The ship’s commander was a Hogloo of impressive size, even among his species. He had no throne or command seat; he simply stood, connected to the ship by strange, thick, moving wires. Other Hogloos were present but did not care about the visitors, consulting computers and other databases, or maintaining their weapons. There was no guard to speak of; the commander could defend himself without problem.
The guide of the small group saluted by pointing his two closed fists in the direction of the leader. This gesture could have seemed aggressive, reminiscent of a boxer getting into position, but it was not in the least. When they fought with bare hands, the Hogloos positioned their hands flat and solidified their claws, which extended to the inside of their forearm. A closed fist would be a less dangerous and therefore less aggressive posture for them.
The Hogloos spoke in their language, but without a translator, Sava did not understand anything. Libre crossed his arms with a pompous air and saluted the leader. Perhaps this was a diplomatic protocol used by the Homtests towards their hereditary enemy? Neither aggressive nor submissive?
“Nice to meet you,” he said, “Transport Captain Erdagin.”
“So,” the latter replied in administered, “you are a Homtest? Much less impressive than the legends you spread about yourself.”
“Of course: our species is neither the smartest nor the strongest, but we are the ones who will win in the end.”
“Eh! Eh! Eh! Even though your own schemes are starting to turn against your people, you are still so arrogant? Fine. I have seen enough of you: you can return to your ship. You will be notified when we reach our destination.”
And, without further ado, they turned on their heels while the ship's captain returned to his duties.
“That was... strange,” Sava said, “what did he want? And what did he mean by the Homtests' schemes turning against us?”
“Nothing important. We are little more than a passing curiosity to him. He probably intended to be insulting by half-heartedly mentioning the Administration's capture of Homeria a few years ago.”
The Ham did not insist further, sensing that despite his apparent calm, Libre was both angry and deep in thought. By the time they got back to the ship, his bad mood seemed to have vanished.
Once back, the four of them headed to the common room. Xini, who had remained calm the entire trip, sat peacefully apart, visibly bored by his idleness. As the two Homs sat down, the Hogloo remained standing, towering over them even more with his tall stature.
“Well,” he said, “these formalities being over, we can finally discuss business.”
“On that subject, asked Domeria, what’s your name?”
“Oh, Lhom didn't inform you? My name is Thuyskr.”
“Does each Hogloo have a unique name?”
“Of course not. For Zoghoze, for example, there are about ten occurrences of Hogloo mercenaries with that name, currently deployed in your space... We can find the one you are looking for by the place where he was sent... But, in this case, there is only one master geneticist of that name in the universe. This sub-caste is particularly rare among our people, enough so that they arrange to have different names among themselves.”
By “sub-caste”, the Hogloo did not mean anything pejorative. The Master Geneticists were a special subdivision of the military caste that could occasionally interact with their counterparts in the civilian caste, making them a very special category of Hogloo society. While each Hogloo had superior genetic knowledge to most PhD students in the Administration, the Master Geneticists were renowned for their ability to modify biological matter at will, making them among the most feared Hogloos in the universe.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“So,” Lhom asked, “did you find out where he was? Is he currently in Hogloo space?”
“I can't answer the second question, but as for the first, why are you asking me when I've given you the answer?”
“Knowing who he is doesn't mean you know where he is.”
“That's true... Basically, I can even tell you: he's not in Hogloo space, according to the latest news. But, to determine if you have the right to meet him, or if we can give you some information about his contracts, you will have to speak with one of our leaders, on our territory.”
“So that you can kill us easily, if need be?”
“Yes. On that subject, you should probably use this time of travel to make sure you are in good standing with the divine, if you believe in anything, or to think seriously about what happens after death, while you have the time.”
The Hogloo society attached great importance to the question of death, to the point of having a scientific discipline entirely dedicated to this subject, the name roughly translated as “deathology”[1].
While Hom society tended to strictly separate religion and science, with the exception of some Homtest factions, the Hogloos made no distinction. Their society was highly religiously pluralistic, and their members often debated, usually peacefully, their opposing views, placing great importance on the study of viewpoints and the search for truth, easily switching from metaphysical to scientific subjects and vice versa. Before a duel, or the elimination of an enemy foreign to their species, the Hogloos traditionally allowed a time of meditation where both opposing groups could prepare for their deaths. There was atheist Hogloos, but they too reflected deeply on the nature of death, seeking to ascertain the reality of their point of view and debating with those who held opposing views.
The Hogloos were a strange people: warriors, scientists, and religious all at once; adherents of total freedom of expression and belief in theory, but limited by their warrior code of honor and the need to protect their vision of society first. Or at least, that was how their warrior caste was: there was no clear idea of how their civilian caste worked.
Not wanting to think about the question of death in the presence of a dangerous criminal and a monster capable of killing everyone present in less than a minute, Sava decided to take the conversation in another direction:
“I'm quite surprised to find a Hogloo transport ship here. What kind of trade do you have within the Administration?”
“This ship is known as a transport, but it could just as well be one of our mobile fortresses... But, yes, it is currently used as a transport. Let's say that... one of our civilian planets has expressed the wish to begin trading goods with the outside world. So, it is up to us, soldiers, to transport the goods and bring back those obtained.”
“What goods can you offer that might interest the Administration? And what might interest you from us?”
“We have been trading with you for a long time. Weapons, fuels, raw materials, chemicals... These things are regularly exchanged even though we are enemies. As for our civilians... This desire to trade is quite recent and comes from a small group of planets. They want to obtain certain manufactured objects and tools, which we do not produce. In exchange, they sell you agricultural resources from varieties not in your databases.”
The Hogloo spoke bluntly: there were probably no secrets to be unearthed from this commercial exchange... If it were not for the fact that it also allowed illegal transport of illegal immigrants, it must also be used to pick up and drop off secret agents.
Her head spinning a little, she leaned back in the sofa. Lhom, who had been studying the conversation without intervening until now, took over and discussed with the Hogloo some technical details, such as payment and the best ways to avoid getting killed for a wrong word.
Thuyskr then left them and they remained confined in the shuttle for several days. Of course, with the exception of the prisoner, they were free to go out. However, the idea of exploring this hostile ship managed to stifle even the sense of adventure that Sava had detected in Libre's character.
Xini had been assigned to a room, previously devoid of any means of accessing electronics, but spent most of her time at her post, reading the data that was transferred there.
As the large ship moved slowly, taking a handful of hours between each jump from one planet to another or from one galaxy to another, stopping half of that time to exchange its cargo, Sava was getting a little bored.
She finally decided to occupy herself by exploring the different rooms. Only the technical rooms, the armory, the hangar and the captain's cabin were inaccessible to her. She already knew the other bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen, not to mention the common room.
----------------------------------------
[1] The actual name of the science of the study of death is “Thanatology”, but the use of “deathology” is a way of more clearly designating the studies carried out by the Hogloos. Since they never share their science, it can be assumed that there is nothing in common between thanatology and deathology...