“Honey, it’s not your choice any more. We are all coming if need be.” Kendra gave Theo a look that prevented further argument. “Tell us everything you know about this planet.”
“It is the Kayloo home world. They lived for years as a primitive life form in small settlements or alone. The Voth came a few thousand years ago and proceeded to chase the kayloo away from the places the Voth chose to live. I brokered a peace between them and they seemed to be living peacefully for years. The peace broke after a couple hundred years and I evacuated as many kayloo as I found but most of them adapted to living in hiding or refused to leave. I watched until the war ended without any appreciable losses on either side. If I had known I would have done something.” Theo obviously was blaming himself for the current state of affairs on the planet.
“What race are the Voth?” Fred seemed intrigued by the story.
“They are a carbon base race like humans but different. They are bipedal and look similar to humans but they have as much in common with reptiles as they do with humans. Kind of like a hybrid. Smooth skin and hair but they have a slow metabolism and lay eggs. Normally I wouldn't want to interfere in how another race chooses to live but these Voth are enslaving another race on their home world.” Theo was looking at the hologram of the planet over them. “So they are enslaving the kayloo using computer chips implanted in their brains. Until we know more we can't make a firm plan.”
“How about this. Fred, Ray, Addy and I go in and begin to investigate. We can slide in without having to test their defenses. The four of us might even be able go undercover as Voth. You and Kendra can come in with the ships or whatever when we find what we need.” Kiyan was prepared for an adventure.
“When you find out exactly what is happening then we can come in guns blazing or whatever.” Kendra laughed at the last part. “Some plan but we do need more information so someone will have to go in and find out more.”
“I can give you what you need to speak their language. At least what it was a thousand years ago.” Kiyan merely uploaded the language information into his implants and transferred it to Ray but Fred had a little more trouble with having alien knowledge loaded into his brain. It took him a moment but Kiyan was able to understand the words that Fred was saying.
“That is weird.” Fred summed it up. Alec had joined them and had improved Kiyan's firewalls and uploaded a virus capable of completely disabling any computer chips that the Voth might try implanting into any of them. Fred, Ray and Addy were outfitted with chips that held the virus in case any one of them should be captured. Kiyan's implants were more than enough to hold the virus so no further enhancements were called for.
Kiyan and the rest of his group had all altered their holograms to look like Voth citizens. Kiyan was long range teleported first and the rest would be coming in one at a time. The teleport sequence completed and as he focused on his surroundings he realized that he had landed in the middle of a group of people. Cries filled the air as half a dozen people in uniforms appeared. Kiyan reacted by shoving the first one and dodging the second. A quick jab and he had disabled the third. A couple more charged him and he decided to make a run for it. Dodging scrambling people he tried to melt into the crowd. Kiyan noticed that the clothes he had were different than the Voth around him. There was a glimmer as his clothes changed but it was too late. Kayloo of several different kind surrounded him with Voth standing at their sides. Well you don't always have to be free to gather information. Kiyan connected with Theo and relayed what he had discovered about the Voth wardrobe and the fact that there were Voth bonded with kayloo as he was being captured.
The message that returned informed Kiyan that the changes had been applied. Kiyan was silent as his captors escorted him through the city. He took the opportunity to look around him. The level of advancement surrounding him surprised him for a race that practiced slavery. Tall majestic buildings reached toward the sky on all sides. They were made of metal and various other materials but the workmanship was impressive. People moved on all sides of him and Kiyan noticed many of the people appeared to have a kayloo of one form or another accompanying them. After his initial capture the kayloo and their Voth companions had been supplemented by several Voth carrying sinister looking blasters. Kiyan noticed that none of the bonded Voth had any weapons not that they needed any with their fearsome creatures.
