Chapter 13: An Old Friend

After a while the watching crowd started to break up, and Paulie himself was grateful for the growing quiet. His hands had begun to ache from the gun’s powerful recoil and his chest and shoulders were sore from wearing the heavy composite armour. He was tired and ready for bed, but still, he was happier than he had been in longer than he could well remember.

He took a minute to replace his weapon in the case and then gave the electron pistol to Mack who holstered the electronic fusion gun and gestured towards the far side of the room.

Mack led Paulie and Jakiikii back through the range checkpoint where they handed their sound dampeners back to a grumpy looking Mee’dri, the vishu’uie giving them a somewhat gruff once over as she opened the gate to let them pass. Paulie just gave her a cheerful wave and was rewarded with her breaking into the tiniest of smiles. Her large mouth didn’t move, but the six tentacles that ringed it twitched ever so slightly into an upright posture indicating a smile. He nodded to himself as they walked away, he knew she was putting on an act and he was determined to break through the woman’s shell eventually.

He had the idea that most people were generally good natured, whether they were evolved on Earth or not. But even he had to admit that his generally live-and-let-live nature was becoming strained by the terrible events of the last few weeks. Though things were generally looking better by the day as Mack took him under his proverbial wing.

“Damn bad karma..” Paulie muttered under his breath, the action causing Jakiikii to nudge him gently.

He glanced at the termaxxi as they exited the large room. “Are you alright?” She seemed concerned, her bright orange eyes fixated on his own as they tracked every tiny movement on his face. Her scrutiny did little to deter him now, he had begun to grow used to the intensity with which she seemed to view the world around her. A shiver passed through his spine, maybe not entirely used to it actually. Paulie just nodded silently in response.

Mack led them around a series of corners before taking them to one of the side arming chambers. He dug around in the outgoing bin and then made a triumphant noise before he tossed Paulie a set of holsters that should attach to his belt and said, “Here, try these on. I believe that Ticcik Made the red one special for your.. hand cannon.” Mack shook his head a little as his face split in a toothy grin.

Paulie nodded his thanks, trying on first the one and then the other. They slipped over his belt just fine and after a second of adjusting his greatcoat, he was holstered up and ready to go. Jakiikii handed him a standard issue electron pistol, the weapon slipping into the holster at his belt like a glove. The weapon clicked into place with a slight hum as it seemed to power off.

“Huh, that’s handy I suppose.” Paulie muttered mostly to himself as he did it.

He started to put the large revolver into its holster as Jakiikii snorted. “It’s so people don’t shoot themselves in the leg anymore.

He shook his head and shot a look at Mack, the miriam’s long neck bent as he nodded. The long sensory spines that ran along the back of his neck from the base of his small skull chattered at the motion. “Yes. We did seem to have some problems with that when the new model came out years ago. So they instigated a recall, but the problem had already bred a certain distrust so they made lockdown holsters. The only problem now is that it takes the gun a few moments to fully power on before you can use it.”

Paulie shook his head. “See, that is why electronics are never going to fully replace good old fashioned analog tech. I have seen the amount of analog technology scattered around this place, so why is that not the same with your weapons?” He was a little confused by the strange nature of the Great Galactic Intercession. That awkward duality of old and new tech.

Mack cocked his head as they walked out of the small room and down the hall again. “What do you mean? What is odd? What is strange about the nature of our technology, is it not advanced enough by your standards or something?” The man chuckled as he said it, the slight wheeze of his laugh punctuating the humor of his accusation.

Paulie raised a single eyebrow, his gaze passing over the miriam detective and then Jakiikii who was on his other side. He shrugged, “I don’t know? The fact that you have holographic projectors but also vacuum tube TVs, some manner of hard-light techno babble magic mixed with old cold-war era analog tech kind of just seems strange to me.”

Jakiikii nudged him with an elbow. “Well, I didn’t understand everything you just said, but I think I get your point. I suppose the age-old saying ‘If it still works then keep it working’ seems to fit here.”

