Shhh-shhh
The hiss of static echoes across the bridge as the loading bar disappears from the main screen, leaving only a black display.
"Someone—"
A male voice breaks through, fragmented and full of interference.
"Can anyone hear me???"
Jex quickly adjusts some controls on the panel, fine-tuning the signal.
Then the image of a man appears on the screen.
But he isn't human. He's a man with purple skin and a few tentacles instead of hair.
His species is called N'Zhari.
Their bodies have a humanoid structure—typically tall and slender (average 2.2 meters in height).
Their deep-purple skin is slightly thicker and more elastic than that of humans and glows incandescently depending on the intensity of their emotions.
The tentacles on their heads—usually between 6 and 12—can emit magnetic waves that affect other creatures in unpredictable ways, even altering their emotions.
Their eyes are large and wide, composed entirely of sclera in various shades of purple, dark green, and pigmented brown with tiny black specks.
Aside from those peculiarities—and the fact that they usually live around 180 years—the N'Zhari are quite similar to humans in other ways.
They breathe, they need food and water, they have fragile internal organs, they bleed… and they die.
"Hey!?"
The N'Zhari casts his piercing gaze across the Safira's crew—especially at Jex, standing at the front.
"Who the hell are you???"
Jex is startled by the intimidating alien, with those tentacles dancing like snakes atop his head.
The dark red glow appearing on his skin also makes it clear that his emotions right now are more hostile than friendly.
So she tries to put on her most friendly face and smiles.
"Hello, my good fellow—"
"Who sent you???" The N'Zhari cuts Jex off.
His tone is clearly defensive—almost as if he already considers them enemies.
Everyone on the Safira's bridge can tell there's something off about this guy, and even Diego seems uneasy.
He raises his hands and puts on a sincere, friendly face.
"No one sent us, friend."
The N'Zhari turns his attention to Diego, his expression growing even more hostile.
"I'm not your fucking friend."
Diego tries to remain calm.
"I understand. You don't know me, just as I don't know you, so let me introduce ourselves first."
"We're the crew of the Safira, an exploration ship under the Eryndor Imperium."
The N'Zhari keeps staring at Diego like that means absolutely nothing to him, so Diego continues.
"We carry a special license from the Elyrium Royal Academy of Veltharion Prime to locate and recover culturally significant relics for allied species."
"License number 401831-Y. You can check it in the official Alliance regis—"
"Cut the crap!" the N'Zhari snaps, impatient, cutting Diego off.
"Who do you think I am? The damn border guard?"
Before Diego can say anything, the annoyed alien keeps going.
"And what the hell is a license to collect valuable things? The emperor lets you just go around grabbing treasure?"
"Shit, isn't explorer just another name for pirate?"
"We're not fucking pirates!" Clara yells from the back of the room, drawing the N'Zhari's attention.
"Who said that?" He sounds curious but can't see Clara from that angle.
"Hey, friend," Diego tries to draw the purple-skinned man's attention again.
When the N'Zhari frowns, Diego keeps his friendly expression.
"I'm only calling you that since we don't know each other's names yet. I'm Diego, by the way—captain of the Safira."
The N'Zhari scowls.
"How did you find us? How did you know about this comm line??"
"We have a mutual friend," Diego says, pointing to Maxwell—who's been staring at the N'Zhari with a strange expression since the beginning of the call.
The N'Zhari turns that same piercing gaze toward Maxwell.
"And you are?"
Maxwell steps forward, trying his best to sound friendly.
"My name's Maxwell. I used to be part of The Hollow Circuit about twelve years ago."
"Oh? Really?" The N'Zhari doesn't seem convinced.
Maxwell offers a sheepish smile.
"I was the apprentice of Master Sandro Muerte." He raises both his index fingers and thumbs, forming a triangle intersected by an X.
At the mention of that name, Diego, Javier, and Jex all make the same expression.
Muerte is a word from Earth's Spanish language, and though it's not commonly used by humans in Eldrathis, it remains part of the cultural heritage of many—especially those of Latino ancestry.
The word, of course, means death.
And someone who literally has "death" in their name? Definitely not a nice guy.
Maxwell doesn't understand Spanish well enough to grasp what that means and says his old mentor's name with pride.
The N'Zhari, however, shows a sadistic grin, flashing silver teeth.
"Sandro's been gone for years now. Bastard finally got what he deserved…"
Maxwell frowns. "Sandro's gone? Damn!"
