“These Catalums…,” Stephen began, “Are they afraid of the dark?”

Sandy looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Why yes, they are afraid of the dark. Spot told me their home system is dominated by a pair of orange stars. Their planet was effectively daylight all day and all night. A twenty-eight-hour day of which twenty-four were legit daylight. And tidally locked so there was no fluctuation throughout the year. It doesn’t help that the majority of their predators lived in the dark crevices in the valleys and had dark or black colored coats.

“Why do you ask?”

“Just peculiarities I saw with him.”

“Hey, I’m sorry that the people here shunned you when you tried to explain Maxwell.”

“It’s no worries. Now I can know that he wasn’t a demon.”

“A demon!?” Sandy gasped and put her hand over her mouth. She lowered it a few moments after.

“Yes. He has the basic shape of what we know as demons. It is seen as a bad sign for one to follow you around.”

“Oh my God. I didn’t know.”

“Like I said, it’s now not a problem.”

“Is this a cultural thing?”

“What, the demon shape? I guess so. The government keeps reminding people that this shape is evil and I guess it stuck in our hearts.”

“Hey Spot.”

Spot looked down at Sandy. It was comical since he continued to sit on her head.

“Ooorrraahhoooo?”

“Could you do me a favor? Could you send me the data about this planet’s government? Have your ship beam it directly to my head.”

“Rrraaayipp!”

The planet was controlled by an organization that called itself the Government. “Government” was actually its name. They said they were for the people. The reality they oppressed the people. Stephen’s lot in life was considered pretty good. Most people toiled away in factories or scrapyards.

The Government used a quasi-religious culture that put them on a pedestal and marked demons as evil. It was the basis for extreme oppressive against the People.

“Okay…I’m getting the information. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. That’s worrisome.”

“What?”

“In laymen’s terms, the planetary Government is the remnant of a larger interstellar human government far from the home world that disagreed with the Catalum empire over something or another. Things got heated and the government did a stupid by challenging the Catalums for claim over something.

“The Catalums gave them the usual response for these things, which was to decloak a couple of their starships and blow up a major military space station. The shield was vaporized almost instantly. All hands were lost. Nearby ships as part of the station’s defense fleet were also vaporized.

“The Government ever since had instilled a culture of hate against the Catalums. The Catalum empire don’t care so as long as the Government doesn’t try to challenge or hurt them. The Government doesn’t have anywhere near the firepower needed to fight them. The largest Government warships are about the same strength as a Catalum corvette, which are the ships these two have as their personal guardians. And the smallest ships the Catalums employ.”

Sandy was talking about Spot and Maxwell. Each of them had a ship as powerful as the Government’s battleship class? Government battleships were over ten kilometers in length and four kilometers wipe. They had a dagger shaped profile. And they were considered “small”?!

“The Catalum people have quadrillions upon quadrillions of individuals in this galaxy alone. The Milky Way is basically a backwater nowhere land to them despite its relative proximity to their capital galaxy Andromeda. And each has a ship at least the size and power as your government’s battleship class.

“I think it’s time to do something about it. Spot?”

The Catalum hopped off Sandy’s head and turned to look at her.

“Raaaaroo?”

“Could you do me another favor? English too, please. I don’t speak Catalum.”

“Yesh?”

“Get your ship to decloak right in front of the Government’s headquarters. Have it broadcast to all televisions that your people do not stand for being called evil. Make sure to explain in the broadcast that your people are exactly the thing the Government keeps calling evil.

“You or your ship does not need to do much more than that. I suspect the Government will try to deal with you and or your ship. I don’t think it’d matter. There’s two Catalum ships here that we know of, your and Maxwell’s. I’m sure there’s a dozen more of your ships’ size at least. Knowing what I know about other attempts to challenge your people, there’s a destroyer lurking around out there and a few frigates backing it up. I just don’t know how many of each size.”

“Yhere yare yome twenty shyips close to us. One destroyer, six fwigates, and thirteen corvettes. Yhere yare also thirty probes spehwifically escorting the destroyer. Yas you know, probes are half the size and power of corvettes but maintwain no long-term facilities for our people. They woften act as fighter escort. Yhis small force can fwatten them.”

The amount of firepower that was nearby, Stephen had no idea. The Government maintained eight battleships across their twelve systems. And to say this was a small Catalum fleet? Unbelievable.

Stephen noticed everyone was watching the screen. On the television was a news channel detailing how a massive starship appeared right in from of the Government’s palace and blasted all channels, television, radio, and internet with broadcasts that they were unhappy with how the Government portrayed its people as evil, showing pictures of evil demons with the body plan of the Catalum. A delegation of Catalum diplomats sat on the top of the palace steps, anger in their eyes, not happy about the Government hurting their image.

The footage changed to the Government’s space stations where other Catalum ships were decloaked, weapons powered up and ready to vaporize anything that tried something funny. One of the Government’s battleships was on point. It was dwarfed by the six hundred kilometer long, one hundred kilometer wide and tall, hexagonal-shaped destroyer. Additional Catalum ships were escorting the destroyer, but it was making its point.

“The Government has no way out of this, Stephen. Things are going to be messy for a while as the People make their own government.”

“What do we do now?”

“Would you like to travel with me? I was getting lonely for human companionship. And it’d do Maxwell some good getting out of the rut you must’ve been in.” Sandy batted her eyelashes and winked at Stephen.

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” His job sucked and it looked like he wouldn’t have a job for a while. “When do we start?”

“Right now.”

They got up from their table and each scooped up their respective puppy dog. Stephen threw his trash in the bin as they walked out. Sandy slipped her hand into his. He looked down at her with a “Really?” look on his face. She looked back at him and smiled.

The two demons in their hands were smiling too.

r/maxathronwrites