Book 9 - Ch 24 - Step on it. (edited)

Ch 24: Step on it (edited)

Meeze had noticed the sudden change of scenery.

He looked around the vaulted room he had emerged. There was a circular metal platform of about ten meters in diameter. Raised perhaps half a meter of the rough-looking stone floor.

Not far from him was a console of shape and function alien to him.

The walls were made of large rough squared stone blocks joining each other in a vaulted ceiling. A solid looking door made of sturdy wood and iron at the far end matched the character of the room, making the smooth metal platform and the console look out of place.

There was no one else in the room.

"Damniz, whaz hapenz?"

"Commencing situation analysis. Compiling available sensor and scanner data."

"Pfffz, stoopiz machinz. Noz tellz Meeze waz youz doez, tellz Meeze whaz youz finz."

"Occupant and user of this system is not properly connected. SLIME has not been deployed. Situation analysis limited to passive sensor input. Please stand by."

Meeze cursed in an ancient language and wiggled back and forth over the metal platform, hoping it would trigger a reversal of the spatial transplantation.

"Situation analysis as follows: User traversed 1006 light-years from UAS Deep Blue to UAS Le Habre Bleu. User passed through a trans spatial condition of unknown nature. Location Pin successful. GalCom and GalNet communication possible. All system components are fully operational. Neuro connection, Neuro Ping and deployment of SLIME strongly recommended."

Meeze made a hissing sound which was equal to a human sigh. "Whaz iz iz whiz ze slimez? Meeze iz a cleanze Wheeze, keepz the slimiz to minimumz. Meeze iz a wormz weeze slimez a lize biz."

A loud screech made him turn. An almost human-sized bat-winged black dragon monster shimmered into existence right behind him.

"Fenriz! Whaz ze hellz you doez herze?"

The creature flapped next to Meeze and flickered its black tongue across the worms faceplate.

Fenris was screeching again, obviously happy to see Meeze.

However, the screeching was not only heard by the worm but by someone beyond the sturdy door, that now opened.

A Thauran wearing a dark red robe, holding a Kermac line blaster froze in his movement as he saw the alien worm in battle armor and a nightmarish black thing with enormous leathery wings.

The Thauran fired.

Yet his energy beam passed through Fenris and hit the stone wall behind the dragon-like mascot of the Tigershark.

A second bolt hit Meeze.

Fenris screeched angrily and flapped with lighting speed across the room and collided with the Thauran.

Meeze realized that his suit had raised shields, in reaction to the first line bolt and the purple TransDim shields displaced the line blast instantly. The system responded. "Battle mode active. Primary shields at 99.9 percent. Threat level low."

Meeze pulled his TKU, but that was not necessary. Fenris had torn the Thauran in pieces, rendering the man in a heap of bloody gore, pieces flying everywhere. A bloody part of the man's upper thigh almost hit Meeze and hit the ground with a wet sound.

"Ohz, the Fenriz eaz zhe peoplez too?"

At this moment his Comm Unit beeped. "Mr. Meeze this is Commander Hi, please respond."

"Herze Meeze."

"Mr. Meeze we have located you on a planet called Blue Harbor at over a thousand light-years distance. What is your situation?"

"Meeze noz entireliz sureez. Stoopiz machinz tellz Meeze to bez Slimez, noz zo nicez."

The Dai managed to stay calm and coax Meeze to tell him what happened until now.

The XO of the Tigershark grunted. "All right, Mr. Meeze we try to locate that corridor and see what we can do. We can not leave Deep Blue until the captain has returned. Please try to find a place to hide and stay safe."

"The Captinz comez?"

"Yes, Captain Olafson is safe and on her way back. Mr. Meeze why have you left the ship, we were under General Quarters."

"Whhaz you complainz abouz? Youze saiz to uze all rezourcez to finz ze captinz. Meeze iz rezourcez anz Meeze knowz noz thaz Generalz."

Har-Hi coughed, then said. "We talk about this later. Say Mr. Meeze are you hurt, there is blood all over your face."

"Nooz, Meeze eaz lize biz of ze Thauranz. Noz zo baz, wanz me to keepz a biz for ze Dai?"

"Uh, no. I am good. Just stay safe. Find a crevice to hide till we can get you."

Har-Hi disconnected and Meeze, almost a little disappointed, looked at the bloody heap. "Whaz a wastez, lez goz Fenriz. Harz-Hi saiz we finz the Crevicez."

--""--

Egill had so much fun, he did not mind at all following the ancient detective and of course his friends. Chiefly the Narth.

