Earth Space Union's Alien Asset Files: #1 - Private Capal

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The status quo had always been that the Alliance powers paid the Brigands to rest on their haunches, but Jakov's emergence had given them renewed ambition. The promise of returning to their glory days, from what we heard, had the Girret and the Derandi on edge. Representative Redge had been presumed dead, and the Girret ex-Stormrider seemed to have half a mind to leave it that way; a heroic death gave his legacy the utmost security, whatever that meant. He could look after people from the shadows—to be clear, I thought his reasoning was nonsense, but culture clash between aliens was inevitable.

Of course, nobody outside these walls knew that Jakov was behind the Brigands' attack on Jorlen, rather than saving the planet…except for the inorganic Vascar. Ficrae must've gotten in contact with the network, though I couldn't believe they didn't challenge its rampage at all! That was leverage that they held over Prince Rukavina, who was being paraded through my people's cities like a hero, robed in the finest silks, and fed on the most succulent feasts. I'd seen the machines arrive at these halls many times, to negotiate for a foothold on Jorlen. Caelum was fracturing and losing its tenuous peace.

Jakov knows that, and it's why he's stalling the iVascar; he wants negative energy weapons in his hands so that no one can challenge him. I need to think of an escape plan, pronto.

Redge watched me tinker with a prototype, his purple hood bobbing as he moved. "They're streaming Larimak's execution, clearly so we can see. An unceremonious end that comes…rather belated. One can only slip away from justice for so long. Are you not satisfied by his undoing, Capal?"

"I'm no fan of Larimak the Insane. If we're going from him to willingly implanting another corrupt monarch in Jakov, is that really better? You and the Derandi have an effortless democracy, and we keep choosing bootheels."

"I think people want some philosophy or power to govern their lives. It's difficult to make your own. That's why the Girret only choose our leaders from those who do. Yours do as well."

I scoffed. "How so?"

The Girret's tongue flitted out. "Unfortunately, those who carve their own power in Vascar society do it through diminishing others. We have those in Girret society too. However, the selfish don't last long in the desert. We clean ourselves of those abscesses by necessity."

"Inspirational, Redge. I guess all us commoners needed was to move out to the desert."

"Or for the collective to choose to take back its power," Jetti commented. "The Derandi have always been used to literally feeling small, but letting that intimidate you…you have to puff out your feathers and draw a line. We had dynasties long ago, living in Skynests and tarnishing the clouds with their oppressive banners. We overthrew them. That's always an option."

Dawson groaned from where he huddled against the wall, his body still broken from his tussle with Jakov. "How do you propose we overthrow a man with superpowers?"

"We catch him napping, of course. That was literally how the last heir of the Lirur dynasty fell, servants conspiring and striking in the darkness, on behalf of a thousand voices whispered in darkness! I was regaled by those stories by a passionate history teacher: someone Capal would've liked. Someone Capal would've aspired to be."

"I don't want to overthrow anyone. The only thing that can stop Jakov is by contacting someone so laughably more powerful, or the people seeing him for who he truly is. Right now, we're incapable of sending a message to anyone," I huffed. "It's all thought experiments and wishes. I can't begin to create a microscopic black hole."

Dawson narrowed his eyes. "Is it even possible? This shit just sounds insane to me."

"With our technology? Probably not. The way a star collapses in nature under its own mass: you'd need to cancel out gravity…by already having exotic matter…or add in more mass. I figure the Elusians' solution was the latter, but I just don't have the tools to make it work. Packing that much mass to the size of an atom would require so much energy, that it's..."

"Let me guess. The entire energy production of our planets combined isn't close to enough," Jetti chirped.

"And that's an understatement."

"I miss Preston! Bring him back. He would save us," Hirri cawed, a rough cough shaking his body. The child wasn't doing well without his Crestlung treatments; I needed to get him out of here immediately. "We chased Capal. Maybe if we do that again, he'll think better!"

Dawson smiled at the kid, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. "There's not enough room to chase Cappy. I think you should rest up, so that you're strong when we get out of here."

"I…want to fight the bad men! Now!"

I gestured my claws at my human friend. "Dawson is too hurt to get out of here on foot, so until we come up with a different plan, we can't try anything."

"Why not?"

"Because you wouldn't want to leave him here, would you?"

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"Maybe. I like exploring alone!"

"Thanks, Hirri," Dawson grumbled, leaning his head back. A smirk tugged at his lips for the first time in weeks; I knew he was afraid of dying down here, and horrified of what Jakov Rukavina had done with the Brigands since his failure to stop the human pirate. "Glad you've got my back."

I raised my eyes toward him, nostrils twitching with amusement. "I've always got your back, Dawson Fields. If my scientific breakthroughs here never leave this cell, I hope I've impressed you."

"How could you not? I feel like a pea-brained caveman compared to you. You're out here bending the everloving fuck out of physics—sorry, Jetti."

The Derandi waved a wing. "Don't worry about it. Preston already taught him…too many words."

"Cool. I mean, not cool. Totally."

"You're a big doofus. I can't believe I used to be scared of you; you're more nervous than me!" I chuckled.

A blush spread across Dawson's face. "Really? We found you hiding in a dumpster!"

My bravado faltered at the memories of my splattered squadmates, the horror that'd reawakened when I saw Dawson obliterating the Brigands. "Yeah. I guess you did."