Paulie perked up. “Oh, that sounds like a saying from Earth. ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’!” He laughed and Jakiikii chuckled in response.

Mack led them out into a larger room bounded by small cubicle-like office space as he noted, “I am glad your people seem to think the same way. It is one of the biggest convincing factors to why I wanted you as an aide. You struck me as a real all-four-feet-on-the-ground type of person, grounded I suppose you could say.” Paulie ducked his head slightly, accepting the compliment without utterance.

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Jakiikii and Mack led him through the inner bowels of the huge complex quickly, before he knew it they had left the cramped interior cells of the structure and exited into a much more open atrium-like space. The high ceiling was glass that showed the deep teal sky, the shadowed crescent of Trellan IX peeked just above the tops of the nearby buildings as they walked quickly through the blue and white tiled chamber.

At the end of the long room was a large set of glass doors, metal detecting equipment and other sensors that made up the main entrance to the complex. It was at the front desk that Mack stopped and tapped the small brass clinker to get the on-duty officer’s attention.

The being that walked their way was tall for an alien, almost as tall as Paulie himself. Their rose colored skin and fiery ginger hair gave them a strangely sinister appearance. The two swept-back horns that rose from their skull and blood-red shimmering irises completed the ensemble with the long tufted tail that trailed from the base of their spine made them look disturbingly similar to some manner of demon or succubine entity from ancient lore.

But they were an alien, and their strangely familiar appearance must have surely been a simple coincidence.

The tall alien woman approached, he had seen her a few times before, but always at a distance. Never this close. And she was gruesome to look at.

Her face was marred by scars, the largest of which was a savage cut that began under the left side of her mouth and twisted around her neck to disappear under her uniform near her right shoulder. As if that wasn’t enough, the perpetual frown that the scar caused only seemed to fit her general demeanour as she stalked towards them with all the grace of a jaguar. Her exposed skin was splotchy with the healed patina of severe radiation burns and the soft whirring of cybernetics could be heard from under her clean pressed uniform, though Paulie could not tell where exactly it was coming from.

As she reached Mack’s position, the severe looking alien nodded. Their voice a horrible rasping croak like that of a forty-year smoker, “Hello Lue.” Mack’s normally flat features crinkled into a smile as he cracked a sharp toothed grin. He nodded to the haggard looking woman as she glanced over towards Paulie.

She frowned a little more, though it was hard to tell, the faint lines of wrinkles on her smooth skinned forehead seemed to indicate at least some measure of curiosity at his appearance.

Jakiikii seemed wary of the woman he noticed, not afraid like she seemed to be of others. But instead simply cautious, the woman may be dangerous. Paulie wasn’t familiar with her race, but she seemed to have been around the block and seen it all. At least judging from her somewhat rumpled and battered outer appearance, he might have guessed she had seen more straight up combat than most of the other officers he had met before.

Mack was the next to speak, his tone formal but much warmer than Paulie might have otherwise expected. “Hello Aril, it is good to see you. I need to process a requisition for a personal carry license. Security license, that is.” He added.

The way the woman nodded, her eyes lingering on the miriam detective, gave Paulie the distinct impression that the two knew each other well. And in more than a strictly professional capacity at that. He felt Jakiikii jab him in the ribs lightly as she leaned close to him.

One of the termaxxi’s smaller third pair of arms gripped the side of his greatcoat as he leaned his head down to be closer to her level. She whispered, “Would you believe me if I told you that they used to be an item?” She spoke slowly, confirming his previous suspicions.

Paulie cracked a wide smile and nodded. He whispered back, “Yes. I noticed the way they were talking to each other immediately. How long was that going on I wonder?” He speculated aloud.

To his mild surprise, Jakiikii answered. “Well, they were seeing each other in a friendly capacity for several years before things got more heated. But I think they knew each other long before that, since childhood potentially. She is in fact the only one whom I know to call him Lue.”

