Exploration Impossible

Mission 5: Oath of Alliance

"Evacuation protocol imminent! Please proceed to the nearest escape pod!"

"Evacuation? What for?" I ask.

Maia grabs me by the shirt and starts to pull me towards the door. "If you value your life, you are to follow me and do as I say," her innocent voice becomes assertive in an instant.

If it wasn't for the fact that I don't know where on the LorenZ I was, I would have taken this opportunity to capture her now. Another thing preventing me from completing the mission is that Maia just offered what I've been begging to know all of my life. Why do things always have to be complicated?

"You never finished what you wanted to tell me. Therefore, I have no reason to continue my mission at this time," I said.

Maia opens the door to reveal Vissan along with two other Librans standing on the other side.

"What is the situation, Vissan?" Maia demands. I sense haste in her voice.

"A nearby star is on the verge of reaching its mass limit. We suspect the whole segment will be caught in the gravity well within the next hour," Vissan explains.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that a black hole is about to be born on the battlefield?" my heart sinks.

"A simple way of putting it, o Anthropos, yes."

"Get as many of our people evacuated as possible. The o Anthropos shall remain with me," Maia orders.

"Are you sure, ma'am? He is with the enemy after all."

"Don't question m-"

"Sir, as of this moment, I am your temporary ally as I do not wish for genocide. You are going to need all the help you can get at this point," I interrupt without thought.

I'm met with stares from everybody as a response. It seems the only way to get them to trust me is by force. Though putting myself into a deeper rabbit hole is the last thing I wanted to do, the dire situation leaves me with no other choice. My companions are still out there. The least I want at this point is to make sure they make it out alive.

I take a deep breath and place my left hand on Maia's head and my right hand over my eyes. I can feel the soldiers ready to draw their weapons until I begin to speak. "Símera, éna tha eínai pollá kai pollá tha eínai éna. For thy close enemy will be thy closest ally and thy ally be thy closest enemy." After saying those words I place my left hand over my right, still covering my eyes. I slowly hold my open hands out in front of me. I then open my eyes. The stares quickly become looks of shock and concern. Maia seems to be the most shocked out of the four Axcelites in the current hallway. She slowly pulls out the dagger that she grabbed from the interrogation room and begins to press the blade against my hands.

"You have pledged thy sacred Oath of Alliance. Do you know thy tenants and agree to comply?" Maia preaches shakily.

"Dechomai!" I reply with confidence.

Maia then carves a symbol into both of my hands. With my body just getting out of hypothermia, the feeling of my hands being cut allows the rest of the cold to rush out and replace itself with warmth. The symbol looks to be a four-pointed star with a round line connecting the walls of the top and bottom points.

"Your Oath has been sealed!" Maia claims as she closes my bloody hands around the blade.

"I am now bound by your Oath of Alliance. You have no reason to doubt me now," I exclaim at Vissan.

"Don't you dare think for a second that I am going to throw my doubt away just because you just so happen to know the Oath, boy!" Vissan grits his teeth.

"Enough, Vissan! Leave us now!" Maia barks. "That's an order!"

Vissan jumps. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Vissan takes a short. "This isn't over, boy!" Vissan growls as he begins to rush down the hallway. The other soldiers follow him.

"You've got some nerve to pull a stunt like that, Argo," Maia sighs at me.

"Sorry, being silent isn't really my strong suit in the heat of conversation," I smile nervously.

"I can see that. Let's hurry to the bridge," Maia waves for me to follow as she begins to walk down the hall in the opposite direction Vissan just went.