"Hey, I'm sorry, buddy. That must've been traumatic. I didn't mean—"

"Larimak's fault. Maybe I will watch the execution."

"It's over."

"Oh. That's…good. Then we don't have to worry about that sick fucker anymore. Humans didn't want that, and my logical brain knows it. I'd just rather not remember what it was like to wear, to taste, my friends' blood."

Redge's eyes glimmered with sympathy. "I know what it is to be in a chaotic situation and watch people die. It's the memories we prefer to forget. I'm sorry for you, Capal, and I find it brave that you move forward. You've come a long way, and you do have a strong spirit inside of you."

"Thanks. Where I haven't come a long way is my research, and that's where I want to focus." I disassembled the last screw, so I could begin working on my quantum disturbance generator again from scratch. "Even if I magically build a black hole and get a negative energy fountain dropped for easy access, that's only the first problem. It wouldn't make us any more able to go through 5D portals and help Sol. Or to tell the Elusians about Jakov."

"We just need a 4D one to get out of here!" Jetti squawked. "Forget your research. Get a sample of negative energy and get us out, then you can continue this meandering quest! Our safety comes first!"

"Well, Jakov isn't stupid. He might let me sit down with a negative energy sample, but not all of us. He knows I won't leave you, so we're going to need another solution."

Dawson nodded. "Which is getting enough together to make a 5D portal and have the Elusians come in to deal with him. And maybe me, but at this point, I'd take getting thrown back in Sol over…this five-star lodge."

"Which might mean me getting through and getting help. However, to survive infinity, I think my brain would need to read nothing. Which means…I'd already have to die, or at least have zero neural activity. You can see why that's a problem, but it's the only solution I have so far."

"What? That's not a solution. You are not going to commit suicide!" Jetti squawked.

"Of course not. Not in the traditional sense, at least."

Footsteps clopped down the hall, unmistakably the only other human in Caelum on approach. Their kind's ambulation sounded like hooves pounding the stone, despite their marked care not to step too forcefully. I silenced myself from our already-hushed discussion, knowing that Jakov was coming by to strike the fear of the storm gods into us; he was running out of patience for results to be delivered, despite the fact that scientific research simply didn't work that way. I had to produce something tangible soon or we'd all be…replaced. Theories were useless to thugs.

Theories are useless to us too; like Jetti said, impossible solutions are no solutions at all. Why did I even care to find somewhere to continue this research? All my plans are failing, and I'm yet again a pawn to someone who can lord their power over us. Redge is wrong. I'm not here because I want this bootheel!

I forced myself to straighten up, hoping to chase Jakov away. I'd tried to continue the humans' work, but clearly, they were the only ones who could pacify Caelum in the first place. The human Brigand came here under the guise of subduing the pirates, and demilitarizing them after they "shifted" their allegiance from Larimak to him. A real hero. I supposed it was fitting that the Prince's support for the outlaws and brutal attack on Jorlen had the public clamoring for his head. If they weren't already for his inane assault on the superpowered ESU…

"Do you have anything to show for the time I've given you?" Jakov demanded. He was clad in regalia, between the gold chains over his neck and satin attire that seemed ripped from Larimak's collection. "I'm a patient man, but if you're not going to get any results, I might have to motivate you."

I clasped my paws together. "Sir, talk to any scientist among the adoring masses on Jorlen and they'll tell you: I'm making progress as quickly as anyone could. It doesn't take any knowledge of astrophysics to know black holes are wildly difficult to make, and that's what I need to finish my solution. That is the last piece, so once I get that, the rest finishes itself. I'm working on machine designs nonstop."

"No more working! You worked with my people at the Gate, and you had all the time in the world to make progress; you clearly did, if you got a portal up and running."

"That was with free negative energy from the now closed Sol portal and the collective resources and best scientific minds of five species, including literal machines that can speed up calculations! I'm one person! If you want me to work faster, I need help, but you can't tell anyone I'm here. I'm begging you, show others my research and see if they can help. Give me a little support and I will do this!"

"Why should I? I don't answer to you; my job isn't to make yours 'easy.' You haven't earned support."

Jetti tilted her head in appreciation. "Capal has figured out scientific tenets only the Elusians knew, including the source of negative energy. If you want him to do this, then support is helping your goals. He cannot work faster alone, so he just needs a supporting cast. I believe in him with anything other than the bare minimum in resources."

"Tell me specifically what you need, but you're only getting two more weeks to get me something. The deadline isn't up for negotiation. Tick tock."

Jakov Rukavina, the ruler of Jorlen, strolled off with his cape dragging on the floor—not before running his fingers down the stone wall to carve out deep clawmarks and shooting a toothy grin over his shoulder. A warning for what he could do to me, if I didn't meet his impossible deadline. At any rate, I hoped that getting my research to my people would at least mean that it would be carried on. Maybe it would give the Vascar the hope of progressing as a species, after biology claimed him if nothing else. It might even offer them a chance to fight back, should they wake up to his ruse.

Just as Representative Redge was content with securing his legacy, I had to start thinking of what sort of one I could leave behind with my research. The one small victory I had was that, if I never get out of here, someone would see the ideas I had discovered…and that maybe, they'd be the key to a peaceful future some time far from now.

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