Fleek's face froze for a moment. "You submitted the Intergalactic Inquiry, didn’t you? Only somebody with that capability would even think of trying to free Kirian."
"Aye, that she did." Kracken had entered the galley and was pouring himself a mug. The booth was pretty small so he stood instead of trying to cram himself into a seat. "Thanks for having me aboard, Captain Fleek."
"Don’t call me Captain," Fleek snapped. "It's just Fleek. And who's he again?" He looked to Ari, who shrugged.
"Some conspiracy theory resistance guy. Just met him yesterday. Kirian knows him, though. She can tell us more when she's awake."
"Hey," said Kracken, "we shared a dance."
"What about your guest?" Ari asked Fleek.
"Oh yeah, Carpe. He's a member of my band, now. I'm recruiting."
"I play the drums," Kracken volunteered.
"Not you," Fleek said.
"Whatever you say. Captain."
Carpe backed his way into the room with his hands up, followed by Kirian brandishing a short metal sword.
"Fleek, who's this?"
"That's Carpe, remember? He's my new bass player."
"Why was he lurking around my room?"
"Probably because he's never seen a Celestial before."
Kirian gave Carpe a dirty look, but she holstered the sword to her pajama bottom. Ari made a mental note to ask her about that later.
"This ship's getting crowded." Kirian passed Carpe without a further word, poured herself a mug, and finished off the pot.
Before anyone could speak, the nefarious brain-washing ring tone began to play in the adjacent bridge.
Kirian's face tensed. She put her mug down and turned to answer it. Ari remembered where she hid the little mirror in the drawer underneath after agreeing to Medusa the next session. She tried to dart into the bridge behind Kirian, but Fleek stood in her way shaking his head no, his face a mask of concern.
"It's too risky," he said, "you don't know what you're getting yourself into."
He was sweet and all, but he seriously underestimated how far Ari was willing to go once she had a plan. She ducked underneath him.
Free and clear, Ari dove underneath the console just as Kirian answered.
"Greetings, Kirian, are you alone?" the voice asked.
Ari, still underneath, fumbled quietly in the drawer until she found the mirror.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Kirian asked.
"Whatever are you talking about?" the voice asked, smoothly.
Ari sucked in a breath for courage and snuck the mirror just over the edge of the console to get a peek at the screen. Kirian describing her nightmares came to mind and the possibility of seeing a giant Praying Mantis made her pause and suck in a breath. She had read an article about it once. The species in question was called Andromeda Mantix, and its nickname was the “Preying Mantis.” Cruel, deadly, and lazy, they were banished to a handful of planets on the fringes of the known universe.
Still, a plan was a plan, and curiosity eventually got the better of her.
"I'm talking about the stealing and the violence. The blacking out. I know it's you that’s causing it."
"You're a Celestial," the voice answered calmly. "It's what you do. How do you know that anything I'm doing is altering the natural course of your life?"
Ari adjusted the mirror slowly and carefully to avoid attention. The figure on the screen was indeed scanning the edges around Kirian for anyone else. Interesting. The figure looked normal. Humanoid. Small, thin and balding. Ari couldn't help but be disappointed. At least he wasn't a terrifying Preying Mantis.
"I'm afraid those are issues for your actual therapist, not me. I'm in charge of your Celestial affairs. And speaking of that, I'd like you to breathe out and look deeply into my eyes."
Ari could see that suddenly the figure’s eyes flashed a feral green and then returned to normal. Kirian let out a breath as she was told and Ari saw her body tense and then relax. Ari swallowed and held her breath.
"Good, good," the voice said.
"Now, I need you to listen to me very closely. I have a lot of Celestials to get to and not much time. We have the constellation star activation for theft and the dragon's head for violence. Those experiments have gone as planned. Today we are adding a new image. It's this Mantis head. Do you see it? If you see this symbol, you will revert immediately back to the level three consciousness that we've been working toward."
