Hotbloods 6: Allies

With Stone suitably restrained, Xiphio lifted out a conch shell. Honestly, I had no idea where he’d been keeping it. It seemed to be a comm device of some sort. Xiphio blew into it with hilarious enthusiasm, his cheeks turning purple with the strain. However, I couldn’t hear any sound coming out of the shell at all. Either Xiphio didn’t know how to work it, or it was working on a frequency I couldn’t hear. He kept blowing until a loud trumpeting sound shattered the silence. It was coming from the shell, but it didn’t appear to match up with Xiphio’s breaths.

A split second later, a holographic screen shot up from the end of the conch, sending Xiphio staggering back in surprise. In the crackling image, a merevin female with distinctive purple markings stood at the helm of a ship, peering through the hologram with suspicious eyes. As soon as she picked out Xiphio’s face, she laughed, though the sound was a cruel one.

“Agent Xiphio, is that you?” she asked between chuckles. “What are you doing, calling through the conch? We Feds have normal comm devices, you know.”

“I am aware, Phocida. I wished to cut out the middle man, that is all.”

“That sound gave us all a fright,” the female merevin, Phocida, said. “Goodness, the others will be beside themselves when I tell them who’s calling. They will never believe it!”

“Are you at the outpost or aboard a vessel?” he asked. I had to give Xiphio props for carrying on regardless.

“We’re on a ship, watching the border. What business is it of yours?” Phocida replied tersely. “Shouldn’t you be at a desk somewhere, keeping out of trouble?”

Xiphio puffed out his chest. “Actually, no. I decided to venture on a little mission of my own, chasing down a notorious thief and trader of illicit goods.”

Phocida snorted. “I was wondering why your work log had been so sporadic of late. You are making us merevin agents look bad, Xiphio. Not that you hadn’t done that already,” she taunted. “Wouldn’t it be easier if you just admitted you had taken a vacation?”

“I was not taking a vacation! I was tracking down the infamous Stone, and, moreover, I managed to capture him!” He reached out and grabbed Stone, yanking him into Phocida’s line of sight. The ambaka made a pretty unconvincing captive, standing there casually, a bored expression on his face. Xiphio nudged him in the back, clearly wanting him to act more “captured,” but Stone wasn’t about to do more than he had to.

“You actually managed to capture him?”

Xiphio grinned. “I did.”

Her gaze flitted to something behind Xiphio’s shoulder. I could see her eyeline moving to the other side of the hologram, though Phocida had no way of seeing us, hidden away behind the conch’s line of sight. Suddenly, her entire demeanor changed.

“Wait, is that… Are you on board Killick Loligo’s ship?” she gasped. “That’s the Loligo insignia above the door, right there! I’d know it anywhere.”

A bristle of panic rippled through me. Phocida looked shocked that Xiphio was in possession of the cruiser, and I guessed that didn’t bode well for us. What if Killick had reported the ship missing? What if he’d gone back on his promise? He hadn’t seemed like the kind of guy who’d do that, but then, I had honey-trapped him and stolen his ship.

“What if it is?” Xiphio said defiantly.

“We received word a while ago that the honorable Killick Loligo had given his most expensive ship to a band of heroes in need. If you have his ship… that band of heroes must include you.”

“And my crew, of course!” Without missing a beat, Xiphio turned the conch so Phocida could see us all. We waved lamely, not really knowing how to respond. She didn’t seem to know what to do with the information either. Still, I was glad that Killick had kept his promise to us, even if he had used the incident to indulge in some bragging rights.

Phocida frowned. “Killick said your mission was top secret, though you must understand that nothing can be secret from the Fed. Tell me, what are you up to? What is this mission of yours? Perhaps we might be able to offer some assistance, if you would consider informing the Loligos of our part in all this.”

Xiphio smiled, flashing us a triumphant look. “Now that you mention it, there may be something you can do to help us. If you would permit me a moment to speak with my fellow heroes, I shall inform you further once I know more.”

“Of course, Agent Xiphio. We should be delighted to help any friends of the Loligos, in any way we can.”

Setting the conch down, Xiphio gathered us all quickly in the far corner of the cockpit. “What should we say?”

“Tell them everything,” I cut in, before anyone else could speak. “We don’t have time to waste with concealing the truth. We need to tell them what we’re facing, and we need to tell them now. If they agree to help us, that puts us in a much better position when we actually reach Earth.”

The others nodded—all except Stone, who was standing in front of the hologram, still looking bored. Xiphio hurried back to the conch, while the rest of us looked on. I’d hardly dared to hope that the Fed would help us without us having to get on our knees and beg. By the looks of things, fortune was on our side for once.

“Phocida, I have spoken with my colleagues, and we have concluded that we should like your assistance,” he said firmly. “You see, we are on a mission to save a troubled nation. In fact, this planet is part of the Embryo Project, though they have somehow been overrun by Vysanthean rebels. I have it on good authority that there are not many Fed agents stationed on the planet itself, what with it being a relatively new nation, which is why I believe these rebels have managed to infiltrate and sneak in under the noses of our fellow Feds.”

Phocida looked stunned. “It is part of the Embryo Project, you say?”

“It is, and so it is our duty to come to their aid. I trust you will assist us?”

I’d never seen Xiphio express himself with such confidence before, his voice clear and authoritative. Glancing at Lauren, I saw her watching him closely, a small smile tugging at the curve of her lips.

“Of course, if these rebels are in violation of the Embryo Treaty, then we must do all we can to remove them. Tell me, what is the name of this planet? I must know if I’m to set plans in motion,” Phocida declared.

Xiphio nodded. “It’s a planet called Earth. I shall send the coordinates to your ship, if you would be kind enough to pass the message on to the rest of our fellow agents. We need all the backup we can get, especially as there are other forces at work who may further threaten the existence of the Earthen residents. Queen Gianne has set her sights on the planet, you see, and so urgency is very much of the essence.”

Phocida gaped at him. “Queen Gianne? As in… the Vysanthean Queen Gianne?”

“The very one, Phocida.”

“Goodness. And here I was, expecting today to be a quiet one.” She sighed heavily, her expression anxious. “I shall rally as many troops as I can here and follow your ship. Do you plan to contact the Fed branch who are supposed to be watching this planet?”

“I am, Phocida. As soon as we reach Earth’s solar system, we shall reach out to the lycan Fed agents who are stationed nearby and request their immediate assistance.”

“Should you not contact them now, so they may gather their resources?”

Xiphio shook his head. “Indeed not, and neither should you. We don’t wish for them to launch a premature attack on the rebel base, which may give away our larger strike. The last thing we need is to have this rebel scum running for the nearest escape route. They must be punished according to Fed guidelines.”

“Of course, Agent Xiphio. Although, you realize that the lycans may not wish to cooperate with us?”

He shrugged casually, giving off an air of certainty. “If we are bound in a mutual cause, I see no reason why we can’t put our differences aside. Lycans and merevins have always tolerated one another well enough, and if they do not like us giving the orders, then we can always install a facilitator who can make the orders more palatable to a lycan strike force.”

“An excellent idea, Agent Xiphio,” Phocida said, with a hint of surprise in her voice. “Honestly, I should not have recognized you as the agent you were a year ago. Your time with Killick Loligo must have worked wonders. You seem so wise now.”

Xiphio beamed. “How very kind of you, Agent Phocida.”