Killer Kittens from Outer Space- Chapter Twenty Nine

Ana sure is having an eventful day. We'll be back to Tommy soon enough, I promise.

This one was a blast to write. We're finally about to get into the juicy parts of the story that I've been sitting on for so long while we build up to them.

As usual, huge thanks to all of my patrons, I appreciate every one of you.

On with the show 

Chapter 29

“Just Specialist Cardoso,” the garrison officer— a praetorian, going by the insignia next to the red dot on her lapel— stressed as Banta and Vrina rose. Her face stayed a blank slate, even as the ulu’s feathers splayed in a defensive display and the ursinian growled lowly, her hackles rising.

“Not even a day into my R&R and I’m being pulled aside,” Ana griped, doing her best to keep her voice light and casual. “What gives?”

The garrison officer’s eyes swept the room. “I am not at liberty to discuss that here,” she said.

“We’ll walk with you,” Vrina said immediately, taking a step forward. Banta followed suit, and the pair flanked Ana, facing off against the garrison. The red-buttoned kespans bristled collectively.

The officer’s ear flicked. “Specialist Cardoso has been summoned by order of the Admiralty,” she said. “Only her, no one else. You will stand down…” Her gaze swept over Vrina, and her eyebrow rose at the lack of rank insignia—something that had confused Ana since she’d joined the squad. The woman turned to Banta instead. “…Corporal.”

“She is my brat’wadeem,” Vrina snapped back immediately, Ana’s translator tripping over the word. “My talon-sister. I have a right to know where she is being taken and for what.”

The officer hesitated, then looked Vrina over again. Her eyes flicked from side to side, processing the information fed by her translator chip, and then a spark of recognition lit her face and the stone-faced façade crumbled into an annoyed frown. “Sekhit Keshtah. I’d heard you were with the fleet. I apologize for not recognizing you. This human is attached to your squad?”

“Call me Singer.” Vrina corrected, her feathers still ruffled. “And yes. I’m laying claim to her under the old laws. She has killed my enemies, and I, in turn, have saved her life before this day. All requirements are thus met.” She blinked, then cocked her head at Ana. “That is, if you agree, Ana?” Behind her, Banta nodded almost imperceptibly.

Ana hesitated. I have no idea what any of that means. Still, she seized the offer like a lifeline in a storm. I really hope this doesn’t land me in even more shit down the line.“I… yes?” she said, and the officer’s lip curled.

“Which makes her my retainer as well as an Imperial soldier.” Vrina’s feathers started to smooth over as the conversation tilted, seemingly in her favor. “Under the Imperial Doctrine of Amalgamated Forces, per section five, her actions are an extension of my own. We will abide by any lawful orders the Admiralty gives us, as will my other retainer here.” She extended a wing over to Banta, who grinned wickedly. “So please, lead on ma’am. I am curious as to what kind of trouble my new vassal has landed us in.”

The wink that Vrina sent Ana’s way dissolved a little of the initial panic, replacing it instead with trepidation and more than a little curiosity. What the fuck just happened? 

The garrison officer hissed in displeasure. “Conflicts of interest like this are why I’ve always thought those accords were a bad idea.” She sighed, “I need to report this change of circumstances to the Admiralty. Please wait here.” She turned and walked out of earshot.

“We’re going to have a chat later about how it is that you’ve landed yourself on the garrison’s radar,” Vrina muttered lowly to Ana. “No secrets. This is now my business too.”

“No secrets?” Ana hissed back. “That’s pretty rich coming from you.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’ve got some explaining to do yourself. Who are you, really? What did I just agree to?

“Tell you later,” the bird woman clicked her beak. “Heads up, she’s coming back.”

The officer walked back over to them, with an expression on her face like someone had wafted spoilt milk beneath her nose. “The three of you will report immediately to the Admiralty,” she said in a clipped tone. “Sekhit Singer will be permitted to attend.”

“Just Singer,” Vrina growled, but the woman paid her no mind.

“A moment please,” Banta chimed in. “While we bid the fair gentleman and his wife farewell.”

The garrison officer huffed in impatience, but took a half step back. “Fine. A moment.”

Ana took the opportunity to swipe their communicators from the sack as she leaned across the table. “Thank you,” she muttered to Skara and Jelakka, and the pair nodded slightly, still exchanging concerned looks between themselves and at the garrison.

“Stay safe,” Jelakka murmured back.

Straightening up, Ana slid the devices into her pocket and smiled at the soldiers. “Well? Where are we off to then?”

“Wait,” Skara turned to Jelakka with wide eyes. “If she’s going with them, then that means…”

The man groaned, sinking into his booth seat, and letting his head slump into his hands. “We’re going to need to drive back ourselves, aren’t we?”

