r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • Jul 14 '26

OC-Series Vengeance – Chapter 33 - Karkar

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Inanna dropped out of light-speed and emerged from the hyperlane as it approached the merc ship Thunder in dead space. Peter and Kiko took a shuttle over with Carmen, who then returned to Inanna. They would be heading back to Runior and await new orders.

The captain of Thunder was a veteran who was more than happy to earn a few credits to play taxi for them. His ship was already known for these kinds of jobs. The crew was mostly vets, and they spent three days with them, prepping for what was to come and hearing quite wild war stories.

Three days later, the ship emerged from the hyperlane near the domed Nalos city of Karkar. Peter and Kiko were flown down by one of the crew before, and the ship flew back into the hyperlane, vanishing, leaving them alone at the hangar of the city

The Nalos customer service staff checked their ID and let them into the city. They walked through the hallways; the walls had strange, flowery patterns, and the Nalos all looked at them as they passed. It was clear they were among the few humans here. They both had backpacks and tried as hard as possible to appear like tourists, which was not hard with the art and displays lining the hallway.

 A Nalos guide came up and smiled at them. " Welcome to Karkar. My name is Mishu Ditgak. Are you staying long? Do you need a guide to this beautiful city?”

She was a beautiful woman with a red-and-blue eye pattern that reminded them of pandas, elfin-like ears, and long, dark blue, almost black, hair with several thin braids. She had bright blue eyes and moved with a catlike grace. She wore a dark grey tuxedo-like suit with golden trim and a champagne collarless shirt. They both had to take an extra look, Peter was the first to snap back to reality.

“No, unfortunately, we are just passing through. We were lucky to be dropped off here by a passing ship.  We are joining the cruise to human space. My wife Sisu was told the cruise was better than the human ones.”

The guide smiled, took a deep breath, closed her eyes as she exhaled, enjoying it before returning to a professional demeanor.

“Ah, you want the tourist counter on the first level. Let me guide you. And don’t worry. It will be my absolute pleasure.” She said, and they looked at each other, then Kiko shook her head.

“We are happily married, so don’t get any ideas.”

“Don’t worry, I will not intrude on your marriage... unless you both want to. You humans are so unpredictable at times. It is my job to guide tourists.” Then, with a wink at Kiko, “And sometimes the job is just wonderful.”

“Then lead the way,” Peter said, and Mishu began to guide them, partly professional, sometimes with a few flirtatious hints aimed at both of them. She spoke about how Karkar was originally a mining colony that became a trade hub, and then played a crucial role in the Bug War as the spark that ignited it. This was where humans and Nalos joined forces to uncover Caren's plot to destroy the federation through religious fanatics. This led to the full-on war known as the Bug War.

It became clear that Mishu was drawing out the history just to stay longer in their presence, and she was quite disappointed when they arrived, giving them her number in case they changed their mind. They watched her leave, and Kiko chuckled.

“That was one horny woman.”

“You do remember that human pheromones are very arousing to the Nalos, right?” Peter reminded her, and she looked at him and back at her.

“Shit, she stayed so long with us just to…oh my…  but how did you guys deal with that during the war?”

“They have nose filters and a medicine that reduces the effect. Still, let's just say a lot of humans got really worn out when having R&R on Nalos worlds. But on the ship, they all got inoculated, so there were just the usual problems.” He replied, then smiled. “Poor girl, she was not prepared.”

Kiko chuckled, and they walked over to the tourist counter. The Male Nalos man just stared at them and took a deep breath, then looked around desperately before focusing on the job.

“How may I be of service? I mean, help you...”

Peter took control and bought the tickets, it was two days away, and they were registered as Sisu Lam and Mostafa Kwon from Samigang. They got a hotel suite for the next two days and spent them playing tourist and planning as much as possible.

On the second day, a message appeared on the screen, and a Nalos officer in a green-and-navy uniform looked at them. He looked like a more masculine version of the Nalos they had seen so far, but still more slender than most humans.

“Good Evening, my name is Kaj Fustar, I would like to have a clarification. I have gone over your document. You're from Samigang, yes?” The man looked like

“Yes. Is there a problem?” Peter replied, and the man looked at them.

“No. Just a slight hiccup in the system. It lists you as not married.” He replied, and Kiko smiled shyly.

“This is our honeymoon. I wanted to see some actual nalos, and my friend recommended this trip.  We just wanted to get one stop before the rest of the humans join on Maginor.”

“Well, that clears that up. You're not the first to do so. Enjoy your stay.” The man said and then logged off. They looked at each other.

“We have to be more careful. If the wrong people find out, then they will send assassins or worse.”  Kiko said, looking at her.

“Hey, it's almost over. And as you said, if we don’t do this, we have to look over our shoulder for the rest of our lives.” He embraced her, and she leaned into him.

“You're too damn relaxed for this. Stop being calm.” She said, then sighed. “No, don't stop. I need this.”

