Oleth’s tentacles fluttered, but he didn’t interfere.
“I’d be lying if I haven’t thought of a hundred ways to kill you, because that’s human nature. The Velibar are likely much the same. When you’re shoved into a corner, you fight tooth and nail to protect the ones you love. I am Preston Lewis, and I will be your ambassador to Earth. I’ll convince them to concede, because it’s obvious there is no other option. Know that I will never truly be Velibar, Oleth Con, First Regal of Biks. I can’t pretend like Garret Breaker, and I won’t turn on my own people. Ever. But I will do as you bid.”
Oleth smiled, clapping the suction cups over his palms together. “Very good. I knew you’d give in eventually. Don’t worry. I haven’t killed your crew. They are well.”
Relief flooded Preston. “But you said…”
“Breaker did toss them to us like chum, but I didn’t believe him. No one would be foolish enough to flee from the Velibar,” Oleth told him.
“And what Breaker said about Catarina and me?” Preston had been duped into admitting he’d wanted to kill the intimidating man in front of him.
“He did say those things.”
“And you still trust me?” Preston asked.
“If you told me you didn’t want to kill me, you’d be dead already. Now you are one of us.”
A shiver raced down Preston’s spine, but he smiled along with Oleth. This mask would not shatter.
____________
Now
I flew over the city and past the two Squid crash sites. The hordes of people I’d seen earlier had vanished, and I landed near a burning Velibar ship.
“They were here. I swear I saw hundreds, maybe thousands of people.” I left Pilgrim’s engines on but dashed for the exit. Luther and Jade joined me, and we ran into the streets. The stone crumbled under my ship’s weight.
“This doesn’t feel right,” Luther muttered.
The air was breathable, if not a little thick-feeling. I inhaled, and it tasted stale.
“I’m not a structural engineer, but that building base doesn’t look properly made.” Jade pointed across the street at a high-rise that hadn’t toppled over in the assault.
She was right. The structure seemed unfinished, rough, almost wobbly. I glanced up, finding the whole building teetered slightly in the breeze.
“Where is Trid?” I asked Luther.
“They sent us the location of the other planet.” Luther peered into the sky, and my gaze followed, seeing the last of the Stin fleet in the horizon.
“The one they say is the real Refuge.” Jade crossed the street and attempted to open a door. “It’s fake.”
The handle had been painted on. “This is a set.”
“A what?” Luther barked.
“Like the old movies. Long before computers did everything, people made movies with fake sets. The Darlor created an entire phony city.” I laughed, remembering how casual Trid had been about the Squids attacking this place.
“Does that mean the transports were empty?” Luther asked.
“I don’t think so.” Jade tapped her chin. “They were watching us, and the engine issue was quite simple.” Her eyes went wide. “It was a scam!”
We’d been deceived by the Stin and Darlor. “Why?”
Luther strode up the road and found a shiny metal box. I spotted more along the street. They had lenses on them. “I think the beings were projections. A city of fleeing Darlor.” He opened a panel on the side of the box, and Jade leaned in, turning the device on.
The people appeared in a straight line, marching in a steady pattern. On closer inspection, there were only five or six models of the Darlor, some clutching their young, others carrying various baggage.
From the air, it had looked so real. Real enough to convince Luther and me. “They wanted to draw the Squids here. And they were testing us at the same time.”
“Can we blame them?” Luther asked.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to contain my anger toward Trid. He’d lied to our faces and put us in danger. The Squids had been there, that much I was sure of. “All they knew was someone contacted them from near Earth. It could have been the Velibar. They were creating a scenario. Trying to find out if we were worthy of their partnership.”
“I think we passed the test,” Jade assured me.
Luther flicked off the device, and the repeating projection powered down.
“Come on. Time to see what’s really going on with these people.”
The fifth planet was smaller, but only by ten percent or so. It was farther from the system’s star, but from what we could tell, it was slightly more hospitable than its sister planet. I followed the last of the Stin into the atmosphere, lowering into a thick forested region. There was no visible city from the sky.
“I’m getting strong energy readings from below,” Jade said. “They have enough power to fill a hyper Core a million times over.”
“I hope they have a solid containment field,” I told her.
The Stin descended, and the image of the thick forest canopy flashed off, revealing over a hundred landed ships. I whistled and brought Pilgrim to land on the dirt patch below. I glanced up, seeing the fake trees reappear. “That’s quite the camouflage.”
The four Darlor Pursuers were parked beside me, and I spied a few drones hovering over one, welding repairs on a damaged hull.
Once off my Racer, I surveyed the area. There were over a hundred Darlor, hugging and cheering as they disembarked from a transport ship. Trid was among them, along with Zonrial and her male counterpart. They acted friendly as we approached.
“Will someone tell us what is going on?” I demanded.
Trid lost his grin and looked me in the eyes. “Arlo, we had to confirm where your loyalty resided. They entered our system two days before our scheduled meeting. I couldn’t risk the connection.”
“Did we prove ourselves?” Jade asked him.
“Ten times over. You outdid any expectations. I apologize for our deception,” Trid said.
Zonrial clapped Luther on the back. “You did well, warrior.”
Luther pursed
