A day on Solis-D lasts just under a day on Gaia, so in the early hours of the


    morning, Steve was waiting to see movement. The door of the Vampire base


    opened, and Rhain came out. Steve informed everyone to gather and flew the drone


    in front of him. He was followed by one more of his kind, who just stood there


    observing the drone.


    Aldon and Rhain began talking. Their conversation took a while, since there


    was a delay in the signal due to the distance between the planets. After a few hours,


    Steve interrupted. “Batteries are running low. It will need to fly up to the top of a


    building and recharge.”


    Alex stood up and said, “Eldon, inform Rhain that your conversation has to be


    cut short. The drone is running out of battery. Let’s discuss, and we’ll speak with


    them again tomorrow.”


    “Actually,” said Steve, “we really drained it this time, and it’s already late


    there. We will need most of tomorrow morning to charge. It’s better if we have the


    next talk in two of their days.”


    Eldon informed Rhain that they would talk again the morning of the second


    day, and they left to return to their base.


    Jain turned to Konoya and whispered in her ear, “Did we manage to get that?”


    “All of it,” Konoya whispered back.


    Alex turned to Eldon. “So, what is the deal there? Are they in need of


    anything?”


    They all had noticed that during their conversations, Rhain was becoming


    increasingly direct with his tone, while Eldon was looking confused.


    “It is strange. And I don’t know what to say about my conversation. Can you


    please give me some time to think?” asked Eldon.


    “Of course,” said Alex without giving it much thought. “But you need to


    understand that we also have the right to know what is going on.”


    “You do,” said Eldon. “I will sort myself out and talk to you in a few hours, if


    that is acceptable”


    His tone was different than other days. Something was clearly troubling him.


    After Eldon left the room, the team gathered to speak.


    “Are we sure that what we will hear is the right translation?” Jain asked


    Konoya.


    “They spoke for so long that together with the words we had picked up during


    his stay here, we could even make out a quantum physics conversation,” said


    Konoya “So yeah, it is clear. He had given us more of his ancient language than he


    thought in his stay here, and I had recorded all of it.”


    “What are you two talking about?” asked Alex.


    “You have to forgive us, but this might be one of those moments when you


    are too trusting. We recorded his entire conversation, and after the translator got the


    language, we translated everything, including his conversation from yesterday.”


    “I thought we agreed that we will not eavesdrop on their conversation without


    him knowing,” said Juuda with clear dissatisfaction.


    “We did not. We just recorded it, and now we have the language. We still


    don’t know what they spoke about,” said Jain. “Alex, this is your decision.”


    “This is unfair,” Alex replied. “Curiosity alone dictates me to hear.”


    “But do we really want to be the people who did not show trust? We are not


    doing this for him. We should not be hearing this, for us!” said Juuda.


    “From that point of view,” said Konoya, “Juuda is right. We should not think of


    this as something that has anything to do with him. We need to think whether we


    trust him or not.”


    Alex looked up and took a deep breath. “Deep down I don’t want to listen to it,


    but since we came here, we were greeted with hostility from every direction. Do we


    really want bet the continuation of our species to a trust roll? If we risk, we might risk


    it all. If we don’t, we might become more morally comfortable. The losses outweigh


    the gains for now. We will look at our moral code, Juuda, when the risk is not so


    great.”


    “I would rather not stay here then.” Juuda stood up and left the room.


    “I understand,” said Alex. “One day, I hope to be more like you.”


    “Konoya, let’s hear it,” said Jain.


    The conversation began with greetings and general environmental


    information. Living conditions and psychological strengths. Rhain seemed to be


    asking questions to understand Eldon’s mental situation and the impacts of the years


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    in isolation. When Eldon had difficulty answering, Rhain reminded him continuously


    that he should be strong. He is a soldier, and he needs to keep it together. He


    repeated it even in moments when it was not necessary to do so. Konoya


    immediately identified the pattern. Rhain was his superior in hierarchy and was trying


    to make Eldon understand this in a very smart and slow way. At some point, quite


    casually, Rhain asked Eldon, “Can they hear you now?”


    “Yes,” said Eldon, “but they don’t understand anything. I never taught them


    our language.”


    “Right, then. Listen closely. You are a soldier, and you will now receive new


    orders. Stay with them there and observe them. Learn of their defenses and their


    technology. Act as their friend and gain their trust. You will be informed of what


    comes next in the future.”


    “But why?” asked Eldon with discomfort. “They are my friends. They


    welcomed me here without knowing me, and for the first time in thousands of years, I


    am not bored or alone.”


    Rain replied seriously, “Eldon, this is not a matter to be taken lightly. There is


    a good chance they are the Thropi.”


    “What are you talking about? How can this be?”


    Rhain looked like he was searching for the right words. “It can. I can’t be sure,


    though. We have to see them and talk to them to confirm it.”


