Page 29 of Neverwylde 6
“Are you saying there were lifeforms on that planet?”
“There were many. Some large and monstrous, and some as small as your hand.”
“Were any of them sentient?”
“Yes, sir. Two, as far as we know.”
“How were you able to maintain a breathable atmosphere?” a fourth man asked.
Kelen turned to him. “The planet had its own atmosphere, but don’t ask me how. That is beyond my knowledge. It also had water and indigenous plant life, which we were able to eat.”
The third officer chuckled. “So, let me get this straight. You want us to believe that your ship chased the Seneecians through a wormhole, where you all crash landed on this fictitious half planet, and made a pact with each other in order to protect yourselves against the lifeforms that existed there? Do you realize how fantastical that sounds, Lieutenant?”
“It is the truth,” Kelen repeated.
The man bent over the table. “Lieutenant, there...is...no...such...planet. Now, there may be a wormhole, which could explain why your ship disappeared without a trace twelve weeks ago. And why no one was able to raise you on the comm. But inasmuch, the rest is all circumspect.”
She frowned at him. “How so...sir?”
“What concerns us more is this alliance you claim to have formed with one of our deadliest enemies.”
Kelen turned around to check the worried expressions on her fellow crewmembers’ faces. The Seneecians, however, appeared resigned. She addressed the officers again. “So what you’re telling us is that, because we became allies in order to survive, that’s made us criminals and traitors?”
“No. It’s lying to us that’s condemned you,” Pfeiffer answered.
“How have I lied?”
The third officer snorted. “First off, your fanciful story about a half planet. Secondly, the fact that you were found aboard a stolen Seneecian shuttle.”
“We’ve never denied we stole the shuttle,” she confirmed. “But we had to. The Seneecians were about to put us into lifepods and eject us into space, to let us die out there.”
The lieutenant colonel pointed in Kyber’s direction. “Those Seneecians?”
“No. My brother,” Kyber responded.
The officers paused to stare at him. Taking the opportunity, Kyber rose to his feet.
“The D’har of my ship also survived the crash. He detested the alliance we had made with the Terrans, and tried to kill them outright. I challenged him according to the laws of our people, and I bested him, but he continued to cause havoc.
“Before we were drawn through the wormhole, our ship sent out a distress signal. That signal was picked up by my people, and my brother, D’har Duruk, was assigned to the rescue mission.” Kyber pointed at Dox. “Dox was able to rig up another distress signal, which Duruk was able to trace through the wormhole. He and his men landed on the neverwylde planet, and tried to leave Kelen and the other Terrans behind, but I intervened. He reluctantly took us all aboard his ship, but on our return to Seneecia, he planned to have the Terrans, and me and my men, dispatched before reaching it.”
“Why?” Pfeiffer questioned.
Kyber gave a slight shrug. “That is what we have been asking ourselves ever since we managed to elude Duruk. My brother wants us dead, which leads me to only one conclusion.”
“Which is?”
“Either it is the planet itself, or there is something on that planet my superiors do not want anyone else to know about. And they are willing to kill anyone who threatens to reveal its existence and location, including those of their own kind.”
