When the silent god walks the earth, kneel and praise his glory. Hope that he passes you unnoticed. Because if his servants walk next to you and you were judged as unworthy, all that's left to do is dying.
-Telur Myth
***Galactic Centre, Gathering-Station***
***Gideon***
Kaa and Hud are a Binary. A being with two bodies and one mind. It took a while until I caught onto that without actually sensing any telepathy between them. When two mages are communicating via telepathy without actually touching each other, outsiders are always able to at least sense sothing. It's like listening to a conversation from afar. You can hear their voices, but have problems understanding the words.
With Kaa and Hud there is only silence. Maybe the reason is that they operate on a completely different wave-length and I would need ti to get used to it.
It's still a good reminder that I shouldn't feel too superior when dealing with aliens. There are a lot of them and so seem to have abilities which let them compete with us.
I take another sip from the tea while sitting cross-legged on the floor in KaaHud's office. It's the proper way to call a Binary when talking to both parts. I've yet to determine if the two bodies actually have different ntal functions aside from being male and female. It is very likely since KaaHud inford that while loosing one of its bodies isn't necessarily deadly to the other, it's still a strong ntal shock.
Whydoyoucaresomuchaboutthisindividual? KaaHud asks. One of his bodies is working a computer while the other plays host for . Onemightthinkthatasingleindividualisnotworththeeffortandpromisesyoumadetous.
I place the cup on the ground. After entering in negotiations with my new associates we ca to a mutual agreent. In return for a little paynt and a few exclusive rights, KaaHud will use his extensive network of spies to search for our man. I am still not sure if I should think of KaaHud as he, she, they or it! So far I didn't notice any difference between his two bodies and the two different genders were just indicated by the used titles.
It's not like he ans anything special to personally, but I guess it's about principle. I answer.
Principle? The KaaHud in front of asks.
My people seem to have unique abilities compared to most other species. If we let one of our own get abducted and analysed without proper reaction, it will happen again and again to others. There is no doubt about that. Interrogation, dissection, tests, who knows what they will do to us? One might never know which asures such organisations see justified to get what they want. I explain.
Youjustpaidtofindhim.Whatwillyoudoonceyouknowhislocation? KaaHud asks.
That's the question. I shrug my shoulders. I'll assess the situation and show them what my people think of taking away soone else's freedom. It strikes as necessary to send a ssage to everyone who might have thoughts of stealing my people's secrets.
KaaHud nods satisfied. Whenmypeoplecaincontactwithotherracestheyalsotriedtostealourtelepathy.Itneverworkedoutforthem.
I take another sip from the good tea and wait. KaaHud's investigation took one night and a day so far. He started with gathering information from various street dwellers throughout the station. Afterwards he even brought in so bought individuals from the station's security team. They were in contact with other people who searched for information on what a human might need to survive.
That convinced that KaaHud was the right choice. They seem to be sothing akin to a local cri-lord. The rmaid understood correctly when I wished to speak with the one who holds the strings instead of the puppets.
Sofartheinvestigationwasn'tverysuccessful. KaaHud informs when the door opens again and a servant brings sothing to eat. It's a big basket with five pieces of a bread-like substance. Not sothing I would offer to a guest, but it has to do.
I can't pay you without getting the results I wish for. I reach for the basket and take one piece of bread. The taste isn't much better than it looks. Maybe a big bean?
Wemayhaveproblemstofindyourman.Butthatinitselfistellingusenough.Thereisonlyoneotherorganisationwhichmightberesponsible. Kaa and Hud each take a piece of bread for themselves.
Let guess. A governnt related to the Zeen? I ask while chewing.
Notquite.TheResch-Associationbecaveryactiverecently.Theyaretradingwithtechnologyandhaveabigresearchfacilitycloseby.Ifwecan'tfindyourmanwherewehaveaccess,thenhehastobesowherewherewedon'thaveaccess.
KaaHud explains his reasoning. Itisreasonabletothinkthattheymightbeinvolved.Especiallysinceweknowthattheyhavenoproblemswithpickingunwillingtestsubjectsfromthestreets.
I raise an eyebrow. So it's possible that they got him by accident?
Notbyaccident.Butmaybebyopportunityandasafavourtoathirdparty. KaaHud says.
I reach once more for the basket, but find it empty. Squinting my eyes at the two Binarys I search my mory for the mont when they took seconds. But there is nothing. Damn those guys are fast when they want to. I didn't notice anything. Then I'll start my investigation there.
The KaaHud at the computer shakes his head. Notagoodidea.Letusgetconfirmationfirst.Reschcontrolsaseparatesectionofthestation.Thereisonlyonewayinandoutoftheirfacility.
