Tran watched the view
screen as they docked. This was one
conference that he wished he could avoid at all costs. Whoever planned this must have taken leave of
their senses because everyone knew that the Drackma were mortal enemies of the
Starlor. How he’d gotten invited as an
authority on both species was beyond him.
Yes, he’d had dealings with both factions and yes, he’d come out the
winner on both occasions, but he was in no way an expert. Of course, he was willing to bet that the
other six delegates from Stralos Minor weren’t experts either.
He stood from his seat
and strode toward the lift doors. “Kreighton,
you have the bridge. Telara, you are
with me.”
The young woman managed
to slip in beside him before the lift doors swooshed shut and plummeted them
the three floors to the platform that would transport them to the skywalk below
the ship. From there they would make
their way to the Parcenon where the delegates were meeting.
Telara placed her small
hand in his and smiled up at him. He
could already feel her magic working as she said, “You worry too much.”
He allowed one of the
rare smiles that he reserved for only for Telara. She was the light in his otherwise dark
world. Since joining his crew seven
years ago, she’d changed everyone’s life for the better.
Telara was Arobian. The people on her planet were divided into
three factions, telepaths, empaths, and seers.
It was unheard of for an Arobian to be born with all three abilities,
that is until Telara. Her mother was one
of the strongest empaths on their world and her father was the strongest telepath on record.
It wasn’t until Telara was born that they’d learned her father Delor’s
own father had been a seer.
Telara’s abilities were
so strong that not only could they not be adequately tested, but the majority
of Delarians feared her. When she’d
reached her seventeenth birthday, she realized that remaining on her own world
would not only endanger her life, but that of the rest of her family as
well. She bravely stole aboard a departing
freighter and that’s how she came to be with the Shak Paw.
When they reached the Parcenon,
Telara held up a hand. Knowing she would
not act without reason, Tran stood patiently waiting for her to start moving
once again.
Her eyes widened and her chin lifted sharply
into the air as her nostrils flared.
Tran leaned closer to
whisper, “What is it, little dove?”
“Danger’s near. All is not as it seems.”
He gave a miniscule nod,
then tapped the badge on his chest as he said, “Run scans and raise shields. Keep a lock on us at all times.”
A deep, gravelly voice replied,
“Understood.”
Telara smiled. “Kreighton won’t will any jocularity
contests.”
Tran winked. “I’d rather have him with us, grumbles and
all than someone more personable. He’s
damn good at his job.”
She smiled up at
him. “Yes, he is worth the trouble to
know.”
The two continued into
the glass structure. It looked like they
were the last ones to join the group.
Telara squeezed Trans hand as they made for their seats.
Chartress, the delegate
from Ornithius stood and called the meeting to order. “The time has come for peace to reign. No longer can the Drackma and Starlor afford
to be at odds. A new enemy has surfaced
and in order to survive, the two must unite their resources for the good of
all.”
Tran studied the
delegates just as he knew Telara was doing beside him. He was good at reading auras, and from what
he could see, the only one that believed what Chartress was saying was the
delegate himself.
He felt the gentle
probing that told him someone was in his mind, but he was familiar enough with
the feeling that he recognized it was Telara.
He could hear her thoughts clearly, “They
want the two factions to continue the war so they can slip in and pillage their
world while they are distracted by the Tuparians.”
Tran knew that
name. The Tuparians were responsible for
desolating many worlds… Then he paused,
a remembered tidbit from his childhood came back to him. Tuparians are always black. They can’t disguise their true evil intentions. His gaze ran through the delegates, and there
beside the Drackma delegate was an aura he’d only seen a few times before.
He pressed the badge on
his chest and held it till it vibrated, then he did a series of taps telling Kreighton
just what he needed. He felt the
answering vibration when Ruffario rose to speak.
Out of nowhere a blue
beam of light appeared and the black aura rose, screaming in rage as if it’s
owner were in extreme agony. The blue
light disappeared and the lighting returned to normal. The delegates were up in arms, battling what
they now knew was the real enemy. They’d
all had run-ins with the Tuparians, and
to date, none of their races had come out the victor.
Pandemonium broke out.
Tran joined the melee,
even though he didn’t hold out much hope in them being able to best the
Tuparian. His attention was diverted
because he was worried about Telara. She
was more vulnerable to the creature than the rest of them.
It didn’t take long for
the creature to have them down on the ground trying to recuperate enough to
take the fight to him once again. It was
in the third such lull in the fighting that Tuparian rose to his full height of
over seven and a half feet.
The creature roared
before saying, “You will all be destroyed.
None of you are a match for us.
And now I mark you all for destruction!”
The Drackma and Starlor delegates
teamed up and got the Tuparian down on the ground. When they each grabbed the creatures machete,
it was like watching two halves of a hole in action and when the blade came
down on the Tuparian, a brilliant light blinded everyone in the room.
When the light
disappeared, Telara gasped. Tran looked
to see what was the matter and they both looked on at the child who was
standing between the two. She was a
beautiful child with the Starlor’s features and the Drackma’s coloring. Her eyes were
a beautiful golden color and when she smiled, a feeling of warmth
permeated the room.
When she spoke, it was
as if her voice was amplified yet there didn’t seem to be anything making the
sound effect. “I am Staracklor. By working together to defeat a common enemy,
you have joined our people forever. In
doing so, you have given birth to a new race.
From this day forward, there are no Drackma, and there are no
Starlor. There are only Staracklor.”
She held her palms face
up and as she looked on with shimmering stars in her eyes, she was lifted above
all of them and a light appeared again.
This time, when the light disappeared, the delegate from Drackma and the
delegate from Starlor had been transformed so that their appearance was similar
to the child’s. She was once again
standing on the floor beside the other two.
She took one hand from
each and said, “You are my mother and father.
From today forward, we are a family.
Let’s go home.”
Telara placed her small
hand in Trans. “We can go home now. They will have peace for many centuries, and
Ariellis is well in control.”
“Ariellis?”
She nodded. The child born of both factions has saved her
world by uniting them in a new race. All
that was before is forgotten. No one on
their planet remembers what went on before because only those willing tomake
the transformation survived.”
Tran looked at the
child. “That’s quite a feat for one so
young.”
“She’s up for the
responsibility.”
Tran turned to Telara
and cupped her cheek. “Let’ go home
then.”
The two turned and
walked hand in hand back to the teleport that would take them back to their
ship the Shak Paw.
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