Broken World: Liars

Broken World: Liars (Chapter 6)

Historical Account of Ilfeq, Crewman of the Xlnfrag

It had been a few days since we had established the settlement on the planet which, by now, is officially known as Aldous IV, although back then we had taken to call it Huxley. I don't know where the name came from, but it stuck. The humans had, by and large, adapted to the new circumstances: The complaints about having to wear masks outside had decreased significantly, as had proclamations of planning to engage in sexual intercourse with either the suits or the planet. At the time I already knew that those were not to be taken literally, yet I found them quite entertaining for their absurdity. In general, the mission seemed to be going well. Quite ironic, I think, considering it was rather shortly before the massacre.

It came as a rather big surprise for me when I was called to the office of Captain Ishiim. I had not expected that he would have any issue with my work, you understand, and in my nervousness did not consider any reason other than dissatisfaction for the summon. It was in the evening, after my shift for the day, so initially I believed that I must have made a mistake. But I couldn't think of anything. In fact, I couldn't think of any error I could have made in my time on the Xlnfrag at all, not of one that would justify being called to the Captain on such short notice. I had been mostly successful in my endeavours to calm disputes between crew members, regardless of their species, I had filed my reports in time, and I had made various proposals for a more effective way of dealing with certain issues. Yet I was so restless, so afraid, that I thoughtlessly greeted a Worker as he passed me. The poor Item'qar clearly didn't know what to do with that. In the time before the war, you have to understand, a Warrior would only address a Worker in order to give him a command. So a Warrior greeting him and just leaving was a very confusing situation for him.

It did not take too long for me to reach the Captain's office, a comparatively large cabin and one of the very few with a door. That was because things spoken by those of high rank are obviously more risky than those spoken by their subordinates. In order to give a superior the ability to avoid a panic breaking out among the crew, you first had to give him the ability to shut out everyone from discussions and reports concerning such things as a failure of the hyperdrive, a fuel leak, issues with the life support system, food scarcity and so on. Also, of course, secret assignments. It would be very strange indeed if briefings for undercover missions were audible to everyone who passed the office.

Oh, I'm getting sidetracked again, aren't I? I'm sorry. Well, I opened the door, entered the office, and saw the Inquisitor. Tell me, are you old enough to remember the Inquisitors? You see, they were the fifth caste, and aside from the Leaders, they outranked absolutely everyone as long as their services were required. They studied our laws, and the laws of other species as well, and they decided whether or not a crime had occurred. And if that was the case, they decided on the sentence. Seeing a Inquisitor was not a good thing. They meant trouble.

Which is why it was probably a good thing that Captain Ishiim immediately said to me: "Inquisitor Traal is not here for you, Problem Solver Ilfeq", or else I might have lost my mind. Oh, sure, chuckle all you want. You don't know what that was like. No one, and I mean no one, made sure that an Inquisitor did his job properly. They had almost completely unchecked power over any Warrior, Thinker, or Worker. The only way one had to question their verdicts was to appeal to the Head Inquisitors, but if they chose to uphold the original verdict, one would be in even bigger trouble for wasting their valuable time.

Anyway, it didn't take me long to regain my composure, and when I looked around the room – larger than the average cabin precisely because there would be meetings like this with several people, but still rather cramped – I noticed a Thinker standing opposite to the Inquisitor. I considered my options. I went with the Thinker. A bit of arrogance is a lot better than the thought that your executioner is standing next to you.