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“Oh dear, my apologies for the mix up! What kind of blossom was it?”
I laughed softly. “Well, that’s the thing. I have no idea what this flower is. Never seen it before.”
“A mystery bloom? How intriguing,” Coreeshi mused. “Describe it and let me check through my catalogs.”
I recited every detail I could discern, even the sweet fragrance. Surely the abundance of information would let her identify it.
“Any ideas what it might be?” I asked hopefully. Silence greeted me. “Hello?”
“Sorry, Elara, I’m just... puzzled,” Coreeshi finally replied, confusion lacing her voice. “The flower you described shouldn’t be possible. It couldn’t have come from any of my greenhouses.”
My own confusion grew. “What do you mean ‘not possible’?”
I heard Coreeshi take a deep breath before answering gravely. “Let me explain. Last year, I acquired some rare seeds unlike anything in my current stock. I cultivated a small batch in the station’s greenbelt, intending to sell them as exclusive specimens.”
I leaned against the counter, a feeling of dread creeping up my spine. “What does this have to do with the mystery flower in my shop?”
“I’m getting to that. Before I could sell any, I received an anonymous threat warning me to cease all activity related to that particular flower immediately. I still don’t know how it ended up with you.”
A chill tingled across my skin at the mention of the ominous warning. Who would go to such lengths over a mere plant?
I licked my dry lips nervously. “Just tell me what I’m dealing with here. What is this flower?”
Coreeshi hesitated before answering grimly. “Most people dismiss the rumors as superstitious nonsense. But some believe the seeds are from an extinct alien civilization. That’s all I know about its origins. That bloom has always given me an unsettled feeling, to be honest.”
My knees nearly buckled in shock. This couldn’t be real. Surely a harmless flower couldn’t possibly have such a disturbing history behind it. And yet... the subtle aura of otherness it exuded left me deeply unnerved.
“I need to return this to you immediately,” I declared, steadying my shaking hands against the counter.
“All right, all right… I could organize something, but my inventory space is full right now. It’ll likely be two or three weeks until I can take it back.”
My wide eyes were irresistibly drawn back to the cryptic plant, its hypnotic colors and movements suddenly more ominous than alluring. As much as it unsettled me, destroying such a rare specimen felt wrong. But keeping it was clearly risky...
I forced a calm I didn’t feel into my voice. “On second thought, don’t trouble yourself. I’ll just keep the flower here for now. Sorry to bother you over nothing.”
Coreeshi didn’t sound convinced. “Are you certain? You seemed quite disturbed earlier.”
“Positive. I overreacted, my mistake,” I lied breezily. “No need to return what I didn’t pay for anyway. Let’s just move on.”
“Well, if you insist... Please accept 10% off your next order as my apology for this mix-up.”
“Sounds great. Thanks, Coreeshi. Talk again soon.”
I hung up, my eyes stuck on the plant like glue. I was clueless on what to do with it. Coreeshi’s words kept echoing in my head. Her story was frightening, but she said it herself, what she knew was just speculation.
It was a sight to behold and could sell for a high price. Any of the wealthier aliens on Thodos III would pay good money for a one-of-a-kind flower, and there were plenty of them around. Then again… maybe I wouldn’t be so lucky as to receive a warning.
I grabbed my digital encyclopedia. It contained just about every bit of information known on any flower to have ever existed, both extinct and living, dating back countless ages.
“There has to be something on this. There’s no way a seed still exists without the flower being recorded.”
I swiped through each page of the ‘extinct’ section, then the ‘living’ tab, all while comparing each picture to the beauty that sat on the counter before me. I checked twice for good measure but to no avail. I threw aside the encyclopedia, angered by the lack of answers.
Without thinking, I grabbed the flower and took it to a storage closet, making sure to take a lighter with me. Igniting the flame, I held the flower over a garbage can and brought the lighter close to within inches of the nearest petal, but something told me to stop.
What I had in my ownership could have potentially been the last of its kind. That in itself was enough for me to extinguish the flame. Frustrated, I cursed at my inability to decide what to do with the damned thing.
I carried it back into the shop floor and slumped onto a chair. It felt as if the efforts of my work for Draven were now hitting me all at once, for a wave of exhaustion came over me. It didn’t help that I still had a lot to do.
