TOTALLY NOT DRUG TRAFFICKING

 6th February

11:51 GMT

Stars are flashing past us, but we're actually moving relatively slowly. And as is Green Lantern custom when in the territory of non-hostile governments capable of tracking Lantern movements, we're letting them. Which involves us moving far slower than we could if we made an effort. A sign that we respect their territorial claims, and an encouragement to them to cooperate with our investigation.

"This will be immensely politically difficult."

The upper half of Lantern Canar's body might be humanoid, but… The plant-meat symbiosis in his body is so thorough that he has none of the body language which usually comes with that. Honestly, I can barely credit that the E'Fal are a naturally occurring species. I'm struggling to think of a way for that sort of hybridisation to arise naturally. Half his total mass is technically another creature, including several vital organs.

"Prisoners who receive transportation sentences are never allowed to return to Alignment core worlds."

No expression, no change in intonation. Might be something to do with his species living deep underwater. They wouldn't usually be able to see details on one another's faces. And the water would affect the sound… Atlanteans use intonation, but they all started as a surface-dwelling species.

Xor growls. "Why should I care about their rules?"

"I am aware of the failings of the Alignment legal system. But if you wish to perform an investigation, you should understand the environment in which you will be operating."

"Fine. Talk."

"Once the prisoner has been sent, there are no further avenues of appeal. Nor will an exception be made for an escapee."

"I did not escape. The crew fled."

"Technically, the law required you to remain where you were until a member of the crew arrived to remove you. I am aware that doing so would have been impractical, but I caution you not to expect any Alignment official you speak with to care."

"Do they know that the ship had an accident?"

"I reported the location of the ship when Lantern Stewart notified me. It is listed as 'wrecked', but neither crew nor prisoners have so far been recovered. Based on the final location of the ship it is quite likely that any survivors would have ended up well outside of Alignment space."

Guy looks at Xor. "Don't suppose you ever went looking for them?"

"Briefly. I tried to detect the beacons of the escape pods with my ring. I could not find them. But it is possible that mine was the only pod to survive launch. Or the others may have deactivated their beacons to avoid detection."

Ah yes, that wrinkle. Alignment FTL is fast, but when it goes wrong it goes violently wrong. Their escape pods are designed to in theory be able to survive a crash-transition back to normal space, but they're only really tested in… Well, test conditions, being dumped off fully functional ships. They're sensible enough to take data from crash survivors, but… That was why Xor's story about the crew abandoning ship as fast as they could rings true. Getting off as things start to go wrong is dangerous, but staying on board would have been suicide. I wouldn't be surprised if Xor's augmentations were the only reason why the radiation didn't kill him.

"And… You know, space is big. Really big."

Guy shrugs. "You couldn't find them, you couldn't find them. Just hate the idea of them stuck in a little pod and starvin' t' death."

"Pods have animation suspension systems. Anyone who survived the escape would be able to survive for a long time." Xor looks away for a moment. "The crew were in the government's employ. Not looking for them is dishonourable. But it does not surprise me."

"If they're not looking for the crew, can I assume that they're not looking for the prisoners either?"

Space jiggles as we switch from interstellar-appropriate speed down to something that would be considered non-hostile in a settled system.

"Their details are still on file, but none of them are famous enough to have gained widespread notoriety."

"Do they have surveillance systems that would automatically recognise Lantern Xor?"

"Not in most place-."

Xor bristles. "Why would I hide myself?"

"What were you planning on doing?"

"Confronting my accuser directly!"

"Lantern Xor, do you really think that's the best way to get the information-."

"Finding out who murdered Onisia will not restore her to life. Finding out why my employer betrayed me is what I want from this, and I can get that information easily from him."

"But if you did find out who really did it… If you had proof of that when you confronted him, how do you think he would react to that?"

"I still believe that he knows that I am innocent. But-."

"But..?"

"If it is as you suggested, then… Surprise? Gratitude? If he even listens before calling for a militia unit."

"Will it be easier or harder to investigate if we are having to fight-?"

"If we do not have to fight the militia it will be easier. I do know that. I am a soldier."

"Do you have any friends or family on the surface who might be able to provide you with information?"

"No family. Friends… Perhaps. Other War Hounds."

"You are a War Hound?"

"Yes. I completed my term of service and was honourably discharged."

"You are unusually fortunate."

Guy glances from one to the other. "Wanna fill a guy in?"

Canar's tail-fronds wiggle. "The Alignment takes the brains of orphaned children and places them in augmented bodies. They have found that adult brains cannot adapt to the change that comes from moving from an unaugmented body to one such as Lantern Xor now occupies. But there are other problems. Few survive long enough to muster out, and fewer still adapt to the social change. You were wise not to ask for a normal body."

Oh… Eris.

"I… Just thought that your species matured faster than humans."

"I did. The alternative was death. Most of the Alignment's soldiers are not augmented as I am. But… The militia officer who arrested me. He apologised."

"Yeah?"

"An officer would know how we are raised, how we are taught to think. He would need that in case he was called upon to command us. He would know that one of us would not commit a murder. He may have other information."

"But he would recognise you."

"Yes."

"Canar, take us to your government contact so we can formally introduce ourselves. After that, we'll split up and Guy and I will have a chat with that officer while you and Xor go through their databases."