The Sequester went to warp speed, causing the stars around them to slowly move. Some coming closer as they passed them. It was a relaxing experience watching them from one of the windows that lined the craft.
There was a dining table with a few stools around it in the kitchen where Selene sat. A set of 3 circular porthole windows lined the wall next to her.
They were on their way to meet Preston aboard his battle-frigate.
She had a plate of crepes and a coffee cup next to her. A tiny scantid was sitting on the table.
"You know, you say me and Danny aren't prisoners but I noticed we haven't been paid."
Zephyr set down another plate at the table before sitting down herself.
"..For cooking crepes?" Selene asked.
"Every little thing. It's been him and I maintaining the ship, and handling the little quirks you inherited when you took over. Like, the engine room overheats unless someone maintains it. The ai can't do everything—it's not even a good pilot. Besides, it takes supplies. Fuel. Which costs money. Annual visits to a repair shop."
Selene hadn't thought about how they were living that much. She just assumed that wherever she took them they would find a way to look after themselves. She's just been so wrapped up in the Zykra and the resistance that she hadn't given thought to the nuances of running a ship. Let alone a colony.
Zephyr kept talking as Selene drifted into thought.
"Look. I know you have better things to do. I'm just letting you know. Defer labor, that's what mom did. Make me the ship manager—give me the funds, and I'll hire people. Keep things running. I have some experience doing that."
Selene stared at her blankly. She'd assumed she was just a air-headed blonde. But maybe that was a bit of a hasty judgement. Not that it took a scientist to run basic day-to-day things like what she described.
"Okay. Once I get some money I'll send it your way."
"Good. Maybe talk to your uncle about wages. It's not like he expects you to run a colony with no funds."
Selene nodded. Sipping some coffee before reaching over and sketching. She had her art booklet open on the table.
"Is that a puck uniform?" Zephyr asked.
"Yeah. I used to serve. This was a member of the unit, Darude. Died fighting Zykra."
She propped her chin on a hand. "Wanna talk about it?"
Selene gave her a skeptical glance then; "Why don't you wait a few weeks before trying to be my friend? You're acting kind of suspicious."
Zephyr gestured with her palms turned to the ceiling. "No ulterior motives here. Just trying to learn more about you. You're technically our new boss."
Selene went to say something but her dad walked into the kitchen.
"Hey Sel, frigates outside."
"We'll talk about the manager stuff later." Selene told Zephyr before following her dad out of the room.
Dad and her boarded the frigate. The massive blocky shape wasn't designed with aerodynamics in mind clearly. It looked a lot like a trains engineer car. It dwarfed the Sequester in size, it likely contained the population of a small colony.
The ship was connected to the side of it. A tunnel stretched out like an accordion between the two.
Inside was a wide open hall with a shiny smooth off-white floor. A slight green tint. A trim of grey about a foot wide lined the edges of the floor. The walls were angled inwards as they reached the ceiling.
Every six meters was another rectangular light above.
It was a plain and sterile aesthetic.
The main difference from a puck military station was the lack of uniforms. Everyone who passed by wore clothes of their own choice. And they carried weapons of all kinds. The overall vibe of the people here was much more roguish and chaotic than the people on Alexandria.
Preston met them in the hall. He wore a jacket of some shiny dark material with padding on the sides and what seemed like pockets for armor plates. His baggy sage green pants also had pockets for armor plates.
His hair was cut now to be buzz-cut and he'd let his beard grow a bit more. But it had a naturally patchy pattern to it, almost as if it was styled that way.
"You two have good timing. I was just thinking of having you do some interrogations. Just like old times, huh Ron?"
Selene glanced to her dad who gave him a warning look.
"I'm not the same man I was then. We can get them to admit to things and ask some basic questions but don't expect anything like before."
"Sure, sure. I'll take you to the interview rooms."
He started leading them down the hall.
"So. How you been, niece? Got an army yet?"
"People are complaining about not being paid for all the work we're doing for the resistance." Selene said plainly.
Preston chortled; "I assumed you had some money lying around judging by that ship you been flying around. —I'll tell my payroll people to get in contact with that weird ass 'advisor' of yours. We were going to anyways when the first shipment arrived to that planet of yours. Any name for it yet?"
