Ulen walked through the dark corridor of the research outpost. He quite enjoyed being a night guard. Everything was calm and quiet, much less stressful than his last post as a guard aboard a ship.
Ulen had just walked past the labs, which were shut down for the night, when he paused. Something didn’t feel right. He stepped backwards and looked for the stimuli that caught his attention. He could finally smell it. Something was on fire.
Ulen scrambled for the keys to unlock the lab, but the door swung open at his touch. He would have to be grateful later, because right now the outpost was in danger.
Ulen followed the scent to the lab lit in blue. Ulen saw two intruders in the lab, one holding a plasma blade, one desperately trying to find something to put out the copper fire.
Ulen moved quickly, first pulling the fire alert, and then throwing open the safety supply closet, grabbing the thickly woven fire suppressor, and throwing it over the fire. He was relieved to see the light dying immediately, smothered beneath the heavy sheet.
With the major threat gone, he turned to the two intruders, who’d both calmed down significantly.
“What do you two think you’re doing? Shut that off!” Ulen snapped.
The being holding the plasma blade nodded. “Oh, right.” They fumbled with the controls before getting it to power down.
Ulen ripped into the two trespassers for their many transgressions. He didn’t allow them to come up with any excuses as he took the two of them out of the lab.
Cambret, the head guard, came rushing up.
“Ulen! I heard the fire-“ Cambret cut herself off as her tired eyes recognized the two newest additions to the research team. “Oh. Of course it’s you two.”
“Hey Cammie,” intruder one said.
“Is the fire out?” Cambret asked.
“Yes,” Ulen answered.
“What did you do?” Cambret asked.
The two intruders mumbled something incoherent.
“Louder,” Cambret commanded.
Intruder two sighed. “We built a lightsaber.”
Ulen stopped to consider what this meant. The intruders knew Cambret, and she knew them. It’s possible they’re new to the research team, but the term light saber was unfamiliar to him.
“Ulen, meet Doreen and Cade, our two new researchers. You’ll have to forgive their antics, it seems ingrained in human dna to be destructive,” Cambret spoke with a mother like tone, insisting upon the two humans to be ashamed of their actions.
Ulen glanced down at the two intruders, and released them like he would a venomous eklip. He nearly jumped away from them.
“Humans? Why was I not warned that two humans were coming?” Ulen asked, trying not to look as scared as he felt.
“An oversight I assure you.” Cambret turned her attention back to the pair. “You both know that a lightsaber is on the list of banned inventions. Why would you make one in my laboratory?”
Cade and Doreen shared a look. Ulen swore he could sense conversation, but heard nothing. It unnerved him.
“Look, we grew up on Star Wars. It was a lifelong dream to be a Jedi. Of course humans before us created lightsabers as soon as they could, and almost immediately after that got them banned,” Cade started.
Doreen spoke up. “Honest, we weren’t gonna have a duel or anything. And we know all attempts to become Jedi or anything ‘more than human’ are outlawed. We just wanted to hold the lightsaber, to see what it feels like.”
Cade took his turn to speak again, starting as soon as Doreen ended. “I swear the fire was an accident. We would never do anything to put the lab at risk. Not even for a lightsaber.”
Doreen nodded in silent agreement.
Cambret sighed. “You’re both confined to your rooms until I can talk with Shhyll in the morning. Then we will decide what your punishment will be. Now go.”
Both humans walked off, talking excitedly about their brief connection with the highly illegal and dangerous device. Cambret turned to Ulen.
“I’ll need you to write up a report of everything that happened, but I doubt they’ll get any serious punishment,” Cambret told him.
Ulen was shocked, unable to find his voice as he tried to speak.
Cambret held up a hand, as if knowing what he was trying to say.
“I know, what they did was stupidly dangerous. But fact is, they are human and in a new environment. Humans have a tendency to push boundaries until they find the lines they can’t cross. Most officials give humans a grace period to settle down, and it is their first day.” Cambret looked back down the now empty hall where the pair had gone. “Still, I have to wonder how they made such a weapon when our lab doesn’t have near the proper materials or equipment to make one. They are quite an impressive duo, as siblings often are.”
Ulen found his voice, but it didn’t sound like his. “You got bonded hatchmates?” He tried to adjust his voice to not squeak so badly. “That’s terrible! You didn’t even get a mated pair? Mated pairs are by far the safest option!”
“It’ll be alright Ulen. We will survive. Those two will settle into their place,” Cambret assured him.
Ulen glanced down the hall, not in awe like his supervisor, but disquieted.
“I will write my report. And if they do something like that again on my shift, I will be writing my transfer request,” Ulen stated.
Cambret sighed. “Very well. I do hope you come to see that their benefits far outweigh any danger they may cause, but I will not stop you from going where you feel comfortable.”
Ulen nodded. “It’s my first time meeting humans. I didn’t have any on the ship I was assigned. I will also give a grace period to see if we are compatible, but I am vacillated on the situation.”
“Can you show me this lightsaber?” Cambret asked.
Ulen silently signaled his compliance and led Cambret into the lab. He would feel better knowing the fire was out anyway.
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