Arriving in one of the vast hangars of the enemy flagship, Sava had to fight with words against the guards on site who demanded that she release the princess and lay down all her weapons.
Talking with the princes who accompanied the troop, she reached an acceptable compromise: the deactivation of all her weapons except for a retractable blade made of impure stabilizium. With this weapon alone, she could not threaten the queen's life, while being able to decapitate the princess at any time, thus preserving her hostage.
The latter did not seem in the least bit bothered by the situation, probably convinced that she was in no danger. This was perhaps true: if she had to die, Sava did not see the point in pettily taking the little girl with her to the grave... but fortunately the Zcarbbs knew nothing of her state of mind.
The guards escorted her through a labyrinth of amber tunnels. The Zcarbbs' technology was mainly based on this type of material that they were able to shape and transform, giving it a resistance superior to neo-steel. Inside the more or less transparent surface of the ship's walls, gold wires could be seen transmitting electricity through the aircraft. The whole thing was very bright and sometimes hurt the eyes, but fortunately most of the corridors were made of a darker amber on which Sava could focus her vision.
She finally entered a large room, previously closed by two massive doors manually operated by about fifty workers. The throne room... or also the laying room? The queen was lying in the center on a massive bed that seemed to be made of a metal base covered with cushions. There were half a hundred workers under the structure who supported her and allowed the queen to move. Despite their mastery of antigravity, this system of movement was preferred for an unknown reason.
The queen was a large Zcarbb, with a black shell streaked with the same yellow stripes as Ilenayana, but all over her body and not just on her abdomen. The creature was massive and it was incredible to think that the little princess that Sava was carrying in her arms could one day occupy such a space. According to the agent's knowledge, this queen must have been over a century old. But she was still producing eggs at a slow but regular rate, which were collected from the back of her body by the nurse workers who were busy in the room. There were piles of eggs everywhere, probably organized but in an incomprehensible way. White larvae were also crawling in all corners, almost blind and bumping into every obstacle under the watchful eyes of the workers taking care of them.
General Raez-Golu, with whom she had spoken on the planet, was next to the queen, as were several princesses and princes of various ages. A few physical screens, made of amber, floated in the air and showed both images of Urus where the war remained stopped, but also diffused curious smells that filled the room. The little princess in her arms waved her arms happily while mumbling something in her language.
“Queen Zocco-tar-Julo of the Ikomoro hive, representative of the defense alliance,” the general announced, “now release the princess!”
And now? Sava wondered what she could say and do. Letting the princess go would sign her death warrant, but did she have any other options than death? Could she really negotiate with such foreign creatures?
The queen sighed and said something in the Zcarbb language. Due to the electronic countermeasures in place in the room, Sava’s translator was unable to help her. Even in normal times, the Zcarbb language was difficult to translate due to its pheromone components… If she had had a neural chip implanted, for example a secure model like the SECURA-02, she would certainly have been able to understand these words and the conversations that followed.
Clearly reluctantly, the Zcarbb nobles and some of the soldiers withdrew. The queen advanced towards Sava, or rather her bearers made her advance. She dominated the Ham with her immense size, glaring at her. The remaining soldiers held the “guest” at gunpoint with unknown weapons, but certainly capable of long-range shooting. Then the queen spoke:
“Release my little Ilenayana and I promise you that your death will be painless. Then we will make your cursed Administration pay for its betrayals!”
“We have nothing to do with this kidnapping! You should rather thank me, in fact. It was I who snatched your daughter from the pirates who had kidnapped her! I came all this way here to bring her back to you, and you want to kill me?”
The queen had a curious expression. But, with her eight open eyes and the features of her face that were much further from those of a humanoid than those of her princesses, it was difficult to guess what she was thinking.
“Can you put me down?”
The Ham's attention turned to the little Zcarbb. She seemed to want to go see her mother.
“Sorry Ilenayana, but I can't let you go now: otherwise, your mother will kill me without even listening to me.”
“Why? You're Good! Well, maybe: you still didn't want me to eat you and you made me fall, and my back hurt and then I had to wait a long time before eating...”
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Sava's breathing quickened as her worry grew. She looked back at the queen but couldn't make out her expression. Was she... smiling? Or maybe it was a sort of smirk... but an amused smirk?
“Oh, it seems like my daughter likes you... Fine, I promise you that whatever your involvement in this matter, you'll be able to leave here alive. Now let her down.”
“You think I'm going to believe the words of a Zcarbb? With all due respect, we know you don't keep your promises.”
“That's true: promises made to non-Zcarbbs are worthless. But I'm telling the truth. You intrigue me. Why would an agent of this damned administration come here, to give me back my daughter that you kidnapped? I can't understand... What would you gain from it? Nothing. There’s no way you’d even hope to get out of here alive, except by my unfathomable will. Let my daughter go where she wants and I’ll listen to you.”
