by Chele Cooke
Georgianna rested her cheek on her arm, watching him the way she used to watch her father when he told her stories as a child.
“Nothing changed after we left. Every liveable planet we found was fought over. Both the Adveni and the Cahlven have lost billions of lives in these wars.”
“What about the other groups?”
“A few survived, but not many,” Edtroka admitted. “Most ran out of food or power before they found a sustainable planet.”
“And did those who found planets not contact them?” Georgianna asked. “In the stories we were told as kids, the ships had machines, like tsentyls, so they could talk to each other.”
“It was a long time ago, so I don’t have first-hand knowledge,” Edtroka chuckled. “All I know are the stories I was told. Adveni stories…”
She didn’t know what that was supposed to mean.
“Okay, I understand all that,” she said. “But if the Adveni and the Cahlven have been at war for so long, why would you contact them?”
Edtroka stared down at the orb in his hands. He had been passing it back and forth between his palms since he’d explained its function. It was like a tsentyl, but the person was right there to talk to. Georgianna realised quickly that she would need to see it to understand. That, he answered, was not possible now that the suspicion surrounding him was so great.
“Os-Veruh is the first planet we’ve taken over in a long time.” His voice was low, so quiet that Georgianna had to move closer to hear him. “The last time was long before I was born. I’d only ever seen planets that we’d been in control of for a long time. My father had to travel and visit these places, so sometimes he took me along, my sisters too. It wasn’t like it is here. The people there had settled, they’d… they’d stopped fighting. I honestly believed that we were doing a good thing in taking them over, that we’d made their lives better.”
He shrugged, and Georgianna tentatively laid her hand on his knee.
“Then you came here?”
“There was a truce with the Cahlven from long ago. Both sides made the agreement that while any other sustainable planet was fair game, Os-Veruh was off limits.”
“Why?”
“No idea,” he said. “Nostalgia, maybe. Perhaps it was just to keep some neutral ground.”
“But the Adveni broke the pact.”
“I still don’t know why the commanders decided on it. Nobody does, not the real reason. We were told the propaganda that the Cahlven were making a move, that we were protecting Os-Veruh from them.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Not in the slightest. It was only after we’d arrived that we saw what was really going on. We could have offered aid, made your people equals, but instead…”
“Instead you took over.”
“Yes.”
“So you contacted the Cahlven?”
“About two Freezes ago.”
“Why did you wait so long?”
He glanced at her and she could see the loathing in his face. She didn’t know who he hated more at that point, the commanders of the Adveni for all they’d done, or himself for going along with it.
“Honestly? I thought it would get better. I thought that once the fighting stopped, we’d start working with you, helping you with technology and working systems.”
“Don’t they have dreta on the other planets?”
“Some do, but nothing like here,” he explained. “It’s the same system as it is here. Dreta are bought out of the compounds as if we were rewarding those who turn themselves around. This gives them a way to work and have some freedom while they pay for their crimes. Here…”
“It’s different.”
“And it’s not changing,” Edtroka agreed. “After seven years, there was no change. Commanders were abusing their positions, taking whatever they wanted. It had filtered down, and every Adveni I knew, men I had been friends with since childhood, truly believed that they were better than the Veniche, that you all deserved what had happened.”
Georgianna bit her tongue. Edtroka wasn’t the enemy here, but she couldn’t stop herself from wondering why it had taken him seven years to reach this conclusion. Adveni had been abusing their power since the moment they arrived.
“So you contacted the Cahlven…” she prompted.
“It wasn’t easy. Contact with the Cahlven is strictly forbidden without the proper permissions. It’s the worst form of treachery, but there was no one else. I tried speaking to my superiors, I… I even went to Maarqyn at one point. I was laughed at. I probably would have been killed then and there if it wasn’t for my father’s position.”
He placed the orb onto the table.
“I used my connections to obtain the secure methods of contact, but I needed a second. To stop unauthorised contact, they make it so that you need a second person to open a channel.”
Edtroka glanced at her. For a moment, he looked like he was going to say something more, but he shook his head and looked down at his knees.
“That’s how I met Zanetti,” he said finally.
“He was the second?”
“I couldn’t use an Adveni. I didn’t know who I could trust, so… so I…”
“You what?” she asked.
“I blackmailed him.”
“Excuse me?”
Turning in his seat, Edtroka faced her and Georgianna wasn’t sure whether he was trying to look apologetic or not. He actually looked rather pleased with himself.
“There was a mission. Four Belsa were out on a scout. The commander knew about it and my unit was sent in. I was meant to watch the perimeter and tell the other guys when I saw movement. I came across Keiran. No one else was with us and I… I told him I’d let him go if he did me one favour.”
“He agreed?”
