Give them my scanner? But that had a diagram of a Miyelonian interceptor, which my faction needed badly! If I showed them, they would also get a clear, unambiguous answer of who caused the crane malfunctions and damage to the pirate ship. Also, beyond that, the scanner memory had plenty of other valuable data: the nodes of my home planet, the coordinates of the platinum asteroid and, most importantly, the Relict base. So, I was insistent:
“Impossible! I assure you that there is no material on the scanner related to the murder of the great Priestess, and you can easily check my words for sincerity. But it has lots of information of value. Geckho Leng Waid Shishish paid six million just for the coordinates of the Relict base. And my captain thought he was getting cheated for that. Now you want that information for free? Nope, sorry, I can’t have that!”
In the air, instead of a green corkscrew, I saw five red squares interlaced inside a vertical rectangle. At first, I stared stupidly at the geometric construction, trying to understand what it meant. But then I realized I was seeing the Miyelonian numeral for “one hundred thousand.”
“I hope that will be sufficient? At any rate, the Relict base is located in Geckho space, which makes it hard for Miyelonians to access. Also the most valuable items are probably already gone.”
My chest was pierced with worry. The Miyelonians were offering me one hundred thousand crystals! That was just beyond imagination for information that no longer had any real value... It took a titanic amount of willpower not to think about the explosion of the Relict base. I changed topic:
“Money-wise, that’ll do. But I’d also like to know who is behind the whole scheme to kill your Priestess. Who ordered it? You said you knew.”
Mental Fortitude skill increased to level fifteen!
Mental Fortitude skill increased to level sixteen!
Psionic skill increased to level fifteen!
Seemingly, I managed to deflect a psionic attack. Good. Hopefully I managed to keep some of my secrets! I was afraid about the additional demand, that the Truth Seekers would act obstinate, or even object to my brazenness, but they agreed almost instantly:
“Deal!”
Chapter Twenty-One. Ticket Home
A MIYELONIAN IN WHITE First Pride armor came up to me and extended his hand demandingly. I obediently handed him my Prospector Scanner. I understood perfectly that I wouldn’t be getting it back, so I couldn’t sell the information to some other interested party. But I was losing lots of important data with that, above all the diagram of the Miyelonian interceptor. However, one hundred thousand crystals was more than enough to compensate all my losses. I could buy myself a new scanner right away, and there would always be other starships to scan!
My wallet vibrated, and I took it out of my inventory. Account balance: one hundred fifty-nine thousand five hundred crypto. What?! I checked it again. There could be no doubt. I had not been transferred the local equivalent of one hundred thousand red Geckho crystals, but one hundred thousand crypto. That was about seven times more than what I was expecting!
My enthrallment was interrupted by the metallic voice:
“Listen closely, Gerd Gnat. Four Meleyephatians entered the cafe, but just three left. The station didn’t get any missing crew notices, which means the Meleyephatians knew their friend would not be coming back on board. We carefully searched all parts of the station and couldn’t find any trace of the fourth crewman. The starship used by these Meleyephatians left the Medu-Ro IV station immediately before Leng Amiru U-Mayaoo’s speech.”
“So the fourth one was the Morphian?” I asked, more confirming a guess than actually curious.
“Yes, it was the Morphian. But the Morphian is just an NPC. It doesn’t have its own will or objectives. It is merely a tool in the hands of nefarious masters. A very dangerous tool that is rarely used for good, and is more often used for the vilest ends, such as this recent provocation. Murdering an incarnation of the Great First Female is equivalent to declaring war on the Miyelonians. And this Morphian’s masters tried to make it all trace back to you. They were trying to turn the great Geckho and Miyelonian races against one another.”
Geckho? Well, sure. After all, Earth was officially under Geckho suzerainty and, by all interstellar laws, our masters were obliged to defend their weak and unintelligent vassals in case of war. Unintelligent indeed! My heart seized in delayed horror. Just to think, my chatting with a space fox might have started a real interstellar war, which might have threatened extremely serious consequences right up to the total extermination of my species! And no matter what you say about her being “merely a tool,” what a vile wretch that Fox was!!!
