Chapter 30 - Investigation

Everyone stopped what they were doing and walked into the lot where Kysandra stood. Fearful chatter spread through the crowd, as they pondered what this could mean. Kysandra raised her hands in the air for silence.

“Before you panic, let me tell you that they do not know that we are here.”

The crowd looked around and grew quiet. There was the sound of shuffling feet and heavy breathing, but no one spoke. Except one.

Hylik called out from the crowd. “Who, exactly, is this who don’t know that we’re here? We demand answers!”

Relik called out to him to tell him to be quiet, but Kysandra in turn told Relik to be quiet.

“Hylik,” she said, her eyes narrowing and focusing on him, “you will have your answers. Be patient.

“Now then, since I believe that everyone else also wishes to hear the answer to Hylik’s question, I shall answer it. Please do not be afraid.

“Relik and I were hunting a pack of deer when a shot was fired - not from either of us. We hid, and I went to look. I saw one who instantly reminded me of Leader. He was tall, with bright red hair and glowing silver eyes. But it was not him, no. I would recognize him still, and this was not our oppressor.

“Others were with him too, however. They were neither man nor beast. They had many tentacles coming from a small body. All held kryon weapons. And it is for this reason that I believe that they were, indeed, kryons.”

Fear swept over the Free Council. A few people began speaking, then more and more. Eventually the place was in an uproar, and the volume level was ear-splitting. A familiar voice rang out across the din. It was Hylik's.

"We should investigate! What are we doing here debating this topic instead of doing something about it?"

The rest of the Council, for the first time in some time, agreed with him and called for an investigation. Kysandra raised her hands again to gain silence.

"Who then should seek out this group for information?"

And then the crowd fell silent. Yes, they wanted to seek out information about the aliens that were nearby, but nobody actually wanted to do it themselves.

"I will go," called Relik, stepping slightly away from Kysandra.

"I will go as well," yelled Tyra, stepping out from the crowd.

Silence ensued. And after a few more awkward moments, two more people volunteered to go: Hylik and Sylva. Sylva was the first to raise her hand, and it seemed as if Hylik only did it in an effort to spite the rest of the Council. Still, his true intentions were hidden.

The four people went to get their weapons. Sylva's weapons of choice were two small kryon hand blasters, which could be used simultaneously, and could be adjusted with only one hand. And Hylik took a massive human laser cannon and mounted it on his right shoulder.

And so they left the motel in search of the kryon group. Relik lead them to the area where the shots had been fired.

They walked, cautiously, out to where the deer had been killed. There, lying on the ground, were the bare skeletons of the deer. The bones were not burned, so the flesh had not been burned off but cut off.

Relik and Sylva leaned over to look closer at the bones.

"What do you make of this?" asked Relik to his companions.

Tyra responded by saying, "These were kryons all right. The blaster marks are all identical, and all came from kryon weapons. And I only see a single pair of footprints, compared to the multitude of these marks." She pointed to the ground, at what looked like the path some sort of snake would make.

All the others came over to look at the tracks. No one said a word, but their silence verified their inner thoughts about what had caused them.

Glass shattered behind them. They all spun around to see what, or who, had broken it. Standing there, amidst the rubble, was a man.