Sally, Part 35

 Sally, Part 34

Stacey couldn't see Mattias's expression in the dark, but he really didn't care.  Sally was dead, the ship he worked for had been taken over, and his best cooking pot was back on a hostile ship.  As far as he could tell, he had nothing left to live for.

Mattias didn't say anything for a long while, and Syrin still seemed to be peering out the hole in the wall.  Finally, Mattias gathered his thoughts and started, "Stacey, I'm sorry you heard that.  I really have no way to prove to you that what you heard was a lie, other than by telling you that it was."

"How am I supposed to believe you?"  Stacey's anger was coming up again.  "You're not even human."

At this, Syrin turned around, "Not human?  What are you trying to say Pudgy?  That only humans can be trusted?  Do you know what race of man continued to beat me long after I was conscience?  Do you know what race it was that killed my mother?  Do you know..."

Mattias cut him off, "Syrin, I understand your anger, but like you, Stacey has a history too.  We cannot expect him to try and understand us if we do not try to understand him.  It's true Stacey.  I did try to deceive you and the crew.  My race is, if nothing else, not understood by most races here.  We've come here for centuries trying to help where we can, but sometimes our help is seen as something else, so we often wear disguises so that we can move around unhindered.  Even after I got to know you I was still uncertain about telling you this.  I've found that races here do not trust each other, and I did not want to risk you not trusting me, though it seems my plan has backfired."

"I'm still not sure how I can know if you're telling me the truth about the slaves."

"You can't.  What I taught you on the ship, all of that is true.  It's truly what I believe.  I believe all men should be free."

Syrin was growing impatient, "Look, Mattias.  He's just like all the other humans.  He'll never trust you.  Let's either leave him, or kill him.  We've got to get moving while we still know where they are."

"So what do you say, Stacey?  You trusted me once.  Will you trust me again, and help us with this?"

"I can hear them coming back, hurry."

Stacey had trusted Mattias once, and believed in what he taught.  Perhaps Mattias was telling the truth, but then, if he wasn't, maybe Stacey could sabotage those plans before they got too far.  "I'll go with you, but you'd better be telling me the truth."

Stacey's eyes had started to get used to the darkness and could faintly see a grin spread across Mattias's face, "I am.  Don't you worry."

Syrin stepped out from the hole, "That's all very well, now let's go."