Book 10 - Chapter 3 - Psycho Surgery -edited

The Apparition felt quite crowded. While she was designated a destroyer. and had been designed from the ground up to accommodate most Union members up to BaPhy II, she was not meant to accommodate a crowd of Petharian and Y'All volunteers.

Xon, the Gray Nul prince, himself member of a species of considerable physical presence sat behind the Communications station. "I never dreamt of being part of a crew, that makes me feel small."

"What are you complaining about?" Ensign Salhof, one of the Mini Terrans asked. Even without an active cloak, him being just a tad over ten centimeters tall appeared almost invisible on the small bridge. He was sitting right on the tactical console, rather than behind it.

Har-Hi, my XO standing with crossed arms next to me, gave me a glance from the side. "I think it is a good thing, being small and all, Mr.Sahlhof. The bigger you are the more you stick out, and I know a certain Neo Viking that attacks pretty much anything larger than her."

Hans, my Security chief and after Dusty, physically the largest of our crew standing behind me, manning the security console used his enormous fingers. "Y'All, Xandrao, Togar, Shiss, Stompers, fiery demons just for starters."

I made myself sound insulted. "I am a delicate person and you all make me sound like..."

Narth interrupted me. "...some sort of brutish barbarian perhaps?"

"Guys, I am your captain, we are in a serious situation. On our way to examine a hostile spaceship filled with unknowns way beyond our technological abilities. I expect you to be a tad more serious!"

"And where do you come from? Didn't I see you in the engine room with a cloud of parts?"

"I decided to be part of this mission. You did not order me to do anything specific. Circuit did not need me."

"Well in that case, if Circuit says so."

Narth sounded very Narth like and very serious. "How does one quantify a 'tad'?"

Of all beings present on the crowded bridge, it was TheOther who raised his upper right arm. "A tad is a small indefinite amount or a small indefinite quantity, meaning it is an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude. Linguistic scholars believe it probably originated from a Terran language called English."

The deadpan delivery of this information made me groan. "Odin help! Now we got a Y'All nerd. How in Loki's name would you know something like that?"

"I am attending a GalNet Bible class. One element is Ancient Terran language studies."

Narth declined his head towards the Y'All. "One appreciates this definition. Not that the very concept of indefinite makes sense to the Narth."

Har-Hi chuckled. "I remember that Bible thing from Stahl's wedding. It had a lot of funny stories if I recall."

Mao laughing. "Narth scared the living daylights out of a guy called the Pope."

I interrupted the banter. "Enough now, guys. Focus! We should be getting close."

My tactical officer instantly switched to professional behavior. "Aye Captain. We are approaching the 3 light-year mark in two minutes."

Shaka had remained aboard the Tigershark, as he had developed quite the engineering skills. First demonstrated some time back when we were stuck on Quagmire's Bog. Now he was assisting Circuit restoring the damaged systems, but Krabbel was not only the best navigator in my opinion but also an excellent Helmsman.

My Archa friend, operating helm and navigation held up one of his legs in a clear, but most likely unconscious attempt to emulate his friend Shaka. "Dropping at your requested distance, now."

Tyron supplemented the Apparition's scanner and sensor data with its own and transmitted it as visually interpreted information right into my retina. To me, the effect was an easy to digest overlay overt the visual image.

The remaining aft section of the huge thing was still there. The passive scanner data I received highlighted hundreds of energy sources.

Narth, acting as the science officer reported. "There are multiple sources of repair activities. It does not appear to be consistent with the replicative activity observed with Seenian equipment."

I acknowledged and said. "Thank the gods for that." I shifted a little in my seat and said. "No sense of delaying it. Krabbel get us close and approach that thing."

--""--

Lord Lumis should have felt proud and invincible in his new shiny white armor, armed with a new sword as he passed through the rift that connected Crea's Upper realm with the Citadel of Light.

However, recent events had changed his outlook on things forever.

To Crea, to the universe, he was the old arrogant Lord Lumis, the invincible champion of the Spirit of Creation herself. Chosen above all that ever lived, bestowed with powers of cosmic magnitude, he was the one to banish and defeat the vilest and truly evil entity, the incarnation of darkness.