“Gerd Gnat, you have been told everything required by the terms of our deal.” The circle of light went out, the metallic voice said the interrogation was over, and that the Prospector Gerd Gnat had been found innocent unanimously by all fifteen Truth Seekers in the murder of the Priestess Leng Amiru U-Mayaoo.
Now, the light no longer blinding me, I could see each of the Truth Seekers dissolve into semi-dark and disappear. It was clear that this was all just a projection or hologram of creatures that were actually very, very far away, perhaps thousands of parsecs from me.
Eagle Eye skill increased to level fifty-three!
After fourteen of the fifteen investigators had dissolved, the last one stayed back, turned to me and said a long phrase in Miyelonian. A voice, metallic and lacking all emotion, came down instantly from the ceiling and translated it into the more familiar Geckho:
“Gnat, I am Leng Amiru U-Mayaoo, and it was my death you saw on screen just now. I’d like to say that your efforts to hide speaking with the Morphian and even giving it a name were entirely in vain. They only slowed us down. Everyone in the galaxy already knows that Morphians are intelligent and capable of speech.”
I suddenly realized I was blushing. I naively thought I was playing a clever game, hiding my thoughts and leading the investigators where I wanted with my great cunning. But they, as it turned out, knew everything the whole time, and simply allowed me to deceive myself. I hesitated for a second then, like a medieval knight in the presence of royals, got down on one knee in a sign of respect and homage to the powerful individual. Then, before Amiru U-Mayaoo disappeared, I asked her to tell me more about the Morphians, because I was just baffled.
“In their time, the Morphians were vassals of the Meleyephatians. But one day, they tried to become masters of the horde, killing and replacing the most powerful and influential members of Meleyephatian society with their kind. When a minor discrepancy revealed their plot, it was discovered with horror that two thirds of Meleyephatian rulers, military leaders and famous figures, as well as leaders of their massive horde’s many subject races, were already dead and had been substituted with Morphian impostors. For that monstrous villainy, which knows no equal in audacity or scale in the history of the Galaxy, the Morphian race was exterminated in the real world. The few players who hid in the virtual world became something like NPC’s, with no home planet or structured society of any kind. That is the official story. But I don’t believe it one bit. Common sense tells me that, with their ability to change appearance, nothing was stopping the Morphians from joining all kinds of different Prides, Factions and Clans of other races and just calmly exiting into the real world disguised as another creature.”
Astrolinguistics skill increased to level sixty-two!
I noted the skill growth just for a moment, then thought over Amiru’s words. She was right! How hadn’t I considered that?! The fairy tale Fox told me about her race’s miserable position instantly crumbled. In a sign of gratitude for the detailed answer, I gave a deep bow to the Miyelonian Leng. Then, giving in to a sudden urge, I decided to state my own conclusions:
“Leng Amiru U-Mayaoo, you are very wise and shrewd, know practically everything about the Morphian race and have an astonishing aptitude for finding the truth. So, I have no doubt that the true ringleaders of this murder were already known before I was arrested by you and your team o
f Truth Seekers. It must have only taken the initial data. But then why this whole spectacle with the arrest and interrogation? Just to get the data from my scanner?”
A green corkscrew in a box sign unexpectedly appeared in front of me. As it turned out, I had told the pure truth! A second later, I heard a groan and cough from the dark figure, and the mechanical translator readily conveyed their meaning:
“I’m such a ditz, I forgot to turn off the instruments... Argh!”
I apparently managed to embarrass the incarnation of the Great First Female. Anyhow, Leng Amiru U-Mayaoo instantly came to her senses:
“Your intuitive abilities are impressive, Gerd Gnat. Yes, there was no other reason for your arrest than reading the information about the base of the ancient Relict race. But it quickly became clear that you have no idea where the base is located. So, we needed your Prospector tool as well, as it would have the coordinates. But after the deal was done, I managed to read that the base exploded. My other colleagues are still in a state of blissful ignorance.”
