Agents of Terra - Current WIP.rtf

Agents of Terra 

(Galactic Chronicles, Terra Cycle - Volume II)

(c)2017 V.Ravencroft

Batavia, NY USA

Foreword by the Author
'''This is the second volume in the Pre-Astro Cycle. The last volume 'Children of Terra' begins the next cycle of stories, 'the Terra Cycle'.'''

Agents of Terra is chronologically the 5th book of the 37 volumes volumes that make up the novels I have written so far in the Galactic Chronicles Universe.

'''This universe of mine has grown over the many years and has attracted many readers and friends from all over the globe. If you ever wanted to know more about a certain species or futuristic / alien term simply search for the galactic chronicles GalNet wiki online and chances are that one of the 14,000 plus pages will offer you more back ground.'''

Agents of Terra continues the adventures and the odyssey of the thirty teenagers that have been abducted by the Freons as told in Children of Terra.

'''The events told in this volume  take place during a time when Earth and most of its inhabitants are still blissfully ignorant about everything that  occurs in outer space. '''

'''In that time most of the space faring societies have never heard about Earth. There are no Union battleships, no Union Marines. '''

Neither Richard Stahl, nor Obrock McElligott have been born yet.

'''Of the thirty originally abducted teenagers seven apparently died during the begin of their forceful exile. '''

'''While they made a memorable debut at Sara,planet and managed to get invited by an enigmatic group of teachers, known as 'the Thirteen'. '''

However instead of arriving on the World of Old to study and learn, they were attacked by Dai Than and boarded by pirates.

'''The last time we heard about them was at Utha's Point. '''

There are scheming Freons;

a missing device from the First Age of Knowledge with the ability detect and kill psionic gifted from a distance.

'''Like the previous volume, this his book was written under very special circumstances and a very strange time of my life. I might get into details  in a future blog post or mention some of it on my Facebook page, but for now I welcome you to the Galactic Chronicles universe and hope you enjoy your stay. '''

At Astra, to the Stars,

Yours truly 

Vanessa Ravencroft

Author's Note:
'''This story takes place around 2020 OTT (Old Terran Time). Earth in general is not aware of extra terrestrial, sentient life. This of course does not include AXIOM and other secret organizations and government agencies mentioned in the previous books. The Galactic Council mentioned here is the First or the Original Galactic Council and not the one the Kermac led one that becomes the prime opponent of the United Stars of the Galaxies at a much later time.'''

The thirty abducted Teens:
* Sigurd Olafson, Norway * Melissa Rockford, USA *  Mahmud Ben Alif, Iraq * Aoife O'Reilly, Ireland * Aaron Stein, USA * Buwunti, Congo * Wolfgang, Germany * Ling Bao, China * Manjieet, India * Sergej, Russia * Yoko Askai, Japan * Sarah Guri, Israel * Sofia Pace,Italy * Pierre-Luc Chevalier, France * James Gillis, England * Edward McArthur, Scotland * Sylvi, Lithuania * Janosh, Hungary * Andrei, Poland * Lom Monte Negro * Margit Oats, South Africa * Geng Kublai, Mongolia * Paulo Benedicto, Brazil * Alice Gordon, Australia * Wilfredo Lopez, Mexico * Conzuela Garcia, Spain * Rosa Pererro,  Argentina * Maria Alvarez, Venezuela * Ninuk Nama,  Alaska * Salima Malmami, Afghanistan 

The seven Earth teenagers that apparetly died:
* Mahmud Ben Alif, Irak * Sylvi, Lithuania * Janosh, Hungary * Andrei, Poland * Lom, Monte Negro * Paulo Benedicto, Brazil * Wilfredo LopezMexico 

The ones that went to the World of Old(12):
Aaron Stein * Aoife O'Reilly * Buwunti * Yoko Askai * Sarah Guri * Sofia Pace * Pierre-Luc Chevalier * James Gillis * Conzuela Garcia * Maria Alvarez * Ninuk Nama * Salima Malmami

The ones that set out on their own (11):
*Sigurd Olafson * Melissa Rockford *Wolfgang, Ling Bao * Manjieet * Sergej * Edward McArthur * Margit Oats * Geng Kublai * Alice Gordon * Rosa Pererro

Books by Vanessa Ravencroft
Xeno Activity Cycle

The Guardian Of Earth ( Volume 1 GC Book 1)

Defenders of Earth (Volume 2 GC Book 2)

Xeno Activity (Volume 3 GC Book 3)

Terra Cycle

Children of Terra (Volume 1 GCBook 4)

Agents of Terra (Volume 2 GC Book 5)

Killers of Terra ( Volume 3 GC Book 6)  

Ascent of Terra (Volume 4 GC Book 7)

Earth Cycle

United Earth (Volume 1 GC Book 8)

Brutal Earth (Volume 2 GC Book 9)

Dark Earth (Volume 3 GC Book 10)

Genetic Slaves of Earth ( Volume 4 GC Book 11)

Cleansing of Earth (Volume 5 GC Book 12)

XUNX (Volume 6 GC Book 13) 

USoG Cycle

United Stars of the Galaxy (Volume 1 GC 14)

United Stars at War (Volume 2 GC 15)

United Stars - Peace Hawks- (Volume 3 GC 16)

'''United Stars - Y'ALL! (Volume 4 GC 17)'''

United Stars - Stahl's Odyssey ( Volume 5 GC 18)

United Stars - The Bridge (Volume 6 GC 19)

United Stars - Exodus Stories (Volume 7 GC 20)

Roy Masters Cycle

Adventures of a Greenie (Volume 1 GC 21)

Galaxy at War (Volume 2 GC 22)

Union Marines (Volume 3 GC 23)

Space Force (Volume 4 GC 24)

Union Army (Volume 5 GC 25)

Tales of the Union (Volume 6 GC 26)

Olafson Cycle

Eric Olafson, Neo Viking (Volume 1 GC 27)

Eric Olafson, First Journeys (Volume 2 GC 28)

Midshipman, Eric Olafson (Volume 3 GC 29)

Eric Olafson, Space Pirate (Volume 4 Gc 30)

Erica Olafson, Black Velvet ( Volume 5. GC 31)

Erica Olafson, Adventures of the Tigershark (Volume 6, GC 32)

Erica Olafson, The Forge (Volume 7, GC 33)

Erica Olafson, Children of the Deep (Volume 8, GC34)

The Dark One (Volume 7, GC 35)

Union Cycle

Tomb World (Volume 1, GC 36)

The Planet at the Center of the Universe ( Volume 2, GC 37)

Stand Alone Novels in the GC Universe

STAHL

Cosmic Echos

Mystery Novels by Vanessa Ravencroft

(Melissa May mysteries)

The Black Corsett

Cherubim

Cleveland Revenge

(Phil Decker mysteries)

Gumshoe

Sewerrats on Broadway

Murdering Elmo

Dedication
I want to take the chance to dedicate this book first and foremost to Emma at Inkitt, who never forgot me, believed in me and like the other wonderful people at Inkitt made my very first published novel a reality.

To Linda of Inkitt who picked the greatest artwork and to Ali of Inkitt, who through his vision gave  me a chance to finally get published and share my stories with a larger audience.

Special thanks go to: Dan Boris, Barbara J. Burns and Joe for being bright stars of light and hope in very dark time.

V.R

"Relax, guys they are cooked and...well it's certainly an interesting eating experience. Almost like eating a small man..."

Edward McArthur, from Scotland 

"It was to the great misfortune of Captain Katrakan that we had Earthers aboard. No one can argue that it didn't end well for the Pirate and his crew."

Zugyuzzz, Black throat Shiss aboard the Harok

"Those primates of Earth always talk about peace. Do you know why? 

Because they are so terribly good at war."

Chief military councilor of the First Galactic Council

"Then let us take steps to prevent that, as my Shiss colleague mentioned. It never takes you Earthers' long from being afraid to being angry."

