“It all started when we received a transmission from our space outpost that it was under attack,” Surl started. “Initially, our leadership group thought it was a false alarm. That would be the natural thing, right? The galaxy is at peace. Who would attack us?”
Tara seemed not convinced. Celeste felt it was a naive form of thinking for a species. Peace didn’t rule out the absence of attacks. Species were always looking at different ways to increase their influence. This phenomena was something that would never change. Celeste let Surl continue his story.
“Once we realized the attack was a real one, we went into wartime mode,” Surl stated. “I was activated to go up into orbit as I was halfway through my rotation in the Commanders Collective.”
The Hitongu society and government worked on a collective model. Key aspects of the government were managed by individual collectives. Each collective was composed of a group of Hitongu and the members were rotated in and out of different collectives at different stages of their life. There was no Emperor or Queen or overall leader that ruled over the Hitongu. Whoever was a member of the Leaders Collective at a particular time led the species. The first time Celeste had encountered the Hitongu she had been fascinated by their governance structure. Everyone had a chance to be in different collectives. It also meant there was a likely chance a lot of people could become part of the Leaders Collective. At the point of adulthood every Hitongu had to declare and rank their top collectives and the system was supposed to facilitate each individual’s desires. Hitongu were usually informed and prepared ahead of time for their next collective rotation. There were several structures, similar to the Grekk academies, which helped train the people.
“It is always exciting going up to space,” Surl indicated. “No matter how much training you do, the real experience is always incredible.”
Celeste wasn’t surprised by Surl’s fascination with space travel. Although she would argue that going up into orbit was merely touching a tiny part of space.
“What did you find when you reached the outpost?” Celeste asked.
“When we reached the outpost we found it already coming apart,” Surl stated. “We saw a few ships in the distance discharging weapons fire. You have to understand our space outpost hadn’t been fitted with the weapons as of yet. It was planned to be among the last things that would be added.”
Tara was shaking her head in disbelief. It was a grave mistake by the Hitongu. Only a species who lacked the acumen for military warfare would place their defenses last on the list. Celeste was still glad the Hitongu Commander was frank in sharing all this information with her. He had simply assumed she was the Envoy. She could have been someone else impersonating the Envoy and the Hitongu wouldn’t have been any wiser. This was probably why the Hitongu had reached out for a negotiation treaty with an interstellar power like the Grekk. It gave them the necessary cover and assurance in case things went wrong. A destroyed space outpost was a major thing that had gone wrong. She was certain the Hitongu would ask for protection from the Grekk.
Celeste couldn’t wait any further for Surl to slowly tell the story. “Where were the ships from? Did you engage with the ships?”
“We managed to identify them as from the Zandrax home world,” Surl replied.
“How could you be so sure that they were Zandrax ships?” Celeste inquired.
A species that put defenses as the lowest priority could make mistakes in identifying the attackers. What made the Hitongu so sure that the attack had been initiated by the Zandrax?
“Because we had met them before,” Surl revealed.
Celeste raised her eyebrows. “Are you telling me the Zandrax came to Hitongu before the attack happened?”
Surl nodded. “Yes, it happened a while back. At that time we were halfway through building the space outpost. One of our builder ships received a message from a cloaked ship. Once the ship decloaked, it identified itself as from the Zandrax.”
Tara’s half-opened mouth said it all. The Zandrax had visited the Hitongu home world before the attack. Had the visit been an intelligence gathering mission? Celeste was certain it was.
“What did they want?” Celeste asked.
“I can't remember how many people were on the ship, but I still remember the Commander of the ship,” Surl explained. “It was a female. She was quite young and had a strange smile. I was even surprised she was the Commander of the ship.”
Celeste had a strong suspicion who it was. “Did she mention her name?”
“It began with Ax…” Surl muttered and then paused trying to recollect the name.
Celeste knew it had to be Axane, Commander Anetho’s daughter. “Was her name Axane?”
“Ah that sounds right,” Surl highlighted. “She asked many questions. I found some of them a bit intrusive. I felt like I was being interrogated. At that time, we didn’t know much about the Zandrax. Even to this day, we don’t know much. I think you know what I mean.”
The Hitongu wasn’t one of those species that had the desire to explore the galaxy. They were simply content with themselves. The species saw no need to go beyond their planet. They found it a bit wasteful of their time. Despite that, they believed in building a space outpost to increase trade. Celeste felt the Hitongu was just a lazy species. Although their system of government was dynamic, the species had quite a laid back approach to life. She found it an unusual balance.
“What kind of questions did she ask?” Celeste inquired.
“Axane asked about our aspirations as a species,” Surl replied. “She even asked about our relations with the Grekk. I found it a bit strange, but the most unusual question she asked was about you, Envoy.”