Version 2006 - Ch 43

INTERLUDE

Alvor's Cove

2nd Planet in the Ihyi-54 System - Free space

About 20 clicks north of Alvor's Canyon where the mountains ended and the endless sand and dust deserts really began, a dull all terrain vehicle grinded through the rough terrain. It was an old machine with tracks and an engine that ran on a petroleum distillate, black stuff that could be found everywhere on this dusty world. Ban Hoo, the driver and owner of the crawler was quite proud of it, most of the other desert scavengers rode on Katthais. Ban Hoo hated these lizards and their stench. Like all Dai he had an excellent sense of smell. That the other scavengers complained and accused his machine of stinking bothered him little. That was one of the few benefits of his chosen profession, you did not have much contact with others once you left town. Out here were only wild Lizards and snakes. Out here he had time to think and as usual when he was thinking his mind wandered back and the reasons he was here. The others had long quit asking why he, a proud Dai Thaan Warrior became a planet bound vagabond instead of raiding ships and planets with his clan, because they knew he had no clan anymore. He was the last of the Tun-Ha Clan as far as he knew. He had been the one in the scout ship, who found that perfect colony to be raided. The Clan moved in, but it was a trap and a Union Fleet destroyed and killed anyone not surrendering. It was the scouts job to make sure no Union Assets were close enough to interfere before the raid was done and the Dai Clan long gone. He had done a quick scan of the System and was not as diligent as he should have been. Not checking the actual planets and overlooking an entire Union Battle Group had landed on the fifth planet. Normally it would have been his duty to commit suicide but a warriors alternative to suicide in such as case was revenge. While he was emotionally devastated to lose his family and everyone he knew, he was not to keen on suicide and to go to another Clan and become an Inb-Tha, a coward who had failed to do his duty and not commit suicide was even worse. At Sin 4 he had to sell his Scout Craft as it was out of fuel and he had no money. He almost ended up as a slave to fight in one of the Arenas but made it to Alvor's Cove. At first it seemed a bad decision to come here. since this was one of the busiest slave markets in the Galaxy, but he had enough money from the ship sale and paid the local lord the Freedom Fee. Unlike Sin 4, Alvor's Cove was firm in the hand of one Family and their laws were crude and simple but quite reliable. But his money would not last, especially with the water prices here. The last traces of the rocks now behind him. His cat now rolled through the near featureless sand and dust desert and he would do so for the next 700 clicks before he reached Mount Nathir. He long had learned how to read the sand and knew how to stay clear from the drift sand bogs that could swallow his crawler and him or at least make him get stuck for days. Seven Years ago he had come here. There weren't many career choices on Alvor. You could be a Slave merchant, Slave guard, Shop Owner, Water merchant, Food Vendor, Lord Guard, Lizard hunter or Desert Scavenger. To become a merchant he needed much more Capital and have connections to a supplier. To be a Lord Guard you needed to be Family, Local Lord only trusted family. Lizard Hunted or Slave Guard did not appeal to him due to the stench, so all that was left was Desert Scavenger. At first it seemed to him a fools job. What could possibly be out there except sand and dirt? But then he made friends with an old Scavenger the one who gave him this Crawler for a good price and he learned that Alvor's Desert held many treasures. Sub Terran Water sources, Tutu Cactus buds eaten by the tame Lizards, tutu Cactus flowers very rare and hard to find but ground to a powder, a Drug readily purchased by Togar males. Since Alvor's cove was close to their empire they frequented the place often. All this was just a few things you could find out here. There were open Petroleum pits, the stuff was not worth much but a load of it always paid for the trip and supplied him with cheap fuel. There was the Dawal Lizard, if you're lucky to find one and even luckier to survive a fight and kill one then you had a load of good meat, bones and blood. Not to mention the tusks of ivory but all this was the usual stuff. Every Scavenger dreamed about finding the Nakh. Legend had it that out here somewhere was a buried Celtest ship. Celtest artifacts the single most valuable commodity in the Galaxy would make anyone even finding just a piece of Celtest metal a rich man. That there was a Celtest ship doubted no one as one of the first Scavengers had found a Celtest artifact and became very rich. He dreamed about finding it and taking the ship out from the sand and fly it in Union Space and destroy everything he could find. But that would not be today. Today he actually had passengers! Two Kermac no less paying him a good sum for a trip to Mount Nathir. Why the Kermac wanted to go to the Old Worm was none of his business. How they even knew about that Eremite? But then Kermac had Psionic powers and could read minds and such. Some of the Scavengers believed the Old Worm was the result of a failed Genetic experiment to mix Human and Nul-Nul into one life form and he was hiding out there because of that. Others said he was a holy man and that he had contact to some God. That he looked Half man, half worm was nothing to spectacular. There were life forms much stranger. V-Nac-Vier tried to meditate while H-For-Neun monitored the thoughts of the Dai Driver up front. He touched his ceremonial Beard for the millionth time as it was his habit checking if his Psionic enhancers still worked. "It works!" V-Nac-Vier said with much annoyance in his voice, partly because he could not find the balance to meditate and partly because he felt insulted by his partners constant checking. " I will not probe your mind!" "How would you know that my shield is working if you had not tried to probe my mind?" "Because it is of finest Kermac technology just like my shield and I know of only three cases they have failed." H-For-Neun was not so convinced, a little paranoia was never wrong. For all he knew V-Nac-Vier could have been an agent of the Ministry of Control, one innocent thought wrongly interpreted and one could find himself mind dumped and erased. And all his loyal service to the Ministry of Information would only come to light in his defense after the mind dump and too late for him. He often wondered how the Saresii, the only other society he knew were everyone was a telepath got along without Mental Shield generators and Ability enhancers. The Narth did not really count as Society in the common sense. V-Nac-Vier grunted very low life form like as he shifted position." I sure hope this coward of a Dai knows where he is going!" "He does. His