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2022-02-18 00:28:06Tejeda’s laughter echoed throughout the room while everyone else stood there in awe at the Interplanetary Police officer. His ears turned to the glorious laughter, still pointing upward. The fur on them waved along with the motion, opening up his cochlea.
Shayla turned to Tejeda. “I don’t understand why you are laughing. Can you please explain it to us?”
“In a second,” he replied, trying to catch his breath. “I laugh because I imagined the faces of those admirals if they would find out that their outstanding officer who freshly graduated their academy is a Ferali.”
Shayla's eyes widened before she returned her attention to their new crew member. Jackeye seemed unconcerned. C1313 stood up and spoke in a solemn, unemotional tone. "One of my directives requires me to notify the superiors. All Ferali are abominations that must be exterminated."
“Do you want to make that call and see our friend here destroyed?” Tejeda asked plainly.
C1313 tilted her head, pondering over her internal drives. “No,” she stated after a while.
Tejeda gave her a huge grin. “Perfect! Then sit down and purge that directive. Learn to make a triage.”
“A triage? How am I supposed to do that?” the emotionless phosphorescent teal eyes inquired.
E00 coughed straight into their ears or via the speakers. Nobody knew for sure. "C1313, if you need assistance, connect yourself into one of my consoles and I will assist you with scanning and debugging your system."
“Don’t do that,” Tejeda whispered, holding a hand over his mouth. “He will screw you up so bad that it will be even harder for you to understand yourself. He likes to play with people’s minds.”
“I heard that!” This time E00’s voice seemed pissed as hell.
Tejeda dismissed him with a gesture of his hand. “I was joking. You two can do things however you want. I won’t intervene.” He pushed the table with his hands, sliding the chair over the floor tiles. The Nubilae stopped right next to the young officer. “What is your name?”
“Cato,” the officer responded without looking up. His ears flickered at every sound as if he was afraid.
Tejeda smiled as he patted him on the shoulder. "Cato is a bold young man. Even though he is a Ferali, he graduated from the academy. His race had been labeled a genetic monstrosity, and every member had been sentenced to death. Cato would be dead today if he had been apprehended."
“Mmm, hey, Tejeda, you should stop referring to Cato as a he. Cato is a woman,” E00’s voice interrupted the speech.
The officer’s cheeks blushed.
Tejeda decided to ease up the mood. “You need not be worried about anything. You are among friends. Also, we…” he paused a bit, gesturing with his hands through the air while searching for his words. “We understand women. E00 can read women’s minds, so he knows a lot about them. Jackeye pretends to be a woman often enough.”
"No, I don’t," Steffen interrupted, paying attention to the conversation for the first time.
Tejeda shrugged. "How many times did you have a female avatar?"
"No comment," Jackeye said, his gaze returning to the floor.
The Nubilae continued from where he left off. "Shayla is a woman."
"Gee, you think!" the second in command whispered.
"C1313 is partially a woman and I can bet she is constructed anatomically correct."
"I bet you took a careful look," Shayla hummed again.
"And I was a woman for an hour or so."
“He means to say he was me for an hour or so.” Shayla wrapped her arms over her chest and leaned against the backrest of her chair.
Tejeda gave a warm smile and raised Cato’s chin to make her look at him. “You see! I even have a woman’s voice echo.”
“I understand,” Cato responded with a timid voice. “But you are wrong there. Even though I prefer to be referred to as a woman, actually I am both genders.”
“Nice one, Tejeda,” Shayla muttered.
The Nubilae looked at the ceiling, shook a finger at it, and yelled to ensure that the ship heard him. "That was a good one, E00!" He then returned his attention to Cato. "You have to believe me when I say you will be ok and no one will hurt you."
“I believe you,” Cato replied with a sweet, soft voice as her ears yielded their bustle.
Tejeda’s coal-black eyes narrowed with distrust. “That was quicker than I expected. Care to tell me why you are here? Why did you entrust us with your secret?”