The Red Xunx aboard the Harok

"Earth did not ascent to the Galactic Stage, meek and shy, like other young civilizations. They arrived with a thunderclap!"

Saresii Historian, Grantastouu University Sares One

Introduction
'''The year is 2019 Old Terran time. Earth's humanity  for the most part is still blissfuly unaware of the fact that it is not the only sentient civilization within that great spiral arm galaxy. '''

'''Yet this blue planet, had been of interest of many other civilizations, throughout known and unknown history. Countless artifacts, many legends and myths are the result and tangible evidence of other worldly visitors. '''

'''Humankind as a whole seems to have an unconcious awareness that it was not alone, reflected in countless tales of extraterrestial origin. It also appears that there is a common longing to leave this craddle of origin and spread among the stars. '''

'''While mankind of Earth is still divided in nation states, the time for Earth to ascent with a united voice  to the Galactic Stage must be soon, as there are many dangers to a young and unprotected civilization. '''

Because what good were land armies, waterbound navies and weapons that could not leave a planet against an alien force able to drop asteroids and bombs from the orbit onto human cities?

'''The closest neighbors to Earth's humanity  are the Freons, a species of non-human humanoids with large heads, gray skins and almond shaped eyes. '''

'''While their true motivations and reasons for their politics and actions are not easily understood by others, the apparent ones are easily enough to understand. Freons wanted power and gain influence and had no scruples to exploit other lesser developed societies to attain their goals.'''

'''The Freon culture was divided in two societies, the  Outers and the Inners. It is the Inners who decide the direction and the politics of the Freon society and it is the Outers who carry out whatever the Inners decree. The Outers do not question the Inners regardless what consequences the decissions might carry.'''

'''It is a condition and aspect of the Freon society known to many of the older civilizations; the Freons  perpetual inferiority complex. They often lamented to be sidelined, overlooked and not taken serious by the larger, more powerful civilizations that made up the Galactic Council.'''

'''Thus not a day goes by without a Freon scheme or plan to gain importance and eventually dominance over all sentient life. '''

'''Very recently the Inners created a bio engineered warrior life form they wanted use against the comming onslaught of the  Xunx and subsequently use these warrior creatures to subdue or erradicate all those who stood in the way of the Freons to become a leading society within the Galactic Council. It had been discovered and eventually failed with a disaster.'''

'''Freon Inners did not dwell very long on the latest failed scheme and now focused on something else: Psionics. '''

'''A power, an uncanny, unexplainable ability of some individuals to use extrasensory and extratactical means  to manipulate real space conditions and matter. '''

'''Abilities that allowed beings to read minds, force others to do whatever was asked of them. Abilities if contolled could shape or break empires. '''

'''An abilitity completly alien to Freons and beyond their science to explain  and technology to harness. Yet they knew it existed. '''

Freons knew of the Saresii and the Kermac who based their dominance and power over others on this this apparently magic ability.

The Gray Ones of the planet Freo, thus spend much resources and efforts to somehow harness this source of power for their quest to dominance.

'''Only very recently Freon agents successfully obtained an ancient device from the First Age of Knowledge of the Saresii society. The 'Yathynhto' a handheld device of sorts able to locate a psionic gifted mind; and if the claims were true also able to kill a psionic gifted person.'''

Why the Freons used the Yathynhto on Earth is not known, but they successfully located Psionic talents among a population that dismissed any notion of extra sensory abilities as nonsense.

'''Freon agents identified thirty individuals with strong psionic abilities and abducted them. The thrity beings were teenagers and found themselves aboard a Freon cruiser leaving the Solar system '''

The Freons were intercepted by a Saran patrol.

These young Earthers unable to return to Earth made quite an impact on the Saran society.

GalNet Encyclopedia :
"Psionics, (Psi-oh-nics). general term for a range of transphasic, transspatial conditions and manipulation. A particular family of hyperspatial, transphasics super exotic particles (Psions) and multi transitional element of the so called quantum foam, has been found to be accessible and thus useable by a) gifted individuals b)a limited and rare number of non sentient species and c) Psionic technology.

'''Psionic research has shown that all life forms with higher neurological functions in particular neuron synaptic networks, in order to perform certain apparent faster than light functions or certain quantum states utilize psions. Some species and some individuals develop or mutate organic psionic receptors, transmitters and modulators. depending on the level and control of these abilities enable individuals to be telepaths, telekinets or teleporters. Each of these basic three psionic functions vary in ability and intensity from individual to individual. The technical utilization of Psions is generally associated with societies of Techlevel 7 and up."'''

ONE {| Thea-Th-ka system Dai Than

2019 OTT

 * }

A few moth ago:

'''Tar-Kur the tribal leader of the Qo tribe was still bragging about his success with the Thka society and he was most proud of his fighter pilots as they had unmasked one of the Galaxies great legends and myths to be nothing more than a hoax. The famous Harok, the ship of the Thirteen; the collector of the chosen was nothing more than a weak ship of organic origin. Its weapons were nothing really spectacular. The Tribe had lost four fighters.'''

Yes, he let the Harok retreat, wounded and most likely dead just like its crew drifting somewhere in deep space, not too far from Thea-Th-Ka.

'''The same sun that would rise in the skies of the second planet, the homeworld of the Thka society. It would reveal the carnage, the destruction and the devastation his tribe had left behind. '''

'''The Dai had no planets. A society of carbon based life forms needed planets and a space faring society needed resources. Thus the Dai Than took what they need from others. The life  of the Dai was harsh and their wisdom knew before others lived the Dai must live. '''

'''Once the Dai too had a planet of origin. A place of their own, but it was destroyed by the events of the forbidden past. Only the Pale Ones of Thana Shoo still knew what truly happened. Asking about the Forbidden Past was courting with worse than death. The past was taboo and those who dared to ask, declared Dai-Sho, outcasts and bearers of unbearable shame.'''

'''There where many Dai tribes that roamed the galaxy. '''

'''Some were ancient and enormous like the legendary Hi tribe, with over 50 million members and no less than fourteen of the biggest Dai Mothers ever seen. Other tribes  were small or had only recently formed.'''

The Qo tribe was not of the  ancient kind, but it could trace its origin all the way to the 59 Ancient families that left Thana Shoo just before it was destroyed.

'''His tribe was still quite small in size and numbers, yet it was growing and  he was proud of their own Dai Mother. '''

'''A ship over 12 miles long and eight miles wide at its greatest diameter. '''

'''Long gone were the times, the skills and the resources to create the enormous mothers that still dominated all Dai society. Smaller ones like the Qo Mother, built by the Pale Ones in ancient orbital facilities in the Thana system could 0nly be completed every hundred periods or so .'''

'''To others Dai mothers looked like a collection of various size steel bubbles stuck together from small to big. Somewhat resembling a bunch of grapes. '''

It housed factories,farms and gardens, leisure facilities, schools and of course provided home, housing and living space for the members of his tribe including  his very own Leader domicile,with his wifes and sons.

He had just left the planet surface for the last time and soon the tribe would move on to digest the loot, to trade and banter with other tribes and to eventually pick another target.

'''That he most likely doomed the Thka society was neither concerning him nor did it weigh on his conciousness. '''

'''He was not like some of the Dai tribal leaders  that tried to limit their impact, only killed when neccessary and show mercy whenever possible. He saw such considerations  as a sign of weakness. Many tribes shunned the taking of slaves. Very few stooped to that level and bantered with other societies that purchased sentient beings for a variety of purposes.'''

'''The Thka a semi humanoid species of carbon based nitrogen oxygen breahters only  just recently attained techlevel three.Recently in terms of civilization development that is. '''

'''Tech Three was that magical threhold when a technical society discovers and harnesses the second spectrum and realizes that there are means to travel faster than light after all. If such a civilization develops its first star drive and succesfully crosses the light barrier it realizes that thousands of civilizations had done the very same thing, often many thousand years earlier and meekly arrives on the so called galactic stage.'''