"Endelon 2." she said quickly.
"Creative." Preston muttered as they arrived at an elevator.
They rode it down until a level that seemed darker and more grimy. As if the cleaning crew cared less to maintain it. Lights occasionally flickered and panels were missing exposing dripping pipes and dangling wire.
"We like to keep a certain image in the areas we keep puck people. If they ever get back to their bosses they'll be sure to under sell us."
Ah. Well that explains that.
Now that they were relatively alone, Selene wanted to explain a bit more about her intentions with the prisoners.
"Sooo... Can I have one?"
"What? A prison dungeon? We planned on having something like enforcers once the colony got big enough. But our way of handling crime is way different than pucks..."
"No. I meant a prisoner. You know my Zykra thing? I uh.. Like... I'm telling you this in confidence as my 'uncle'. Keep this a secret, come up with whatever excuses you have to but..."
Preston stopped and turned to the two of them. Her dad also looked at her too. He wasn't entirely sure what she meant before when she asked him to get ahold of Preston about puck prisoners either.
"I need to create a commander Zykra. From a person. The smarter the better."
His face was surprisingly plain.
"I don't think I got anyone that smart. A sergeant maybe. But I assume you mean like a full on captain, or major even. But those guys never leave their stations. And attacking those—you might as well be attacking a colony on a core world and get some real objectives done while you're at it."
Selene deflated.
"So you can't help me?"
He ruffled her hair which she tried to bat away but his bulky arms were surprisingly agile. He was being a bit overly familiar for someone she met a few days ago. Being biological family only bought you so much.
He was lucky she was here for a favor.
"I didn't say that! When I said you had good timing, I meant that I had some interesting prisoners for you to interview. You know how I was going to get you off that puck station as a favor to your dad? That wasn't too dissimilar to what you're planning actually. Kidnapping a corporal isn't as difficult as a major though. But I swooped up that Zeta unit of yours while they were on a mission."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"You don't mean-?"
"Imagine my surprise when I saw you on Athena the morning after I caught your unit. About to break the news to your dad that you died in a chemical explosion a few days before."
Selene put a palm on her face. She felt lightheaded.
"Brett and Cob are here?" she asked.
"And sergeant Luan."
"You should've told us right away." Dad said.
Preston crossed his arms. "What? I didn't know she was so sentimental about people she knew for a few months."
"Few big months. I bet you remember every person you met during bootcamp. I know I do."
"I'm telling her now aren't I?"
"-You kept her friends in prison."
Their arguing voices were kind of muffled as Selene remembered the small moments she had with her unit. The sparring sessions, getting lunch together, surviving lamda. Even that shitty night at the bar before she left the station.
"Well, my bad. But yeah. I got 'em. So... Wanna see 'em?"
"Yeah..." she said. Though she wish she had more time to prepare for what she'd say. 'Not only do I work for rebels, I work for the Zykra which our division was specifically created to fight'.
She was sure this conversation was about to go down well.
"Alright. They're right this way."
He led her down a few more halls. Each door had a window that was covered in shiny sparkling teal which had indents of lines running through them creating a hexagonal pattern.
"Which one do you want to talk to first?" he asked, stopping next to a door.
"Luan."
He pushed a button next to the door and the teal window cover dissolved showing a dark skinned woman with gold eyes and braided hair.
The door opened and Selene went inside.
"I told you—I'm not saying SHIT about the Zykra so you may as well—"
Her eyes widened when she turned to see.
Selene standing there. Dressed in an outfit she got from Zephyr. A black jacket with a high collar over a white tanktop and brown shorts.
Luan was dressed in the fancy black leotard with LED lights streaming through it that IBT members wore under their enforcer outfits.
"Sel-Selene!?" she tried to stand up but her hands were cuffed to the table she sat at with heavy chains.
Selene went around the tiny room and hugged her.
She glanced over her shoulder and caught her dad and uncle duck out of the tiny window of the door. Then took the chair across from Luan.
"B-but how? You died! In the research division—they said a chemical reaction in the containments hydraulics set of a chain reaction a-and—" she swallowed hard and winced her eyes closed.
