Section aaaaaaaaa.odt

The Brick

It turned out he could not really keep a secret of Cara, despite her, and every other Psionic gifted person he had met so far, claim that they weren't prying or digging. She knew more or less what he was up to and was all excited about the Leedei experiment, saying that it would be a historic experiment and a chance to learn more about the Leedei and their Psi Tech. She said she would organize the trip to Blue Moon and the Space Train ride to the Leedei planet. After he had talked to her, there was little else to do than to wait for the next shuttle. Aat had also made a call and reported that her father had arranged it with the Security Chief of the Federal Stockade on Kappa II, so they could talk to the Pirate captain incarcerated there. According to Aat and her research this Pirate was supposed to know Captain Coldblood and could perhaps provide some information. Sobyr insisted that they passed the three hours until the Shuttle was scheduled to leave in one of the ice corridors. Roy at first did not understand what the big deal was. They took an Inter Planet Mover and exited it halfway across the small planet inside the thick permanent Ice mantle of this world. They were, according to Sobyr only five hundred meters underneath the surface and about 3000 above the rock core. They were not the only ones at this destination, there where hundreds of kids and adults of all ages. Wearing colorful thick padded Thermo suits and standing in line at a metal gate. The line moved quickly and Sobyr rented Thermal suits at that gate for everyone, except Alejandro and Partner. The Suits were supplied by a worn looking Auto Dresser and Sobyr explained from beneath a padded mask that kept only his eyes uncovered. "The caves have standard atmosphere pumped in ,but since they are made of ice, there is no heat supplied. So it is going to be very very cold. Put on your goggles before you sit on a sled. It's a wild ride so hold on to your dinner as well." Roy, wearing a similar mask stepped through a second automatic door right behind Alejandro and the cold hit the few inches of exposed skin around his eyes like a fist. He immediately lowered the goggles and cursed."This isn't just cold, this is space type of death freezing cold." Alejandro shook his head. "No not really the temperature of space out here is about minus 270 on the C Scale and due to the many people using these caves temperatures down here reaching only about minus 210 degrees. Roy nodded. "Yep that sure makes a difference, I mean it takes an entire 5 seconds longer to freeze to death right?" Aat right behind him pushed Roy in a friendly manner. "Don't encourage him, he's a nerd he won't shut up about temperatures for the next three days." While they talked they had moved on the platform and now Roy could see the actual Cave. Everything was bluish white and many light elements had been attached to the ceiling, the Cave was about ten meters wide and had a more or less perfectly round diameter and it went in a steep angle down winding and curving. A robot asked. "Expert, Solo or beginner sled?" Sobyr sighed. "Beginner sled." A mechanical arm lowered a bright orange plastic contraption into the that pipe like declining corridor and Sobyr climbed into simple plastic seat molded out of the same material."Your turn, Roy. Don't hold up the line." Roy climbed behind Sobyr and just as he sat down the robot arm released the sled and it began to slide picking up speed. Roy found hand holds and held tight. Right after the first curve the floor declined even further. They did not simply stay on the floor but skirted along the walls and left and right in a breakneck speed. Suddenly they were passed by a big black thing, Partner was sliding on his belly, legs folded forward right past them and Roy could hear his animal sneeze in excitement. Sobyr yelled against the wind. "Of all wonders of this Galaxy, your partner takes the cake." Roy who had his mind on his parents and what was ahead of him had not found much joy in the wild slide so far,but seeing his big animal tanking in steep curves, sneezing and sending waves of child like excitement to Roy lifted his spirits considerably and he laughed.."Yes he does." The ride ended in as the sled came slow to a stop and got caught by another robot arm. An open conveyor like contraption with bucket like compartments carried them back up in another ice cave. Taking the second slide sitting on Partner's back was even more fun and was a bit of a show of stunt as it was cheered and applauded by strangers and his friends alike,. –""- Kappa VIII and the ice tunnels were far distant, as they approached Kappa II a several hours later. Kappa II was very close to its sun and in terms of environment the opposite of the cold Ice planet. Temperatures hot enough to melt lead prevailed on this world, and it did not have a big colony, just a stark and foreboding Prison Complex and a small sub surface mining colony at the other side of the globe. The civilian shuttle of course approached the civilian side first. There they were greeted by Carla and a tall Saran in Union Fleet Uniform, He had the same hair cut as Aat and there was a striking resemblance in his face. He was without question Aat's father. Cara smirked at Roy. "If we stay much longer I this system, you going to visit every last rock that floats around this sun for sure." "What would you do if you get news that your parents are most likely still alive and held as slaves?" "Tell all my friends and see what can be done. Do research what is done in such cases and then move heaven and earth to get them free." She then shook her head. "That is what I supposed to say, but frankly I don't know. I don't blame you. I just wish you would trust me more" The tall Saran had quietly exchanged a few words with his daughter and then said. "It is an unusual request and not exactly within protocol. These individuals are criminals and awaiting their trial, but then I understand the reason. Now technically we can allow private investigators access to the prisoners, but they have to agree to see you. Strangely enough they did." He led them to a special IST. The doors looked massive and there were two Ultra Marines guarding it. A sign read. "Military Stockade Access- Authorized Personnel only." The Marines checked his credentials and said to Roy."Sorry but the animal and the weapon must stay here." Aat's dad said. "I am only a guest here, it isn't my command and they do have strict regulations., but no worries we won't be long and your animal can stay right here." Roy undid his gun belt and strapped it around Partner's neck. While he tried to put it into mental images he said to his friend. "Please wait here, I