Chapter 3: Partnered Part 2

The following morning consisted of vague dreams and the monotony of everyday life. The marine was parked by the beach not far from the precinct in his small electric police car. The car was nothing extravagant to look at. It had the same colors as most of the Oshun police officers’ uniforms, with black being a dominant color. It had enough room for a person, passenger and enclosed barrier back seat for arrested individuals.

The day was beautiful as it always was. Blue sky, white clouds, and a bright sun almost disguised the fact that this was not Earth at all. By now, even Stone was used to this type of environment. The crowds of surfers, beachgoers, humans, and the Itrean aliens were coming and going. The great ocean was beautiful to look at it, and in the vast distance, Stone could see one of the cruise liners that was sailing the waters.

Not far from the beach was a small dock for ships and vessels. With his extraordinary vision, the marine could scan the entire area to the smallest of details. His car was parked along a row of other cars. Technically, only those with special permits could park in this area, but he was also in a police car which overrode those rules. This was official police business, and working for the Oshun police department had its advantages.

From here, even Stone would feel that Oshun was an illusion of itself. From this spot, you would think that the planet was lavished with luxury. Even the tourists wore bikinis, swimwear, and other attire that was relatively hard to create and obtain. This wasn’t just typical everyday swimwear but things that cost thousands of mard to make. The ships and vessels that were coming and going consisted of luxury yachts that only the rich could afford. Not far from the beach was a casino and high-star hotels. He knew, though, that the factories were struggling to keep up with financial troubles beyond those buildings. The further and further you got away from the beach, the more reality set in of where you were.

For the Itreans, Stone knew that they came from different backgrounds. Some were soldiers that were part of the local assigned defense forces to help protect the planet. Their attire was obvious, consisting of the green and black semi-tight uniforms. Others were vacationers, potential or existing wives to the men and women of the planet. Their background was somewhat of a mystery for many, but the worlds were apparently similar and beautiful. By now, most of the population was fully aware of the Itrean existence. The idea of a race of nothing but reptilian or shark-like women appeased most human bachelors. Even if not all of them were aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the fact that more human men were single and looking for a woman was more than they could ever desire. In so many cases, the Itreans were compatible with humans and held a generally similar personality trait. The loss of the Itrean male population due to a dreaded disease naturally drove the T’rintar clan to ally with the humans in hopes of acquiring bachelors. Human genes introduced resistance to the disease that allowed male Itrean children to be born again.

Of course, the concept naturally somewhat disgusted Stone. Even with a seemingly perfect alliance, it wasn’t one without question. The Itreans were prone to violence and engaged in genocidal wars with one another. Even with similar personality troupes to humans, that alone put the marine in a state of unease. He had seen his share of people and hated it. If they were similar to human beings, the Itreans would be just as guilty of performing crimes and misdemeanors as anybody else. Even if he saw a smile on their face, would they be as likely to turn their guns on every human being? Was the alliance just a farce where the Itreans would turn their claws and blades on their husbands the following day? Only time was the true answer to that question, and at the moment, it seemed unlikely that the T’rintar clan were lying. Pregnant Itreans was a sign to many skeptics that the alliance was here to stay and validated the noble claims. The marine was fully aware of this as well, but the idea of having a partner sat in his stomach like the mild hangover that he was undergoing. The one thing that he at least did was clean the boots from the previous day’s blood.

It was not that far after breakfast. The marine sat in the driver’s seat with a mild annoyance. The music of Oshun was the only hint of him trying to keep himself composed as it played in the car. Most of the piece consisted of former African themes but mixed with modern-day aspects. This would often create hybridized instrumentals, with some being rock, electro, dance, or even slow country styles to fit every person’s desire palettes. It clearly reflected that in the tourist industry, even if some famous Martian and Cebravin music naturally worked its way into the radio stations.

Stone could internally control his augmented eye’s vision at will. It showed as he scanned the ocean surface. The splashing waves would come to and fro. The eye was trying to go further in its sight. The red outlines would only appear if they were beyond the visual spectrum of the average human eye. Just below the surface of the crashing waves, the marine could even see some of the fish-like marine wildlife that swam around, but it wasn’t enough to see the bottom either.

