Chapter 71: The First Stag Falls

“You don’t understand!” Veeka exclaimed.

“Oh, I think I do,” the Vulxeen replied smugly, “You want in. Why didn’t you just say so?”

“No, I don’t want in!” Veeka snapped, “And neither should you. I’m telling you, this is a bad idea.”

“Why?” the Vulxeen sneered, “Because we are effectively cornering food distribution for an entire sector… and then some? Even you have to admit the Gvorta have been forgetting their place.”

” Their place?!?” Veeka spluttered.

“They are becoming insufferable,” the Vulxeen sneered, “And now they will get a well deserved pruning, along with the rest of them.”

He chuckled.

“Don’t worry,” he smirked, “We won’t be so bad that your delicate sensibilities will be overly offended.”

“I don’t care about the Gvorta,” Veeka replied, “It’s Karashel that I’m concerned about. From what I’ve learned, she isn’t one to make a mistake. I’m telling you, Mulk, this baleel is dangerous.”

The Vulxeen snorted.

“A dangerous Baleel?” he laughed, “Come on, Veeka. At least make your con believable. You don’t want us upending the crates. I get it. But this is going to happen. Everything is in place, and you have two choices. You can either buy in, or you can get out of the way. Now, if you excuse me, I have a certain Baleel with delusions of equality to squash. Good day.”

The Vulxeen pushed past Veeka and walked off.

Veeka just shook her head.

That was the last one of the “investors” she could reach.

It went exactly as she knew it would.

But at least she tried.

***

Not too far from where Veeka stood, heavy construction equipment pushed down blasted ruins and crushed the rubble into gravel-sized nuggets, pouring them into a long line of heavy transports.

The Federation had managed to keep the extent of the damage to Capital City out of the press, and now they had to make the whole thing “go away” as quickly as possible.

Gvvvak was all too happy to help.

He was even happier to share a cup of coffee with the visitor in his portable office.

“I am so very happy to see you still among the living, Billi,” he grinned, his broad flat green teeth showing.

“Not nearly as pleased as I am, Gvvvak,” Billi “Fangs” Weston replied as she gestured with the thermos she brought.

“Yes!” Gvvvak exclaimed, “More of the black nectar of the gods!” he chortled as Billi filled his cup. “First the Red Fangs and now the bombardment? This is the second time you have evaded death, no?”

The old woman smiled, revealing the titanium incisors that were the source of her name.

“A bit more than twice, dude,” she smirked. “The joke gets old after a while.”

“I guess what they say is true,” the broad-shouldered Okkvn chortled, “The greater the evil, the longer it endures.”

He extended his mug and Billi tapped it with hers, a simple gesture shared by their cultures.

“While I am truly delighted for a visit from a coffee bearing old friend,” Gvvvak smiled with those strange green teeth, “I suspect this isn’t a very hazardous social visit?”

“Not as dumb as you look,” Billi replied. “You’re moving a lot of rubble. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind moving just a little bit more.”

Billi pulled out a mason jar filled with earth.

“Namely a shitload of this.”

Gvvvak didn’t have to pull out a scanner. He knew exactly what it was at a glance.

“Doing some digging?”

“Just a little,” Billi replied, “We are going to have truckloads, and I mean truckloads of spoil we need to make disappear.”

“Rumor has it that a lot of trucks disappeared into Porkie Town,” Gvvvak grinned, “And now one of the top Porkie contractors is asking about spoil? It wasn’t guns or bombs in those trucks, was it? It was mining equipment!”

“Do you want to ask pointless questions,” Billi grinned, “or do you want to talk money? I got my hands in the pockets of Jessica Morgan herself. Do you want a handful or not?”

“Let’s talk dirt!” Gvvvak smiled

***

“Hi!” Karashel said brightly to everyone as she scooched into a private conference room in the Parliament building. “We having a meeting?” she asked cheerfully.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking,” a Vulxeen sneered as the other members of her “committee” shifted uncomfortably. “We are here to discuss the delivery schedule and to inform you of the price you will receive for your delivery.”

“Oh,” Karashel giggled, “That’s how it used to be done. This new market is going to actually be free, and the price will be determined by supply and demand!”

“Actually,” the Vulxeen chuckled darkly, “It isn’t.”

“What?” Karashel asked in confusion, “I don’t understand.”

“I’m sorry, Karashel!” Longpaw wailed. “I didn’t have a choice!”

“Longpaw?”

