“You do not need to get involved with anything at all,” Saketa told her.

“Maybe not, but I have been making a habit of getting involved.”

“With what?”

“I haven’t seen you in four years. We have…”

She let out another nervous laugh.

“We have some catching up to do.”

They arrived at those outside stairs. They seemed to be intended for emergencies, and were closed by a gate that Saketa supposed opened automatically with the right trigger. She simply swung herself around on the outside of the staircase and went around it. Vanaka did the same, the combination of her strength and a dancer’s grace making it trivial.

The rest of the way down was unobstructed, and they headed down the steps.

“Do you have a car, or a shuttle, or something, at the ready?” Vanaka asked her.

“No.”

“Well, I do. I-”

She touched her hip.

“This outfit doesn’t have pockets. Do you have a comm I can use?”

Saketa handed over the agent’s device, and Vanaka stopped for a few seconds to find the right number. As she made the connection she started walking again, and spoke to someone in what Saketa assumed to be the Vylak language. The call was quick and businesslike, and ended seconds after they touched down on the ground.

“They’ll be here real soon,” the girl assured her.

“They who? Is this your home planet?”

“Oh no, Saketa. I travel. I travel all over.”

She looked proud of herself, and Saketa found it a bit warming.

“You are a travelling performer?”

“I am.”

Vanaka took one leg off the ground and executed a smooth pirouette, the cape billowing as she did.

“I remember you entertaining the idea of getting serious about dancing,” Saketa commented.

“Well, I made it a reality,” the girl said happily.

Saketa found it in her to smile.

“Congratulations.”

The fearsome raptor from that stage, the predator that had completely subdued Tyroya, smiled back with a hint of shyness.

“Thank you.”

Saketa nodded, and looked down at the comm.

“I’m not working alone. I need to notify someone.”

Fredrak answered almost immediately.

“Yes?”

“You can skip the hall. There was a development. But I have the lead we needed.”

“Are you certain of that?”

“Tyroya was.”

“Very well,” the agent replied after a momentary silence. “Lay it on me.”

“She has been making her smuggling deliveries to a Purist cell, in some place called 26 Sajakan. Do you know it?”

“Looking it up is a simple matter. Look, what is your situation?”

“I… ran into an old friend, actually.”

“Another one?”

“Yes. And I am as surprised as anyone.”

“Well, 26 Sajakan is an address in a district to the north. Its name translates into ‘The Circle’.”

“Just… head into that direction, I suppose,” Saketa said. “I have transportation. Look, I need to go. I will call you back.”

She ended the call.

“Was that another Warden?” Vanaka asked. “Are you undercover or some such?”

“You are the second person to ask me that today,” Saketa told her. “No.”

She looked down and tucked on the lapels of the coat.

“My suit is back on Kalero.”

She hesitated, and felt something writhe within, seeking a way out. Vanaka seemed to sense the need for silence for the moment.

“Vanaka, I have changed too,” she then said in a sudden burst of painful earnestness.

“Yes,” the girl said carefully, and her excited nerves gave way to something more mature. “There is a weight on you, isn’t there?” she went on. “I heard something about an attack on Kalero itself.”

Vanaka reached out carefully, as if afraid of rejection, and held her hand.

“I am sorry. Were you there?”

Saketa tolerated the grip, but didn’t squeeze back. Her eyes wandered to the dull-coloured staircase. Her armour was back on.

“It’s good to see you again, Vanaka,” she stated evenly.

The Vylak didn’t respond right away, and the silence was saved from becoming too awkward by the arrival of a small car.

“Ah, that’s them!” Vanaka said, and the vehicle slowed down to a stop next to them. It was a simple rental. Saketa had seen the design and logo around the city.

The two windows facing them opened. In the driver’s seat was a broad-shouldered, clean-shaven man with hair as black as Vanaka’s, and a matching glossy jacket. In the back was a woman with brown hair in a bun, wearing a jacket and skirt of matching blue. They and Saketa didn’t get much time to take each other in; Vanaka spoke some quick words and the woman got out and moved into the front passenger seat. The Vylak then entered in her stead, and clearly expected Saketa to join her. She took the sword off her belt and did step inside.

The back seat was relatively roomy, which was good, because two travelling cases had been stacked in there with them as well. A pants leg stuck out of one of them. Saketa supposed the group had brought the cases to the hall.

Vanaka handed the bird mask over to the woman in the front, then started working on getting the cloak off in less than ideal circumstances. The man said something and Vanaka replied with a quick burst of that strange language. He turned left at the first corner.

Saketa examined the two in front. She felt as sure as she could be that they weren’t Vylak. From what she understood the dark hair and eyes were highly dominant ethnic features of that strange subtype of humanity, and while the man had the former he did not have the latter. Moreover, there was just some subtle quality that they lacked.

Clearly she was an object of curiosity herself, and after finally shrugging out of the cloak and bundling it up, Vanaka cleared her throat.

“Let me introduce you to Losan…

She indicated the man.

“And Erine.”

She pointed at the woman.

“And this… is Saketa.”

