The Omega System
an excerpt

The ship which took me to Sardacia – the home of the Syrassen - was old and slow. I was the only passenger, crammed in the back beside a pile of ancient computer parts on one side and a stack of engine spares on the other. The pilot and co-pilot were both highly modified humans whose speech I couldn’t understand. They murmured and chattered to one another in some sort of slang dialect which seemed to have periodic bursts of whistling interspersed throughout.
By the time we reached Sardacia, some three hours later, I was more than ready to be off the ship. It was starting to develop an odd smoky smell which seemed to alarm even the pilot. Still, the landing was gentle and when I finally peeled myself out of the tiny seat and onto the landing strip, it was into warm sunlight.
I looked round, taking in my first sight of Sardacia’s capital city, Sard. It was an impressive sight and still continues to be for me, whenever I get a chance to go back there. The landing strip was a massive paved square with steps down to lower levels of the city on all four sides. Beyond that, the city spread away, meandering between tall rocky outcrops, themselves built up. Every building was a different hue of stone, ranging between gun-metal grey and purest white. All around the buildings towered trees and plants, waterfalls and vibrant gardens. At first sight, Sard, like all Sardacia’s cities, appears idyllic and somewhat primitive. It is a testament to the Syrassen that it appears so – they are one of the most advanced species in the system and their technology continues to improve. They are also the only species to have so successfully blended technology and nature into their home planet.
A Syrassen stood a little distance away, two droids hovering in the air beside him. The Syrassen are by no means the oddest looking species in the Omega System and I had met them before, but there is still something about them that is unnerving. To human eyes, the Syrassen essentially look like giant snakes, though with arms. They have legs too, but tend to support themselves on their tails instead. This particular Syrassen had deep, emerald green scales beneath his white robes.
I approached it slowly, suppressing a shiver. Of all the creatures back on Earth, reptiles were one of the most hated and something of that old fear must still linger within out genes, no matter how far from both our original planet and our original genome we travel.
I bowed to the Syrassen, watching out of the corner of my eye as it returned the gesture. It was odd seeing such a human gesture played out by an entirely different species. I could see the Syrassen watching me too, though with less suspicion in its gaze. I forced myself to relax.
“Welcome to Sard, Fray Petrelle. I am Irugata.” The voice was rough, masculine and very human. The sound was strangely reassuring, even though he was so obviously not human. The Syrassen are one of the few species in the system who can produce all the sounds necessary in every language spoken here. This one spoke flawless Intergalactic.
I bowed again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Irugata gestured towards the ship behind us with one short but flexible arm. “Was your journey a comfortable one?”
I grimaced without thinking. “Hardly.”
Irugata hissed in laughter. I sometimes wonder whether the Syrassen hiss just to humour humans with their preconceptions about reptiles. After all, his mouth curved into what was unmistakably a smile. Not for the first time, I was struck by how similar Syrassen and humans are, despite their apparent differences. There is something in our mindsets, reflected in the similar ways in which we chose to build our cities, that makes humans very much closer to these giant snakes than to the humanoid Yrlu.
“Well Fray Petrelle, shall I show you around our city? Or would you like to rest first?”
“I’d love to see your city,” I replied, feeling genuinely curious. Generally exchanging pleasantries with other diplomats, be they human or alien, is intensely boring but there was something about Irugata that I instantly warmed to. “And just Fray will be fine.”
We began to move across the paved landing area, Irugata’s scales swishing across the stone whilst the droids hummed behind us. My own footfalls were nearly silent. Many of the people I meet seem to find that unnerving, but Irugata didn’t even seem to notice.
Upon reaching the foot of the steps at the edge of the landing pad, we passed under an avenue of trees with wide, fleshy green leaves. Irugata began to point out various buildings and their uses but I was too engaged in their architecture to pay much attention. Ever building in Sard is elegant and dignified, its stones smooth and perfectly cut, its pillars tall and narrow, its windows wide with billowing drapes behind. Or at least that’s how it seemed at first. Sard certainly is a beautiful place, with no trace of poverty or crime and every building is as well designed as the last. Like every city though, there are things going on behind closed doors that the Syrassen would rather visitors didn’t know about.
At the end of our tour, we arrived in a square around which were placed statues in front of the tall white buildings. I examined them with half an eye, aware that Irugata had some motive in bringing me to this place.
“Sard truly is the most beautiful city I have ever seen,” I said, willing myself to sound truthful. It was not that I was lying, but rather that my politician’s tongue makes everything I say sound false.
Irugata didn’t reply for a moment. Perhaps he had heard that line many times before, with voices both genuine and not. Perhaps he was wondering which camp I fell into. “Thank you,” he said finally. There was another pause. “Fray, I fear I must confess something.”
I looked askance at Irugata. What was this? “Confess something?”
Irugata sighed. “I wish so very much that you have not come here Fray. Sard is a dangerous place these days and I find that I rather like you. I would prefer you did not come to harm during your stay here.”
I feigned surprise, though the emotion wasn’t really there. I knew Sard was dangerous, just as Commander Betouin had and just as my other superior officers had when they chose me for this mission. “How so?” I asked guardedly.
“Because no-one knows what the Emperor is going to say. All the species in the system have a representative here and every one of them is worried. I fear that the Emperor is going to announce something that would be better left hidden and that, when he does, there is going to be violence.”
Irugata wouldn’t look at me. I let out a long sigh. “I can take care of myself,” I said, placing a hand on what passed for his shoulder. It was warm and hard with muscle beneath the robe.
He didn’t seem to have heard me. “Look at all these,” he said, gesturing to the statues. “Each one is a past Syrassen Emperor and not one could possibly be as stupid as the one that lies dying up in the palace.”
“Why are you so sure he’s making a mistake?”
“If he is not, then why has this information he has not come to light before?” Irugata turned to me. I could see fear reflected in his yellow eyes. I couldn’t fault his reasoning.
“I can take care of myself,” I said again, forcing a smile. We must have looked strange there together, the Syrassen and the human who was trying so hard to be some other species.