"I wish to enter the Interplanetary Police in order to exact vengeance on those who decided to exterminate my people. But I know I can't do it on my own, and I won't be able to maintain my cover for long. You are a Nubilae, aren't you?" Tejeda was engulfed by Cato's stare, her eyes brimming with hope.
He wavered at her straightforward question but responded nonetheless. “Yes, I am. Why is that important to you?”
"I knew I had to contact you and talk to you after learning what happened to your species and how everyone treated you after the experiment. Only you understand..."
Before Cato could reveal anything else, Tejeda interrupted her. "Say no more. I see you did your homework. We will talk later about this. You are welcome into the crew and we will see how we can help you when the time comes."
He then faced the others, avoiding Shayla's curious stare. His hand moved anxiously over the table's edge, his fingers scraping and tapping the surface. Those beautiful dark green eyes noticed his anguish. Tejeda knew she would have questions for him, ones he would never gladly answer.
He pushed a grin back onto his lips. "What do you think of our new addition? Isn't she lovely?"
Shayla’s glare could have burned a hole in his cheek, but the grin was there to stay, ending any further discussion.
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The Space Spoon 25: The Space Spoon
Yellow arrows appeared on the walls as the meeting ended. Each one had a crewman's name on it. E00 showed them all to their quarters. Only Tejeda and Shayla remained seated at the table.“You aren’t going to tell me what that was about, are you?” she said, her arms still crossed over her chest as she leaned back.“I promise I will think about thinking about it.” Tejeda gave an all-knowing smirk.Shayla didn’t seem to appreciate his joke. “Why can’t you trust anyone? Why can’t you trust me?”"Oh, my dear Shayla, the answer is simple: you are composed of atoms, and I don't trust atoms since they make up everything.""I never get a straight answer from you. I am not sure why I bother asking you a question," she whispered, shaking her head.His smile widened. “I am glad you reached that conclusion. Now, I have some things I have to talk about with you. Firstly, this
The Space Spoon 26. A Day with the Girls
The journey to Erchpri would last three days at the Space Spoon’s current max speed. Tejeda got bored long before the first day ended. So, he called another team meeting. Presence mandatory, except for Jackeye, who couldn’t be bothered with such trivial encounters.Tejeda had contacted him through a console. Jackeye’s response appeared crystal clear on the screen. [ I barely got in time for the tomato harvest. Now, my garden needs plowing. You said weekly meetings. Fuck off! ]The chosen meeting spot was one of the smaller cargo holds. Tejeda entered the room and looked around at the three women who were waiting for him. Shayla, Cato, and C1313 were all so different that he couldn't help but wonder who would be the best chef. A day with the girls would certainly be fun.“A heretical being invented the air nutrition process, forsaking the god-given pleasure of oralnourishment.” Tejeda smirked seeing that they didn’t have
The Space Spoon 27. The Market Hub
Erchpri was not suitable for life without additional support. The vast reservoirs of hydrogen fluoride scarring the otherwise barren surface made Erchpri uninhabitable. Instead of terraforming it, the company owning this planet constructed the trading center inside a large building covering the entire sphere. Built with the best materials, such as Tomengi crystals for increased stability, and up-to-date technology, Erchpri's Market Hub was the place to go for unique items.Tejeda could see the design of the superstructure via the window as the Space Spoon flew above the scarcely discernible planetary ring. Elegant, cone-shaped glass rooftops covered Erchpri everywhere you looked. Bright hues glistened over the frame and shoddy floors, revealing a vista rivaling the sunsetrise on Genoria Prime. That is one hell of an advertisement from space, in my opinion.The all-you-can-buy-if-you-have-the-credits vibe emanated even above the planet's atmosphere. Here lay heaven for
The Space Spoon 28. A Past Mission