Just one way in and out sounds as if it's in my favour. That's fine with , but how do you want to gain confirmation before I go and confront them with their actions.
Byrequestingtheirknowledgeaboutyourpeople. KaaHud states matter of factly.
This approach sounds viable. KaaHud doesn't have a clean vest either. If a dubious organisation pays for information from another dubious organisation it may get more results than an official party might achieve. I'll wait for the result.
After three more hours of silent waiting KaaHud presents a detailed file of human anatomy and a layman's explanation of magic to . I read the entire file and co to the conclusion that it sounds like sothing an ambassador might spill out when he is grilled for information.
Without further ado I say my goodbyes to the Binary and take my leave. I've a destination.
***Galactic Centre, Gathering-Station***
***KaaHud***
Finally he is gone.
He simply sat down in my office and didn't move until I had the information he wanted.
It was creepy.
And rember the shadow which was always looking over his shoulder.
Yes, the shadow. I think it was a person hidden in so kind of invisibility magic.
It stands to reason that the shadow was a person. He ate two pieces of my sura when he thought I wasn't looking.
Yes. The good, expensive sura. What a glutton!
Will he use it against Resch?
Most likely. I certainly hope so. The Resch have been interrupting my operations for weeks. It would be nice if their actions are terminated.
I call up the recorded video from the alley in front of my office.
Gideon walks down the alley, avoiding the puddles on the ground. Zeil, the Ambusian pleasure girl who led him here takes her leave. When he turns around the slightly bent alley to my office the caras which show my door blur to white noise. But the cara which shows the first ten tres of the alleyway is unaffected.
Five Telur rcenaries enter the alleyway and follow Gideon with fast steps, drawing weapons.
Telurs are standard humanoids with a highly resistant physique which is based on copper. That's responsible for their blue blood and skin colour. They also have a very good sense of sll with the three antennae on their head, though that probably doesn't help them in that stinky alley.
Suddenly the head of the first rcenary separates from his body, tumbling end over end through the air in a high arc.
The video shows a slight blur of pixels moving past him, but the other rcenaries are totally taken by surprise.
One of them raises his weapon to fire blindly down the alley, but the weapon malfunctions for unknown reasons. A mont later sothing impales him and lifts him high in the air, throwing him at a third rcenary.
The two Telurs who were in the rear turn to run, but sothing pulls them back and against each other. They crumble into a horrible sphere of blue at and bones. I've seen and done many things, but this scene turns both my stomachs.
A mont later the resulting atball falls to the ground with the sickening sound of raw flesh slapping on concrete.
So far everything happened in complete silence. All Telur rcenaries are known as battle hardened fighters, but the expression of number three shows confusion, shock and fear of the unknown. His next actions are nonetheless formidable for soone who just lost four comrades to an unknown enemy.
He crawls out from under his dead comrade who was thrown at him and gets to his feet. A knife appears in his hand and he starts turning in circles, searching for the invisible attacker.
Then he closes his eyes and waits. For a mont nothing happens while the blurred pixels move closer to him.
Suddenly he moves his blade and sparks fly. Apparently he blocked whatever beheaded the first rcenary.
It does him no good as his knee suddenly gives way and his leg bends sideways. His knife-hand twists and he topples over, landing face first on the ground.
He starts writhing while lying on his belly, face subrged in one of the stinking puddles. His hand is still bend upwards in an awkward angle as sothing holds him down without rcy. Bubbles start rising from beside his head and he lets go of his knife while clawing at sothing on his head with his free hand.
The effort causes a rippling effect in the air and for a few short monts I can identify a foot on his head. The clothes are similar to what Gideon is wearing. Sa leather boots, sa black, silken cloth.
Eventually the rcenary's twitching stops and after few more monts the invisible attacker lets go of the rcenary's arm. It drops to the ground and with that the short fight is concluded. The attacker fades once again to invisibility.
Drowning the last rcenary actually took longer than the entire fight. I reach for my neck, imagining how it would feel to be drowned in one of the dirty puddles in front of my office.
I'll have the street to my office cleaned up as soon as possible.
A few monts later Gideon started his ruckus at my door and entered with that strange shadow which was following him, looking above his shoulder at all tis.
I didn't ntion the shadow since my henchn didn't notice it. It struck as highly unhealthy to have soone who can walk around almost undetected as an enemy.
Of course I ordered my n to clean up the ss around the corner and didn't ntion anything to Gideon. There is no reason to make such dangerous beings anxious.
.
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