In need of a Favor

Finding One’s True Self: Part 25

By Xan Steel

A bleak day that started the night before as I had an argument with my mate about schooling for our two younglings, since they had just come of age. I had suggested that we move into the inner city where I could get them into the free schools there. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t have it saying that they didn’t have a high enough level of quality she felt our littles ones deserved. Sadly where she wanted to send them, I simply didn’t earn enough money to pay for it and would have to take out a loan. Travaina IV was a dichotomy when it came to the economy. Some parts used currency, whereas others didn’t.

I had left earlier than usual this morning on my way to work to avoid another argument. I hated fighting with her wishing I could find a balance with her on this matter. I sighed as I continue to take my transport to the office in Trakry City. The sun had yet to rise and the night air was brisk to the fur. One could see the twin moons lowering on the horizon with one a soft gold color, and the other a light blue color. I made my path to the office as direct as possible making only two turns from the streets into the parking center and pulled into my spot while powering down my transport.

I got out and grabbed my brown trench coat, brown wide brim hat, and pipe while heading in, only to hear someone shivering in the cold air. I started to look for whoever it was and came across Officer Tarina in her transport sleeping without any blankets. I walked up to her gently waking her up asking her why she was here instead of at home. 

Her tone was soft as she explained what happened. “My mother kicked me out after she found out what happened with Mr. Tavar. Told me I had disgraced the family by my actions and not to return until she said so.”

Even now after having been cleared by Mr. Tavar and now working directly with me. She was still punished for her actions. I took out my notepad and wrote down the address of my Te’dar and handed it to her. 

“What’s this?” she asked.

I told her to go a see my Te’dar that she had met before. “She’ll help you out, for the time being, just make sure you back here on time,” I said. 

She thanked me and got her transport moving and headed out. She’s a good female I thought, no sense in continually being punished for a mistake. I turned back towards the door and began to head inside. I greeted other officers that I passed as I headed to my office and closed the door. I wasn’t supposed to be here for another two hours,  but if it avoided a fight, it was worth it. 

I hung up my coat and hat on the rack near the door, and went to my cabinet and opened it up. There sat the bottle of Zorginian Scotch. I stared at it as it seemed to stare back at me, beaconing me to taste its bitter sweetness. I had been hitting it more and more lately ever since we started arguing about school choices. I pulled it out and went to turn the top off only to stop. “No, no more,” I said as I tossed the bottle into the nearby trash can, and closed the cabinet and went over to my desk to sit down. Thinking to myself that this was going to be a very long day.

As the hours passed, I stood at my window overlooking the city. It had been a quiet day for the most part, with no real need for me to be there. I was about to sit down and review some cold cases that had been brought me when Tarina opened the door. “Admiral Altair is here to see you, Sir.” She said. I gave her a confused look as I was not expecting visitors, much less an unscheduled visit from a friend, though it did bring to mind how Mr. Tavar was doing. I told her to let him in as I got up to greet him. 

I watched him enter the office as I greeted him. He was in plain clothes, and the air gave a sudden shift in tension as he came over to shake my handpaw. I offered him one of my chairs as we both then sat down. “So what do I owe this pleasant and unexpected visit?” I said calmly, as he seemed a bit uncomfortable being in the room. 

He pulled out a small device, and set it up on my desk as a little light turned on. It was at this point he relaxed quite a bit. “Sorry about this.” He began. “But right now privacy is a bit of a luxury. I wanted to let you know that Rubicant is alive and doing well here in our galaxy.” I told him that was fabulous news with the hope of meeting him someday. 

This is where our conversation turned dark, as he explained that the Four Heads of the Alliance knew he was here, or at least his DNA. It had been considered restricted, and Julyna’s main computer had registered it from the weapon that had been used on him while he was here. I told him that I remembered the incident clearly and was still waiting for her to send it to me to close the case. He said that likely wouldn’t happen, because they had planned to confront her about it soon, and would probably confiscate it or him by force if necessary. 

He got up and started pacing my office. “Look, I’m not going to beat around the foliage here,” he began.

You know that feeling you get when you’re sure someone is going to ask a favor of you that was likely dangerous? Yeah, I was getting it. 

“I need your help. I need someone that I can trust to do an investigation into the Four Heads. Someone that will draw less attention than someone who has been in the system a long time and well known by the Four Head,” Altair finished.

I asked him why he needed this, and he explained that another Admiral by the name of Torid, came to him with information on the Four Heads and their changes he was getting from trusted sources that he had placed in key areas. Needless to say, things didn’t fit the status quo, and between this Torid fellow and him they needed someone that could bring the law around them and close them off before doing considerable harm to the Alliance and its ideals. 

I thought long and hard for a few minutes on the idea, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was intrigued. Though this was a decision, I couldn’t make alone as I would need to talk to my mate about it. “Altair, as much as I hate to ask this since I’m having a situation at home, what benefits are in this for me?” I asked.