will be back as soon as I can." Partner licked his arm and sat down, indicating that he had understood. One of the Marines, a Pertharian said. "It is a fine animal you got there, we will take good care of it while you visit the Brick." The IST turned out to be a surface mono rail with a boxy, very sturdy looking vehicle riding the track. It had several Stasis boxes inside a prisoner transfer compartment. It smelled of a strong disinfectant and was neither comfortable not appealing. Another Marine in full battle dress was standing behind the controls and greeted them with the most minimalistic gestures and then accelerated the vehicle. Mr. Amenemhat swiveled a seat from a wall compartment and indicated the rest to do the same. He then said. "Captain Toeclipper and seven members of his crew, the beings you are about to meet, hoped he could use the distraction of war to raid a colony. To his misfortune they ran into the USS Saladin as they left the Colony and they surrendered. The Saladin dropped them of at the Station." He pulled a PDD and tabbed on it. "It is an unsavory bunch of individuals. Two Human Non Cits, two Togar Cats, three Jooltar and an exiled Kermac, they face the death penalty of course." Aat said. "We hope they know something about a pirate named Coldblood, he was the one who abducted Roy's parents." "They might, this Pirate rubble usually knows of their kind. If they listen to the Eternal Warrior we don't stop with the Kermac but wipe the Nul and the Shiss from existence and then there is no more Freespace and no more places they can hide." The vehicle approached the prison complex, a drab massive looking complex with high Duro-Crete walls and a Central tower. The local sun looked gigantic in the sky and the landscape was nothing but cracked surface, big boulders and rock. The marine at the Controls made a sweeping gesture. "800 degrees on the C scale, only a faint trace of atmosphere. This is better than walls." The Mono rail car stopped before an all black gate. Purple energies flickered and then the gate sank into the ground. The Marine that was so quiet for most of the trip pointed at the gate as he guided the vehicle through. "Seven Meters molecular compacted Ultronit, Para Dim Shield reinforced. There is no known life form that get through that." There was a certain pride in his voice, almost as if he helped design it. Behind them the Gate closed and they had arrived in a clinical white Chamber with brilliant light from every ankle. Four ten meter tall robotic creatures stood on each side of the tracks. Again the Marine provided the explanation. "Enroe Corp Guardsmen, equipped with the finest sensors and an array of weapons designed to stop anything from Nanites to Y'All Battle Drones." The Marine got up and opened the door and then said. "Oh sorry you aren't prisoners. I usually give new inmates this little tour, just so they know that any thought of escape is useless. There are only two ways out of the Brick and one of them is quite final." Aat's father said. "As you noticed, Marine, we are not prisoners." The Marine shrugged and remained with the Mono rail car while Roy and the rest stepped on a steel grating slide belt that carried them to a second smaller gate. The Guardsmen robots followed them with their weapon arms and not even Cara or Aat's father felt to comfortable. Next to the Gate was a black viewport that only showed their own reflections, but a unfriendly rasping computronic voice said."ID scan, weapon scan and Micro scan in progress, please remain standing still." After almost three minutes the second gate opened. The room and corridor behind was as sterile and austere as the Gate area, but instead of white everything was orange. Part of the wall split, revealing a previously invisible door and a Quadiped and a Chrome metal human appeared. Roy noticed several distinctive differences and was almost certain this was an X101 and not a Stellaris. The X101 wore a black Union Fleet Uniform and the Quadiped a dark red uniform. The chrome skinned Union Officer spoke first. "I am Commander Resitar I am the Warden of this facility and this is Hally Brownroom my civilian Colleague from the Justice Department and I must say I am somewhat opposed to the whole affair, but how can I ignore the simultaneous requests of PSI Corps Command and a request from you Commander Amenemhat? This is a High Security prison operated jointly by the Fleet and the Justice Department and we usually do not have School class tours." Cara took the lead and said. "This is not a School Class, we are here investigating the abduction of Union Citizens and the attack on a Union Science vessel. The inmates we requested to see might have important information." The Quadiped of the Justice Department said. "The prisoners received their sentence just an hour ago. We have moved them to death row and they might not be as cooperative as you wish, but they have agreed to be interviewed by you. So let us proceed, my Colleague and I would like to return to the day to day business running this facility." Two Ultra Marines and two Cerberus Robots in Security Configuration appeared. And they all walked down an orange corridor. They had to pass several security gates and there was a scan at each gate. Then after a elevator ride of at least five minutes, they were led into a bright lit room with a large black reflective wall. The X101 said. "Wait here, the prisoners are taken out of Zero Stasis right now. This will take about six minutes. Both the X101 and the Quadiped left the room." Cara whispered to Aat's father, but loud enough for Roy to hear. "I wonder what the real purpose of this facility is. The security measures seem excessive." Aat's father agreed."I have seen Union One, this place is not far behind." The black, reflective wall slid with a fine humming noise to the side and revealed eight beings. They all wore the transparent Prisoner Plastic suits, Roy had experienced just recently. The Collars were attached to metal cables that in turn were attached to the ceiling. While Roy could not read any emotions in the faces of the Togar or the Jooltar, he could see the misery in the faces of the humans. The Kermac, even though he had a human face did not display any emotion Roy could identify. Roy simply begun and said. "I am Roy Masters, my parents have been abducted by a pirate called Coldblood. Do you know where he usually sells his slaves?" One of the Togar answered. "Coldblood is not one of us, he only acts that way. He isn't too welcome at the usual places ever since he attacked that Union Explorer,everyone knows to leave them alone. It's hard enough to eek out a living without poking into the Razbuzzer nest." "It is that Explorer my parents