The Debriefing
24 Jan 2022Zamen Kensata
The day was ending with a dim sun setting beyond the mountains to the north of the Mercian capitol city; Lentia. Jacq'tu Dengari had received a transmission from Admiral Idle earlier that morning. There was to be a classified debriefing and his old war buddy needed an udaakian perspective. Eric would not elaborate on the nature of that perspective save for a brief, slightly sarcastic suggestion that Jacq'tu brush up on that religion he'd recite before missions against the separatists.
Prime Minister Ford's office inside the city capitol building where diplomatic and political affairs were conducted was the only office that required an entire floor. Each office within the office run by the top members of the politician's staff.
Jacq'tu sat patiently in the reception hall until a view of the setting sun pulled him from his cushioned seat to the long wall of glass that separated the building's inhabitants from the outside world. Orange and green hues reflected off dozens of icy snow capped peaks. Though stunning, activity inside the office managed to recapture the udaakian's attention just as half of the bright sun vanished behind the tallest mountain.
"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..." The voice was soft and female; almost inaudible above the surrounding bustle.
Jacq'tu listened intently, returning his gaze to the aurora swimming above the mountains. He gave the woman another brief glance when she neared the end of her prayer. She was of average height for human females, thin with short blond hair cut just above a round jawline. She was surrounded by several other staff members, all of them on one knee. The softness from her stare was mired in contrast to the worry etched behind her eyes.
Jacq'tu again turned back to the mountains, feeling a bit awkward for staring. He tensed when he felt her walking towards him after rising from her knee.
"Hello." The woman said politely.
"Good evening." Jacq'tu said with a slight bow. "I apologize for staring."
"No need." The woman smiled. "I... I was just curious..." This time she was the one who tensed awkwardly.
Jacq'tu traded a comforting smile of his own before answering. "You haven't met many udaaki interested in human religions?"
"You're the first." She replied. "And we have so many, I was just curious if your interest had anything to do with your own religion.' She paused and stuttered. "That is, if you aren't a practitioner of our, um, I, I mean the, or rather..." She flustered and lowered her head.
"We have coexisted for over a century but only a few generations." Jacq'tu said with a chuckle to ease the woman's embarrassment. Perhaps he was a convert to her human religion. There had been some udaaki who had taken the cross over the years but then did that mean it was no longer a human religion? Would he find the notion insulting? He was sure these or similar thoughts were the cause of her discomfort. Interspecies relations held tremendous complications. "Don't worry. I do not take offense in the face of genuine curiosity."
"Good." The woman sighed with obvious relief. "Is that an elder medallion?" She asked after a brief glint of fading sunlight reflected off of the jewelry fastened around the udaaki's neck.
"You know it?" Jacq'tu asked and caressed an emerald jewel housed inside a star shaped, silver colored charm melted onto a metal circle resting against his chest.
"Very little." The woman admitted. "Primarily that most elder medallions are mass produced replicas."
"Yes." Jacq'tu confirmed. "Only a handful of originals were passed down from the ancient tribal chieftains of the past."
"Chieftains from five different tribes who fought under the banner of the old gods against an ancient evil." The woman mused.
"Your knowledge is on par with that of most udaaki." Jacq'tu chuckled.
"Oh." The woman said with a frown. "Well that doesn't seem like much to go on for a religion." She gasped with widened eyes when she realized what she had just said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any-"
"It's fine." Jacq'tu said, waving away her resurfacing embarrassment. "There are very few among our kind who would consider themselves followers of a religion. We mainly take a scientific approach of study. Though few would like to admit it, the evidence of our origins on your world called Earth is becoming more apparent through genetic research and the view of our old gods as ancient aliens is becoming more prominent with each passing year."
"I see." The woman said with thoughtful consideration. "But there are still some temples in your country aren't there?"
"Some." Jacq'tu admitted. "Some still pray to bring comfort to those in need as you did with your colleagues. Especially in these troubling times."