“All of your little ‘party’ have sold their shares of your little… whatever this is… to us,” the Vulxeen smiled as his eyes gleamed viciously. “Did you actually think we would allow this to happen?”

“But we all agreed...”

“And that agreement has changed.” the Vulxeen snickered as everyone in the room laughed except her friends. Longpaw covered his face and started shuddering as Rillrillrillrill glared at him.

“We now have controlling interest in this little (heh) ‘free trade market,’ and we now call the shots! In fact, we would very much appreciate it if you would accept this offer for your shares, the only ones left.”

“What?...” Karashel wailed, “N… No!… Never...”

“I think you will find the offer more than fair,” the Vulxeen smirked. “In fact, it just so happens to be exactly what the next payment on your people’s outstanding debts are… provided that the appropriate agencies don’t find out about your fraudulent statements...”

Karashel shuddered.

“Y-you’re blackmailing me?!?”

“Call it what you want,” the Vulxeen smirked as he handed her the tablet. “Sign or the Treasury and Judicial departments get some very interesting emails.”

Her tentacle shaking, Karashel pressed her sigil against the tablet, forever signing away her people’s stake in the market that she created, dreamed of, and that she worked so hard to make a reality.

“Choke on it!” she bubbled through her slime as Longpaw ran from the room, hiccuping.

“Don’t worry,” the Vulxeen smiled, “The prices will be…(snicker) fair… Your people won’t starve… and may even avoid management, provided you are a good little slug.”

Karashel glared at him.

“You are all excused,” the Vulxeen sneered, “We have actual business to discuss. We will let you know what we decide.”

***

Longpaw was huddled at the bottom of the stairs.

Rillrillrillrill scuttled up and lightly bopped him on the head.

“Real smooth, giggles,” she rasped, her frills fluttering in amusement.

“Sorry guys,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

He looked over at Karashel.

“So now what?”

“I think...” Karashel smiled, “I think it’s time for an early lunch.”

***

In a rubble strewn section of the government sector, two shadows oozed along a wall.

Slowly… silently… they peeled away from the wall and slid across the floor.

Slimy, sticky tendrils set a long wooden box on the floor of the ruined upper story as another set started to pull out long paper tubes.

They never moved quickly, but they completed their work with a surprising lack of wasted time or effort.

Once their work was done, they oozed off into the shadows, spraying a shimmering mist after them.

Moments later, not even a trail of slime remained, just a taut natural fiber string running from the tubes, through some wooden pulleys, and down the stairwell.

***

As she sat in Aspiration Park, Karashel’s phone beeped once.

She smiled.

“This is officially the point of no turning back,” she bubbled cheerfully, “If you have any second thoughts, you can walk away right now. If you stay...”

“You picked your conspirators properly,” Longpaw replied as he poured himself a glass of wine. “We are all in the same boat you are. Following the rules has ruined us, and continuing to do so will doom our people. As the humans say, ‘Live free or die’. If I act now, then the crimes are mine and mine alone or can be made to appear that way. If I delay or falter… then it falls to my children.”

Everyone at the table nodded.

“Excuse me,” a wttl asked as they nervously approached.

“Yes… brother?” Karashel replied. (hard to tell with those guys)

“Sister, actually,” the wttl giggled, “… I heard that I could get something to eat… and that I didn’t have to pay for it?”

Karashel smiled and extended her tendrils, gesturing to the overflowing tables.

“We don’t have much,” she smiled, “but we do have food. Fill your plate and your belly, for you are one of us.”

The wttl gasped. These people had to be rich, and they said that she was one of them? Her?

She giggled.

“Thank you!” she gushed, “… and you’re sure it’s free?”

“We put it there so we should know,” Karashel smiled, “And for you, it is completely without cost. Enjoy.”

The wttl giggled again and rushed over to the tables.

There was just so much… and all of it fresh!

She didn’t know what she wanted to try first!

***

“(sigh) Baleel transport XJ-27. Once again, you are cleared to approach,” an annoyed Gvorta said over the radio.

The Baleelan captain smirked,

“And once again,” he replied, “We seem to be having trouble with our hyperdrive. It doesn’t seem to want to work right.”

“(grumble) What seems to be the trouble XJ-27?”

“I’m not sure,” the captain grinned, “I’m just a Baleel, you know, the screen thingy says… um… stuff.”

“(long frustrated sigh) Do you require us to send a technician?”

“Oh no!” the captain simpered, “We can’t afford that! We’ll just turn it off and on again some more. That usually works… though it’s taking longer and longer each time.”