He stopped his pacing and gave me an odd and somewhat confused look. “Oh yes, that.” Then came back over to the desk and placed a badge down. 

I picked it up and looked it over. It had my name, rank and pay grade, and my office. “Internal Affairs?” I questioned. He nodded and proceeded to inform me that in this position I shouldn’t have too much difficulty in performing the task without catching too much attention, but that I should watch my back none the less. I told him that I would still need to talk to my mate about this, and asked if he would return tomorrow around the same time. 

He agreed as I stood up and shook his handpaw. “Please give this serious consideration. I don’t know anyone else I can trust with this.” He said while turning off the device and placing it in a pocket and then turned and left.

I sat back down in my chair looking at the badge as I lit my pipe and took a puff off of it. In a lot of ways, this was like a dream come true for me. Internal Affairs had always been my dream, but this felt different. Every instinct in me was saying no, but curiosity was getting the better of me. There came a knock at the door as Tarina opened it and came in. She asked if everything was ok and if I needed anything. I sighed a bit as I looked at her and that’s when I got an idea. “How would you like to help me keep Mr. Tavar safe?” I asked.

She tilted her head to the side a bit and wondered how she could do that. So I explained the whole conversation to her, abbot a summary of it to see what she thought. I told her that my mate might say no to me doing this, and I would need a fallback person to help out. 

“With how things have been going for me recently, maybe a change of scenery would do me good.” She said. I told her to hold off packing for now until I talked with my mate on the subject. She nodded and then left to answer a few incoming communications.

With as slow as it was, I decided to take an early day, and I left my office heading down to the parking center to my transport to head home. I managed to pull data on the schools there on Valdoro, the Alliance home world, hopefully, they would appeal to her liking, I also picked up some of her favorite flowers she loved in the hopes to apologize for last night's argument.

The drive home was shorter than it had ever been before, which caught my attention, and gave me a weird feeling. I pulled into the driveway of my modest home while powering down my transport, and proceeded to get out. Today I knew the younglings would be with their elders for the weekend. So this was honestly the best time to bring this up to her without upsetting them in the process. I grabbed the vase of flowers and the data pad and headed to the door. Once I got close, I heard some odd moaning sounds coming from inside. I grabbed my energy weapon and readied myself with the vase and the data pad in my other hand.

I burst through the door and aimed where I heard the sounds coming from, only to find my mate in the arms of another male that continued to breed her in front of me, as a look of shock came over her face and muzzle. The vase shattered on the hard floor. I hadn’t even realized that I had dropped it. He stopped and turned to look at me with a dominate expression on his face like he had conquered what once was mine. My handpaw was shaking as I held the weapon level with him. I didn’t know what to be. Angry, sad, enraged, confused. I simply didn’t know.

After a moment, I put my weapon away, as she started to put her clothes on and come over to me. I didn’t say a word, and couldn’t tell you my expression, all I did was turn and walk away from her, closing the door. I continued to my transport and powered it on, as she came out pleading with me not to leave, but I didn’t listen, and just left. I continued to drive nowhere. After a while, I called her elders, which had our younglings, and asked if they wouldn’t mind watching over them for the time being. They asked why, as I told then that she was apparently happier in the arms of another male before I disconnected the call.

I traveled back to my Te’dar’s place, as I had nowhere else to turn go. I pulled up in front of her home, and I noticed that her and Tarina’s transports were already there. I powered down and just sat there in my thoughts, for how long I don’t know, but when I looked up, I saw Zanthy my Te’dar and Tarina standing there staring at me. I got out and went to greet her happily, but once she grabbed me in a tight hug, my emotional level plummeted. "Five cycles together, gone," I said aloud to her and Tarina, as they took me inside to try and help me relax.

Once inside her mate, Trey brought over some Hylian Rum and told me to drink. I didn't want to, as I said I had given up drinking this morning for her, and he said not to worry about her for the time being. So I took it and downed it in one gulp. Damn it was strong as it caused my throat to close making me cough and choke hard. “Good shit, huh.” He said smiling at me and taking the empty glass. 

“You asshole…” I choked and coughed again, “You did that on purpose didn’t you?” He smiled and nodded, but it did force me to break my thought train on what had happened earlier. Likely for the best. Tarina surprised me with a hug and saying she was sorry that it had happened, and that if I needed anything she would help if she could. I thanked her and returned her hug.

After a while, they sat down in the living room with me and asked what had happened. So I explained what had been happening between us as of late about the schooling issue, and then went into my day, up until I get here. Trey asked if I knew the male in question. I thought long and hard until it hit me. “Yes. Our next door neighbor.” I said. Zanthy asked if he was an engineer to which I answered yes. I saw a twitch of a smile appear and disappear quickly on her. “What?” she just looked at me. 

“What?” she said with a look of surprise as though I was accusing her of some devious act. 

“What was that smirk for?” She told me not to worry about it, saying it was nothing, but knowing her, she was already brewing something in her mind. 

