Anarchy: Revolution

Integrity’s Heart

“You can’t do that! It will kill him!” Talis Dar stood in the doorway, his six-foot diamond body blocking the other doctor from entering the room. “This is wrong, Egis! You cannot possibly think that basic plastering of his wound will last through an entire congress gathering. It’s not physically sustainable!”

The older Arian let out a low, dark chuckle. “You are blocking me. Move.”

Outside the hospital, the twinned Lumari suns were beginning their descent. Darkness appeared on the opposing horizon, the creeping shadows casting their world in shades of gray. A light wind whispered through the crystalline trees, the sound creating a symphony of tinkling music.

Egis took another step forward, his onyx eyes glinting dangerously. “Step. Aside.”

“No.”

“You are delaying treatment of a government official, Talis. You’re out of your league.”

Talis shook his head. Closing his eyes briefly, he smoothed a hand over his doctors uniform. The bright silver-trimmed white suit was coated in an antimicrobial layer and made his diamond form shimmer slightly under the bright overhead lights. “If you go through with this, if you fake that report and Counsellor Arlock dies, you put every medical professional on this planet in danger. I beg you, don’t do this!”

“Guards! Have this man removed!” Another voice bellowed from inside the room. Talis turned his head to the Congressman’s assistant. There was a shadow in his eyes, the kind that said something was happening.

Fear lanced the tenured doctor of twelve cycles, his silver blood pulsing faster beneath the crystalline exterior. Several guards moved to grab him as Talis balled his hands into fists. He felt the minor fractures caused by his withheld anger, but he didn’t care. He would heal eventually. “Fine. If you want to condemn us, then go ahead, but my name will not touch any documentation.”

Egis’s form flickered with something Talis would later understand was dark delight. “We will see.”

Stepping from the door, he waited until it slid shut behind him before looking down at the badge pinned to his pristine coat. Reaching up, he touched the pin with his fingertips before ripping it off his chest in one fluid motion. The sound of fabric tearing reached the nurses running around, and they all turned to watch him with cautious curiosity.

“Doctor Talis, what’s happened? Is my mate alright?” A female sobbed as she walked over. Her hands shook, so she clasped them tightly in an attempt to calm herself.

He took a breath, his heart aching for the woman. “My apologies, Senator, but I cannot comment as I was removed from his case. However, I will say that when I last saw him, Egis was doing the basic fix.”

“That’s preposterous! A basic fix helps nothing when the fracture is that large!” she shrieked, sending cracks along the walls of the medical center.

Another female ran over, her purple form refracting light in lavender patterns as she moved. “Doctor! Wait!”

“Asha, as of now, I am retired from this place. I would rather sit in self-exile than be roped into whatever corruption is happening in the upper ranks.” Talis said as he turned and walked into his office.

The sparce white room held nothing of real importance for him. Carefully pulling his personal data pad out of the safe, he looked around the room. Putting the data pad into his shoulder bag, he stripped out of his uniform and pulled on his regular clothing. Grabbing his older coat, he shoved it into the bag and grimaced.

Whatever was happening with the government of Lumari, he wanted nothing to do with it. If Senator Deti’s mate failed to thrive, it would cause pandemonium in the Concord, and that was not something he wanted to deal with.

A message chime echoed around him as he pulled out his communicator. Glancing at the screen, he noted the unknown sender and read the message.

‘Get out now! They have decided you are expendable.’

‘Who are you?’

‘Not important. Take the service route, not the main entrance. Someone is waiting to get you off-world.’

‘This is ridiculous! I do not fear them.’

There was a short pause, then a picture came through with another message. Lined up outside the main doors was an Enforcer firing squad.

‘Do you fear kinetic, shield-piercing rounds?’

Now fully afraid for his life, Talis moved faster and quieter than he ever had until he made it into the service and maintenance corridors. A few twists and turns later, he pressed himself into a darkened alcove, dimming his bodily light enough to make others assume it was nothing. Guards ran past from the direction he was headed, turning back into the main artery of the center’s connecting halls.

“Find him! Senator Bey’din wants any witnesses silenced permanently.” The first guard growled out.

“Damn it,” the other guard snapped. “Where the hell did he go?”

