Chapter 137: Snoop

Our primary job, as people were being teleported down to the surface of the planet, wasn't actually anything to do with the people that were arriving. 

We were on the lookout for anyone trying to snoop around, causing the refugees that had arrived on Actaeon any undue stress in this incredibly trying time. 

One of the many things that had been listed in the dossier that I had been given as a brief primer on Actaeon is that many of the people that already lived here weren't actually all that happy with a few million new lifeforms arriving on their world. 

For the most part, Actaeon was actually one of the more segregated worlds that had put themselves under the protection of the Guard. 

Prespian city had been a complete melting pot of cultures and people, with races from all over the galaxy coming to join the society that had grown in the megabuildings. 

This, however, made a great deal of sense. 

For all intents and purposes, Prespian City had always been built as a colony that could be considered safe harbour from attack. Unlike Actaeon, it had no species of its own that could claim the land… or, well, water of the world for itself. 

The people of Actaeon weren't necessarily xenophobic or against new people arriving on their planet, in fact for the most part they rather liked the intermingling of their species with others- as long as it was done in a controlled way. 

If anything, it reminded me a bit of Australia or the UK just before I had died, not that I necessarily agreed with any of those political leanings. 

Either way, the major thing that we were likely at risk of being harassed by were media drones, looking to get a quick scoop from one of the scared refugees that were being herded into their new homes. 

I didn't mind if the camera drones stayed out of the city, as they were currently doing, hovering far away with their lenses trained on the new arrivals. But, if a single drone came to harass a single refugee it would end up in a scrap heap somewhere gathering rust. 

These were the terms that were set out by the Guard Matrix, it wasn't even me just being harsh. Any drone that got too close would be shot down, and then the broadcaster that was using said drone would be fined and sanctioned. 

<I'm getting bored, are you getting bored?> BB asked, a ball of restless energy practically fizzing inside my mind. 

In all honesty, yes, I was a little bit bored. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't. At the same time, I was glad to be bored. I didn't have the chance to get bored very often these days, so a nice bit of boredom was really just what the doctor ordered. 

My watch beeped thrice, an incoming message, and I found myself cursing BB under my breath. Couldn't he have just been content for five minutes?

"Squadron Leader Lyre, we have detected an intruder in the Refugee city," said the voice of Klatissi, the water adept alien that had been defeated by Akash in the semi-finals of the tournament. "They don't appear to be making any moves toward the refugees just yet, but we are uncertain of what their goal is at the moment."

"Okay Klatissi, ping me your coordinates and I'll be right over," I replied, swiping to send the reply back to the alien. 

<Sorry boss, guess this is just a simple case of 'be careful what you wish for',> BB said sheepishly. 

He certainly had that right. 

"Everything okay, Jacob?" Fal asked, her eyes shifting to yellow as uncertainty filled her. 

"Yeah, Klatissi has spotted some kind of intruder and wants me to check it out with them," I replied. "Are you going to be okay here alone, or would you like to come with? I'm pretty sure we can set some drones to overwatch if you'd like to join us." 

Fal shot me a knowing look, realising exactly what I was doing fairly quickly. 

It wasn't my fault that I was trying to keep her spirits up. The death of Pax was still an incredibly recent thing, and that was a death that would likely stay with her for the rest of her life. They had been bonded, and then Lara had stolen that bond away from her forever. 

"I am okay, you know," She said, bumping into me with her shoulder. 

I shot her a steely look and chose not to bump her back, she needed to know that I was being serious at the moment. 

"Look, Fal, a lot's happened to you over the past week. First Rin, then Pax, and then the entire damn planet," I said. "You were keeping it together with anger and rage at the Guard, and then I took away the decision that we made together and you're still a part of it. Have you even grieved yet?" 

She cast her eyes downward so that I couldn't see what colour they had turned, but I didn't need to. Not meeting my eyes told me all that I needed to know. 

"I'll come with you," she said in a small, tired voice. "But, you need to know, I'm really not angry with you about the choice that you ended up making, staying with the Guard." 

"Yeah?" 

She met my eyes this time, hers were a bright blue, the brightest colour I'd ever seen them.

"Of course not, silly. You wouldn't have been able to help all these millions of people, plenty of Lyrin among them by the way, if you hadn't stayed with the Guard," She said, a wobbly smile across her lips. "Now come on, let's go meet up with Klatissi and find out who's trying to snoop on one of the biggest aid missions in the history of the Guard." 

She walked off ahead of me, and I had to admit, she seemed like she was somehow going to be just fine.