were on. Do you know where he took them?" "Human, I don't know the detailed business of other Pirates and him running covert action for one of the Big Four makes it even less likely. But he isn't doing much business as every Cut throat, assassin and head hunter is after him." Roy blinked surprised, "Why is that?" "Because of your cursed Justice Department. When it became known it was him who busted that Explorer, he was put on the Top Wanted list. A bounty of 20 tons Polo Chips on your head, makes it a wise move to lay low for a long time and not show your face in public places. The only place he would be reasonably safe is Alvor's Cove,if he paid the Local Lord a decent protection fee." The Togar said. "If you go after him you need someone who knows Freespace and since I have nothing to do and an appointment with one of your dreaded Red hoods I rather postpone I would be willing to help you find that bastard. I could help you find many Union Slaves, I am a Togar after all." Roy wanted to tell the Togar that this was not within his power, when Aat's father said. "The recovery of Union Citizens from slavery is a paramount task laid upon us by the Assembly, While we can't go with war ships into Freespace to smoke out these nests. We are tasked to explore any other venue. Togar you will of course have to make the trip as a prisoner and only after you proven your worth a pardon could be arranged. I will contact Justice Central." With this the Saran officer left. Roy suddenly felt his sense of danger warning him, but it was not like he felt it ever before, it was faint, just a tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn't right. He knew that the prison was psionic shielded, his connection to partner was severed the moment he had passed the main gate and maybe it influenced his ability as well. It didn't take long and Marine Guards detached the control cables of the prisoners suits from the collars,but only the Togar Pirate captain and the Kermac. One of the human prisoners said with a slight panic in his voice. "What about us?" The Togar was a huge cat like being and Roy could not read his emotions but his forceful voice sounded suddenly meek as he said. "Sorry comrades, the deal is only for me and my first mate." The human was about to say something and his face was full of fear and anger, but then his facial expressions changed and all his emotions seemed to have faded away. "Yes Captain, we are murderers and must face our destiny, good luck." This was the weirdest exchange, Roy had ever witnessed. Those pirates faced the Executioner and suddenly they accepted their fate, even seeing two of their friends get off. Roy thought the whole idea of having two Pirates getting off, while the rest of the crew had to remain and die, extremely unfair. Okay he hated pirates and he had no objections if a Pirate ship was blown out of Space, but having to sit in an inhuman place like this waiting to be hanged was cruel in his opinion, then having two mates getting off. He would scream bloody murder. There was something going on here, something behind the obvious. He leaned over to Cara and said. "If that pirate can help us find my parents, I don't mind that but doesn't it strike you odd that they let the Kermac go, but not the others?" Her eyes seemed to say something else, as she responded. "There is an Assembly Decision of file commanding any Union Official, civilian or military to find alternative ways to free Union Citizens, as long as it does not violate the Freespace Treaty. If such a way presents itself,it grants extraordinary powers to the official in charge. Commander Amenemhat has taken charge of the situation and has the power to release a prisoner that way." "Yeah I somehow understood that part, but why not all of them? "Only one is needed as a guide. The others are not necessary and they are still convicted and sentenced felons." Roy did not know Cara too well, but somehow that didn't sound like her. The Pirates that had to stay were taken out and three others were marched in, another Kermac and two Nogoll. "Cara what is going on here? I think I have seen that Kermac before." Cara stood there and said nothing. He now noticed that his friends all simply stood there with blank expressions on their faces. The two Leedei who had did not say a word since they had landed on Kappa II, looked as if they were in pain. The older one, Knunging folded his hands in a complicated manner and then with a pressed sounding voice said. "The Kermac are influencing everyone." The Kermac that had just been brought in smiled coldly. "Impressive display of Psionic Defense,Leedei Union slave, but useless. Thanks to Commander Amenemhat we were able to influence these marines and and the Saresii Agent." One of the marines handed the Kermac false beards and they attached them to their chins. Roy leaped forward and decked the Kermac with a right hook, the Kermac groaned as he sank to his knees. The Togar grabbed Roy by the shoulder pulling him back, as strong as the Cat was he underestimated Roy's strength and speed, Roy spinning around and hammered his palm against the lower jar of the Togar. Someone yelled . "Stop him!" A prickling sensation flashed all over his body and none of his muscles responded to his mind. The Togar, thrown back, spat blood stumbled to keep on his feet. As Roy toppled over, unable to move a single muscle, he saw one of the Marines aiming a Paralysator at him, The other Kermac fumbled with his false beard and retrieved a small pill like thing. "We still need you, but when this is over, I make sure you end up just like your parents as Togar food.." With this he forced the pill between Roy's teeth. He was still conscious as he felt something with little legs crawl down his throat. He wanted to gag and scream but then everything became a haze. Roy's head was filled with a numbing fog and he remembered the same thing happened to him as the Kermac abducted him. In his daze he noticed Aat's father calling for the Quadi Ped. Mr. Amenemhat produced a small chip and said. "Make sure the X101 Warden is occupied as my masters can not control him. The Quadiped spoke as slurred as the others. "I sent him on a errand. He won't interfere and the rest of the Guards will follow my orders." Roy wanted to scream and ask what was going on but his lips kept sealed. The Kermac prisoners laughed and one said to Cara. "Can you imagine what stroke of luck it was, when I realized we caught the daughter of the Security Chief and we had her for hours in our control? You Saresii think you are so superior to us, your Psionics are so much more advanced. We Kermac have built a galactic empire on the ability to control others. Oh yes your station was under a Psi