Tejeda’s mission on Valeria seemed to be one of his easiest ones ever. Even more straightforward than selling ice to the desert chieftains of Larva 5. Convince a brilliant engineer to share his newest discovery. Tejeda should have known anything appearing to be that easy most definitely wasn’t.On the rocky surface, the red-skinned natives gave the Nubilae a hard time throughout his stay. Their stubbornness and distrust in outsiders prolonged the period he needed to find the asset. Everyone responded with smiles on their faces as they lied. Tejeda transformed into a Valerian. Nothing changed. They didn’t trust strangers, even those of their own race.After a week, Tejeda altered his strategy. He barged into a high-tech service and screamed from all the power of his lungs, "I need this repaired ASAP." He threw Carmen on the front desk."I am sorry, but I don’t know what that is," responded the Valerian at the reception.“That&
The Space Spoon 29. Runaway Valerian
‘There is little effort involved in destroying everything you cherish. The gap between happiness and sorrow is only a few atoms wide, smaller than the depth of a daydream.’Hanga couldn’t believe that his brain spouted philosophical nonsense while he was being chased by merciless security droids. His heart threatened to grow legs and run faster than him. He used to stay in his workroom, not sprint like an athlete.On Valeria, there was a saying: “What a man does with his own two hands, not even the devil can undo.”An idea flickered inside his mind. Every evening, an event took place in the main corridor. One of the luckiest and wealthiest shopkeepers had the honor of showing the visitors some of the customs in the barbaric worlds and explaining them through science. Of course, in the end, he would invite the crowd to visit his shop and browse his wares. Everything was business on Erchpri.Along the way, Hanga managed to get
The Space Spoon 30. Mysterious Benefactor
The hacked security droid dragged Hanga to an almost derelict ship. Covering his nostrils in an attempt to protect his extra-sensitive smell receptors from the mold reeking inside the vessel, the Valerian got into a room with multiple tables and chairs. It looked like an empty mess hall. Almost empty, since a young man sat at one of the tables, the same man who was Tejeda now.“Come. Sit here.” The Nubilae tapped the edge of the table with his fingers while his palm sat flat.Hanga moved in closer, his feet hesitantly approaching the table, and he took a seat in front of Tejeda. The latter picked up the case from the floor and tossed it onto the table, the same case Hanga had left at the bar. In a flash, the Valerian grabbed the case and examined its contents.When Hanga saw his baby, his eyes widened. He sighed as he drew it out slowly. He flipped over the metallic construct. Scorch marks plagued its bottom, which bent in a twist of perforated metal
The Space Spoon 31. Yacleemb
Tejeda saw that their ship had leveled out, no longer depending on artificial gravity to keep them anchored on the floor or its primary engines to propel them ahead. As they flew over Yacleemb, they passed above its humid tropical rainforest under a silvery sky. Finally, the stabilizing systems kicked in as the Space Spoon slowed down and targeted straight down on lush tall grass.Because of its axial tilt, Yacleemb, the third planet in the Orsa system, had long-lasting seasons. As it was early spring, a consistent warm temperature would aid with exterior repairs. A 56-hour day also meant more than 28 hours of sunlight.Stretching his limbs, Tejeda prepared for a nice, quiet stroll outside the ship. He had been on this planet before for quite some time. The only sentient life form on Yacleemb was the Spreah, a humanoid pre-space age race that was very shy and extremely stubborn, not capable of harming another being except with their words.Tejeda felt better wit
The Space Spoon 32. The Spreahs
Tejeda and Shayla followed the Spreah couple along a riverbank. The stream bent at an almost right angle.Shayla slowed down, putting more distance between them and the Spreahs. That way, the Yacleemb locals wouldn't be able to hear. "We should have told the others where we were going, Tejeda."“Don’t worry, my dear Shayla,” he replied with an all-knowing smirk. “Did you think our new uniforms are just for kinks?”She scrutinized his uniform, a purple long-sleeved jacket with a v-neckline and two vertical silver stripes. The pants were of the same material and color, the stripes continuing along them too. The only differences between his uniform and hers were that hers had a more slim-fit cut and a far down neckline. There were the kinks.With a theatrical gesture of her hands, Shayla pointed at her body, stopping at her deep cleavage. “What other roles does this have?”"Oh, that's just for my amusement." T
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104. Meat Suit Part 2