“XJ-27,” the Gvorta sighed with a facepalm that was almost audible, “That is an indication of an impending serious breakdown. I strongly recommend that you request a technician.”

“Captain,” a Baleela said, carrying a tablet.

She showed it to him

“Finally,” he grinned as he keyed the radio.

“Oh goody!” he said in a simple voice, “It looks like the hyperthingy is back working. Jumping now!”

The Captain released the radio and looked over at his navigator.

“Course set?”

“You know it.”

“Let’s bounce.”

“Engaging hyperdrive,” the navigator grinned.

“Finally!” the Gvorta replied, “… XJ-27?… Hello?...”

***

Veeka once again made the harrowing journey to Aspiration Park.

The crowds were even larger this time.

And once again, holding court among the “proletariat” (she now knew what it meant) was Karashel and her committee…

...laughing, drinking wine, and in overall good cheer.

They certainly didn’t look “squashed”.

She felt “eyes” on her and saw a wttl glaring at her. It immediately sprinted straight to the committee, pointing and shouting.

The gigantic Yuii laughed and reassured the angry wttl and then waved.

“Councilor!” he called out with a loud, confident, booming voice. “Join us!”

Taken aback, Veeka made her way to the laughing, happy group.

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“Can you consume alcohol?” he asked cheerfully, producing a huge bottle. “This is from my vineyard!”

“I can, thank you,” Veeka said as a generous portion was poured into a plastic cup. She scanned it and then took a sip.

“This is good!” she exclaimed.

“You needn’t sound so surprised,” Councilor Maypawk guffawed. “I also have a sparkling non-alcoholic version for poor unfortunates like Karashel and Rillrillrillrill over there.”

The wine was both delicious and quite potent by most species’ standards.

This stuff would get a human drunk, Veeka thought to herself as she took another sip.

Maybe they are drinking away their sorrows, she thought hopefully though she knew otherwise.

She knew a victory party when she saw one.

“Grab a plate and have a seat!” Longpaw smiled as he sipped his tiny glass. “Might not be what you are used to, but it’s good grub!”

Confused by this sudden change of tone, Veeka accepted a plate and walked the buffet, selecting some surprisingly tempting morsels.

This was NOT a soup kitchen by any means.

“That’s a beek,” Longpaw said as Veeka nibbled a round, brightly colored vegetable. “They are from my homeworld!” he added proudly.

“It’s delicious,” Veeka replied truthfully.

“I know, right?” Longpaw smiled. “Picked those from the greenhouse this morning!”

“So what brings you out into sniper town,” Karashel asked cheerfully.

“I heard what happened,” Veeka said sympathetically as she watched them closely.

“Yeah, that kind of sucked,” Longpaw replied, taking another sip.

“It was a nice dream,” Laek~Vet muttered quietly as he turned up his cup, “Oh well.”

“I must say,” Veeka ventured, fishing for any reaction, “you are all taking it well. In your position—“

“You wouldn’t be in our position,” Rillrillrillrill buzzed with amusement. “You are incapable of even comprehending it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Karashel replied, “we got screwed, just like we always get screwed. It’s how the system works. No matter how hard we try or how cleverly we plan, you bigger, stronger races always come out on top, and of course you do. You are the ones who wrote the rules before you ever invaded us… sorry… ‘invited’ us… But… at least we tried, you know.”

“To our new overlords,” Maypawk growled as he raised his glass, “May they be slightly less bad as the last ones.”

Laughing, everyone except Veeka joined the toast.

“And they are,” Karashel added, “As it turns out, we will all wind up slightly better off under the investors. Not by a lot, mind you, but my calculator says that it’s a net positive.”

“Same here!” Longpaw squeaked. “… and that forced buyout was a nice little payday… thus the party.”

That’s right, they would have had to buy them out… even at a fraction of what those shares were worth, it would still be a significant sum...

Veeka looked at their smiling faces. How much money were they just “forced” to take… and how much of it went directly into these people’s pockets?

“Yeah, we got fucked,” Laek~Vet replied, “but the sun is shining, the wine is good, and there is food to share. If we cried every time we suffered at your hands, we would die of dehydration.”

At our hands... Veeka realized that she was included in that number.

A short beep issued from Karashel’s phone.

The table fell silent as Karashel read the message… On a very slick looking communicator, a model unknown to Veeka.

Karashel just smiled and nodded, and the table chuckled in a way that made it feel like winter started early.

“As my friend just said,” Karashel smiled, “The sun is shining, the juice is good, and we have food to share. Unlike many in that building over there,” she added, “we know how fortunate we really are.”