Throughout the day they did their best to keep my mood up, and it was working pretty well until her Elders called. Ariel her mother spoke first “Ohm listen. There are some things you should know.”  I replied with ‘like what’ calmly. “Apparently she’s been doing this since before you two became mates officially.” her voice sounded apologetic.

I sat there for a moment stunned and tried to think back if she had ever wanted more than one mate, but I couldn’t remember. “You know if she had told me that she wanted more than one mate, I would have agreed to it,” I said after a while. 

“We know, though the worst part is, which we discovered for ourselves during one of the younglings medical checkups. Both are his, genetically.” she finished in a somber tone.

My heart felt like it died right there and the look on my face and muzzle must have been horrendous, because they kept pleading with me to say something. What I didn’t know at the time was that Tarina was eavesdropping on this communication, as I heard what sounded like a stifled cry coming from the living area. I asked if the younglings knew, to which they replied that they didn’t think so. 

I heard one of them ask if it was me on the line, Dilna, she wanted to speak with me alone. They looked at me, and I nodded that it was alright. I watched as she came on the screen. “Hey little one, you doing ok?” I said trying to sound happy for her. 

She looked at me, and I could see she had been crying as her eyes were puffy and red looking. “Pawpaw, is, is it true?” She had apparently overheard them. 

I looked at her and knew her heart was in pain like mine was. “I don’t know sweetie, but it doesn’t matter as I still love you and Frin,” I said while giving her my best smile.

“Even if we’re not yours bio, biolo, logical.” She stammered. 

I told her yes that it didn’t matter to me, which made her smile a bit. She then asked if we would get back together, as she didn’t like this other male. I told her that I didn’t know, but not to be upset and that this was something we would have to work out. “Listen, sweetie. I need you both to behave for your Elders ok?” She nodded and wiped her nose with a tissue. “I’m also going to be away for a while. Pawpaw got a new job offer, from a friend that needs his help saving a friend of ours.” I said to her. She brightened up a bit asking if I was going to be the hero, and I told her that I would give it my all to be the hero. She got excited about it and said that she would tell Frin and they would be on their best behavior for me. We blew each other a kiss as she then left and returned the screen over Erail. 

He looked at me for a moment before he spoke. “I know this isn’t easy for you, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t get back together again, but what are you going to do about them?” He asked me. I told him I wouldn’t let anything happen to them and that if we didn’t get back together that I would fight to keep them, because they are my younglings, genetics be damned. I didn’t want them to grow up thinking this is how relationships worked by cheating on each other. He smiled and then said they would support me as punishment to their daughter for doing this, as they felt she didn’t deserver to raise younglings with this kind of mentality. I then told him what I was going to be doing for a friend, and that once I got settled in on Valdoro, I would call and give them updated contact information so they could reach me if needed, after which we said our goodbyes and disconnected the comm link.

Once the screen turned off, I sat there deep in thought. Seeing that she had been crying hurt. I always did my best to make sure they never had a tear in their eyes, but this time I couldn’t stop it. It felt like it was my fault, and I didn't know what to do. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and hold me tightly. It was Tarina, and she was softly weeping. I turned to face her as she laid her head on my shoulder and spoke mentally to me saying she was sorry for eavesdropping, but she wanted to help me she just didn’t know how. I quietly told her to pack her bags as I wanted her to go with me to Valdoro, and hoping she might help with my kids if I could convince them to let me take them with me. 

She leaned back and looked at me wide-eyed and spoke excitedly. “You want me as a nursemaid?” I nodded to her. She stammered through words “I, I would, be honored.” She gave me a tight hug again and hurried off to the room Zanthy let her use. I sat in thought as I tried to figure out what I was going to say to Erail and Ariel tomorrow morning. Only to head into work later, and talk with the Captain before Altair came in to hear my answer.

The next day things went a lot smoother than I had anticipated they would. Tarina had left her transport at my Te’dar's for them to use while she was away. Surprisingly Erail and Ariel agreed to let me take my younglings with me as I noted that Tarina would be their nursemaid, and I told them what schools I had planned for Dilna and Frin. Ariel said I had a good head on my shoulders when it came to them, unlike her youngling. 

The Captain was surprised I had been offered such a position on Valdoro and was sad to see me go, but also said he was happy Tarina was going because the Central Commander above him, was getting pressure from the mayor to let her go, because of her actions with Mr. Tavar. He figured, that if she went willingly, he could sweep it under the rug, and if and when we returned he could bring her back on without to much trouble. I was cleaning out my office when Altair came in and greeted me and said it looked like I had made a decision. I had Tarina come into the office, and explained everything to him, and that it helped in my final decision with wanting to help him out. He felt bad on how things turned out for me over the course of a day and hoped that things turned out better for me on Valdoro, and added that he would get a home ready for me, her, and my younglings and would send the address during our trip there. He also handed me the Transport ship number and Docking Port number and said he would have everything set up so we could take all our belongings as well. He then told me he would meet me in a days time after I had gotten settled in, and would go over things with me and then said his goodbyes for now and left.