'''In terms of galactic distances, the Thka were close to an old and quite powerful space faring society, the Quadi-Peds. These massive four legged beings were a benelovent society of warriors, that liked to be seen as the protectors of the weaker.'''

'''One of their colonies was close, first contact was made and the Quadi welcomed the Thka. It was quite fortunate for the Thka to be close to a well established society that had a solid reputation.'''

'''However no known technology existed that allowed reliable faster than light communication with any substantial range or speed. Unless you took the Long Range Telepaths of the Kermac into account, but they were rarely to be found outside Kermac space and could not relay pictures or complex data. '''

The Quadi-ped would of course be upset and might even cause trouble for smaller tribes that they became aware off, but in general Dai Tribes were elusive and hard to fight as they did not have planetary bases, no central government and were here today and there tomorrow.

'''After he had returned to the immense Dai Mother of his clan, he climbed out of the one seater fighter craft, modified for surface bombardement and was immideatly surrounded by his  favorite sons and the chieftains of his tribe. They laughed and told each other stories about big explosions and laughed at the fate of the frightened new slaves in their holds awaiting to be sold for valuable resources.'''

'''They followed their leader through ther corridors as he made his way to the Control chamber, a cavernous spherical place in the center of the huge, almost 11 miles long ship. They begun bantering about their shares of the loot. '''

Soon the laughter would change into challenges and the sound of drawn swords.

'''Some challenges would die right there, some would escalate to first blood drawn and a few would redefine the chain of command or reafirm it. This was the way of the Dai.'''

Tar-Kur had reached Control and mounted the command throne that was prominently featured in the center of the large hall, which served both as a throne room and a command seat for the Dai Mother and the entire tribe.

'''He loosened the buckles of his battle harness and leaned back. '''

The still young and haughty Tribes lord was wearing a very elaborate decorated version of the standard Dai armor.

Made of dark red, tooled leather with intricate swirls of iridium threat embroidery following chest and muscle lines.

'''Beneath the leather was a layer of thin but incredible tough woven metal mesh and an airtight insulation layer of modern radiation opaque material. Beneath it   a web of artery like service lines for air, heating, waste removal and other neccesary systems that made this artful traditional Dai Armor a fully functional space suit. All Tar-Kur had to do was rise the soft transparent hood, currently stored in his collar over his head and seal it. The soft hood  would become a ridgid helmet in an instant.'''

'''Like every Dai warrior he wore a wide assortment of weapons both open and hidden all over his body. Most prominent of course the two Dai blade across his back, and the five traditional knives in  the cross shaped chest harness. '''

'''On the upper left, 'the knife that should never be drawn', meant to kill a traitor. 'The knife of blood revenge' that once drawn could not be put back into its shead unless it has tasted the blood of the person it was drawn against, on the upper right. '''

'''The lower left strap was 'the knife to regain the last honor', and meant for traditional suicide. '''

'''Across it, in the lower right was the 'knife of brotherhood'. The knife that would be drawn to inflict a wound on a declared friend that gained the honor to be called a brother. '''

'''The criss crossig harness came together behind a disc shaped plate prominent on any Dai battle suit. The plate was about two hands wide in diameter and bore the Tribal glyph on the outside, and behind it the Alti-Karr, 'the Blade of the Dai Warrior'. The Alti Karr was a ring shaped knife, some versions with serrated and some with a smooth razor sharp edge all around. '''

'''Dai Warriors could throw these round disc-knives at  great distance and with deadly accuracy; even make it bounce of hard surfaces and strike enemies around corners or behind cover. It was an old weapon that meant little against enemies in armored suits, but its mastery was still considered a measure of the Dai Warriors skills.'''

The  elaborate throne and command seat of the young tribal leader had a special back rest that allowed him to lean back,even while  wearing his swords.

'''The Tribal leader was relative young, his father had died in an honor fight at Thana Shoo against a warrior of the Hi tribe. '''

It happened during the last great tribal meeting that occured only every ten years, when all Dai Tribes assembled in their former home system and gathered on the surface of the largest remaining fragment of their homeworld, 'the Heart of Thana Shoo'.

Tar-Kur made an universally recognized gesture to underline his desire  to his oldest chieftain."Let us depart and set course for Alvor's Cove. We have plenty of slaves that I intend to sell but not feed for very long."

His comment caused several Dai nearby to laugh.

'''Yes, Tar-Kur thought of himself as strong, almost invincible and secure in his world. Who could stand against the Dai?'''

'''He also considered himself quite handsome. He was humanoid in shape and appearance. He had bright red skin, oil slick black hair that was pulled back tightly into a short pony tail. Like all Dai he had bright yellow eyes with black lense shaped pupils and pointed ears.'''

'''Scholars of many species believed that the Dai belonged to the human species that shared a common origin in a distant past. This forgotten kinship among the humanoid species all across the galaxy was collectivley known as the Human Mystery.'''

To the day this was unacceptable and whatever undeniable evidence pointed to such common ties, was part of the Forbidden Past and thus taboo to be discussed, mentioned or even thought about.

'''Tar-Kur certainly never wasted much thought on the past. '''

'''One of his chieftains turned to face him, he was in charge of all the sensing and probing systems a space ship needed. "My liege, it appears another very large Dai clan just arrived in the system, judig by the size of the old mothers  it must be the Hi."'''

He smiled an evil grin, as he disliked the Hi tribe more than even other non Dai societies."Send message to our haughty brethren that they are welcome to whatever scraps we left behind. It appears the Hi clan came a little late."

'''Again there was laughter but not as many as before. Tribe wars were not unheard or unlikley and if the Hi  were here to take the spoils of the recent raid, there would be little left of Tar-Kur and his young tribe. '''

'''The message was sent and a new one received. "Hear the voice of Tar-Or-Hi and heed what is said to you! I have come to summon you and your clan before the Pale Ones at Thana Shoo."'''

"What summon? The gathering is not this year or the next. What can you hear and we can not?"

"The Pale Ones have summoned you. Return all those you stole from their worlds; those that are not Dai and languish in your holds! Cleanse what is not Dai as you must come before the Pale Ones."

"I am the Chief of the Qo tribe. I do not follow orders or summons of other Chiefs, the Pale Ones may summon me on their own."

'''It was suddenly very quiet in the control center. No one laughed.'''

'''Tar-Kur and everyone aboard old enough to think knew what it meant to disregard the Pale Ones. He and anyone following his command would become Daisho, out cast from Thana Shoo and the Dai society. All that was Dai Than would not rest until the stain on the collective honor was wiped into oblivion to eradicate what is Daisho.'''

One of his senior chieftains spoke."This is business of the most serious kind, brethren, but Tar-Kur and not Tar-Or is our Lord! Qo and not Hi the name of our tribe. I follow the Pale Ones summon but it must be received by the Ramakoo!"

Others agreed."The Ram-a-koo has not stirred or has it?"

'''They all, including  Tar-Kur looked to the rear of the command hall and to the elaborate decorated shrine of the Ram-a-koo, the living heart of the Dai Mother. No Dai knew or dared to find out what it really was.'''

In whispered conversation of the most hushed kind, warnings of the most severe nature were spoken, never to open the shrine and lways to heed its messages.

The Ram-a-koo connected all Dai no matter where they were with Thana Shoo.

'''A very old almost blind Dai lorded over this heart and he stumbled down from his seat near the Dai Mother's heart. His voice full of sorrow and alarm"It has not stirred, Lord  Tar-Kur. The Ram-a-koo of the Qo tribe is dead! This why the Hi brought the summon"'''

Another voice yelled."The Hi tribe is leaving!"

