A Second Chance

Chapter 4

Kahje

Liara's call had given them hope, but it soon faded. Feron had called Khira to give her the name of the alleged ringleader of the Cerberus cell, and she had agreed to set up a meeting with the rest of the agents.

The place chosen was in one of the dining halls of the military academy. It was there that many drell were trained from childhood to become part of the hanar militia. At that time of the evening, there was little activity, and they could converse in peace.

"Is no one else coming?"

To Feron's surprise, at the appointed time only he, Khira, Wahif, and two other young men he didn't know were there.

"We have to be very cautious, Feron," said Khira. "Unfortunately, the rest of the trusted agents are scattered around the galaxy on their missions, and this job requires trained agents."

"What about them?" Feron pointed to the two strangers.

"Don't let their youth fool you," Wahif commented. "They finished their training several months ago and have already successfully completed several missions."

"They are reliable, Feron," Khira said.

"What are we going to do now?"

"As I told you before, we have to be careful." Khira spoke softly, almost whispering, even though they were alone at the moment. "We don't know who we can trust, and there are few drell in positions of trust in the Illumined Primacy willing to cooperate."

"But how can they refuse?" Feron protested. "This could end up affecting all of us. They can't be so blind and stupid."

"I don't know, I don't understand it either." Khira understood Feron perfectly because she felt the same way, but she was an expert at hiding her emotions.

"For now, our first step must be to locate this man."

Feron nodded silently.

"We have been able to find out something," one of the young men commented. "With all the commotion about the bomb, we've managed to get ourselves admitted as volunteers to help with the administrative procedures, you know, requests for subsidies to repair the damage to houses, food ..."

"To cut to the chase," his friend by his side interrupted, "we have access to several databases, including that of the security corps, and you won't believe what we found."

"What?" Wahif shouted after waiting a few seconds. "Come on, talk!"

"It turns out that there have been numerous reports of several unexplained disappearances."

"And the hanar authorities don't seem to be particularly interested in this matter."

***

For Wahif it was quite clear; for him there was no doubt that Khira was the best at what she did. It had taken her just a few hours to locate Markus Bradl, and now it was his turn to become his shadow.

As they had expected, a man in Bradl's position had a strong-armed escort that accompanied him everywhere he went. Not that it would be a hindrance to Wahif's mission, but it was always a minor setback that would have to be dealt with when the time came.

It had been dark for some time, and Wahif was stationed behind some freight containers. Across the street, the Cerberus man was buying something in a small grocery store. His two bodyguards, in their shiny white armor with the yellow Cerberus logo on their shoulder pads, stood outside, keeping an eye on everything going on around them. They looked imposing with their attire and the heavy weaponry they carried.

Wahif felt the vibration of his omni-tool on his left arm when he received Feron's message. Feron had talked to the families of some of the missing individuals, and had gotten no clear information. There seemed to be no common pattern to the disappearances. They resided in various domes, and were both male and female, young and old.

They had only one trait in common. Maybe it didn't mean anything, but they all seemed to be in perfect health. Wahif thought it might be an important detail. He sent a reply message to Feron, thanking him for the information, and looked up just as Mr. Bradl was leaving the store.

"Well, well. It looks like we have a curious lizard," said a voice behind him.

Wahif turned around. He barely caught a glimpse of a shadow before he felt a shock that shook his whole body.

***

Feron arrived at Khira's house. Merol and Khasus, the two young men, were already there. They all had a serious look on their faces, and were silent. The tension in their faces was evident.

"Is something wrong?" Feron asked.

"We haven't heard from Wahif for a couple of hours," Khira answered.

"He relieved me mid-afternoon to keep an eye on Cerberus' man," Merol commented, "and we haven't heard from him since."

"So that's about the time I sent you all the message with what I had found out from talking to the families of the missing people," Feron said. "He wrote back to thank me."

Feron showed them the log on his omni-tool.

"Soon after that he wrote to me too," Khira said. "Nothing else since then. We've tried to call him but he won't answer."

"Do you think he could have been found out?"

"Wahif is very good at his job," Khira couldn't hide the worry she was feeling at the moment, "but we can't rule anything out."