Page 2 of Returned to the Vissigroth
I hadn't been here when the Renegades attacked our capital, Bantahar, but I had visited the site, and even many days after the attack, the horror of what had happened lived on. This little weapon, looking like a silver bracelet no larger than my fist, had broken through our thickest walls, pushing stone out for many paces and turning them into missiles that killed anybody unlucky enough to be in the area. Along the outer fringes of the blast, just as many were maimed. Imagining this weapon in the hands of the Renegades was a danger not to be trifled with.
"I've never seen anything like it," I admitted.
"Kyra?" my son Myccael asked the human seffy—the only one who had ever been invited to a council meeting. Kyra was Vissigroth Duncayn's mate. A human straight from Terra, she was the only other person in the Fourteen Planets who might have an idea what this weapon was.
“From what witnesses describe, I’d say this is some kind of pulse weapon. Not a projectile. They said there was no visible energy output. Just… a sound. Then the wall imploded outward like it had been hit from the inside.” Kyra hesitated, “Whatever it was, it compressed the air so fast it became a weapon. The atmosphere didn’t absorb the shock; it carried it. Amplified it.”
I looked back at her, shaking my head. "That’s not something a scavenger pulls off with stolen tech.”
Grumbled sounds of agreement made their way through the seated vissigroths around the round table.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help," Kyra said, turning to her mate, Duncayn.
"It's okay, at least we know it's not from the humans," Duncayn replied, "that's something."
"Zyn—yes—thank you, Kyra," Myccael, our new susserayn, nodded at her, telling her she was excused. She didn't look upset to be sent out, more relieved. If I were a betting man, I would put many credits down on her making her way straight to the other seffies to report on our meeting.
"Well?" Myccael looked around the table, only to meet expressions as clueless as his was.
"Let's go find us some Renegades and get answers," my son-in-law, Darryck, the Vissigroth of the Icelands, decreed. His suggestion was met with hearty nods of agreement.
"I'm with you." Unsurprisingly, the Vissigroth of Djyngh, Garwayn, jumped at the opportunity. The two had had their disagreements, but they’d worked it out and become friends.
"You know me, I'm always up for a good fight," Claymor of Falls decreed.
All eyes moved to Myccael, who slowly nodded, "I don't think we'll need three of my vissigroths to hunt down a handful of Renegades." He sighed but relented, sensing how much the vissigroths itched for retaliation. By the gods, I was itching for retaliation, and I was way past my prime fighting days.
The three vissigroths took their leave at once, and while the others filed out, I followed Myccael into another room. There, on a long, large table, was a three-dimensional replica map of the long, treacherous journey from Bantahar to Ackaron Harbor—our spaceport. Nobody knew why, but tradition forbade any spacecraft from landing any closer to Bantahar than Ackaron. For as long as we could remember, the trek had to be done on foot or with the help of nictas. Now that the humans had renewed contact with us, Myccael was set on taking Leander to the next level. In support of that, he was having a mag-rail built that would make the journey easier and cut it from three days to three hours. It would infinitely improve our trading.
"How is the project going?" I asked, studying the male in front of me. He was my susserayn, but also my son, or rather, myadoptedson. I had believed him my biological son for many rotations, and we had only recently found out that due to anunspeakable betrayal, he and my daughter had been switched at birth.
"The digging has begun, but the Eulachs and Renegades have been a pain in my rear ever since. From harassment to full attacks," Myccael rubbed the back of his neck. "We've made it as far as the Pyme mountains, but the attacks have grown bolder. And now with the latest attack on Batahar," he shook his head.
"I heard my favorite father-in-law was here," Oksana's sweet voice interrupted us when she entered like a breath of fresh air. All beauty and grace.
"I'm the only one you have, kid," I smiled, before I embraced her heartily, as I always did. Our words were a standing joke between us.
"Are you going to stay with us for a while this time?" She inquired.
"Not this time, I'm afraid," I declined her offer, "unless you need me to," I turned to Myccael, trying hard not to show how much I was looking for an excuse not to have to return to Hoerst.
I had always loved Hoerst, but after my mate Daphne's death, every rotation I dreaded going home to an empty palace more. So much so, that it had been several moon phases—months—since I’d last stepped foot on my home planet.
"I think we’ve got it under control, Father," Myccael's expression was rueful. Our relationship had taken several hits over the rotations, and part of me had always blamed him, undeservedly, for Daphne's death. Ironically, our relationship had only begun to improve after we found out that he wasn't my biological son.
He still called me father, and it gave me more pleasure than I was willing to admit.
"If you do need me, though, you know where to reach me," I encouraged.
"You'll be my first choice," Myccael replied with a sad expression on his face. He knew full well why I didn't want to go back.
"I wish you could stay longer," Oksana said, laying her head against my chest, a gesture I much appreciated. Her father had betrayed her and her family in the most heinous way, and over the past rotations, I liked to think I had become a father figure for her, as surely as she had become my own child. I had always wanted a daughter, and now I was blessed with two. Oksana and my biological daughter, Thalia.
"I promise I will soon." I hugged her tightly.
She swirled out of my arms and swiped hers open to encompass Myccael's, "What do you think about your son's project?" Oksana changed the subject, her eyes aglow like they always were when she talked about my son. I didn't think he could do anything wrong in her eyes. She truly loved him, and I was grateful for it. Her love and support through recent events had been instrumental in molding Myccael into a man any father would be proud of.
"Ambitious," I laughed, and she giggled. "It will be a marvel once it’s done."
