The Refugee (The Korvali Chronicles Book 1) Page 3

  “I am Eshel,” he said, his manner once more aloof.

  “Eshel, our first priority is to make sure you’re well. Doctor, what’s Eshel’s status?”

  Vargas replied with some trepidation that Eshel appeared to be healthy and functioning normally.

  “Good,” Ferguson said. “How can we help you?”

  “I seek asylum from Korvalis.”

  Stunned at the Korvali’s request, Catherine turned to see Ferguson’s reaction.

  Ferguson could not contain her surprise either. “You want asylum? To live with us… to live under our protection?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s no small request.” She eyed the Korvali for a moment before she shifted to a softer tone. “Your crewmates didn’t survive your journey.”

  His expression clouded over. “Yes.”

  “They also sought asylum?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “The Korvali Guard aimed their weapons at our water supply when they could not catch us. The others did not have the capacity to survive under such conditions.”

  “But you did,” the Captain said, her tone skeptical.

  Dr. Vargas chimed in. “We can explain that at the briefing, Captain.”

  “Why aim for the water supply, rather than the entire ship?” Ferguson pressed.

  “That is not how it is done,” Eshel replied, offering no further explanation.

  “We’ll consider your request for asylum,” she said. “For now, we’ll need your assistance in handling the deceased. You’ll remain under guard until further notice.” She turned to Catherine and Vargas. “I want you two at the meeting at eighteen hundred. I expect a full report beforehand.”

  “Yes, Captain,” they replied.

  Ferguson turned and left sick bay.

  Dr. Vargas turned to Catherine. “Thank you for your assistance, Dr. Finnegan. You’re dismissed.”

  Catherine, disappointed at her dismissal and wishing she could stay, saluted Dr. Vargas. She then turned to Eshel and nodded. He returned her nod. With that, she left sick bay.

  But back in her quarters, Catherine couldn’t sleep. She had too many questions. And there was only one person who could answer them.

  September 28th

  Hi Dad,

  You’re not going to believe this. On what has (so far) been a rather uneventful mission, the most amazing thing has happened. I don’t know if I’m allowed to discuss it, but you’re going to find out anyway when you go back to Headquarters, and for once I’m too excited to keep this to myself.

  The other day, the ship dropped out of FTL. We’re way out past the Katara system, nowhere near civilization. I’m the last to know anything around here, being a scientist and all, but the guys leaked at the poker game that we’d chased down an SOS. They found a small ship with ten dead Korvali on it. But… it turns out one of them was ALIVE and in some kind of stasis. Vargas woke me out of a dead sleep to help him figure out some genetic oddities with the patient. While he and I were blathering about the particulars, we heard a voice—it was the Korvali, sitting up and fully alert! Even Vargas—who we both know is prone to talking more rather than less—was temporarily stunned into silence!

  Dad: he survived with no food or water—for more than two weeks—because he altered his own epigenome. GENETICS, Dad! No one’s ever done anything like this before. I know you aren’t especially confident in medical genetics because of Mom and all, but think about the potential implications of this!

  You wouldn’t believe his skill with our language. And he was forthcoming with me, and even offered his hand. His hand, Dad, for shaking! I knew it. I knew they weren’t like people say. I knew they didn’t hate us. Admittedly, he was really cold to Dr. Vargas and didn’t seem intimidated by anyone, even Ferguson. I found that funny. Oh, and his name is Eshel.

  But on to my main point. I don’t understand, Dad. I assumed these Korvali were on their way to Suna for a scientific meeting and something went wrong… but then he asked Ferguson for asylum from Korvalis! They escaped Korvalis and nine of them died, all because they wanted to leave. Do you know anything about this? Why would a scientist from the most powerful clan of a people who shun outsiders want to leave and live among strangers?