“I regret not sending my complaint to the UHN command yet,” Stone said to himself in a quiet, angered tone. “Make me the fucking babysitter...”

His words were interrupted as he could see the outline near the dock. The T’rintar clan attack submarine, which was similar to shuttles, including size, could operate at extreme depths. The cylindrical silhouette appeared in his vision as it moved near the surface with perfect precision. It produced no wake to them and had a hydrodynamic drive and pump-jet configuration. It moved surprisingly fast like a shuttlecraft but only coming up from the surface. Stone could even see a Shal’rein soldier outline that was part of the patrol as it was coming up to the surface. The aquatic race could easily breathe in and out of the water without any problem. It was apparent that this soldier was a part of the patrol unit.

The submarine reached the dock as it surfaced. The greenish hull poked its head out of the water. A bridge in the center was the first thing that could be seen, but a top bow-mounted light railgun turret appeared, not including the torpedo tubes that adorned the bow section. The Itreans were used to war, and having to fight on all-terrain was paramount. A few onlookers even had a chance to remark upon the aesthetic beauty of the ship.

It didn’t take very long as the water ran off the metallic organic hull of the vessel. Once that happened, a hatch behind the submarine opened up. A small elevator rose up from the inside carrying a single passenger. From a distance, Stone could see her perfectly. The Itrean woman looked at the dock and leaped off the submarine onto the slab of concrete. Even with her small belongings, it didn’t impede her progress to move around. Nor did they need to extend a platform to the vessel.

Ioren appeared to be from first aspects to be an Aksren with feathers, but that was with a quick scan. Even Stone’s eyes widened as he scowled.

“An Aksren?” he said as he gripped his hands hard to the steering wheel. “They are assigning an Aksren to me? The same people that conquered Cipra? I will have more to add to the complaint now...” his scowl came to a stop, though. “Odd ... for an Aksren, she doesn’t have the same features...”

Suddenly, the marine had a mild regret in not reading the profile of his future partner the day prior. Instead, he continued to note her looks and appearances. This Ioren should have been Aksren but looked more and more like a Yutilian now. The Aksren typically had the prominent cranial head crest or nose crest that covered the top section of the snout. This ridge would protrude upward, giving a look that followed the ancient descendants of oviraptors. Ioren did have a similar ridge on her nose, but it was shorter. Her snout was slightly longer but didn’t end in the sharp downward beak that most Aksren had. Her appearances also had a Yutilian like appeal. She had feathers like the Yutilian that covered her top head just past the crest that went down her back. They also existed on her arms and tail. Most of them were a myriad of green and red. She even carried a similar Yutilian light-scale feather pattern as well. Generally, she was a brownish color. She wore human-style civilian clothes like she was prepared to be out in the open environment. This consisted of a black and red shirt that covered her breasts and green and blue shorts with a neatly cut hole for her tail to wave around freely.

Her talon feet neatly scrapped the concrete dock as she walked forward. Her reptilian eyes were scanning the landscape. She had a bag that consisted of her belongings. It wasn’t much, and even Stone’s augmented eye could tell that she only had so much.

“Damn. I will have to help her find shit too...” Stone said to himself as he shook his head. “Although ... I do spot something that I won’t have to get for her.”

In her belongings was an outline of a gun that he recognized. For a partner, she already had her own sidearm. This alone appeased the marine a little bit and even somewhat impressed him. It only made sense as she was part of the military unit. Sidearms were allowed on Oshun but regulated to conceal only in public. That was, of course, excluding the police and the military. For them, they were allowed to open carry while on duty. He also recognized other gear that might prove beneficial in the worst of conditions.

There was no sense of anxiety or fear in how she walked. She walked with stride, but the marine was studying her inflections to the best that he could. Her reptilian eyes naturally scanned the area looking for him. Her eyes would slant slightly in the way she looked, but perhaps this was caused by the bright sunlight. She wasn’t that far from his car now.