Once he was sure they were gone, he eased out of his hiding place and checked the maintenance corridor again. Nothing. Good.

That meant a possible easy disappearance without losing his life in the process.

A sudden blare of warning sirens blasted through the air. Stopping, he glanced at the ceiling before letting out a breath and continuing on his way. Something flashing in his peripheral vision made him pause, but before he could look, someone pressed a blaster to his back.

“I won’t go quietly,” Talis said with grim determination.

“Wasn’t expecting you to,” a guttural voice replied.

The blaster powered down, the quiet whir dissipating into nothing as Talis turned to see a creature that should not be on Lumari soil.

The Concloian let out a hiss of smoke from his nasal cavity, slowly shifting from his reptilian form to a more humanoid version. “You’re not the only one that they are hunting. There are others who defied the order as well. Including myself.”

“Who are you and why are Concloians on Lumari territory?” Talis asked, his tone skeptical.

The male, according to his voice, shook his head, the dark green of his hair catching in the emergency lighting. “I don’t have time to explain, but there’s a coup happening right now. If you want to live, let’s go. I’ll drop you somewhere far from here if you want, but make up your mind fast, Arian.”

Nearly an hour of carefully plotted steps and harried glances over their shoulders, Talis pulled out his long, cloak-like coat, pulling it over his shoulders. Looking out over the panicked docking stations lining the bay, he let out a breath of air.

The entire location was crawling with Enforcers, their weapons charged, and their movements jerky as they searched every shadow. The Concloian growled softly, checking the charges on his weapon.

“Got any bright ideas, Doctor?”

“Not off hand, I don’t,” Talis replied. As he looked out at the crowded bay, he noticed a beat-up freighter that was out of place among the perfect, symmetrical ships that lined each docking station. “Who’s ship is that?”

“Mine. Not sure if we can get to it though,” the reptilian turned his head and spat on the ground. “You want to live or die trying?”

Talis gave him a confused look. Then, he said, “Live.”

“Good, then follow me.”

Minutes later, the unnamed Concloian shoved the doctor into the cargo bay of the freighter. “Stay hidden. Don’t be a hero.”

As Talis vanished into the darkness of the ship, the reptilian moved to grab the nearby crate of product he’d purchased earlier. Boots hit the steel and concrete floor before several Enforcers rounded the corner.

Wiping the sweat from his brow with a rag, he stood to full height and glared at them. “Problem?”

“We’re looking for a rogue doctor that caused a treatment delay.” One said, holding up a holograph photo. “Seen him?”

“I’m not interested in getting involved with the Lumari conspiracies. I’m just a shipping contractor picking up material,” the massive reptilian declared.

Another Enforcer stepped closer. “You seem familiar.”

“Many of us around, so I’m not surprised you think we look the same. If I’m late with this, my boss is going to have my head. If that happens, I come back for yours,” the Concloian growled, his eyes blazing a deep, bloody red.

Knowing their crystalline bodies would not last in a fight against the powerful muscles of the reptilian-type people, the Enforcers moved on to the next ship.

As soon as they were gone, he finished stacking the last of the boxes. Climbing into the main hatch, he sealed the exits of the freighter and let out a heavy breath.

“That was close,” the doctor whispered from the shadows. “I thank you for your assistance.”

“I’m dropping you on an outer world belonging to the Yurians.”

Talis blinked, turning his glittering purple eyes to the reptilian in the pilot’s seat. “The Yuiran people?”

“Yeah, insectoid creatures,” the Concloian said, checking and rechecking the flight manifest and the controls. “They are peaceful, and no one would look for you there.”

Blinking, Talis sighed. “Very well. Will you at least tell me your name?”

“I am called Valiant.”

Nodding, Talis offered a small nod. “I am Talis.”

“Great, now let’s get the heck out of here.”

“Why were you in the medical center anyway?” Talis asked as they approached velocity.

Valiant snorted a laugh, his jaw lifting in what could be seen as a smile that showed double rows of serrated teeth. “Maintenance.”

“Try again,” Talis said. “I don’t believe that one bit.”

“Then keep your trap shut. You don’t want to know what I was doing. That information will get you on a radar you do not want to be on, so stop asking.” Valiant demanded as he navigated the vast darkness of space.