Authority increased to 10.
“Well, Gnat, allow me to congratulate you. You’re an astonishingly lucky man, given you managed to hide such valuable information from my Truth Seeker colleagues! Don’t you worry about the money. It belongs to you by right. You earned it fair and square. What’s more, the coordinates of the Relict outpost alone have quite a high value. They allow us to gain a clearer understanding of mysterious race’s boundaries and the structure of its society, which tells us where to look for other traces of their ancient civilizations.”
Leng Amiru made a strange gesture, drawing a horizontal figure eight in the air with her paw, either bidding me farewell or blessing me. She was clearly planning to follow the example of the other Truth Seekers and disappear, when she froze and said:
“And yes, my advice to you: take your time changing game class. I’ll look for information in the Star City archives about Listeners and the other classes used by Relict players. If I find anything, I’ll be sure to tell you. But it is easily possible that this ancient profession used some device that is now forever lost and cannot be obtained anywhere in the Universe.”
* * *
I WAS ACCOMPANIED by two watchful Miyelonians in white First Pride armor. And that was not an excess, given the colossal amount of money currently in my wallet. After all, anything could happen on this pirate station! Uline Tar once said there were plenty of players who would stop at nothing for ten thousand crystals. I now had crypto to the tune of one million one hundred thousand crystals, so I couldn’t let my guard down for even a second.
Near the passage from the station to the space port zone, Ayni came out from behind a vending machine and blocked my path. I couldn’t even recognize the Translator. Her eyes were sunken, her paws were shaking, her ears were pressed down, and the young orange cat looked to have grown old or fallen seriously ill. Ayni walked up in silence and, just like when we were headed to the interrogation, buried her snout into my shoulder, demanding consolation. I embraced her firmly and even stroked her furry back. In return, the cat lady gave a very soft meow, like a lost kitten:
“Gnat, I’m feeling very bad. After talking with the Truth Seekers, I feel like I’ve been skinned alive and set out for everyone to laugh at. All Miyelonians recoil from me. When I come near, they go silent and disperse. No one even wants to talk. Please, take me away from this station! I’d be willing to fly to the edge of the known galaxy, even to unexplored space! I know the four main interstellar languages and I’m a quick learner. I could translate at your negotiations!”
“But what about the Pride of the Comet’s Tail? I see you’ve already been let back in.”
Ayni’s pride membership, which was absent before the interrogation, had returned to her character info.
“Pride?” Ayni looked somewhat confused, having only discovered the change in her social status after I mentioned it. “Those are just empty words to me now! If only you knew, Gerd Gnat, how I wanted the Pride to need me! For them to notice me, respect me and value me. But they just stuck me in a boring job at then registration post then, as soon as I was charged with a crime, they rejected me and left me to fend for myself! So, my pride affiliation is no obstacle!”
It didn’t take me long to decide. My level of Miyelonian was still as low as ever, so I really did need a translator to negotiate the platinum sale. Fate had just provided me one and refusing such a gift would simply be improper. Of course, I agreed!
“Now, I just need to find Tini. Did you see where he went after the interrogation?”
“Tini?” she froze up for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out who I was talking about. “No, I didn’t see... don’t give me that judgmental look! Yeah, I’m still pretty out of it. But that’s how it is. It will pass in time. I say we move on, because we’re amassing an audience and it’s making me uncomfortable.”
“Inspection zone. Have your documents ready.”
We had to cross the ninety-foot corridor in which every creature passing to the station or space port zone was subjected to a careful check, including scanning both character and bags with all kinds of detectors. But much to my surprise, an exception was made for us. The First Pride soldiers showed the workers their metal badges, saying something I could almost completely understand:
“We’re returning prisoners ... (incomprehensible). Successful ... (incomprehensible) by the Truth Seekers. Charges dropped. Completely innocent.”
We were led through the service corridors around all the scanning devices, after which the soldiers asked whether to leave me at the hotel or right at my starship. I managed to make that out and, with only a few hints from Ayni, answered that I needed to go to the casino.