The mousy man got, in Ari's estimation, needlessly technical after that and the session went on for some time before he told Kirian’s conscious mind to forget everything that he said as well as what he looked like when he snapped his fingers. He snapped his fingers and then disappeared.
Kirian came to and glanced at Ari who was still under the console.
"Well?"
"Good news," said Ari, "he's not a Preying Mantis. Yay. The bad news is that Fleek's totally right about him, you should absolutely switch therapists."
Chapter 19
Floyd lay slumped on the luxurious sofa in his exclusive high-rise condo trying to figure out what to do about the Celestial army slipping from his grasp. He stood and crossed to the giant window with a view overlooking the city and tried to come up with ideas.
Earlier, he had stalked and killed something, which made him feel better. It also made him hungry. He decided to call out for pizza. Then he sat back on his couch and flipped through television channels waiting for it to arrive.
He stopped flipping channels. Then he used the remote to go back; sure he had seen something familiar several channels ago. He couldn't believe it. There, on the television screen, was Soda.
He turned up the volume. As he did so, his doorbell rang. Finally. He jumped up and ran to the door. The delivery kid stood with his two extra-large supreme pizzas.
"Took you thirty-five minutes, so it's free," Floyd said.
The kid looked down at his watch. "It's only been seventeen minutes, mister."
Floyd looked around the hallway to make sure nobody else was around. Then he opened his eyes, pulling them wider and larger than beings in this galaxy were allowed, then he changed the hue to incandescent lime green.
"Mister," the pizza guy said, staring, "are you okay?"
The pizza kid had seen the green flash of his eyes and was ensnared now and swaying slightly from side to side.
"You meant to say the pizza was late and it's free," Floyd said again.
"The pizza was late," pizza boy repeated, "and it's free."
"Great," said Floyd. He took the pizza and slammed the door. He took several steps toward the television.
"Hey, what about my tip?" the pizza boy's voice asked through the door.
"You've got ten seconds to get out of here, scofflaw before I call security and have you thrown out of the building!" Floyd yelled angrily; then he turned up the television volume again to drown out any follow up questions.
A square-headed news anchor sat next to a stock image of the Neon Octopus Overlord. That's not what she looks like, he thought. And you certainly don't know her like I do.
“A historic Intergalactic Governing Board Meeting was held today," the news anchor said, "with the notoriously reclusive Octopus Overseer of the Galaxy because of an Intergalactic Inquiry that was filed last week. Despite the unprecedented interest, no press was allowed into the meeting. Additionally, the Overseer didn't answer any questions."
The news station then ran a video clip of a young woman who appeared to be holding a microphone running toward the Octopus Overlord only to be taken down hard by half a dozen security guards.
"Oof. That had to hurt," Floyd said to himself between bites of pizza.
The newscaster, now back on screen, continued. "A limited transcript of the meeting, approved by the Overseer, will be released to the public tomorrow."
Floyd had seen enough. He switched off the television. "Such a cushy gig," he said, jealous, "especially when you get to make up all the rules. And how dare she
treat me this way."
Something he thought earlier came back. They don't know her like I do. This Intergalactic Inquiry has created quite a stir. It was probably very distracting. And he knew where the next Celestial mission was going to be. What if he snuck over there and broke the communications disrupter she used to conceal the Celestial missions? Then the whole Galaxy would know what she was up to.
She thinks she's busy now?
Then she'd have endless questions to answer and possible criminal charges. With all of that going on she probably wouldn't have time to destroy her Celestial army. He gobbled down his pizza and set his plan in motion.
Chapter 20
Soda woke from her extra deep sleep refreshed and energized. She looked in the mirror. As expected, she was at least four inches taller. How clever she had been to use a form altering disguise capable of adapting to new threat levels.
Absolutely ridiculous, though, this form. She smiled. Nobody would ever recognize her.
No, Soda, you have nothing to worry about. And soon those stupid Staars will have no idea where you are.
