Chapter 28: Not What We Expected

Chapter 28: Not What We Expected

Ishion seemed to mull over Paulie’s blurted request before he reached out and grabbed a small square device from the table and turned it over idly in his chitinous hands. He looked up at Paulie, or at least in his direction, and then muttered something that was now translated directly.

Stepping forward, Paulie reiterated. “I would not ask this for any other reason than it is of the most dire importance to me. To us, to everyone!”

Now Mack did speak up, Jakiikii seemed to mouth something at him but he waved her off. “I am Mack, er.. Senior Special Detective Luemf’gran’taakk.”

Ishion waved a pair of hands on his right side. “I know who you are. I am well aware of you and your protege.” And the prince shifted his gaze towards Jakiikii. Her eyes tracked all around the room suddenly, as if embarrassed to make direct eye contact with the imperial prince. Ishion made a small hand gesture and then turned his bug-like eyes back onto Paulie.

“I am not sure I can grant a request like that, even for the Hero of Korscam.” Despite the emotionless tone of the translated speech, there was no ruse nor guile in the words. Ishion seemed genuinely unsure of the answer.

“Well, is there a way to be sure? You could call your sister maybe?” Paulie offered, trailing off as the alien seemed to grow a little frustrated.

He waved a pair of arms and then twitched his head as if hearing something that Paulie could not. “Look, it is not quite that simple. I cannot just allocate resources off world like that, there are things to consider. Galactic law, the great charter must be followed. As far as I am aware this system you want to go to might not even be Intercession territory, which would make any assault an act of war. And that is a whole other can of sclun.”

Paulie frowned but bit his tongue, cutting off the ill-thought out response that wanted to tear itself from his mouth at that moment. He wrung his hands together and then glanced at Mack. “Well, is there some special provision or work-around you can think of here, Mack?”

All eyes turned to Mack, the miriam shifted nervously to be the sudden center of such lofty attention. “Well, no.” he said lamely after another second of silence.

Ishion seemed to mull it over. “I wish there was an easier way, I really do. But as far as the world of Gike is concerned, things that happen on this planet are under our purview. Things that happen off-world? Not so much.”

Paulie stepped to the side, his fists clenched into tight balls as he fought the bubbling anger that wanted to rise to the surface. Ever since his memories had been pocked and shredded by the damn parasite he had been having a harder and harder time managing his anger. The long-fought life lessons bleeding away like his reasons to care what the world even thought of him in the first place anymore.

He chuckled darkly and then turned to look back at the finely dressed alien across the table from him. He looked like a fly dressed in silks. Just a bug. Nothing more.

He scoffed at the crown prince. “I thought that surely after the effort I put in to risk my life for your sister’s kids that I would at least be given more of a fair showing than that.” Ishion recoiled slightly from the sudden and uncalled for venom in his tone. His hands raised up even as the royal guards in the room collectively tensed. They knew what Paulie was, they knew that were he to decide he wanted to paint the room in their blood there would be little they could truly do to stop him.

It was silent in the room for a second, the loudest sound that of Paulie’s own labored breathing. Then Jakiikii stepped forward, all eyes followed her as she stepped close to him and then asked, “Paulie? Who are you really mad at?”

He shook his head and glared at her. But her face held nothing but concern and love, her hands stayed by her side, but he felt her mental touch. Soothing like a weighted blanket on a cold winter’s night as she enveloped his mind with her own. She could not enter his head, not like she could do to others. But she could comfort him, make him see that he was being irrational.

Paulie’s heart slowed, his breathing softened and the various aliens in the room relaxed slightly as the catastrophe that would have been his anger was averted.

Ishion seemed to swallow heavily, his antennae lowering slowly from their alarmed state. “Well, I can understand why you would be upset. I really do, Lord Paulie.” His voice was flat, the emotionless machine burbling of the translator device. “But I must stress to you the truth of things, there are rules to this kind of action. Rules that even her royal highness can’t break or change. The great charter, the power we have was given to us as a gift for long centuries of service. Hard fought and with the blood of millions of my kind. Not something to be taken for granted, nor given away cheaply no matter how indebted we may feel in the moment.” he spoke eloquently and with far more passion than the autotranslator let on. His hands never stopped moving in animated fashion the whole time, a blur of subconscious movements and half-worded non-verbal annunciations.