"I left the station with Dr. Bryant that night and he framed our deaths... I wanted to tell you, didn't you get the message I sent?"
She got a confused look then. Or rather her confusion rose to a level that matched her surprise a bit. "The message? Yeah, it happened a few minutes before the explosion. You mentioned the containment breach, but I assumed it was connected!"
Selene shook her head. "I caused the breach on purpose."
Luan had a flicker of realization then. As if she just connected the dots. She deflated in her chair, excitement fading.
"...You're a traitor.", her voice was spiteful and hurt. Disbelieving. "Why, because of what happened on Endelon?"
"I missed you so much, and Brett. Cob... Not that he ever talked much. Or the other guys in the IBT. As far as puck goes—you guys were fun. I expected jarheads with a power fetish, but the IBT was no where near that."
Luan rolled her neck as if it was annoying to hear.
"Save me the spiel. I'll tell you what I told them—" she pointed with her cuffed hands at the door. "Jack shit."
Selene just gave her a sympathetic look then. "I don't care about that. If I wanted I could use my power to get you to tell me whatever I want. But I'd never do that to you."
"FUCK YOU!" she pulled on the chains and kicked away the chair she sat at. "The Protectorate does what it has to! Do you think your 'resistance' is any better!? They're worse... Lowlifes.. Slavers. Smugglers. Fucking rapists! They kill children! They commit genocide wherever they go!"
Selene stood up slowly. "That's propaganda and you know it. Puck is everything you just said. The difference is, they have control over the media."
Luan looped her foot around the chair and pulled it back in and sat down. A defeated expression on her face.
"There's another thing you probably don't want to hear."
Luan stared beams at her then. "What, that you faked everything? That you were never really the person I thought you were? God, I can't believe I—" she tilted her head back and closed her eyes mournfully. "You're such a good liar Selene. You really are."
"No. I didn't lie. The situation just changed. Actually..."
It was kind of embarrassing to admit at this point. In a situation like this.
"I kind of had a crush on you... Not sure about that now to be honest. Considering how die-hard puck you are, didn't see that coming. But... I'm working with the Zykra too."
Luan tilted her head at her, her face scrunched up with a disbelieving look of 'are you serious?'. Then she relaxed as if to say 'wow'.
"Okay—maybe you're not that good a liar."
"It's true. You were pretty cool when we trained together. And seeing how you handled yourself on lamda—"
She scoffed; "Not that. I knew about that. You're not a very subtle person Selene, whether you were faking it or not. You wear it in the way you look at people. You play that innocent 'along for the ride' farm girl role so well that even now I'm having a hard time seeing anything else. But I meant the part about the Zykra. They're bugs."
She shook her head then.
"They don't work with anyone. They're incapable of that."
Selene took a deep breath. And thought for a second... No. Not here.
"..You may not know it now, but you're very lucky to have me as a friend. Luan."
Luan gave her the most salty look she's ever seen anyone give her.
Selene got up and knocked on the window. The door opened. She went to leave but hesitated. She turned to Luan.
"Unlike puck—I'm going to prove the shit I say."
Then she left the room, the door closed quickly behind her.
Her uncle and dad talking nearby and watched her expectantly as she approached.
"Cut them lose. Zeta unit isn't a threat to the resistance. Only the Zykra."
Preston raised his eyebrows; "Doesn't that mean she's a threat to you?"
Selene scoffed. But didn't say anything.
"Well alright then. My boys won't be happy about it... But I'll let 'em go. You're probably the best Zykra intel we need anyways."
"I still need a commander." Selene said. Crossing her arms.
"I know hotshot. That's what we were just talking about." he pointed to himself and Dad. "We contacted the intel agency. There's a captain leading a mission from a battle-frigate against the Zykra. I guess the IBT has those now. Some captain Hyrax."
"Him?"
Her dad and Preston exchanged a look.
"How many puck people do you know?" he smirked.
"I lived on a puck station for like half a year and made corporal rank. I know a few. Captain Hyrax was a nice guy, but if he's the only one we can reach..."
"He is." Preston nodded.
"Then captain Hyrax it is. How do we do it?"
He waved for Selene to follow. "Walk with me for a bit. We'll talk it out."