Phil apparently had no objections for them to keep tagging along.

The former hermit of Nilfeheim found the method of the detective very relatable to his own.

While they were on their way to the Ivory tower, sitting in the unmarked police flyer, Alegar asked his friend. "You still owe us an explanation, regarding the Kilonian. How did you know he was the neighbor of the murdered man?"

"I think the same way, Phil figured it out. The front yard of the left domicile had Pletigroias. A strongly scented flowering herb plant native to Lonia. the homeworld of the Kilonians."

Alegar was openly impressed. "And you know this how?"

"The Kilonian pavilion features bushes of the same kind and the same strong smell."

Phil laughed. "Yes, that was one indication, indeed. Very good Mr. Skallagrimmson. The shape of the front door and the lack of viewports were another."

As they approached the Ivory Tower of the Science Department, Egill said. "Mr.Decker, you are so kind letting us tag along, would you not rather want to call me Egill?"

"Sure, if you drop the Mr. Decker."

The Narth soaking up every moment had been very quiet. The Narth representative was apparently in communication with other Narth, both Alegar and Egill knew their shrouded friend now well enough to make this assumption.

The Narth nodded slowly. "It is very pleasing that both of your understanding of my nature and activities improves. May I inquire what led us here? I still fail to evaluate the causality chain that is at the core of this detective approach."

Phil landed the flyer on a balcony platform far above Pleiades Plaza. "The object of the raid was the theft of an item. While all display cases held highly valuable items, only one is irreplaceable and of great significance."

The Narth actually holding a PDD. "Ye, the scroll of the prophecy. Narth knows of its significance."

Phil got out and waited till his new companions did the same. "Outside of the Narth and the Coven, no one knew about this document. Yet it was requested by a scholar of the Workgroup Olympus. The deputy director of this obscure and little known science corps department, a Professor Level 1 with the name of Lurega Donomensi. We are here to ask a few questions."

Alegar said. "I never heard about this Workgroup, I admit, but I do know a Saresii name when I hear one. It is a male name."

Moments later they were greeted by the most unusual receptionist. A green vapor, with reddish glowing orbs in the somewhat head shaped top. The ghostly apparition's voice came from a speaker at its desk. "Good Ten Hour to you, Citizen. These are the premises of Workgroup Olympus. I am Kurthbir, how may I be of assistance?"

Decker flipped on his badge. "I'd like to talk to the deputy assistant, Professor Donomensi please."

The green vapor said in a friendly tone. "The professor is not in his offices, but we expect him every moment now. Would you like to talk to someone else? I can, of course, attempt to call."

"Please do."

Alegar leaned closer to the Narth. "Do you know what occupies the reception desk?"

"It is an Antoo. First Contact was made by Egill's granddaughter. They mostly occupy a different spatial condition. What is seen is only a small percentage of the being. It was Narth Supreme suggesting Union membership."

"Of course, it had to be a Narth idea, who else would suggest ghosts to be members of the Union?" Alegar said rolling his eyes with a smile. "That your Erica was involved surprises me not so much." He said to Egill.

The green vapor tried to call the Saresii professor. "Strange, the professor was already seen in the building, but I just received a message that he is taking a seven-day vacation."

"Just now?" Decker asked.

"Yes, Sir. This is rather unexpected. While he does have vacation days, he was scheduled for a lecture in an hour form now. "

--""--

The Saran clerk behind the desk stared at the Saresii. "Avondur, you say? Why come here to ask? Is it not found in the catalogs?"

Lurega responded. "If it would be in the catalogs, I would not be here, now would I? I am a scholar with the Science Department and I understand the Astrographic society also collects astrographic data from other societies. It is not published because it is not verified."

The Saran became more animated and said. "Indeed, we take the accuracy of our information very seriously and nothing is made public or made accessible before it can be verified by credible Union sourced data."

"It is no secret or classified however, so please see if there is such a place."

The Astrograph consulted his system and after a moment said. "It appears Avondur is a mythical place also called the Planet at the Center of the Universe. It is mentioned in four sources. An old scroll located in the library of Sares, a document in the Golden Archives, a stone tablet at the Forbidden Library and a recorded oral account of a traveling merchant of N'Ger."

--""--

The base commandant got up in a hurry, the large Pim-Pam followed his move.

Billix said. "A large fleet of unknowns is approaching this system. Please proceed to designated shelter facilities, Captain."

"I am a certified fighter pilot if you need me."

"Alright, Captain come along then."