shield formidable at that, but we had plenty of time to program little Aat before we got caught, And she in turn programmed her father. I would love to see the face of that Eternal warrior of yours when he hears we escaped. Have you not wondered why little Aat insisted to come here? You are all so naive." One of the marines asked Aat's father. "How are the prisoners transferred?" "We have a ship waiting at the Mining Port, we will use the Monorail." -""- It went all in perfect Union precision, the prisoners were shackled in the Mono Rail and it carried them all back to the Mining Colony port. Partner was still there and looked at Roy. "Roy could not even speak to Partner, but he managed to send him a mental command to follow. Partner felt confused as Roy did not pet him and he could feel that something was wrong. Keeping up the charade, the prisoners were marched under guard to a waiting Barracuda Destroyer. Commander Amenehat said to the Lieutenant who had brought the Destroyer. "Special NAVINT mission, you will remain here at the Colony and talk to no one until tomorrow." "Yes Commander." Inside the Ship, the Kermac and the Nogoll took off the prisoner suits and while Aat's father prepared for lift off, the Kermac said to Cara. "When this is over we will take you to Kermac Prime. You know we always like to dissect Saresii. But for now we stick to our new plan. "We will all take a trip to the Leedei planet. Thanks to our suggestions we planted in the Lizard and the helpful Leedei they will expose their Telelistener device to us. Can you imagine what we Kermac can do with a Psionic device that reaches over millions of light years. Combined with our Psi Suggesters, we can convince the Assembly to vote on anything we wan, Union Citizen become our Thralls and the war you think your winning will be over. We studied the capabilities of this Telelistener but it has been carefully guarded by the Leedei." He gestured over Roy's friends. That beast and the rest however is useless, and we will space them as soon as we have cleared this system." In this strange haze of psionic induced hypno suggestion, Roy knew he was to far away from Green Hell, this time there was no green Goddess who would save him. He did not see this one coming and it was so unexpected. Yet even in his haze he knew one thing, never leave a Kermac alive. Partner felt Roy's anger at the Kermac...

Chapter 9: Hyperspace

Hyperspace -""- The ship must have gone trans-light, so far they had not spaced anyone. They all had been left behind in one of the destroyers cargo holds. As Cara walked by Partner he saw something his four legged friend has never done, he flashed his formidable teeth and growled deeply at the Saresii woman. From his animal he received emotions of confusion and anger towards Cara. She hissed at Partner. "Be silent brute." Then she walked out the door. Partner liked Cara, he saved her life and until know he thought she liked Partner too. From the reaction of his beast and her something was terribly wrong. The older Leedei, Inklung still held his spidery hands folded in what looked like a complicated knot, his strangely diffused face underneath that second layer of semitransparent skin appeared as if he was suffering. Roy suddenly felt very sick to his stomach, as if he had eaten something really rotten and he started to heave, as if invisible fingers were crawling through his insides. It was the most frightening and horrible experience of his life so far. He could feel spidery bone fingers inside his throat and he heaved again and along with a gush of vomit a black ball like thing with legs plopped on the floor. The same time his head became as clear as a bell and more out of instinct than anything else, he stomped his heavy all terrain boot on that thing and is squished like a Scare Bug. The Leedei leaned forward in a nodding fashion and his voice sounded as if he was under a lot of strain. "Young Roy Masters. I was able to extract the Smilak from your body before it made its way to your spinal cord, they are good but so are we Leedei.. I am sorry for all the pain and discomfort." Roy pulled his TKU. "Never mind the discomfort, Sir. I am making sure these cursed Kermac swallow a pill of my own." The teacher shook his head. "No young Roy, don't show them yet. There is more to this game than Kermac. I am a Union Teacher now but you know what the requirements are to become a Union teacher?" Roy shrugged not seeing what the Leedei wanted to tell. He was eager to roast the Kermac, but the teacher had freed him. "No Sir, I never really thought about it too much." He laughed weakly. "Aat was right, you do need to catch up a lot, A Union teacher must have a service record in one of the armed forces. I was an officer in the PSI Corps." "Just like Cara?" While the Leedei talked he realized that all the others still in the room were still in this dazed state. His friends, the two Leedei and the Togar Pirate Captain. Aat's father, Cara and the Kermac were not there. Partner came happy as a camper over, he felt Roy was back to normal and Partner forgot all his confusion. He liked Roy and sneezed and he send mental pictures of him tearing through the Destroyer crew, the Kermac and to Roy's surprise Cara. The Leedei said."No not like that person you call Cara. She is perfectly shielded, but does not respond to a secret contact technique all PSI Corps agents now. Whatever she is she is not one of the PSI Corps." Roy could not help but gasp. "But she is, she used to protect the President and Admiral Richard Stahl has talked to her." "Sit down next to me, I cannot unfold my hands, as this is how we Leedei maintain certain Psionic disciplines. It will make it easier to to talk to you." Roy still full of anger and wanting to vent it, preferably strangling one of the Kermac, sat down reluctantly. "Alright, but I think we should, I should.." "Please keep your emotions a little better under control, I know it is hard for a human but I am right now making them believe you and I are still under their influence." "I got Partner and I got a loaded TKU!" "We are on board a Union Destroyer, there is a crew. Right now wed don't know who is behind all this or who is a victim and who is pulling the strings." "The Kermac of course! They did something to Aat and she did it to her father and from there they controlled everyone." The Leedei actually sounded angry for a moment. "Please, keep yourself under control. It is very hard to fight the Smilak they attached to me, talking to you and maintain a base wave for you if you spike with so much emotions every time. I freed you first because I hoped you would listen." Roy holstered his gun and made Partner sit down and took a deep breath. "I am