Chapter 11
Myrum
The moment he saw Ossisos in the flesh, memories of being rescued came back to him.
Three-fingered Ossiso hands lifting him, touching him, and holding him down.
They had lower tusks that extended far past their upper lips and were even with the top of their short snouts.
When they spoke, they all had a slight lisp because of the tusks. That was also familiar.
He stood perfectly still for several moments after the main hatch opened to reveal four Ossisos waiting for them. It wasn’t a memory episode. The room around him wasn’t closing in, and there was no fear or panic.
Seeing and hearing these Ossisos, even though they weren’t the ones who saved him, tickled his brain. It made him want to remember the lost time between being found and “waking up” on a Talin ship.
Like the Ugarians, they were covered in fur, including their faces.
While the Ugarians' fur tended to be uniformly short and the same color all over their bodies, the Ossisos had a mane around their necks that ran up the backs of their heads, and the part under their head was shockingly white.
They also had short, round ears he thought looked a little comical in contrast to the fluffy mass of their manes.
Males and females had the same basic body build, and their only difference was subtle but noticeable.
Males usually had dark brown eyes that looked almost black, and females had eyes that were bright amber.
The one thing he remembered reading was to ask someone how they wanted to be referred to if their eyes were any shade in between.
“Oh man, they look so snuggly,” Amina whispered. “I want to hug one.”
Desur snorted, and Helmen shot her a warning look. “Do not get us in trouble or I’ll report you to the moms!”
That struck Myrum as an odd threat, but it was effective. Amina’s smile disappeared, and she gave Helmen a nod of agreement.
“Welcome Primary Security Coordinator Myrum,” one of the Ossisos said, stepping forward. Dark eyes indicated he was male. His outfit was elaborate compared those of the others with him, indicating he was in charge.
“I’m not Primary Security Coordinator any longer,” Myrum said, stepping past Amina and Helmen to greet the Ossiso. “You can call me Citizen Myrum.”
The Ossiso gave a little bow of his head. “Citizen Myrum, I’m Station Sub-Director Nirot. I’m honored to have you as a guest on Tik Station. Planetary Expansionist Lorse has made it very clear that we are to treat you as a member of his family.”
“Fancy,” Amina mumbled behind him. Myrum acted like he hadn’t heard her. Thankfully her quiet comment didn’t make it to Nirot’s round ears.
“We have accommodations for you and your staff,” Nirot continued. “Although we had to abide by the law and force you to dock here, I assure you the inspection will be quick and painless. You’ll be able to leave here this time next cycle.”
Nirot motioned to one of the Ossisos with him, a female judging by the color of her eyes. She bowed then rushed on board with only an information square in her hand.
“Great,” Teshor grumbled. “We could’ve been resting and relaxing instead of working our fur off.”
“Hey, at least we know the ship is in perfect condition,” Desur whispered. “Well, except for that one workstation in command.”
“Don’t worry about your luggage,” Nirot said, pointing to the bags they’d all set on the floor next to them. Amina had warned him that sometimes they didn’t let a crew off a ship right away, so he shouldn’t bother keeping hold of his bag. “They’ll be taken to your suite for you.”
“That’s gracious of you,” Myrum said. He almost grabbed Ruby’s cage full of bugs but didn’t. He didn’t want to accidentally offend anyone.
“If you will follow me, I’ll take you to your suite,” Nirot said before giving a last little bow and turning to walk away. The two remaining Ossisos waited for them to pass then fell in step behind them.
Myrum didn’t like it. From the scowl on Amina’s face, he knew she didn’t like it either. They walked out of the docks and into the main station in silence. Not because the corridor was too busy and loud to be heard, but because it was eerily quiet.
Tik was shockingly uninhabited.
They passed vacant shop after vacant shop while walking through the merchant area. There was one place open, and it looked like all it carried was general supply items. So far he hadn’t seen a single restaurant or tavern. This was going to make it hard to treat the crew to a nice meal.
“Why is this place so empty?” Desur asked.
“We’ve only been operational for a short time,” one of the staff walking behind them snapped. His tone was sharp, as if Desur’s question was inappropriate.
“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Desur said, shrinking back to walk closer to him and Amina.
“Desur had a reasonable question,” Myrum said, wanting to make Desur feel better. “There was no need to be short with him.”
His comment caused an unexpected reaction from Nirot who was still walking in front of them. He came to an abrupt halt, strode around them, and grabbed the Ossiso who’d spoken to Desur by the arm.