She turned her gaze to Drexyl, sleeping in the corner, peaceful and beautiful as ever. "Sleep, my love," she whispered, waving a tentacle over his sleeping form. He'd now sleep through anything that happened. And what was about to happen would upset him if he saw or heard it.
These people had no idea what power she possessed. She’d been hibernating in low power mode this entire time. It had taken zero effort to keep this galaxy going.
She slithered over to the console, happy to be more herself. About time she had a challenge. She tapped in the contact info for Kirian, Destroyer of Planets.
Don't make me laugh.
Kirian had never once destroyed a planet. Blatant false advertising.
The whole Celestial myth was a thing of beauty. It was easily her best idea. Where do you hide a nefarious, top-secret, planet-deleting program from a slightly civilized galaxy? In plain sight, of course. She leaked the information to a few crack pots. Let them make fools of themselves. Then she unleashed a wave of editorials making merciless fun of the crackpots, assuring they would never again be taken seriously. It was all too easy.
Kirian appeared on the monitor. "Yes, your Supreme Overlord? Hey, where's the other guy?"
"Hello, Kirian. We need to talk."
"I don't believe I ever fully caught your name. Could you repeat it, please?"
Soda thought about this. She had adopted Soda as her name in this galaxy because of Drexyl, but so far, the name existed only in her head and on his lips. Mmmmm. She toyed with the idea of using it with Kirian. One, because Kirian would soon be dead, so it didn't matter. Two, because she wanted to hear what it sounded like out loud coming from someone other than Drexyl. And three, because nobody in this galaxy could pronounce the real thing anyway.
"You may call me Soda," the Octopus Overseer said. "Well?"
"Well, what?" Kirian looked confused.
"Call me Soda."
"Um," said Kirian. "Hello, Soda."
Soda processed.
Yes, that will do just fine. Rolls off the tongue, easy for these idiots to pronounce and it also has sentimental value. Soda it is.
"I don't like you. Drexyl does. Drexyl believes you're not involved in this whole Intergalactic Inquiry thing. What matters, though, is that I need you out of my way. Here's what's going to happen."
She buzzed Kirian's handcuff, causing a jolt of electricity, and watched the effect. Kirian jumped and sizzled and gritted her teeth. Most exciting. She halted the electricity.
"Hey, is Ari around? This concerns her too."
"I have no idea who you're talking about," Kirian answered.
"Oh, we're way past that," Soda cooed. "You're going to your next mission, as planned," Soda continued, "and then both you and the planet are going down. Permanently. That is unless the smarty-pants whose life you saved decides to try and return the favor and help you. But I guess she's already fled. Am I right?"
"I'm right here," Ari said, entering the screen.
"Good. I filed a galaxy-wide most wanted bulletin with a huge price on your head. So even if you run, you won't be able to hide."
Soda scanned Kirian's face for fear or panic. There wasn't any. Good. At least Kirian wasn't going to take all the fun out of it. "I mean, I did officially plan to terminate you with the rest of the Celestials after the next mission anyway, but I figured why wait? Spoiler alert, this will be your last mission."
"Which planet?" Kirian asked.
"Regulus."
Soda looked at her console clock. "I'd get to work if I were you. You only have a few hours to get there. Happy final mission, Kirian, Destroyer of Planets."
"What did you do with Drexyl?" Kirian asked.
"Oh, don't worry, he's fine."
Soda smiled and ended the transmission.
Then she glanced over at Drexyl's sleeping form. He had, by design, missed the whole thing. She released him from his spell, and he continued sleeping peacefully anyway. She nestled back into bed. There would be plenty of time later to wake him for the big Kirian finale.
The console went dark. Ari moved first, checking on Kirian, who looked a little dazed after the latest electric shock.
Ari felt bad. It was her fault, after all. She’d honestly had no idea what kind of mess the Intergalactic Inquiry would cause, or what forces it would set into motion. And now she was a wanted fugitive.
"Kirian. Let me see those bracelets."
Kirian held them out for her; her hands were still trembling.