---

Fortunately, it turned out that their destination wasn’t some secret holding cell or a field in the middle of nowhere. Instead, the troop carrier they found themselves in made a beeline straight for the new consulate building.

The vehicle was almost silent as it tore down the street, dodging between civilian vehicles and forcing several to turn off the road. It was also scarily fast.

“Who the hell is driving this thing?” Ana hissed to her squadmates, passing their communicators back into their hands as the vehicle lurched to a sudden halt, then accelerated again in a rapid burst, throwing their heads and shoulders around in their seats.

“No one, it’s driven by an AI,” Banta groaned, her hand tight around the armrest of her seat. “I’d heard they weren’t great around so many manually driven cars. Seems like an understatement to me. Hrnk!” Her entire body shifted in her chair as the vehicle skidded to another abrupt stop, then accelerated around a small hatchback.

Unlike the shuttle they’d arrived on that morning, the seats in the troop carrier didn’t feature inertial dampeners, instead relying on magnetic fasteners that clipped onto the standard-issue Imperial armor.  Having left the consulate in civilian clothes, the trio had instead been presented with simple belts to wear. Belts that quickly imprinted themselves into the skin, fur, and feathers of each of them respectively.

One very uncomfortable car ride later, they finally turned into the consulate building, and Ana threw the belt off in disgust, rubbing at several sore points on her body that she just knew were going to come up in bruises.

As they piled out of the vehicle, around half of the troops dispersed, leaving the trio standing outside the doors with the remainder. Ana counted them— four, plus their commanding officer.

“Follow me,” the woman said simply, and her troops spread out two to a side, flanking Ana and her squadmates as they walked further into the compound and towards the wide doors of the consulate building.

As the doors swept open, the same attendant who had greeted Ana on her arrival looked up from the desk. “Ah, Praetorian Kier, you’ve returned. The Admiral has sent word, you are to wait for her in room seven.” She turned to Vrina, and something like uncertainty flickered across her face. “Sekhit Keshtah, I apologise for my earlier inattention to your status. A new room has been made up—”

“I’ll bunk with my squadmates.” The skin around Vrina’s beak flared. Distaste, registered Ana’s translator, and the consulate official backpedalled.

“Of course,” she stammered. “I hope that your outing was a pleasant one.” She withered further at the next look Vrina sent her. “I’ll just… send word that you’ve arrived.” She scurried away.

“Damn,” Ana muttered. “You have them tiptoing around you like they’re on ice. Who are you and what have you done with my squadmate?”

Vrina shook her head, and a series of clicks that sounded a bit like a growl escaped her beak. “I choose not to advertise my status for many reasons,” she said lowly. “This is one of them.”

“This way, please,” the officer gestured down the corridor. “I don’t want to keep the Admiral waiting.”

 I do, thought Ana. Especially if she’s got anything to do with these apparent implants. The back of her throat hurt as if it were trying to contain a roiling furnace, and she clenched her teeth to keep from erupting. Both Banta and Vrina shot her concerned looks, and she shook her head back.

This room was identical to the one she’d waited for Jelakka and Skara in and, like before, she opted to stand. The wait was longer— even the praetorian’s foot had begun to bounce up and down by the time the door opened. She shot to attention, alongside the rest of her troops.

The kespan who entered the room was at once familiar. Ana had last seen her on stage right before her press conference, though she’d not spoken a word and disappeared halfway through the debriefing.

Ana hadn’t gotten a good look at her back then; she’d been standing behind Admiral Kel’rek with a sour expression that hadn’t invited examination. Rear Admiral Shessix had more meat on her bones than the Vice Admiral, but barely. She also had scars; a flush of puckered white pockmarks splayed across her right cheek, marks that were at once familiar to any who served in the Imperial military— burns from the plasma chamber of a service rifle. At some point, one had burst near to her face.

She entered without aplomb, and upon seeing the gaggle of troops in the room, the frown already present on her face deepened.

“Everyone out,” she said, and the garrison hesitated.

“Ma’am….” The Praetorian said uncertainly.

“That is an order, Kier.” The Rear Admiral glared back. “Everyone but the human, out.”

“With respect, ma’am—” Vrina began, before being cut off with a raised hand.

“I am fully aware of your rights, Miss Keshtah.” Shessix said coldly. “You may stay, but your other retainer will wait outside.”

Vrina gave a small nod to Banta, who looked between huffed almost imperceptibly and then piled out of the room alongside the garrison, sparing them a final concerned look as she left.

When the door slammed shut, the Vice Admiral spent a long moment studying the pair, her eyes lingering on Ana, then sighed deeply.

