The Joy Thief

Seven - Fifth

"Fifth, explain yourself. What happened here?"

It was Fourth. A contingent of at least twenty other legionnaires trailed him. They all had their blasters drawn and were pointed straight at me.

Time to think fast.

"The Commander had notified me, as I am sure she notified all of you about the possibility of our vessel having some intruders on board as we were docking. I suspected something as well and our suspicions proved to be justified. I tracked a pair of humans here whom had stowed away after our mission on Earth. When I found them, I called for the Commander. When we confronted them, the humans fought back and the Commander was killed during the skirmish." My voice was confident and unwavering. I am getting good at lying.

Fourth stepped forward, kneeling at the feet of the dead Commander.

"What happened to your arm? Looks like you were shot with one of our own weapons," he asked suspiciously.

"Indeed. These humans fought better than expected. Out of all of the humans we've fought in our missions to Earth, these two were by far the most skilled in combat I've ever seen. They managed to subdue the Commander, wrestling her blaster away from her grasp and stabbing her in the neck with her own blade," I turned to face the rest of the legionnaires. "It's my belief they might've been what they call spies on Earth."

Fourth's shoulders relaxed; he believed my every word.

"Send an alert out to the Queen. There are two humans that are armed and dangerous. They killed her sister, and we must assume they mean to assassinate the Queen. We must protect her at all costs and search for these assassins."

Fourth stood beside me, agreeing. "Be wary. If they managed to slay the best Commander in our legions, these are no ordinary humans," he pointed at one of the other legionnaires. "You. Stay with the Commander's body. I'll send word to have a team come and retrieve it. For now, make sure no one else comes in here and tries anything funny."

The legionnaires all exited out the corridor from which they came. I stood in my place, hoping Fourth might leave as well but, as he began to walk away, he looked back towards me.

"Fifth? Are you not coming to join the search party?" Fourth asked.

Damnit. He is not giving me any chance to sneak away.

"Yes. I'm coming." The other legionnaires had already left, so we picked up the pace to catch up with them.

The way I see it, if they can make it to the checkpoint I can ensure they are not discovered. I'm not in the mood for killing any of my kind. Maybe if I try to ensure they stay out of the colony, I can prevent any needless killings.

Fourth found his way to my side, running beside me as we made our way through the narrow corridors of the Crypt.

"What were these humans like? They must have been quite impressive to have bested our Commander. I've never once seen her taken by surprise in combat." Fourth was clearly grilling me, trying poke holes in my story. "The fact that humans outwitted her leaves me, curious."

"They weren't what you'd expect that's for sure. They took her by surprise, but, unfortunately, her arrogance was her undoing. She underestimated them and, in doing so, met her unfortunate death. Humans are a lot smarter than we give them credit for."

Fourth cocked his head a little.

"They can surprise even the best of us." Technically that wasn't a lie. The corridor came to an end and we came to another lift. Fourth pushed the button to trigger the doors and we stepped inside.