I ran right after the two to the next IBT while blaring klaxons and red strobe lights alerted everyone.

There was no panic, but an orderly rush. People of all kind lined up before IBT columns that had risen from the smooth floor. Bright signs designated them as Shelter access points.

Before solid-looking shutters were rolling across the viewports, I could see dome-shaped turrets rise from beneath the dust-covered surface.

The IBT accepted all three of us and the ride took us to Command and Control. Neither the commandant nor the Pim Pam Luitenant had time to talk to me, both were in communication with the system and on-duty personnel.

As we reached Command and Control, the Jooltar commander said. "We have no spare Wolfcrafts at the moment, but there are a few Wotan class prototypes."

--""--

Half of First Fleet had reached the Ancient gate and was either already in the Leo II galaxy or lined up to make the transition.

The other half was rushing towards Quadron system. While it was only half of the First, it was still a tremendous fighting force.

Harris sat in his command seat. He glanced at the brooding admiral that just sat down next to him.

"It is not entirely unexpected, you know. A Union forward base basically in the middle of unexplored space. Not too distant from Koken or the Shattered Kingdoms. The long-distance scanners confirm the attackers are Tech 7 and we are certain this is an Or-Ghe fleet. The attacking force is quite large, but I am confident we come out on top. The base is well defended and we are only two hours away."

"I know. I am up to date on that"

Stahl rolled his eyes. "It's the timing of this attack, you do know who we sent there right?"

"No..." Harris blinked. "She should be near Coreward Hub, the Attikan is very fast."

The captain of the Devi put his hand over his eyes. "She's still there, isn't she?"

Stahl brushed over a Comm sensor and asked the Comm officer to tie into the GalCom of the Quadron system. "See if there is any Comm traffic identifying a Captain Olafson."

"There is, Sir."

"Put it on speakers."

"...she just obliterated that Or-Ghe capital unit." A voice reported to the base commandant. "But that old Wotan class is toast."

"Billix here, Viking come in"

Stahl and Harris recognized the voice they heard next. "Commander, I used the Wotan to ram that Or-Ghe troop transport, three of them penetrated the base defense."

Harris still had his hand over his eyes. "She likes ramming things doesn't she?"

"A Wotan, how in the world did she end up in a Wotan?"

Harris grunted. "Better question: Why did the Or-Ghe attack that base when she was there?"

Stahl slowly shook his head. "McElligott thinks she has some sort of trouble magnet implanted. I am convinced he is right."

--""--

Shea knelt before the metal strip while Circuit examined the walls. Har-Hi stood a little behind them. "So, that's another one of these Tresh-Hold things?"

Narth, who had just appeared next to the Dai answered. "Yes, and it is based on Nnnth technology. The Narth Supreme confirms it."

"Does this mean someone was able to access those knowledge crystals of the Narth?"

"No, the Nnnth crystals are secure and there is no renegade Narth either."

"I did not say that."

"But you would not be the intelligent friend of mine for not thinking it. A renegade or Spy Narth is impossible. A renegade Nnnth however is."

"I think you need to elaborate."

"It happened before the Nnnth and the Arth united into a new entity. The Nnnth were a very advanced society on the brink of uniting all that is Nnnth. I only learned these things myself moments ago."

Shea got up. "This thresh hold is currently not active, but don't let me stop you, Narth. I too like to hear more."

Their shrouded friend used his telekinetics to lift the metal bar out of the floor recess and said. "According to the Narth Supreme, three Nnnth individuals were deemed not ready for the Nnnth-Arth merge and left behind so to speak.

The Narth Supreme was only formed after this merger and until this tech discovery unaware of the existence of these three Nnnth. One of these Nnnth became the Entity Rex Invictus and created the First Empire in order to channel the resurrection of the Dark One.

He or the civilization he created is the source of these Nnnth technology artifacts. It is unknown to Narth how these tech artifacts ended up in the hands of a Thauran sect."

Har-Hi made a very concerned face. "Could there be more Nnnth tech? Weapons perhaps?"

"This is a concern of the Narth Supreme indeed, as this can not be ruled out."

Hans stomped through the storage room and stopped by the secret door that had been forced open. Meeze's hole was visible, but of course too small for them.

Hans said. "I followed a few leads and was digging some more. Our Thauran Ensign Sarina Sobur is the youngest sister of Sarak Sobur, he disappeared in 5020 along with Sarina's mother. According to a Union Police file, he was a leading Necro priest and obsessed with finding Rene Thauran's secret. There is a rumor about Thauran Vampires that somehow managed to crack the secret to true immortality. You know the secret to keep a human mind active beyond the 200-year mark. Our Ensign is a direct descendant of Rene Thauran."