He was so confident and assured in his power and position when he met his adversary the first time.

Lord Lumis was at the peak of power, nothing in creation his equal. His opponent, still trapped in a weak, mortal body of a human female, the Dark One not even fully resurrected. He, the Lord of Light should have been victorious. Yet, before he could even complete that attack, he was swatted aside with such unrivaled power, that shattered unbreakable bones, tore impenetrable skin and drained his lifeforce. Yet his opponent lashed out with a tiny fraction, with no more effort than a fleeting afterthought.

Crea assured him that he now was equal in might to herself. That the new armor was a representation of that might and the new sword, a weapon without equal.

While he acted as if he believed her, he sensed Crea's fear. She knew the time of reckoning was soon at hand. Openly she proclaimed the new sword to have no equal, yet she urged him to find the WEAPON, an object used to strike against the Dark One and cause his defeat.

He had partnered with a Netherworld Lord, but Ciferus had abandoned him.

Now he had once more returned to the Prime Universe, the core reality of all the Omni-Verse. It was here the streams of time and space moved unstoppable towards that ultimate confrontation. It was here where he would have to face the fully restored and resurrected entity known as the Dark One.

Crea invested all of her essence and supernatural being in Lord Lumis and his success finding that obscure object, the WEAPON. This was her last hope to escape her destiny, and his destiny was  tied to hers with unbreakable bonds.

Lumis gave his cape a sweeping motion before he sat on his throne, known as the Seat of the Righteous.

Of the twelve stalwart Paladins of Light, only nine had gathered at the bottom of the golden steps. Gariel the mightiest of all, killed by Luc. Miracel, now exiled for all eternity in a desolate Netherworld realm. Zophim dead, slain by what the Urd claimed was a mortal warrior.

Uritel, one of the first Lumis had chosen and elevated knelt and spread his arms. "Champion of Light, you returned to the Citadel. Your summon has reached us, but Miracel has not answered your call. None of us can sense him."

Lumis made a dismissing gesture. "I know of Miracel and his fate. He will be rewarded and return to us once we defeated Darkness."

"Our numbers dwindle, Champion of Light, our resolve to be defenders of the Realm of light has not. Speak then, dispel the rumors that you, Lord Lumis thou hast allied thyself with foul Ciferus."

"I am allied to Crea alone. I did meet with Ciferus and by the decree of the Seven Circles that govern the conditions at Avondur, I did not confront him."

Another if his Knights, stepped next to Urtiel. Lumis recognized Serael of course.

The tall Knight holding his helmet under his right arm, exposing his blonde hair said with unveiled accusation. "Another rumor speaks of you casting lots with that abomination known as the Necro King."

Before Lumis could answer, another knight chastised Serael. "Silence your doubts, Serael. It is I, Haramal who has just returned from the Necro King's stronghold. This death worshiping insult to life has been utterly destroyed, and so have all his followers. That necropolis is utterly destroyed. No doubt the work of our beloved master."

Lumis nodded. "Of course, it was I, who else could destroy in such a manner?" Then he quickly changed the subject.

"I have traveled and must confirm the Dark One has found his vessel. It was revealed to me that a WEAPON exists, able to slay this most foul of all entities. Crea herself predicted it to be found on Avondur."

Uritel was now certain their master was either a great fool or a liar. "I have stayed silent and considered all the possibilities. I have knelt before you and hoped you would speak to us truthful as it is the hallmark of Light. Deception is the realm of Netherworld dwellers.

I ask you here within the walls of our Citadel and before the ones pledged to the Champion of Light. Lord Lumis, speak the truth and all of it. Do not think of me, of us as fools.

If you believe what you say, you are not a worthy Champion of Light. If you speak to deceive us, then I shall no longer be thy knight."

Lumis was completely taken by surprise. "How dare you question me? Do you not see what Crea has bestowed upon me?"