The Safira crew looks concerned, and Diego glances at Maxwell, subtly raising an eyebrow.
The N'Zhari notices everything—his dark purple eyes, almost black, scanning every member of the Safira he can see on-screen.
His gaze returns to Maxwell, and a perverse grin spreads across his face.
"Yeah, Sandro's gone. Don't tell me you were hoping to reunite with your boyfriend and relive the good old days?"
Maxwell ignores the crude joke and keeps trying to be diplomatic.
"We're in need of supplies and thought maybe we could trade. Who's in charge now?"
"Lurex is the man."
"Lurex—the pilot?"
"Now it's Lurex the boss."
Upon hearing that, Diego and Maxwell exchange a glance—and the latter gives a slight nod, putting Diego a little more at ease.
Maxwell returns his attention to the N'Zhari.
"Can we speak with him? Maybe he'd be interested in a deal."
"Hmm…" The N'Zhari glances between Maxwell, Diego, and the rest of the Safira crew with a strange look.
Just as everyone is wondering what's going to happen next, another male voice echoes in the N'Zhari's room. It's deep and slightly robotic.
"Tukke? Who the hell are you talking to???"
The N'Zhari turns and steps back from the camera, giving the Safira crew a better look at the room behind him.
It doesn't appear to be a large space—some electronic panels, shelves on the back wall.
The technology looks much older and cruder than the Safira's, and the place looks a bit grimy, even dirty.
The crew can hear Tukke muttering under his breath, unaware the comm is still transmitting.
"Get Boss in here right now—some rats just popped up on the radar."
"What kind of rats??" the robotic voice asks, curious.
"Just call him, dammit!!"
Some background grumbling is heard before Tukke steps back into frame.
"Lurex'll be here soon."
Diego nods and tries to keep his friendly tone. "Thank you."
The N'Zhari stares at Diego, then glances at the other Safira crew members with a strange curiosity.
"Hmm… how many of you are there again?"
"..." Diego doesn't answer at first—he glances at Matteo, seated to his left.
The old man subtly shakes his head.
Diego thinks for a few more seconds before speaking to the N'Zhari.
"It's better if we wait for your boss before we start discussing any deals."
"I see."
The N'Zhari looks clearly disappointed, and his piercing gaze makes that very clear.
Diego still tries to appear calm, but no one on the Safira likes that guy, and the continuous exchange of cold looks only thickens the tension in the air.
Time feels like it slows down—just a few minutes stretch like a full hour.
Until finally, the crew hears voices and movement in the N'Zhari's room.
"Tukke? Who the hell's in there??" a different male voice calls out.
A human man appears on screen—probably in his forties, with dark, slightly graying hair and sharp black eyes.
The N'Zhari steps aside politely. "Some folks, Boss."
The man glances at the Safira's crew with a curious, neutral look—until his eyes fall on Maxwell, standing right beside Diego.
"Maxwell? Is that really you???"
"Lurex?" Maxwell opens a friendly smile. "Been a while, huh?"
"Heh!" Lurex nods. "More than ten years, for sure."
"I still remember when you left us…"
Lurex glances toward Diego and the others on the Safira with a thoughtful, inquisitive expression.
"So why'd you come back? Feeling homesick?"
A dark glint flashes in Maxwell's eyes as he offers a slightly sad look.
"Truth is, we were passing through and ended up needing supplies… I don't know anyone else in this damned place."
Lurex comes off as a decent guy compared to the N'Zhari—but then again, even a starving ogre would seem nicer than the hostile Tukke.
Yet Lurex continues to sound genuinely friendly, flashing a smile not unlike Maxwell's own—slightly forced, a little guarded.
"So you want our help?"
Before Maxwell can answer, Diego steps in.
"Lurex, right?"
Diego tries to sound very friendly, and Lurex responds with cordiality.
"Yeah. And you?"
"Diego. Captain of the Safira," he says proudly.
"Look, we really do need those supplies, but we're not asking for charity."
"We've got credits and some excellent weapons in our arsenal—even a few impressive relics in our vault, up for trade…"
"So I'm sure we can negotiate something mutually beneficial for you and your crew."
Lurex's smile grows wider, and a strange glint flashes in his eyes.
"I do like credits and weapons. A lot, actually. But what kind of relics are we talking about?"
Diego becomes more optimistic, more confident.
But before he can answer, Tukke cuts in again with his usual arrogant, mocking tone.
"Probably some old crap left behind by the Ancients. Stuff those rich noble assholes on Veltharion Prime wipe their asses with."
