Relative temporality: Ta6Lo66000

  Zone: Sector Z-E, Utela Galaxy

  Location: Akela System

  Control: Orange Empire

  Affiliation: Universal Administrative Confederation [UAC]

  The ship was once again on its way to new adventures. Improved by the more or less conscientious work of the Xerinean couple, the camouflage device was supposed to protect the “Lost Truth” from detection for a few more hours.

  Sava nervously tapped the arm of the chair she was sitting on. Having arrived first, Lhom had managed to claim the captain’s seat before her. She didn’t mind, but she did obscurely appreciate the Hom’s frustration when she took that spot from him…

  Deep down, she didn’t know why she hated him so much. Granted, he deserved her contempt and anger for his actions… But maybe she was reacting harsher than she should, seeking revenge in a way as petty as taking his seat…

  Deep down, she knew why she was doing this… If her feelings, her emotions, her thoughts had been manipulated, what was true and what wasn’t? Had she really decided on her own to pursue this master geneticist? The fact that she had grown to like Lhom, his personality, his humor… had it all been an illusion? Manipulation? Or did she really like… this guy? If so, would she forgive him?

  “Sava?” Xini asked. “I’ve queried the local beacon. Apparently, the master geneticist Zoghoze still lives in the same place. The downside is that we will have to officially pass the planetary shield to land: the material we have is not enough to design a more efficient camouflage device.”

  Sava nodded, abruptly coming out of her disturbed thoughts to focus on the essential. Without worrying about it anymore, Xini curled up against Azxaron, probably disrupting the monitoring of the warning systems that he was supposed to exercise. Anyway, even with variable performance and their heads elsewhere, the couple remained much more efficient than most of the Administration's technicians... at least half the time: she feared the other half.

  Azxaron's ears suddenly rose and lost a little time trembling at the contact of one of Xini's, before the Xerinean announced the beginning of the difficulties:

  “Uh... It's... Oh yes: the local sensors have detected us, probable teleportation of warships in the second...”

  As if reacting to his announcement, three good-sized cruisers appeared around their ship, at medium firing range. Each was orange with many gray spots, reminiscent of colors often used by construction companies in the building industry... But they were obviously military models.

  Lhom accepted the communication and a Hom in an orange and black uniform, adorned with medals, bellowed information at them:

  “Commander Donton, of the Orange Empire, Infinite Administrative Confederation, to unidentified ship: you are in our territory. Please surrender immediately or specify if you wish to engage in battle.”

  This guy had the evil smile of someone who claims to give a choice while thinking he has superior firepower. Despite the grudge she held against Lhom, she was grateful when, without being disconcerted, he sent the arrogant military man back to the ropes:

  “Commander? Well, I am Libre Lhom, an alpha+ administrative agent and Homtest certified by the Homerie. I am accompanied by the level alpha administrative agent, Sava Domeria, as well as the alpha+ administrative inspector named Azxaron of the Xerbat clan, also on a special mission. You will escort us immediately to the spaceport I am indicating to you.”

  Turning pale before this list of titles of authority, apparently validated by his software, the soldier tried to protest:

  “But... you... you are from the old Administration: we are the Confederation and...”

  “And nothing at all. We do not hold military positions and, consequently, continue to cooperate with your fraction of the Administration.”

  “I... I will report to my superior...”

  “As long as you do not waste our time and we reach our destination, do as you wish.”

  He cut the communication with the satisfied smile of the winner, then turned to his crew.

  “There. This first obstacle is taken care of. Now, everyone to the armory: we must prepare the descent.”

  The spaceport they landed in looked a lot like the one in the Zcarbb-controlled territory… with the notable exception that there were no Zcarbbs here. Soldiers in orange and black crossed paths with civilians in clothes that ranged from mainstream to probably outdated, depending on their distribution in the population sample. The atmosphere was nonetheless generally martial, and even the civilians were visibly carrying weapons.

  Similarly, the crew of the “Lost Truth” had equipped themselves with armor, energy shields, and various weapons. Libre had had his favorite pistol optimized by his technicians and felt ready to conquer this world, if need be. Unlike when they visited the Zcarbbs, none of the Xerineans were nervous: they just seemed upset about this new stopover. Sava seemed less sullen than usual, but she suddenly let out a gasp of surprise as a new crew member came to join them.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Vector Vermilion had obviously passed through the synthesizer room, because he was dressed in his old uniform, black with golden border. Over his large red cape, however, he wore another, gray and much looser, which he used to hide his clothes. Before pulling a hood over his head and activating a smart-bubble to blur his features, he gave Sava a kind and ironic smile.

  “What... Why is he outside?... Oh! And then, I've had enough! Do what you want, but at least warn me first.”

  Oddly enough, she had immediately guessed that Libre was the one responsible, without even suspecting the two Xerineans… At the same time, cooing quietly in their corner, they did not seem to be responsible for the arrival of this new comrade.

  “Are you going to come down here?” the captain asked him.

  “No. I’m just accompanying you out of curiosity. Don’t count on me to help you if you cause problems.”

  Not having counted on that, Libre decided not to worry about it and mentally ordered his Z.I.A. to open the door.

  A hundred soldiers were waiting for them, their posture oscillating between attention and preparation to fire. The head of the spaceport was there: a tall, muscular man, of a species quite close to humans but more fearsome and carnivorous in appearance.

  “Ehm... Could you... Follow us, please, for the identity check...”

  The corridor formed by the soldiers led to the spaceport ticket office, from which a crowd of curious onlookers was temporarily kept at a distance.