'''Tar-Or's voice thundered over the receivers. "So grave must be the offense you committed, the Ram-a-koo is no longer pusling life into your tribe. The Qo glyph is broken, you are not Dai Than, you are not even Daishoo, you are nothing. Draw the knifes of shame to purge yourself of existence."'''

There was utter silence and a young warrior took all his courage."What has caused this?"

'''Before anyone could answer, the sensor operator announced new arrivals. "The Harok is back. it is no longer wounded..."'''

Someone else added."The Harok is not alone. There are many thousand like it and one is as big as our Dai Mother!"

'''All of Tar-Kur's bravado had disipated. He was sure he heard someone say: "The story never ends well for those who attack the Harok."'''

--**--​​​​​​

TWO {| Groshvitan system Arrival 

2019 OTT

 * }

'''Aaron had to admit he missed Sigurd and the others more than he thought he would. Their little community  had become quite tight. After all they only had each other in a strange and alien environment.'''

It all begun when Freons, an alien species that looked exactly how aliens were supposed to look like, abducted thirty Earth teenagers.(1)

'''They had been on an odyssey of sorts ever since and now they had split up. One group taken a captured pirate ship and set out on their own to get back to Earth. At least after they had figured out where Earth exactly was and how to break the news to Earth without starting World War III.'''

The other group had remained with the Collectors and was now on their way to a place called the World of Old.

Aaron wondered where they were now and he hoped they would be okay and he 

'''would see them again. However he was not very hopeful. If he had learned one thing so far, space was so incredibly big and everything was in motion. The chances to meet his friends in this vast and violent universe were quite slim. '''

'''Yoko stepped behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "The Red says we will arrive at the World of Old in less than a day now." '''

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

(1) Children of Terra (Volume 1 GCBook 4)

'''The Japanese girl made this comment simply to break the brooding mood and then added. "I miss them too, but I think we would have split up sooner or later anyway. I think it was fate that brought us together and I think we will see them again one day."'''

He reached to his right shoulder to put his hand on hers."I sure hope so."

'''Aoife with her legs crossed and sat by the big view port and stared into the perpetual night and as always had this  melancholic, sad aspect about her. Her big eyes reflected the stars of deep space. "I even miss Melissa, but I think she was  foolish to run into the great unknown without any guide or knowledge. She turned and looked at Aaron. "I miss them but our decision was the sensible one."'''

James, the boy from England relaxing on a big soft pillow sighed."I agree with our Irish friend. I frankly did not have the courage to go with the others, but history is made by the bold and never by the meek."

Pierre Luc playing a game with Sarah raised his head."There are exceptions, such as Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Jesus of course."

'''Buwunti also playing a game and in his case of course, 'Namm and Pier' the Saran strategy game and he played it with Ninuk. He mused over the board, shook his head and corrected Ninuk's move."This way I don't win that easily." '''

She smiled and said."Do you think we will see Salima again?"

Aaron nodded."I do not see why not. As soon as the Harok has healed she will come to the World of Old."

'''The Xunx came into the comfortable lounge and must have heard the conversation as he answered Ninuk's question also."I am not so sure we will see this Harok or your friend anytime soon, I am afraid." '''

'''The frightening looking upright walking Insectoid with elements of hornet, scorpion, cockroach mixed into something utterly alien was a member of the most feared space faring society in  known space. '''

'''Yet none of the present humans of Earth showed the slightest sight of alarm. They knew this abomination as the Red Xunx, and usually simply called him, Red.'''

Aaron did not change his position and also kept his hand on Yuki's and as always cherished her presence."Why are you saying this, Red? I know she got sort of attached to the Harok, but the thing is pretty much done for, right? That's why the Honored one organized transportation with the Arigolou."

'''"Your friend..." he paused and it was not because the voice translator glued to his thorax was malfunctioning, but because he was trying to find the right analogs that could be translated. "...your friend, we believe is a Harok shepherd. Even the Honored knows of only maybe four or five individuals in the entire known galactic history he knows of, that were so gifted."'''

'''They all looked at him as if he just spoke gibberish and so he added more. "Salima, can speak to the Harok."'''

'''"So can you, right?" Sofia asked.'''

"I must connect to a neuro node and I am able to give the Harok instructions. Your friend is able to talk to all Harok, no matter where she is. Salima dismissed all of us  even Zugy and has disappeared with the Harok."

Aaron gestured around the lounge."I certainly won't forget Salima, but she wasn't much in terms of conversation, even with her creepy veil. I also prefer this ship over the Harok to be honest."

Maria glared at Aaron."She did talk to me and she was a friend. That she was attached to her veil is a cultural religious thing. I think your orthodox Jews ask their women to wear veils just like the Afghan Burkha!"

Yoko looked over Aaron's shoulder."Veils can be very mysterious and attractive!"

'''Aaron blushed a little as he knew what Yoko was hinting at and changed the subject. "Would you want to tell us more about our current hosts.The Arigolou haven't spend much time with us."'''

'''Pierre Luc and Sarah stopped their game and paid more attention. Pierre Luc agreed with Aaron."Yes please tell us more about them. "'''

'''The Xunx turned his head to the door as if he expected someone to come in and then he said. "The Arigolou are about as mysterious and elusive as the females of the Coven or as the mystical Narth."'''

'''"It seems all your friends have this in common." Conzuela said with a hint of sarcasm."The Exalted are mysterious, the Harok is mysterious. Then there is the mysterious World of Old, the mysterious Honored and now the mysterious Arigolou. Maybe there is a mysterious piece of food in the food dispenser and we see a mysterious ice cream vendor who has a mysterious ice cream flavor. I am wondering if Sigurd and the others had the right idea after all."'''

'''The red shelled Insect touched the nub where one if his feelers used to be. He had lost it during the fight against boarding pirates not to long ago."I apologize, please take into account that I am an insect,human language eludes me on so many levels or maybe my translator has not enough capacity to translate the finer nuances. To me beings and conditions that have been around for very long time spans. Beings, species and conditions with immense power and abilities of which many civilizations have heard about but know not much else appear to be mysterious. Especially in the case of the Coven, the Narth and the Arigolou it appears to me as an acceptable designator."'''

'''He looked at Conzuela directly. "The Arigolou as you have seen do appear to be humanoid. Meaning they have two arms, legs, five fingers and so forth. The only apparent differences to you is their size; their lack of hair; their apparent gender and that they are bright green on the outside.'''

James placed his chin between his hands and said."I think in the early days of science fiction  they often talked about the little green men in their flying saucers."

'''"You have noticed the shape of this space vessel, right?" Aoife asked."It's about as UFO as can be."'''

'''Conzuela sighed. "Putting this together, strongly suggests not only the Freons visited Earth but these green guys have too, right?"'''

"I can not give you details on who has visited and perhaps even influenced your history, but there are certainly more species and societies involved than just the Freons. The Arigolou are elusive because no one knows where they come from, no one has ever seen or visited their home system. There are no records or reports of the Arigolou having trade relations or any cultural exchange of any kind with others. Their technology is considered to be tech level eight and thus makes them one of the most advanced societies known. 

'''They themselves say they Arigolou means visitor, but they never get into details as from where they visit from. '''

These disc shaped ships are very fast and there are no known reports of an Arigolou ship involved in any kind of combat action.

'''Finally you may have noticed, we made the entire trip from Utah's point to the World of Old in less than a month. No known ship, not even the Harok can travel almost eight thousand light years that fast."'''

Yoko smiled."I say that is pretty mysterious."

'''The Xunx stepped towards the large view port and gestured towards the bright somewhat reddish tinted  sun. "We just dropped out of Quasi. This is Groshvitan . And the single planet we are now approaching certainly earned the predicate mysterious as well, behold my Terran friends, the World of Old."'''