sorry." "That is better Young Roy. Do you really think the Kermac did all this? There is a Psi Corps branch at the station Granted the Smilak can circumvent most Psi shields as they use tactile Psionics, but they don't work in a Union Prison that uses psionic dampers. Someone had to turn them off and it could not have been Aat's father. He has no command authority at the prison and there is no way to infest a marine with anything while they are suited, these marvelous Auto Docs take care of such things." "You mean the marines are the traitors?" "We Leedei are Union members for not very long and generally we do not believe in absolutes, but finding a way to turn one marine is already very unlikely, leave alone three or more." Roy's thoughts started spinning, yet he could not really make sense of it. "Is it like a traitor president? There was one after all." "I don't know who or what is behind all this but it isn't the Kermac and that is why we need to stay put. Once we are on G 6783 we have means to reveal the true source of all this." Roy frowned. "That means you want me to do nothing?" "I don't want you do anything before you think it through. impulsiveness is not always the best course of action. There is a power, a force capable of doing all this and we must identify it." "And then?" "Then you use your PDD and call for help, after all not everyone carries a direct call code for the Eternal Warrior." "You know this?" "Young Roy, I am a Leedei . The second you mentioned the Admiral all was laid open to me. You can file charges for me breaking the Psi Laws after all this is done, but I had to know who I can trust." Roy glared at the Leedei. "I begin to really hate Telepaths, not you but in general." "Me too, and that is why we think these PSI Laws are so important." The cargo hold door opened and Cara looked in. "Roy come and help me get the food. Our masters decided to let us all live for a while longer." The Leedei teacher was acting like he was under the influence of the Kermac and only one of his spidery fingers moved and it seemed to signal. "Please..." Roy got up and followed Cara into the Corridor. She didn't say a word until they reached a small mess hall and she pointed to a row of Serve Matics. "Go and serve the others. You might have to do several trips. Once your done stay in the Cargo Hold." She said nothing else and left him. Roy selected burgers and and drinks, for Aat and Sobyr ,a raw one for Ncchsi but had no idea what Alejandro, Pictfram and the Leedei would eat. So he carried the first load back, halfway in the corridor he heard voices and quickly slipped into the next door. It turned out to be a storage room with stacks of strapped down crates. Along with his tray of food he crawled behind a double stack of Plasti-crates and not a moment to soon as two Union Navy personnel walked in. One was human and the other a Klack. "The human said to the Klack. "I know what you are saying T'ypikt but doesn't it strike you odd that we can't use GalNet at all; that we are not supposed to be down here and I swear to you I think I saw a Kermac slipping into the Captain's ready room." "We are at war, Mitch. We are most likely on a secret mission NAVINT perhaps. That Saresii woman is a Colonel after all and I bet she's PSI Corps." "Well no matter how much she doesn't want us down here, we still need to get the replacement coupling to the Chief and we only store them here." The two opened a crate and the Klack started digging through plastic film. "Now that strikes me odd, us digging for replacement part for the number two intermixer, while we are in reach of at least 20 stations and five bases. I mean engine repairs like this are not done in space unless we really have to." "Why they pulled the ship out of dock while our annual maintenance wasn't even half done and most of our crew still on shore leave fits right into that." "Ships on maintenance are of the Active roster, Fleet probably doesn't even know we are on our way to Blue Moon. That means we are on a secret mission." The Klack's segmented body was halfway inside the crate. "Those parts are certainly well packed. I finally found it." "I get the Grav-Handler." Roy sitting behind his crate wasn't sure what to make of this when the the door opened and Cara walked in." What are you two doing here? I told you the Cargo Deck is off limits for all personnel." The Klack struggled with a large piece of plastic and said."Colonel this isn't the Army or the PSI corps. We need this spare part or the Chief will shut us down. You don't want to go asymmetric into Quasi." "Under no circumstance are we to drop out of Quasi before we reached the HHW Gate. Go take your part to the Chief Engineer." The two man handled a shiny piece of machinery out of the crate, attached Grav Handler grips and left the storage room. Cara looked around and directly into Roy's direction. It was Cara he should not need to fear her, but she was of course under the influence of the Kermac and that is why Partner growled at her, this had to be the reasons. She pulled a PDD of her belt. This was odd, as Cara was a Data Head. She usually didn't use a PDD. The woman spoke into the thing. "Secure protocol Preset 5 activate." From his hiding spot he could not see what she saw, but he could hear a voice saying. "This call is unexpected, are there complications?" "Uncertain at this point. Pulling the Palomino out of a maintenance cycle was perhaps not the best decision. It appears the Barracuda did need maintenance indeed." "Unimportant, the Palomino has the spare parts and a good Engineer. The ship will not be needed after this." "You think destroying a Destroyer will be wise?" "Of course, you do it at the right spot at the right time and the right parties get blamed, while it makes heroes out of the crew. You did check there aren't any Terrans in that crew?" "There was one but he remained at Kappa II. I reported this before." "Old habits die hard and one of them is checking everything at least twice." "We should make it to the HHW in eighteen hours, if that engineer is worth his pay." "Be careful, the Union Guard dogs are already stirring and you must be on your way to the Leedei before they connect the dots." "You said you will keep them of our trail." "I do my best and there are plenty of false leads for them to follow. Now get back to your task and I will continue mine." Roy was now convinced the Leedei was right. He wasn't even sure this was really Cara, but whoever she was, she wasn't under anyone's mental control. She was running the show. She put her PDD away sniffed the air and said to herself as she walked out. "Strange I suddenly have a craving for burgers," Roy waited a few minutes and then sneaked back out and returned