Karashel nodded towards the park.

“Do you see that wttl in the white jumpsuit, Veeka?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what happened not fifteen minutes ago?” Karashel asked, “That wttl burst into tears when she realized that she was allowed to have one decent meal… Tears, Veeka… Because she could eat...” Karashel said, anger edging into her voice. “We might be ‘lowlies’… nothing in your eyes, but Maypawk has a vineyard… Longpaw? He owns a mountain, not a mountain cabin, a fucking mountain!”

“Been in the family for ages,” Longpaw said half-apologetically, “We used to be knights.”

“Creators,” Karashel smirked, “I’m the ‘poor girl’ of the group. My family just owns an incredibly successful plant nursery (which is kind of a big deal where I’m from). None of us sitting here are suffering… Those people...” Karashel said with a dark tone that made Veeka shiver.

“They have nothing… not even hope… They literally weep when informed that they can take the leftovers home to their children...”

She turned to look directly at Veeka.

“And you come here, walking right over them because you are concerned about a table of fucking millionaires and how we are feeling?… How dare you?… You want to be ‘concerned’? Go and ask that young Vorok over there in the threadbare jumpsuit about his day. Go ahead. Find out his story and then come back here and act all surprised that we can still feel as fortunate as we actually are… You know, you think you are so much better than our ‘investors’ when the only difference is that you just suck a little bit less. At least they are honest about what they are... Go to hell, Veeka.”

Veeka just sat there, stunned, as the table all looked at her like she was something one of them stepped in.

Then, Rillrillrillrill booped Karashel on the head.

“Way to ruin the mood, comrade,” she laughed, “You are such a delight at parties, you know that?”

Everyone chuckled, and the mood shifted to cheerful once more.

“Um… thank you for the delightful meal...” Veeka replied as she started to get up.

“You are actually going to abandon a plate of food that you took from these people?” Karashel asked politely. “You really are one of them, aren’t you?”

Veeka sat down and meekly resumed her meal…

***

Veeka was mostly silent the rest of the day.

Lunch… Creators… And Karashel… Void take all!…

Now she knew why Caw had the ship turn around.

Karashel completely owned both her and the situation…

She couldn’t even think! It was like… like…

She was suffocating...

Each forkful of that “stolen” food threatened to strangle her…

It was horrifying…

And Karashel….

She shuddered.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside her office.

She poked her head out into the hall, and her jaw dropped as uniformed Federation agents were hauling the screaming Vulxeen councilor down the hall…

...followed shortly by all of the investors!

“Do you know who I am?” the Vulxeen councilor screamed in rage as he was brought before a rather annoyed looking Xvli in a plain grey suit.

“As a matter of fact,” the Xvli replied, “I do.”

“You are hereby detained for questioning involving treason and aiding and abetting an enemy of the Federation during an armed conflict.”

“What?!?”

The Xvli grabbed the Vulxeen by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

“One thing!” he snarled, his yellow fangs inches away from the Vulxeen councilor’s face. “There was one thing that might have stopped the humans, and you just sold them millions of tons of it, you traitorous fuck!”

“Senior agent,” another plain clothed agent said urgently, cautiously putting their hand on his shoulder. (Touching an enraged Xvli isn’t a good idea.)

“I’ll have your job for—“

The Vulxeen fell silent as a long sharp metal shod claw slid out of the Xvli’s paw just under his chin.

“I’m going to enjoy squeezing you, little piggy,” the Xvli snarled. “Take them to the transports! I want air support the whole way to headquarters. Scan everything! If you see anything, even a communicator battery… Especially a communicator battery… fry it!”

Veeka ran over to the Vulxeen offices and was halted by another plain clothed agent.

“Sorry, ma’am,” she said firmly, “You can’t go in there.”

Looking about frantically, she saw some of the office staff huddling nearby.

“What happened?!?” she asked one of the long term employees.

“They… they say that the councilor… and the others… helped the Forsaken… sold them enough food to feed them for years… said that’s the real reason they took over some market or something?”

“What sort of market has that much food in it?” another office worker asked in complete confusion.

Karashel…

Veeka just stood there in shock. It was obvious. It was all a setup. She needed the Vulxeen and the others to push through the contract terminations and then let them take over just in time to take the fall for treason, effectively destroying the very market and company that they just bought out for no telling how much money.