“I’m terribly sorry if Assistant Gis was rude to your staff,” Nirot said, giving Gis a little shake. Even though Gis was the same size as Nirot, the Ossiso acted as if he had no strength and let Nirot move him around. “I promise Gis will be appropriately reprimanded.”
Reprimanded? Myrum looked at Amina and then Helmen. They both looked as confused as he felt by the attitude change.
“Uh, I’m sure he’ll be nicer to my friends now,” he said. “That’s good enough.”
“Ah, I see. You wish to train him yourself. That’s an excellent idea. I’ll assign him to you for the duration of your stay,” Nirot said, shoving Gis to the floor. Gis landed hard on his knees but didn’t cry out or try to get up.
“Uh,” Myrum didn’t know how to respond, but a look down at Amina had him accepting. Although even if Gis had snapped at Desur, he didn’t deserve to be treated like this. “Yes, thank you.”
Nirot looked pleased. “Gis will see to all your needs. If he upsets any of your servants, please tell me. Planetary Expansionist Lorse said he wanted to make a gift of labor to you, but we are so short staffed I was reluctant to commit. It seems that the multiverse has spoken, and Gis is yours.”
Myrum really didn’t like the sound of that but kept quiet. He could feel Amina’s tension, and if he dared look behind him at the Ugarians, he was sure they’d all be scowling.
“Give me a moment, then he is yours,” Nirot said, grabbing Gis by his mane and dragging him away. Gis was barely able to get to his feet and stumbled to the spot not far away. If he’d been any slower he probably would’ve lost some fur.
“They think you’re in charge,” Amina whispered as Nirot spoke to Gis. “I guess they like Talins better than Ugarians or a human.”
The entire situation made Myrum feel uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know they’d be so rude.”
“That makes sense,” Teshor said in a hushed tone. “They have diplomatic relations with Myrum’s empire, right? We’re strangers here, but Myrum represents an important civilization. But who is this Lorse person?”
“I don’t have many clear memories from my time with the Ossisos,” Myrum said. “I believe it was his group that found and retrieved me when I was stuck in an escape tube. I’m not sure why he’s so eager to see me again.”
The Ugarians made sounds of understanding, while Amina winced because she knew the full story.
“Should I talk to them about treating all of you as equals?” Myrum asked.
“I wouldn't,” Helmen said. “For now, let’s keep going along with whatever will get us out of here the fastest.”
“Good call,” Amina said.
“I looked it up before we got here, and this place isn’t new,” Desur said. “It’s been open for an entire year. It should be thriving. Or at least doing better than this.”
“Maybe the civil war is keeping trade away from this area,” Teshor suggested.
“What are the sides of the civil war?” Amina asked. “I mean, what caused the fight? Was it two different people vying for a throne or something?”
They all looked at Myrum, and he sounded a negative rattle. “I don’t know. I haven’t kept up with Talin politics, let alone Ossiso.”
Helmen’s ears pricked forward. “I’m surprised your super-secret mission doesn’t require you to know that.”
Unsure what Helmen knew and how much he could divulge, he kept quiet. Desur spoke up, saving him from Helmen’s scrutiny.
“I think it has something to do with those who want more expansion and those who want to focus internally,” he said.
“Expansion can be expensive," Myrum agreed. “Even if you end up claiming rich systems through exploration or war, it takes a lot of funding to make them profitable. During my father’s adultlette years all expansion was halted because our monetary system was strained. He ended up going into a profession he wasn’t interested in because of the ten solar moratorium.”
“I can see how that could cause a lot of friction,” Helmen said with a nod of her head. “A lot of species have the same issue somewhere in their history.”
Desur had more to add. “The issue might’ve been made worse because of severe unequal distribution of wealth. There’s something about souls being on different levels, but I didn't entirely understand it.”
“Levels?” Amina asked.
Myrum knew the answer to that. “Ossisos don’t consider anyone equal at birth.
Depending on what family you're born into, you are assigned a level. That level might come with influence and wealth or it might mean you’re never allowed to own much of anything.
Claiming new territory is the only exception to this rule. ”
“And that’s how you get a civil war,” Teshor said. She was going to say something else but Nirot and Gis finished their conversation and returned to them.
“I apologize for the delay,” Nirot said, giving Gis a little shove forward.
“Thank you for correcting my behavior,” Gis mumbled to Myrum.