Page 38 of Stalker

"Yes, Daddy. I'm sorry I didn't ask first." My voice comes out small, childlike. "He needed a place to stay and-"

"Is it a Vakutan?" The sharp edge in his voice makes me flinch.

"What? No, of course not."

The tension drains from his face, replaced by his usual warm smile. "Oh, well that's fine then, sweetheart. You know you canuse the condo however you like. Just be careful with aliens, some species can be... unpredictable."

"Thanks, Dad."

"How are your classes going? That project on waste recycling-"

"Great, we presented today. Professor Chen loved it." The whiplash from his mood change leaves me dizzy. "Listen, I need to go. Library study session."

"Of course, princess. Love you."

"Love you too."

I stare at the dark screen. "That was weird."

The melted ice cream pools on the table, forgotten. Dad's reaction nags at me like a loose thread begging to be pulled. First that woman at lunch mentioning Rakura IV, now this thing about Vakutans...

The library's cool air hits my face as I push through the heavy doors. Maybe the historical archives will have something about Rakura IV that wasn't in the sanitized media reports.

My fingers hover over the search console. Do I really want to know? What if I find something that changes everything?

The weight of Bruticus's collar reminds me - I already chose my path when I accepted this. Truth matters more than comfortable lies.

I type "Rakura IV incident" into the search bar and press enter.

The search results populate my screen, each one matching Dad's version perfectly. Pirates took hostages. Security forces had no choice. A tragic necessity.

My shoulders relax. Maybe that woman at lunch was just confused, or-

Wait.

There, buried on page six of the results. A header catches my eye: "Death, Lies, and Cover Ups: The Rakura IV Massacre"

Massacre? My throat goes dry. No one's ever called it that before. The source is unfamiliar - Khurse News Network. The site's design looks ancient, preserved in some dusty corner of the archives.

A tooltip appears when I hover over the publisher info: "Defunct media company. Reaper-owned. Operations ceased 2187."

The collar feels ice-cold against my skin as I click the link. The ancient loading animation spins, each rotation making my heart beat faster.

My hands shake so badly I have to grip the edge of the desk. Do I really want to know what's behind that link? What truths might be hiding in those words?

The progress bar creeps forward. Ten percent. Twenty. Thirty...

I could close it. Walk away. Keep believing everything Dad told me.

But Bruticus's face flashes through my mind. His pain when he talks about his mother. The way his voice breaks when he mentions Rakura.

The loading screen continues its slow crawl across my screen.

A red X flashes across my screen, stopping the download cold. "Error: Content Violation - Access Denied" blinks in harsh crimson letters.

My heart pounds. A content violation? For a historical article?

"Excuse me?" I wave over the library's assistance droid. Its chrome shell gleams as it glides to my station. "I'm having trouble accessing this article. Could you help?"