to the Cargo deck. The Leedei teacher, still sat where he was before and Roy's friends looked the same. They wordlessly accepted the food. Roy said ."I don't even know what Stellaris, Leedei and Xiptin eat." The teacher said. "Don't worry about the food right now. I managed to get rid of my Smilak and was able to free Inklung. He is now helping me and I am much stronger now." Roy had many questions but they could wait and he told him what he overheard and then said. "What is it we are doing now? Will you free Sobyr and the others?" "No not at the moment, simulating their brain waves would be to much for the both of us. Our captors thankfully don't know much about us Leedei as we have not revealed it all. We have two psionic organs and one is in our hands. The Smilak could only control one." Roy shuddered. "What are those things?" An old non sentient life form that has been used by the Saresii and also by the Kermac. They are genetic altered and can break down even the most sophisticated Psi shield as they attach themselves physically. They are quite illegal in the Union by the way." Roy filed that under nasty and shivered as he remembered the thing crawling down his throat. I still have my PDD, they took nothing away from me. I can call Admiral Stahl now. He knows what to do!" "And they detect your transmission and they get rid of all the evidence and that would be us, before he could come. I assure you once we are at our world, I can summon help instantly and we know who is behind this all." "Do you still allow me to use that device and search for my parents?" "Of course Roy, but please remember what I said. It has never been used this way and it might not work as you hope it will." -""- Roy checked his PDD for the time and it was almost eighteen hours ago that he overheard the woman. Everyone had eaten and Roy, leaning against Partner even found some sleep. Again there were no dreams, at least none he remembered. The others were sleeping except for the Leedei teacher, who simply sat there with his hands folded. He liked to trust the teacher, but he hoped the Leedei knew what he was doing. He got up and sneaked out the door, the person who acted like Cara had shown him where the hygiene facilities were and that is where he was headed. The Corridor was empty, but he knew the IST and the access doors to this deck were locked. He was just done relieving himself when his PDD hummed with an in coming call. To his surprise and utter relieve it was Uncle Sam! He took the call and before Sam could say anything, Roy told him breathlessly what had happened to him. He liked to trust the Leedei teacher and hoped he knew what he was doing, but this was Uncle Sam. Sam didn't interrupt, Roy was afraid he could get caught or they were able to detect the transmission, so he wanted to be done as fast as he could. Finally when he was done, Sam said. "I take care finding your parents, that is what I did for years. You hang in there and I will alert the Old Man himself. No matter if your parents are alive or dead, if they are tortured or safe and sound, we are at war and your first and foremost duty is to the Union." His sense of danger tingled and the bathroom stall was opened, by Cara! She glared at him. "Who are you talking to?" She held a weapon in her hand. He did not hesitate, she was not Cara, he hit the woman with all his strength and right into the face. She was thrown back, and the weapon she had flew in a a wide arch across the room. Roy did not want her to call for back up and pounded her again. "Whoever you are, you're not Cara.." She gargled and spat blood. A loud alarm tone followed by a voice made him turn."All hands prepare for Hyper jump." Then everything changed. It was as if his very inside was turned outside and the entire bathroom behaved like an elastic band and expanded into a long corridor. Cara lying on the floor also stretched. He felt nauseated and disoriented. The bathroom contracted a heartbeat later. Cara was suddenly back on her feet, and raked her boot in a spin kick across Roy's jaw. Still somewhat dizzy and disoriented, he failed to block the kick. It hurt like hell and made him stumble back. "I had about enough." He spat and drew his TKU. "You tell me where Cara is and who you are or I start roasting body parts." Her face looked horrible, her chin dangled almost at her chest, the nose was shoved into an odd wrinkled shape. It was, so he realized a mask of some kind, there was another face beneath, partially revealed. She stopped in her next attack move and said. "I don't know how you managed to get rid of the Simlak, but you have no choice. We got your precious Cara and she is not aboard. She dies if you don't do what I tell you to do."

Chapter 4 : THE PRESENT 4937 Roy wiped an underarm long worm creature with its round sucking mouth from the face shield of his Quasimodo – D Type. His suit was covered with at least a dozen of them,along with dark green almost black algae as he sloshed through the hip high brackish water. About six meters to his left  Gunny Robert Dunn, the Platoon sergeant and self assigned SAW man, carrying a heavy TKU -SII Fafnyr in his agumented arms and he cursed over team channel.”Didn't they promise us some nice, easy and  uneventful SBD and then an even longer uneventful longer trip aboard the Normandy? “ Dunn wiped  several of the leech like worms of his weapon. “This mud ball is an exceptional bad shit hole. How are we supposed to find Whakeys if we don't know how they look like?” “You sing the same song every time we go dirt side.” Roy replied on the same channel. “Now quit complaining and keep your eyes in the game and your mind on track. We are bound to run into those Whakeys eventually.” “Yes Lieutenant.” “You are longer with this crazy club we call Marine Corps than I am, Gunny. You should know by know that, the words nice and easy don't exist in our world, but don't worry we will catch up with the Normandy eventually.” They had three days of R&R,  and a two days of Standard Board Duty and the USS Stryker was already within 120 light years off  the USS Normandy when they received different orders that diverted the marines and  the Drop ship to a star system  they had never heard about, not that that was something unusual. Roy was leading Squad A of his platoon and had them walk in a loose diamond formation and as it was his habit in his short but so far quite eventful military career, he took point. To his left was Corporal Eugovhr, a Pertharian who was part of the Squad's Artillery support (SAS) and with his Trajectory Attack Mortar he could engage enemy fortifications, columns and other targets beyond the horizon and with a variety of nasty payloads. The Pertharian added his comment saying. “With a little luck we find out that they are gone and we can go back to the Stryker. I could sure use a few extra hours of shut eye.” Corporal Nine-Nine-Two  bringing up the rear said. “Some rest would be nice indeed.” Roy kept an eye on his threat sensor, the sensors showed nothing artificial or sentient within 20 clicks, but that meant little. They were on the hunt to find members of a  new species,no one had heard or seen before, well no one on Union Side of course,