“Ouch,” Kirian said, “does anybody on this ship have any alcohol?”
"Fleek, can you get us to that planet?"
"Autopilot. I've got stuff to do," he said it while disappearing around the corner with Carpe. Kracken was still lurking in the galley doorway.
"We've got a lot of work to do here, for Kirian," Ari said angrily. "Why aren't you people helping?"
Kirian stared at her. "They're afraid. And they should be. The question is, why are you still here? Why don't you sensibly and logically run away? Soda was right. You should go, no sense in all of us dying. I'm already halfway there with the electric shock and the brainwashing."
Ari looked her in the eye. "Because I can do it. I can figure this out."
"Ari," Kirian said. "You should go live your life. That Octopus took me away from my home world. She killed me a long time ago. It's only now catching up, you see."
"I’m telling you, I can do this," Ari said, turning one of Kirian's bracelets over in her hand. What she wouldn't give for a decent spectrograph. "Some of this is my fault. And besides, she'll eventually get me too if I can't stop her. If we split up, she'll just kill us separately. Hey, do you have any spectrographs around?"
“Top left drawer," Kirian said nodding at a cabinet next to the navigation console. "And you can leave Fleek alone; I can set an autopilot." Kirian tapped some coordinates into the console. "I just can't free-fly the thing."
Kracken joined them. "The best way to foil her, lass, is to file another report. Hit her where it hurts."
"No," Ari said. "There's no time. I have to figure out how to help Kirian. And that planet."
"Look, that psycho octopus is going to kill Kirian. There’s no reason the rest of us have to go with her. You could sneak off to a safe planet, finish your research, and then really have a go at her."
"Kracken's got a point," Kirian said.
"No way," Ari turned to Kracken. "I'm not giving up on this Inquiry issue either, but when I go at her with paperwork, it’s got to be perfect. You know that. Or maybe you don't; I don't care. Hold this." She handed the spectrograph to Kracken while holding Kirian's bracelet at the different angles needed to get a proper readout. Kracken obliged until the little gizmo beeped. The console darkened again, and the results appeared.
Ari sat down next to Kirian to study the screen.
"What's all that mean?" Kirian asked.
"The bracelet's ma
de out of a metal alloy. Obviously, it's good at conducting electricity. Probably nearly indestructible because it looks from its properties as though it's magnetically sealed."
"Makes sense. Nearly cut my arm off trying to get it off," Kirian said. "Look, I don't think it's possible, Ari. Not even you can figure this out in the time frame that we're talking about. You should be making other plans."
Carpe returned to the bridge of the ship. "What are you up to now?"
Ari looked at him. "Carpe, you're a bass player, right?"
"Yes. At the moment."
"And your former occupation was…"
"Organized Crime Enforcer, why?”
Ari smiled. "Did you guys ever use anything like this on people?" She pointed at one of Kirian's bracelets.
Carpe crossed to Kirian, knelt, and looked carefully at it. "Is this what they use to zap you full of electricity?"
"Yep. I mean, for being a prisoner it's not always the worst gig in the world. I get to travel, unlimited money, and all I have to do is everything they say or get electrocuted."
"Sign me up," Carpe said, still looking at the bracelet.
"I have no idea what that screen is saying,” Carpe said, looking at the readout from the spectrograph, “but we did have something like this. I don't think it was your fancy alloy, just whatever metals were hanging around our location. Wasn't too much trouble either to pair them with sensors and link them to genetic code. Once that's done, no matter where the prisoner is, you press the button, and they get some juice. Very effective." He looked at Kirian. "Sorry."
Ari thought about this. "Presumably then, the electricity could go both ways?"
Carpe thought about it. "Never happened. Never even considered it. But I suppose you could be right."
"How'd you get them off?" Ari asked.
"Can't help you there," he answered. "We didn't."
Ari huffed in frustration at him, standing up. "It's illegal, everywhere in the galaxy, to make private prisoners."
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