SG Nova Roma, Chapter 3.16

16 – Cliffhanger Resolved

(New Xivolo Prime – Alpha One Lobby – Day 188, 2316)

The soldiers were about to fire. But then another Xivolo stepped into view… ~That’s impossible.~ Or was it ? The man was wearing the same uniform as the soldiers. But there were four stars on his collar, two on the left and two on the right. They were made out of gold and had five points. ~Are those…~

“Stop !” He snapped, making the soldiers lower their weapons. “Cinara..,” He paused. “…is that you ?”

“Uncle Samuel, is that you ?” Cinara said. “I thought….,” She swallowed. “….I thought you were dead.”

“I thought the same about you.”

The two of them hugged. Samuel was in his fifties, with kind eyes and two scars on the left side of his face. When he had been younger, he had a rebel against the Senate. While Yalock had rebelled in the background and worked quietly, Samuel had rebelled openly. And it had gotten him into trouble more than once.

Then - three years ago - he had been inspecting a military base when there had been a fire. Samuel had not doubted, running into the burning part of the complex. He had saved eight soldiers, but he had suffered severe burns. And the Inner Senate had apparently seen a chance to get rid of him. Because the State Press had reported that he was dead. After a long hug, they let go of one another. Samuel smiled at this niece.

“So, what brings you home ?” He asked. “And who are these people ?”

“I can’t tell you, Uncle. I don’t like having to say this, but if it really is you…,” She paused. “…well, you of all people should know what the Inner Senate is capable off. You could be a clone, in imposter or even a look-a-like. I need proof that it is you.”

“And I need proof that it is you.”

Cinara thought about it, then remembered something. It was something that had happened when she was fifteen and that only three people knew about. Those three people were Cinara, Uncle Samuel and the Royal Physician. The doctor was sworn to secrecy, so only Cinara and Samuel knew about this event.

“Do remember when I was fifteen and went ice skating on Lake Zora, even though dad told me not to,” She said. “And then I went through the ice….”

“We agreed never to talk about that,” Samuel said. “But yes, I remember. And I also remember how you would have died if I had not come to check up on you,” He nodded. “Doctor Pinos promised never to write down that story, nor share it with anybody. Not even Axos and Yalock. And he is the most trustworthy doctor in the Empire.”

“So, what happened after the fire ?”

“There were to many people whom suspected I was still alive and even more whom liked me,” Samuel said. “So they exiled me to Prison Planet H-8, to become the warden.” H-8 was a desert planet. The only settlement was Prison H-8-1, an ancient fortress build around the only source of water on the planet. “The Doorway there did not have an Operator Device, so I was stranded. I grew fat and hairy. And then I heard what had happened in the courtyard…”

“I hate to interrupt,” Vale said. “But we have a mission to complete.”

“Which is ?” One of the soldiers asked. “Sir, I don’t trust this situation. They just happen to have you niece ? The one person they knew you would trust. It’s too neat.”

“And what about you ?” Vale said. “I could say the same thing about Cinara’s long-lost uncle being here.”

“Can I butt in ?” G’Yal said, who had been hiding in the back of the group. The sight of a Nakai made all of the soldiers gasp. “I presume there is a medical facility in here somewhere ? A quick genetic scan might dissuade a lot of doubts. Including about seeing a real, breathing Nakai.”

“Very well.” Samuel pointed to Vale and G’Yal. “You two, follow us.” He turned to the soldier. “If they make a move, shoot them.”

“Colonel,” Grogan began. “This is a bad idea.”

“Yes, it is. But it’s the best of the bad ideas, so we’re going with it,” Vale said. “If they try to shoot you, make a fight of it, captain.”

“Yes, sir.”

The three of them followed Samuel as he made his way deeper into the complex. He realized that if it did turn into a fight, their chances would not be good. But sometimes you had to roll the dice. ~I’m glad Colonel Young isn’t around for this.~ Because he was not only risking the lives of his team, but also the lives of everybody on FR-2. Alas, there was no other way forward. So he followed Samuel and hoped this whole thing didn’t blow up in his face.

(FR-2 – Street – Day 188, 2325)

Chloe Armstrong had not been sleeping well. She knew that these Nakai had nothing to do with her kidnapping, but the mere sight of them gave her nightmares. And then she had been woken up by a commotion outside. It had taken her several minutes to get dressed and figure out what was going on. Apparently, something had happened at Eli’s house. When she had heard that whatever it had been, had involved two gunshots, she had run towards Eli’s house as fast as she could.

Now, she was standing in a crowd of onlookers. The local police was keeping them back, but she could see enough. There was an ambulance outside the house. Then two Jynacko came out of the house, between them was a stretcher with a body covered by a sheet. There was a bloody stain on the sheet.

“Eli !” Chloe said as she dove under the police tape and ran towards the stretcher. “No !”

Two police officers grabbed her and pulled her away from the body. That was when Eli came out of the house, with Valerie Watson following behind him. Once she was behind the tape again, the officers let go of her. Eli had seen her and quickly joined her there.

“Eli, I thought you had been….”

“Yeah,” Eli began. “It was a close one….”

(FR-2 – Eli’s House, Balcony - Day 188, 2318)

Eli was crying. Losing his mother had left his head in a dark place. He looked down at the revolver in his hands. Before he could ponder his miserable situation further, he heard a floorboard creak. Which made him turn around……to face a member of the Lucian Alliance, who was pointing a weapon at him.

“This is all your fault !” The man yelled. “If you hadn’t deciphered the ninth chevron, the Alliance would not have fallen ! My family would still be alive ! I’m going to enjoy kill…”

That was as far he got before two gunshots rang out. The man fell to the floor, very dead. Valorie Watson stood in the living room, with a still smoking pistol in her hands. She had noticed that the man had been acting odd after the news of the Alliance’s fall had come out. So she had followed him. And when she had seen him raise his weapon against Eli, she had made a decision.

(New Xivolo Prime – Alpha One Medical Facility – Day 188, 2330)

Samuel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His niece Cinara was here. ~She really IS here.~ The medical scanner had confirmed that it was really her, not a clone and not a lookalike. Her DNA profile was stored in the mainframe under heavy encryption, so the chances of the files being compromised were virtually zero. And now, the device was scanning him. ~Come on, get it over with.~ The scanner finished and beeped. He could see Cinara looking up from the controls.

“It’s him,” She said.

The scanner was rolled away to the side by the Nakai called G’Yal and he sat up. Then Samuel hopped off the bed and G’Yal got onto the bed. He rolled the scanner back into place. Samuel nodded and Cinara activated the scanner. Taking a deep breath, he walked around the bed and joined her at the control-slash-display unit. There was a beep and then the results appeared on the screen.

“A real, flesh-and-blood Nakai,” Samuel began. “Which should be impossible,” He paused. “Because as far I know, all the Nakai that didn’t die, were exiled to Slave Dump. And the official line is that they all died there.”

The unknown alien one – who called himself Vale – got G’Yal out from under the scanner. Samuel pondered what all this meant. ~I knew the Senate was a bunch of lying, dishonorable, pieces of…. But this, this is beyond anything I have ever imagined.~ He turned to Cinara.

“Tell me what the Senate cut out of the history books.”

“Will you tell me how you got off H-8 ?”

Samuel nodded and then listened as Cinara began explaining about Spera and her crew. As she did so, an idea began to form in the back of his head. But he said nothing, so that his niece could tell him about the Nakai Civil War, Slave Dump and plenty of other rewritten pieces of history….