I dropped my hand from the being’s throat. “Speak.” I commanded.
He swallowed and took a couple of steps back. “I...I can’t.”
“You tried to take your own life. Why?”
Krin and I both took menacing steps toward him.
He exuded cowardice and weakness, evident in his now timid voice and averted gaze. “Speak or I will have our medics make you talk.”
He put up his hands. “Fine. Fine. Look, I’m not strong enough to fight you. I don’twantto fight you. I was just doing my job. If I was caught, I was supposed to take that vial. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be interrogated.” He motioned with his head toward the vial in Krin’s hand.
“Too late for that. What was your mission?” I asked.
“My mission was to infiltrate the cult of Tenage and pose as a member. The intention is to create conflict among them, ultimately resulting in them wanting to overthrow the Alaran Empire. When the chance came, I was supposed to kill you.”
Krin grabbed the scrawny alien by the scruff of his thin top. “Why? Who theflutzare you?” he spat through clenched teeth.
The alien’s eyes rounded. “Who I am is irrelevant.”
I growled and stepped closer to the alien, sneering. “Tell me who you are working with? And why are you against the Empire’s rule?”
He gulped. “Well, I’m not allowed to disclose this information to you.”
Anger caused my chest to vibrate. “You’ll either tell me or I’ll extract the information forcefully.” I sneered. “Are you working with the Krilex?”
The look of recognition on his face indicated he knew who they were.
“Are you workingforthem?” I demanded.
He shook his head. “No. We would never work for anyone, especially the Kreelex, such a greedy and disgusting race. The way he pronounced our enemy’s name made me curious about his identity and origin.
“Are you from this sector of space?”
He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped and bowed his head in defeat. “We are now.”
The quick change in his demeanor concerned me. “You are a shapeshifter, correct?” I asked.
He nodded once.
“I know of no shapeshifting races in our section of space.”
He shook his head and his lipless mouth frowned. “No. I don’t suspect you do.”
I had managed to keep my temper in check and was putting in my utmost effort to make him feel safe and comfortable enough to carry on with the conversation.
The alien continued. “We come from another universe.”
My brows shot up.
Krin and I both watched him in amazement.
“Universe?” This was the first I’d ever heard of such a thing.
The being’s voice softened. “For a long time, we were at war with another race. We needed to defeat them, so we created a technology that we hoped would allow us to escape when under threat. We are scientists, not warriors, nor did we have any army. Our only way to defeat them was if we could create something to stop them from catching us.”
“What was this experimental tech you created?”
“It opened up wormholes within our universe...but our scientists miscalculated.”
