Meno, Angie and Paba awkwardly stood staring at the three in front of them, the old man, Harold held out his hand with his broad smile beaming on his face. Meno thought that he looked familiar somehow, though, he also looked like a rather happy frog. His wispy hair and laugh lines made him look somewhat confused with what he was looking at as though not expecting it to be the three in front of him. Angie bumped Meno with her elbow in his back and whispered,

“The coin” Meno jerked and pulled the necklace from under his shirt and walked over to the old man, awkwardly handing it over with both hands and then bowing, still with his arms outstretched and quickly made his way back, suddenly wondering if Worrec had told him to hand the coin over or not. Had he just made a mistake there without thinking?

“Not smooth” whispered Paba not taking her eyes off the people in front of them.

“Ah,” said Harold holding the coin up and looking at it carefully, flipping it around in his hand, “Yes, all in order it seems. You are welcome here, and will be safe,” he said, each word seeming to be dragged out by him. There was a calmness to him like nothing was happening outside of this moment that needed any attention at all.

“Thank you so much,” Meno said, again bowing,

“Now…” he said looking at each of them, “Who are you?” the question floored them, but the old man just gave a curious look to each of them, he clearly meant the question, they had just not expected it.

“Ah,” each one of them said in some way, Meno started,

“Worrec sent us, he said to meet with you”

“Worrec, okay” he said contemplatively, Meno could almost feel the panic rising in Angie now, and he could tell that Paba was thinking what he was, ‘Damn you, Worrec’. “Well,” he said abruptly, gently clapping his hands together once, “We will take you to the Temple, you are now guests of the Traes. Follow me”

Meno noticed that the two guards flanking Harold seemed to be enjoying this each with a smirk that they were trying to hide. Now, Meno didn't know if the old man was messing with them, or if the guard just thought that this was funny because this is what he was like.

They followed the man and the two guards to a glider that had a mirror finish that was held just off of the platform, it was a work of art Meno thought, straight long lines only ever curving to sharpen into an arrowhead shape, it looked built for speed, though something that one should enjoy as it moved passed, it must have been at least forty foot long. Angie moved quickly to Meno’s side and whispered aggressively,

“He doesn't know Worrec?”

“I don’t know what’s happening, Angie” he said feeling as though this was somehow his fault, though logically knowing that he was just a passenger in this.

“This is typical, Worrec shit,” Paba muttered to herself, shaking her head side to side, she didn't bother to whisper, “Pretends like he has a plan and then throws you into hell”.

They made their way into the very, very comfortable glider that had squishy white seats and full, thick carpets. There didn't seem to be any windows from the outside, but when they got in Meno could see the outside through tinted windows, it was amazing, and it was cooler than it had been outside. They took their seats in the circular seating and the old man looked between the three of them and said,

“What are your names?” asked Harold as he took his seat and carefully looked at all of them, still smiling. Each of them just accepted that they would need to answer knowing that this was nothing like they had expected. They answered in turn, he nodded at each and remarked, ‘What a fun name’ when Paba, unfortunately, delivered hers with a usual level of sassiness. Though Harold didn't seem to mind, or notice.

“Good, good. You perhaps saw the statue of our beautiful Det’em as you entered?” he said as a genuine question to which they nodded as it would have been very difficult to miss the mountain-sized statue, “Then I will take you to your apartments, the Planetary head is very busy today, very busy so we will arrange a meeting for you at some point. We will ask that you do not stray far from your apartments for the time being” he said abruptly stopping in his sentence, then seeming to realise that he would need to add some more, “We have been informed of you coming here, and you will be under the protection of the Traes, meaning that nobody will know who you are, or what you are doing here, though, I myself do not know that either” he said with a beaming smile, as though delivering wonderful news. The three of them again, slipped into anxiety,

“The coin must mean something though?” Meno said looking pleadingly at the old man and the two guards, who after hearing this, did not seem to be worried at all,

“Yes,” he said in that long-winded way of his, acting as though this explained everything. “Here we are, below is the city of Det’em, the capital of Yeley” Meno looked out the window and felt all of his worries leave him even if just for the briefest of moments.

He saw the tall white buildings which in fact did have faded paint on them with bright colours, though it seemed some time since they were last painted. The buildings were tall, with great pillars and facades, the streets were made from stone and it had fountains and statues on almost every corner, the whole city was littered with trees, some climbing the walls of some buildings, others in the centre of streets with stones around them as though protected. Meno saw the people walking with brightly coloured cloth that flapped in the winds, he saw people coming together and laughing, eating and enjoying the warm sun of the day. Other gliders moved around them, some heading in the same direction as them, to the enormous statue of Det’em.