The submarine began to dive again as the hatch closed up. It was going in complete reverse as it was heading back into the water. Meanwhile, Stone knew that it was time for him to tell her that he was there.

He pressed the car horn producing an acoustic sound that grabbed Ioren’s attention. He kept his face with a slight scowl.

“Come here!” Stone yelled from his car at her. “I don’t have all day.”

Evidently, the Itrean woman heard him, but she didn’t move at a hurried pace either. Instead, she just simply walked to his car. He was studying her reaction carefully. First impressions were important but only from telling the person’s personality.

The passenger car door slid up to give her entry while she climbed in. Her small height naturally made things easier for getting in and out. Her being the average height of a Yutilian or Aksren of four to five feet gave her room to place her belongings down beneath her feet. She only had to adjust her tail as it brushed her side.

“Hmph...” Stone remarked as he looked at her. For him, it was the first time he really spoke to an Itrean face to face, but he hated the idea. Regardless, he had to say something to her. He didn’t have a choice in this partnership.

Ioren saw the door slid closed as Stone started up the car. The electric motor quietly powered up as the marine muted the radio.

“Ugh ... my name and rank is Master Sergeant Richmond Stone. Your name is...” He reluctantly questioned her.

The tone of his voice spilled over onto Ioren as she turned her head away. Any form of curiosity was gone in her face. Her eyes even showed a discouraging look. She didn’t say anything and folded up her arms.

“Hey! I told you my name,” Stone raised his voice at her. “What’s your name?”

She gave a mean look at him and remained quiet. It only seemed to aggravate the marine.

“Ugh ... fine ... we are assigned to be together anyway,” he partially relented. “I’m your new partner. The clan assigned you to the Oshun police precinct. The UHN assigned me to work for the police here, and the T’rintar clan assigned you to be here. So the UHN feels that it is best for both of us to work together.”

She turned her head a little bit as he noticed his voice gave a very slight friendly tone to it, but she was trying to tell if he was mocking her. Her head tilted up as her left eye scanned his face closely. She dropped her folded-up arms as Stone could see the clawed fingertips of her four-digit hands. She remained quiet.

“Going to be the strong silent type ... whatever...” Stone remarked. “You won’t gain anything from acting like that in front of me.”

Her head once again tilted a little bit as she was analyzing him. It seemed to have dawned to her of what he was doing. It caused her to reach down and pull out a pair of two large metal strips from her side pocket. The marine recognized them as the Itrean tilons, the human equivalent of computer tablets. She pulled the two strips apart as a projection screen appeared from the separated pieces.

A digital keyboard appeared on the screen that showed the Itrean alphabet. She was busy typing as the words went downward and then the right. The complexity of the language baffled humanity. It was so difficult to decipher that it almost didn’t make sense in how it worked. Letters that were typed would merge into singular, more complex characters somewhat similar to Japanese or Chinese, but the fact that it would also go to the right at the same time was when the similarities ended.

This wasn’t to say that it was impossible either. On the contrary, the language worked in the Itrean favor. It was apparently effortless for the alien race to learn English, Chinese, and other known human languages in turn. They even preferred to speak in the human tongues rather than having the humans struggle to speak theirs’. Other advances helped the cohabitation of both races as the Itrean woman pressed a button on the lower right.

Suddenly, the Itrean words changed in shape. The computer of the tilon was shifting the language into English while translating them almost instantly. The Itrean words were read out loud from the computer device that Stone could hear. It was in the form of a computerized reptilian-like voice.

“My name and rank is Lesser Centurion Ioren,” it reported. “Hello, Master Sergeant Richmond Stone. My clan has assigned me to serve with you in joint UHN operations. I am very proficient in English, so I ask that you don’t treat me as an Itrean that doesn’t know the language.”

“Hmph...” Stone noted with skepticism. “For an Itrean that supposedly knows English, you certainly rely on a tilon to do your work.”