mind is clear and open and he accepts Kermac superiority and does not even question our reasons to come out here." "It is still better we eliminate him. Just in case!" "it would be unwise. Local Lord has warned us and you were too cheap to buy the Kill all License!" "I am not paying 1 Million in Polo Chips to some totally inconsequent lower life form on a similar inconsequent planet. I will punish him for is insolence when we leave!" "This world might not be as inconsequent as you make it. There are Celtest artifacts out there somewhere and we are going to the Purple Worm. I doubt he choose this world at mere random for this meeting." " The more reason we should set up a base of operations here, take over the local crime lords control and search for the Celtest artifacts with modern equipment and tear this dust ball apart." H-For-Neun now was almost certain his associate was associated with the MOC. They always talked that way. " It be unwise to provoke a war. I am certain there are Union Spies, not to mention Nul and Shiss agents. It might not be wise to make the Nul even more hostile towards us at the moment." "I doubt there are any Union Spies here. I expanded my mind and did not find any shielded minds except a few Sojonit Priestesses. I had a good mind to visit them after we are done here, that be Polo Coins well spend!" "The funds made available to us are meant to pay for information gathering not personal indulgences." "You talk like a puppet of the Ministry of Control. We are field agents and have to sample and learn about other cultures this too is gathering of information!" With a jolt that shook both Kermacs to the bones, the Crawler came to a sudden stop. H-For-Nine realized he had not paid any attention to the thoughts of the driver. The Driver was gone! At least he could no longer sense the man's thoughts! They both grabbed their weapons, dialed their Power amplifiers to high and with activated personal shields they went outside. There was a group of armed beings, all heavily shrouded and hooded. One in the center was taller and wore a purple cloak and hood."I decided to chance the location of our meeting. Instead of the mountain we can do it right here. Especially since you have a Strike team moving in as well." H-For-Neun had no idea there was supposed to be a Strike team. His superior told him to show good faith and fancy the Worms wishes to normalize relationships so a better cooperation could be achieved. He glanced over to his Associate seeing he was not in the least surprised about the Strike Teams presence. V-Nac-Vier made a dismissing hand gesture." That Strike Team will make sure you cannot leave this planet. They are monitoring us as we speak." The Purple worm laughed. "Maybe that is the real reason your species is on the decline. Kermac always rely on other species to do their fighting for them. Do you know I have a spy satellite in orbit a wonderful little device recording that Kermac Cruiser in Orbit. I think I broadcast that now along with a few nice close ups of the Strike team . Local Lord is considering calling the Nul for help. Not that I need any of this to defend myself against such as you." V-Nac-Vier activated a Comm Device in his beard." Abort Mission. I repeat aboard mission." "That was a wise decision." The Worm raised his arm and the sand all around came to live, hundreds of heavily armed sand colored beings rose from the dust. The shrouded beings were totally undetectable by his Psionics. Due to the hoods and shrouds he could not determine what species they were either. They did not move like humanoids, more like primates. They erected a tent in no time and the worm invited his guests inside. Chairs had been placed and someone brought in a case of Kermiliq. On a provided table stood cups. The Worm gestured the Kermac to have a seat. He sat down across them." Help yourself to the Kermiliq. It is cooled and I assure you not tampered with in any way." H-For-Neun was still furious that he was kept in the dark and took one of the Bottles, opened it and did not bother with a Cup. He knew it was very primitive and without form but he was thirstier than he realized. The slightly tardy taste and the moisture of his favorite drink did wonders to his mood and condition. V-Nac-Vier ignored his associates barbaric display and said." Let us get to the point and leave this inhospitable place so we can enjoy refreshments in more appealing conditions." "You are the ones that again asked for a meeting. Here we are." "Our last cooperation was marred by betrayal and misfortune. The traitor we know met a fitting end by your hands. We felt his agony while he was dying and it pleased us. The Human died on Sin 4 and it turned out he was of little influence. The Narth have already done what we hoped could be prevented." " Yes the involvement of the Narth has cost me much already and I fear it will cost me even more. Several attempts to assassinate one of the new Narth Agents have failed and met with such brutal and swift response even by Terran standards that it becomes quite difficult to even find someone willing to try." V-Nac-Vier was now relaxing a bit and he too took a bottle but demonstrated quite detailed how it was done properly by filling a cup only a third and take little sips." Kermac Intelligence assets face similar challenges. Now let's play with open Cards to borrow your expression from our last meeting. We come to the conclusion that it is very likely you are no mere Criminal Mastermind but that the Worm is a cover for Nul-Nul Intelligence." The still completely shrouded Purple Worm laughed." It is a good guess and honestly I wish it would be so, but Nul-Nul are neither biologically nor ideological connected to the Worm or me in any form. I know the Nul Intel gathering organization however and can arrange contacts if you desire. However I must warn you, Nul-Nul do not play well with others and are opposed to alliances especially since the brief Nul Shiss alliance almost 600 years ago." He raised his arms."And I am not Shiss either. The Shiss Kingdom is struggling to keep alive and has currently very little assets in Intelligence." "We would be interested in a meeting with Nul Intelligence. We don't want an alliance but we all face a common enemy that is becoming stronger by the moment and we can already see the day when the Union will move against the rest of us and claim dominion over the entire Galaxy." "I agree with your assessment but the Galaxy is still a very big place and there are vast areas unknown to all and the time where the Galaxy must be united to face those who sent the Y'All will be at hand sooner than some believe." "This is the reason the Galaxy must be under the firm rule of Kermac, for we have means to communicate with the Y'All and prevent their dominance." "A point only seen by the Kermac of course, but for the near future our goals are alike. I shall arrange that meeting." ________________________________________