Meno looked up at her now as she towered over them, her hands dropping great waterfalls and her face obscured by the lightest of cloud cover, there was a rainbow around her.

Below Meno spotted a large group waving deep green flags as they stood before a podium with someone speaking animatedly. The group was cheering and throwing their fists into the air at the words. They seemed somehow in contrast to the rest of the people within the city of Det’em.

“Who are they?” Meno asked without thinking whether this question would be clever at the moment or not.

“Ah,” said Harold looking out of the window. Meno noticed that the two guards looks had soured upon seeing the group, “A reform group, led by a man named Grasci” he said nodding solemnly, “They are protesting some of the changes that Yeley has needed to make in its agricultural productions” he said continuing to nod, as though agreeing with himself. Meno noted that the man did not tell them not to worry about it at all, as he would have expected him to.

“We will be enjoying a festival in a few months time, the Suns Rising festival” continued Harold sitting back into his seat, “We will be painting the city in celebration of it, as we do every year bringing in the hot season”. It was already hotter than Meno had ever experienced, and he was so excited to be in a heat like this, though he had to admit, there was something nice about the cool air that was being moved around the glider's cabin. “Grasci has said that he will be making a public speech during the festival, it has quite a few people worked up in fact,” Meno decided not to press the matter as it seemed to agitate the guards slightly that Harold was even mentioning this to them. They sat in silence for a few moments until Angie said,

“Excuse me, um, Harold, but you said that we will be staying in the Temple, under the protection of the Traes family” he nodded though his eyes looked at the ceiling as though trying to recall whether or not he had said this,

“Yes, yes,” he said as though pulling on a long-lost memory,

“Is that usual for guests of the Traes?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” he said, beaming his smile again. Meno noticed the guards trying to hold back smiles again, the woman seemed to be more practised at this than the male guard. Meno looked at them with a questioning look, she merely shook her head side to side, and then nodded in a way to say, ‘It’s fine dont worry’, but this was maddening. Angie seemed to be going through the same existential crisis with the lack of real answers, and the purposefully vague answers, that while comforting to hear that they would be looked after, offered no real path or reason for it.

They sat in silence for the rest of the short trip, Paba who hadn't said anything seemed to be having a conversation with herself in her head as she was infrequently moving her mouth but not saying anything, and shaking her head from side to side with the occasional face being pulled, this did life Meno’s spirits a bit. He thought that she was almost, perfectly odd.

“This place is amazing,” Meno said looking out of the window on Angie's side, knowing that she was transfixed too, she nodded and exhaled through her nose, seeming to need to accept its beauty despite the frustration she currently felt with Harold. Below them they came to a massive circular courtyard outside the steps of the temple, bustling with people left and right. Stalls were set up on the outskirts of the plaza, and the same brightly coloured cloth was used as awnings to protect them from the heat.

“The Agora” said Harold looking down at it with a loving smile, seeing all of the people moving in and out, some pointing up at the ship as it came to rest at the temple steps behind some guards at the entrance to the temple. Meno couldn't wait to get outside and experience the city and look up at the magnificent temple and the statue of Det’em that was currently blocked from their view. “Not just yet,” said Harold holding his hand up, and the ship began to spin slowly, and then lower into the ground, Meno looked outside the window and saw that they were on a platform that was taking them below the floor, the people of the Agora still watching them and pointing at the ship. He realised now that the people could not see them, as the ship had a mirror finish on the outside of it. “We need to protect you, that means even from our people as well,” said the old man contemplatively. “We have gone to some lengths to ensure that you will not be seen”

“So that’s why we are being afforded the luxury of staying within the temple” Angie said to which she received a knowing nod from Harold, the most lucid thing he had done so far. The ship continued to fall into the ground until they were lowered into a large chamber, with a number of ships below it and a small crew that seemed to man the hanger. It was only once they had come to a full stop that Harold gently tapped his hands together again and told them that they could now depart.

Meno was slightly dampened by the fact that he couldn't explore the Agora, but was still interested in walking through the hanger and looked around, seeing enormous stone walls and more gliders that looked like the one that they had just come out of, the hanger had a taller ceiling than Meno would have imagined and thought that it must have meant that the temple they were just in front of must have been raised. The walls were the same stone, though these now kept multiple consoles and holograms with people working on the ships and seeming to be looking at designs.

