“We’ve been gone, locked away, for too long,” Fybl said. “But now that we are free, we will be able to travel the stars once more.”
“Are there any others?” Xizi scanned the surrounding faces but couldn’t find any other Rkekh amongst the room.
A pair of Verya were talking to each other off to the side, away from the others. The rest of the receiving room was crowded with emerald Swynewi, Alazqi, and a few Ezzaska. A few unconscious humans, both male and female, were scattered along the walls, all dressed up for their celebration.
“I’m sorry, Xizi,” Rylyx choked, gripping his shoulder and making a grunting-gasping noise in the back of his throat. “I stayed behind because I needed to make the confirmation myself. Unfortunately, my findings confirmed what I'd originally overheard: the three of us are the only survivors of our clutch.”
Xizi refused to believe it. “Everyone else?”
Rylyx couldn’t meet his gaze as he shook his head and peered at the floor. “All gone.”
“Were you able to find how?” Fybl asked, urgently, stepping closer to the two of them as he peered at their clutch leader. “What did the records say?”
“They are all gone,” Rylyx muttered. “Either tortured or died from starvation. We’re the only ones that remain.”
“It’s not your fault, brother,” Xizi said, his voice shaking with emotion. “We’d been playing the wrong game for too long and got caught. Someday, they will be reborn.”
“They will be ingrained in my memory until my last dying breath, because it is my fault for not stopping it,” Rylyx countered. “I will spend the rest of my life making amends to them, attempting to reclaim what we lost in their names.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Fybl inquired, motioning to the other individuals present in the room. “We’re no longer a crew of twelve with our own vessel.”
“By swearing allegiance to the Verya commanders’ cause.” Rylyx opened his eyes, his ruby red glow dimming. “These are the types of leaders I aspire to be.”
“What commanders?”
“Your clutchbrother is talking about us,” a proud male voice said behind him.
As his clutchbrothers kneeled to the floor, Xizi spun around to find a pair of long blonde haired Verya twins standing before him, one with cyan runes and the other with emerald. Their calculating gazes matched their runes, glowing along their skin, proof of their hidden powers’ extreme level.
Twins were feared in Verya culture for what they would become when they matured. The fact that they were both aboard the vessel, with their skin covered in runes, was enough for Xizi to know that they weren’t to be trifled with.
He feared for those who dared to oppose them in a stand-off.
“Who are you?” Xizi inquired, bowing his head slightly in respect. “And what took you so long to save us?”
“My name is Xenak,” the cyan runed Verya said, flipping his blonde hair over his shoulder as he glanced at his twin. “And this is Ryzen. We are co-commanders of this vessel and leaders of the secret department in charge of rescuing the abducted, captured, and those sold in the illegal sales of sentient species.”
“The human population as a whole is starting to realize that they aren’t the only ones in the universe,” the emerald runed Ryzen explained, frowning. “Unfortunately for us, this meant that we had to be more cautious. We couldn’t raid a base because we were afraid it would force others around the world to relocate—or worse, kill those they had. We had to slowly gather all the necessary information before releasing everyone all at once.”
“Thus, Alien Appreciation Day,” Fybl muttered as he stood. “However, why wait twenty years?”
“Because you aren’t the only ones who have been apprehended. We have rescued many people from pirates. We needed to be cautious because the Vhalxt and Yaarkins were becoming more active and raiding Earth and other species from nearby habitable planets along the border more frequently,” Ryzen replied. “With such a large influx of refugees, we needed to pool our resources and construct a new base to accommodate everyone.”
“Twenty years was too long,” snarled Rylyx. “Especially since you knew there was a clutch with twelve of us captured. Who knows what knowledge—or products—they’ve created as a result of all their experiments on us. We had nine clutchmates die. That’s a lot of losses to suffer all at once.”
“We know,” Xenak snapped. “We know all too well what we failed to do, and to be honest, we thought we had more time. It was better in the hands of humans, whose technology is inferior to that of this galaxy’s Aldawi and Quaww, or our own Yaarkins. While I don’t dismiss what happened to you and your clutch, I am aware of the dangers your species can pose if placed in the hands of the wrong government.”
“I have no doubt you do,” Rylyx replied, his ears pinned back and his tail swaying angrily behind him. “What are your plans for us?”
“We have plans, but I assume you have a different idea of what you want to do,” Ryzen replied, narrowing his eyes as his emerald runes flared to life. “Tell us what you want us to do to ensure that the rest of your clutch survives.”
“It’s up to my clutchbrothers what they do, because I know they both brought a female human with them when they were ported,” Rylyx quipped. “I want to make sure my species doesn’t get captured again.”
“You want to find your ownenax,” Ryzen corrected himself, chuckling. “I didn’t overlook the way you gazed at your clutchmates when they appeared on the telepad. You believe they’ve found theirs and don’t want to be left behind.”
“That’s where you’re wrong... I am no longer a leader but a traveling healer, trained by every medic we encountered on our journey before we arrived on Earth over twenty years ago,” Rylyx corrected, taking a step beside Xizi with his head held high. “My clutch is no longer, and it is now my duty to prevent another clutch from suffering the same fate as mine.”
“Who said we’re recruiting?” Xenak smirked. “We just risked our lives rescuing everyone in this room in order to bring you to our hidden base.”
