By Royal Appointment

Posted on Sun Jan 6th, 2019 @ 11:24am by

1,995 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: S1:3: Myriad Problems
Location: Ari's Quarters
Timeline: MD 61 10.00AM

The pair of ExpSec officer’s seemed to walk Ari the long way around the ship to his quarters. Remas hadn’t ordered it, that much was clear, but then again Ari was outside of the chain of command now. He was not one of them anymore, and they all knew it. Crewmen walking in the opposite direction slowed and stopped, conversations ceased than then restarted with renewed vigour.

There he was.
The Chief Engineer.
The Traitor.
Him.
It.

They arrived at the door to his quarters, and the security officer escorted him opened the door with a wave of his hand over the controls. The physical-mechanical locks disengaged, and the door opened into a darkened room.

“Don’t attempt to leave the room. If you need anything, use the wall comm to talk to us. You will be escorted to and from here as desired by the Captain. Any messages you have, pass to us and we’ll see they’re handed over to the right people. There is no computer access, and your replicator has been locked to its basic settings. Other than that, you have the freedom of your suite,” the ExpSec Officer said, then leaned in closer. “I have two friends in Sickbay right now because of that Myriad bastard you flew around with. Please, give me a reason to fill out an incident report, Sir.”

Without a word, Arivek turned and walked into his quarters.

The door closed behind him, locking with a loud clunk as the darkness of the room crept around him. On instinct, he reached out for the light control and turned on the illumination...and discovered he was not in his stateroom.

He stood upon a raised catwalk set above a blank emptiness that swam in the pale violet fog above and below. Behind him light’s marked the catwalks sides, trailing away into the distance, but ahead was a bright knot of lights. Bright red coals danced and moved at head height in the fog, blinking in and out of focus until with a clap they vanished.

“Arivek...Zhuri…”

The voice echoed out from all around him, seeming to come from the fog. It was a woman's voice, firm, commanding, an elegant countenance the likes of which only a queen could summon to her command. The fog behind him shifted, singing with movement as though something vast moved unseen within.

“You have sacrificed like no other. You awoke from an abyss by the hand of another, bowed to the false kings who used you so poorly, and suffered a myriad of betrayals. You were manipulated, humiliated, and now rest imprisoned to be paraded through a court of jesters and fools. And yet...you meekly accept their terms on your return. You, our unbound son should rule them as is your right,” the voice rose in timbre, the wind rushing through the fog making it dance. And then it stopped, the air becoming frigid and icy to the skin.

“Step closer to the edge...so we might see you better Arivek Zhuri.”

His legs shook with nerves, an emotion he wasn't expecting to feel. Walking slowly to the edge, he peered over the railing.

The voice's owner arose from the shrouded fog. At a first glance, they appeared to be a Myriad Proxie of the human fashion. Ivory white skin, silver hair and the burning orange eyes. Female in form it was a severe beauty of sharp cheekbones and hollow cheeks that gave her the look of a winter locked monarch, her starved ribs easily counted beneath snow-capped skin. But from the waist down her form gave way to coiled wires and pulsing conduits, that wrapped and knotted about themselves to form a trunk that fell away into the obscurity below.

A mermaid who had traded her fins and fluked tail for cold metal and vast mechanical prowess.

The speaker tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing into bright slits as she reached out an icy hand to grip Ari's chin. Gently, as a mother might, she turned his face up to look at her.

"We were not aware the shapers of the Milky Way could fashion such a striking form from the meek clay of meat provided. You have the regal air of a Myriad about you, Arivek Zhuri. Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the High Executor, we command the wind and stars that are Myriad here," she said. Her lips moved in time with a voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

She slowly drew her hand away, knitting her fingers together in front of her as the trunk of machinery wriggled and writhed beneath her.

"We sense your questions, and we bid you speak them freely."

"How are you here?" Arivek asked, his voice trembling like his body. "Are we still on the Traveler?"

“You are Unbound, Arivek Zhuri. It is but our merest whim and you are here by our side, whilst also remaining on the Bound vessel. We are not locked to a single instance, a single frame of reference. It is the freedom given to us by our sufferance,” The High Executor said. Their eyes seemed to shift, seeing off into some distant spot behind Ari, and then refocused their terrible attention on him. “And as you did not heed our summons on Abborax’s ship, we had to bring you here. To bestow on you two gifts.”

And with that she turned, the trunk of metal and wires shifting as she glided along the side of the catwalk.

“Come Arivek Zhrui. We have much to show you that should delight and terrify.”

"I can't leave," Arivek shouted back, hoping the being could hear him. "I need to stay put where I am. I need to regain Remas' trust."

