She should be extremely happy. But maybe Whadgaf can’t be that anymore.
Not only had she bested the deranged Agent Red and beat him to the Banned Regions, but she had made some new friends and they are enjoying the levity that they can find within the safe zone of the banned regions.
The safe zone is like a city, but different sections are located on different asteroid clusters and inhabitants generally wear either a jet pack, or thrusters on the feet and arms of their space suits so that they can navigate the area without ships. Moving from one asteroid to another within the safe zone is easy and usually not perilous, but there have been stories of beings losing their footing and floating off into space; it is not unheard of.
Whadgaf and her new friend Sib, of Oin, have bonded over their successful attempt to save Sib’s sister Sevi and to thwart the plans of Agent Red, and they contemplate their futures together over a meal. They are also joined by Restili, of Hafjeran, who along with Sevi had been prisoners of Agent Red.
All four of them, including the daughter of Sevi, Yule, have been staying in accommodations that are normally reserved for workers at the Universal Infirmary Branch, but even though Sevi, who is a nurse of universal distinction, is an employee, she is not employed by this particular branch. They enjoy nice accommodations though, because of Sevi’s position, and the suite reminds Whadgaf of the home she had left.
They sit in a dining room and they are able to enjoy the view of the regions through windows.
Though Hafjeris and Ointites have very different diets on their home planets, they enjoy food developed by the Universal Infirmary that can be consumed by most beings of the known universe.
“We should really plan to get back soon,” Sevi says watching her daughter busy herself with entertainment on a viewer. “My assignment on Hafjeran continues and I must get Yule back before she misses too much instruction and falls behind.”
“There is no one pressuring you to leave sister,” Sib says with a twinge of frustration.
“You work so hard,” Restili says sympathetically. The two had grown close while in captivity and Restili had a lot of respect for the woman who was known as the Life Bringer by her family and colleagues. She was well known for her self sacrifice.
“Yes,” Sevi says, “I know I need and deserve this unexpected break.” She smiles around at the women smiling at her.
“And it’s such a nice time,” Sib says. “We should all check out the ship races tonight. I hear it is like a party.”
They all agree, except for Whadgaf who is the most grave of them all.
“You need to lighten up as well,” Restili says says to Whadgaf. “Frowning up won’t vanquish your enemies. It won’t get me in the good graces of my family, my life on Hafjeran is done, but I’m not frowning about it. This is our new start.”
It could be her new start, but Whadgaf has the feeling that she has forgotten something. It’s not Frial, of course Agent Red would be back to pester her, but it’s as though she has forgotten something important, or overlooked it, and it’s feels like an itch on her mind that she can’t scratch. She can appreciate the reprieve and camaraderie, but it’s not likely that it will last long. Life is not usually so kind to her.
On the planet Hafjeran, in the vaulted city of Dharleans, a ship lands at the secure spaceport, the largest on the continent, on the Dharle compound. The man Yiel disembarks and he orders that the cargo onboard be unloaded so that it can start the process of manufacture into the various weapons that the Dharle family sells to the Hafjeran military, and to anyone else with the money on the black market.
Yiel lives in the main commerce building of the Dharle family, the Dharle building that is similar to the commerce center of most major cities held by owning families, like the Jiris building in Jeriel. He is one of many of the Dharle children to still occupy the building, though the majority of the Dharle children who live in the building have official positions with the Dharle business organization. Yiel does not, and as the second born, that is strange. Other owning families generally rear their oldest children to take over family operations, and Yiel has a public persona as a rebel. He is handsome by Hafjeran standards, muscled limbs and strong wings with an impressive wingspan, hard jaw, beak solid and always shiny with edges that stretched almost up to his ear lobes giving him a quasi smile that was also dangerous.
Of course he wore his persona well in public, it was necessary to explain his behavior that saw him off planet often, and his older brother Yiee off to find him and make him presentable for important family gatherings and planet-wide social functions. It was a nice veneer over the reality that the two brothers ran the most successful smuggling operation in the entire banned regions and they were responsible for the majority of their family’s wealth.
Yiel’s quarters are on the second highest floor. When you are inside of it, it is easy to forget that you are inside of a hundred floor skyscraper because it is outfitted like a home big enough for five people. Yiel gets what he wants and he chose his quarters even though he didn’t have a family of his own. He liked the space to entertain guests for private parties that could last the length of his stays on planet.
Today, his quarters are empty and Yiel relaxes in comfortable shorts, no shirt to let his wings stretch out. He listens to old lectures of his grandfather, the great general of the Hafjeran Ground Command Eir Dharle, as he details the proper strategy for inciting an insurrection and seizing the valuable resources of the distracted rebels, only to calm the insurrection through means that don’t kill the spirit of the rebels. It was a technique employed by the owning Dharle’s to keep their renters well in hand, to keep them needy, to have them leave what little resources they had gathered open for the Dharles to seize and leave them with nothing.
Yiel stands with the voice of Eir filling the space around him and he watches the ship surveillance video of the female Hafjeris who had killed his brother and his entire crew onboard the ship he was using to scare off any one in the region of a new mineral-rich asteroid they had found.
She was a sight, her wings bigger than his own, and glowing green. It was a sight. He had to find her. He had to know her.
PRL Serials 