that ran the place were high-spec, and seemed able to work on their own once set up and provided with raw materials.

“Phosphorous is essential for human growth, especially of bones and teeth,” Cenz was saying.  “A solution that contains it is therefore vital for the cloning process.  I can sort of see a logic – the Governor clearly decided to help boost their population by simply creating more workers.  Still, it’s a very questionable decision.”

“It’s a horrible decision,” Pirra replied sourly.  “They’re barely feeding their current population.  How are they going to feed these?”

“I presume the Governor feels he can ramp up the algae paste production to meet demand.  I agree, though, that this is a foolhardy move.  Something borne out of desperation.”

“And stupidity.  Is it me, or do these clones look unhealthy?”  Pirra pressed her face to the tube, looking at the human within.  It surprised her for a moment how warm the glass was.

It was male, though overall it appeared there were more females.  While she knew humans grew in a curled position, the spine on this one appeared too curved, to the point where he would have a hunched back.

Even the man’s head looked . . . smaller than it should have been.

“You’re quite correct.  From what I’ve seen, I would estimate that 60% of these clones will not survive to maturity.  Among those that do, most will suffer severe physical and mental impairments.”

Pirra pulled away from the glass.  “Sixty percent?”  She clicked out a curse that gave Cenz pause.

“I have no idea what you just said.”

“You’re better off not knowing,” she replied.  “But that death rate is horrifying.  Shouldn’t it be a fraction of a percent at most?”

“Yes.  Under optimal conditions, the death rate is small, even if it is frequently unethical.  But the colonists are doing things that are unusual – such as attempting to alter the genomes of the clones.  I believe their goal is to create enough variation in the population to prevent inbreeding.”

Pirra shook her head.  “Atrocious.  I wonder what-“

A clanking noise came from outside and down the hall.

“Cover,” she hissed.  Cenz was already ducking to move behind one of the larger pieces of machinery.

Someone – no, several someones – were approaching.  Steadying her grip on her sidearm, she angled a small sensor out around the corner to watch.  The view appeared in her HUD, and unless they were actively scanning it was unlikely their own systems would notice it.

Three men entered the room.  They had the emblem of colony security and were in full kit.

A thread of fear went through her.  Unlike the sloppy guards she’d seen in the rest of the colony, these men moved like professionals.  They were certainly no strangers to zero-g combat, and were holding rifles that would rip through the suits she or Cenz had on with ease.

Their armor would be proof against her sidearm, if it came to violence.  Only a lucky shot – or a carefully aimed one – would have a chance of taking one down.

They didn’t say anything, but checking for comm signals, she found that they were using an encrypted frequency.

A message appeared on her HUD, from Cenz.

They’re using a simple code.  I’m in their channel – sharing now.

She heard a voice crackle in her ear.  Their audio was clear, but she couldn’t tell one speaker from another.

“. . . passive detectors noted heat signatures.  Not one of ours,” one said.  His clipped tones didn’t sound local.  A mercenary, perhaps.

“Too much heat from the cloning tubes at living temperatures to pick out an intruder.  Fan out and find them.”

The second voice had a different accent, but likewise did not sound local.

“Do you think it’s the xenos?”  The third voice did sound local, but it had adopted the more professional tones of his allies.  She knew that meant they’d trained together for some time, he was not likely to be a rookie.

“Possibly.  They disappeared from the hunter squad hours ago.”

“Shoot if you see them, we’re taking no chances.  Even dead they have uses,” the one she took to be the commander said.

“The Governor said-” another cut in.  The local.

“Screw him, he’s not out here.  We don’t know what these SU-types are packing, but they’re armed.  I’m not risking my ass for the Governor’s games.”

Pirra had hated the idea of surrender, but that cut the option out entirely.

She studied them for further information, but aside from the colony emblem on their armor, they had no insignia.

It was the kind of move that those who had experienced the worst sorts of combat used.  They didn’t want to make their commanders a clear target, so dress them the same as the regs.

She sent a signal back to Cenz.

We don’t have a lot of movement options.

We go up at the first chance, take to the ceiling, Cenz said.  Human perceptions work best horizontally, not vertically.

It was a fair point.  Being on another plane would affect neither her nor Cenz to any significant degree.  It was the barest of advantage, but she’d take all she could get.

The three began to spread out, a slow and cautious search pattern, but one that would find them.  Her suit estimated forty-five seconds.

Reaching into her pocket, she felt for something – anything – that she could use as a distraction.  As it was, they would be noticed if they attempted to go up.  She had to create a noise to draw their attention another way.

She felt something hard, and pulled it out.

Her singing stone.

There wasn’t time for sentimentality.  Pirra didn’t hesitate, throwing the stone down the row.  She sent it at an angle where it hit the base of a tank and ricocheted, hitting another in a zig-zag pattern.

The stone sang for her as it flew.  The sharp, keening cry was like a lament to her kind, and even humans rarely failed to be unnerved by the sorrow in its voice.

---

< Ep 2 Part 22 | Ep 2 Part 24 >

---

As Brooks left, Logus took his leave as well.

Kell moved to follow the doctor out.  It had been uncharacteristically silent this whole time, to the point that Urle had almost forgotten about its presence – almost.

“One moment, Ambassador.  I need to speak with you about what happened in the market.”

Kell glanced back to him.  “It is unimportant.”

“Respectfully, Ambassador, it’s not.  You terrified that woman.”

Now Kell turned to face him squarely.  “I spoke the truth.”

“You did,” Urle said.  “But you need to consider not just the time of how to communicate something like that, but how you broach the subject.”

“I am under no obligation to listen to this,” Kell replied.

“No, you aren’t,” Urle agreed.  “But you would do well to listen to me.  You are an Ambassador.  I get the feeling, Kell, that the title is merely a means to an end for you.”