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He was quickly hurried by the female guard as the rest started walking away, and they made their way to some lifts that held all of them very comfortably. Meno had an embarrassing moment where his legs wobbled and his arms sprayed out as they started to move upwards, Angie grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed to let him know that this was normal, but he could feel that she was still on edge through the intensity. He did see that he received another smirk from the guards, and no reaction at all from Harold, who seemed to be humming and then trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. Paba had seemingly lost the ability to care about anything happening around her.

Once the lift stopped, which Meno had a more controlled, though not completely elegant jolt, they found themselves entering a large corridor with a grand concourse, a vast circular room that must have been fifteen meters in diameter with a corridor leading out on each side, the opposite side to the lifts was open to the sky and the city and Meno saw that they must have travelled up some thirty meters or so because he was now seeing the tops of the buildings below them, and the great hands of the statue that the temple was part of stretching just above them, the water misting from her hands, again the rainbow in view. The circular room was filled with chairs and tables arranged for personal meetings and the opposite side had light cloth hanging over the openings to the world outside, the wind gently blowing in,

“What happens when it rains?” Meno said, not realising he said it aloud,

“Oh, it only rains around the temple when required, otherwise we control the weather quite well,” said Harold who had started to walk off to the left. Meno noticed as he walked that the walls had strange writing and lights that glowed gently and wrapped around the ceiling, it gave a serene look but it was not giving off enough light to be of any use during nighttime. As they continued down the corridor he saw the same lining the walls, both Angie and Paba seemed to have noticed this too, Paba staring and Angie only allowing her eyes to flicker to them, perhaps not wanting to be seen as inspecting it.

Harold led them down the corridor until he came to a large wooden door which he allowed one of the guards to open, and Meno was once again, left in utter shock at the place. It was a room with an opening to the world on the outside, seeing the beautiful blue skies and the white stone city below them, the same cloth lightly blowing in the wind hanging from the open windows.

Inside, there was a large wooden table with benches and wingback chairs at the ends, an enormous sofa and a carpet that lay below it. On the far right there was an open kitchen with an island made of stone topped with a rich redwood, and opposite was a built-in area with some stools that was set next to one of the great windows allowing the cool breeze to drift in.

“These are your apartments,” said Harold, his smile larger now than before, “This space sleeps five so you should be more than comfortable here, each room has its own bathroom as well. You are welcome to the food and anything that you would like in here, we will be sending clothing through to you later today, as we have your sizes now” he said looking around. Angie and Paba walked into the room, both stupified like Meno,

“Um, thank you,” said Angie in disbelief, which was followed by a vigorous nod from Paba at Harold who bowed to them, and left the room with his two guards. The door closed and none of them said anything for a long time.

“This is…” Meno started,

“What the hell is going on?!” Paba said throwing her hands around to her side pleading for some reason.

“I need a drink” said Angie who moved over to what Meno now recognised must have been a bar. He dropped himself onto one of the sofas and felt himself sink in, he released a breath that he didn't know he was holding at the absolute comfort of it as he fell through the cushions. Angie seemed to have downed a glass of something already and after pulling a face looked at Paba and said,

“Did you see the wards?” she said through a pulled face,

“Oh yeah” said Paba wide-eyed, “They have some serious security around here, this is old school, but nothing gets through this stuff” she said pointing at the glowing lights that lined the ceiling of the room which Meno had noticed now for the first time.

“How are we all feeling?” Angie said looking between them with seriousness in her eyes. Paba just shrugged and looked around. Meno hadn’t really considered that, but it seemed that Angie was already nodding, agreeing with Paba’s response of not knowing.

“This place…” Angie took a moment, “Are we really safe here?” Paba just started laughing, and Meno just watched them with a smile on his face, not having the capacity to deal with what was happening to them, but being more than comfortable in watching his friends breathe an air of relief for the first time since meeting them.

“Pour for all of us Angie, and keep ‘em coming” Paba roared and laughed again.

*

Olivia had been waiting the entire day for the meeting that she was currently en route to. She had barely been able to contain herself as she showed great patience, she believed. Of course, she had not wasted her day, she attended her duties, made sure that she was prepared for her lessons with Harold the next day, went to the school to make sure that a Traes was representing the family during the awards ceremony, thanked the guards personally for their efforts during the last riots even though there had not been much for them to do, but it was of course, proper to do so, and then had completed her own studies.

She had done everything that she had needed to that day so she felt that it was only right that she was now properly rewarded with information about Harold's new guests that had arrived in the temple earlier that day. It was all that she wanted to do when Harold had told her that morning that mysterious people were coming, and now, finally, she was heading to her parent's office on the top floor of the temple to find out all about them. She was practically giddy. It was so rare for them to have guests, and even when they did, they were dignitaries coming to speak with her parents, to be wined and dined. This was different, this was something new. Harold had told her that it was someone around her age, someone, that would be coming without the requirements of her being ‘Lady Olivia of the Traes’ the diplomatic daughter of the Traes family.