“Not at first, but the three other men in his group were in trouble. I couldn’t get to two of them, they were boxed in, but I could redirect my men right around the third. I believe you know him: Eli Talassi. I did it as a show of faith. Zanetti ordered Talassi over a radio to pull back to their regroup point. He told him which route to take, to get past every man in our unit. To this day, the commander doesn’t know that there were other men in that unit except for…”
Georgianna leaned back in the sofa, the pieces clicking into place. Edtroka probably didn’t realise that she’d heard this story before. He would assume that Keiran was too ashamed to tell her, or too scared that she would tell someone else what he’d done.
“Except Alec and Ashoke.”
“That’s… that’s right,” he mumbled.
She stared past him. She’d known that Alec thought Keiran was responsible for his capture. This was why he was so sure that Keiran had been working for the Adveni. She couldn’t imagine how he’d react if he discovered that Keiran had been working with Edtroka. The man owned her. Alec would probably see it as some sort of attack to lure him out. Both Keiran and Edtroka had been there as Alec was dragged away and now they had pulled her into it.
“So he helped you?” she asked.
She didn’t feel right asking him about Alec. Whether Edtroka had known about Alec’s sale to Maarqyn wasn’t the point. What was one more slave to him? It wouldn’t change anything. He couldn’t have known that Alec would suspect Keiran for years after that. He’d probably assumed that Alec had been killed along with Ashoke.
“He did.”
“Okay, so skip ahead a bit. Why didn’t the Cahlven come?”
“I was angry about it for a long time,” he said after a moment’s pause. “They were taking so long and I had to go back to my life like nothing had happened. Then Olless got the saelveh orb to me, which is a safer method of contact. She said that the Cahlven were planning multiple attacks. They would send soldiers not just here, but also to take other Adveni reserves, ensuring that there would be no way for the Adveni to retaliate.”
Georgianna nodded. Her mind was spinning with all the information. Edtroka was right: the Veniche had no chance of wi
nning this fight. It wasn’t just about them; it was about five hundred years of hatred.
“That’s why Zanetti was out of the city. He was relaying information to Olless for me.”
“But you’ve contacted her before, why couldn’t you do it?”
“Because since my last contact with her, I’ve been watched almost constantly.”
“Why, what changed?”
Edtroka grinned.
“I bought you.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Was Maarqyn really that obsessed with getting his payback?
“Look, I need to know what information your friends got away with. I need to know exactly what Zanetti found out from Olless. If Maarqyn was suspicious of me, maybe he moved reserves. If they overheard something, I have to know if this is going to work.”
Georgianna knew that she couldn’t be a messenger for something this big. She needed the proof that Keiran wasn’t a traitor and the Belsa needed to know that an attack was coming.
“Alright, but I can’t do this alone.”
“I don’t understand.”
She got to her feet, glancing at the orb on the table.
“It’s time you spoke to the Belsa directly.”
The tyllenich rifle swayed in and out of her vision as the Belsa guard ambled along beside her. She’d tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, but he was adamant. The marshall had made the orders clear: she was not allowed into Belsa territory without an escort.
The order upset and amused her. Beck had known her a long time and it seemed she had lost his trust even to walk from a guard to his car. After knowing him her entire life, she had betrayed him, leaving a constant guilt in her stomach. Yet, she found it funny at the same time. It wasn’t as if she would be able to take down two guards, break Keiran out of his temporary incarceration and flee the Belsa territory. Not on her own, and Alec had made it perfectly clear that she was on her own.
If it had been possible to organise an escape from the Belsa a month ago, it wasn’t now. Every person they passed was armed, even while going about their daily business. There was tension in the air and it wouldn’t be long before someone started firing by mistake. Georgianna had been dubious about telling Beck everything. She had considered turning back a number of times. Seeing the Belsa teetering on the edge of panic only steadied her resolve. Edtroka was right. They needed help. They would not win this war alone.
Beck sat in the doorway to his car as they approached, a bottle of wheat beer hanging from his fingers and a cigarette perched on his lip. Two fingers massaged a spot on his temple until he heard their footsteps. He plucked the cigarette from his lips and nodded to the escorting guard.
“Thanks for the walk. The chat was fantastic,” Georgianna said with a broad grin.
The guard shot her a look like she might just be mad, and walked away.
“You give me an armed escort, now? Even Edtroka doesn’t do that.”
Beck coughed, shaking his head. He drank a mouthful of his beer and placed the bottle aside, tapping the space next to him.
“You have that proof for me?”
“Kind of.”
She wanted to hate him. She wanted to make snide remarks. However, Beck looked tired and a part of her still remembered the man who had entertained her as a child. He had seemed as much of a giant as her father and had always made her feel like nothing was impossible. That illusion had been shattered long ago. Looking at him like this, stressed and alone, she wondered if he truly had lost that man he used to be, or if it was just that there was no one left to entertain.
Sitting down next to him, she inhaled a breath of the sweet smoke from his cigarette. It made her throat tickle and she waved the plume of smoke away from her face.
“I didn’t bring proof,” she admitted. “Not the type you wanted, but I brought you the truth.”
The sad resignation in his eyes told her that he had suspected that she’d been lying. She wasn’t surprised. Edtroka had told her she was a horrible liar.
