There was nothing they could do except wait.
They had returned to those plains as soon as they got the distress signal, but by then, it was already too late. At least for some of them. Others were relishing this new opportunity.
Mr. Biggins felt elated where he stood, gazing down into the dark crater before him. Night had fallen, and only a handful of searchlights illuminated their surroundings — dead insects, rising through the swaying grass like giant, shiny boulders; two smoldering drills, metal flared open from within by the explosions that had torn them apart; and a leaderless company of distraught Ruskels, in the middle of being lectured by Drudgery about the preservation of nature.
“My understanding was,” the diplomat calmly began, taking his time to enjoy every syllable. I can already taste my swift departure from this boorish world, “that this planet was meant to be harmless. A failure to report accurate data would terminate your rights to this claim, Mr. Felt. Effective immediately. You realize that, right?”
“There was nothing in our initial survey to indicate danger,” the young prospector reluctantly responded.
Now, he threw a brief glance towards the side where the Slobber Knuckles stood in a tight-knit cluster. Jenna was nearby, but out of earshot. He’d only just managed to keep her from heading down there herself, even if he, too, wished to know what had gone wrong.
“My employees would have reported it to me, was there any need for worry. This was an unforeseen anomaly. A workplace accident, if you may, that I’ll be sure to submit the appropriate papers for.”
“A workplace accident?” Mr. Biggins repeated, raising his eyebrows in a most condescending manner. “We have been explicitly warned from hunting the wildlife on this planet by its sentient natives, yet this is the scene you show my while hoping to brush it off as an ‘accident’. Your activity here could upset an entire ecosystem. As an arbiter of peace and coexistence across the galaxy, it is my duty to end this exploitation here and now.”
Mikayes jaw stiffened. “The aftereffects of this are yet to be seen and, as you very well know, we did not receive the Migmians warning until late in the evening, by which we had already started drilling. From here on out, however, you can be sure that we will proceed with utmost caution.”
“You should have done that from the start, Mr. Felt.” The diplomat snorted. “We are dealing with very precious lives here. No price can be set upon such things. No, as the Triumvirate’s representative, I fear that I will simply have to—”
There was reluctance in that movement as Mikayes reached inside his pocket – a hand forced to play a card that it would rather have kept hidden.
“I believe it is in both of our best interest that our mining operations here on Migur-11 continue, Mr. Biggins,” Mikayes said, the diplomat having frozen in place where he gazed down upon the stone circlet that lay there in the young prospector’s open palm. “From what I have gathered, your superiors are actively searching for items such as this one.
“As long as these sonars go up, there is no telling what we might find beneath this planet’s crust. So, if you just leave my crew’s safety to me, I’m sure you’ll find that there is a bigger picture here that you might want to consider.”
𐫰 𐫰 𐫰
Fire coursed through my veins as I snapped awake within that dark underground, a few scarce lights nearly blinding me as I rolled over upon the stone floor, coughing up blood. My entire face was sticky with the crimson liquid, and it was steadily pouring out of my every orifice – eyes, nose, and ears.
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It was as if my body suddenly contained too much of the stuff, unable to contain it all.
Wheezing for air, fists tight and jaw clenched as I pushed back against the burning needles that prickled my skin, my blood-shot eyes were most likely not all that friendly as I turned to glare at the ragged Ruskel standing over me.
He recoiled a bit, at least, fumbling and dropping the fifth vial of boot legged STIM he must’ve pumped my body full of. My last one. Never meant to be taken in greater doses than two a day.
Now, the drugs were making me feel more alive than ever and on the verge of breaking down at the same time. It was as if someone had injected a hundred cups of coffee straight into my veins, scalding hot and without sugar.
At this point, I couldn’t even tell if it was the STIM, my injuries, or the anger itself that left me struggling for words as I stared at the ginger Ruskel. He was beaten up, too. Hair stripy, armor cracked, and caked with sweat and blood.
Still, I would’ve loved to give him a good kick as he huffed, “Saved your life, didn’t I? Whatchu glaring for?”
After you fucked off to save your own skin, leaving me behind, you mean? I nearly groused – probably would have, if my tongue hadn’t felt so thick within my mouth.
In the end, I just reluctantly grabbed the hand that the short man held out towards me. With that initial fire settling down, leaving only prickly embers to wander through my body, I was starting to realize the full extent of my current condition.
Any normal human would long since have turned to mushy shreds by now, and I wasn’t all that better off. Without Arus’ hand to pull me to my feet, I might never have stood up again.
In many ways, the Ruskel had, most likely, saved my life. Without him, waking up again would not have been any guarantee, nor would getting out from under that massive insect looming next to us have been.
“What happened here?” I asked as I hazily took in the carnage of our surroundings, illuminated beneath whatever few lights were still flickering weakly upon the Ruskel’s armor.
“This isn’t your work, human-boy?” the man huffed back. I had half expected the response, not that it put me at ease.
Deep breaths in, deep breaths out…
Glancing down at my UI, I could still feel that pounding presence resting over my mind. It had never disappeared, just become less prevalent between the STIM burning through my veins and an aching body. The questions were still there, however, along with a lingering uncertainty, ‘What are you trying to turn me into? Is it the world you wish me to save, or something else entirely…?
This lie I had been living reached farther than just the Stratos Apolytos. Maybe, for these past six months, I had been wrong in looking for answers in all the wrong places.
𐫰 𐫰 𐫰
Mr. Biggins slowly turned the stone circlet between his fingers, contemplating life’s temptations.
The moment he saw the uncultured Migmian, he had thought his glorious mission on this planet to be moot – that his precious time had thoroughly been wasted. Now, however, he realized that the stars might simply have an even greater destiny in store for him.
That lowly, half-breed merchant clearly didn’t understand the real value of the item he’d so readily given away – worth far more than some measly mining rights. If it really was what he claimed, of course.
Even Mr. Biggins himself only knew the rumors about what had been uncovered some year ago, during those initial surveys of this Great Expansion. That something had been uncovered.
Those in the know refused to speak of it, but still, when they probed form more of whatever they had found, word had inevitably began to spread. Artifacts, some called them, left here by an ancient alien race.
Raising that circlet towards the lights of his office, Mr. Biggins couldn’t help but feel that it was just a piece of stone with some engravings carved into it. It worried him.
If he cried wolf needlessly, pulling the attention of dangerous people with nothing to show for it, it would not just be his titles that would be forfeit.
Then again, if someone else was to report this finding before him, his star-bound destiny might fall into someone else’s hands. He was the one who deserved the glory of this discovery, and if this circlet wasn’t one of those Artifacts, well, it was that half breed merchant who had deceived him.
A smile began to play upon his lips.
Indeed, it was a foolproof plan. As long as he lent his guard to the efforts, getting those sonars up couldn’t take more than a day. Subsequently, by the time the response to his report came, he would already be fully prepared to present his findings to some of the empire’s most powerful people.
It would be perfect.
Humming to himself, Mr. Biggins began constructing his message with great care and deliberation. Some things were simply meant to take its time.
He would soon be returning to the main worlds as a high-councilor or senator. He couldn’t let his future status be tarnished by a poor choice of words.
Truly, the stars had been watching over him lately, rewarding him for all his hard work. First, his impeccable merits had gained him the attention of the Sin’vitri family, and now this. What was there to be hesitant about? He was simply blessed.