The door closes after the last man leaves the pub. Tejeda resumes his previous position and finishes his drink. By now, we are both soaking wet, but neither of us seems to care. My reason is the seven beers. I wonder what his is."Apparently, you're not leaving, and we've run out of time," he says as he turns to face me. His purple eyes sparkle. A chill goes down my spine. "These guys aren't going down without a fight. I might have to die to quench their hunger for vengeance. But the crystal I took is far more significant. It must be safeguarded."Tejeda leans forward, his hand reaching over the bar for the knife the bartender uses for the lemons. He sits again in his chair, gripping the handle with both of his hands, the pointy tip toward his stomach. I have seen this stance before in movies when someone performs seppuku.Filling his lungs with air, his chest expands, and he thrusts the knife right into his belly. I cover my mouth with a hand but not my eyes. I need to see what happe
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103. Meat Suit Part 1
A/N: A Halloween special side story, Meat Suit shows the events through the eyes of a normal, human nerd. Enjoy!***Halloween, the greatest night of the year. The time when I can go out with friends and be awkward as usual without getting a stare.I look in the mirror and see the dashing vampire I transform into every time I put on this ancient outfit. With extreme care, I place a black handkerchief in my pocket, covering the hole that reveals the lining. This year, I intended to get a new costume, but the latest game in the R****** E*** franchise and H***** 3 prevented me from doing so. They were released this year, and I had to get them, and then some.Sorry for not disclosing their names, but even in my diary, I avoid needless advertising. And don't make fun of me for keeping a diary in my thirties. Many people keep diaries, but they call them journals to appear more sophisticated and mature.The black costume’s collar is up to my ears, letting everyone see the red embroidered int
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102. Monster Within Part 2
Rayna followed him through dark alleys, avoiding the city's main thoroughfares and heading for the city's outskirts. There weren't many other people around since it was late and freezing. The two veiled shadows of the night were easy to miss. Illuminated figures appeared randomly through the windows of dimly lit houses.He stopped in front of a derelict house. The sculpted archway stood crooked above the entrance, but he went beneath it without a second thought.Rayna stared at the white structure enveloped in moss to make sure it wouldn’t fall on her head. When the Bralxoid disappeared inside, she swallowed hard and followed him.Doctor Iadfoc invited her into a small, dark room with a single goose-neck lamp illuminating the top of a large table filled with glass vials. He gestured toward a threadbare sofa against the wall. He grabbed a simple wooden chair and sat facing her. For once, someone wasn't looking at her with meaningless pity, for which she was grateful.Iadfoc had a scann
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101. Monster Within Part 1
A/N: Monster Within is a side story taking place about a thousand years or more before the action in the novel. Enjoy!***Rayna sat in front of the mirror, removing her makeup. Who would she discover underneath? Foundation applied in triple layers, contact lenses, even a wig to make certain no one would see her change.Skin patches of different complexions stretched across her face like puzzle pieces jammed together into a chaotic pattern. Some parts of the jigsaw had wrinkles, while others were as smooth as a baby’s skin.Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the mirror. Her heterochromatic eyes were both different colors than before she wore contact lenses. And her hair... Well, the hair looked more like a wig than the one she threw on the floor. Honey-blonde hair tumbled in waves over her right shoulder. Ruby-red hair, spikey like a hedgehog’s, pointed toward the ceiling from the top of her head. Black, curly strands went down to her chin from her left.She was a mo
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100. Sunsetrise Part 4
Time passes differently on Yacleemb. I can’t say it’s the 56 hours days, the peacefulness of the Spreahs, or Lyam’s company. What I do know is that I’ve lost track of time. Every day, he builds things for the village; he’s happy, full of smiles, and I’m drunk with his genuine blissfulness.Unfortunately, I still have memories and can’t help but feel guilty for not contacting our friends. Wanting to know how things are working out for our crew, I stroll through the forest to the shuttle. After it powers up, a small blinking red light appears on the console. A message from E00.“Shayla, I hope you’ve found Tejeda by now. More than two months have passed, and no news from you. In the time you've been gone, things got worse around here.“Since the day you left, Jackeye has been trapped inside his virtual reality. I can’t say if it’s a voluntary decision or not. He cut me off completely.“Cato took a shuttle and left the Space Spoon about a month ago. The Interplanetary Police files show t