"Is that what initially grabbed your interest about my prayer?" The woman asked with genuine wonder. "Is it similar to yours?"
Jacq'tu responded with a prayer common to his people. "Ni sda ashi, horr veii; pe lat ogeet liiaa. Ni veiifaa, toaawi veii; pe lat ogeet vifaa. Bian sda sunrii lat omuurd yta, eetatch; uuage sda ashiia."
"That sounds very...powerful, yet, hopeful." The woman said with unveiled admiration. "Beautiful."
"It is our most common prayer." Jacq'tu explained graciously. "Like your our father."
"What does it mean?" She asked intently.
"In the dark, fear not; for they bring light." Jacq'tu translated. "In death, despair not; for they bring life. Till dawn they guard us, always; through the night."
The woman smiled when he finished before raising a hand to a small device attached to her ear. "Yes." Almost instantly her demeanor was jolted from enthused wonder to a reserved sense of duty. "Major Dengari." Her voice wavered slightly when addressing Jacq'tu by a rank she did not know he held. Nevertheless she managed to maintain her eye contact with staunch professionalism. "They're ready in the main conference room."
The inner corridors of the capitol building seemed more frantic with activity than the lobby. Hundreds of clerks and political aides briskly walked to and from the various locations with files and briefcases in hand. After roughly ten minutes and several light shoulder collisions, Jacq'tu was lead into a spacious, grandiose area that harbored a back wall made of glass identical to its counterpart in the lobby with a westward view of Lentia.
A bulky, meticulously polished desk glistened in front of the glass wall beneath various round orbs of light built into the ceiling. The room center harbored a colossal twenty foot long wooden conference table roughly three meters from the desk near the bottom of a small four stair incline. Various works of Mercian and old Earth art decorated most of the three remaining concrete walls of the meeting area.
"Jacq!" Admiral Idle's familiar voice greeted Jacq'tu as he passed through the sizable double door entrance.
"Good evening, Eric." Jacq'tu smiled.
Admiral Idle returned the smile with an added pat on the Major's shoulder and a brief nod to his escort. "Thank you, Cindy."
Jacq'tu looked back as his escort exited the room feeling one last pang of embarrassment after realizing he never asked her what her name was then made another brief scan of the area. There were five other occupants besides the admiral and himself, none of which appeared to be staff members or security personnel. Only one was female. Her dark hair was shorter than Cindy's, extending down just above her earlobe. She was slightly thinner, also with a round face but a more pronounced chin. Jacq'tu recognized three of the men. John MacEllister the director of the Section Six intelligence agency; Randy Pope, the director's top agent and right hand; and of course Prime Minister Ford himself. Jacq'tu did not know the fourth man but assumed from the black inconspicuous nature of his clothing that he was most likely another agent.
The udaaki knew nothing concerning the nature of the meeting but the fact that no one was seated in any of the fanciful and exceedingly comfortable chairs scattered throughout the area seemed to at the very least set the tone for what was to come.
"So what is this about, Eric?" Jacq'tu asked his long time friend.
"Might not have enough time to explain before we start." Eric answered with a smirk. "Depending on just how far you've buried your head in the sand over the years."
"Quite far." Jacq'tu considered with a chuckle. "You humans tend to stack so many embellished catastrophes into your current events that paying attention becomes an insufferable chore."
"Fair enough." Eric conceded. "The short version is we have the lead dissident who coordinated with the terrorist Mar Ris in custody."
That garnered the udaaki's full attention. "Has he provided any worthwhile information yet?
"We haven't asked her yet." The admiral said with a knowing smile and nod in the dark haired woman's direction.
Jacq'tu returned his gaze to the woman standing in front of the steps near the center of the room. Beside her was the unfamiliar gentleman whom Jacq'tu was now almost certain worked for MacEllister. Her stare remained low and her arms folded. Jacq'tu hadn't noticed before; the subtle despair and intensity radiating from her eyes. A glare the udaaki assumed most dissidents and revolutionaries shared.