Kiyan's observations ended as he entered a large guarded building constructed with the same skill as the rest of the city. The bonded Voth didn't enter the building and Kiyan didn't see any inside. He was escorted through a series of hallways until he came to a door marked with words that Kiyan recognized as meaning leader and law. Probably one of the head people here with the police. Entering the room he was directed to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk from a Voth dressed in official paraphernalia. Kiyan was surprised when he sat down in the chair by restraints snapping around his arms and legs. The official began speaking in a language that was vaguely similar to what Kiyan knew. It was close enough that he could understand most of what was being said.
“Teleportation is illegal. What are you doing here?” The Voth repeated himself as Kiyan thought.
“I'm sorry I didn't know it was illegal. I didn't mean to upset anyone.” Kiyan stopped when he noticed the glare from the Voth.
“Why do you speak like you are from before the awakening? You know time travel is also illegal.” The tone of the last part wasn't sounding like a joke.
“What? No I didn't know, I mean I'm not a time traveler.” Kiyan was having difficulty understanding everything that was being said.
“You are definitely something. Probably a fugitive. Are you going to insult me by saying that you had a perfectly legal reason for running from security officers?” The Voth glare was intensifying.
“OK I will admit that I teleported and was a little unnerved by the people with guns charging me.” Kiyan wondered what the penalty was for teleportation. Kiyan decided to get a little intel and attempted to scan the mind of the Voth. He was about to connect when he felt a searing pain in his mind. When the pain cleared he saw the Voth sitting back with a satisfied expression. “How did you do that?”
“You are bonded with a kayloo. We have "devices" that block telepaths. I know telepathy is sanctioned but there are the occasions that blocking them is handy like now. For some reason you don't have a chip. We can remedy that.” The Voth made a few taps on his desk and an officer entered the room. After getting a few orders he returned with a box and proceeded to set up the machine. There was a sharp pain as Kiyan deactivated his shields and hoped the virus would take care of the implant. A moment of darkness forced itself on his mind then it was gone.
“I don't know how you managed to evade us for so long but now you have been chipped and work for us. Bring your kayloo in and we can chip it also then the two of you can be together.” Kiyan didn't like the tone of the Voth now.
“He... He is rather independent. He broke contact with me about the time you caught me.” Kiyan truthfully didn't know where Ray was. “How did you know I was bonded?”
“I ask the questions now.” The Voth scowled before he continued. “Only bonded Voth develops abilities. Can you reconnect with it?”
“Not without him wanting to also.” Kiyan tried to sound submissive.
“Order him here when you reconnect with it. We can't have unchipped kayloo running around. I will be lenient on you because you obviously only just bonded.” Waving at the guard the Voth returned to his desk. Kiyan was escorted down a few levels and locked in a cell. The cell was unusually tow tech. A few metal bars was all that held him. The guard took up a position outside the door. Kiyan looked at a dozen other cells lining the walls of the room. Only one of them was occupied. Casting his mind out he recognized the other prisoner as Fred. Connecting with him he spoke to Fred.
“How did they catch you?” Kiyan almost laughed.
“Did you know teleportation is illegal? I did it in front of a police of
ficer.” Fred picked up on Kiyan's laughter. “It’s not funny. How did they get you?”
“Same thing. I'm going to ask my guard some questions.” Kiyan had to admit that it was a little funny being scooped up moments after trying to infiltrate an alien world.
“No such luck. They aren't supposed to talk to us.” Fred was taking his turn at silent laughter.
Ignoring Fred Kiyan carefully connected with the guard letting the virus disable the blocker. Free to explore the mind of the guard Kiyan found the language center and learned the modern Voth language. The next thing he did was make the guard forget he wasn't supposed to talk to the prisoner.
“What is the deal with the bonded people and the chips?” Kiyan was curious about some strange things he had noticed.
“The bonded Voth are unable to control themselves. The Kayloo infect their minds and the bonded Voth begin making unsound decisions. They nearly destroyed our civilization and brought us into a technological dark age about five hundred years ago. The remaining unbound Voth saved us by stopping the kayloo.” The guard seemed to hold a grudge against the Kayloo.
“So why didn't you just get rid of them or stop them from bonding?” Kiyan wanted to find out all he could.