Har-Hi looked down the empty corridor. "And Blue Harbor is the first planet the Thauran colonized."

Shea said. "I think we need to go there, Meeze is there and I am certain this is where the missing Ensign was taken as well."

"As soon as the Captain is here, she will decide." Har-Hi contacted the ship. "Elfi, do we have an ETA on Erica...I mean the Captain?"

"Not exactly, Sir. She was supposed to be on her way, but according to a report I just received from the Devi, she accidentally stumbled into a space battle of sorts."

She sighed. "Mr. Hi, those are the exact words of Captain Harris."

Har-Hi facepalmed, not knowing that the captain of the Devi had done the same, just a little earlier.

"Accidentally stumbled into a space battle..."

--""--

Meeze hissed at Fenris. "Wheeze suppoze zo finz ze crevicz. Youze zoo bigz forz ze crevicz."

The worm had unsuccessfully tried to stuff his dragon-like friend into what he assumed was the access to a stank and moist sewage pipe.

Most of Fenris was still in the stone corridor adjunct to the room where he had first appeared. "Youze eaz too muchz ofz ze Thauran."

Fenris, so it seemed to Meeze didn't take the situation too seriously and screeched rather happy, while Meeze tried to shove the dragon beast deeper into the small half-pipe shaped opening.

Meeze gave up. "Youze canz shiftz inz ze wallz. Youze stoopiz and stubornz."

Two dead Thauran later, who perhaps heard the screeching dragon, Meeze wasn't much further. "Youz waiz herze. Maybeez we finz exiz."

"MAMA suggests contacting Union authorities, this is a Union planet. GalNet and GalCom available, Union law enforcement agencies present on this world."

"Meeze knwoz thaz, Stoopiz Machinz! Theze guyz havz ze Ensignz andz are criminalz. Meeze noz likez ze criminalz."

He decided to leave Fenris were it was and explore the place some more. The Dai wasn't very specific what crevice Meeze was supposed to hide in.

So he wiggled along the corridor.

"MAMA sensors detect surveillance systems ahead. Suggesting cloak"

"Cloakz? Meeze likez!"

The suit created a lense field bending light around the worm, rendering it invisible to most known sensors including eyes."

He scurried past two visual sensors and up a narrow staircase. As he reached the top he could hear voices, chanting and repeating something he could not understand. He moved faster towards the monotone singing. "Youze singz noz muchz longerz, stoopiz Thauranz."

--""--

Everyone looked the same wearing a Heavy Destroyer suit, at least that was the common consensus. The man in the dark red Destroyer suit and a very old pre-Astro Marine logo on his shoulder guards, however, was well known to me, and I knew who it was that waded through the knee-high dust and sand directly towards me.

He was not alone, marines and Cerberus robots by the thousands had rained down from the dusty sky and mopped up the last of the invading Or-Ghe.

I had led a group of Base marines and robots against a force of Or-Ghe that managed to breach the planet's defenses and establish a beachhead. It was imperative to keep them from reaching the Loki torpedo starters.

The man who had reached me now was known as the Eternal Warrior. The marines that were with me, stood in ramrod attention.

He greeted me with a grunt. "Well, the Or-Ghe are not a Union member, and technically you didn't start it either, but didn't I tell you to get back to your ship?"

"Sir, the Attikan ship was not ready when I arrived. This attack occurred within the first hours of me being here. I am a Union Officer. I am by oath and charter required to act and defend, what did I do wrong?"

He sighed. "There are no rules you violated of course." He spread his armored arms pointing at the Or-Ghe bodies and hardware sticking out of the dust. "And I see you did not hold back much. Looks like this raid was planned for a while, I am sure we'll find the reason why they decided to attack."

A boxy troop carrier descended. "Captain Olafson, the Attikan ship is ready and I will personally make sure you get that connection to Blue Moon at Coreward Hub."

As I walked next to him up the boarding ramp. "I should feel honored by you personally escorting me to the space train station."

"Erica, there is a part in me who bursts with pride. Seeing you fighting alongside marines, taking charge and repelling attackers. I am guilty of the same style after all, but there is this unexplainable condition that always gets you in the middle of things."

"I don't know what to say, Sir. I don't think I did anything to cause this. I never heard of these Or-Ghe before and I didn't get any useful intel out of the ones I fought. I was about to question one of their leaders when you showed up, Sir."