"We would never remove such a useful agent to Myriad from so useful a place. We are not wasteful," The High Executor said, coming to a stop. She turned, looked back over one shoulder and with an imperious hand ushered him forward. Like a poorly rendered computer program, Ari's holographic form slid forward effortlessly.

"We have always known that one-day beings from the Milky Way would come to us. It was our desire that such a meeting would be mediated and controlled in such a manner that only the outcome we desired would come to fruition. But...we also know the Milky Way's tendency towards chaos and disorder."

As they moved through the fog-shrouded catwalk, the clouds of mist grew thicker and thicker. A chill to the air grew more pronounced.

"Information is our stock and trade. Technology is useful, but the designs and knowledge of how to make it keeps one's hands on the leash of civilizations. Your Federation gives to freely and lacks the ability to command the respect the Myriad take as our due. And so, Arivek Zhuri, I will grant you both a true secret and a true lie. I will give you all that is needed to thwart us, but I will provide to you in such a way that no one would believe you. You will be called the rightful traitor by all, but us who know your true heart and rightful place among the Myriad."

The mist was moving now, shifting. Lights in the distance shone through it, and then a figure stumbled out of the fog. He bumped into Ari, nearly pushing them both to the ground as he shook his head. A human male, civilian dress with a thin pencil mustache below his nose.

"Désolé mon ami! Je ne vous ai pas vu là-bas!" he said jovially, righting Ari before slapping him on the shoulder and walking on.

A Bolian woman stood by Ari's side, her eye's the blazing orange of a Myriad with the same cruel smile of the High Executor.

She took his arm, leading him in staggered steps out of the fog. They stood on the bank of a river, along paved promenade stretching along before and behind them. Bridges crossed the river, and watercraft bobbed at anchor as a solitary moon hung in the sky. It was a modern cityscape, and a stream of air car's hummed merrily along. But one building stood out to Ari's eye.

It bore the brass crest of the United Federation of Planets.

"Ah, Paris by moonlight," the High Executor said from the Bolian Proxy she wore. "We Myriad have visited many worlds of the Federation over the years and yet...this city we think is by far it's most beautiful. Don't you agree, Arivek Zhuri?"

Arivek blinked back his confusion, keeping calm and stable though he was anything but that on the inside. He rested his hands on the cool metal that lined the pathway and took a deep breath. "Why would you tell me how to defeat you? What are the two gifts? What purpose does any of this serve?" He shook his head, that was not the question he wanted to ask. "Wait..." He turned to look at the Bolian woman. "You were hoping for a specific outcome from your first meeting with the Milky Way. What outcome were you hoping for?"

"Questions, questions, questions...and we have not even discussed payment for these extraneous information requests. It pleases us that you seek further indenture from us so soon," the Bolian proxy smiled as they walked.

"We had hoped that our first meeting with paving the way for the Federation to accept us, to allow us ready access to the Milky Way and from there begin our work anew. We would in time manage the worlds of the Federation much as we manage these in Messier 4. Our timeline is centuries long, and we would not rush such a grand working as this. It is a setback, our current stance, but not a failure," she stopped and turned to regard Ari.

"And now, I think its time we sent you back. But first, the final lie or truth I promised you," she leaned in close to him, her breath hot on his ear. She smelled of ozone, of copper wiring hot with electric, and blood seeping from a fresh wound. Her skin was cold, dead, decaying against his skin, and yet that voice alone was more alive any he had ever heard.

"Listen attentively Arivek Zhuri, to this final damning truth that would see us falter and fail...Zado Kasmir is a Myriad."

She pulled back away from him, her form and face now that of Zado but with blazing orange eyes. They both stood in Ari's quarters, as though the events of the last few minutes had been a fabrication.

"And who would ever believe you if you said such a thing?" she asked, as slowly the projection of the Zado Proxie faded save for the twin points of those blazing Myriad eyes.

"We will see you again soon Arivek Zhuri."

And then they were gone.

Arivek stumbled back, trying to get as far away from where the High Executor once stood. His heart raced as he chest rose and fell with breathing that he didn't actually need. He touched himself, brushing his hands over various parts of his body, making sure he was all still there and in the form he expected to be in. A sigh of relief washed over him as he realized nothing had changed, not a single photon was out of place.

Thinking logically, it seemed nigh impossible for Ari to have been transported all the way back to Earth. Someone would have noticed the transporters taking him, and certainly, the trip would have taken much longer. Which could only mean one thing...

"One truth and one lie..." Arivek said to himself in a whisper. If the Myriad agents on Earth were the lie then that could only mean one thing... Arivek's eyes went wide as he realized the truth. Zado Kasmir was, in fact, a Myriad agent.

End?

 

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