Page 8 of Decadence

Kyuri was willowy and graceful, with long, glossy raven hair that somehow always managed to look perfect. She watched everything with a sharp gaze that didn’t seem to miss much. She’d told Sienna she was from Seoul, in the United Republic of Korea. Kyuri worked for the administrative branch of the Federation’s Diplomatic Space Mission, which apparently existed to spread good vibes about humans throughout the Nine Galaxies.

Sienna narrowed her eyes. “Do you think it maybe has something to do with the fact that we’ve just been rescued from the bad aliens by even badder aliens after being taken on the most horrific fucking ride of our lives?” She could hardly believe what had happened to them. It was like waking up from some terrible nightmare. She’d probably need some serious counseling when—and if—she returned to Earth.

“Well, there’s that.” Kyuri looked away, staring out the window at the glittering stars. “And then there’s the perfectly black walls and the claustrophobic sleeping pods and the fact that these Kordolians all have this certain look, where you’re not sure whether they’re trying to be nice to you or secretly thinking that you’re little more than an insect they could crush beneath their boots at any time.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’m just reading the signals wrong because I’m freshly traumatized. These Kordolians… they haven’t done anything terrible to us. They’ve been pretty decent, all things considered.”

“It doesn’t fit with their reputation, does it?”

“Well, no, it doesn’t. If the stories were true, they’d have put us in collars and restraints and packed us off to some distant planet to serve as human chattel for some cruel Kordolian noble.”

“I feel like we’re in some weird dark avant-garde hotel. Like we’re on holiday, only without the sunshine and the views.”

“I like this view.” Kyuri was still looking out across the stars, her expression wistful. “If this were a hotel, I’d pay money to come up here.”

“You’re serious?”

“Earth feels so small sometimes. Don’t you ever want to disconnect from reality for a few days?” Kyuri made a face. “Ugh. But how can I be saying these things after what we’ve all just been through? All this,” she gestured at the table with its decadent spread of mostly eaten food. “It feels like the Kordolians are really making an effort do to right by us. Why would they bother if they were just going to fuck us over in the end? They don’t seem like the type to play tricky mind-games. These guys are direct. Brutal. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling uneasy. The cognitive dissonance is insane. Violence and aliens and croissants…” She shook her head in disbelief.

“They killed them,” Sienna said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Boom. Like it was child’s play for them.”

“But that was the good part,” Kyuri said softly. “I can’t say I’m sorry to see those assholes get what they deserved, and I’m probably the biggest pacifist you’ll ever meet.”

The memory of green blood and smoke and the Ephrenian’s lifeless form flitted through Sienna’s mind, making her shudder. “Then we shouldn’t worry, right? They’re just making sure we’re fine before they let us go home, right?”

“I hope so. I really do.”

A soft swoosh caught Sienna’s attention. Like magic, the doors to the small room opened, making Sienna and Kyuri turn their heads sharply. Actually, the doors unravelled, thousands of tiny black tentacle-like projections peeling apart to reveal the dark corridor beyond.

She would never get used to that sight.

It made her skin crawl.

A Kordolian walked into the room.

Both she and Kyuri stiffened.

Sienna recognized the serious, efficient medical assistant who’d told her in a dispassionate voice that she was going to be under observation for the next three days, whatever the hell that meant.

He hadn’t given her his name. None of the Kordolians that had examined her, monitored her, guarded her, or brought her food had offered her their names, and she hadn’t yet summoned the courage to ask.

The Kordolian assistant regarded her with a cool, detached stare, his orange eyes piercing right through her. Suddenly, she felt like all her earthly problems were trivial.

“C-can I help you?” she asked in halting Universal, her voice hoarse from the ship’s cool, dry air. She stared at the Kordolian’s nondescript black uniform. The only embellishment was the small black seven-pointed star insignia on his left breast.

What does that even mean?

The alien inclined his head in greeting, his expression unreadable. Like all Kordolians, he was tall and slender and inhumanly graceful, with elfin features and neatly cropped platinum hair and luminous silver skin.

“Come with me,” the assistant said softly.

She shook her head and frowned. “Why? Where are we going?”

“My superior wishes to speak with you. Follow me. Quickly. You are lucky to be granted an audience with him. He is an extremely busy man. Believe me, we do not want to keep him waiting.” Not waiting to see if she would follow, he turned and disappeared through the open doorway.

Sienna blinked. What? Why me?

Kyuri nodded in his direction, raising a slender black eyebrow. “You’re in demand,” she said wryly in English, a language both she and Sienna were fluent in. “Don’t worry. I don’t think they’ll do anything terrible to you. I figure that if they wanted to, they would have done so already. Besides, I don’t think you have much of a choice.”

How can you be so calm and logical at a time like this, Kyuri?

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