"That the Dark One has found its vessel was established and confirmed when we spoke to you the last time. It was established and confirmed that the Dark One has found and gathered eight tokens. It was you who traveled with Ciferus. Balkurs proclaimed it. The Sentinel of the Rifts saw it and Geoan confirmed it. You have been seen with the Netherworld lord on N'Ger.

But you fell for Haramal's rouse. "It was not you who destroyed the Necro King and slew all the servants."

First, he wanted to lash out and punish them all, he did have the power to do so, but after facing the enemy he was destined to fight, he had changed.

Instead of striking Uritel he sank into his throne.

"It is true. The mistress, the goddess of all creation has not prepared me for what I am facing. I was already striking, what is to become the Dark One, and I was swiped away. Not with a weapon, not even conscious, just a thought. Knights, I have no way to explain what I felt. It was true and unbridled power. It was universal, cosmic and ultimate. It was such anger, an anger expressed in Dark Flames ready to consume reality and all that is the Metaverse." He sighed deeply and with open fear and resignation. "Yet it was not a force of chaos, oh no! It was controlled by the consciousness of a God."

Uritel slowly nodded. "Now you see the truth, Lord Lumis. It is an eternal truth. What begins, must end. What lives, must die. It is the dream of Light to vanquish darkness and death forever. It is a cosmic rule that can be broken and newly defined my lord.

The one that was called the Emperor has taken possession of the prophecy. The Seven Circles say he is a contender to the power and essence of the Dark One. The Prophecy speaks of the Weapon and we think it knows how it can be found."

Haramal, Regoldur, Masara the Battle Angel of Light and the rest stepped closer. Masara, not made or elevated by Lumis but a creature of the Upper Realms herself, never spoken many words ever since she joined the Knights of Light said. "He is more than a mortal but less than God. Once he controlled an Empire unparalleled in size and expanse. They say he lost interest in physical power and wanted to ascent. No one knows if he succeeded, but the Emperor is not to be trifled with. I am confident I can slay whatever he is. Whatever creature the Dark One occupies now is weak and tainted. Will the Dark One merge with the Emperor, the restored rule will be Evil itself. All Light and goodness banished forever."

Regoldur, a very strong Knight of light said. "Balkus, has not been defeated by you. He too stirs and amasses forces to tip the scales to his favor. Balkus is as old as the others and he too wants to be the Dark One."

Haramal, his arms crossed. "Crimsor, the Red Knight and servant of Sata himself has aspirations and some say his master, the Lord of many Nether Realms is the truest contender. Whatever will come to be, it will happen on Avondur."

--""--

Egill was certain he was never closer to death than just now. while he was far from helpless he needed to focus.

He suddenly felt warm again and could breathe. His vision was blurred and he felt as if a thousand needles were pushed in his skin. His Narth friend held him and Alegar, despite seeing only a hooded face, with nothing but bright glowing yellow light behind two eye slits. He felt a deep concern.

The usually inhuman voice of the Narth Representative had a warm tone. "Friend Egill, you are injured but you are alive."

Still unable to see details. He saw the outlines of a med bot rushing by and scooping him up on a form field stretcher.

The next thing he remembered, was a Union Medic smiling into his face. He felt completely fine.

"I hate Zero stasis! That robot put me in zero stasis did it not?"

The medic was a Colorful, with bright blue fur and very big cat-like ears. "Citizen, much of moisture in your lungs was frozen and caused serious damage. The zero stasis measure saved your life. You do have a new lung, new eyes and we did restore freeze damage to your hands."

"Alegar, is he okay?"

"Yes, Citizen. The Narth reacted fast enough to save you."

"Before I want to know what happened, how is the Detective?"

"He too is recuperating."

"Am I okay to leave?"

"Sorry not yet, Citizen. Your lung is not completely grown and you are still on our respiration system."

Egill realized he was suspended in a bathtub like bed or something. Filled with a bluish gel. He knew about Regen-Tanks, and he had spent quite some time in a Saresii Psi hospital, but his time there was more like being in a sanatorium.

The medic touched a panel and the tub like contraption tilted upward. Egill noticed the room was crowded with official-looking people, most of them of course Saresii.