'''The first word that came in Aaron's mind when he saw the world of old was gray. He was born and raised on Earth and even the concrete jungles of New York city were an ocean of colors and there was still a lot of green. '''

'''The only other world he really knew was Sara, the home world of the Sarans. While it had more deserts than Earth because it was a little closer to its star, it still had an abundance of life and colors, The cities of Sara weren't as colorful as the cities and towns of Earth, mostly due to the almost complete lack of advertisement, but there was much art, gold, marble and the healthy green of lawns and trees.'''

'''This world felt old indeed; old and tired and at the end of things. The landing field was a featureless gray field of a smooth very fine textured concrete material. There were deep cracks in which dry looking tuffs of grass had grown and perhaps died because there wasn't enough water or nutrients.'''

'''Aaron could not really guess how big the field was, but if he had been forced to make and estimate he would say it stretched at least 5 kilometers in each direction. '''

'''The local star in the reddish tinted sky looked much bigger than Earth's sun and had an orange tint even at its current position which would be about noon on Earth. He also did not know if this sun was rising in the East and settling in the West. '''

'''There were mountains behind them. Smooth, appearing almost like folds in a continent sized blanked. To the left and beyond the landing field, the shimmering surface of a calm ocean or very large lake. The smooth flat surface extended to the horizon even after the paved landing field. It was a dry looking desert like plain. Nothing green, no visible vegetation at least from this distance. No hills, boulders or anything that could be described as anything other than featureless.'''

The color of the ground did not appear gray but had a soft ocher light brown tint, but added to the monotone, boring tint of the environment.

'''Before them were the shapes and forms of a city skyline. There was nothing impressively high. No colors, no noises and no traffic could be seen from this distance.'''

'''Aaron heard a faint whistling hum. A greenish bright light became stronger underneath the Arigolou disc and it rose into the air increased speed and climbed faster into the sky.'''

'''Aaron also noticed with sudden panic. "Neither Red nor any of the other collectors have left the ship. '''

They were suddenly alone on an apparent dead planet

--**--

THREE

{| Utha's Point Phil Decker

2019

 * }

'''Every once in a while he would dream of Earth. His dreams would almost always make him remember his last days on Earth. '''

'''It was during the aftermath of the alien monster infestation of the New York City underground. '''

'''He had met and fought alongside quite remarkable beings. Peter Baker the strong and straight shooting Texas Ranger; the stranded time traveller from the 54th century and of an alternative time line ,Wulf Starr; the truly enigmastic alien who listened to the name Dark Cloud with incredible powers but the mind and understanding of a child.'''

There was Mr. Smith, a Pan Saran who had crash landed his damaged courier ship on Earth in 1932 and who had become the director of AXIOM, the United States top secret xeno activity agency.

'''He would never forget the picture book definition of an easily distracted scientist genius, Dr. Isah. Neither the rest of the small band of individuals who had fought the xenoform infested sewers and subway tunnels of the Big Apple.(1)'''

Phil Decker sighed as he stared outside the view port of the Jolly Blue, his personal 

'''space ship, as the was flying towards a place called Utha's Point. '''

________________________________________________________________________

(1) Xeno Activity  Volume 3 GC Book 3

The Jolly Blue was  not a very big star ship, but he was quite certain there was none 

'''quite like it in this universe. '''

It has been custom built for him by Wulff, using blue prints and specs he had stored in his BUB (Back up Brain).

'''The Jolly Blue also had been enchanced by Dark Cloud. To this day he didn't really know what enhancements his mysterious friend actually made, but the Jolly Blue never needed fuel and the AI did all things an experienced crew or someone with lots of star cruising experience would need to know or do to operate a space ship like Navigation, helm, defense, planetfall and lift offs. Skills and knowledge that elluded Phil Decker, considering himself still nothing more than a simple former homicide detective of the NYPD.'''

'''Sometimes he wondered if he made the right decission to leave Earth, but as always when he mused about his reasons, his eyes fell on a high gloss genuine  photo of an incredibly beautiful Saresii woman in her Earth woman disguise, Alegra Soneri. '''

'''The Saresii woman had been on Earth as a secret agent for her people to spy on the Freons and the Vrill. While on asigment she fell in love with Earth and after a tumultous time of life changing events, but  even more so with Phil. Alegra truly loved Phil and he, who had been divorced twice had found his soulmate and adored his alien wife more than he had loved anyone before.'''

'''That she was a leading member of an advanced space faring society complicated things a little, but the events underneath New York and the aftermath made it quite clear to him, he would never fit in again. He was never able to go back being a NYPD detective and chase perps and investigate homicides while he knew the universe was so much bigger than even the dreamers and believers in those things dared to imagine.'''

'''He was certain Earth was on the brink of ascending to the so called galactic stage anyway, and who could predict what would happen after that. '''

'''So he had decided to leave Earth and follow his beautiful wife to the truly paradisic home planet of his extra terrestial lover. '''

'''The world was Sares One and just just like the rest of the six worlds around Sares Prime. were indeed perfect paradise planets. Too perfect as a matter of fact, too sterile. Its beauty was styled and formed and pruned and clipped and... incredibly boring.'''

'''For the last 50,000 years of Saresii existence, ever since the so called Anti Male Hysteria era of their history had finally ended, there was no reported crime on any Saresii world. In a world where almost everyone was a very potent telepath, crime was not very easy to commit. There was simply nothing to do for a man that was a detective and policeman down to his core.'''

'''But when his wife told him about the theft of a device that no one should be able to steal, as only a handfull knew of its existence and whereabouts. '''

Even more intriguing was the fact that the device had been sold on a galactic market by an anonymous seller.

'''This was enough to reactivate the detective, and now he was chasing leads and doing what he knew best. He loved every second of it.'''

'''"Ten minutes before we arrive at Utha's Point, Phil." The warm but somehow sexless voice of the ship's AI announced.'''

"Thank you Jolly. Do we announce ourselves?"

"It would appear the choice of most promissing results. I am observing space flight and communication activity around this so called shattered system and the main focus point of this activity appears to be a planetoid without system affiliation."

"What other choices do we have, just out of curiosity?"

"We could simply dock and see what happens. or straight forward announce us the Earther way, shooting a few competitors or strave the place itself."

"I never asked you to shoot first, except one time near Quomit, but it was clear the Quadiped had made up his mind after all and gathered a few friends."

"I am just a simple Ship AI, what would I know about what is clear to you and what not, besides I am modelled after a Terran Raptor Law Cruiser and  Terran Enforcers often opened fire first."

"That was  in a different time line that will never occur in this time lines future. And you know that perfectly well, my oh so simple AI. Alright then, open me a channel to whatever goes for the local authorities."

'''"Who's out there?" A voice responded almost right away.'''

"I doubt my name will do you any good, but I am Phil Decker. I am the sole occupant of a small space ship intending to visit Utha's Point."

"Good enough for us. No space fighting around the moon, if you wanna blast someone close up and personal be advised that some of our installations are pressurized and we do not play nice with leak drillers. So stick to our rules. Right out killing isn't good business so we ask any bounty hunters and those who do not like to be hunted to take it up in fair duels.

'''There is a daily air tax as well, other than that. Proceed to one of the mooring arms. There is a shuttle connection to dirt side if you want to go down. No landing permitted."'''

'''Twenty minutes and twenty polos landing fee and air tax poorer he stepped onto the main concourse. '''

'''He had come here as this where the two Freons supposedly had to go next. It was here they would hopefuly receive more information.'''

'''Unlike his wife, Phil was not so sure that the few who knew about the Yathynhto were beyond approach. He openly agreed with her, but he knew everyone had a price. He was on the trial of these Freons ever since they appeared on  Quomit, planet. Phil was almost certain they were the same who purchased the first device. '''

Still in thoughts he stepped of the people mover conveyor of the mooring arm tunnel and into the upper concourse of the Utha's Point space station around Utha's Point, the actual moon and home to a Free colony.

He noticed the tables of a  Priki Prik vendor who apparently also sold the popular but somewhat disgusting fare ready to eat for immideate consumption, and had provided a number of tables and chairs outside his establishment for this reason.