“Slow down, lady Olivia”

“You keep up, Efreet,” she said with little patience. He had been there with them and yet he refused to tell her anything about them. She was sour with him and his duties. They had spent enough time together now that when a rule needed to be broken he should do it and tell her everything, but he didn't, saying that it was not right.

She saw the old man at the end of the corridor standing with his private guard Shilu Salfor smiling at her. She had been there too, but Olivia couldn't blame her yet, she hadn't seen her yet today. The guard had her usual cheerful demeanour and Harold smiled at her as she arrived at a frightening pace.

“Lady Olivia,” he said with his hands wide open, she took them and looked down deep into his eyes,

“Tell me everything” Shilu looked up at Efreet and laughed,

“I was told not to tell her anything” Efreet said in defence,

“Nobody actually expected you to keep quiet about it,” she said continuing to laugh at him.

“Everything” Olivia said looking at the old man seriously now who chuckled to himself.

“When we are inside I will tell you everything that I know” She sighed heavily at him, but accepted it, she was lucky to be part of this meeting anyway she thought. It was only because of Harold that she was in the first place, if it were up to her parents she wouldn't be allowed in at all, she knew.

The doors opened and her father stood, tall, with thick blonde hair that he wore brushed backwards. He was much taller than her, and his face softened as he saw her, she stood composed and as the daughter of the Planet Head should, and with much control said,

“I am ready for the meeting Father” bowing her head down slightly.

“Yes, I heard so, all that composure, the whole time” he said with a smile clearly having heard her attempts at interrogation with Harold, “Come on in” he said holding the doors open. She noted that he looked at her with a worried expression, though she knew he had been under stress recently with the regulation changes and the riots happening in Det’em, this was somehow different. Perhaps he was worried about her being in the meeting, but she brushed this aside, she was here now, and that’s what mattered.

They made their way into the apartments and sat at the large rectangular table on her parent's patio, half covered by a ceiling and the rest open to the skies which had now darkened, she could hear the waterfalls of Det’em’s arms below them. She said hello to her mother who walked into the room and came and gave her a kiss on the cheek as she sat down, her warm loving face soft as she was. Her father still stood as the guards moved and stood to the side of the room dutifully. Harold took his time, to sit down, pretending to be feeble as always.

“So?” she said immediately chastising herself for losing her patience. Her mother smiled at her, the same smile that betrayed the same worry from her father.

“Alright, Harold, your meeting, tell us why we are housing these strays,” said her father not unkindly, but the way a man whose home had been used for guests that he did not invite should ask. Harold rummaged around in his robes and pulled out what looked like a coin on a band of leather. Liv stopped herself from asking and exhibited patience she was not known for.

“They came in with this” he said holding it out to the rest to see, “It is a traveller's pass if you will, a very old way of telling the intended that the people carrying it can be trusted, and should be taken care of. It is never given lightly, and in all my time, this is the first time I have ever seen it actually used. It is also not something that many know of as a means of entry” he said clearly, making sure to add the last point, as that was going to be Olivia’s first question.

“You say not many” said her father finally moving over to a chair and pouring himself a glass of wine. Her mother Eher, held her hand out to take it from Harold and examined it.

“A very small group” he said inferring more than he was saying, his eyes lingering on the coin. Liv’s mother and father obviously understood and trusted this as they nodded passing a look between each other, but Olivia didn't know what that meant. She, however, did not press this, perhaps the act of understanding would allow her parents to think that she understood more than she did.

“It’s an old Hulfean coin, ancient” said her mother looking closely at the coin in her palm,

“Yes, very rare nowadays. It must be this coin, any other and you would know that it was a counterfeit. It proves that they are indeed in need of our protection”

“Who are they?” her mother said as her father took another sip of his wine watching his wife work the coin in her dainty fingers.

“One is named Paba Rebapa, which I think is just a fantastic name,” he said with all seriousness, “She was a researcher within the core, at the Manin University on Seviv, she studied Neurodynamic programming as well as Cognitive Computing Architecture with a specialisation in Synaptic Network Arrays where she seems to have suddenly needed to leave”

“Clever girl,” said her father, Olivia didn't even know what any of that meant.