One of them, wearing the uniform of a Union Police officer with the rank insignia of a Commander, was clearly male, despite his cultural-based efforts to appear female.

"I am here to apologize, Mr. Skallagrimmson and I am very glad to find you under good care and on your way to full recuperation."

"Apologies should come from whoever failed to maintain the safety systems."

"I am Commander Rychar and I fully agree with you. It was just an unfortunate chain of events that caused this accident. The long-range shuttle was an automated transport and on an incorrect approach path. The robot arm was not rated to handle a transport of this bulk, especially since the positioning thrusters were still active and counteracting to the..."

Egill snarled. "They said the Assembly explosion was a terror attack. It turned out it was something completely different. I do not accept your explanation of an accident. I will investigate myself as soon as I am out of here."

The medic said. "Union medicine is very advanced, but you are still healing."

The medic touched the panel again. Egill suddenly felt right as rain and the bio gel tub leveled out again. While Egill felt wonderful, there was a distant voice in his mind protesting against unwanted drugs.

Egill had lost his sense of time. When his mind was able to focus, the light in the room he was in had been dimmed. He could hear the faint electronic whisper of machines.

He felt alarmed, what medical condition was it that kept him in suspended animation like that?

His senses told him, he was not alone.

"Who's there?"

A beautiful Saresii came into view. She wore the Saresii version of a Medical Specialist. All white, with fine black lines curving around hips and boobs. She wore her peach-colored hair in a high riding knot. While her face was beautiful and flawless, it had an artificial, generic quality. He stared at her. "Who are you and why are you wearing a mask?"

She smiled at him. "Very good, Egill. You have a very sharp mind and eye for details, but not much longer. I am a very good Psych Surgeon. When we are done with you, we control the Wisemen and you will be a happy little puppet."

She looked at an info bubble. "Oh, don't get all excited, Egill. I am almost done mapping your mind and after that, you will be just fine."

Egill's mind filled with panic and fear. Psycho Surgery would wipe out his very essence and replace it with whatever the Psycho surgeon decided on. Where was the Narth?

She seemed to guess his thoughts. "We noticed how hard to kill the Immortal detective is. Cherubim tried it and failed, but we will change his mind."

She laughed. "The Narth? He can't read you right now. And once we are done, he will do what you guys suggest. The Narth is intelligent, but children when it comes to social interaction. Be proud, Egill we don't spare expenses to change your mind. She laughed, thirty more minutes and you won't know the difference between Nilfeheim and Pluribus."

She pressed a contact on a panel, Egill wanted to scream as he felt all his worries melt away.

--""--

Har-Hi checked the mag clamp controls again then he said. "The connection is solid and it looks no one noticed us."

Narth looked on his handheld scanner. "There are 7,545 fragments of scrap and debris with the approximate size of the Apparition and I sense no psionic or other activity that suggests we have been discovered."

"You sense any psionic activity?"

"Yes, but I am unable to make sense of it. Using human terms it feels as if the minds that emit the psionics are very deep asleep."

I cleared my throat. "No sense of delaying it. Let us be as stealthy as possible. That chunk of alien ship is still huge and could hold thousands."

Then I turned to Narth. "You understand your orders, right?"

"If disgusting biomatter hits the air moving device, and I can't extract you safely I return to the Tigershark, assume command and proceed to Camogi Star."

Har-Hi sounded defeated. "That's the essence of every plan you ever made. You should be back aboard the Tigershark, and you know it."

"I can't change who I am, Har-Hi. I can only make decisions if I know what we are up against."

Har-Hi checked his TKU and then opened the airlock door. The dark bulk across about a hundred meters of deep space. As I jumped after my Dai friend, I realized I had not been completely cured of my fear of space.

--""--

After we left the chaos of twisted metal and melted matter behind, the corridors became more defined. The cross-section of the corridor we now entered was that if a blunt triangle with steep inclining walls. If there were light elements, none worked. The part we were in, was still without an atmosphere and as cold as space.

