Harbin walked past the ships, let his hand run over the underside while he passed, and walked out toward the edge of the landing platform.
“Excuse me, did you require something?” a cyborg that Harbin didn’t immediately know said to him.
He glanced at him.
The cyborg was large. Much larger than himself. He was young—probably a cyborg from the youngest generation.
“I am well. I do not know you.”
“Reedek,” he said.
Harbin nodded. "Harbin," he said.
He was correct. Reedek was the youngest generation—the same as Jedriek.
Reedek, though, did not have the same uncaring expression that Jedriek did. Instead, Jedriek carried an aggressive gene, one that seemed to get stronger the older he got. Harbin wondered about Jedriek sometimes. He worried he might tarnish himself young and be unable to recover.
Once a Rhimodian became tarnished, it was difficult to recover their shine in the best of circumstances. During war? The guilt could destroy someone. He hoped Jedriek would find his balance and be able to taper down his desire to fight.
A transport came into view, circling once before landing on the pad in a nearby open zone.
Harbin raised his eyebrow. “What is a transport cruiser doing landing here?” This was a fighters' pad, primarily used for military ships due to its prime location on the moon. The rocky terrain around the pad gave it a natural shield from observation, allowing the barrier to protect the installation just that much more.
Reedek took a step toward the square-shaped vessel. “Part of the peace talks,” he said.
Great, the peace talks, Harbin thought.
Master System rarely elaborated on instructions, but now he understood why he’d been asked to come out here.
Master System wanted his unit to be the escorts for the Terran Ambassadors in a few days. In some way, this arriving transport was connected to the coming peace negotiations.
The rear hatch of the boxy transport opened, and out came two Rhimodians. Each one hauled several large matching red cases. Buttons and latches in shiny gold metal adorned the boxes. Cases.
Whatever they were. The metal gleamed in the morning sunlight. The movement reflected the shine back into his line of sight
Immediately, Harbin's tech covered his eyes with a dimming panel so that the glare of the metal did not hurt his vision's acuity.
He studied the collection of cases the other Rhimodians were transporting toward the building. Many of them stacked so high that the cyborgs guiding them in on their floating pads had a hard time seeing around them.
They appeared to be simply solid red cases from a distance, but the closer they got, the more adornment he saw all over them. Carved patterns and intricate scrollwork.
Not something the Rhimodians would have, for certain.
It must be Terran.
But what was it for?
Reedek stopped them as they got close and held out his arm. His gauntlet's mode shifted and scanned all the pieces.
“What is all of that,” Harbin asked, staring at the cases and watching how each one was carefully scrutinized.
“It’s the Terran Princesses’ matched luggage,” one of the cyborgs said.
Harbin sighed. “Great. Just what we need. Terran princesses.”
He knew the ambassadors were coming, but he wasn't aware the actual princesses were part of the ambassadorial party. He assumed heads of state would be attending. Not girls.
'"Are they even old enough to be a part of this?" he muttered to himself.