"We are all here then." Ford's voice cut through the silence.
The man beside the dissident turned from left to right, giving the room a once over. "This isn't exactly what I was expecting when I said to get everyone."
The Prime Minister stood in front of his desk with his hands clasped behind his back, facing the small gathering. "Agent Garen Han. I assume an operative of your talents would understand the need for discretion better than most."
"The planet's about to blow up and hostile aliens are at our doorstep." The agent shot back with a dry tone. "I think the time for discretion is over."
"Hostile aliens?" Jacq'tu asked the admiral under his breath.
"Remember those theories you would never shut up about during our tour at Tise?" Eric whispered. "The civil war before our civil war?"
Jacq'tu felt an uncomfortable chill run up his spine. "The war of the elders."
"No, agent Han." Ford continued without noticing Jacq'tu and Eric's conversation. "Discretion may be the only thing that ensures we all make it off of this planet alive."
"All of us?" The woman spoke up at that with unfiltered disgust.
"Let's not rehash settled discussions, Dr. Rask." Ford said with a sigh.
Rask...the name sounded familiar. Could she be the...the director of the Arduan Medical Committee? Dr. Tuuka Rask? Had things become so dire that the leader of medical affairs had turned to a terrorist?
"Forgive me." Tuuka boiled. "I wasn't aware the discussion had been settled."
"It was settled when I ended it." Ford countered with practiced dispassion.
"You..." Tuuka began but was ignored.
"It was ended when you and your band of miscreants decided to ally with a known domestic terrorist." Ford said, speaking over the doctor.
"Hundreds of millions, possibly billions of citizens are going to die from radiation sickness if they aren't transported off of this planet within the next three years." Tuuka countered, barely able to contain her fury. "Maybe if their so called leaders gave a damn, those miscreants, which included a decorated war veteran, wouldn't have had to turn to the Shield of Justice."
"And look where that got him." Ford said with callous disregard.
"Mother fucker!" The doctor attempted to launch herself up the stairs towards the prime minister but was almost immediately halted when agent Han wrapped his arms around her, pleading for her to calm down.
Jacq'tu noticed his friend bristle at the prime minister's lack of concern for the fallen veteran and wondered if he too would attempt violence upon the politician.
"Control yourself, doctor." MacEllister ordered. "There is a much larger threat we need to deal with."
Tuuka slowly stopped struggling and was eventually released from Garen's iron grip. She kept her glare on the floor. Her fists remained clenched.
"Agent Han." Agent Pope began, breaking a tense minute of silence.. "You're on the ground. This office is secure. Tell us what happened out there."
"I don't think there's any such thing as secure anymore." Garen replied solemnly.
"Nevertheless." Ford persisted. "Nothing said here will go beyond this office."
Jacq'tu listened intently as Garen recounted the events that led to his acquisition of Dr. Rask into his custody. While his description of the beings the humans referred to as Thargoids was intriguing, it was the circumstance in which he had discovered Dr. Rask that had peaked the udaaki's interest. Jacq'tu was usually not one who would interrupt, especially during a debriefing. However, the details of Tuuka's capture had so deeply enthralled his thoughts that he didn't realize agent Han hadn't finished speaking. Now he began realizing why the admiral had asked him to attend this meeting.
"Dr. Rask." Jacq'tu paused as everyone turned their eyes and attention to him.
"Yes?" Tuuka replied, seemingly registering the udaakian's presence for the first time.
"Could you...please explain further the circumstances of your capture." Jacq'tu continued. "Specifically your detainment."
"I..." Tuuka's eyes glazed over slightly. "I wasn't conscious for most of it."
"Major...Jacq'tu Dengari, is it?" Prime Minister Ford asked.
"Retired." The udaaki replied.
"Jacq is an old friend of mine that I thought might be helpful in unraveling the mystery surrounding the Thargoids." Eric added.
