When I got to the landing bay, no one else had weapons, except for their palm plasma weapons of course.
Rilok smirked, “We’re going to see the governor of a planet, you won’t be able to bring those in. She has her own security.”
“I forgive you for failing to outline the parameters of our mission.”
His face darkened, Vik laughed.
“We probably don’t have time for me to run back, is there a place in the shuttle I can lock them up?”
Telidur said with a smirk at Rilok, “There’s a weapons locker.”
I nodded in thanks, and we loaded into the shuttle and closed the door. Telidur showed me where to stow my weapons, and once we were all in seats, the bay had already been depressurized and the door was opening. The shuttle flew out.
The planet Vehiri was a dark blue, green, and had a tinge of purple in the atmosphere. The gravity would be a little higher than Earth’s, but I was already used to it from being aboard ship. The ship’s gravity was set to the gravity of Isyth, which was one point two of Earth. This world was close to the same. The atmosphere was a little different, but the important gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide were within human tolerances if not exactly the same as Earth’s.
It was late at night ship’s time, but where we were going it was just after dawn. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was when I saw my first floating car. We joined the air traffic lane and flew into the city among air cars. I’d expected a concrete jungle, or a megacity, what I got was mostly low-profile buildings, with lots of parks.
I considered that for a while, and decided without unwanted pregnancy, they’d managed to prevent overpopulation. I was sure it was more than that, but the planet was far from overcrowded, including the city we were flying through. I also realized that this was a colony planet, and the only one in the Isyth empire. Maybe their home planet was more crowded, something to check on the data net later. There seemed to be a never-ending list of things I needed to learn.
The buildings looked like the buildings in any small city on Earth. It was a bit disappointing actually, I’d expected… I wasn’t sure what I expected. Something more alien, but the Isyth obviously built concrete square buildings similarly to humans. We landed right outside a park, with a large mansion in the middle of it, surrounded by a fence. The style of mansion was definitely unique in architecture and accents, but didn’t look completely alien. In the end, it was just a very large mansion. I supposed both of us being humanoids informed things like that.
Rilok said, “Your post is behind him. Stay quiet, don’t talk unless directly asked a question, don’t respond to comments. Look for dangers behind us.”
“I’m glad you said something, I was going to sing and dance the Earthling greeting song.”
Telidur snorted, “There’s no such thing, is there?”
I giggled, and shook my head, “No, and I’ll behave.”
Vik nodded, “Let’s go see what she wants, so we can get back to work.”
The shuttle door opened, and we all piled out. I’d never been a bodyguard before, but of course I had a good idea how to be one. An assassin that doesn’t wouldn’t live very long. I put my game face on, like I was back home doing a job, and I analyzed everything around me. It was something that didn’t take much effort, I was always aware of my surroundings, even if I didn’t always act like I was.
I got a second glance from the guards at the gate, but no one objected. Probably because Vik was a prince, even if eighteenth in line for throne. We walked down the walkway, which was made of stepping stones. The air smelled fresh and crisp, and decidedly alien. The sun was yellow like Sol, but it looked a little bigger. I wasn’t sure if it was or not, the planet could just be closer. Too much to learn.
The guards at the front door bowed, and opened the door wordlessly, we were obviously expected. The inside of the mansion had what looked like marble floors, and light yellow painted walls. It was a relaxing bright color. The entry hall had a large chandelier overhead, and there was art along the walls, portraits of hot blue people. Maybe the previous governors?
It was all a little too human, outside of the yellow walls, even the wood furniture looked like it could have been made by a human. The familiarity of it all made things even more surreal for me.
We didn’t go far, but entered the second room on the right, which was a sitting room of sorts. Telidur got my attention, and waved me over subtly. The three of us took posts against the wall by the door we entered, knowing that sort of thing beforehand would have really helped, and I suppressed the surge of annoyance. I supposed teaching me their bodyguard etiquette beforehand was too much to ask. Maybe I’d ask if there was a download for that.
There were four guards in the room besides the three of us, and Vik moved forward to greet his aunt, the governor. She looked elegant in a dress, and carried a commanding presence.
Vik said, “Governor, you’re looking well.”
Natalya, “Didn’t we do this earlier nephew?”
She stepped forward with a laugh, and they cheek kissed and shared a chaste embrace.
Vik replied, “I suppose we did, what’s going on?”
She sighed, “Denik is missing.”
Vik asked, “Missing?”
She shrugged, “I was talking to him, and he said he was in some kind of danger, though he didn’t say what. Before he had the chance, the signal cut off and I haven’t been able to reach him.”
That seemed unlikely, quantum connections couldn’t be blocked. Even if he was taken prisoner, he should have been able to watch movies, surf the data net, and order cookies. Oh, and request a strike force to come rescue him. I’d learned that’s how the three destroyers knew where Vik was, and where.
Vik shook his head, “Did you report it?”
She shook her head, “He did tell me to get in contact with you, he believed whoever was after him had high access to the data net. He didn’t tell me who.”
Vik frowned, “That doesn’t make sense, even if he told you to talk to me offline, he was telling you over the data net.”
She shrugged, “Maybe he didn’t want whoever it was to see your response, or hear your plans or ideas.”
He grunted, I wasn’t buying it either. Natalya wasn’t lying, but her story didn’t make sense. Also, who the hell was Denik?
Vik nodded, “I’ll take care of it.”
She said, “I’m sure you’ll find him and figure out what’s going on.”
He said, “I’ll get right on it. The ship should be unloaded within an hour.”
She smiled, “Next time you come by, you’ll have to visit for longer.”
He nodded, and we left the mansion and returned to the shuttle. It wasn’t until we were back in the air that anyone spoke.
Telidur said, “Denik is Vik’s older brother, tenth in line, and about eighty years older. He also has a lot of private companies, and he gets into trouble from time to time.”
“Did that story seem odd to you?”
Telidur laughed, “Yes, but if you knew Denik… he’s ambitious which as I said, gets him into trouble.”
“So, we’re going after him?”
Vik shook his head, “The mission we’re on takes precedence.”
That was a little cold, wasn’t he Vik’s brother?
Vik added, “Don’t worry, I’m going to send a squadron after him, to his last known location. If there is a serious issue, they’ll be able to deal with it better than just one ship could.”
There was a large fleet of ships around the planet to protect it, I guess a small squadron wouldn’t really impact their security too much.
Telidur asked, “What about the data net thing?”
Vik shook his head, “It sounds fishy, there aren’t a lot of people with high access to the data net, and most of those are in my family, but I’ll talk to the squadron via laser communications when we get back to the ship. Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing new, he gets into a scrape every few years.”
I supposed he was the black sheep of the family, not that I’d know much about that considering I didn’t have one. A family that is.
I decided not to worry about it, Vik said he’d handle it. I’d try to get a few hours more sleep, and when I woke up for our bridge shift, we’d be on our way to Kaprorix…