TheOther right behind me said in a very low tone. "There are no airlocks, no seal able sections at least so far."

Mao agreed. "Not even Kermac ships lack seal able sections. When we punched this thing, we drained all the air out of it."

Mehedi keeping his attention on his scanner slowly shook his head. "I am convinced that, at least the sections we have inspected so far never held any atmosphere. All the materials show signs of decay, I think this ship is very old."

Har-Hi who insisted on taking point stopped us with a hand sign. "My advance drone reports movement and an energy source coming this way."

As if on cue, a dark red shaded wall panel suddenly slid open and something that reminded me of a Ypeherix, same size, similar shape withered away in a barrage of a dozen TKU blasts before I could see it clearer.

I gave Krabbel a scolding look as he discharged all four of his TKU blasters.

"Maybe we can talk and find out more before we roast them."

Har-Hi tapped on his wrist readout. "The one detected by my drone is about to come into sight."

I motioned my friends and crew to hug the walls for cover and told them to hold their fire.

The thing that came into view indeed shared many characteristics with the Ypeherix warrior I had met in that doomed jungle planet a while back. However, this thing clearly had artificial components and had an overall smooth and somehow manufactured character.

The walls did not really provide any cover, but the thing simply stalked past us, not taking any notice. It carried a deformed metal piece in its claw-like pincers.

"Tyron, turn on all shields you got."

"Aye, Captain. You are under full Seenian shields and triple ParaDim."

With this, I  stepped into the middle of the corridor, but the alien thing did not react to me in any way.

Har-Hi reported another one coming this way.

I remained standing in the middle of the corridor. The alien worker thing also carried a piece of metal and simply stalked around me, and continued on its path.

Mao said. "Are those robots?"

Mehedi reading his scanner results. "Those things have considerable bio components, emit very weak bio-neural energies."

Even after several hours of exploring, we did not find anything else than these stalking robot-like things. We observed them clearing debris and carrying it to a central location and an ever-increasing pile of scrap.

We called the Apparition and the Tigershark to let them know we were in no danger.

The whole thing was huge and it took us a while to advance, as we still expected other more aggressive opposition.

But we finally breached into an immense storage room of sorts. Shelf racks held many thousand of these Ypeherix worker things, looking dead or inactive.

TheOther waved me to a central column like storage shelf. "This is the source of the psionic thoughts Narth identified, Captain. There are a few thousand beings in cryostasis, but most are dead. According to my scanner, only two appear to be alive."

After spending almost a day, having my friends spread out. We found nothing immediately dangerous or aggressive. After the violent attack, this proofed to be rather anti-climatic.

I even decided to send the Apparition back and pull Shea from helping Circuit, so she could have a look.

Cateria and Brana had arrived as well and examined the Cryo unit closer.

My CMO said to me after a while. "I think the two beings inside these cryo cells are beyond help, Captain."

"It's the advanced tech?"

She shook her head. "The tech is advanced indeed and in general terms perhaps TL 10, but crude compared to Seenian tech. I brought a load of Circuit's nanites."

From behind one of the fogged op cryo capsules, I heard a mumbling curing.

There was Meeze!

He looked up. "Oh heloz, Captinz. Theze Rundiranz are no gooz for eazing, Baaah tastiz baaz!"

"Weren't you supposed to work on the discharge chamber or something? And did you just try to eat one of those alien Cryo corpses?"

"Meeze fizes Biig Boomz and wenze small shipiz comnz. Meeze thinz to checkz on youz." Then he held up something greenish, looking something. "Yeez, Meeze triez. baah iz baz buz youz wanz triez?"

"Uh no, I take your word for it. What is a Rundirans?"

He pointed at the Cryo storage. "Allz zem are Rundiranz. Zey are ze verzy olz makiz theirz ownz livez, whenz zey not likez yourz lifez. Meeze noz likez Rundiranz, noz gooz forz ze eaz."

"You know what these aliens are?"

"Whaz I jusz saiz? Captinz, Meeze likez youz buz maybezz you not listenz or maybez a lize biz stoopiz?"

--""--