* * *
AND THAT’S WHERE I found my kitten. Tini was sitting in a far-off back corner of the stands right on the cold metal floor and shivering hard, still not recovered from the interrogation. I picked him up by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to a table, sitting him up on a bench. I ordered Ayni to hold the underage lad, because he just kept trying to crawl under the table or fall onto his side. Meanwhile, I went to the bar. With a heavy sigh, because ordering without a Translator was hard, I spoke in Miyelonian, substituting unknown words with gestures or Geckho:
“Two of the strongest drinks you’ve got. I need to bring my friends back to life. They’ve just been interrogated by fifteen Truth Seekers. And give me the same cocktail I ordered before. I really liked it.”
Shockingly, they understood me. A few minutes later, there were two identical flagons on the bar, with a bubbling and pulsating substance of a toxic green color. They handed me a tall wine glass with a layered cocktail that smelled of valerian and herbs. I reached for my wallet, preparing to pay for the drinks, but the lean and tall Miyelonian bartender gave a very humanlike wave and said:
“On the house. Too well ... (incomprehensible) ... Pride of the Agile Paw knows the pain of interrogation. All that rooting around in your brains…”
Authority increased to 11.
Astrolinguistics skill increased to level sixty-three!
You have reached level fifty-four!
You have received three skill points!
I returned to the table and damn near ordered Tini and Ayni to drink down their flagons and, hopefully, get over the recent nightmare as quickly as possible. But although the Translator sucked the thick pulsating drink through the tube with surprising composure, Tini put on a real show. First the kitten meekly and even mechanically shook the green jelly out of the flask right into his open toothy mouth and swallowed, then the fur bristled all over the young Miyelonian’s body, making him look twice as large. Next, his ears stood on end, and something tore out of his jaws that was midway between a scream and a groan:
“Yughghgh! What was that crap?! I can feel it moving, and it burns! Waaaaaater!!!”
His eyes bulging, Tini noticed the drink in my hand, grabbed it without asking and drained it in two big gulps.
&nb
sp; “Oohh!!! That’s the ticket!!! Exactly what I needed! Master Gnat, please excuse me for taking it without asking, but I felt like I might die...” after these words, Tini started giving a stupid smile, showing all his sharp teeth and... fell face-first on the table unconscious.
“Don’t worry, he’ll come to in no time,” Ayni assured me, having noticed my discomfort. “Our race has a fast metabolism and as long as a poison doesn’t kill a Miyelonian right away, the body will quickly neutralize it.”
Useful information. I made a mental note of it: don’t use slow-acting poisons against Miyelonians. It would also be dumb to take part in anything like a drinking contest with one. Then, as our conversation had turned to Miyelonian abilities and traditions, I decided to ask a question:
“Ayni, what does that gesture mean?” I made a figure eight horizontally with my right hand.
The orange cat was clearly surprised and asked where I might have seen such a thing. After hearing about my talk with the incarnation of the Great First Female, Ayni said respectfully:
“Gerd Gnat, you were bestowed with a rare honor. Leng Amiru U-Mayaoo is invested in your fate and has taken you under her protection. That is a very good sign!”
Ayni was forced to stop talking, because a large severe looking tomcat walked up to our table in a scratched-up matte-black suit of metal armor. He was all laden with weaponry and trophies, both Miyelonian tails and other alien body parts.
Gerd Abi Pan-Miay. Miyelonian. Pride of the Bushy Shadow. Level-145 Starship Pilot.
ATTENTION!!! Captain Gerd Abi Pan-Miay, is one of the Galaxy’s most wanted space pirates. Danger rating: 9.
Shooting a curious glance at the bubbles coming out of Tini’s nose, the fearsome pirate shouted to the bartender to bring him “what he’s having,” after which he plopped down on the bench next to my kitten. The Miyelonian stared at my Translator stubbornly for a long time. She was embarrassed by the fearsome pirate, looked away and gave an unhappy snort:
External Threat (Reality Benders Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 22