- The Space Spoon
99. Sunsetrise Part 3
Shayla Bale's POVOnly Tejeda Hajar is capable of disappearing and leaving me with an ambassador’s corpse. Once again, I had to assume the role of acting captain and evade the Interplanetary Police. We are all renegades once more, as we were before Tejeda found us.The crew needs me to steer the ship in the right direction, but my thoughts are far away, following the faceless Nubilae who left us. I lean against the wall and stare at his empty chair, wishing he will appear there, smiling without giving me any explanation as he always does.“Thinking about him won’t bring him back,” E00’s voice echoes from the ceiling speakers. “If you want him here again, you must go after him.”“Don’t get me wrong, E00, I want to. But it was his choice. He left us. Even if I go after him, he may not come back.”“If there’s anyone who can shake him out of the state he’s in, you’re the one.”“Why must you torment me?” I slump in Tejeda’s chair, rubbing my eyes to forestall crying. The gesture is pointle
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98. Sunsetrise Part 2
Reaching out, Carmen’s hand brushes against mine. Even though I’m mad as hell, a rush of electrical discharges takes over my core. That happened every time she touched me since the moment we’d met. Every fiber of my body, carbon and silica alike, crave to have her again by my side.“I tested the spoon. All the results said the same thing: it’s Nubilae. Who was it?”“My sister, Celia.” For the first time, a vein throbs on Carmen’s forehead. But she regains the glazed look. “She died during Iadfoc’s experiment. Many did. The rest went insane. Only I, you, and Rahul remained true Nubilae. Well, now only you and I since you killed Rahul.”“He had multiple run-ins with me and my crew. If I let him continue, surely one of my men would have died. I had to do something.”“No,” Carmen shouts, showing the anger hidden behind her previous blank expression. “I sent him to see how you are and test you. Well, you failed. No Nubilae should value the life of a lesser being over one of his brethren.”
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97. Sunsetrise Part 1
A/N: Sunsetrise is a short story I've written before even starting the novel. It holds the ending of the first volume and is made up of 4 parts. The first 2 parts are from Tejeda's POV and the last 2 parts from Shayla's. Enjoy!***Tejeda Hajar's POV“Happy birthday, Shayla!” I invite her to sit on the blanket next to me with a pat.It took me about a week to create a perfect replica of Genoria Prime inside Jackeye's world.Once every two thousand years, Genoria Prime, a water planet with just a few stretches of land covered in sand, is perfectly aligned to get the ultimate romantic view. One of its suns sets while the other rises, a phenomenon called sunsetrise.To recreate it from my memories inside Jackeye's virtual world involved a few setbacks. But that isn't important anymore.Shayla takes one of the glasses of red wine and fixes her dark green eyes on me. “Whose body are you wearing now?”“You know bodies are just meat suits for me.” I give a sly smirk, looking her over. “Well,
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96. His Blade
Tejeda's lips moved as though they were not his own. “Who’s she?”Shayla placed a hand on his back, touching for the first time the sludgy skin he had in this form. “Tejeda, stop. He’s dead.”Tejeda lifted his head to look at the sky. He remained like that for a long while before murmuring, “Why did you kill him?”"Sorry! Next time," Shayla murmured, sheathing her scimitar, "I'll kill the other guy after he kills you."“How did you know which one was me?”“Really? Is there another idiot who would risk dying for a spoon?”She observed how he flinched but said nothing. There was something wrong with him. Nonetheless, Shayla didn't believe she had the authority to inquire. In any case, she didn't expect a fair answer from him."Did you bring any DNA for me?" Tejeda asked without turning around. "As you can see, I’m in bad shape."Shayla hurled a vial toward him, and he grabbed it with one of his two remaining tentacles.“This is the last one holding the blood of King Astin. Enjoy!”Tejed
