“So, you have no answer?” Esama repeated her question to Dson.
“It will take a lot of testing to determine if there is a connection Oferani. And even if there is one, it was very long ago. We have obviously evolved on very different paths. And I can’t imagine how it is even possible.” Hokra Dson said wondering.
“Could have the Order been right?” Hokra Gotu said slowly, hesitantly.
Esama turned on him sharply. “We do not talk about them.”
“Of course Oferani.” Hokra Gotu said, and then after a minute of silence, “No matter how much we look alike, we are different.”
Esama turned the palm of her left hand sideways and back signaling her agreement. “Yes, we are very different, but also very similar.” She said.
“Yes, Oferani.” Dson said, mirroring her gesture with his palm.
Esama sighed in a very human manner. “And what have you observed Gotu.” She asked Hokra Gotu, he was learned in the ways of military and war.
“You are right Oferani, these people are very different, and very similar at the same time. From what I have observed these people know war.” Gotu said.
Esama looked at him, surprised. “They said that this is an exploration vessel. You think that they deceived us?”
“No Oferani. I have no doubt that this is an exploration vessel, from everything I looked over of our scans of their ship, to the interior. This is an exploration ship, but I also believe that it is not as defenseless as our exploration ships.”
“You mean this ship has weapons?” Esama asked.
“I am sure of it. I don’t know how much of a chance you had to look at the exterior of this ship, but there are indications, hatches, that could possibly house weapons. But that is not the only thing that makes me believe that.” Gotu said.
“What more did you notice?” Dson asked, breaching lightly the Ofer-tun protocol by speaking before the Oferani. Gotu noticed that Oferani choose to ignore the breach and was expecting an answer.
“You noticed the escorts that followed us?” Gotu asked.
“That is nothing strange, we often assign guides, escorts and helpers to our visitors.” Esama said.
“Yes, we do. But are our guides Laas Rett?” Gotu asked.
For a moment both Esama and Dson looked at him startled, before Esama recovered enough. She stood up from the seat, her tail furiously moving from side to side toppling the chair.
“Warriors!? How dare they?! Such insult!” She yelled out.
Gotu immediately rose as well, putting his hands in front of his chest, palms turned towards his chest in a placating gesture. “Calm down Oferani. It is no insult.” He said in placating tones.
A moment later Esama managed to get herself under control, trusting her aide. She picked up her chair and sat down again. Still visibly upset she turned to Gotu.
“How can it not be an insult? We only use warriors for criminals, never for guests.” Esama said.
“The key word Oferani is “We”, you said yourself, these people might look like us, but they are not us. I have looked at them closely Oferani, and from the talks you had, I believe that this is a regular practice for them.”
Esama appeared thoughtful for a moment, and then she brought her hand up and turned her palm sideways and back, assenting to Gotu’s point.
“I have jumped to the wrong conclusion, apologies.” Esama said, and continued immediately. “But how can this be an exploration vessel if there are warriors on board?”
“I believe that their ships are not so strictly divided Oferani. There are people on board that are clearly warriors, and then there are those that are not. For example the female that met us, the commander of the ship, their Retnor. She was not a warrior, but she held herself as one. It is strange, I got the feeling that she would be in charge of the ship even in combat, and yet she was no warrior by our understanding.” Gotu said.
Esama put a palm on her forehead, indicating frustration. “You are right Gotu, they are a strange people. This will be much harder than I thought, each time we met another race, it was Pouute, that handled most of the talks.” Esama said.
Gotu turned his palm, agreeing.
“We must learn a lot, it seems.” Esama said.
“Yes.” Both Gotu and Dson said.
Chapter Fourteen
Olympus city
The attack came suddenly, meant to test Adrian’s defense. Adrian twisted his upper body and raised his left hand to block the strike. His palm connected with his opponent’s forearm and adjusted the trajectory slightly, the attack missed his head. Adrian then stepped out to the side, pulling his opponent’s arm with him. That unbalanced his opponent, and brought the opponent’s head in line with Adrian’s shoulder. Adrian pushed his weight with his legs, and altered his target by lowering his center of balance at the last moment. So instead of his opponent’s head, Adrian’s shoulder struck him in the chest. The strike connected, and his opponent flew away, his back hitting the tatami hard. Adrian remained in stance, waiting, but his opponent signaled that the fight was over. Adrian relaxed and waited for his opponent to get up, when he did, they both bowed at the waist. His opponent then walked over and slapped Adrian on the shoulder.