A Second Chance

Chapter 2

Kahje

Feron waited, leaning against the wall of a prefabricated module that served as a food bank. He looked up at the sky, but his view was blocked by the dome made of a translucent polymer that, several hundred meters above their heads, protected the colony. Kahje was a planet covered mostly by water, and it had an atmosphere with such a high degree of humidity that it compromised the drell's survival. Exiled from their decaying home planet Rakhana, when they were rescued by the hanar, the hosts had to build huge domes on the few existing islands on the planet to give them shelter.

For the hanar, who lived in an aquatic environment most of the time, the scarcity of dry land on Kahje had never been a problem until the arrival of the drell. As a result, they had only been able to accommodate a few hundred thousand. A very small number of refugees – however, the scarcity of land had caused the population density within the drell settlements to be very high, constituting a frequent source of conflicts and clashes.

Feron had been born here, but he had been away for so many years he considered himself a stranger in his own home. Nor did he feel a special attachment to that place; his only links were his parents, but both had been dead for several years as a result of Kepral's Syndrome, a disease endemic to the drell community as the result of the high humidity of the planet, which favored the growth of a bacterium that affected their respiratory system. The dryness of the environment inside the domes was the only means they had to counteract the effects of that ailment.

"The desert flower glows blue at dawn," said a female voice behind him.

"In Rakhana the sun always shines on you," Feron replied before turning around, completing the agreed coded greeting. "Hello, Khira."

As slender as he was but slightly taller, Khira was dressed in an elegant crimson robe with silver filigree, which contrasted with the ochre tone of her shiny scaly skin.

"Quick, this way," Khira urged Feron to follow her.

"Where are we going?"

"You wanted proof of Cerberus' presence on this planet, didn't you?" Khira didn't wait for him to answer. "Then come with me and don't ask questions. We have little time."

Feron followed his companion's footsteps for several minutes through an intricate maze of alleys and elevated walkways that ran between the buildings, until they reached one of the dome's entrances leading to the outside. By the airlock door, another black-clad drell appeared to be waiting for them.

"Feron, this is Wahif. Get on his ship and do as he says. I must get back to work so as not to arouse suspicion."

Feron looked at his two companions, confused by so much secrecy.

"Wait, you can't ask me to go with him without some explanation of what's going on, Khira," Feron protested.

"Trust me," Khira caressed Feron's face. "Please."

Wahif's ship was a small cargo shuttle he used to transport goods between colonies. They had been suspended in the air at a short distance from the dome for several minutes, enduring the jolts produced by the storm that was falling on them at that moment.

Despite the weather, Wahif was able to control the ship and keep it stable. As secretive as Khira, he had not given any information to Feron, who had the feeling that they were waiting for something and was starting to get nervous.

He was about to ask again what they were waiting for when a loud flash stood out on the horizon, coming from inside the dome, followed by a serious rumbling. The small shuttle shook as the shockwave hit it.