Crowds of onlookers jostled each other outside The Durgema to watch the illuminated construction hovercrafts flying over to install stabilising large metal pylons and scaffolding around the three floors above the 44th floor to the ground at night.
The undeniable after effect of the disruptor's power impacted not only the ceiling but the entire building, which resulted in a building wide evacuation. No one could enter The Durgema after the mass exodus still spilling out.
Some bewildered individuals streaming out of The Durgema thought it was a large quake. The damage from the outside only included three panels of cracked windows.
Eden's police crafts lined the streets, with the police personnel redirecting both foot and hovercraft traffic away from the block radius around the whole skyscrapers. News drones flew around every part of the building.
The Eden Sector 111's police chief, in his dull green uniform with his rank insignia clearly defined, continued speaking to General Perkuna and Zhiva for the account of the assassination attempt.
One could see how nervous the police chief appeared, with the beads of sweat appearing on his meek face and the apologetic tone in his voice. After all, an assassin nearly killed an important diplomat.
Two of the police personnel only told us, the other Perunian officers and me, to stay within the cordoned off area separating us from the bystanders. I distanced myself from General Perkuna and Zhiva like the others.
Three police personnel guarded the area and my optical implant uncovered the military snipers hidden within the rooftops.
The other Perunian officers threw me odd glances.
Less banter with the Perunians, the better.
The bill from the structural damage resulting from the disruptor charges in Shakkal would piss the Durgians off.
"Tu… Temari, are you okay?"
I recognised that voice even with my eyes closed. Ah, nothing like fake concern in front of others.
I turned around with a grin. "Mahara, I'm fine."
Mahara looked frazzled by the whole unfortunate incident as her eyes kept looking upwards at the 44th. Another male Durgian, Asana, joined the police chief's fine company. Asana was the other co-owner of The Durgema, but I hardly dealt with him.
Mahara pulled me aside to a corner and said, "something's off about the corpse."
"Not Velesian," I muttered.
"You knew?" She murmured as her eyes studied mine.
I shrugged.
Mahara took a quick look in Asana's direction and added, "not a spacefaring species. The Eden authorities may use the bio scanners in this investigation."
A chill ran up my spine at her warning. This case reached high-level conspiracy standards far beyond my control. The police will investigate thoroughly because of General Perkuna's rank and the fake Velesian identity of the assassin.
Misfortunes always came in threes. My three unlucky encounters are Zhiva, the fake Velesian, and becoming a witness to a high-profile assassination attempt. I can only hope it ended at the three.
If I was not wrong, the Haoleans used bio scanners on witnesses, suspects and victims in all investigations.
Their bio scanners can differentiate genetic differences between species. It will catch me using a fake identity because my Kamuy genetic structure is too different from Deridian.
They would discover my fake identity, which may pin me as another suspect. I cussed out Zhiva silently and thought of another exit route to get out of Eden.
The assassin's body would be the police's immediate concern.
Not the witnesses, like me.
"What do you mean by not a spacefaring species?" I took care to turn my back to the police guards and others nearby so that they can't read my lips.
"Bone density," Mahara replied in a hushed tone. "Too fragile to handle frequent space travel. Someone went to a lot of trouble to disguise the dead assassin as a Velesian. More of…"
"Hey," Zhiva called out behind me.
Mahara immediately stopped and hastily greeted, "General Perkuna and Zhiva, how are you both?"
Both ignored her greeting.
I turned around slowly to face the troublesome father and son duo. From the corner of my eye, Asana remained deep in conversation with the Police Chief.
"Father, this is my Deridian friend…," Zhiva trailed off, realizing that he didn't even know my name.
"Temari of Deridia," I quickly said with a slight nod.
The imposing figure of General Perkuna in the formal dark navy Perunian military uniform with his medals pinned threw a shadow over me. Both father and son stood taller than me. They bore a strong resemblance to each other except for the eyes.
Zhiva's eye color was an icy pale blue, while General Perkuna's deep blue eyes reminded me of the ocean. If personalities are like still waters running deep, then General Perkuna's personality resembled more of calm ocean waters with treacherous undercurrents.
No one becomes a high-ranking general without meandering through intrigues of politics. Every word out of his mouth may be a double-edged sword with an additional meaning.
The way General Perkuna studied and sized me up felt like someone inspecting a specimen exhibited in a museum.
"I never thought that Deridians were good in combat. Interesting," General Perkuna spoke with a smile.
Nothing like the restrictive yet limited diplomatic vocabulary to express an opinion of an individual as 'interesting' when hiding contempt deep within.
I noticed Zhiva clenching his fists when General Perkuna spoke.
The son's reaction was more naïve and a little more honest than the father.
Not to mention, the accompanying officers backed away from the general's presence.
Everyone knew Deridians sucked the worst at combat skills.
My display of those said skills in Shakkal contradicted the behaviour of a typical Deridian, borne out of the necessity for survival.
"Well, you know… space pirates… self defense skills will be necessary," I said while glancing at Zhiva whose eyes widened in surprise.
"Hahaha!" General Perkuna's laughter sounded so fake.
You old bastard, bring on your mind games.
I countered with an equally fake smile.
"What a sense of humor! Besides, I owe you a debt for my life. Upon my faith in Perun, I wish to repay you and…," General Perkuna trailed off and side eyed Zhiva, who obediently moved up. "… my son. Let me know if you require help… even with space pirates."
Ah, the good general self-professed an annoying faith in their founding father, Perun, as proof to mean what he said. They don't easily swear on their faith.
"I can clear that debt today," I replied with a frozen smile on my face.
"Oh, how?" General Perkuna raised his eyebrow at me, puzzled at my answer.
I clenched my fist and swung an upward punch at Zhiva's lower jaw.
He flew a few steps from the uppercut's impact in front of a now stunned General and fell on his bum. Deridians may suck in a fight, but so do Perunians.
A gasp of surprise escaped Mahara's mouth.
"SIR!" A few of the ass kissing Perunian officers stepped forward to restrain me.
The police around murmured, unsure of how to act.
I felt a hand gripping my shoulder tightly with force. While I could throw whoever it was over easily, accidentally injuring the General would cause more problems.
"STAND DOWN!" General Perkuna barked at the officer who restrained me. The officer released his hold.
One of the nearby police officers helped Zhiva up, who wiped the blood from his lips while Asana and the Police Chief stared at us.
"That's all?"
"Debt cleared," I replied. "And do me a favor, keep your son away from me."
"Um… Temari recently arrived from the Nuwan Imperium," Mahara meekly interjected.
I wondered why she mentioned the Nuwans, but Mahara was no fool. She had a reason. Whether to my advantage is a different question.
"Nuwans, huh?" General Perkuna narrowed his eyes at Mahara and turned his gaze at me. "Interesting. A Deridian mercenary."
His hand slid into the breast pocket of his uniform and pulled out his electronic contact card.
"If you decide to switch sides, contact me," General Perkuna said as he offered me his card, which I took and pretended to be fascinated by it.
The card will go straight to the disposal bin once I get away from all of them.
The police chief approached us while staring me down.
"Ursa, do you want to press charges on behalf of Zhiva?"
Was the police chief trying to show off that he was on 'casual-name basis' type of relationship with General Perkuna Ursa?
My eyes turned to Zhiva, who remained quiet, but he kept that look of disdain at General Perkuna. The dynamics between father and son confirmed my suspicions of the connection between one of the largest space pirate syndicates and the Perunian military.
Mahara played the Nuwan card to help me out. Avoiding a clash with the Nuwan Imperium was paramount for the Great Swirl Council.
General Perkuna shook his head. "No. My son is the cause."