Page 40 of Orin

The alien’s face twitched in shock and I sensed fear drifting off him in waves.

“How...How do you know my identity? Are my people here?”

“I want you to tell me about the Voletti and how to defeat them.” Trex barked.

Trex was very skilled at masking his emotions. My own were barely contained because of my fear for Olivia’s safety, and anger toward the Voletti and Krilex.

We needed to know how to stop the Voletti, and this creature could be our only chance.

“You will never leave this cell. You will die here. But not by my hand. Tell me about your leader’s intentions.” Trex finished.

The alien frowned. “If what you say is true. It means time has run out for all Voletti in this Universe. Our leader, Leox87003, must be desperate if he is here.”

“What makes you think he is here?” asked Trex.

“You would not be speaking to me if he were not. It makes sense that he would return to the seat of the Protectorate and the Empire. By destroying you and your people, he will gain access to the minerals needed for our ships’ fuel.” The being sighed and his shoulders slumped. “If my leader finds I am still alive, he will see I am destroyed and used to create more of our kind. However, as further punishment he will ensure my memories will be gone and I will not exist again.”

I watched Trex’s puzzled expression. “Explain what you mean?”

“We do not procreate the way most humanoid races do. Our bodies are destroyed and we use the DNA to create more of us, which includes keeping the memories of our previous versions.”

King Trex’s hands went to his hips. His eyes narrowed at the shapeshifter. “You mean cloning? The Voletti are clones? If that’s true why are you trading technology for females?”

The alien heaved another sigh as his already thin lips pressed together until they couldn’t be seen. “Our scientists have detected mutations from the repeated rebirthing process, cloning, as you call it. Which is causing concern. Using human DNA mixed with ours we can ensure better quality versions ofVoletti soldiers. There is the added benefit of being able to use female wombs to grow them.”

Judging from his appearance, he had mutations, and I wondered what their race originally looked like.

“How many Voletti are there left in this Universe?” Trex asked.

After a moment of contemplation, the alien responded. “We entered this Universe with ten ships in the armada. We’ve lost two vessels as well as two hundred of our people. There are one hundred Voletti on each ship. This is all we have left, though I suspect not all of them have the fuel to leave our moon.”

I was reminded of our conversation when Trex mentioned that Captain Krin’s ship the Chetok was on its way to one of Jaxia’s moons.

Hopefully he had found and destroyed their base. We had not heard from them yet to verify whether they’d been successful.

“You’ve told me in the past, that you are scientists. Yet you referred to the clones as soldiers a moment ago. Which is it?” Trex’s brow raised in annoyance.

“We consider ourselves scientists, however our people had once been referred to as soldiers. The fact is, we’ve been in this Universe for so long we have lost much of our abilities. I spoke the truth regarding hand-to-hand combat. Our vessels have weaponry. We have nothing else to protect ourselves.”

“Tell me how to destroy your ships?” Trex demanded.

The being was silent while he watched Trex. “If you wait long enough, we will no longer be a threat.” Fear was evident on his face, but I wasn’t sure if his fear was of us or his leader.

Trex released a rueful laugh. “We both know I cannot do that. Tell me what you know and what your leader may do now that he’s lost access to flonium and females?”

“I’ve told you all I can. My importance on the ship was very low. I was ordered to infiltrate the monks of Tenage and kill you if I had the chance....There is not much more I can tell you.”

“I’ve asked you this before, and I want the truth this time. Are the Voletti invaders?”

He shook his head. “I’m unsure what our leader has planned for you.”

“That is a lie. I’m going to assume you are invaders.”

The creature didn’t respond, but appeared to be contemplating something. Several long minutes passed, and we turned to leave when the being spoke again.

“What if I were to tell you how my people came to be here on Alara without being detected?”

Trex spun on his heels, glaring at the alien. “Tell me everything you know.”

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