  Unlike the Zcarbb world, where weapons had been forbidden to them, this was a world under Hom domination. Showing up with weapons was literally part of good diplomatic manners... Or, failing that, taking hostage the people close to your interlocutor or having the detonator of a secret weapon could also do the trick.

  The Hom who was at the counter cast a wary glance at the visitors and their escort, as if he could detect by observation the reason for this exceptional passage. He held a scanner in their direction.

  “Pass here your identifiers, please.”

  Sava held out her hand towards Lhom, glaring at him. The Homtest smiled embarrassedly and took out of a bag on his belt the identification bracelet he had once stolen from the young woman. As he seemed reluctant to place the object in the outstretched hand, the Ham grabbed it with a quick movement and hung it on her wrist.

  As she headed towards the scanner, she wondered what could be the reason for his current attitude. He seemed... embarrassed? Worried? Guilty?

  A bad feeling gripped her.

  The man at the counter read aloud some of the information that appeared on his screens once the bracelets were scanned:

  “So... Azxaron Xerbat, administrative inspector alpha+... species not listed? Presumed dead? Okay... Xini Xolot, criminal alpha+, also presumed dead... Wait? Criminal?”

  The man looked up in surprise, then lowered it because the Xerineans were much lower than him despite his sitting position. Azxaron gave him a stern look that brooked no argument:

  “That's none of your business. She's with me.”

  “Okay... Next! So... No-one Itdoesnotconcernyou?”

  He looked at the curious hooded figure and saw two red eyes shining on an unfriendly face.

  “Whatever… Next… Sava Domeria-Lhom, presumed dead… Libre Lhom-Domeria, presumed dead…”

  Sava froze and then abruptly stepped back, shoving Libre who was following her. He stepped aside, biting his lip, but she didn’t pay attention, literally diving towards the official.

  “Repeat what you read!”

  The man pulled his head back slightly, uncomfortable with the furious face of the Ham who was getting a little too close to his own. She grabbed the screen and rotated it to read the data.

  “Well, I only read your information: first name, Sava, last name, Domeria-Lhom…”

  “What's that? My last name is Domeria: why is this guy's name attached to it? What did you do? A false maneuver?”

  “There is no false maneuver: I don't have the accreditation to change your data. It would take an entire alpha+ level commission to modify a file without going through the official forms and valida…”

  “Open my file! Right now!”

  The official grimaced. Who did she think she was to give him orders? Okay, she was an alpha-level agent. But still: that didn't give her the right to be rude… Afterwards, the hundred armed soldiers escorting them indicated that this was an important figure… So, he diligently pressed the button to open the file details.

  Sava sucked in a breath as her heart pounded in her chest. Her anger threatened to break out, but she would probably manage to keep her cool long enough to verify what she was beginning to guess.

  “Why,” she growled through her teeth, “does this file say I’m married? I’ve never had a relationship with anyone! So how could I be married? And for… Almost fifty years when I’m barely in my twenties… And married to… Oh… It’s confirmed and signed… You will immediately correct this file and delete this… nonsense!”

  The man cowered in his seat at the Ham’s killer gaze. She wasn’t very impressive in herself, but she was well armed and particularly furious, not to mention the army that escorted her.

  “Sorry, ma'am... As I told you, I can't change the files... In any case, an administrative error is strictly impossible these days, even with the civil war... I swear I can't do anything about it! Afterwards, if you're not happy... you can always start divorce proceedings. I have the necessary forms to contact the lawyers needed to initiate the possibility of a process...”

  The Ham sent a violent punch to the screen. Solid and adjustable, it spun around several times before returning to its initial position. Leaving the unfortunate civil servant who, deep down, was not at fault, she threw a murderous look at Libre Lhom while putting her hand on the butt of her weapon.

  “I can explain everything to you Sava,” he assured you, “I... it was necessary. I just used the data from your bracelet to... um... validate certain procedures. You see, I couldn't use my priority access anymore because of my troubles... There's actually a small, very interesting flaw in the Network's system... Let's say that by being married and adopting a procedure for combining last names, the Network considers that we are a new person while copying our previous data, which allowed me to reactivate my alpha+ access, since the association of our names gave me a new identity while combining the... uh... previous information. Of course, the hacking procedure is a little more complicated than that, but I'm sure you understand that I didn't have much choice, especially at that time...”

  The captain spoke quickly and blushed violently, as the secret he feared most suddenly surfaced. Sava seemed about to shoot him, but she was also frozen in her movement, as if unable to draw. Rather than a burst of blind fury, the shock she had received at discovering his manipulation of their information materialized in a kind of slow and cold anger, but it could erupt more violently at any moment.

  “Maybe I should have told her before,” he thought, “rather than letting her find out for herself. She would have resented me too, but perhaps in a less violent way... And it would have been less shocking for her to learn it like this...”

  At that moment, a dozen soldiers in ceremonial uniforms—twice as many orange and black as the others—entered the spaceport, advancing through the security cordon erected by the soldiers already there. They walked slowly, at the pace of an old man dressed in a rather worn old uniform.

  The scene seemed to freeze as the crowd of onlookers itself fell silent. When he reached Sava, old Hom looked at her with an amused smile.

  “Could you follow me, please? I've been waiting a long time for you to come back.”

  The young Ham gave an annoyed grin that broke the immobility in which she found herself stopped. She stared at the old man with an anger that was not intended for him.

  “I'm following you,” she said, “but hurry up: I have someone to kill.”

  And she threw the darkest of all looks in Libre's direction.