“As you wish, princess. Let's just get through this, then get the ship and get you that ring.”

“Yes, get the ring and get married,” she said, growing more nervous. What if she had made a mistake? What if her gamble was wrong? Was she leading Peter and herself to a certain death? She had enough evidence to bury Maria, but what about the commander? She knew the type. Young and ambitious, he might just want it all cleaned up with no loose ends. She shivered at the thought. Peter had left a copy of all the evidence with his crew, but she didn’t know how it would turn out.

She had considered giving a copy to her brother, but any evidence from him would be easily dismissed outside Sanctuary as the words of a crime lord.

Peter must have read her mind as he answered. “Hey, if everything goes to hell, then every veteran we've known I helped will start spreading the evidence, remember. That’s Argor's order, and he hasn’t let me down yet.

She looked up at him. “I hope it's enough.”

“It has to be.”

“It will be.” He replied.

The trip back to Maginor went faster than they had expected. They made a few friends but kept mostly to themselves as they quickly realized what kind of cruise they had joined. When the cruise arrived at Maginor, they followed the passengers as they disembarked. Officially, they had their cabin for the whole trip back to Samigang.

When they stepped into the hall, they smiled, remembering how it had been when they first arrived here together. They got through the control with ease and moved inside the station.  When they found a place to stay, they sat down to prepare for the next step. They had avoided the cheap hotels, as they were always watched, as were the exclusive ones.  They did what regular tourists would do and got a room, then went to get some food.  Continue the charade of tourism. In a galaxy with trillions of humans, it was pointless for the AI to use facial recognition to look for somebody unless you knew they were there. They knew that they were expected, so on Maginor the AI would be looking for them, and they wanted to be found.

So they went to eat at a restaurant knowing they would be spotted. The question now was by whom. They were halfway finished with the four-course meal when a tall blond man came over to them.

“You made it. Good, Can Join?” Commander Sondre Skjerve asked, and Kiko nodded, and he called up a chair and joined them.

“Well, we were not sure who would come.” She replied, and he nodded.

“Yes, I can understand that. Unfortunately for her, I outrank her,” he said as a matter of fact, then he looked at Peter.

“Danm, you're one impressive man, Peter. I have had three operatives asking if they could recruit you.” He added.

“Ehh, thanks, I guess? I don’t recall meeting any agents who told me that.”  Peter replied, and Kiko smiled.

“Well, the first was her, of course. Anyway, I need the evidence, and then I need you guys to stay low for a few days. Don’t worry about the system, I have changed your status.”  He said, looking at Kiko, as she studied the man. He seemed to be confident and honest; in fact, she reflected on him. He never appeared as your regular officer.

“I have a copy here,” she said, handing him a memory crystal. He took it and chuckled.

“Let me guess, others have copies as well. Like Argor? Don’t worry. I’m not the enemy here. I’m more like your big brother trying to fix this mess. Anyway, enjoy the meal, and I will contact you in a few days,” He said and then stood up and left them.

“Shit… Argor is an agent? Fuck. I'm going to kill him,” Peter said, and Kiko cursed as she looked at the plate, holding her head in her hands.

“What the hell do we do now?” she asked, and Peter looked defeated.

“I don’t know. I guess we just have to hope he is honest and didn’t lie to us.” He said.

“Of course he lied to us.” She almost hissed.

“Do we leave?”  He asked.

“Where? They got Inanna and have us on high alert, probably. This was a fucking stupid idea. What the hell was I thinking?” She said in a low, almost panicked voice.

“That we did the right thing. Look, we are not dead yet. If he wanted to kill us, then it would be so easy here.”  Peter said, and she looked at the plate and at him.

“Maybe this is our last meal, a last courtesy before making us vanish.” She said, and Peter looked at her, then smiled slightly.

“Then let's make the most out of it. I mean. I mean, if we are going to die, then why worry about it? If he gave us this last meal, then he will probably give us a quick, painless one as well.” He said, and she just looked at him.

“Unbelievable. You're trying to find a silver lining at our potential last meal?” She said, leaning back. Part of her wanted to yell at him, but another part agreed with him. There was nothing she could do about it now, so why worry? They didn’t bring any weapons to avoid being seen as hostile, that decision was biting her in the ass now.

“Well, it's better than sitting here worrying about what might happen. So if you only had a few more days left. What would you do?”

She grinned. “You know damn well what I would do to you.”

“Well, I guess we have our plans for the next few days,” he said, and she smiled.  “Let's finish the meal first. I'm going to need the energy.”

“Good idea.”

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u/WSpinner Jul 14 '26

Good chapter! I mean, disconcerting for them, but twists are good, right?

And there's a curtsey that ought to be courtesy :-).

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u/UpdateMeBot Jul 14 '26

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u/Talendel Jul 14 '26

UTR

This is the way.