“What is it?”
“Keiran did betray you.”
Beck nodded and pushed the beer aside.
“He was working with an Adveni, giving them information, helping them.”
“And you knew this when you lied?”
She swallowed and watched her feet as she swung them back and forth.
“I knew some of it,” she admitted. “I knew that an Adveni was protecting him, keeping him out of the compound, but I didn’t know why.”
He didn’t respond to that. He drew in a drag on his cigarette and sent the smoke out of the doorway.
“He was helping Edtroka, my owner.”
Twisting towards her, Beck propped one leg up in the doorway. He rested his elbow on his knee and began massaging his temple again.
“You wanted to save Keiran,” he said, weighing each word on his tongue. “What has changed?”
“Nothing changed. I still think he deserves to be freed.”
“You just admitted that he was a traitor and that you lied for him.”
“I said he betrayed you. I did not say he was traitor.”
“Is there a difference?” he snapped.
She’d been thinking of what she would say for the entire journey. She’d not slept the night before thinking about it. How could she convince Beck to trust an Adveni? How would she explain everything Edtroka had told her? Why should they trust a man who had witnessed and done nothing about the atrocities of the last decade? There was only one thing for it. She just had to tell him the truth and hope.
“The Adveni didn’t tell us everything,” she began slowly, gathering confidence with each word. “There is another race out there, one that left here when the Adveni did. There was a truce not to touch this planet and the Adveni broke it. Keiran betrayed the Belsa in order to contact them. He’s been helping my owner to get in contact with these people. They’re coming, Beck. They can help us fight.”
She explained about the Cahlven and their constant wars with the Adveni over territory. She told him that Edtroka had blackmailed Keiran into helping him, and why it had to be Keiran who travelled out of the city. Beck listened as she told him why Edtroka needed to talk with Nyah and Alec because they might have overheard information about movements of reserve Adveni troops. The only part she didn’t tell him, that she didn’t think she could admit to anyone, was that Edtroka had been there with Keiran when Alec and Ashoke had been taken by Maarqyn.
“Why should we trust these Cahlven?” Beck asked finally. He didn’t look convinced.
“We shouldn’t, not yet,” she said. “But we can’t fight the Adveni off on our own. We’ve been trying since they arrived and we’re still…”
She waved her hand around to indicate the tunnel. There weren’t enough of them, they didn’t have the technology. The Adveni would crush them the moment they made a significant move.
“But we’ve got to try, right?” she continued.
“And in doing so, we need to trust your owner, an Adveni, who has helped in the sale of hundreds of Veniche?”
Georgianna grimaced.
“His background doesn’t really add credit to the story, does it?”
Beck didn’t need to answer her to tell her she was right.
“A meeting, that’s all he wants. Edtroka wants to meet with Alec and Nyah to see if they have the information he needs. They were owned by an important commander and he thinks they’ll have overheard things.”
“I can’t force them to that meeting, George.”
“No, but you can at least talk to Alec. He doesn’t trust me right now.”
“Do you blame him?”
The question caught her off guard and she stared at the tunnel wall for a few moments, trying to think of an answer.
“After everything I risked in getting him out,” she breathed. “Maybe I do.”
Whether it was the answer he’d been expecting or not, Beck kept his opinion to himself, which she was grateful for. She knew she couldn
’t be angry at Alec for hating the Adveni after everything he’d been through, and she didn’t even really blame him for distrusting Keiran. However, the fact he didn’t trust her, that he still saw her as some stupid girl who couldn’t think for herself, she could be angry about that.
“I’ll talk to him for you, but I won’t make any promises.”
“Will you meet with Edtroka?” she asked. “If we can destroy the compound, it could encourage more to fight.”
“We thought that about the pillars, that if they were gone it would drive them back.”
“They haven’t fixed them yet,” Georgianna muttered. “They have increased patrols, revoked passes. That has to take up a lot of their soldiers. Maybe this is the perfect time to attack.”
Beck rubbed both hands over his face and dropped them into his lap. He stared at the ground before them. He looked more tired than ever.
“It will have to be somewhere away from here.”
“Of course. It isn’t like Edtroka could come down here anyway.”
“You find a place and I’ll keep it in mind.”
“And Keiran?”
A stray drop of beer landed on Beck’s chin as he lifted the bottle. He wiped it away with his thumb and avoided her gaze. It was only then that she realised she’d never seen Beck drink before. She gazed at him, wondering what it was that had driven him to it now. She didn’t dare ask, worried that the answer might be her.
“I can’t let him go, not until this is sorted,” he said. “But I will extend our deal. He will be kept here, not harmed and…”
“And I get an armed escort everywhere?”
Beck shook his head.
“I was going to say that I will allow you to visit him. I will let you pass from now on.”
“Will he be able to come to the meeting? Edtroka needs information.”
“No, I can’t allow that. I will let you visit him beforehand. You can pass the information your Adveni needs.”
Georgianna got to her feet.
“I should go now then.”
