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‘Just us Riders,’ came the clipped reply. It was clear he didn’t want to discuss it further.
However, her curiosity still needed to be sated. ‘Why do you call yourselves The Sable Riders? Which is slightly different to your public persona, The Sable Group?’
Kainan took a deep breath, his glowing eyes carefully assessing her. He seemed to come to a conclusion and spoke quietly. ‘I suppose I can share some of our secrets as you have yours. We’re retired Kubai warriors. We served together many years ago in the Sable Battalion. Thus theSable Riders.’
‘The Kubai warriors? What does that mean?’
‘The elite topmost warrior class of the Kwavi people.
‘The Kwavi?’
‘My people - the residents of Eden City, a floating city above Planet Earth, located in the adjacent galaxy also known as the Backbone of Night.’
Selene smiled. ‘Dunians are also descendants from Earth!’ she said.
‘I see you know your history,’ said Kainan.
‘I wouldn’t be a good diplomat if I didn’t,’ Selene said. ‘Our forefathers left Earth on an Ark Ship, fleeing the climate crises that engulfed the planet. They were lucky to have found this galaxy and establish Dunia as their home.’ She paused mid-thought. ‘Why didn’t your people come to Dunia or the other Pegasi planets in the Ark Ships?’
He gave her an enigmatic look. ‘They couldn’t afford it, Selene. They were too poor to fork out the fees required for the passage, so they stayed behind. And ended up as guardians of whoever else was left on Earth. Over time, my ancestors bolstered their technology and smarts, and they were able to build space-faring ships of their own eventually.’
‘So, how didyoufind your way here?’
‘My battalion - made up of Kubai warriors, some of whom include The Sable Riders today - left Eden City over twenty-five standard years ago. On a mission for the Eden Guards and Eden City’s government. After that was over, we landed here, and with the help of our home government, we established a Kwavi commerce base in the Pegasi system, which is why this rock is called Eden II. We’re an offshoot of our original citadel.’
‘Are you still warriors?’
Kainan’s mouth twitched. ‘We’re mostly businessmen now.’
Selene studied him for a beat, then shook her head, unconvinced. ‘I don’t buy that for a minute. There’s more to The Sable Group than meets the eye. Soldiers and commerce? All cloak and dagger if you asked me.’
Kainan’s eyes flashed with a sudden blue and gold energy spike, then narrowed.
She took a long sip of her drink. ‘Do all your eyes glow when you’re annoyed?’
Kainan gave a surprised laugh at her rather keen observation. ‘In varying degrees.’
‘May I ask why?’
‘You’re full of a myriad questions,Excellency.’
He was baiting her with her title, and she narrowed her eyes at his teasing smile.
‘I simply want to know whom I’m negotiating with,’ Selene said. ‘For the security of my planet, naturally.’
He gave her a long look. ‘Fair enough,’ he conceded. ‘Centuries ago, our human DNA was transformed by rogue cells after a nuclear explosion on Earth during the Great Suffering. The result was that we developed metanoids, which are nanoscale, self-propelled fission-powered cells that operate in our bloodstream. Their reactions have some degree of autonomy that we can control and reproduce. When those reactions occur, they emit light. Our eyes glow as a result, our most identifiable feature as metahumans.’
Selene’s eyebrows lifted. ‘Fascinating. And what was the Great Suffering?’
‘The evillest of times on Earth. It occurred a few years after the last of the Ark Ships’ departures - leaving only the very poor behind. They were unable to fight the planet-wide climate-driven collapse that followed. This led to an all-out and terrible war that killed millions and destroyed entire continents.’
‘I’m so sorry to hear,’ she said, feeling moved by the devastation of what a painful period of his, and in truth, her people’s history, had been.
A silence fell between them. She twirled a curacao stalk between her lips. His eyes fell to her mouth, and she felt the heightened electricity between them.
Pulling the stalk from her mouth, she tried to deflect his attention, pointing to his neck and shoulder. ‘What do your markings mean?’
His gaze travelled back to her eyes. ‘They’re called glyphs. As I said, our metanoids can perform certain functions beyond normal human capabilities; they glow and emit a radiating ink under the skin. So my people found a way to use them to mark our skin, individuality, and identity. The glyphs tell the stories of our origins and often change form according to our thoughts.’