Paulie’s face fell as a sense of shame washed over him now that the red-hot anger had drained away. He had not meant to overstep, but sometimes he found it so hard to stop the heat from flowing out of him when the anger built.

He glanced at Jakiikii and nodded. “Thank you, I was not in my right mind for a moment.”

Paulie apologised, “I am sorry Ishion, I just.. I took out my anger on the wrong person.”

The prince shook an arm and then lowered his antennae. “No, I understand. Though I must say, being on the wrong side of you angry is almost enough to make one void their carapace. I certainly am not in a hurry to experience an apocalypsers wrath again.” He said it jokingly, the cadence of the chittering made it clear it was a joke, but there was a tense undertone that the alien could not fully conceal. He was a bit shaken by Paulie's outburst, even if he understood he was not its true target.

Mack nodded. “I agree, but I must also ask if there is a way to subvert the charter? If the act of war is declared by a sovereign entity perhaps? Or by a being not tied to the GGI?” His head bobbed as he said it, the man’s sensory quills chattering together like reeds from the motion.

Ision’s eyes could not narrow, but he did his best approximation of one regardless as his head cocked slightly on its inflexible neck. “I am.. not sure if I like the implication you are reaching for. And the point is moot, I do not have the power nor the wisdom to answer that myself. I will have to consult with my sister.”

The words were spoken with a sense of finality, as if the conversation had been ended there. Mack seemed to want to speak more, but even the often bullish miriam detective sensed the change in the room’s mood. Ishion stepped around the table for the first time and Paulie saw at least two of the watching royal guardsmen bristle as if expecting something to happen. But the prince just stepped closer and then stopped in front of Paulie and held out an arm in towards him, chitinous finger-like appendages extended.

“I will make you this promise, Paulie the human.” He paused and as Paulie tentatively grasped the insectoid’s offered arm he continued, “I promise you that if it is within my power to see it done, these slavers and kidnappers will burn.”

Paulie perked up and smiled a little. Shaking the smaller man’s arm gently for a second before letting go. “I trust you. I know you are a man of your word, I also promise that I will be there to see it done.”

They stayed that way for another few tense moments and then Ishion stepped back and around the table in a flash of red and purple silks. He smacked the table twice in quick succession and then gestured towards the door. “Well, this was an illuminating discussion, and I thank you for coming. But I fear I have other pressing matters to attend to, my deepest respect to you Lord Paulie. And may you have a good day.” Ishion gave a small bow that saw his feathery antennae swoop down, Mursk made a small noise but remained silent beside that.

Paulie kind of shrugged mentally and returned the bow as best he could. His great height made it much less impactful, but it seemed well received enough as they were then escorted out into the hall by two of the royal guards. One of whom Paulie now recognised as Lach.

“Now what do we do?” Paulie grumbled under his breath, clearly not low enough though as somehow Mack heard him and snorted.

“Hmmff. Now we take our sorry hides back to whatever hole we must wait in for the next stone to fall.” He looked around, saw Lach and then glanced at Mursk. “Hey, you need an interviewee for the open position, there’s a good one. Already seems trustworthy to me.”

Mursk jerked then glanced over at the guard that Mack was pointing at and almost seemed to go pale, though such a thing would have been quite impossible for his exoskeletal biology.

He waved all four hands at once and tried to counter Mack. “Oh, oh no.” While his translated voice was flat, the distress he was showing non-verbally was more than evident. “I can’t possibly, not him. He is one of the guards of Ishion himself. He was on Captain Eldite’s personal watch. Lach is one of the most decorated..”

Mack butted in, “Well. Then he is overqualified, might as well ask him if he would be interested. Worst he could say is no.”

Mursk muttered something that was not translated properly, it could have been ‘he could do much worse’ but it was hard to tell. Instead the alien just slunk away in the direction of the aforementioned royal guard and Paulie turned his immediate attention back to Jakiikii and Mack.