“We would have but they have certain skills so we let them live among us. They built just about everything around here and they have abilities that are very beneficial to our society. My sister is one of the top healers. Kiyan began to realize what was happening.” The guard seemed perfectly comfortable with the fact that his sister was a virtual slave.
“Bonded Voth are like second class citizens or something?” Kiyan probed a little deeper into the issue.
“Ya, it’s pretty normal. I mean I was sad when my sister was walking down the street and a Kayloo attacked her. But you know some of them live pretty good lives. My sister has an apartment at the hospital and they give her several hours a day off just to do whatever she wants. For a bonded Voth she has a pretty good life. She may even marry another bonded Voth someday.” Kiyan was a little shocked at how resigned the guard was.
“Have you learned anything?” Theo interrupted Kiyan as he was about melt the cell bars and throttle the guard.
“Oh come on I was interrogating my guard.” Kiyan decided against the throttling.
“Your guard?” Theo was laughing. “You already got captured?”
“I did it on purpose. Getting captured I mean. It was an excellent opportunity to question people.” Kiyan proceeded to tell Theo everything he had learned so far.
“So they are not just enslaving kayloo but their own people?” Theo seemed as shocked as Kiyan at the news. “You said that the kayloo brought on a technological dark age? I wonder why kayloo would do something like that. They are usually an intelligent peaceful race that avoids conflict. There has to be something else. Keep up the work and be careful.”
Kiyan reconnected with Fred to talk over the new information. Fred was also surprised and had to be convinced to refrain from throttling Kiyan's guard. “Oh by the way, Addy just connected with me. She managed to teleport in undetected but some kayloo reported her and a lone kayloo is illegal. She is hiding in a garden of some kind.”
“I don't know a better place for her to hide. I haven't connected with Ray yet but I am sure he is fine somewhere.” Kiyan hoped that Ray was fine. “I think I have found out everything I can here so it is time to move on. I learned a lot from my guard so we should be able to blend in better. When we find our kayloo we should be able to move about with few restrictions.”
“Alright you break out first, I will cover you.” Fred stood up in his cell to watch. Kiyan activated his life bending and looked at the guard. Sending out tendrils of energy he began to calm the chaotic energy patterns emanating from the guard. The guard began to stagger as the energy settled into a slow even pulse. Kiyan slowed it down a little more and the guard collapsed on the ground sound asleep. Kiyan used the opportunity to erase any memory of the previous conversation. Kiyan melted enough of the bars to slip through then returned them to their original shape. Hearing a shout from the other guard Kiyan looked up in time to see Fred's metal web releasing a charge as it wrapped around the guard. Fred was soon free of the cell and had collected the web off the guard.
“Come on let's go.” Kiyan activated his cloak and Fred followed his lead. They had some difficulty with the security panel at the exit but Kiyan was able to hack it and override the doors. A few flights of stairs and they were in the lobby. Staying low and edging around the room no one noticed the minor distortions caused by their cloaks. They waited until someone was leaving the automatic doors to follow. An alarm sounded about the time they left and several officers converged on the location of the person they had been following. Leaving the commotion they went into a dark corner and decloaked.
“What do you think caused the alarm?” Fred looked a little worried.
“My chip.” Kiyan had noticed someone was following them.
“I can remove it if you want.” Fred was glancing behind them as well.
“No, I think I can use it.” Kiyan made a quick turn in between two buildings then made another turn. Stopping around the corner he waited with Fred. The Voth rounded the corner and was surprised by the ambush but was not unprepared. He blocked Kiyan's moves with a skill that Kiyan had only seen in one other person. “Hi Ray. Why didn't you contact me?”
“There are telepaths here and I didn't want to risk exposing myself.” Ray brushed off his hands as he glanced back around the corner.
“Telepathy is sanctioned here. Why would there be telepaths making scans?” Kiyan was almost sure he knew the answer.
