Chapter 62 - Teaser!

Trying something new this chapter, guys. I think you'll find it pretty interesting. :-)

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The Black Flats. Kessik IV.

I shifted a little in the comfortable purple cushioned chair that had been set up on a stretch of flat land in the Black Flats on the planet, glancing at an identical chair across from me. The chair was definitely in the futuristic, Star Trek design-chic, almost like a throwback to the Kirk-era captain’s chair on the bridge of the original Enterprise.

Even in a supposedly post-capitalist utopia, culture had its inertia. Design trends still echoed power and legacy, much like the monarchs of old once influenced fashion and architecture, sometimes even accidentally and unintentionally. The way we buttoned our suits in my era was a result of some King being too fat to button his suit all the way and soon enough everyone had done the same, for centuries! It was crazy when you thought about it.

The Federation claimed to be evolved, but moments like this reminded me that not everything had changed.

Across from me sat my counterpart from the Federation News Service. She had just taken her seat, mirroring mine exactly. Strikingly beautiful in a classic way, she looked mostly human—but if you knew what to look for, there were traces of something else. The jet-black eyes, the calm weight of her presence... Betazoid, probably. Not a full one—maybe a grandparent, maybe a little further back. Just enough to hint at hidden depths.

Hybrid vigor was real, and her beauty might have been proof of it.

Jarvis had compiled a dossier before I agreed to the interview, but—unsurprisingly—given Federation culture and law, her ancestry wasn’t part of the public record. There’d been no need to dig deeper with more invasive methods. The investigation focused on verifying her identity—confirming she was, in fact, a journalist and not an assassin with a press badge—and whether speaking with her would serve my purposes.

No one else had been asking, after all. I’d already been inclined to say yes if she even remotely checked out. Hell, I would’ve sat down with this century’s equivalent of Jerry Springer if it meant promoting my business and polishing my public image.