The troop carrier landed inside the hangar of an Attikan battleship, not a destroyer. Its markings identified it as a unit assigned to First Fleet.

"Deep down I am a simple man, Erica. I don't believe in predestination and think of the future as yet to be formed, but since I became aware of you this view seems to be inadequate."

He pressed the contact to open the landing ramp. "My wife, and the Narth Supreme tell me that the future is indeed not preordained, but then recent revelations tell me that you aren't exactly the average human officer."

He laughed. "I know you are a Neo Viking and I had the privilege to serve along Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes long before there was a Union and as much as you Neo Vikings have developed your own culture you are still the quintessential barbarian berserker warriors. They say we humans can not deny our warlike nature, and your roots certainly are grounded in a warrior culture like few others from good ol' Earth."

He made an inviting gesture. "Let's get out of these tin suits and have a beer. This is the USS Zinol, the fastest ship of the First. I took it to come here as fast as possible, and the Captain of this speedster has orders to take us to Coreward Hub as fast as possible. Still, it will take 12 hours."

"All I did was have lunch at the base..."

He stopped. "I know, and all you did was take a sightseeing tour on Twilight, ending up rescuing the planet governor. All you did was hitch a ride with Alex Enroe and ended up fighting a Dai Battleship. I am not faulting you for anything. In these and all the subsequent events, you performed beyond expectations. We are at peace with the Nul because of you, added the Golden because of you and added an entire fleet of Seenian super monsters because of you. Erica, I am very proud of you, but for some reason, trouble finds you without fail."

He was not done and added. "I know it will not stop, but I want you to be with your ship and your crew. God alone knows they are almost as bad as you in that regard."

"About that not so average human thing, Sir..."

"Forget it, you are a Starship captain and all your conduct has shown me that you can be trusted. I trust my wife, she isn't human. I trust the Narth Supreme, so until you give me a reason to change my opinion, I trust you. Erica Olafon or Captain Dark One...whatever you might end up being."

I could feel the amusement of that essence inside me and the dry voice of Eric inside me silently laughed. "Captain Dark One."

--""--

Meeze trusted his cloak, but he was unfortunately neither trained in suit operations nor was he properly connected to the suit system.

He did not realize that the cloak did not prevent noises he made.

He opened the sturdy door with a push, a door much the same as the one below.

Meeze emerged in a sizeable room of temple like character. There were candles and braziers, blue-skinned humans wearing dark red robes.

He noticed Ensign Sobur. She was tied to an altar-like table. The Thauran standing behind that altar wore a red robe adorned with golden skull embroidery.

The men were chanting something he did not understand.

Before he could react, he was caught in a glimmering curtain of bluish energies.

The Suit system MAMA fell silent and the cloak failed.

Everyone was looking directly at Meeze. Even though human expressions were still mostly alien to him. The faces were anything but friendly.

"Helloz everyonz, Meeze goez nows. Ze wrongz doorz."

--""--

Har-Hi had taken the Apparition to Cote Azur Hub. He, Narth, Circuit, and Shea now stood by the Space Train terminal and awaited the Spinward Express from Blue Moon. According to Admiral Stahl, Captain Olafson was aboard.

Shea said. "Are you sure she is on this train?"

Har-Hi nodded. "The Eternal Warrior himself postponed his trip to Leo II and has Harris handle the Or-Ghe situation to personally escort the Captain to Coreward Hub."

Circuit snickered. "Maybe she got in an accidental argument with a Boloth at Blue Moon?"

Har-Hi glared at the Engineer. "That is not funny, Mister Circuit. Not funny at all."

--""--

It took a moment to hug and greet everyone. It was quite hard to curb my emotions to be back. Even though technically I wasn't gone all that long.

While the Apparition was on the way back to Deep Blue, Har-Hi informed me and updated me on everything on their end and I gave them an account of my little odyssey.

Similar emotion got a hold of me when I finally stepped on my bridge.

"SHIP, sound general quarters. Elfi, tell port control we are lifting off. Krabbel plot a course to Le Habre Bleu and Shaka get us there."

I sat down in my command seat and with a deep smile said. "Let's get Meeze and our Ensign back, make sure those who abducted them will understand the error of their actions and then we need to find a thing called the Unpronounceable. I am getting tired of that Ypeherix issue. Less science this time."

To my brother inside of me, I said. "You be that dark god thing, brother but I am right where I want to be."

I pointed at the view-screen. "Shaka, step on it."