Trid waved his hand dramatically overhead and spun to face us. “Welcome to… Refuge.” The wall of trees faded away, and a city lay beyond the projection. It was bustling with people, all coming to see what the excitement was about. The structures were round, white and beige, and none were more than four stories in height. The city dipped and rose along a hilly landscape, giving us a sense of its grandeur.
“This is incredible,” Jade whispered.
“We pride ourselves in what we have accomplished at Refuge. I anticipated we’d be found some day. We were prepared.” Trid began to walk from the fleet, and we followed.
“Quite the elaborate scam. An entire fake metropolis on another planet,” I said.
“Not as difficult as one might think. The Stin programmed the drones to construct it,” Zonrial told us.
Our group headed to the city beyond the rows of neatly parked Stin, unveiling far more races present than only the Darlor and Hidan.
Something stared at me as I stepped off the dirt lot and into the city streets. It was tall and thin like a praying mantis, rocking on its spindly legs. It wasn’t wearing any clothing, and sharp mandibles clicked as I walked by.
“Refuge began as a colony for the Darlor, but quickly grew as various others sought asylum.” Trid indicated the mantis creature. “The Kvan were the first to contact us. This was before we changed our processes. In those days, we weren’t so cautious of hiding our tracks from possible invaders. The Kvan abandoned their planet when an asteroid set course for impact. They were cryogenically frozen, their ships’ AI managing to draw them to our beacons.”
I spied more of the green Kvan among the crowds of people. Zonrial’s male counterpart walked off, whispering to a Darlor. They pressed their foreheads together as the man passed on the good news about the Velibars’ defeat. Soon word was spreading about their success, and the crowd began cheering.
It was hot at Refuge, and I fanned my SeaTech jumpsuit, hoping to catch some reprieve. Jade and Luther flanked me, their gazes drifting across the throngs of locals. The streets were made of a black material, and heat waves rose from the distant structures.
Rows of businesses lined this particular roadway, and proprietors of every shape and size watched the procession through their windows. I waved at some, and they returned the gesture, beaming to their friends.
“They’ve seen you in action, Arlo Lewis,” Trid told me.
“How?”
“Space Race. Bryson Kelley sent us feeds.” This was news to me. I glanced at Jade, who frowned.
“I don’t see the harm in it,” Jade said.
“Let us find comfort from the heat.” Trid pointed to a round stucco-covered building down the block. By the time we arrived, Zonrial had cleared a path to the entrance.
I hadn’t realized how loud the crowd was. As soon as we entered the cool foyer and the door sealed, my ears rang in the silence.
A white-uniformed Darlor greeted Trid, speaking in the alien tongue. “Repaq informs me the room is prepared. This way.”
Jade and Luther followed after, and I caught their attention. “Are we comfortable after what just happened? The deceit?”
“I don’t have a problem with it. They were testing us, and for good reason. Would you let a stranger into this sanctuary without knowing their intentions?” Luther made a good point.
“I’m with Luther.” Jade and Luther confirmed my own thoughts on the matter.
“Then it’s settled.” I went past them. I expected a boardroom, perhaps a war room with screens, projections, and tablets. What I found was quite informal. The furniture was shades of beige. There were ten matching ball-shaped chairs facing a circular coffee table. Trid sat, the material sinking from his weight. Zonrial took her spot beside Trid.
My seat lowered as I rested into it, and I sank like I was in mud. It formed a comfortable cushion, and our meeting began.
“Do you have questions about what transpired today?” Trid asked us.
R11 remained standing, and he interrupted. “Captain, the Stin have requested using me to interface with you. Is that permissible?”
“Trid, do the Stin not have any physical bodies?” I checked.
“They do, but none are present.” Trid didn’t expand on it, making me wonder if the Stin were sitting in a network drive somewhere in the city, abandoning their bodies on a more permanent basis.
“R11, the choice is yours,” I told the robot.
“I’ve always wanted to be someone else,” R11 joked. “Maybe a fisherman. A poet. A streetlamp.”
“A stand-up comedian,” Luther added.
“I’ll engage the Stin. Hold please.” R11’s eyes blinked and regained their brightness. “I am Four-Three-Seven. Greetings.”
“Hey, 437. Nice to hear your voice,” I told it.
“We have information for Trid.” R11 wobbled forward and stood beside the Darlor leader.
“Go ahead, 437.” Trid waited while a beam of light shone onto the coffee table from R11’s chest. The projection showed a transport above planet four. It was being recorded from a computer-piloted Stin craft. One of the Squids thrust toward the transport, wrapping its tentacles around the Darlor vessel. The gateway was smaller than the one they’d attempted to open near Saturn, and before the Stin could stop it, they were moving through, with their prize intact. The hologram stopped.
“Why didn’t you help them?” Luther asked.
“The Stin just watched the transport get hauled away,” Jade added.
“It was our plan.” R11 turned his head to the three of us.
We were clearly missing some pertinent information. “Plan? You wanted to be captured?”
“Yes. Our sensors located the Barges three days prior to this. The city has been prepared for decades. The transports were decoys. The people you saw in the field were on the second transport. The one we didn’t lose,” Zonrial said. Her blue skin looked darker inside the room, out of the sunlight.
“Then who was on it?” Jade asked.
“There were two brave Darlor, and my brother Faril, as well as the Stin.” The Hidan’s horns glinted in the light from the ceiling.
“You wanted to be taken. Why?” I almost
