The sector housing the northern airlock had been evacuated of non-essential personnel long before they arrived. That left a sizable chunk of security officers, Savin, and Cain to greet the arriving aliens. Chief Cain didn’t look happy to see Francis or the Black Knights, but he didn’t complain either; if anything, he looked more ragged now than when they had last talked. It made Francis wonder what had happened since Savin's interrogation, and more importantly, why was the Overseer not here? Surely, a man of his standing wouldn’t want to miss out on being among the first to formally greet alien life.
Francis marched over to where the two men were flanked by armed guards; one pointed his gun at him, however, Cain made him lower the weapon. “Ah, Frank, I should have guessed you would come running at the thought of meeting more aliens. I guess one lot of them wasn’t enough for you.”
“I just want to make sure that we don’t start a war with them,” Francis said, staring at the glassy eyes of the man that had been Reginald. Savin, who now possessed him, did not carry himself like a blind man; it was like even without his eyes, he could still see each and every one of them. No telling the extent of his power, and what he plans to do going forward.
“We can handle diplomacy just fine,” said Cain, managing a weak smile.
“Then where is the Overseer?” asked Melina before anyone else could say what they were all thinking.
“He wanted to be here, but he handed the responsibility to me. There’s no way of knowing for sure if they are friendly.”
“You have an armed response right here. Nothing is stopping him from getting in armour. There has to be some in munitions, right?”
“You can never be too careful, Frank.”
Charles and Francis shared a knowing look. “Put him on. I want to speak to him. You must have gone with Reginald—Savin to speak to him, I presume. What happened?”
“Nothing, they talked, it was mostly civil…”
“Mostly?” questioned Melina.
‘I think something may have happened to the Overseer. They’re both hiding something.’
‘I am inclined to agree,’ Melina said in Francis’ thoughts.
‘It’s very rude to be talking behind someone’s back in your own thoughts when the person you are talking about is also psychic!’
Francis balled his fist and threw it at Savin, catching his jaw. The man staggered back and from his right closed fist emerged a long purple blade that crossed the throat of Francis. He could have been killed, but Francis guessed that Savin was feeling charitable. “Is this how you want those alien bastards to perceive us, as nothing more than savages?”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Did you kill the Overseer?”
“What does it matter, Frank? We’re all as good as dead if we don’t get on the same page.”
“He’s right,” said Cain, looking at the airlock. “Those aliens will be here anything minute. I need you two to be on our best behaviour.”
“And you’re going through with this, Chief?”
“Believe me, there was no other way.”
“Someone is trying to contact us through the panel,” said Melina.
Cain sighed. “It’s probably the Communication centre, monitoring the progress of our new arrivals.” He pressed the button and heard Anya speak.
“I was beginning to think the worst had already happened.”
“We’re still alive. What’s your report, officer?”
“The aliens are on our doorstep; I think they are just waiting for you to cycle the airlock.”
Savin looked at Cain. “Then let’s welcome our newest guests, shall we?”
While everyone scrambled to deal with the incoming new arrivals, the once miners with Eva found themselves heading towards the southeastern dome and because the focus was elsewhere, no one even batted an eye their way.
‘How quickly do you think we can pollute the filtration system?’ asked Eva.
‘It shouldn’t take long. The question is how do we spread the Sanguis?’ asked the miner to her left, Devin.
‘Sprinklers,’ answered Eva with a knowing smile.
‘Will that even work?’ asked Harvey.
‘The Mortalis is quick to act, and if we’re lucky, our new alien friends will join us, too.’
They pressed on down a long corridor that led to Hydroponics and were met by a guarded decontamination chamber with a locked pair of doors. They would have to hope to fool the system scans and after what had already happened with Andrey, Eva would have preferred not to encounter any delays, but first, they also had to deal with the single guard blocking their path.
“With the base on high alert, I can’t just let anyone in here.”
“There’s an entrance here from outside, right?”
The guard looked over his shoulder and then back at them. “Correct, but from what I’ve been told, the aliens are heading for the northern airlock.”
“We just want to account for the possibility they might sneak in through other means,” said Harvey.
“I assure you there aren’t many things that can breach these doors, so go back the way you came and report back to your barracks.”
Eva shook her head. So much for the easy way.
The guard’s eye barely caught wind of what came next as the long black blade of one of the miners shot forth and went straight through his eye. The man struggled for only a few seconds before the miner retracted the blade; his arm and hand returned to their normal shape. The guard fell forward and landed in a growing pool of his blood.
“That’s one problem dealt with,” said Devin.
“Now we just need to pray our symbiotes can hide from the bio-scanner,” said Harvey, folding his arms.
The lighting system of the corridor began to flash on and off, and the panel to their left turned on by itself.
“Leave that to me,” said the deep, distorted voice.
Eva turned to the communication panel and stared at it wide-eyed. “A-Andrey!”
“The one and only. We have a mission to complete, Eva. Hail Aevetas”
“Yeah,” Eva said looking at the others trying to mask her awkwardness at the situation. “Hail them…”
We both want the same thing, but the True Eye and Aevetas. They don’t both serve the Truth. Aevetas will have to come around someday… they’ll have no other choice when the time comes.
