Caged With The Alien Warrior

45.

Ronan

I followed Uncle Korath out the door and we took his hovercar to the High General's offices.

My thoughts lingered on my almost-kiss with Aanya. The way she looked up at me. They way her tongue wet her lips. The way I longed to touch her.

But Uncle Korath called me and the moment was shattered.

Sighing, I looked out the window as we flew to the city centre. Uncle didn't say anything but I wasn't surprised, he wasn't one for many words. He took me in and that meant more to me than any words ever would.

Uncle Korath waited with the hovercar while I went to leave.

He stopped me, grabbing my arm. I looked up at him, shocked. He rarely touched me.

"The High General may condemn your mission, but I am grateful you went, Ronan. You brought pride to our family. We know what came of Kier and you protected his youngling. If you hadn't disobeyed orders and gone, we would have never known the truth."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. There was so much more I could have done. I could have saved Kier. I could have saved Lani's mother. I could have gotten Aanya out of there sooner. But I failed. I couldn't even escape without being injured.

But I just nodded, stiff. "Thank you, Uncle Korath."

Uncle opened his mouth to say more, but must've thought better of it because he didn't say anything else.

Turning on my heel, I walked into the command centre that I was so familiar with.

It was a tall, intimidating building meant to tower over you. It went higher than the clouds and deeper than, well, I didn't know how many subterranean levels there were. That was classified.

I'd lived there almost as long as I hadn't. I'd trained there, bled there.

But I'd never been called to the High General's offices before.

In a haze, I made my way up to the High General's floor, directed by two guards.

Before I knew it, I was in front of his door and knocking.

The door swung open and I walked in, face to face with the High General, Ziso Ilzax.

The only people with more power in Rhodin were the high council.

He set down his datapad as I entered and shut the door behind me. The room was stark, sparsely decorated apart from the High General's medals adorning the walls. He sat behind a large, concrete desk.

"Ronan Hawke. Twenty-six revolutions of age. Youngest Commander at twenty-four revolutions of age. You took a leave of absence and didn't return until today." High General Ilzax steepled his hands together.

"Yes, sir." That was all true.

"I didn't give you permission to speak. I was sent the recording from the high council meeting. The stunt you pulled going on this unsanctioned mission reflects poorly on you, the men under your command, the military, and myself."

I met his gaze but said nothing.

"I cannot believe your audacity, chartering a pleasure cruiser and..." High General Ilzax went on, tearing me a new one.

I tried to focus on him, but all I could think of were Lani and Aanya. Were they alright? Were they safe?

I thought of the way Lani would grip one of my fingers with her small hand. The way Aanya's brown eyes would welcome me. I missed them.

One day, I'd give Aanya the wedding she deserves the human way with a ceremony and kiss, if she'd let me. I memorised what she said. There's an aisle and the groom is waiting at the end of the aisle. All your friends and family are there. You exchange vows, maybe some readings, and it ends with a kiss.

Or at least, I'd marry her again if she wanted to after the mandatory one revolution.

"... I have half a mind to discharge you and the men under your command. Tell me why I shouldn't." High General Ilzax regarded me with contempt.

I took a deep, steadying breath. "Sir, with all due respect, I did go on an unsanctioned mission. But through this mission I recovered information about a Rhodinian citizen, my cousin, Kier, and uncovered a plot from the Szentists to actively experiment on Rhodinians in clear violation of the Intergalactic Alliance. This is the largest breach of the Intergalactic Alliance to occur in over thirty years. This mission wasn't sanctioned because nobody wanted to spend more time looking for Kier, but I did, and I successfully completed what a department of over one hundred couldn't. That is also not mentioning that through all of this, I discovered that Rhodinians are biologically compatible which could change the future of our race. But, yes, the mission was not scanctioned. If a punishment needs to be doled out, punish me, not my men. They were just following my orders to track me." I finished, fighting to keep my calm.

High General Ilzax showed the most emotion I'd ever seen him show– chagrin. But in a second it was wiped off his face in a mask of indifference. "I'll have your men interviewed to determine their involvement and decide your punishment." He looked down at his datapad, clearing his throat. "We were hoping to uncover more data from what you recovered for us, but we couldn't. We have no idea how to find this planet, Earth. Please pass that along to the Earthling," he consulted his notes. "Aanya Patel."

"Yes, sir." I nodded.

"Dismissed," he said and I left the room.

Nobody knows how to get back to Earth. How could I tell Aanya that? 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

What are your theories/predictions for what's going on?

Thoughts on the High General? Shoutout to my patron for naming him Ziso Ilzax! Fun fact, I have a tier where you can name characters in CWTAW :) I also have a tier where you can suggest and vote on things in CWTAW!

Comments and votes are much appreciated.

Virtually yours,

Ro