The Star Within (Poohpavel)

Chapter 17

Knocking on the door, Pavel stood nervously outside the unfamiliar house. It was his first time coming here, and he hoped desperately that he hadn't knocked on the wrong door. The street was quiet, with only the distant sound of a dog barking and vehicles passing by breaking the silence.

After what felt like an eternity, the door creaked open slowly, revealing Sailub's head peeking out from behind it. "Come inside," the captain urged, stepping back to let Pavel enter.

As he crossed the threshold, Pavel saw Benz and Michael sitting on the couch, unusually quiet for their boisterous personalities. Ping was in the kitchen, pouring himself a drink, while Garfield sat perched on the stairs.

Sailub clapped his hands twice, a silent signal for everyone to gather in the living room. As they settled down on various chairs and cushions scattered around the room, tension hung thick in the air.

"I called you all here today because we have a problem," Sailub began solemnly. He then turned to Michael, who was sitting in the middle between Benz and Pavel.

The said person pulled out something from his bag. It was an object inside a transparent zip bag. Putting the object on the coffee table in the middle of their discussion circle, everyone was silent as they watched a bloodied knife inside the bag.

"It's my knife," Michael began. "Last night someone followed me. I could not catch them, but I managed to stab his back. Thus, this is his blood."

"Good job, Michael," Ping blurted out from his place. He was standing beside the chair where Garfield was sitting. "Let's hand this to the Earth-Space investigation unit, Captain. We could run the DNA test."

Sailub glanced towards Ping, then shook his head. "I think it's good that we keep this to ourselves for now."

"Why, Cap? Isn't that what we're supposed to do?" This time it was Garfield who asked. Several murmurs came from the rest of the teammates, agreeing with their second-in-command.

Sailub let out a heavy sigh, "I don't know but... I couldn't really bring myself to trust them that much," he confessed, his voice tinged with doubt.

Pavel raised his head from staring at the knife in front of him and looked at Sailub quizzically. "What do you mean?" he asked, curiosity evident in his eyes.

All faces reflected a mixture of frustration and confusion. Sailub, the captain, broke the tense silence with another heavy sigh, "First of all, don't you guys find it weird? We've been on Earth for so long, yet the Earth branch hasn't sent proper help for us."

His teammates exchanged puzzled glances as they listened intently to Sailub's words. Sailub turned towards them, taking in their confused expressions before elaborating on his concerns. "I've been trying to locate their whereabouts and sending signals to reach them, but I couldn't get through. And when Pavel had that sudden incident and needed assistance, they finally sent someone to help me."

"They said they've been trying to contact us too but failed - that's bullshit. They know where each of us staying. If anything, they should be the ones meeting us on our first day here," the captain ended with gritted teeth, his face tight with frustration.

As tensions skyrocketed among the crew members, doubts about their supposed allies grew stronger. Sailub turned to Pavel, "Inspector Pavel Naret, could you share your last experience handling your mission on this planet?" The captain's voice echoed through the room, drawing all eyes to Pavel as he recounted the particular event.

"Well, at first when I landed on this planet, the unit immediately contacted me, giving me a location to meet." His words trailed off as a sense of unease settled over the room. Everyone's face turned sour.