"I wasn't aware our udaakian neighbors were knowledgeable about this particular species." Ford surmised.
"Nor I." Jacq'tu admitted. "Though, like most sentient beings, we have our ancient myths and legends."
"I don't understand what that has to do with my detainment on the ark." Tuuka said solemnly, clearly not wanting to revisit the traumatic experience.
"Forgive me." Jacq'tu continued. "I realize this is not something anyone would want to recount so soon but agent Han said that you informed him of being injected with a black liquid."
"Yeah." Tuuka again lowered her gaze to the floor and reflexively placed a hand over her shoulder where she suffered the injection. "I don't know why he did it. Mar Ris...he was interrogating me but I didn't understand what he was asking. He injected me with a syringe filled with a black liquid substance. It...hurt like nothing else I've ever experienced physically."
"Pain. Is that the only sensation you endured?" Jacq:tu pressed.
"I..." Tuuka paused, collecting herself. "No."
"You think it was more than just an interrogation tool?" MacEllister mused.
Jacq'tu hesitated then nodded in affirmation. "Possibly. Please go on, Dr. Rask."
"It hurt." Tuuka continued with a shudder. "I could feel it...moving under my skin."
"Moving?" Eric echoed with revulsion.
"It's hard to remember. I don't really want to remember." Tuuka admitted. "But...at first I thought it was just muscle spasms but no." She froze, holding back tears. "I could feel it moving under my skin. Squeezing my insides; squirming around my skull."
"Jesus..." Eric managed.
It was Jacq'tu who froze this time, lost in thought, processing the information. Several minutes of light banter passed between the other men in the room contemplating the nature of the black substance.
"Jacq." Eric said with an elbow to the udaakian's shoulder.
"I'm not certain." Jacq'tu began slowly. "It's just...what the doctor described sounds similar to...but it can't be."
"What?" Eric blurted.
"That would mean..." Jacq'tu began slipping away into his thoughts again.
"Please enlighten us." Ford added.
"There are no documented records. There are only myths that have been passed down orally." Jacq'tu explained. "Talk of times before the five tribes."
"You will forgive us if we aren't all familiar with ancient udaakian history." Ford stated.
"I'm barely knowledgeable on this subject myself." Jacq'tu admitted. "There are only a small handful of udaakian citizens who practice, let alone study our religion. Nearly none under the age of fifty."
"Surely this subject would extend beyond your religious history." Ford suggested.
"Our earliest written records begin with five tribes uniting from across the continent. There is no mention of a black liquid." Jacq'tu replied.
"What do the unwritten records say." Eric asked.
Jacq'tu hesitated. He had only managed to string together bits and pieces from a handful of shamans. His mind took him back to what had initially sparked his interest in ancient history and he found himself sitting in the woods with his father.
We were not always united, Jacq'tu. That's what your grandad would always tell me whenever I'd get in a fight with your uncle. Our people nearly wiped each other out over which group of gods we should worship.
Years later, Jacq'tu asked his father why there were no records of a second assortment of gods and he remembered his father chuckle and answer without skipping a beat.
Probably the same reason why there are only written records of five tribes instead of eighteen.
"There..." Jacq'tu began slowly. "There are stories of five udaakian tribes who once fought for dominance of the land. They were united by the old gods and set aside their differences in order to defeat an ancient evil."
"The Thargoids?" Eric guessed.
"Perhaps. But there is an even more obscure tale of our history which chronicles a much darker past." Jacq'tu continued. "Not of five tribes but of eighteen; the majority of which chose to follow another set of gods. Beings that could grant their followers unnatural abilities such as controlling their enemies, extended lifespans..."
"Shape shifting." Tuuka interjected meekly.
Jacq'tu took in the sight of the doctor at that. "Yes." He could see the toll of whatever haunting memory his words had elicited. "There were eight tribes who resisted. By the time the war was done only five remained."
"How did they win?" MacEllister asked.