'''He found himself a seat, ordered a jar of Thill. A very weak type of beer popular with Sarans and many other Carbon based life forms with similar metabolism and simply waited.'''

'''It did not take long and a lanky tall Cyrian approached him. The Cyrian was sporting a fresh looking scar that reached half of his pointed head. "Stranger, welcome to Utha's Point, you seem to wait for something or someone?"'''

"I waited for you."

'''"Me? Someone actually recommended me? "Not really, but places like this always have guides like you hanging around the entry points. Some are genuine, if somewhat dishonest guides. Some are out to lure travellers into a trap and some might just be the guides they claim to be. What kind are you?"'''

'''The Cyrian did not expect that answer it was certain. It took him a moment to digest the answer before he responded."The last kind of course. I am Eygr, and I am an honest guide. I can get you things, make business connections and find whatever pleasures you might desire."'''

"Well, Egyr. I think you are the second kind. Seems you picked the wrong customers  to fleece the last time, judging by your injuries and the similar injured guys that wait for you over there behind the crates of that Likty Pob merchant. But I  still need some information and there are Polos in for you."

"That is what I am talking about, human. I am all about information."

"Any Freons been here lately?"

The purple face changed and the Cyrian snapped angry:"Yes, about two long divisions ago and they still might be recognizeable. Woudn't bet on it, whatever was left of them went into to the recycler and the composter works pretty good."

'''"They are dead?" "See those patched holes in the floor? That's where they ran into a bunch of humans from a place I never heard of. One of them left me this souvenir." The Cyrian touched his scar."'''

"Remember I pay for information. Did they say who they were and did you overhear any deals or proposals?"

"Oith, or someplace like this. One was a Saran officer, and one I think  said something about New Yoik."

'''Phil got all ears."Oith, did you perhaps hear the word, Earth? "Ah yes that was the word. They came with the Harok, you know that mystical ship that picks candidates for the World of Old."'''

{| Deep Space Onward to the World of Old

2019 OTT

 * }

'''Aaron had to admit he missed Sigurd and the others more than he thought he would. Their forced little community had turned into friendships. But they had made the decission and they had split up. One group(*) remained with the Collectors and wanted to proceed to the World of Old, to receive education and training. While the others had chosen to keep the captured pirate ship and explore the universe and find their own destination.'''

He wondered where they were now and he hoped they would be okay and he 

would see them again.

'''Yoko stepped behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "The Red says we will arrive at the World of Old in less than a day now." She said that simply to '''

break the silence and then added."I miss them too, but I think we would have split up sooner ot later anyway. I think it was fate that brought us together and I think we will see them again one day."

He reached to his right shoulder to put his hand on hers."I think so too."

'''Aoife who had her legs crossed underneath her and sat by the big viewport, always had this perpetual melancholic aspect about her. Her big eyes reflected the stars of deep space. "I even miss Melissa, but I still think it is foolish to to run into the great unknown wityhout any guide or knowledge. She turned and looked at Aaron. "I miss them but our decission was the sensible one."'''

James relaxing on a big soft pillow sighed."I agree with our Irish friend, and I frankly did not have the courage to go with the others, but history is made by the bold and never by the meek."

Pierre Luc playing a game with Sarah raised his head."There are exceptions, such as Ghandi, Mother Theresa and Jesus of course."

'''Buwunti also playing a game and in his case of course, Namm and Pier and he played it with Ninuk. He mused over the board, shook his head and corrected Ninuk's move."This way I don't win that easily." She smiled and said."Do you think we will see Salima again?" She was quiet, even more than me I guess, but she still was there."'''

Aaron nodded."I am sure she will, as soon as the Harok has healed she will come to the World of Old."

'''The Xunx came into the compfortable longe and must have heard the last piece of conversation."I am not so sure we will see this Harok or your friend anytime soon, I am affraid." The frightening looking upright walking Insectoid with elements of Hornet,scorpion cockroach and uttlerly alien aspects that had no analog in any Earth creature was a member of the most feared spacefaring society in the known space of the Upward sector. Yet none of the present humans of Earth showed the slightest sight of alarm. They knew this abdomination as the Red Xunx, and usually simply called him, the Red.'''

Aaron did not change his position and also kept his hand on Yuki's and as always cherished her presence and her touch."Why are you saying this, Red? I know she got sort of attached to the Harok, but the thing is pretty much done for, right? That's why the Honored one organized transportation with the Arigolou."

'''"Your friend..." he paused and it was not because the voice translator glued to his thorax was malfunctioning, but because he was trying to find the right words. "...your friend, we believe is a Harok shepherd. Even the Honored knows of only maybe four or five individuals in the entire galaxy and in the entire history he knows of, that were so gifted."'''

'''They all looked at him as if he just spoke gibberish and so he added more. "Salima, can speak to the Harok."'''

'''"So can you, right?" Sofia asked.'''

"I must connect to a neuro node and I am able to give the Harok instructions. Your friend seems to be able to talk to all Harok, no matter where she is. Salima dismissed all of the remaining crew and even Zugy, so I heard and has disappeared with the Harok."

Aaron gestured around the lounge."I certainly won't forget Salima, but she wasn't much in terms of conversation, even with her creepy veil.I also prefer this over the Harok to be honest."

Maria glared at Aaron."She did talk to me and she was a friend. That she was attached to her veil is a cultural religious thing. I think even the very orthodox jews ask their women to wear veils just like the Afghan Burkha !"

Yoko looked over Aaron's shoulder."Veils can be very mysterious and attractive too!"

'''Aaron blushed a little as he knew what Yoko was hinting at and changed the subject. "Would you want to tell us more about our current hosts.The Arigolou haven't spend much time with us."'''

'''Pierre Luc and Sarah stopped their game and paid more attention. Pierre Luc said."Yes please tell us. "'''

The Xunx turned his head to the door as if he expected someone to come in and then he said." The Arigolou are about as mysterious and elusive as the females of the Coven or as the fabulous Narth."

'''"It seems all your friends have this in common." Conzuela said with a hint of sarcasm."The Exalted are mysterious, the Harok is mysterious. Then there is the mysterious World of Old, the mysterious Honored and now the mysterious Arigolou . I am wondering if Sigurd and the others had the right idea after all."'''

The red shelled Insect touched the nub where one if his feelers used to be."I appologize, but human language eludes me and maybe my translator has not enough capacity to translate the finer nuances. But things, beings and conditions that have been around for very long time spans. Things of which many civilizations know about but no one really knows their true origin appear to be mysterious. 

But in the case of the Coven, the Narth and the Arigolou it is most certainly an acceptable designator."

'''He looked at Conzuela directly. "The Arigolou as you have seen do appear to be humanoid.Meaning they have two arms, legs, five fingers and so forth. The only apparnt different to you is that they are smaller, have no hair, no apparent gender and that they are bright green."'''

James placed his chin between his hands and said."I think in the old days of science fiction on Earth they often talked about the little green men in their flying saucers."

'''"You have noticed the shape of this space vessel, right?" Aoife asked."It's about as UFO as can be."'''

'''Conzuela sighed. "Putting this together, means not only the Freons visited Earth but these green guys too, right?"'''

'''"I can not give you details on who has visitied and perhaps even influenced your history, but there are certainly more species and societies involved than just the Freons." The Xunx said and then he continued. "The Arigolou are elusive because no one knows where they come from, if they have a home system in this spiral arm or not. There are no records or reports of the Arigolou having trade relations or any other interactionwith others. Their technology is considered to be on tech level eight or even nine and thus makes them one of the most advanced societies known. '''

'''They themselves say they are visitors, but they never get into details as from where they visit from. '''

These disc shaped ships are very fast and there are no known reports of an Arigolou ship involved in any kind of combat action.