“There are four casts here. On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most powerful, the ruling Voth are a ten with unbonded Voth being a seven. Bonded Voth would be a two or three and a kayloo is less than one.” Ray explained as quickly as he could. “An unbonded Voth would be the best class to escape attention but if I get scanned closely there is no way I could escape being recognized as a kayloo.”
“Just a moment.” Kiyan sensed his implant activating and attempting to send his coordinates back to command. He was able to rewrite the code on the implant and transmit coordinates going the other direction. “We should be able to avoid detection better if we go as bonded kayloo.” Ray nodded as he shifted into a small black winged lizard. Flapping to Kiyan's shoulder he wrapped himself around his neck. Kiyan touched his mind and they left the alley.
“Addy is this way.” Kiyan let Fred take the lead as they walked along the street. Kiyan kept his eyes low and stepped out of the way of any kaylooless Voth and he hardly got a second glance. Taking a turn they came into a large square filled with trees and plants of various kinds. Fred made his way towards a corner and sat on a bench. He looked at a couple young men wearing police uniforms looking around the square. Both of them had kayloo perched on their shoulders. When the men moved to the other side of the square, Kiyan heard a soft rustle in the vegetation behind him. Glancing at Fred he saw a vine wrapping around his torso.
Glancing up as he felt his mental defenses being tested, he saw one of the bonded Voth coming straight at him. Kiyan reached out with his mind and interfaced with the Voth's chip. His virus made short work of it and the Voth collapsed. Kiyan made him forget about them as both he and Fred made their escape. Kiyan could sense the confusion and lack of direction for several blocks before the consciousness realized its freedom and closed itself off. Kiyan was glad when he sensed the Voth transmitting the virus to his kayloo just before the Voth disappeared.
“Now what?” Fred waited for Kiyan to form a plan.
Kiyan thought for a minute before responding. “If we could only find someone that knows about the fragment. I might be able to learn more.”
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Theo had teleported himself undetected down to the planet after hearing Kiyan's message. After observing several high level Voth he decided to follow one for a while. He was pleasantly surprised when the Vo
th mentioned a powerful artifact. He wasn't as pleasantly surprised when the Voth mentioned a drakken ambassador. Theo discovered the anti-telepath blocker the hard way and was almost discovered when he nearly lost control of his energy. A deeper probe of the Voth mind didn't give him much more than fragmented memories. Time to find out the old fashioned way. Theo waited until the Voth was in his office after telling a guard that he didn't want to be interrupted.
Theo materialized after raising a sound dampening field around the room and the Voth nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of him. “Who are you!? Guards!”
“They can't hear you. I'm Prometheus, captain of the of the protectorate vessel Odyssey. I have a few questions. What do the drakken want? Better yet I think I know what they want. What did they offer you for it?”
“I don't know what you are talking about. GUARDS!” The Voth wasn't cooperating.
“OK let me guess. The drakken sent an ambassador when they discovered how well your planet is defended so they tried diplomacy for once. They promised to not invade your planet in exchange for a useless artifact. You decided that the trade seemed a fair one and also a cheap exchange for the safety of your planet. How close am I?” Theo could tell he was close by the look on the face of the Voth.
“How do you know so much? Yes they did offer us safety if we gave them the artifact. They said they have millions of ships and could just fly them into our defenses until we were broken without making a dent in their fleet. What can you offer us? A couple hundred battleships? No I know when to stay on the winning side. But why don't I at least listen to what you have to propose, take a seat.” The Voth leaned forward in his chair and set his elbows on the desk.
Theo sat down on the chair. He wasn't that surprised when the constraints snapped into place. “You know this isn't a very good start of negotiations.” Being non caporal has its benefits. Theo moved his hand through the constraints like they were air. So let me correct a few things for you. “One, if the drakken get the artifact they will have millions of ships and drakken to crew them. As it is they only have a few thousand clone sequences available so they can only man a few ships. Two, six protectorate battle ships defeated ten thousand drakken ships in battle at one time. If I sent a couple hundred ships here we could easily stand up to a million drakken and win. And last but not least. I could decimate your planet's defenses with a couple ships without sustaining a scratch.”