“This meeting brings me no pleasure,” she said, her hands folding behind herself. Ana’s blood pressure spiked, and she bit her tongue in an attempt to keep her face under control. When neither of them responded, the Admiral approached Ana, coming close enough to reach out and touch, until the white splash on her face took on three dimensions, ugly grey craters in otherwise unblemished pink skin.

After another long pause, the Admiral drew breath again to speak.

“A rather upsetting report hit my desk this morning,” she said, and Ana’s eyelid twitched. “Regarding one Dr Vel’Askren. He wrote to inform me that he is being cycled off the fleet with just a day’s notice. As my preferred doctor, and a personal friend of mine, this news was upsetting.” She stared flatly at Ana. “It was not as upsetting as the message that he sent me through one of my most trusted women just this morning, right before he was shipped back to Kespara. Do you have any idea what the contents of that message might have been, Specialist Cardoso?”

Ana’s entire body tensed up. A trap? Possibly. “No, ma’am.”

Shessix’s eyes bore holes in Ana’s face, and she felt a bead of sweat start to run down her neck.

“No?” the kespan Admiral raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be blunt, Specialist. I don’t believe you. Dr Vel’Askren mentioned that he spoke out in front of those two in the media team who you met up with just today.”

Ana’s blood ran cold, and her hand flexed unconsciously near her sidearm. Admiral Shessix nodded grimly. “I thought so. Here,” she said, her eyes twitching, and Ana’s communicator pinged a notification through to her translator chip. “You may take this as a gesture of good faith.”

Ana didn’t dare take her eyes off the woman, but Vrina, appearing completely lost as to what the conversation was about, scanned through the document immediately.

“This is…” the bird woman’s feathers rose. “WHAT IS THIS?” She took a step back in alarm, her beak snapping shut over and over in a furious tirade of ulu expletives. “She turned to Ana with a stricken expression before fury won out again and she bore down on the Admiral. “My people will hear of this. Explain yourself.”

“Everything I know for sure on the subject is there,” Shessix replied, and her face was like an ocean before a storm, something dark brewing beneath its stillness.

“Bullshit,” Vrina said immediately, her beak clicking shut in conviction. “You’re in charge of the ground operation, surely…”

“However,” the Admiral said slowly, and Vrina paused, glowering. “I can make some assumptions, and some educated guesses.” She looked at Ana, who still hadn’t spoken. “You were already aware, I take it?” When Ana still didn’t respond she nodded. “Good. You are, by all accounts a capable woman. You’ll need to remain just as careful if you’re to make it out of this.”

She turned back to Vrina. “As I was saying, I was not aware of these… circumstances until today. There are however, very few people in orbit or on the surface with the capability to pull something like this off.”

“And you’re one of them,” Ana said before she could stop herself.

The rear admiral stared back at her, then turned her nose up. “It is no secret that I despise your world and everything that brought us here,” she said. “And I have no love for the race that took my daughter from me. But if you think,”— her voice turned bitter— “that I would lower myself to this— that I would piss all over the honourable service that cost my daughter her life, then you are greatly mistaken.” The slits of her pupils contracted more with every word until Ana was staring into the face of a predator, held in her furious glare

“Who then?” Vrina prompted, her voice just as cold.

The Admiral’s eyes left Ana’s and with them went the strange feeling of pressure. “I will not discuss my suspicions with you, Miss Keshtah. My position does not allow it.”

“Then what good is this meeting, save to convince us that you knew nothing about this…” Vrina struggled for words, “…atrocity?”

“My original intention was to warn Specialist Cardoso about this report, and to post some guards of my own to ensure her safety,” Shessix deadpanned. “However, your interference in this matter has presented me with both a problem and an opportunity, Sekhit.” She spoke the last word with just a hint of derision. “A problem, because, as you say, your people will undoubtedly be most upset to hear about yet another act of brutality in a sector that is at least partially under my command.” She paused to consider Vrina, who prickled under her gaze.

“And an opportunity?” the ulu woman prompted.

“To get out in front of it all,” the admiral acknowledged. “To instruct you to inform your people and the greater galactic population of what is happening on Ervamir while I investigate just how deep this corruption goes.”

“Earth,” Ana corrected, and the admiral’s gaze slid back to her. “What’s happening on Earth.”

“There is a communication blockade…” Vrina began.

“Which is why you will be traveling in person,” Shessix finished for her. “I will make the arrangements.”

“I’m not leaving without my retainers,” Vrina edged closer to Ana. “Not when doing so would put them in danger.”

The rear admiral smiled for the first time, a sharp wicked grin with altogether too many teeth for Ana’s comfort. “Oh, well if that’s all, princess, you’d best take them with you.”

Excuse me?