This was the reason Roy and his team were here on this wet, swamp world because a few days ago fleet ran into a new species. Scuddlebutt had it, they were similar to the Y'All. Incredibly powerful and relentless. Creatures able to go toe to toe with a Marine wearing a Quasimodo. Roy had learned not to pay to much attention to Scuttlebutt as it almost always was completley wrong and out of proportion. Not even a real Y'All could have fought a Marine in a modern  Quasimodo. In their briefing before they dropped on this world, he was told that NAVINT believed six or seven space ships of this new species had entered this system and landed on this world and had not left so far. So this morning Roy, hisplatoon and a pretty much every Marine of the John Stryker orbit jumped on this planet where Intel assumed Whakeys had a stronghold of some kind. The eight fleet was now in full strength  in the system to make sure nothing left and no one uninvited joined the party. It was his job to find out if this was true and capture a few of these beings alive, so Xeno could disect a few and perhaps find out what made them tick. The planet, or at least the region they had jumped into was a steaming jungle swamp, but unlike on Green Hell his home planet, the plants here were black and looked for the most part like intertwined bodies of naked, wet snakes with thorns. These twisted tree like things fanned out at the top into a dense canopy about sixty meters off the ground and most of the local sun's light did not reach the planets surface. The air technically was breathable but had a higher oxygen content than Standard Terran type NiOx atmospheres. They kept their helmets closed anyway because Science told them, that the local air was thick with pollen and spores of all kind. Science had no idea yet if that stuff was harmless or not. Wiping off these aggressive worms that almost constantly slimed over his face shield made him glad the helmet was sealed. The dense bio sphere of the planet combined with strong electro magnetic storms made sensor scans unreliable. It was very difficult to differentiate between natural and artificial energy sources especially if the enemy had turned its equipemnt of or has the ability to shield it. No clear determination was made by NAVINT or Command  what level of  Tech the  Whakeys possessed. As a matter of fact there was even less information than usual Lighting and  thunder was almost constant and so was a strong downpour of rain. He wondered if this was only seasonal or if conditions were always like this. His team was agumented by 4 Cerberus XI robots, but since this was a potential first contact situation they did operate under the Second Response Directive and would only fight if the Marines were attacked and an order to engage from Command was given. Roy and his team was only one of several  combing the surface all across this planet. Barlow, a Terran Human also carrying a TKU Fafnir Gatling snarled. “Almost fourteen hours now, and nothing but these damn slime suckers, ugly Lizard Snakes and friggin' huge swim beetles. Maybe there aren' any Whakeys down here.” Rokers, the Team engineer, had his suits vibro claws extended and speared a sizeable scaled thing with many teeth, spines and finned feet out of the water. The seven meter long beast thrashed and splahed while its fangs and claws slid across the nearly indestructible suit material. “Maybe this is a Whakey? Don't we have a member species that almost look like these?” Roy responded with a sharp tone in his voice. “If I see you again killing something without reason or purpose, I pull you out of your Quasi and make you swim with one of those, do we have an understanding?” “Jeez, sorry Sir, Forgot you are from a place like this and have a soft spot for dangerous creatures.” Barlow coughed and chimed in. “Rokers, you're new to the Master Blaster so I give you a piece of free advice. Mess with Lt. Masters you mess with all of us, not that he needs help, just ask  Corporal Eugovhr.” The Pertarian growled .”The Luitenant wiped the floor with me, so what do you think he could do with you?” Roy held up his hand,made the slow down signal. “I hate mindless killing, that Snake Lizard posed absoluteley no threat to you and yes I am a Greenie and if you want I introduce you to my very own dangerous creature.” “Sorry Sir, I won't do it again.” “Accepted, now scan that thing and make sure it does not have any higher brain functions or neural pathways associated with sentient beings.” Roy could not see the surprised face of the engineer

Roy responded. “We have barley covered ten percent of the planets surface, there is still lots of ground to cover.” His platoon sergeant, the Pertharian swatted a huge black beetle landing like a miniature helicopter on his helmet, chimed in. “Mr. Barlow if you feel bored you can join me for a recon flight ahead, if the Luitenant agrees to it, of course.” Roy shook his head, knowing they could of course not see his gesture and said. “You wouldn't see much more  from above the canopy and make a nice target. We don't even know their tech Level, for all we know they could detect you. Just stay put for now.” Just then the Operations-Command icon  flashed over com-panel mirrored directly onto his retina and Roy blinked it active. “Lt. Masters here.” “This Operation Command, Major Omval, Find a spot and make Camp. We drop a MOTEL as soon as you give the signal.” “Yes, Sir, any additional instructions?” “There will be an official Mission Update brief at 0900 hrs and that is two hours and six minutes from now, but here is the  situation in a Nutshell: The Army is going to do a  full Divisional Orbital assault on the southern Continent of this world, making a lot of Noise doing so. They even land a Leviathan Planetary Siege Engine. The Army Division also brings in Aqua troops to scour the oceans. Our Tactical brains at Command feel that this will make whatever hides on that mud ball nervous enough to attack. If they attack we' re ready and if they move we hope they move into northern direction,in other words right to where you and the other platoons are.” Roy rolled his eyes as he heard the word Army and sighed. “They just had to join the party. Why don't they let us do a Division drop