"I don't know." Jacq'tu replied. "That's the extent of the information I have been able to track down beyond talk of magical weapons wielded by chosen warriors. Obviously there must be some truth between the lines of mysticism but that truth has been, I will say, difficult to locate."
"Well that's very interesting but rather unhelpful given the current circumstances." Ford concluded.
"I agree." Jacq'tu affirmed.
"No. It was helpful." Tuuka said after taking in a breath. "It was them."
"We can all appreciate the horrific nature of what you've had to endure, Dr. Rask." Ford said. "But we need to move past speculation and..."
"It was them." Tuuka said again causing another brief silence to overtake the room.
"Even if it was the Thargoids we still have no way of knowing what these mythical weapons are or if they ever even existed." Pope surmised.
"Well if these ancient tribes did manage to beat back the Thargoids they must have had some kind of advanced weaponry." Eric suggested.
"Maybe." Jacq'tu said. "However, we can't assume these weapons still exist. Perhaps there was another species of aliens who provided the eight tribes with their technology but took it with them when they left."
"Or maybe they were wiped out. Or maybe the Thargoids had a civil war of their own." MacEllister added.
"Whatever happened, unless Mr. Dengari has any further stories or knowledge that would lead to the discovery of these weapons, speculating will get us nowhere." Ford stipulated.
"He's not wrong." Pope agreed.
"Sadly, we find ourselves no closer to a solution concerning the recent Thargoid attacks." Ford concluded. "If there is nothing else anyone has to add?" He gave each member of the debriefing a quick glance before continuing. "Then I would like to thank you all for attending this meeting. Director MacEllister, please see to it that Dr. Rask is escorted to the nearest detention facility."
Ford's order brought a look of mild shock to everyone in the room save for MacEllister and Pope. Jacq'tu again sensed his friend Eric tense with discomfort and disgust.
'What?" Eric frowned.
"Dr. Rask, agent Pope will escort you to the security team outside. They have already been instructed to take you to the nearest detention center." MacEllister stated.
"Now wait just a minute." Eric said in protest.
"She assisted the leader of a terrorist organization in hijacking an ark which we may never recover." Ford stated bluntly. "Especially now that according to the doctor herself, this organization is most likely linked to a highly advanced and hostile alien species. Not to mention she holds some responsibility for the crewmen who lost their lives at the hands of that terrorist organization."
"He's not wrong." Pope repeated before approaching Dr. Rask.
Agent Han appeared to contemplate his next course of action before sighing and facing the doctor with an expression that agreed the prime minister did have a point. Tuuka, for her part merely lowered her head with a solemn look of defeat. She put up no resistance when Pope took her arm in his hand and began walking her out towards the entrance.
"Tuuka." Admiral Idle said as the doctor approached. "I'll figure out some way to fix this."
Dr. Rask glanced up at Eric and nodded in thanks though her eyes were filled with doubt. The despair etched across the poor woman's face was so moving that Jacq'tu nearly didn't notice the sudden yet subtle vibrating sensation over his chest.
"Does anyone else hear that?" Agent Pope said after halting his stride.
Every occupant of the room except for Jacq'tu briefly glanced around trying to locate the origins of the sudden high pitched ringing that was growing louder by the second. The udaakian war veteran eventually found himself under the curious gaze of each of the human officials. His hand rose to the medallion fastened around his neck and confirmed the trinket was in fact the source of the noise.
"You never told me that thing could whistle, Jacq." Eric said with his eyes still glued to the metal ornament.
"I did not know either." Jacq'tu admitted.
Before anyone else managed a comment, Tuuka let out a pain filled shriek, grabbing her head with both hands and falling to her knees. Both Pope and Eric knelt down beside her, asking what was wrong.
"No!" Tuuka screeched. "It's happening again!"
"What's happening again?" Eric shouted in distress.