The little girl squirmed in her arms, clearly dying to stretch her legs. Apprehensively, Sava lowered her to the ground. Her instincts kept screaming “Idiot!” and her logic screamed it twice as loudly.
Ilenayana immediately ran to her mother, babbling something incomprehensible. The tall figure lowered its immense torso and extended its hands, lifting the little girl up to allow her to cling to her. The princess was delighted. The Zcarbbs guards too. Although their expressions were harder to decipher than the queen’s, Sava could clearly read: “Here it is: now we can slaughter her!”
Only the queen’s will seemed to hold these monsters back. She seemed pleased to be in a position of strength, her child safe. However, female Zcarbbs were known to be extremely curious, so Sava hoped the queen would be interested in her story now that she no longer had a source of worry.
“Tell me.”
And Sava told her. She spoke, describing her journey from the dictator Hom, but omitting the suspicions he had expressed, up to the present moment. The queen listened, seeming fascinated by the story, then spoke:
“So, you didn’t know that your Administration was behind this kidnapping?”
“Why… Why do you suspect that? It doesn’t make any sense? Why would the Administration kidnap one of your princesses at the risk of starting this war? And then, were you going to set every planet in this galaxy on fire to find her? Why? It’s not in the Zcarbbs’ habits to cause such carnage!”
“Silence!”
The Ham cowered before the powerful creature's stentorian voice. That was it: she was going to die...
“Tsss... Do I need to justify myself to a monster that isn't even Zcarbb? No!... But I'm willing to answer you, out of gratitude. I don't accept that your cursed Administration kidnaps my precious children from within our territories! And if they do it again, I'll tear to pieces anyone who gets in my way to find them, as long as my resources allow me to! We have the means to find a princess's trail, using the uniqueness of her pheromones... but you know it... Why, indeed, did you keep her in the galaxy that was accessible to me, even before we established the blockade? We found her trail here and there, without being able to locate her directly...”
The queen continued to speak in her own language, absorbed in her own thoughts. Sava then realized a detail: the Zcarbbs never used the universal translator to speak in administered, even though they had the technology. They must have learned their language and even spoke it perfectly... even their little princess...
“Uh...” said the queen, realizing that she was digressing, “to conclude, you brought my daughter back to us, even though those you serve were responsible for her kidnapping. I have no reason to reward you for that... But I think you are a Good person and I want to do something in your favor. You will live.”
“I want... I would also like your troops to stop their assaults and leave these worlds alone. I don't know why you insist on accusing the Administration of being responsible for this kidnapping, but all these people have done nothing...”
“Done nothing? They are part of the Administration: destroying them for the crimes of their alliance is normal, and even Good! However, I appreciate you for what you have done: I decide that my troops will withdraw for the time being to our current borders... But this is only temporary: a great war is being prepared to punish the Administration for all its crimes against the Zcarbbs... You know that... Perhaps you tried to push us into war before we were fully ready? No, if that were the case, your worlds would have been better defended... What can your queens' plans be? Ah, that's right: you don't have queens but (she grimaced with contempt) ‘elected representatives’, incapable of laying anything but laws... and perhaps other leaders too, but just as abnormal.”
A drop of sweat moistened her lip and Sava licked it mechanically. The temperature was rather mild, perhaps slightly warm, but nothing that justified the abundant sweat that wet her forehead. With that much stress, she would definitely discover white hairs the next time she looked in the mirror...
“So,” she dared to ask cautiously, “this war is over and you’re not going to start slaughtering people again?”
“I said what I said! Oh… Ah, I see what you’re trying to negotiate: you’re clever…”
Sava had no idea what the queen was thinking, but she seemed in a good mood so there probably wouldn’t be any problems, right?
“Yes, I won’t start blindly slaughtering your workers and production areas again. My anger made me overreact and I forgot that all these things will belong to the Zcarbbs in the future. When I get back on the warpath, I’ll conquer this planet normally… and the others too. But I’ll wait until the alliances are all ready to take action.”
It probably wasn’t possible to get better guarantees. Against all odds, Sava Domeria had managed to save this planet and stop a wave of attacks against this galaxy. Even if the future was full of the queen's dark promises, there would be no more such massacres and a period of peace would allow to prepare for the future war...
Strangely, despite this success, Sava had a hard time fully rejoicing. It was probably time to leave the place?
“I... thank you for your understanding queen... Zocco-tar-Julo... Now that these questions are settled, may I leave you and return to Urus?”
“No.” The agent shivered and the queen continued:
“You asked how I knew that your Administration was behind this crime. I will show you. Follow him.”
The queen pointed to a soldier who immediately began to walk towards a vast corridor leaving this room. Sava followed him and the queen's bearers allowed her to follow the same path as well.
A door opened automatically to let them pass into a new amber corridor with walls partially covered with metal plates and multiple strange machines...