and they do the point scouting for once?” The Major on the other end snickered. “Because they aren't Marines..” “Semper Fi Major.” Roy pointed at the Pertharian. “Sarge, you got your wish, go up there and see if there is a spot around here where we can set up camp.” “Aye.” The Pertharian shot into the air and through the canopy moments later. Roy blinked at a star shaped symbol in his troop command screen and y doing so gave the so called 'Gather” order and his troop pulled close together in a star formation weapons pointing outwards. The Sargent reported. “Local Topo analysis complete. There is nothing better for ten klicks all around us, just trees and swamp. There is a shallow hill 21.6 klicks from where we are, sensors say its Terra Firma.” A new voice buzzed in. “We spotted that hill first. Bravo Company 1st  Platoon Dragon Riders call it, besides we're only 4 klicks away from it.” Roy snorted. “Lt. Arsugen get off our channel and quit eavesdropping on 2nd  platoon. The hill is yours, it is to far out for us.” “This Thowerian needs every edge to compete against a certain Greenie Lt, besides you left the Company Level channel open ever since we dropped.” Of course Roy had left the Company channel open so the two other Platoon leaders of Bravo Company could listen in or call for help if needed. Roy trusted his own senses more than he trusted his sensors, but so far his uncanny sense of danger had not reacted on anything. Lt. Arsugen was a tall six limbed being from Andromea and and despite his alien and quite unsettling appearance, he was a good marine and Roy liked him. “Well keep your ladies nice and safe, looks like the Army is doing a big fancy show down south and  perhaps scaring those elusive buggers our way.” “I think Intel has it all wrong and there aren't any. They may fool our sensors but I am a Thowerian and I can smell sentient brain activity over great distances and I haven't felt anything.” Roy snorted. “I take that as an insult, you walking Brain leech,  or do you imply there isn't any brain activity over here where we are?” The Thowerian laughed in his strange metal rattling, hissing way and snarled. “Well if I really concentrate,I might be able to seperate your mind activity from those disgusting sucker slime worms.” Roy grinned inside his helmet. “That was a good one, Split face and it would not suprise me if NAVINT sent us to the wrong planet, like that never happened before.” The other Platoon leader tapped an acknowledgment and Roy deactivated the connection and said switched to Platoon channel “Well looks like the subtle approach  is out the window. The Army is on its way.” He  called up a local map and selected four hexagon shaped areas centerd around his own position. “Snyder, Kronaki, T'Chnk and Ash you take perimeter guard till 2100hrs. Go into Sniper stealth.” The four Marines acknowledged and Roy said to the rest. “We might as well camp right here. Mr Dunn be so kind and make us a little room, Command is dropping us a MOTEL, so not even you can complain.” Dunn opened up with his gatling and moved it in an arc, vaporizing vegetation and trees in a neat circle. While he did that he said. “Oh Sir, I certainly can! For one I prefer our drop ship over a MOTEL any time,or even better some R&R on Para Para.” The Non Corps said. “Well if anything is out there, they know where to find us.” Roy shrugged. “Who knows,with all that thunder and lightning?” then he send the exact coordinated to the USS John Stryker somewhere in Orbit around this planet. On the Gun deck of the Stryker, Gunner Crews loaded a green Giga Load casing into a Translocator cannon and hit the discharge contact. The Translocator cannon was aimed straight at the cordinated Roy had send them. There would not be much Jungle left or any of the Troop if this would have been a Red Giga Load, but this wasn't a bomb, it was a Mobile Operations Temporary Encampment Load, specifically developed for the Union Marines. Only perhaps ten meters from where Roy stood and almost at the center of the spot Dunn had cleared, a dark green 5 ton capsule appeared in a white flash, enormous bang and tidal wave of black swamp water. While the rest of the platoon was keeping guard, Roy sent the activation signal. The Capsule sensors analyzed the surroundings and reconfigured the pay load with an army of Nanites to the environment and seconds later, almost like a children inflatable bouncy castle something expanded and inflated. A  20 meter diameter floating platform with a central cube shaped building appeared. The thin plastic walls, filling with molecule expanding concrete foam, hardened in moments. The Platform  was well shielded with ParaDim Shields. It has room enough for the platoon to get out of their suits, take showers, eat in a small galley and sleep in low gee cods. It certainly beat the prospect of sleeping in the suit, something they all had done many times before of course.

--””--

The platoon had settled down, for some chow and rest. The M.O.T.E.L was of course a bit crowded but Roy had a tiny seperate chamber for himself as that came with the lieutenant bar on his collar. He was out of his suit and had a short shower. The environmental system of the MOTEL did not need to use and recycle the very limited water reserves it came with but could use local water. It was good clean drinking water once it had passed through the filtering and conditioning of the Nanite recyclers. He checked all positions but still there was nothing out there but slime worms, snakes and big flying beetles. He sat down behind a small desk and dialed for Command. “Lt. Masters,for Admiral T'Thakk.” The Klack Admiral who was in charge of this operation came on almost immideatley. Normally no simple Marine Luitenant could simply call right up to the top brass, but Roy could have called the Eternal Warrior and would have been connected. The Klack Admirals was one of the two Klack he had saved from being shot, back on Harper's Junction almost five years ago. It was the Admiral who wanted Roy to call if he had a moment. The Klack face was unreadable, but Roy started to learn o read the subtle ways Klack communicated emotions with their feelers and how they moved their heads. The feelers right now told him the insectoid officer was relaxed. “I already expected your call Luitenant, how is the situation down there?” “We are currently making camp, Sir. We covered about 50 miles in difficult terrain but have not made any contact or even noticed any traces of sentient occupation. I would like to volunteer for a scout mission, Sir.” “You are on a scout mission, are you not?” “Sir,it is the same back home on Green Hell. We are stomping through the swamp in high tech suits and use high tech sensors.