“Yes, she seems to be casting herself as a pilot currently. She was the one that brought the others here”

“Others, this morning you said there were only two?” Liv blurted,

“Yes, yes,” said Harold, “It seems we have another that was picked up at the last moment, but word was sent through before they arrived. Captain Angela Lawrence, served in the last war on many fronts, part of the Hulfean forces and at one stage served under Guy Reyes in the 37th Battalion. They had nearly been deployed onto Porvec if our information is correct” Liv recognised the name of the planet, it had been rendered uninhabitable after the war, “A fine soldier from all accounts. She was then placed on a classified mission that we have no visibility on, which now we know was the small moon of Gol. It seems that she had been there for some twenty-two years” This character seemed to make her parents slightly more nervous, “I do not worry about her” said Harold, as he noticed their expressions too.

“Very well” Pac Traes said accepting Harold’s lack of concern, though, cautiously, “And the last one?”

“His name is Meno, a delightful young man, though we have very little information about him, he does not belong in any system, no record of birth nor ID. He simply doesn't exist, which leads me to believe that he was the subject of whatever was happening on Gol”

“And you believe that we should be okay with someone that we have no information about at all under our roof?” said her mother sceptically, though looking for Harold’s opinion.

“He had the coin,” said Harold, “And that does mean something,” he said knowingly. To Liv’s amazement, her mother didn't argue this point but Liv did notice that she was still uncertain, passing a look to her husband. After a few moments of silence, Liv asked energetically,

“What were they like?” Shilu chortled at this, and then spoke up in explanation from the side of the room with her hands still behind her back,

“Harold put them through the ringer a bit with his…senile act” Harold chuckled at this as he looked at his guard,

“Always good to see what people will do and say when they think the person in front of them is not quite there. They seemed very nice Lady Olivia, Paba a bit spiky but all of them seem to be genuine people who are a bit shaken up, which is completely understandable” Liv smiled at this, she couldn't wait to meet them.

“So what do we do with them?” Eher Traes asked, placing the coin on the table.

“We have given them food, clothing a place to sleep so far, until we have word, we should treat them as guests,” Harold said cautiously, he seemed to know that this was not a concrete answer.

“And when do you expect to get word?” said her father, “This is not a hotel, Harold” The old man shrugged at this, realising that he was not giving enough. Pac Traes scratched his forehead with his index finger, a sign of irritation Liv knew, being on the receiving side of it a number of times before.

“My concern is that we still know nothing about these people, Harold” started her mother, adding some calm to her husband's demeanour, “We have a woman posing as something she isn't, a soldier and a ghost in our temple. I’m sure that you can understand this is a bit precarious. We spend considerable efforts on keeping the walls safe, as you know,”

“Of course, Lady Eher” Harold said lowering his head, “I merely ask that we give this some time to play out under a watchful eye. Whoever sent them, did so with purpose” Her father shared a deep look with his advisor, and then said heavily,

“I see Grasci’s crowd is growing” The words were almost telling, said in a much deeper way than Liv had heard her father speak of the subject before. She knew that the group that followed Grasci, the Yelean Reform was growing in stature and that they were causing some political tensions, especially among some of the regional heads and of course amongst their client planets, but this level of concern was new. Had she perhaps been kept out of the loop on their growth?

“Yes, we flew over the gathering today. His numbers are growing” Liv looked from Harold to her father only to see that he was already looking at her, though not smiling, as though he was realising something and he was trying to work out how to stop it. It disconcerted her, she suddenly felt as though she had been sheltered far more than she realised when it came to Graci’s movement. She knew about the riots, and that it was Yelean Reform behind that, but that was all it had been, it had just been riots, they had riots previously. Why was this weighing so heavily on her father now? She felt as though she had been blind to something somehow.

“I think we should watch them for a few days before we start to engage. As Eher said, we don’t know anything about them yet, caution would serve us well here” said her father,

“Surely you would want to know their true nature as fast as possible, father? We wouldn't want them under our roof with time if they can’t be trusted would we?” he gave the usual exasperated look when his beloved daughter wanted to get her way, “I’m sure with the accompaniment of Harold, Shilu and Efreet we could determine who they really are rather quickly, and I would be protected while doing so” she said in her most composed and diplomatic tone. Harold chuckled and then winked at her. Her father looked mortified. He also knew that she would sneak out and meet with them anyway even if he said no. he breathed out a sigh.

“Fine, as representative of the Traes in this matter, you may meet them under the condition that all of them” he said pointing at the two guards and Harold, “Are with you, and no other time, understood?” Olivia stood up from the table immediately and looked at Harold,

“I think we have kept our guests waiting long enough then, dont you?”