'''Finally you may have noticed, we made the entire trip from Utha's point to the World of Old in less than thirteen days without dropping out of Quasi the entire time. No known ship, not even the Harok can travel almost eight thousand light years that fast or without interrupting."'''

Yoko smiled."I say that is pretty mysterious."

'''The Xunx stepped towards the large viewport and gestured towards the bright sun that had just appeared. "We just dropped out of Quasi. This is Groshvitan the Old Star that has been made young again. And the single planet we are now approaching certainly earned the predicate mysterious as well, behold my Terran friends, the World of Old."''' {| Planet Luxor Amusrah the Destroyer

2019 OTT

 * }

'''"Who are you?" Asked the old woman before him.'''

'''"I am Amusrah the Destroyer !" That he once had listened to the name Mahmud and that he had been born on Earth was no longer known. These memories so deep could not be removed by Kermac psionic tricks and Psycho surgery, but they had been burried and locked behind powerful hypnotic blocks.'''

'''The man thar now listened to the name of Amusrah, was still weak and inside a low gravitation basin filled with bio gel. The skin that now covered his very muscular body was still paperthin and almost transparent, but he felt no pain and no discompfort. The only desire on his mind was serving ther house of Mukummh. The only goal he had helping Bethmateth to ascent upon the Throne of the Divine Falcon and punish the false queen that was occupying it now. He knew one authority only, Japhusut the Eldest of the Mukummh.'''

It was her who stood next to him with a deeply satisfied smile on her thin dry lips.

'''"Amusrah, demonstrate your power and might!" She commanded. "This man tried to harm me today!"'''

'''Two guards dragged in a healthy looking man in shackles. A slave she had purchased this afternoon for this purpose.'''

Amusrah raised his head out of the slimy solution and stared at the man."Doomed is he who dares to harm the voice and will. I am the destroyer!"

'''Bright visible flames suddenly engulfed  the head of the slave, the guards yelled in shocked surprise. The man screaming in agony then collapsing as if the strings of a puppet had been cut, his head reduced to a smoking, charred skull.'''

'''Japhusut could not help herself than laugh with clenched fists. Her laughter echoed in the underground laboratory."Soon Queen Ammothep, soon it will be you!"'''

{| Kermac Prime Wizard Einfunfdri of the MOI

2019 OTT

 * }

'''Fiesecsieb latest report on the Earth Psi talent growing in Japhusut's lab confirmed the specimen was certainly among the strongest and most dangerous psionic user ever discovered. The former Iraqi terrorist, was not only growing  a much stronger physical body. A body with the latest cybernetic implants and bionetic improvements of the Kermac.'''

'''The wizard in charge of the Ministry od Information sat in his private chambers underneath the Tower of Wizards, and the very core of Kermac power, he still stared at the now dark projection viewer. '''

'''This latest report, delivered by Long Range Telepath just moments ago was both exciting and disturbing. '''

'''The Sarans had resisted  all attempts being controlled by the Kermac for many thousand years. There were no indications the Sarans were even aware of perhaps ten percent of these attempts and efforts, the Sarans were virtually defenseless against psionics. Most of the Saran population considered them a form of magic and despite the advancements in many other areas of science and technology, Sarans were extremly religious and even sudden changes in politics would not cause the suspicion and alerts such things might cause in other societies.'''

The Sarans managed to carve out a sizeble empire and especially if you added the territory of the Pan Sarans to the equation.

'''Gaining controll over Saran would add considerable power to the Kermac expanse. Gaining control over others was Kermac expertise and yet the Sarans resisted, plots failed, Will bender installations blew up before they could be made operational. Queens appeared to be immune to psionic suggestions.'''

'''For a very long time the Ministry of Information cultivated a careful, sublime but strong relationship with the house of Mukummh and especially Japhusut. His strategy was to try it indirectly, gain solid control over on of the four traditional dynasties of  Saran and then help this dynasty to become the ruling house. Things were developing nicely, he had been the head of the MOI for a very long time and under his guideance it had grown out of the shadow of the all poweful ministry of control. The Supreme Wizard had also noticed and provided more resources and more of the all important ruling importance to the MOI. '''

'''Wizard Einfunfdri was and many agreed a very competent and intelligent man. He paid only as much attention to all the Kermac expressions of supreme culture as it was neccessary. He never insisted anyone to recite all his titles every time they started a sentence, something that the more pragmatic leaders of the Kermac Cicle of wizards were trying to change for the last two thousand years. His arch rival, the Wizard of the MOC of course insisted on all this, because it was the very foundation his all powerful thought police was standing on.'''

'''Enfunfdri was actually convinced that it was the very existence of the Thought Police had not only halted any real Kermac  development but in some fields effectivley reversing it. He feared that it was these factors that would ultimatley doom the Kermac.'''

'''He leaned back and turned his head to gaze out of a small window, that allowed only a small amount of daylight to flood the big austere furnished office. '''

All seven of the High Wizards had offices and studies in the tall Wizard Tower, and underneath the Hall of Wisdom where the seven high wizards would gather around a central figure, the Supreme Grand Wizard of Kermac every week to discuss events and  make policies that the Supreme Grand Wizard then made into law by confirmation of his approval.

'''He was certain that most of the other offices had their small windows shuttered, perhaps even welded shut, so no daylight had a chance to filter. Many Kermac and especially most of the Wizards were obsessed with a state of the Perfect White, the final stage of artificial and physically unobtainable skin whiteness. They all used quite painful and quite unhealthy Skin bleaching techniques. A practice that made dermatologists perhaps the wealthiest professionals in the Kermac society. '''

'''While it was a fact that skin could physically and practically not be any whiter as it had been for the last 5000 years of genetic tweaking,it was something no Kermac ever dared to mention. Skin whitening was a ritual that had to be painful and uncompfortable to a degree because whitness had to be earned. '''

'''To Einfunfdri and those who had little time for this, pretended to do bleaching sessions every now and then just as atheists would attend a religious service, going through the motions without beleiving anything. The Wizard actually got up to walk to the window and look over the sprawling city of mostly white buildings, that all and without eception where cylindrical in shape with various diameters and heights. No building was ever allowed to be higher than the tower of the wizards.'''

'''Einfunfdri sighed, Kermac architecture was as boring as it has ever been. Nothing had changed in millenia.'''

It was this stubborn adherence to the same and to perceived and not actual perfection that would ultimatley doom the Kermac.

He enjoyed a few minutes of sunlight on his skin and forbidden smile graced his lips that were covered under a layer of lip white, to match the other whiteness."Some wizards would have declared him insane, this exposure to direct sun light could have possibly cost him an entire shade as he might have received a tan.

'''Not that this was even possible as any natural pigmentation had long been eliminated from Kermac DNA. He then checked his reflection in a mirror and made sure the smile was gone. Smiling was a sign of emotional primitveness, something a real Kermac Wizard was light years removed from.'''

'''All this obsession with white had started so very long ago. It had to be well over a million years ago, when the Kermac did not exist as they did today and the people were divided in distinct different species. There were the Ker, the Gor, the Kruu and the Mac and they all occupied their true homeworld, Koken and they all were just different races of the same species. Each of the races occupied a continent, at least that is how he remembered these lessons in pre history. '''

'''In that era of time two super civilizations dominated large regions of space. One were the Pree and the other the Universal Collective,or simply known as the UNI. '''

For a reason that has been revealed to the Kermac many ages later, the UNI decided to leave the galaxy and made the Ker the sole heir of their technology and science, with the stipulation that the Ker had to become like the UNI, and the ruling element of the UNI was the White Element.

'''What this exactly meant or why the UNI only chose the Ker was no longer known. Einfunfdri actually expected these reasons to be purged from history to validate the genocide crime of the Ker.'''