Ioren gave a dirty look at him the moment that she heard it. Even her feathers rose up a little bit. For Stone, he didn’t care about her reaction. However, even he knew that he had to carry on with the conversation despite all of it. So he decided to be nonchalant and start driving. The vehicle began to move forward as it moved out of the parking spot and into the main driveway. Ioren began to type more words onto her tilon as the marine’s attention was focused away from her. After writing her sentence, she pressed a new button as her device spoke out the translated text.

“Did you find a place for me to live yet?” the tilon stated. It was enough that Stone turned his head slightly to see that the alien woman was looking in his direction. He knew the device was speaking for her.

“No,” Stone replied to Ioren. “What do I look like? I’m not your fucking babysitter. That’s your problem.”

The tone once again did not sit well with Ioren. Her dirty look at him persisted as she resumed typing a new sentence onto her tilon. The vehicle was leaving the parking lot as it reached the main road. The traffic was surprisingly not bad in this region. The electronic hum of the engine was so quiet that only moving tires and the outside activity could be heard.

“What are we going to do today?” the tilon stated.

“What do you expect?” the marine replied with a scowl. “God damn paperwork for your ass to sit down with me.”

Ioren frowned as she began to type heavily on her tilon.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

“Why the fuck would you care?” he asked.

“I’m your partner,” she typed frivolously. “It is your responsibility to help make sure that I adjust to the new environment.”

“Who said anything about that? I will take care of the paperwork like I’m supposed to, but the rest of it is your shit to take care of. Knowing my luck, I would get nothing for my trouble in helping you. Like most of you, Aksren, you will just whine and bitch about it anyway.”

She hissed at him the moment that she heard that. It even caused her to stammer in her typing before she resumed.

“Why do you accuse me of that? The Aksren do not act that way. I find that discriminating.”

“Oh ... I know the Aksren of the Aksren clan,” Stone continued to assault her verbally. “They can act like pretentious, arrogant sons of bitches. Fucking Shìlì de xīyì...”

It took her a second for her to translate the Chinese words he said before they registered in her mind. She didn’t enjoy the conversation and continued typing on her tilon.

“You don’t know me, and it seems that you didn’t read about my profile at all. Aksren of the T’rintar clan don’t act like that, and I am not fully Aksren either, stupid human.”

“You’re not fully Aksren...” he replied with a scowl. “What are you some sort of freak?”

The words were said in a derogatory manner as she typed. “My mother was Aksren, and my father was Yutilian.”

It confirmed to Stone what he needed to hear. Her features tended to add up, but it was an odd look. Such appearances, even in the Itreans, were not commonplace.

“So you are some sort of ... Yuksren...” he concluded.

She hadn’t considered the word usage. She didn’t know if she should consider it an insult or not, but she decided to go ahead and give the benefit of the doubt to him. She nodded her head to him in an attempt to appease him.

“I see...” he said as he waited for the traffic light to turn. One of the drivers refused to continue moving forward, being distracted from something else. Ioren watched as Stone began to bang his car horn to get the driver’s attention. He lowered his window as the marine lifted his head out to yell at the driver.

“Hey! Fucking move your ass!” Stone screamed at the driver. Before the car moved forward, the driver gave an angered, surprised look at him. He pointed his finger at him. “Yeah, stop looking at your tablet and MOVE!” the marine continued to scream at him. Finally, the driver shook his head, held his hand up, and continued to drive forward.

“Fucking rip your arm and shove it down your throat!” Stone continued as he moved his head back.

Ioren had seen her share of humans before, but she was fully convinced that Stone was not a happy individual. It caused her almost to close up her tilon, knowing that the type of individual he was. She had a scowl on her face that almost seemed to rival Stone. For a brief moment, the marine turned to look at her. He could see the same look that he knew that he had. He huffed from his nose as the vehicle continued to move forward.

“I notice that you have an AKT-1 pistol,” Stone remarked as he kept his attention on the road. “It is a good firearm to have.” He said it in a tone that was less hostile and demeaning to her. It caused her to hesitate for a little bit till she finally started resuming typing on her tilon.

“How much do you know about Itrean firearms?”