The Vulxeen government was in disarray, as well as the Kraxitan’s, multiple high ranking individuals in government and the private sector were now being loaded into transports, and Karashel and her buddies were sipping wine and nibbling fruit across the street millions of credits richer. While fueling the single biggest threat to the Federation in centuries...

...table full of millionaires… she said it herself…

But the truth would come out, right? Whoever would be interrogating the investors would eventually realize that they were innocent, right?

Suddenly there were multiple loud explosions in the distance…

Veeka’s blood ran cold.

Karashel had known that too, it seems.

***

“He’s awake.” a Xvli doctor said impassively. “Told you he was tough.”

“Darling!” a stylish Xvli with intricately tattooed and pierced ears cried as she draped herself over a mass of bandages and tubes on a hospital bed.

“ow...” the bundle mumbled… “love you too...”

“I was so stupid!” the female Xvli squealed. “I will marry you! Status be damned! Family be damned! Career be damned!” she shouted as she started pulling jeweled studs and loops out of her ears and throwing them across the room. “I love you with all my heart, and I will marry you!”

“???” the mass of bandages never recalled asking.

It weakly shrugged. It seemed that it was getting married. (Like it was ever going to do better, and it knew it.)

“Damn, [email protected]@,” Gvx-Taa, the head of Federation Intelligence, buzzed as he entered the hospital room. “You look like a gift wrapped turd.”

“Fuck you, sir,” the bundle of bandages mumbled.

A clattering and skittering of metal legs heralded the arrival of Jaxona, who scuttled in immediately afterward with a spittoon on her back and clutching a gift basket filled with Xvli goodies and a brightly colored balloon emblazoned with “Hope You’re Having a Blast!” on it.

“Ohmigosh!” Jaxona exclaimed, “Does it hurt much?”

“Only when I exist...” the bundle mumbled.

“I can take care of that,” the doctor smiled as he tapped on his tablet.

“not yet...” the bandages muttered, “what the FUCK happened?”

“We are still trying to figure it out,” Gvx-Taa replied. “It looks like a combination of rockets and some sort of ‘chaff’ which interfered with point defense. Fortunately for you, they were all locked onto the prisoners. Unfortunately for us, it worked. Looks like Jessica got them all. I’m just glad she didn’t get you too.”

“not for lack of trying...” the bandage mummy grumbled. “What else do we have?”

“We have intercepted transmissions, cash transfers, and have recovered data crystals loaded with credits hidden in many of their residences. The guys over at the Treasury Department can’t always track credits, BUT they do have a database of data crystal serial numbers… guess who was the last owner of those particular ones?”

“Which gang?”

“Morgan Industries, that gang,” Gvx-Taa snorted. “Looks like everyone has their price after all. It wasn’t just money, though. They also received assurances that their transports would be left alone and their competitors would run into extra trouble. The communications were encrypted and ‘secure-deleted’ of course, but The Spider was still able to lift them.”

“...if they weren’t dead...” the bundle of bandages with a tattered ear hanging out hissed weakly, “I’d kill them myself.”

“And, of course, once they were busted, Jessica punched their ticket like she always does.”

“Probably going to happen anyway,” the bundle muttered, “That one shipment will be enough for the duration… Any Vulxeen who deals with a Porkie is an idiot. Who do you think made the hit?”

Jaxona and Gvx-Taa looked at each other meaningfully.

“We can talk about that later,” Gvx-Taa snarled, spitting into the spittoon on the back of Jaxona’s bot. “You focus on healing.”

“Oh shit,” the bundle of bandages groaned, its ear twitching limply, “You can’t be serious...”

***

Late into the night, the Federation Judiciary Processor (Capital) was churning away. Of course, it wasn’t happily churning away because it couldn’t be happy, but if you attached an emotional simulator to the program, it would be humming pleasantly.

Oh, some new stuff entered the queue!

It has been clearly established that the AI was incapable of emotion, annoyance, or spite, but these new entries were put immediately at the top of the queue.

*** Contract Termination: Bright Tomorrows Free Trade Commodity Market Corp – Baleel Reason: Inability to pay Cause: Asset Seizure and Dissolution of Board of Directors… review… acceptable… processed ***

*** Contract Termination: Bright Tomorrows Free Trade Commodity Market Corp – Loo Reason: Inability to pay Cause: Asset Seizure and Dissolution of Board of Directors… review… acceptable… processed ***

*** Contract Termination: Bright Tomorrows Free Trade Commodity Market Corp – Yuii Reason: Inability to pay Cause: Asset Seizure and Dissolution of Board of Directors… review… acceptable…

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