The Sympathizer

Chapter 22

This ridiculous human dares to attack me and then spouts off some nonsense about his slave brother going missing under our radar?

I press the knife against the soft flesh of his neck. A human's dermis is two times thinner than that of a Plutonian. It would require little to no effort to behead him here and now.

"Tell me why I shouldn't cut you into pieces and dump your meat in one of our acreages for the livestock to feed off?" 

He sucks in a breath, face going as pale as an apparition. "I would risk my life for my brother."

This makes me frown. We don't generally take siblings from Earth. Based on the treaty between Pluto and Earth's leaders, the Plutonians take five hundred youngsters a year for our own use, keeping them here on Pluto. 

We never repeat from the same family and our targets are decided by a computer program, balancing out between the variables we need for our experiments. It is odd to hear that two children from the same family were taken. 

It is even more unusual that a slave should go missing. Yes, some of them do die off on the tracks  or in the South under the harsh mining conditions but all deaths have been recorded. Unless this human doesn't know about it. 

"What is your brother's name? And his age." I instruct him, lifting my knife just a few inches. 

Ron's eyes remain on my face, he seems resigned to his fate, not at all panicked that I have him pinned underneath me. 

"His name is Roman. We are twins and we turned twenty a month ago." 

This startles me. Did our computers make a mistake? It seems like an anomaly we must have missed. 

"He most likely died in the South or on the way back here. You should know what the conditions are like." I stand up and tuck his knife into one of my pockets. 

"No," Ron says adamantly, as he tries to sit up. "He was assigned to the human quarters recently. He hasn't been to the South in months. He told me they needed volunteers for a secret project and that the rewards were beyond our dreams. And then I never saw him again." 

My skin prickles with apprehension. Experiments. Lazarus. Alya. Could this be a coincidence? If it's one thing all my years in the military have taught me, it's that nothing ever is. 

"Get out." I point my knife to the door, gesturing for him to leave. He's given me something to think about, now all I have to do is check if his brother has really disappeared like he said. 

The human doesn't budge. He just stands in place stubbornly. Again I'm reminded of how he must find me the least intimidating of the Trinity. The fact that he tried to attack me only proves how much he underestimated me. 

"I said leave before I feed you to my three fanged dogs. Or worse report you to the authorities." The word dog should give him some idea of the pets I am talking about. 

"You're different. You wouldn't do that." He says after a short pause and then he falls to his knees. "You're the only one who can help me. Please." 

I stare at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" 

"Your speech on your birthday. The extraction squad 11's human officer you saved during that mission to Tartaure. I remember because I was there as well. My leader left him for dead but not you. All the others leaders and their countless speeches, all they do is talk but not you. You don't say the words but your actions speak otherwise."

An uneasiness settles in the air around us and I can literally feel us being watched, my paranoia rising even though Ron whispered the words. I tell myself it's fine. I enabled the device that fills the room with a noiseless static, blocking out all our words since he mentioned his missing brother.