“Enough to know that that you have an excellent sidearm,” Stone explained. “Your AKT-1s were introduced just after the Emphra Wars as a unity-based pistol that the Aksren and Yutilians could both fully use. It was such a good design that both clans still use them even if the Itrean United Government fell apart. It’s a solid design equipped with fifteen 7mm rounds and an under-slung mini-grenade launcher for launching decoys to lure away seeker grenades. I can go further, but I am sure that you already know about them.”

This impressed and surprised Ioren. Even for such an attitude that he had, it was as if Stone fully knew about guns, including the alien variety. Even the tone of his voice gave the slightest of inflections that he enjoyed talking about it. She knew enough about his background from the report that indicated that he didn’t come from Oshun, but the planet of Aphadus, a known world where there was the absolute minimum of gun laws. This hinted to her that if she were going to try to break the ice with him, she would have to find an equal ground. She decided to hold her scowl and look at his sidearm. The large handgun he had was tucked nicely in its holster, pressing against the seat’s fabric. She tried to identify it, but it was challenging. The holster itself completely enveloped the firearm, but she could tell that his gun was far more significant than hers. She started typing on her tilon as it spoke her words.

“I can’t tell the gun that you are using. It doesn’t look like a UHN sidearm.”

“That is because it is a TT-50 Desert Falcon,” Stone explained in a neutral tone. “The UHN uses the M70 and M81 Pistols. Good designs, but not effective enough against heavy armor like the Shal’rein armor. This gun is powerful enough to punch into their armor or most UHN infantry-based equipment.”

She paused as she considered it and resumed typing. “The UHN should consider using your gun in warfare.”

“The UHN is usually a bunch of fucking morons to not know the difference, but in this case, they have an argument. The TT-450 or MF-5 model is being used more and more by some marine commanders due to the war. The problem is that these guns only hold eight rounds compared to the nineteen round 9mm M81s.”

Ioren could see the variety of buildings as she remarked on it. For a brief moment, the marine looked over to her. He could see that her clawed fingers were tapping her side. He seemed convinced in doing something that caused him to take a right turn at another street light. The Itrean woman had a discouraged viewpoint. It was as if Stone’s towering size and vibes were drawing all life away in the car. She still needed to learn about her terrain as she resumed typing on her tilon.

“What is the crime rate here?”

“Bad enough,” Stone briefly answered with a mild frown. He looked over to Ioren as she sighed before he added to it. “This continent and Palora have the higher crime rate percentages when compared to the UWA. 90% of homicide crimes are solved each year. Most crimes are theft, but we do get murder, homicide, and fool play cases that we have to work on. Most crimes are gang-related, theft-related, kidnapping, and arson. Murder rate was 295 last year on Oshun. The detectives usually work on them, but our job reflects mostly on the UHN crimes and misdemeanors.”

“Yes,” she nodded as she continued typing. “UHN marines or sailors that commit crimes, Itreans that commit crimes are to be apprehended by us.”

“It looks good on paper, but the police are sometimes overwhelmed by their tasks. Expect us to help them out when things get out of hand, or some major event takes place. Likewise, expect them to help us out if things get out of hand for us.”

“Expect anything?”

“Expect the worse each day,” he replied. “Sometimes there is no crime at all for months, and sometimes there is rampant crime that occurs all at once. I have been here long enough to know that we are due for a series anytime now.”

“They come in waves?” she typed. Her head tilted to the side as she listened intently.

“Yes.”

A part of her seemed to think as she considered it. It was as if she was trying to see a pattern that caused it. She continued to type.

“It is possible to find a cause and prevent future crime sprees because of that.”

“That sounds good and all, but if that were the case, then 99% of the crime wouldn’t even exist at all,” Stone responded with a slight fluster. His head shook. “No ... you have to deal with the political climate that is Oshun itself.”

She gave a puzzled look to him. It was enough to hint to the marine that she didn’t understand.

“Oshun has annual elections,” the marine tried to explain. “Every time it builds up to an election, the crime rate explodes. You will find that it conveniently drops after the elections have concluded.”