Erine’s eyes widened, and Losan put the car into auto before turning in his seat to peek back. Saketa supposed she’d been the subject of stories, and suddenly felt a touch self-conscious.

“Greetings,” she said, before the silence could stretch into becoming uncomfortable.

“Yes,” Erine said, and visibly remembered her manners. She stretched a hand towards Saketa. “Greetings.”

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

There were so many variations on etiquette throughout the lanes that Saketa had given up on trying to adapt to them. She simply did what felt natural and clasped the offered hand for a moment.

Losan just made eye contact and nodded at her, before returning his attention to the controls.

“They are two of my ansoti,” Vanaka explained with an affectionate smile. “They travel with me.”

Saketa nodded. Ansoti. Those bitten often enough by a Vylak for the control to become permanent.

“He is the bodyguard,” Vanaka went on. She’d only been wearing a black, tight-fitting dancer’s bodysuit under the cloak, and now went through one of the cases for street wear. “He has the training and the warrior’s instincts to keep us safe. And Erine… she handles all the little things we need. And the big things, really.”

“She is the smart one,” Losan stated bluntly.

“I like being useful...” she said, looking bashful.

“Mmm,” Vanaka vocalised, and gave the woman a loving look. Then she started working on shrugging into a red jacket.

“Are we going back to the hotel?” Losan asked. “Or what? What are we doing?”

He was clearly addressing Vanaka, and Saketa supposed the language choice was for her own benefit, which she did appreciate.

The Vylak looked to Saketa.

“Just head in the direction of that district, The Circle, for now,” she said after thinking it over.

Saketa allowed herself to lean back in the fairly cushy seat. The tip of the scabbard rested on the floor, and the handle rested against her chest.

“So…” she said, and made a bit of an effort out of sounding casual. “What is this about you getting involved?”

“Hah.”

The Vylak finished getting the jacket on. She looked up at the ceiling, then at Saketa. Her excitement over this whole encounter parted for some deeper, older, and ultimately much stronger emotions. There was a waiting period for the woman’s next words, but it made their importance all the more clear.

“I didn’t know if I would ever see you again,” Vanaka said. “I met one of your comrades or sisters or whatever the term is. I met another Warden, on the planet Gorono. I asked her to deliver a message to you. Did it reach you? Her name was Nara.”

The name brought unwelcome intrusion of thoughts of home. Saketa silenced them as best she could and focused on the moment.

“I have not run into her. Nara must have told you it was unlikely.”

“She did, but I had to try. I-”

Vanaka stopped and touched her own cheeks. This time the wait only spanned a single deep breath.

“Those days we spent together, they meant so much to me. Mean so much to me, still,” she said. “And I don’t just mean because of your help. I mean… the impression you made. The lessons you imparted, whether you intended them or not. I heard about Volkan Vol’s Fourth Fleet being destroyed, not that long after we parted, as you’d predicted. Because of the information I helped you get. It was…”

Vanaka looked down, and smiled slightly. Erine reached over from her seat and took her mistress’s hand lovingly.

“It was a good feeling,” the Vylak said softly. “I tried to not get a big head over it, but it was such a good feeling to have helped. To have had a… at least a small part in that horrible war ending. My people are so isolated. And I understand why the elders guide us in that direction; general humanity is not kind when it discovers us in their midst, and the elders have lived long enough to see the results play out before. But as I started growing into adulthood I wanted to break out of it, at least in my own little way. To be a part of the wider galaxy to some degree, even if I can’t bare my fangs.”

“I remember you being quite disheartened on our flight to Xivioth,” Saketa said. “After your brutal experiences.”

Vanaka’s next smile seemed to be at her own expense.

“I remember. But I also remember you being a great comfort. And as I said, I got the news about the Fourth Fleet. And I mulled it over, and the things you said. I honestly can’t remember the exact phrasing you used at that spaceport before we parted, but I remember the meaning. About giving out to the universe.”

“She talked about it with me,” Erine said to Saketa, in the soft voice of one who didn’t like to interject. “Repeatedly.”

“I did.”

Vanaka shared a look with her pet-friend-companion-servant.

“I stepped up my dancing lessons,” she then went on to Saketa. “I took Losan here into my embrace, and he trained me a bit in hand-to-hand combat.”

Now her smile was definitely self-conscious.

“I know I don’t compare to you in skill, but I can defend myself. And eventually I started travelling. And I got in touch with the Chainbreakers.”

“Ah,” Saketa said approvingly. “That is an old force for good.”

“They are,” Vanaka said. “I have been working with them as a Helper. That’s my semi-official designation.”

“The Wardens have a long history with the Chainbreakers,” Saketa told her.

“Yes, I understand that you do. Anyway, my gig dancing makes a good cover, and I ferry messages between cells and contacts when needed. But my big contribution is getting information out of people. The Vylak way.”

Her fangs visibly extended again, and the girl ran the tip of her tongue over each one.

“I get human trafficking operatives and their contacts to give away locations, leaders, plans… whatever they might have. And afterwards they don’t even know the info has been given away!”

Vanaka looked pleased with herself, and Saketa felt that she had every right to be. It was a good use of her people’s unique biology.

