Chapter 27: Toxin

I walked over to Akash, Yr'Arl and the Lyrin pair. 

As usual Akash wasn't wearing anything, though the leaves that shrouded his body did seem tighter somehow. Yr'Arl and the Lyrin, however, were wearing suits that were very similar to my own 

Yr'Arl's hung loose across his body, barely able to contain his fur. It was as if someone had taken a fluffy kitten and shoved it into a costume. Keeping the smirk off my face was difficult, but I didnt want to insult the one who had supposedly put their faith in me like they had.

"Ah, look who finally decided to show up," Akash said. "We were beginning to wonder if you had finally realised that a human had no part in the guard… but alas."

I rolled my eyes. I wasnt going to engage with Akash's behaviour. The only way I'd ever be able to convince the last of the Eldrani that I meant him no harm would be through my actions on this mission. I was hoping that, when everything was said and done, he would start to trust me. 

"Hello Jacob Lyre," The Lyrin said in complete synchronization, their voices dry and raspy and not creepy in the slightest why would you even suggest such a thing. 

"We are Pax and Fal, Squadron Leader Belana has sent us to assist you in your mission to uncover the truth behind the lady Lara's demise."

"It is nice to meet you," I replied. " I don't know much about the Lyrin, just the basic facts, so I am looking forward to working with you!"

The two Lyrin looked at one another for a moment, as if the single mind between them were analyzing what I had said between itself. 

"We shall split into two groups," the Lyrin continued, still in synch. "Akash shall journey with the Pax body, while Yr'Arl and Jacob Lyre will travel with the Fal body."

"Good," Akash cut in, the now familiar autumn crackle back in his voice. "The Human can stay out of my way, and I shall stay out of its way."

"Efficiency shall be maximized with this setup, though I fear for group relationships that remain untapped," Yr'Arl said.

His fear for my relationship with Akash was sweet, but for once I agreed with the giant tree alien. Putting us, while Akash still held so much animosity toward me, into a highly important mission like this together was like throwing a match into a pool of gasoline. It'd end in fire and burnt eyebrows. 

"We shall now temporarily disentangle our minds, so as to efficiently operate as single beings," the Lyrin declared. 

There was a sudden crackle of lightning between the two, accompanied by the metallic smell of burnt ozone. The Lyrin stumbled for a moment as if they had lost their balance, looked at one another, and then righted themselves. 

"That… was weird," Pax said with a little shake of their head. 

"I know, right? My head feels so empty now. Gotta admit, not a fan," Fal chimed in. "Gotta try and get this one done fast so we can link back up, yeah?"

"Sounds like the only plan that makes any sense to me," Pax replied, before jogging to catch up with Akash, who had already started to walk away. 

"I was unaware that Lyrin could split their minds after they were entangled," Yr'Arl said, his voice clearly curious. 

"Its not something we advertise, tourism on our homeworld kind if relies on the whole 'mated for life' thing, which we are, but if people knew we could disentangle?" Fal shrugged, "The leading thought is that the impact on our tourism would be pretty severe."

That all made sense to me. If they'd built their interplanetary reputation on the fact that they could link their minds all in the pursuit of love and happiness and togetherness then I doubt they'd want the opposite to be made into public knowledge. 

<It's in the public knowledge for those that want to find it, but no, for the most part it's described as the perfect union. I dont think I need to tell you that Lyrin divorces are the epitome of messy.>

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, eager to get the mission started.

Not only was it my first mission, which held an excitement all of it's own, we'd be tracking down the people who let the most dangerous alien the galaxy had ever seen free on a populated world. As far as bad moves went, that one was pretty high up on the list. 

"Our first challenge will be getting the scope of the land," Fal began. "We know that the Null Space Invader had to have been smuggled into Prespian city somehow. Talking to the people who live in the mega buildings here every day would be a good start."

"But you cant expect the criminals to just admit to their crimes, right?" I asked. "No matter how well respected the Guard is, there's no way they'll just hand themselves over."

A smirk drew itself across the lizard aliens thin lips. "Well, that's where you come in of course, Jacob Lyre."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We've got a big scary human on our side, and believe it or not that should loosen some lips."

"Right," I muttered, "Big scary human, how could I forget."

The Lyrin barked out a short laugh and started to walk away. With a reassuring pat on my shoulder Yr'Arl made to follow. Slightly peeved at the constant abuse of my species, I did the same. 

XxX

The mega building that I had found the Null Space invader in was huge, but every investigation had a starting point, and the market was going to be ours. Fal supposedly had a contact there with links to the dark underbelly of the city. While the Guard may act like it kept a complete squeaky clean ship, every city had a shady side. 

We had walked through the entrance way that I had gone through the night before, and now the throng of people was even busier. It was all I could do to just keep up with my two companions. 

We made an immediate beeline to one of the side alleyways, a passage that I wouldn't have even seen if I didn't know what I was looking for. We walked down it in single file, Fal at the front, Yr'Arl in the middle and me at the back. 

After a while, Fal stopped and knocked on a door in a specific and rapid pattern. A few seconds passed and the door opened to reveal yet another species of alien. 

They were bipedal, with two arms and two legs, or at least that's how it seemed at first. The alien's arms and legs split at the elbow and the shoulder, forming two extra arms and legs. They were tall and slender, their face had three violet eyes, a small slit mouth and no nose that I could see. Their skin was a dull silver, wherever it was visible. 

"Eh, Fal?" The alien said, their voice was hoarse and croaky. It was not the kind of voice I expected to come from such an elegant looking creature. "Where's Pax? And who're these two?" One of the three fingered hands pointed at Yr'Arl and I accusingly. 

"Sorry Venad, you know I wouldn't do this if it wasn't important, but we should talk inside," Pax looked from left to right shiftily before whispering, "Guard business."

A grumble came from Venad's chest, and I felt my hackles raise instantly. There was an instinct firing off deep down that told me, if it came to a fight, even with all three of us this alien would be a potentially deadly opponent. 

<Venad here is a Fantraxi, and yeah, they would probably mop the floor with all three of you without much of a sweat,> BB chimed in. <They can secrete a toxin that coats their skin that will put down most other species with a single touch. So be on your guard throughout this meeting.>

The tension seemed to drop a degree when the Fantraxi turned around and allowed us entry through the door. 

We followed one by one into the alien's shop. I had been expecting it to be cramped, it was a building within a building, but the inside was surprisingly spacious. There were a variety of wares lining the walls ranging from advanced technological components to rocks that looked like they were of a more arcane nature. Considering this was an underground contact, I wouldn't have been surprised if they were all illegal to some degree or another. 

"Now," the toxic alien said, their voice low and dangerous. "I'm going to ask this once, and only once. Why have you brought that thing into my establishment."

With one slender arm raised, a finger on each of the two hands was pointed squarely at me. 

<You literally cannot go anywhere without getting into trouble, can you?>