An ulterior motive

When I finally arrived on Earth I was longing for a drink. I decided to stick around for a bit before going to the Prime outpost. I went to a local bar and had a few pints. Even here, where nobody knew me, people were judging me. Not because I was a Prime but because I looked a bit weathered down. Battle tends to do that to a man. I got drunk, really drunk. 

The following morning I woke up in a hotel room. I had no idea how I got there. I had the worst hangover of my life so I just decided to turn on the television. The news was on.

Breaking: Empire invades yet another free system. This morning the Empire invaded the Alaror system. The motives of emperor Bellrose are still unclear. Some say Bellrose wants unity, for a united human race could stand up to the alien Concord. But most say that he is just after power. What we do know is that the Alaror system is the thirteenth system to be invaded in a short time. All contact with the invaded systems is lost. 

So they weren't there for me. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I felt a huge relief, I hadn't caused all those deaths. Still, I saved a lot of lives and they still called be a mutant. They still refused to see that not all Primes are bad. I went down to the reception to pay for my stay but it turned out that it was already taken care of. I asked who brought me here but the receptionist refused to tell me. Apparently the man who had taken care of me preferred to stay anonymous. Very well, I thought. I decided to head to the Prime outpost. I kinda wanted to get back to Argo, where know one judged me and everyone was equal.

On my way to the outpost one of the billboards caught my attention. It was showing footage of the attack on Mehrla. The horror deeds of the imperial marines were out there. The whole galaxy now knew that the Empire was pillaging and murdering to get what they wanted. A new headline showed.

Breaking: Prime fights off imperial marines and saves 146 lives on Mehrla.

Finally, some recognition and they didn't even call me a mutant. Then I noticed a few strange men walking on the other side of the street. Five of them in total. We were close to the Archives, a pretty big tourist attraction but they didn't look like tourists. Then one of them turned his head. It was the imperial commander from Mehrla. I'd recognise him anywhere, the old man with the scar. I quickly got out of sight. He hadn't seen me yet. I wasn't under the impression that he was after me. I decided to stick around for a bit, see what they were up to. Maybe the Empire was planning an assault on Earth and these guys were scouts. As much as I wanted to get back to Argo, I just couldn't.

They were definitely up to something but they were pretty good at hiding what. One day they went to the Archives and I went with them. This was the perfect place for them to do something. The Archives were built on an independent piece of land. The only ones that had authority there were the Librarians and they didn't answer to anyone. Not the Empire nor the Sol Consortium nor any of the free systems. If they were to do something here, no one could do anything about it. The Archives contained knowledge about past experience events and key people. the Librarians had been collecting information, knowledge and artefacts for thousands of years an they were well respected for this throughout the entire human controlled galaxy.The digital files the Archives contained were accessible to anyone, the artefacts however were locked away in the vaults. I had never been to the Archives before, so I must admit that I was quite impressed by the sheer size and beauty. 

Not only the Archives were beautiful. A beautiful young woman caught my eyes. She was tall, sterling grey eyes and long, curly, flaming red hair. Magnificent. I focused again, I had a job here. Unfortunately, the imperials had disappeared. I tried looking for them but my search was in vain, they were long gone. 

Just when I was about to leave the Archives someone pulled my sleeve.

"Come, walk with me." He said.

He took me deeper into the Archives to a place that tourists weren't allowed to enter.

"My name is Isaac Munshin and I'm a Librarian. I know who you are, what you are."

"What? How?"

"As I said, I'm a Librarian. I know more than you can imagine. It was you on Mehrla, wasn't it?"

I denied it, I really didn't want anyone to know what I was. I was afraid what the people here would think of me.

"Now now mister Endar, don't try to fool me. You have nothing to fear from me. A Librarian doesn't care about one's background or motives. A Librarian always has an independent perspective. I admire you, it must have been difficult to put yourself in danger for people who couldn't care less about you."