    “But we were told that the Thropi were monsters. That they want nothing but


    destruction and that they never made it here.”


    “There is more to the truth than what you know,” answered Rhain. “Trust me


    for now. Soon you will have more information.”


    “I would like to know now.”


    Rhain began to look angry at Eldon’s persistence. “Eldon, now is not the time.


    All was done to protect us. To protect you.”


    “Protect us from what?” Eldon was very confused.


    “It is a long story, and now is not the time,” Rhain said with a strict voice


    “Whatever you do, do not trust them. We might be wrong, but it’s the safest way.


    Learn everything you can, and we will think of something in the meantime.”


    At that point, Steve was informing them that the batteries were running low,


    and the conversation ended.


    “This complicates things. What do you think?” asked Alex.


    “I think we should wait for him to tell us his story. Let’s see if he will say the


    truth,” answered Jain. “After, we will discuss the right direction.”


    Konoya nodded. “I agree. I think he will try to come clean. I spent far too


    much time with him, and he seems like someone who will not have an easy time


    doing spy work.”


    “It is important that we observe him for a while. We will need Bara in the loop.


    One of his drones will have to be observing Eldon at all times from a distance. If he


    enters the main bunker, we will need to know exactly what he will be seeing,” said


    Alex.


    “The good news is that we will soon know if he is a true friend and ally or not,”


    said Jain.


    With an uneasy feeling, the team left the room. Eldon was seen walking


    around the perimeter of the city. Near the trees, at his favorite spot, he stopped and


    lay down, looking at the sky. A couple of hours later, he returned to talk with Alex.


    “Alex,” he said with his head facing down, “I need to tell you something.”


    “Personally to me or to everyone?” asked Alex.


    “I’d rather speak with you alone.”


    “Do you want to walk?” he asked.


    “That would be nice.”


    Alex turned off his communicator, and they began walking. After they walked


    past the gate, Eldon got straight to the point. “Rhain asked me to do something I


    don’t want to do.”


    “What did he ask you to do?”


    “I am not sure if I should say right now. I am not sure of what to do,”


    answered Eldon with discomfort.


    Alex felt bad about how things have gone and decided to trust Eldon with the


    truth. “I can make this a little bit easier for you.”


    “How?” asked Eldon with disbelief.


    “Before I explain how, I want you to understand that this world is alien for us.


    So far, we have only faced hostility from everyone we met.”


    Eldon looked at Alex curiously, as if he started to understand what was


    happening. Alex continued, “We trust you to be among us, and we trust you as a


    friend. We do not trust Rhain or his orders toward you. We know how hierarchy


    works, and we know that you will probably obey his orders. That meant we could take


    no chances.”


    “What exactly did you do?” Eldon looked scared. His mind was traveling


    between bad scenarios.


    “We translated your conversation. We know he asked you to spy on us.”


    Eldon looked relieved. He was worried of far worse, so this news did not


    strike him as something too bad. “I completely understand. Yes, you made it easier.


    So, what do I do now?” he said.


    “It has been a long time since you had contact with your people, but you


    should remember. There is a strict chain of command in most societies. Breaking this


    chain might have catastrophic results for you.”


    “I know that. But my society failed a long time ago. Perhaps it’s time to give a


    chance to a new one. That’s what I am thinking. They think you are the reason our


    world collapsed, but this can’t be the truth.”


    “Yes,” said Alex, “we heard. We could not have been the ones you call


    Thropi. We were still in preindustrial societies when your war was raging.”


    “Should we let them know that you know everything?”


    “This, my friend,” said Alex compassionately, “is your moral dilemma. I had to


    take mine when I heard your conversation without your approval. I am happy with the


    way it ended, but it does not change the fact that it’s not correct. You will have to


    make your own decision and face the consequences.”


    “So officially, you are not my leader?” asked Eldon.


    “I am not,” said Alex, “but I am officially your friend. I would give the same talk


    to any of my friends. You have a leader and are talking to Rhain. If you want,


    however, to become an actual member of this society, you will have to first explain


    this to your superiors.”


    “You make it sound easy.”


    Eldon decided to keep it a secret for the time being. As if Rhain understood,


    he began limiting his talks with Eldon and began asking for Alex to visit the base on


    Spi and talk with the leader of the Vampires in person, a leader who did not accept


    talking over the drone. He insisted on a face-to-face meeting.


    The Arrow, which had been turned into a research facility, required far too


    much work and modification to make a trip between the planets, so for the time


    being, it remained a plan for the future.


    The Vampires agreed on a check-in once every fifteen days with Eldon, who


    was to remain with the humans. They thought that his spy work would go on while


    the information he was delivering was real but not sensitive. He had blurred the line


    between spying for his superiors and disobeying their orders.