Lurex laughs and shakes his head toward Diego.
"You can keep those to yourself. But I'd gladly take some weapons—and of course, the credits—if you're buying supplies."
Diego nods quickly. "Oh, thank you!"
Lurex gives him a friendly wave.
"No need to be so formal. You're friends of Maxwell, so you're welcome in our humble home."
"That's great to hear!" Diego beams with hope and relief.
Lurex seems like the total opposite of the N'Zhari—a well of politeness.
"Do you guys have our coordinates? I mean, it's been a long time since you were home, Max."
Maxwell looks slightly uncomfortable about something, but keeps up his friendly demeanor.
"You guys still in the same place as always?"
"Yeah," Lurex nods, then starts typing on a panel in front of him.
"But just in case, I'm sending the exact location."
The data is quickly transferred to the Safira, and Jex checks it on her panel—then gives Diego a thumbs-up.
"Got it!" Diego replies to Lurex. "We'll be there in…" He glances at Jex again.
"A few weeks," she responds quickly and neutrally. "Three, maybe five at most."
"That." Diego confirms.
Lurex looks confused. "You're not nearby?"
"We're avoiding using hyper jump due to technical issues, so we're navigating the classic way," Diego explains.
"Oh, I see." Lurex nods.
"Well, I'll let the crew know and we'll be waiting for you in a few weeks. If you need anything, just use this channel again."
Lurex finishes, glancing at Tukke and then back at Diego.
"Also, sorry about my N'Zhari friend here. He has no manners, honestly."
"No problem…" Diego pauses and looks at Lurex with a friendly expression. "Friend."
"So that's it. We'll talk more when you get here," Lurex ends the call. "See you."
"See y—" Diego tries to say, but the screen goes black first.
"What the fucking hell was that???" Clara's voice echoes through the room.
Matteo throws an inquisitive look at Maxwell. "I'm with Clara on this—what the hell was that?"
"That N'Zhari looked more hateful than my first mother-in-law! And she was the damn devil in person."
Clara steps up to Maxwell with a frustrated expression on her face.
"Did that guy have something shoved up his ass, or are all your friends really like that?"
Diego steps down from his chair and gets in front of Clara before she steamrolls Maxwell.
But then he sees Noct standing silently behind Clara, with that cold look that makes anyone instinctively back off.
"Hold on, guys, we can't start fighting now."
Clara lets out a frustrated sigh. "Come on! I can't be the only one seeing that there's something seriously wrong with these guys?"
Jex joins the conversation. "First that N'Zhari was so hostile I thought we were his long-lost enemies…"
"Then that guy shows up with sunshine smiles, and rainbow-colored invitations to his happy home?"
Diego shakes his head and throws a curious look at Maxwell.
Maxwell quickly begins to speak. "I don't know that damn N'Zhari! But Lurex was cool when I was there—he's just a normal guy."
Clara shakes her head and scoffs, pointing at Maxwell. "Really? A cool guy? That weirdo?"
Maxwell glares back at Clara with mockery and points at Noct behind her.
"The weirdo is that ghost at your side!"
Clara laughs, and Noct responds to Maxwell's provocation with a confident smile.
Compared to him, the skinny little doctor looks short and ugly as hell.
Clara tries to talk to Diego again, but he stands firm.
"These guys are our only option right now, Clara. They might be a little… unconventional. But can't we just take the supplies and leave?"
"Ahh!" Clara rolls her eyes. "These guys are trouble—I'm telling you, this is going to go sideways!"
"Then we'd better be prepared and united," Diego says confidently.
Clara doesn't want to stir up conflict, so she just glances at Maxwell with a questioning look again before heading toward the door.
They glance at Noct, and he glances back at them, the air between them cold.
Noct grows more and more irritated with Diego and his two little friends, but he doesn't see them as real problems—just bugs he could crush whenever he wants.
Now doesn't seem like the time, so he throws them that same confident and provoking smile before turning and following Clara and Nyx out of the bridge.
Diego, Maxwell, and Javier try to act tough, but every time they see Noct's glowing white eyes, they remember the footage of him scaling the Vhorr'Ka on Zhaaros—and a chill runs down their spines.
In a way, they even prefer the hostile N'Zhari called Tukke over the mysterious Noct.
_ _ _
Author's note: Thanks for reading! If you want to read more and advanced chapters, visit my patreon page: patreon. com/lamenthief
You can also buy the complete volume 1 on Amazon.