“I take it your comrades within the Chainbreakers don’t know how you go about it?”

“Oh, no no no,” Vanaka assured her. “I am quite the mystery. But my information has proven reliable time and time again. I think rumour has spread that I have some sort of magic on my side.”

Her recollections shifted into something more unpleasant.

“I took part in a raid on Gorono. That’s not what I am about, but circumstances… well, they did what circumstances do, and I had to go along. We hit a slaver hideout outside of a city, and rescued the people they’d been snatching, before they could be shipped off-world. It was…”

Saketa noticed Erine giving Vanaka’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

“It was ugly. Both the violence and… and actually seeing the people being kept in chains, crammed together, filthy, abused and terrified. I didn’t kill anyone myself. I don’t ever want to.”

Vanaka looked down on her free hand and squeezed it into a tight fist. Saketa thought of the immense strength hiding in that slim body.

“But it turns out I can break people really easily. Of course I already knew that. We’re taught to be careful with regular people. It is hammered into us as puberty hits. But I’d never actually hurt anyone before.”

She opened her hand.

“I had to do it again, not that long ago. Again, it was a matter of circumstances and time. I helped bust up another operation and rescue more people. But… I really do prefer just getting information. I suppose I could be doing more, but this way I am having some positive effect on the universe around me. I am making some difference.”

“You are making an entire universe of difference,” Saketa told her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax further into the seat. “To the people who get rescued from the worst kind of abuse imaginable. Their entire universe has been saved.”

She opened her eyes.

“You have done very well with yourself,” she told the Vylak, with a softness in her own voice. “Congratulations.”

Vanaka was moved, and just basked in the words for a few seconds. Saketa was somewhat surprised at herself, and found herself doing some basking of her own for Vanaka’s sake.

“Thank you,” the girl then said. “But none of this would have happened without you. If you hadn’t gotten me to safety, and if you hadn’t showed me… if you hadn’t set an example. I really don’t think I would have been motivated to go out and get active like this otherwise.”

Saketa turned her head to gaze out the window, at the city as it passed by.

“I am glad you feel that way.”

Her brain sought some way to dismiss all that, but didn’t find one that she could put her heart into, so the car interior just fell into silence for a little bit. Saketa heard Vanaka shimmy into some more clothes, but that was it.

Eventually the girl cleared her throat.

“But, really though, what are you up to here?”

Saketa turned to face her, glad for a shift in subject matter, away from the past and her own worth.

“Well, your culture is all about secrecy,” Saketa said. “I might as well share this with you. I am hunting the man I believe brought down the Brankon, and apparently that Purist cell is my next lead.”

“I get the impression that there is more to it than that.”

“There is,” Saketa told her. “Wardens are not the only ones with power. This man has it too. He has it in great quantities, and he has lesser followers to aid him.”

“And… these people brought down a large battleship?”

“He did, it seems. All by himself.”

She made sure her tone and gaze got across the seriousness behind her words. It seemed to work, and Vanaka took both in for a few breaths. Perhaps she was thinking back to the feats she’d seen Saketa perform.

“Can you take him on?” the Vylak then asked.

“I will know when I make the attempt,” Saketa replied.

“That is… that is not a reassuring answer,” Vanaka said as her eyes widened.

“This is not a reassuring situation.”

“And… and can’t you call in other Wardens to help you out?”

“Kalero is a long way off,” Saketa told her. “And when away from home, Wardens stay mobile. I would have no idea how to contact one, even if…”

“Even if what?”

Saketa bit her teeth together.

“Never mind, Vanaka. Look, there is a very dangerous man loose on this planet, and he is doing his part to tip the scales of this new war. Like you and I did with the Fourth Fleet, only more directly. Moreover, he…”

Her fists clenched. There was yet another inner flare-up, unworthy of her. She pushed it down and pumped her fist a little, before continuing in a controlled voice.

“Moreover, he has a lot to answer for. They all do.”

Vanaka looked worried, and her next words didn’t surprise.

“I want to help.”

“You have helped.”

“I want to help more,” the girl insisted firmly.

Saketa sighed.

“Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough about how dangerous this is.”

“All the more reason to accept help, then,” Vanaka told her.

“I thought you dislike violence.”

“I do, but I’ve discovered that my conscience won’t always let me abstain. And there’s Losan. He goes with me into danger. So that’s two people you’re getting. And, well, I mostly help in less direct ways, anyway. Do you… do you have an actual plan? Do you know anything about this place you’re heading into?”

“I do not,” Saketa had to admit, much as it frustrated her.

“Do those people you are working with?”

“I don’t know.”

Saketa held the comm in her hand and looked at it.

“Look… let’s sit down somewhere more comfortable than a rent car,” Vanaka suggested. “Do you have an appetite? I go into a performance with a lightweight stomach.”

“I could eat.”

“Losan, how long until we arrive in that neighbourhood?” Vanaka asked her ansoti.

“Traffic is low, so about twenty minutes,” he replied.

“Find an eatery that will be open at this time, somewhere at the edge of it.”

She faced Saketa again.

“Are you going to call those people?”