The footsteps sounded distinctly heavy. It was either a very heavy man or a robot. I looked around in vain for places to hide. None seemed to present itself. The sounds were much closer. I could almost see a silhouette at the door. And the walker stopped. I stood my ground, hands at my waist, ready to let loose a deadly volley with my handguns. The silhoutte grew larger. It looked oddly familiar. And then a clawed foot took a heavy step in, followed by another. I drew my guns and aimed it at the creature that had walked in.
It had two muscular legs, ending in clawed three fingered feet. Its upper body was almost human, except for the two extra arms that hung at its sides. Its head was elongated like that of a wolf and it rested on a short neck. Oh, and it was around six foot four in height. There were weapons at its belt; an assortment of handguns, knives and explosives. The body was heavily built, much like a professional wrestler. A Kerzid. Also the skin was scaly, with multicoloured scales in shades of what appeared to be green and black.
In stepped another Kerzid. This one had blue and green scales. What were Kerzids doing on this planet?! This was against the treaty signed forty years back. They had to be rogues. In any case, I was in a dangerous position. Rogue or not, Kerzid presence on this planet was illegal. And I had seen them. I holstered my guns.
The blue one spoke, in a deep, rumbling voice, "Vlas grayhal gwalosi."
Now this was absurd. They were expecting me to reply in Kerzid. They were expecting humans. They were here to meet a human. A secret deal. My investigator instinct kicked in. Knowledge is power or so the saying went. The more I knew, the more powerful I was. Sadly it also meant more risks. I didn't have much of a choice anyway. Now, what was I supposed to make of the Kerzid speech? Yes, they were our closest ally but I never needed to learn Kerzid to interact with them. Translators were a luxury I would have to do without.
"Yea, exactly, I quite agree to go ahead with this plan. But I am a temporary replacement, which is why I am not someone you're familiar with. Also, I speak very less Kerzid, English would do fine."
The Kerzids looked at each other. The blue one seemed to be in charge. He spoke, in his voice characteristic of the average Kerzid, "Youngling safe. Give us our reward you promised."
They were mercenaries?! This just kept getting more confusing. Kerzids had amazing reflexes. A fight was the last thing I needed right now. I crossed my arms and stared back at them. The green one looked agitated. It drew four mean looking handguns. This was escalating into a fight. The blue one said something in Kerzid, and it lowered its guns and looked angrily at the blue. That distraction was all I needed. Quick as lightning, I drew my guns and fired. My shots hit their mark and the Kerzids fell, with a searing hole in the chests of both.
Nothing more to be learnt here. I walked outside, and there saw the crumpled form of Kyle. I rushed over. There was a faint pulse. He was dying and fast, and there was nothing I could do to save him. He was muttering something that sounded oddly like "Proflix fail kers tray war". It made no sense. In our vehicle, Bart was slumped over the controls. He was dead as well. The Kerzids had not brought a vehicle. It meant only one thing. They lived here.
And then Kyle's dying words began to make sense to me.
The prophylaxis had failed. The Kerzids had betrayed us. War was imminent.
To be continued...
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Pics from Pixabay
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