"Don't need to answer that," I interrupted Mahara before she could continue on with the smug look.
The Iktomins delivered their twisted form of entertainment to the masses. Addiction to Iktomin entertainment is a common problem. Once subscribed, few subscribers would drop out, unless they couldn't pay.
According to mercenary rumours, the Iktomins prepared the latest 'exciting' entertainment for the amusement of other consortiums and it had something to do with Eden's current situation.
Something controversial.
A little sensational.
More than enough shocking.
Definitely the Iktomin style.
The possibility of the Iktomin Conglomerate wanted to break the superficial squeaky clean facade of Eden is high. If they made the Great Swirl Council a laughingstock, the Iktomin will generate a definite surge in viewing subscriptions.
Eden, the shiny pinnacle of all utopias, crumbling to the ground, would massage the egos of the other three conglomerates.
Besides, it isn't the Iktomins' first time.
Mahara swirled her flute of Durgian moonshine around with a smirk and shook her head. "Entertainment maybe, but there's something else…"
"Tech? Cybernetic implants, I can understand, but why Deridians?"
Well, other than the entertainment, the Iktomins are infamous for stealing tech knowledge of others. However, they hardly showed their tech stealing side.
Those so-called Iktomin entertainment cameras, like their spider droid, could get into tiny spaces to record movement and even encrypted passwords.
I fiddled with my 'earring' droid firmly embedded in my lobe. Even the pair of my droid 'earrings' and spy bots adapted the principles of Iktomin tech to Kamuy tech.
Like Rong, Mahara knew what I truly was. Revealing what I was to others offered no advantage to her.
Durgians held many business interests within the Nuwan Imperium and with the backing of an imperium chancellor like Rong, harming me would affect their trade with the Nuwans.
Her wry grin melted away while rubbing her chin in deep thought before opening her lips parted to deliver a mouthful again.
"Deridian technology is currently the most advanced for rapid identification of metals and minerals. And the Deridians will never give up that edge over others…"
No one would sacrifice a trump card to just anybody. More than half of the spacefaring species in the galactic quadrant wanted that tech to ease planetary mining explorations.
Perfectly understandable. So why is she wasting my time?
"Deridians don't dabble in cybernetic implants," she replied. "So think why they found you interesting."
My eyes widened at her words. Have the Iktomins figured out how to detect all cybernetic implants on individuals?
"Time waits for no one. Technological advancements progress non stop. The leader of the past might fall in the present," Mahara added, much to my irritation.
I hated unwarranted veiled warnings, especially when they are right. Unlike the Durgians, I ran alone for a while.
Limited resources with no base of a civilisation. No rapid scientific advancements without a team of scientists. I was a one-individual show stopper with only one trump card.
Even my damn war cruiser is obsolete.
And soon, another species might overtake the droid technology. Like how the Iktomin may have used their tech to detect me.
A chance exists that they have not detected me. Mahara wasn't always correct in her assumptions. Sometimes information received can deceive.
"I promised Rong to help you out as fast as possible. Don't think I don't know what he wants. You need to leave Eden as soon as possible, or even the Haoleans will come looking."
I raised my eyebrow at her instructions. It almost sounded like an order and she was riding on Rong's authority. Still, The Durgema is Durgian territory which made the rule setter.
She noticed my expression and explained, "The Inti didn't have surviving witnesses to that catastrophic destruction. Just imagine what you are worth now if others discover your identity. The old Kamuy never liked leaving their former system. Easy to assume that you bore witness from start to finish. They want information now because that incident could happen to anyone. Not just the Great Swirl Council."
"And the Durgians don't want?"
If memory of my childhood historical lessons served me right, Durgians used to have a home world which something destroyed long before the Kamuy arrived in the Great Swirl galaxy.
May not be the same entity which destroyed both the Inti and Kamuy world. Sometimes a blackhole or an imploding star did the same job.
"Secrets leak all the time, but I don't need to remind you of that," Mahara replied as she got up with her now empty flute. "If you have a shopping list, give the details to my staff and set up a payable account with them. We'll arrange everything. For now, let me bring you to your room."
"It almost seems like you don't want me out of The Durgema."
"Not me but his excellency Rong's wishes," Mahara sighed. "If not for the mining deal on Planet Heitian, I would leave you to your business."
"I still need to check out—"
Mahara narrowed her eyes and glared at me. "I will take you to the main Durgian information nucleus in Eden when night falls. Better than hacking from a public library."
That arrangement suited me.
The Durgian information nucleus is a fortress of experienced elite hackers to break into any electronic data. The Durgians installed safety firewall protocols and diversionary algorithms in access terminals as a precautionary measure to prevent tracking.
That's why the Durgian never minded the insulting slur 'space gypsies'. It made them sound harmlessly primitive to arrogant species.
"Amazing how you can mind read so well," I said with dripping sarcasm.
She shrugged. "Easy to deduce without reading your mind. Who wouldn't want to know how their home world was destroyed so swiftly, or the bastards responsible?"
"The Durgians used to have a home world, right?" I asked.
Mahara's eyes glazed over. "How much do you know about us?"
"Durgians were one of the first spacefarers in this galactic quadrant before most of the species turned spacefaring in this quadrant. Your species were the first to trade with mine when we first arrived."
She threw her head backwards and cackled loudly.
"So the Durgians would know more about that entity which attacked both the Kamuy and Inti systems."
"What the ancestors left us are with legends. Several millennia ago, we had a homeworld, but it is a dense nebula nursing little stars now. Some said we angered the cosmic entities far more powerful than any other known species," she replied as she walked towards the door.
"Legends often have some truth," I replied. "I think—"
"Think what? If you want to tease it out from the lies and exaggerations," she snapped back at me and walked into the forcefield barrier.
Well, that wasn't my intention to say a word more about their legends.
A quick zap threw Mahara back, together with her shattering flute, from the shock impact of the forcefield's flowing electrical charge. The shards of the crystal glass flew across the carpet.
"—you might want to lower the sound barrier first," I completed my unfinished statement, much to her chagrin, as her crunched face grew red enough to match her dyed hair. "Always knew that they were nasty if touched."
What a view. I offered my hand to Mahara, only to get it slapped away. She quickly got up and neatened her crumpled garment. Her hair frizzed from the shock, with strands standing up on ends.
"Shut up if you still want your suite."