"I simply couldn't walk away from those people. They were being slaughtered and I knew I could help them."

"Still, many Primes would have walked away nonetheless."

"The relationship between humans and Primes is unhealthy. Primes cause trouble because we are not accepted. We are not accepted because we cause trouble. Someone has to break the loop."

"I agree with you. I noticed you were eyeballing my daughter, Alysia. Would you like to have dinner with us tonight?"

I had many scenarios in my head about what could happen if the Librarian found out I was a Prime, but a dinner invite wasn't one of them. I accepted and went to refresh myself.

Dinner was absolutely fantastic. Turns out Librarians are pretty good cooks. We talked a lot and we all got to know each other. But still, I was pretty good at hiding who I really was.

"Enough about the Archives, me and my father, tell me about yourself Nathan." Alysia said.

"I'm just a traveler passing by. I stopped here because I just had to see the Archives for myself."

"Ooh a traveler. Where are you traveling to?"

"Honestly, I don't even no myself."

"What do you for a living?"

Before I could answer we were interrupted by the TV. Isaac had it programmed to switch on if the news was one.

Breaking: Emperor Bellrose has made a comment about his war declaration.

It was a grim decision I had to make. A war with the alien Concord is inevitable, a war we cannot win. We must unite our race. Politics and diplomacy have proven unsuccessful, therefore we must do it the hard way. The Empire will not show mercy, there is no place for talks about peace. We do not live in a utopia! We must unite!

"He's just power hungry and making up excuses for war. I can't believe that people follow such a man. I mean they had to see it coming, he's been constructing warships for the past decade." Alysia stated.

The news anchor continued.

Clear words from emperor Bellrose. So far authorities have not yet been able to establish contact with the invaded systems. But the images released from the attack on Mehrla confirm Bellrose's words. Meanwhile, the people of the Sol Consortium grow wary. Are we next? Is an attack imminent? Many people look back to the peaceful days of the Bellèc family. Some even say that emperor Bellrose was behind the Artorian's collision with the Ernisian star, claiming the lives of  emperor Astor Bellèc, his wife Mavis and their newly born daughter twenty years ago...

A photo showed on the screen, the last picture taken before Astor and Mavis died. It was all crystal clear to me now. Before sat the perfect mixture of those faces, before me sat princess Alysia Bellèc herself. It was now also clear to me why the imperial soldiers were here. Bellrose must know the heir to the throne survived.

"You must excuse me, I forgot about another appointment I have. Could you please walk me out Isaac?" I asked. I needed to warn him.

"You figured it out didn't you? You're not exactly subtle." Isaac said.

"The last Bellèc. You must tell me how she ended up here."

"Twenty years ago I was approached by a strange soldier by the name of Zeus. He and his team had saved a dying baby from the Artorian. All crew had given their lives to preserve oxygen so she could survive. I took her in and raised her."

"Why did you really ask me here tonight? It probably wasn't just a pleasantry."

"I must say I did have an ulterior motive. The Empire is divided. Ever since Bellrose cam to power it became harder to be an imperial citizen. Taxes were raised, working hours were extended. Almost all money the Empire had was spent to expand the fleets and armies. Alysia is the only one that can reunite the Empire, stop this war and lead the Empire into a golden age. She is a Bellèc. Sooner or later she will become the target of many assassins sent by the Empire, having a Prime here to protect her wouldn't hurt."

"I'm afraid that will be sooner rather than later."

"What do you mean?"

"On Mehrla there was an imperial commander, he was old and had a large scar running across his cheek. Today I saw that same commander with four others checking out the Archives."

"What? They're closer than I thought. But their numbers are small and they certainly aren't expecting you here. You will be here, right?"

"Yes, you have shown me kindness when most others wouldn't. I will repay you for that."

"I will be forever in your debt. Come, we must prepare."

Author's Note

English is not my native language, so please look past any grammar/spelling mistakes.