Paulie snorted and then muttered, “That went about as well as I expected it to.”

Jakiikii cocked her head. “But it was a disaster.”

He snorted again, louder and threw up his hand, making some of the nearby PDF toppers stop and stare as he said more loudly, “Yes! I know!”

Mack waved a hand for calm and then shrugged, his neck quills clattering as he asked, “Well, if you had really gotten everything you wanted just like that..” he snapped his fingers, “..would it really have made much of a difference at the moment?”

Paulie nodded. “Uh, yeah. I would feel a lot better than I do now.” He almost added a ‘duh’ to the end, as it was an obvious thing to ask. But then he stopped and really thought about what the other man was asking. They were stuck at the same point they had been this whole time, no closer to solving the penultimate mystery behind it all. Sure, raiding the base and squishing Jual into lizard-paste would make him feel a lot better. But would it really get them any closer to actually getting to the bottom of the greater mystery?

He sighed and then shook his head. “No. Not really, sorry Mack.”

The miriam just gave him a wide smile and patted his shoulder with his nearer hand. “Don’t worry Paulie. I won’t give up on it either, we just need to change the angle of our approach. We came out swinging too hard..”

Jakiikii scoffed, “Understatement of the millennium. If Paulie had been any more blunt I think he would have given the prince a concussion.”

Now it was Mack’s turn to turn mocking. The alien swinging his head around as if looking for somebody and then pointing at Paulie, “And here I was looking for subtlety. None to be found when you are involved I have discovered.”

Paulie shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. “Hey.. I didn’t know how else to ask. So I just said it outright.”

Jakiikii nodded her lithe head. Her six eyes all tracking him as she danced a little from foot to foot. “Yes, you sure did. You big dumb lump.” Her words were harsh, but her tone was not. He gave her his most winning smile and she flashed pale for a second but seemed to regain her composure a split second later and gave him a look that told him she knew what he was doing.

Paulie opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

“Uh, he said yes.” A voice spoke from behind him and he turned. It was Mursk, and he had Lach in tow.

Mack just nodded as if he had been expecting that outcome and said, “Good lad.”

Lach stepped forward, “I have been a member of the inner guard for a long time, I asked the interior command a few days ago if I was free to take reassignment. I was told I could choose any posting I saw befitting my expertise. Or I could retire and none would think lesser of me. I could not find nor think of a posting and was nearing the decision to hang up my armour for a younger guard to inherit.” Mursk’s eyes could not physically widen, but the insectoid’s face still gave the impression of surprise. His feather-like antennae standing tall.

“Full retirement?” The alien asked, Musk’s mouth plates hanging open as he asked it.

Lach made a wide hand gesture as if he were gathering dust from the air in front of him. “Yes. Though it was admittedly low on my list of eventual options.”

“But, a full retirement? How old even are you?” Paulie asked in his normal blunt fashion.

Mack’s face looked like it had been dipped in blue dye, the man’s normally pale features flushing as either anger or surprise filled him.

The old royal guardsman just chuckled though, the chittering noise sounding like a giant cicada trying to escape a tin bucket. “Oh I think we will get along fine, I like the way you talk. Refreshingly direct, sir. As for the answer to your question, I am nearing my one-hundred-and-twenty-seventh birth date soon.”

Paulie scrunched his eyes together, steam rising from his ears as he tried and failed to do the mental math. Jakiikii elbowed him a few seconds later, “Forty-eight-and-one-half.” he grumbled and thanked her.

Paulie nodded slightly to himself. “Yeah, about fifty. Okay, sure. My dad kept working till he was almost sixty-five, I see no reason why that would disqualify you.” He glanced at the alien. “I saw you fighting, you and the other guards were really good. It would be a pleasure of mine to welcome you onto the team, Lach. That is of course, if Mack approves it.”

All eyes turned to Mack. Two human, four mendagoonian and six termaxxi orbs stared at the miriam detective as he smiled wide, those little dagger teeth flashing in the overhead lights.

“Oh what the hell. We are on a doomed ship to the abyss anyway, might as well enjoy the zalcing ride. Welcome to the team, Lach.”