By now their conspiratorial whisperings had attracted the attention of both Mack and Sergeant Aril, the tall, horned woman giving Jakiikii a friendly smile. He noticed that the pink-skinned woman’s teeth were odd. He didn’t seem to have any incisors or canines at all, instead all of her visible teeth looked like some type of grinding molars. Her kind were herbivores perhaps?

He jerked slightly as Jakiikii nudged him again and he realised he had been asked a question. Clearing his throat, he spoke apologetically. “I am sorry, my mind was wandering. Can you please repeat that?

Sergeant Aril gave a knowing look to Mack and asked again, this time a little slower as if she were talking to a dense child. “Do you know the weapon carry regulations well enough to repeat them should you be asked?” Paulie nodded, opening his mouth to speak. But she just barreled right on, that raspy, almost buzzing voice denoting the damage she must have taken to her vocal chords when she had gotten her neck injury. “Okay, good enough for me. If Lue trusts you enough to handle his prodigy then you must be something special yourself.”

He wasn’t quite sure what the grizzled alien meant, but noticed that Jakiikii’s skin flashed that same pale white as she heard it. He wondered if there was something he was missing, but before he had the chance to explore it any further, the pink skinned alien reached out and handed him a small sapphire colored lasercard.

He grabbed it and then jerked again as Sergeant Aril moved like lightning to grip his wrist. He pulled back sharply and was at once shocked when her grip didn’t break. In fact her strength was incredible, like an iron vice holding him in place. “I, uh.. sorry?” He muttered, a little confused.

Mack took a step closer and placed a hand on Sergeant Aril’s hand, “Oh let him go Ari. No need to intimidate the poor man.”

Sergeant Aril slowly loosened her grip with an electronic whirring sound allowing Paulie to pull his hand free. He did so, rubbing his sore wrist as the alien officer looked slowly at Mack and blinked her dark purple eyes at the man. “Been a while since you called me that, Lue. You free anytime soon by the way?”

Mack glanced back at Paulie and Jakiikii and seemed to want to nod his head, but he stopped. “N-no. Not anytime soon, I have the raid to work on, then the aftermath. You know that.”

She nodded at Macka as Paulie watched, one hand reaching up to rub the bottom of her square chin right along the ragged scar line. “Yes, so kind of you to bring me in as one of the wing-leads. I am sure it has nothing to do with our little..”

Mack cut her off with a frantic wave of his hand as he glanced at Paulie and Jakiikii. “Eyhh.. for Zalc’s sake woman! Not the time nor the place for that. I brought you in because of your experience and you know that. Now, are we good to move out?” He didn’t exactly seem upset to Paulie’s eyes, but neither was he entirely on board with whatever game the sly woman was playing with him.

Sergeant Aril leaned back into the desk behind herself, pushing out her chest as she seemed to pout lightly. “Oh alright. We will talk later though, count on it. You are free to go, all the paperwork is in order.” Mack nodded and turned to go, but was stopped as the woman once more moved with a speed that surprised Paulie. She grabbed the lapels of Mack’s greatcoat and whispered something into the man’s sensory spines that caused his large grey eyes to widen.

As she released him he smiled and stuttered, “Oh.. y-yes. I can-n do that, but not tonight I-I really must be going” As they walked away Paulie couldn't help but notice the man’s flustered movements and hear the strangely tinkling laughter of the strange alien from behind them. So at odds with the roughness of her voice.

Jakiikii seemed to mull it over and then asked, “What was that about?”

Mack shook his head, the sensory quills that ran down the back of his long neck chattering as he answered a little too quickly. “Nothing, don’t worry. We need to get the two of you back home. Big day tomorrow.” And with that he rushed through the checkpoint with a quick nod to the alien running it.

Jakiikii gave Paulie a knowing look and he chuckled before the two of them followed the other man through the doors and out into the night.