  Love,

  C

  P.S. I hope you don’t mind my sending this over FTLcom. We’re out of range and I don’t know when that will change. I’ll reimburse you for it…

  CHAPTER 3

  “Mail,” Catherine said. A moment later, a brief response from her father, along with two attached documents, appeared on her viewer. Keep them to yourself, her dad said. She scanned the first document, a brief report from the Alliance. The report, dated over a year ago, was written by an official from Suna’s military government.

  One of our patrol vessels, on exploratory detail 0.77 kpc 240 degrees from our Katara solar system, discovered a vessel adrift in space. The ship, very small in size and quite unimpressive in design, was distinctly Korvali. It barely qualifies the title of ship! The vessel was similar to others encountered previously. Our best men very quickly and easily gained entry to the vessel. The vessel contained six Korvali persons, all deceased. The bodies will be handled in the usual way.

  Signed,

  Gro Karo, 4th Class, Rank 2

  3rd Regiment, Jula

  Catherine sat back in her chair. This has happened before?

  Reading over the report again, Catherine’s lip curled at the officer’s tone. She’d heard that Sunai males were full of themselves. She glanced at the officer’s class and rank: he was only a Gro and not especially high up on the Sunai military totem pole. If this report were any indication, others’ accounts of Sunai men were not unfounded.

  Catherine moved on to the second, longer document. She could find no insignia or other sign of its origin, which meant it couldn’t have come from any planetary government or from the Alliance. A quick glance over the first several lines revealed that the English was acceptable, although choppy enough to indicate that either an otherworlder had written it or an interpreter had translated the document into English. But after reading the first of many long paragraphs, Catherine realized that the document’s author was not Sunai, human, or even Derovian. The author was Korvali, one of their Guard.

  Catherine read the entire lengthy document in one sitting. It offered a first person narrative of the unsettling political situation in the industrialized region of Korvalis, and all the historical events that led to it. After scrolling down more, she found an appended report from the Alliance that summarized the document’s important points. She chuckled; the brass, especially if not scientists, never wanted to read a long, detailed document.

  Summary:

  Korvalis’s industrialized region had known peace at one time under the rule of the previous monarchial line, all of whom were descended from the Osecal clan. However, the young Osecal malkaris (monarchial leader) died unexpectedly. His only sibling, a sister, also died at a young age, and both passed before either married or bore any heirs. Next in line for the throne was the eldest cousin, who took her place as ruler.

  In an unusual turn of events, the new malkaris severed her bond with her current mate and instead chose a mate from the Shereb clan. Such an unjoining and rejoining is an extremely rare occurrence among the Korvali. This began the shift in power to the Shereb clan after fifteen generations of Osecal rule.

  Together, the malkaris and her mate eradicated the Osecal representatives from their government seats and appointed a new kunsheld (non-monarchial political leader). The new kunsheld, a Shereb and former assembly member called Elisan, usurped most of the assembly’s power. The people protested this violation of Doctrine; but nothing changed. Korvalis has experienced turmoil since.

  The political upset had its far-reaching consequences for their social and economic structure, and it created unrest among the clans and fostered occasional rebellions of minor scale. Escape attempts by non-Shereb
citizens became a challenge for the Korvali Guard. Korvali Doctrine forbids its citizens to leave their planet without permission from the kunsheld. However, until the shift in power to the Shereb clan, attempts to leave without permission were unheard of.

  With these escape attempts, the Korvali Guard retrieved the rogue vessel and took its passengers to prison. No outsiders knew of these attempts that got no further than ~300 parsecs from Korvalis. Lack of FTL technology and the planet’s isolated location made successful escape extremely difficult. Those few ships managing to avoid the Guard’s detection lacked the ability to reach Suna—the closest inhabited planet—in a timely fashion; the Guard eventually found them. If not caught, their resources were fired upon or otherwise sabotaged, ensuring the escapees did not survive the long journey to Suna.

  After finishing the appended report, Catherine considered writing her father again. Who is this guy? Some sort of mole, leaking information from Korvalis to the Alliance? If so, why do we still know so little about the Korvali? But after scrolling down more, Catherine got her answer.