“You have seen this?” she typed it out.

“Yes.”

“When do the next elections happen?”

“The next set of elections is in three weeks. Going to be mayoral elections too, so expect it to be big.”

“Why does it happen? Do the police prepare for this?”

“Corruption and politics. It is easier for the bastards at the top to convince the population that the next person running for election can fix crime when it is out of control. Once they are elected, they can call their groups which call their groups and slowly work their way to the bottom. The tourists are impressed, the population is impressed, and new bastards run for the next term until the next bastard can do the same thing. It is a perpetual cycle that results in the worst of the worst.”

“Have you said anything about this?” The look on her face showed concern.

“I have, and they don’t like me very much for saying it either. I even provided evidence that the crime rate never increases among the UHN sailors and marines during those election processes. They just come up with convenient excuses or ignore them and shove them away. We also have to deal with the fact that the police force can also get bought up too.”

Ioren shook her head as she heard all of this. She hadn’t gained trust with Stone, and the concept was somewhat crazy or ludicrous. For all she knew, the marine was just nuts and a lunatic. But then again, she had to take the idea lightly. Stone was here longer than she was.

The car began to pull over on the side of the road. The Itrean woman barely had a chance to note her surroundings until the conversation died down. This location of the vast city still consisted of towering skyscrapers, but the sidewall décor was a little bit worn down. It was far away from the tourist-covered beaches. Here was the place where more workers came and gone. A small plaza was located not far from the passenger side of Ioren. A little bit of curiosity showed on her face as she tilted her head a little bit. She was in the process of typing the words down when Stone interrupted her.

“Alright...” Stone said as he parked the car and shut off the engine. “Time to head in.”

Ioren was trying to ask but didn’t have a way to say it. She looked at the area intently. This plaza consisted of three stores, with the biggest being appropriately called “Tarone Arsenal Emporium Shop,” written in both English and Chinese. The other one was a small restaurant and a small clothing store.

Stone got out of his car and had little patience for the Itrean woman. She had a look of confusion as she closed up her tilon and opened up the car door.

“Come on ... and bring your pistol,” Stone lightly smacked the roof of the car. “We are heading in.”

Ioren was watching the marine intently. It was here that she could see the sheer height of the man. She was dwarfed by him being taller and more massive than most humans she had seen before. His size and mass admittedly took her back a little bit, but the marine didn’t care. She was not necessarily afraid of him, but she wasn’t going to test her luck by pissing him off. By now, she was getting the hint that he was only going to say things louder if he had to repeat himself. She reached into her bag and pulled out her pistol.

“You’re on duty,” Stone told her. “It is our job to make sure that you are fitted to be on duty. So don’t expect me to give you any other form of charity for all this.”

She put things together quickly as she checked to ensure the gun was on safe. She held it close to her side as she closed the door of the car. When she turned around, she could already see the marine was walking towards the store.

Ioren hurriedly moved to catch up. Her tail waved a little bit as her digitigrade legs drove her at a fast pace. She could see a couple of construction workers that eyed her on the walking path. They took a quick glance as she quickly moved up to the side of the marine.

The Armory Emporium doors slid open as the rush of new gun smell littered her senses. The scent went to the marine’s nose as he momentarily closed his eyes. It was a nostalgic scent that only seemed to bring pleasant memories.

As they walked in, a couple of customers were browsing the wares but not paying any attention to the two. This place was clearly a gun shop. It was stunningly beautiful, consisting of multiple clear cases that depicted guns of numerous types, gun kits, locks, tools for firearms, survival gear, ammunition boxes, bulletproof jackets, holsters, and more. This place was armed to the teeth, even having sentry gun turrets mounted on the side corners of the store. If anybody dared tried to rob this place, they would be dead before they would even think twice about their mistake.

Three staff members were present, with one that looked directly in Stone’s direction. A gigantic smile appeared on his face. He wore clothing that had a long yellow and black t-shirt and black baggy pants that went below his knees. He had the typical dark complexion, dreadlocks that flowed down his shoulders, and a big black beard on his face.