'''The Ker started to wear white garments, white make up and begun to "breed" whiteness and in the same time begun to eradicate the other races. Because they had the superior technology they almost succeeded. The Mac decided to join them by proclaiming to be white too. The Gor with their tendency to grow shorter than the other races had a rich bronze colored skin, had been decimated from billions  to less than one hundred thousand.'''

'''The reasons why the Gor were allowed to leave in a hollowed asteroid, generation ship, to be exiled forever had not been preserved. '''

'''The Gor developed into the nomadic cosmic merchants known in many galaxies over as the Golden. '''

'''The remaning Kruu were also exiled in an armada of hastily manufactured arks. No one had ever heard from them again and they were presumed extinct.'''

'''The Ker and the Mac became the Kermac over time. Why the Kermac decided to leave their homeworld Koken behind and move their entire civiliziation half across the galaxy to a new star system and new planet was something only the Supreme Wizard was allowed to know, as it was part of the Grand Wizard's records. A tome of records and history that supposedly told the entire history of the Kermac and held the secret of the Call.'''

'''He clapsed his hands behind his back and slowly walked back to his seat. Once in a while he liked to recall these things to remind him.'''

'''He wrinkled his forehead and cocked his head sideways, almost trying to physically hold on to a fading thought. Remind him of what exactly? Kermac history was rich and long.'''

'''It was not long after the Kermac had settled on their new world, now known as Kermac Prime, psionic talents began to emerge and eventually the entire species was able to utilize psionics. '''

'''All Kermac were telepaths, telekinetic were very rare and only one in perhaps a million or so ever developed telekinetics. Very weak and basic telekintics. To his knowledge there had never been a Kermac able to teleport. A psionic ability they did not even knew existed until they had met met the Saresii, the only other species of sentients so far where every member was talented.'''

'''Kermac technology in general developed rather slow, they had not exceeded Tech Level seven in all the time they had left Koken and supposedly had access to Techlevel ten or eleven, left behind by the UNI. But in the field of artificial applied psionics they had made great advances. No other species with the exception of the Saresii during their first age of knowledge had managed to really explain psionics or even create technology that harnessed Psionics. '''

'''All Kermac were completely hairless and both females and males wore artificial chin beards. These hollow beards held the pride and secret of Kermac power. Psi shields that allowed persons thoughts to be private, a vital piece of technology for a species of natural telepaths. It also contained personal defense weaponry like the feared Kermac Neuro ripper and in the case of wizards the paramount gurantor of Kermac rule, a miniaturized version of the will bender. This device was able to over write the individual will and motivations of a thinking individual and while surpressing it over write it with an utter devotion and dedication to Kermac. '''

'''Much larger versions in form of satellites were able to subcumb entire planet populations and thus make them willing slaves to whatever the Kermac demanded. In many cases there was not much enticement needed, as technological less developed species feared the superior Kermac anyway.'''

'''Over the millenia the Kermac made the oppression of other civilizations an artform. Where psionic methods did not work, they used brute military force, usually in the form of another Thrall species like the war loving Black Nogoll or blackmail by abducting kings and ruling families. In the case fo the Orgolu they had abducted the Serene God, a large immobile creature that was seen as the ruling god by the Orgolu who now did whatever the Kermac demanded to ensure the welfare of their god.'''

'''Einfunfdri was too much of a Kermac to really have any moral objections to this and as the Wizard of the MOI it was his task to find ways to ascertain that control over species that were not as easily controlled. Like the Nul,the Shiss, the Quadiped or in the case at hand the Sarans.'''

The sudden appearance of a very potent Battle telepath was unexpected, while the Sarans were not unknown to develop psionic talents, it was a rare occurance.

'''Two elements of this report before him made it potentially the most important and potentially dangerous report he had ever received. The first element was the alleged origin of the psionic talent. A lost colony of the Sarans, called Earth, populated by humans that biologically did not differ from Sarans according to the very old and thin file he had on Earth. This Earth ,reading that file that had not been updated for at least a thousand years, had been a forgotten colony that devolved and forgot all technology and was now basically back at the stone age level. It was also the reason the Saran civil got ignited and caused the eventual split into the Saran Kingdom and the Pan Saran Empire. While both Saran and Pan Saran hated each other more than a Kermac hated something colorful, they both lorded and protected this colony with considerable interest and tenacity. If the Battle Telepath came from there, there was a chance more could be found.'''

Considering what determined and trained individual with these talents could do, even five or ten if these would present an almost unstoppable army.

'''The second element of this intelligence report was even more distrubing. The Battle Telepath had not been found by the Sarans, but by a Freon expedition, who abducted thrity Earthers. Was this a coincidence? Were more of the Earthers psionic talents? Or perhaps did every Earther have psionic abilities?'''

'''Einfunfdri decided to let the plot continue and cause a new house to rise in the Saran empire. A dynasty that was more than just open to Kermac suggestions. He could secure the Battle Telepath later, but he had to find out more about Earth, more about the thrity earthers and their current whereabouts.''' {| Planet Petra Asylinath of the house of Taramth

2019

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'''High above underneath the ceiling of the cavernous hall that was part of the Gelgthen mountain fortress of the Taramth dynasty, floated a very pretty very Saran looking girl, while she accelerated needle sharp daggers with projectile speed from a table twenty feet below her clear across the hall into the head of a dummy. The daggers were hitting the target with force and burried deep in the leathery material. The girl did not use any techncial device to fly, but held herself aloft with the control of psionic conditions, the same powers she used to direct the daggers into their target.'''

In the same room was a young apparently Saran male, he stared at a head sized rock on a stand about thrity feet distance.

'''The rock vilolently and suddenly disintegrated into a cloud of fine dust. Second later the wooden stand exploded into sharp wodden splinters. '''

'''Asylinath clapped her hands after this demonstration. The girl descended and landed gracefully and silently next to her and the young man joined her and slightly bowed.'''

'''Both of them wore Saran attire and the girl the traditional wig as well. They both were born on Earth however. The young woman was Silvi Wassislav from a country called Lithuania and the young man was Jansoh Kiliti from Hungary.'''

They both appeared very proud of their accomplishments and progress in training.

'''The fourth person that joined the small group was a statuesque woman with violet hair that reached to her hips. She also wore a skin tight velvety cat suit in black  and a decorative belt. To almost everyone it was obvious she was Saresii. It would have surprised many to see a Saresii offering services to anyone outside their own society. Her name was Krynia and she too seemed pleased by the progress of the pupils. "I have hardly seen such talent outside the Saresii society."'''

'''Janosh looked with open admiration towards Silvy. "She is getting better every day. I am so proud of her."'''

'''"You are quite advanced yourself. Do you miss Earth?" Krynia asked to test the hold of her subtle but powerful mental manipulations.'''

Both youngsters shook their heads and Sylvi said."Why would I miss that miserable dirtball and those bastards who dare to call themselves parents? No I miss nothing."

'''Asylinath's eyes sparkled and she said to the Saresii. "Do you think they are ready for their first real test?"'''

'''"Quite so!" '''

'''The old matriachat of the house of Taramth smiled deeper. The night of Baset is soon upon us, and the nightly orgies and the celebration of the flesh will draw many celebrities. Including those of rival houses. Let us make it a memorable one."'''

'''The Queen had followed the woman calling herself Alycia deep into the catacombs of the queens. She was alone with the black dressed woman and she had told no one where she had gone to. Officially she had retired in her chambers and was sleeping.'''

'''Even she was surprised to find out that there was a secret passageway, concealed by her very own bed. Partially shocked of course because such a passageway could be used by an assassin. She knew of quite a few of these secret passages throughout the palace and the temple below.The Saran queen wondered how many more they were she was oblivious about and how many eyes were watching her every move even in places she deemed safe and private. She also was determined to do something about that, the very next day.'''

'''They had just passed the sealed tomb of queen Kilatmeth the IInd. A queen that had been dead for over 5000 years. '''

The only light down here came from the dancing handlight the other woman carried."You know if