  The long report, written nearly four Earth years ago, was the word of the first Korvali citizen to escape Korvalis and survive. He delivered the report to numerous Alliance representatives; then he disappeared. Nobody knew how he escaped, where he was, or even whether he was still alive. This escapee—known only as Ashan—sparked some controversy among the Alliance delegates, who argued over the handling of any future escapees. However, years passed without another incident.

  For Catherine, the report generated more questions than it answered. But they would have to wait. She had a report of her own to write.

  At 1800, Commander Yamamoto, the ship’s Executive Officer, stood in the bridge ready room. He looked briefly out the large window that offered a spectacular view of the space they travelled through, as each department head took his place at the rectangular table. When Catherine Finnegan walked in, she hesitated, as if unsure where to sit among the command team. She looked to him and he motioned for her to take the unoccupied seat next to Dr. Vargas.

  Captain Ferguson sat down at the head of the table, scanned the group to ensure everyone had arrived, and began. “As you’ve read in your reports, we now have a Korvali citizen aboard Cornelia, the only survivor of ten.” She paused and looked at them. “And he has, if you can believe it, requested asylum with us. He made it clear he doesn’t want to go to Suna, Derovia lacks the resources to protect him, and Calyyt-Calloq doesn’t allow immigration. He’s only the second to successfully escape Korvalis… you’ve all read the Ashan Report… but, unlike Ashan, he has no plans to disappear.”

  There was silence, followed by numerous reactions of surprise. When they began asking questions all at once, Ferguson put up her hand. “One thing at a time. Commander Ov’Raa has spoken with our refugee.” She turned to Ov’Raa.

  Ov’Raa, Chief of Administration and a highly respected interspecies relations expert from Derovia, smiled his most pleasant smile, making his large almond eyes gleam. His small frame almost engulfed by the large black chair and one thick six-digit hand gently resting on the other, he addressed the group. “Our new refugee, who declares his name to be Eshel, requests asylum with the Space Corps, under the auspices of the Orion Interplanetary Alliance. Eshel read the Ashan Report; even before reading it, he confirmed Ashan’s claims about the unrest on Korvalis.”

  “Did Eshel know Ashan, or offer any information about Ashan’s escape or whereabouts?” Yamamoto asked.

  “No, Commander,” Ov’Raa replied, clasping his thick hands. “Eshel belonged to Korvalis’s very powerful Shereb clan and did not associate with members of the Korvali Guard. However, Commander, you will be interested to know that Eshel knew nothing of Ashan’s successful escape, and took a most eager interest in the report!”

  “How was he able to survive when the others didn’t?” Ferguson asked, aiming her question at Dr. Vargas.

  Dr. Vargas, who looked tired, cleared his throat. “When we found him, he was in some kind of stasis. His vital and metabolic functions were reduced so much that my scanner didn’t pick up his life signs at first. He was as cold as a damned iceberg. After almost two days of hydration, he came to. Dr. Finnegan, our geneticist, can explain the rest.”

  Everyone looked at Catherine. “Eshel was able to survive weeks without food or water because he’s been genetically altered to stay alive in low-resource situations. When I asked him who designed these alterations, he admitted that he did.”

  “And the other refugees don’t show these alterations,” Ferguson surmised.

  “No, Captain,” Catherine said. “We checked.”

  Ferguson nodded. “So we’ve not only picked up a Korvali, we’ve gotten ourselves a genetic scientist, one who appears to live up to Korvali lore. I’m starting to understand why they’re called ‘Mutants.’”

  A few laughed nervously at this.

  “Why was I not contacted when this refugee was in stasis?” The question came from Commander Steele, Chief of Research and Catherine’s commanding officer. The group looked at Dr. Vargas, to whom the questioned was aimed.

  “I scanned his DNA and found some irregularities, and wondered if they were related to his comatose state,” Vargas said. “The logical person to contact is a geneticist.” He motioned to Catherine.

