embassy meeting with your delegates. The caravan you pursue came up on our scans, and as embassy delegates, we are honor-bound to provide aid. We were on our way to do this when we realized you were giving chase.”
“As you saw we were giving chase, you should realize you should back off.”
The creature—was it a Thrull? I thought it might be—made a deep, growling sort of noise. It echoed across the rolling sands, and abruptly I realized he was laughing. The sound died and the Thrull took a step forward, towering over the Hsainien warrior on the sand before him. “Back off.” His massive body shifted, and my blood chilled in my veins as he shoved his weight upright. That thing, on his hindquarters, was now more than three times my height. On all fours, he was intimidating, larger than any animal—intelligent or otherwise—I’d ever come across. Standing upright, he was even more imposing. If all the stories I’d heard of Thrulls were true, then the Hsainien down there was an idiot. Or maybe a xenophobe who’d refused to ever look beyond the horizons of his own world.
Thrulls weren’t bloodthirsty, but once engaged in battle, they didn’t stop until the opponent was dead. A strike against one of them was considered a strike against their entire world—they were genetically linked, and to attack even one of them caused a ripple in their entire population. It was understandable why they didn’t take to physical confrontations well. If nature hadn’t honed them into almost indestructible creatures, I’d feel sorry for them.
But that colossus down there could go through almost anything put in front of him, and if anything happened to him, his people would know it and they’d hunt down his attacker. Hunt down, kill and make an example.
The embassy had put him with this unit to send a clear warning.
Straining to see better through my specs, I watched as one of the white-garbed Hsainiens approached their leader. They looked to be speaking, but their communication didn’t only consist of the spoken word. There was a strange set of hand gestures, and those gestures had too much significance to them for them not to mean something. No way to follow it closely though. I still couldn’t see worth anything, not from here.
The receiver in my ear exploded with sound as the Hsainien in the front whirled back to the embassy detachment. “We will overlook your rudeness if you return to your vessel. You’re expected at the capital. Leave us to administer justice to the criminals, as our job dictates.”
“Justice.”
This was a new voice.
Something about it made the skin on the back of my neck prickle.
A man separated himself from the crew, moving forward.
My belly twitched at the sight of him.
I don’t know why.
He gestured to the caravan on the far side of the ridge. As he did so, he bent his head toward the gangly limbed creature at his side. They exchanged words, but it was too low for my translator to pick up. His gray-skinned companion nodded and moved at a clip almost too fast for my eyes to track as he ran up the hill. In mere heartbeats, he stood before the caravan. I couldn’t follow that conversation, either.
But it didn’t matter. I already knew what was being said.
“You understand that as members of the Severian Galactic Federation, you are obligated to follow the laws outlined in regards to how offworld refugees and prisoners are dealt with.” The man’s dark skin, his broad shoulders, the very way he held himself commanded attention. His uniform matched the uniforms the others wore, although the deep gold along the shoulders signified something, I was sure.
“I do not know what you speak of, offworlder. Be plain in your speech,” the Hsainien said.
“Hmmm.”
He turned his head, and although I couldn’t see him, I knew the direction of his gaze. The caravan on the hill.
Bodies emerged from the low-gliding units. They looked to be men and women. But…my breath lodged in my
“As you saw we were giving chase, you should realize you should back off.”
The creature—was it a Thrull? I thought it might be—made a deep, growling sort of noise. It echoed across the rolling sands, and abruptly I realized he was laughing. The sound died and the Thrull took a step forward, towering over the Hsainien warrior on the sand before him. “Back off.” His massive body shifted, and my blood chilled in my veins as he shoved his weight upright. That thing, on his hindquarters, was now more than three times my height. On all fours, he was intimidating, larger than any animal—intelligent or otherwise—I’d ever come across. Standing upright, he was even more imposing. If all the stories I’d heard of Thrulls were true, then the Hsainien down there was an idiot. Or maybe a xenophobe who’d refused to ever look beyond the horizons of his own world.
Thrulls weren’t bloodthirsty, but once engaged in battle, they didn’t stop until the opponent was dead. A strike against one of them was considered a strike against their entire world—they were genetically linked, and to attack even one of them caused a ripple in their entire population. It was understandable why they didn’t take to physical confrontations well. If nature hadn’t honed them into almost indestructible creatures, I’d feel sorry for them.
But that colossus down there could go through almost anything put in front of him, and if anything happened to him, his people would know it and they’d hunt down his attacker. Hunt down, kill and make an example.
The embassy had put him with this unit to send a clear warning.
Straining to see better through my specs, I watched as one of the white-garbed Hsainiens approached their leader. They looked to be speaking, but their communication didn’t only consist of the spoken word. There was a strange set of hand gestures, and those gestures had too much significance to them for them not to mean something. No way to follow it closely though. I still couldn’t see worth anything, not from here.
The receiver in my ear exploded with sound as the Hsainien in the front whirled back to the embassy detachment. “We will overlook your rudeness if you return to your vessel. You’re expected at the capital. Leave us to administer justice to the criminals, as our job dictates.”
“Justice.”
This was a new voice.
Something about it made the skin on the back of my neck prickle.
A man separated himself from the crew, moving forward.
My belly twitched at the sight of him.
I don’t know why.
He gestured to the caravan on the far side of the ridge. As he did so, he bent his head toward the gangly limbed creature at his side. They exchanged words, but it was too low for my translator to pick up. His gray-skinned companion nodded and moved at a clip almost too fast for my eyes to track as he ran up the hill. In mere heartbeats, he stood before the caravan. I couldn’t follow that conversation, either.
But it didn’t matter. I already knew what was being said.
“You understand that as members of the Severian Galactic Federation, you are obligated to follow the laws outlined in regards to how offworld refugees and prisoners are dealt with.” The man’s dark skin, his broad shoulders, the very way he held himself commanded attention. His uniform matched the uniforms the others wore, although the deep gold along the shoulders signified something, I was sure.
“I do not know what you speak of, offworlder. Be plain in your speech,” the Hsainien said.
“Hmmm.”
He turned his head, and although I couldn’t see him, I knew the direction of his gaze. The caravan on the hill.
Bodies emerged from the low-gliding units. They looked to be men and women. But…my breath lodged in my
Similar Books
