Prologue
Evex Ein
“When the council finds out about this, there will be retaliation,” the human said from where he was clamped into the chair.
“What will they do? The humans are scared of all-out war; they do anything they can to prevent it,” I said.
“And that is wrong? A cold war between the humans and the Itions is better than a real war filled with bloodshed. But I don't expect you to understand that,” he said struggling in the chair.
“No, I don't understand that. We are a species of soldiers; it is in our blood to fight—our blue blood,” I said.
“You Itions are all the same, no matter what clan you are from,” he sneered.
“That you are wrong about, human. I am the ruler of the Alva clan, and we are more ruthless than the other clans of Itions. Something you are soon to find out. Now tell me: what you were carrying on your ship back to Earth? It is rare to see a ship manned by only one human. I have learned that there is much value in different when it comes to the humans.”
The human squirmed in the chair; it was obvious that I had caught onto something.
“I carry nothing of importance. Only coins, as you see in the cargo trunks,” he said.
“You lie. I can always tell when humans are lying. You are such weak and vulnerable creatures. Your emotions are always all over your face.” I turned to my crew. “Scan his database. Scan all drives aboard his ship, and on his person. He is carrying more than coins; coins are only the decoy. He carries something more valuable: information, human secrets... trade secrets. I will know what it is,” I said.
“Yes, Leader Ein,” my crewmate said.
The human stiffened. I moved closer to him, and something gleamed and caught my eye. There was an amulet hanging from his neck. I reached out and pulled it off.
“Give that back. That is nothing to you,” he said.
He struggled to get out of the chair even more, which only intrigued me. I opened the amulet. A digital photo moved inside, something that a lot of the humans used. They were captured memories, usually of a loved one. I watched the movement inside the amulet. Red hair flew in the wind and moved to the side, revealing a beautiful human female with green eyes. Then she smiled, gleaming white teeth. I was immediately attracted to this human female. Even though humans were not allowed to speak to Itions, everyone did it in secret anyway. I’d had my fill of human females in my bed before; it was always a treat. So when I saw one that I liked, I made it a new challenge to find her and bed her. I looked at the human man in front of me.
“This human female is something else; far too good for you. I assume that it is your sister,” I said.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Give that back, you piece of shit.”
“Leader Ein, we have found large amounts of information on the database this human carried. There does seem to be classified information,” my crewmate reported.
The human hung his head low.
“Don't you worry yourself human; it is not your fault. You are just up against a superior Ition. You could never win in this situation. But fear not; we are going to let you go. You can head back to Earth. But you must not tell anyone of your pit stop. If you do, I will have to come after her,” I said lifting the amulet. “Is that understood?”
“Yes,” he said with anger all over his face.
“Is the human’s ship ready?” I asked out loud.
“Yes, Leader Ein.”
“Good; take him to it,” I said.
My crew unlatched the clamps around his wrist and ankles and pulled him up. He glared at me.
“Ition scum,” he sneered at me.
I just laughed. “At least this human is spirited, not like the human council that avoids confrontation at all cost.”
I moved to the windshield of my large fleet ship. I waited a few minutes until the human was escorted to his ship.
“He has launched, Leader Ein.”
“This should be interesting…” I said as I watched his ship leave mine.
His ship was a smaller short-distance ship; it headed toward the blue and green planet they called Earth. The Ition had been cohabitating Earth with the humans for sixty years now. What started out as peaceful occupation quickly turned into segregation and hostilities. We never had a full-on war, but there were many humans that opposed our existence on their planet. This was the reason it was called a cold war. We were not fighting each other in battle, but there was a lot of strategic plays being played on both sides. I was about to watch one of my plays.
The darkness of space flashed for a brief second as the human’s spaceship exploded. I smiled. We had prepared his ship to self-destruct after leaving our ship and getting within range of Earth. I couldn’t have him going back without his database. The humans would figure out that it had been stolen and track it back to me. No, it was better that his ship mysteriously malfunction on re-entry. Then no questions would be asked.
I looked down at the amulet, at the redhead.
“Lieutenant Draxel. Scan the data the human had for addresses on Earth, and also scan this amulet for information. I have a feeling I am going to want to make a visit after the Earth Council meeting. I need to have some fun; it’s long overdue,” I said, handing my trusted Lieutenant the amulet.
“Yes, Leader Ein,” he said grabbing it.
I crossed my hands and watched the remnants of the spaceship floating into the darkness. It had been a productive trip so far, and I was only getting started.