  “The logical person to contact is the Chief of Research,” Steele corrected him.

  Vargas’s tired face scowled in annoyance. “This was a medical problem, James, not a research problem. I had a half-dead kid lying in my sick bay. I needed a geneticist.”

  “I’m a geneticist,” Steele said.

  “And when was your last genetics paper published?” Vargas said.

  Yamamoto saw Catherine press her lips together, as if stifling a smile. Steele’s expression hardened further as he began to retort.

  “Enough!” Ferguson interrupted. The men quieted down. “We didn’t anticipate this turn of events. We have no protocol for handling comatose Korvali with genetic… changes.” She resumed talking to the group. “So this… Eshel… when I addressed him, he was very aloof. But he came up clean during interrogation, and he’s been forthcoming so far.”

  “Of course he’s been forthcoming, Captain. He wants something from us,” said Chief Operations Officer Marks, whose square jaw and tight haircut gave him a tough, stubborn appearance.

  “Let’s not think the worst of him yet, Commander,” Ferguson said.

  “He’s an oddball,” Vargas said. “Getting information out of him is like trying to squeeze water from a stone. And although he was perfectly calm interacting with us, the moment I got too close to him… only to check his damned vitals… he shrank back from me like I was going to slice him open.”

  “Yes,” Ov’Raa interjected. “The Korvali do not tolerate anyone unfamiliar touching them, even to shake hands. It is best to give them much space, in my experience.”

  “How are we supposed to know that?” Marks complained. “Most of us have never even seen one of them in person.”

  “Such information was included in the report given to each member of this crew at the start of this mission, Commander Marks,” Ov’Raa said with a smile. “It is quite important that we learn the customs of other peoples, including the Korvali.”

  Marks scowled and gave no reply.

  Vargas glanced at Catherine. “He seemed to warm up around Dr. Finnegan. He had plenty to say to her… hell, he even shook her hand.”

  All eyes turned to Catherine again, who appeared embarrassed.

  “Perhaps we’ll send her when we need information from him,” Ferguson said with a half smile. There was a bit of laughter.

  “And how the hell did he learn such good English?” Vargas added.

  “I asked Eshel that very question, Doctor!” Ov’Raa said. “I too wondered after briefly conversing with two Korvali government officials with remarkable English skill years ago. Eshel stated only that he learned from his father, and that our language was, ‘
very easy to learn.’ He speaks Derovian and primary Sunai as well. I was very impressed with his Derovian,” he added with a smile.

  “He could serve as a diplomat,” Ferguson added dryly, “if he had any people skills.” More laughter. “Moving on… the implications of offering asylum to a Korvali. Commander?”

  “The implications are many,” Yamamoto said. “The most substantial one is that the Korvali don’t allow their citizens to emigrate under any circumstances. Our willingly offering a home to one of them, especially one with such scientific abilities, will not sit well with their kunsheld. It is imperative that we institute protections.”

  “Agreed,” Vargas said, as a few others nodded.

  “Protections?” Marks said. “You’re actually thinking about letting him live on this ship? You can’t be serious! He comes from a people who’ve spent ten years hiding themselves from us and killing people who enter their space!”

  “They killed one group of Sunai soldiers, one time, after numerous warnings to stay out of their space,” Yamamoto said. “Otherwise, the Korvali haven’t said so much as a bad word to anyone.”

  Marks shook his head. “Even if this… Eshel… isn’t some agent of death, he’s from their ruling clan. If they don’t let the average citizen leave, what will they do when they find out we have someone so valuable?” He looked around at the group. “They’ll funnel resources to retaliate, that’s what! Offering asylum to one boy may not be worth the consequences.”

  “I agree,” said Chief Engineer Commander O’Leary in his quiet, deep voice. “He shouldn’t be forced to return to Korvalis, but Suna is a better choice for his asylum, whether he likes it or not. The Sunai would love to show the Korvali that they have one of theirs.”