Page 101 of Malliko
She was right. I was incredibly upset. “If Sival is taking part in some kind of illegal breeding program then we need to find him and shut it down. I never thought he would stoop that low.”
Lios scratched his chin. “I’ve tried contacting him mentally but there’s no reaction. Maybe he developed an addiction in Scilmor. He wouldn’t be the first to turn desperate in his attempt to fund his addiction.”
Nerix pointed to his written communication with Jade. “She says that she gave birth to two children and that her friends and family can testify that she was gone for more than a year, twice. Her doctor has confirmed that her uterus shows she was pregnant and gave birth but still no one believes her. At first, I didn’t believe her either, but when she started to describe a Thaddoinian it made me mention it to Zobran.”
Zobran eagerly said, “I asked Nerix to get as many details from her as possible and that’s when she showed him the symbol that she remembers on the man’s shoulder. I’ve never seen a tattoo like that one except on Sival. After that, I really started to pay attention.”
“What is that other symbol?” Clara asked and pointed to the other drawing. “Do you know?”
This time Lios answered, “Yes, we’ve all seen it before. It reveals what kind of spacecraft she was on. The Noxins are famous for their craftmanship when it comes to building ships and they are proud people. You’ll find the builder’s brand plastered around the ships. On doors, floors, and other strategic places.”
“Can you tell what specific spaceship she was on?” Clara asked.
“No. Just that it was built on Nox by a particular manufacturer,” Nerix said. “But the real question is, could she have come up with these details on her own? Clara, have you ever seen something like this symbol on Earth?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It looks alien to me.”
Our glances went to Lios. When I was the captain of the cultural defense team, it had been my decision whether to follow a lead like this. Now it was in his hands.
He looked thoughtful and from the impatience I sensed from Nerix and Zobran, my guess was that Lios wasn’t sharing his thoughts with them.
“I believe we have enough damning details to warrant an investigation.”
“I want to help,” I declared. “As Sival’s captain, he was my responsibility. I should have done more to search for him back then.”
Lios placed a hand on my arm. “Don’t blame yourself. Crew members disappear from time to time. Especially on Scilmor. Sival was always a bit of a loner, and when the rest of us wanted to leave, you made us stay and search for him much longer than I would have allowed as a captain. We had an assignment and he bailed on us. You’re not responsible for any criminal activity he might have done after he left us.” Looking at Nerix and Zobran, Lios informed them, “I’ll talk to the committee and get a permit for us to go and interview the woman in person. We should get to the bottom of this. If Jade was really abducted and exploited for a breeding program, then we’ll find and confront the people responsible.”
“Where does she live?” Clara asked Nerix.
“On Earth.”
“Earth is a big place. Do you know what country Jade lives in?” she clarified.
Nerix took back the panel from me. “She mentioned it at one point.”
“Give it to me.” Zobran reached for the device. “I’ll have her coordinates in no time.”
I tried to follow along as the screen showed all sorts of symbols, but he was much too fast for me. In less than a minute, Zobran showed Clara the screen while asking, “Where is that? Do you know that place? It’s called Ca-na-da.”
Nerix straightened up. “That sounds like my cousin’s name.”
“No, it’s not Cacala, but Ca-na-da.”
“Actually, it’s pronounced Canada. It’s north of the US where I live,” Clara explained.
“We need to go there,” Nerix said with a determined expression. “I want to hear everything firsthand from Jade. If someone truly abducted her and stole her children, then we need to help her get them back.”
“Has something like this ever happened before?” Clara asked. “You all seemed disturbed by Jade’s claims, but none of you seem surprised or dismissive.”
Lios answered, “Our unit combats anything that has to do with exploitation of species who can’t protect themselves. That involves kidnappings, slavery, and crossbreeding. We’ve closed down brothels run on remote planets and spaceships many times. Crossbreeding is rarer, but it happens and that’s always a big deal. Especially when unwilling donors are being forced against their will.”
“You think your former colleague is kidnapping and forcing human women to breed? Why would he do that?” Clara asked with her face scrunched up. “What would be the point?”
I could tell her about collectors paying enormous sums for rare species, but Lios held up a hand. “We don’t know anything for certain yet and jumping to conclusions isn’t our style. At this point, the woman’s memories cause suspicion and reasonto investigate. We’re close to Earth already. That should make it easier to get permission to go and talk to her and figure out what is going on.”
“I think we should come with you. We have insights on humans,” I pointed out, but Lios shook his head.
“That’s kind of you to offer, but you’ve got your own projects and we’ve got this. It’s what we do, remember?”