Kell had looked as if he would simply walk away, but now his eyes narrowed.  “I would consider your next words carefully, Executive Commander.”

“I understand fully the ramifications,” Urle said.  “And that no one else is prepared to tell you this.  But you need to know it; you represent your people, Kell.  Every action you take reflects upon every other Shoggoth.  It also reflects upon the Sapient Union.  You have a responsibility to both.”

Kell gazed at him silently for long moments.  He did not blink; his eyes did not flicker even the slightest, and Urle felt a chill go down his spine.

But he met the Ambassador’s gaze and didn’t shrink away.

“I will take what you say under advisement,” Kell finally said.  “Nevertheless, you presume much, Executive Commander.  You believe I act without care, but you do not understand just what it is that I have sacrificed to be here.”

He turned away, moving to the door.  It opened for him, but he stopped there.

“Your kind live such short lives,” he said.

“While true, we don’t like to be reminded of our own mortality,” Urle replied.

Kell ignored that.  “But the people here, their lives are shorter still.  Much like in the past.”

Urle found himself flat-footed against Kell’s observation.  It was true, absolutely true, but it didn’t seem the sort of thing the Shoggoth would care about.

“Yes,” he replied.  “I believe this colony is in very poor health.”

“Can they be helped?” Kell asked.

“Technically?  Yes, we have the capabilities to improve their quality of life, to heal their conditions.  In practice?  I don’t know.  We can’t help them if they don’t want us to.”

“Would you help, if they allowed it?” Kell asked.

“Yes,” Urle replied, without hesitation.

Kell mulled on this for a few moments in silence.  Without another word he left, the door closing behind him.

---

The tram doors opened into a tunnel that was, she thought, the cleanest and best-maintained they’d seen in the entire colony thus far.

That didn’t mean a lot; while it appeared clean, her sensors noted a higher-than-expected level of bacterial growth upon the surfaces.

“Disgusting,” she muttered as she took a handhold to begin moving down the hallway.

“Don’t worry, Pirra,” Cenz said.  “None of these bacteria are known to be able to colonize a Moth-Owl.”

“Thanks,” she replied.  It still didn’t make it any less gross, but it was good to know.  Bacterial infections were one of the most frightening potential occurrences from inter-species contact.  While viruses were absolutely bound within one planet’s lifeforms, bacteria could theoretically – and occasionally did – find the conditions in life from another world quite hospitable.  The resulting colonizations could cause rapid debilitation or death.

Her sensors didn’t detect any security systems or . . . really anything.  But there was a heat source ahead.

“I see it, too,” Cenz replied after she pointed it out.  “Let us head that way.”

Pirra took point, keeping ahead of Cenz, as they began down the hallway.  She kept her sidearm out – she did not want to be caught unprepared again.  Her wing still stung where the crazed man had pulled a feather.

“You know, there is something that has been bothering me,” Cenz said.

Pirra tensed, feeling oddly nervous about what he was about to say.

“This colony makes very little sense.  And I do not simply mean the oddness of the name or their behaviour to outsiders.  I have been looking over public logs I downloaded upon our arrival, of arrivals and departures of ships.”

“Oh,” she said, entirely caught off-guard by the topic.  It had not been at all what she’d been expecting.

“Yes, and while this colony does trade, they do not export as much as I would expect.  We cannot know the exact contents of each ship, but by sheer quantities alone I would think there would be more bulk exports.  Phosphorous is among the more precious commodities a colony like this would have to trade.”

“For agriculture and people in the rest of the system.”

“Correct,” Cenz replied.  “The other colonies likely have a very high demand for it due to their rapid population growths.”

“This place doesn’t seem to have much growth at all,” Pirra noted.  “I get the feeling that it’s a dying colony.”

“Yes.  Much is made in their local culture of the phosphorous mining.  So where is it going?  And yet, despite this relatively small export amount, they have taken in very large imports of industrial equipment of an unknown nature.”

“Mining equipment to exploit the phosphorus more?” Pirra ventured.

“That would have been my guess, but the mining equipment we’ve seen is of very low quality and appears very aged.”

“I guess they’re getting screwed over in their trading,” Pirra replied.  “All I can imagine.”

“Perhaps.  My second thought was perhaps it was equipment to alleviate their food shortages – yet we clearly see no signs of large hydroponics.  By my observations they are subsisting largely on algae paste, the most basic of survival foods for a colony.”

“It’s certainly unpleasant stuff,” she said.  “I’ve had the Dessei version and I don’t envy any being having to live on it.”

“I will be honest that I like it just fine,” Cenz said.  “But then, what I consider appealing, I’ve been told, reminds many humans of something they call ‘fish flakes’.”

Pirra let out a whistling laugh as she neared a corner.  “I always wondered what you ate.  I’ve seen you in the officer’s mess at lunch time, but you never seem to be eating.”

“Oh, that’s simply because I enjoy the social nature of the lunch period,” Cenz said.

“Wait, so you’re saying you go to lunch just to talk . . . to . . .”

As she trailed off, Cenz stopped.  “Pirra, is something wrong?”

“I found the power source,” she said.

The corner led to a large open doorway.  The room beyond was mostly smoothed stone, but equipment filled most of the available space, attached to both floor and ceiling.

Tall, clear tubes, capped with equipment.

Beyond this room, she saw other large doorways that opened to even more cavernous chambers containing the same tubes.

In each of them, floating in liquid, were humans.  Many were on the small side, only partially grown.

Clones.

“Ah,” Cenz said, his voice bleak.  “I suppose this is where the phosphorus is going.”

---

< Ep 2 Part 21 | Ep 2 Part 23 >