Garen's eyes widened with fear before he turned, staring frantically towards the sky through the wall of glass. Moments later he turned again and ran to Tuuka's side, kneeling down next to her. "Tuuka! Is it the voice again?"
"It won't stop!" Dr. Rask wailed, rolling and kicking with pain.
Prime Minister Ford cautiously stepped closer to the group with MacEllister joining him from the other side of the room. The two peered down over the three men trying to assist the pain stricken doctor. Ford jolted back reflexivly after witnessing Tuuka's skin convulse and retract as if something was moving beneath it.
"What the fuck is that?" Pope shouted in bewildered revulsion.
"Whatever they injected her with on that ship is still there." Garen said while struggling to hold the doctor down.
"Call a med team!" Eric ordered.
Jacq'tu again stood frozen. His mind struggling to process the current events in tandem with another distant memory. This time it was his mother gifting him with the elder medallion that Jacq'tu always believed to be one of the many replicas that were once in high demand during a time when the religion of the old gods was still popular amongst the udaaki.
Your father meant to give you this at one point. His dad gave it to him on his fourteenth birthday. But you always had your head in your books about humans and Earth. He didn't want to distract you. He figured he'd just give it to you at some point for the sake of tradition but it wound up collecting dust in the attic. I was cleaning last week and I happened to find it and...well I figured he might like it if you finally got a hold of it and it continued its journey with one of the Dengari men of the family.
He remembered hugging his mother for a long while that day. His father had recently passed away. They had both seemed to be at a loss for what to do even though he had his upcoming military assignment and she would soon be off on another archeological dig a month later. At that moment they were frozen in time and still needed his father to move forward. Though he was gone, his belated gesture helped a great deal in that regard.
Another pain enduced shriek from Dr. Rask brought Jacq'tu's mind back to the present. His hand was clutching the medallion now and shaking along with its vibrations which became more intense the closer the object was to the doctor. The knowledge gave the veteran an idea. He lifted the heirloom from around his neck and knelt down, shoving the circular piece of metal onto the writhing woman's chest.
Tuuka's screams halted and were replaced with deep labored breathing. The other men surrounding Dr. Rask froze, unsure of what just happened. The medallion's vibrations intensified and the ringing grew louder. The green jewel began to glow with an intensity matching the high pitched tone. Tuuka wrapped her hand around the udaakian heirloom and direct contact with her skin seemed to be the catalyst that began a chain reaction. Over the next few minutes the substance oozing beneath her flesh began to slow and dissipate. Steam with a grayish tint seeped out of her pores with a subtle hiss. Her breathing gradually returned to normal. The light from the jewel dimmed and the ringing ceased. Tuuka was drenched in sweat and maintained a tight grip on the medallion as if it were her only hold on reality.
Agent Han was the first who managed to shake off his shock and break the silence. "What just happened?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Agent Pope said next.
"I could hear it." Dr. Rask's voice was raspy and barely above a whisper. "It kept asking the same thing from before."
"Back when we were aboard my ship?" Garen asked.
"Yeah. The same thing Mar Ris kept asking me aboard the ark." Tuuka confirmed. "But this...this was different."
"How?" Eric asked, taking her free hand in his, a small gesture of support.
Tuuka let out a breath with closed eyes before answering. "It...it was." Her eyes opened and met Jacq'tu's downward gaze. "It was afraid."
Another silence overtook the room. However, before anyone else spoke, a blinding light filled the black sky, stunning everyone. They all stared with confusion towards a gargantuan fireball that expanded and contracted with ferocious intensity. Seconds later the ball of light evaporated into the starlit night.
"Tell me that wasn't what I think it was." Garen managed with disbelief.
Prime Minister Ford turned shakily from the glass wall at the sound of the conference room doors swinging open with a loud thud.
"Prime Minster, sir!" The new addition to the conference room was a member of the security team on standby to escort Dr. Rask to the nearest detention center.
"The ark... Perseverance." Ford already knew what the officer was about to report. "It's been destroyed."