“The Kar’Kali board of generals was kept up to date on every aspect of our intel regarding this technology…. And its leak,” the lead investigator explains anxiously. She is an arachnid life form know as a TinTac, and her eight eyes are looking appropriately somber. “They did not want the security threats to distract from your research project goals. They made it clear to us that your team was not privy to the investigation.”
“What I would like to know is how such a project came to be borne from this facility, which claims to approve only peace-seeking or life-saving medical research,” Mori adds.
“The original project goal was to create a solution that would improve the polluted atmosphere on Earth. Testing on one solution indicated that the atmosphere would be repaired but that it posed a danger to the health of human life-forms. The team determined that the solution would cause immediate damage to their endocrine system because it was based on the pheromones of a Mitskaa fog monster that triggers an overreaction in all internal glands… They then theorized that such a solution would be deadly to a Kar’Kali, as your endocrine system is far more sensitive and complex, not to mention that hormonal self-regulation is impossible with your suppressor chips activated.” The TinTac female taps the tabletop with her pincers as she finishes the explanation. She is very nervous. Nervous because she now sits in front of war refugees. That is what we are now, I suppose.
“But our chips are not active,” Kiva says with a twinkle of hope. “This must mean they de-activated the regulation system in preparation… Would this not help the situation? Are there survivors?”
“No. Unfortunately, we will not know whether de-activating the chips would have saved any Kar’Kali. The Kar’Kali council determined that de-activating the chips would cause a mass panic. They focused their efforts on stalling the manufacture of the drug and preventing any opportunity of dropping it in the Kar’Kal atmosphere. When these efforts failed, the population-wide spike in hormonal activity from the pheromone gas caused the system failure. As for survivors… the probe collected no signs of Kar’Kali life forms remaining on the planet, but it was destroyed by the Azza not long after arriving. Once the Azza took the planet, they fortified there and defeated the Domestic war ships nearby. By our estimation, your population is at critical endangerment. The living number of Kar’Kali is likely confined to prisoners of war, Deviant exiles, a few interplanetary ambassadors, and of course… the five of you.”
“The people responsible for this must pay,” I growl, gripping the edge of the table so hard that the wood creaks under my force. “We need to be made a part of this investigation, because the biomedical manufacturers cannot be allowed to continue producing this gas. We will form a command unit and seek them out—”
The TinTac female shudders away from me, but the human male in an Alliance uniform beside her leans over the table to face me. “Get it together,” he snaps. “You’re not going anywhere and you’re not doing anything. This is an ongoing investigation, and we’ll tell you exactly what you need to know, when you need to know it. You are researchers now, not soldiers. You will stay at this facility and continue your work.”
“Continue?” I shout, incredulous. “Continue for what? Tell me, what use is there for developing a fertility booster for a species that is dead?”
“Kila, please,” Pakka hisses.
“Excuse him,” Kiva quickly insists. “He is experiencing heightened hormone levels due to the mating call.”
“You four would lie down and allow this spoiled, battle-shy sack of Earth shit to tell you what to do?” I turn to them, livid. “You hear of this Azza-born atrocity and agree to return to the laboratory and tinker with analyzers? You will have to carry me to the funeral pyre before you stop me from plotting vengeance.”
“Vala, Kiva— remove him,” Pakka barks.
Vala and Kiva round on me with grim expressions. I decide its best to allow them to escort me without fighting. There is no point in harming them, and Vala is larger and stronger than me all on his own. With Kiva at his side, they will pin me in a heartbeat. I simply glare at them, mutinous and ashamed. How is it they do not feel the frustration that pulses through me? How is that I am the only one trembling uncontrollably?
We head back to our living quarters. No words are shared among us. Kiva eyes my skin with interest, no doubt spying the undertone of red that gives away my mated status. They have not seen me since I fully succumbed to the call. Vala prepares a steaming tea and sets it out on the low table in the living area. A couple Earth hours pass before Mori and Pakka return to us. When they shuffle into the room, I can see the exhaustion in them.
“What more did they say?” I ask.
“The Azza have slaughtered every Mitskaa fog monster on the Mits planet. For this reason, they believe the existing supply of the weapon is low. They are not including us in their missions but will inform us if they make contact with any Kar’Kali. They used a human phrase… We are on a ‘need to know’ basis with them. As for the suppressors, they’ve asked a top Alliance chip surgeon to come here and spend some time working on a fix with us. They said it was the least they could do for our kind after this tragedy.” Pakka lowers himself into an open seat on the couch and rests his eyes.
“And then what?” I growl at him. “Tell me, what will we do then?”
“I don’t know, Kila. What do you wish me to say?” Pakka does not even look at me.
“Something! Anything!” I stare around at each of their faces. Still, they eye me like a rabid creature that stumbled from the wilds. “Is that it? Am I the only one here that will not accept that Azza has defeated us at last? Is this the end of the war for you? Are you not angry?”
“You know well that anger will not solve this matter,” Vala says.
I grit my teeth. “Do not,” I snarl, “say those words to me.”
“It is true,” Mori argues. “What do you accomplish with your outburst aside from causing us all a headache?”
“Do not upset him further,” Kiva whines. “This is the hormones speaking through Kila’s tongue. Perhaps Ella should be here. Her presence will calm him.”
“I disagree. She’s the reason he’s like this,” says Mori.
“Do not put the blame on Ella,” I say, turning to bare my teeth at him. “This is between us.”
Mori turns to Pakka. “Am I wrong? She is the cause of his insanity, is she not?”
“The mating call,” Pakka corrects. “Not the woman herself. All of us need to be patient and stay unified in this time. Kila, can you not wait and see what contact is to be made with our surviving people before you suggest some rash plan? Likely a suicide mission if I’m not mistaken? Do not take your feelings out on us. Are we not here enduring this together?”
I grimace. “I suppose you are right,” I begrudgingly mutter. The mention of Ella has cooled my spark of anger. I should never have expected them to understand my desire to scream and rant, after all. But Ella would. I want nothing more than to find my way back to her softly furnished apartment and bury my face in her naked chest. I have a feeling that she would let me show my rage. She would let me show all of myself, and she would listen without judgment.
“As for you,” Pakka nods his head towards Mori and Vala. “You must be a support for Kila in his time of need. It is not his fault. And just as his anger will not prove useful— neither will your antagonizing him.”
Mori and Vala shut their hanging mouths, and Pakka’s words seem to relax Kiva as well, who drops his shoulders and lets out a breath of relief.
Pakka stands and presses a hand to my shoulder. “We will throw ourselves into action. And before you know it, we will repair the suppressor and find some way to help our people and destroy the Azza.”
