CHAPTER 20: Psionic Snakes

CHAPTER 20: Psionic Snakes

Acting on instinct I threw the knife I always carried under the uniform blouse on my back; when it came to react fast and without much thinking my reflexes went for knifes and blades before I thought using my guns. The knife flew true, I had not aimed at Hans, the blade would not do much to him. The blade struck the snake being in the throat right underneath its pointed maw. At the same time I felt as if I was doused with boiling water, Hans had fired the Paralysator.

I didn't lose consciousness, but I couldn't feel anything to the right side of my body. Hans must have swung the projection cone out of the way in the very last moment and only grazed me. Still the effect was painful and my right leg no longer carried the weight of my body and I fell. Hans held his hands to the sides of his head and kept screaming. From my awkward position I saw Wetmouth coming on the roof. Hans grabbed the TKU that was leaning against the power unit of the Paralysator with the intent to shoot the Sojonit. Wetmouth would stand no chance against that powerful weapon, and I was there seeing it all, and unable to do anything about it, the only weapon I had that could stop Hans was my blaster, and it was holstered to my right side. I did manage to pull it with my left hand, but I knew I would be to slow to prevent the Saturnian giant to fire. Wetmouth was unarmed, so it appeared. Hans was an expert with all weapons and even if he missed at this distance, the intense heat of the blast would kill us both. Something bright flashed from the eyes of Wetmouth's mask and the seemingly unstoppable giant, dropped to his knees and stopped moving and screaming. It was as if he was a robot and suddenly lost all power. Krabbel came on the roof right behind her, carrying four of the powerful TKU's simultaneous and he fired blast after blast into the dark sky. The thundering, sun bright barrage illuminated a swarm of flying snakes. Each shot vaporized dozens of them. I realized my tongue and my throat were paralyzed as well, and I could not swallow. Salvia had collected in my mouth and I wanted to get rid of it. I was gagging without the ability to cough, to move my head or do much of anything. I was suffocating, black circles hovered around my eyes as the lack of oxygen, the worst thing was the pain of not being able to cough. I had experienced pain before in many forms, but being this helpless, to be fully conscious while my lungs tried to expand but unable to do so,hurt more than anything I could remember. My friends were fighting the flying snakes, and I was lying there almost gone. I always thought I would die in a fight and now I would drown in my own spittle. If there was a Valhalla, how would I explain to all the other warriors how I had died? Wetmouth rushed to my side and I saw her masked face hovering over me. To my surprise she produced a small knife and rammed it into my throat. She too was under the influence of the snakes despite her wig and it was her who killed me, these were the last thoughts I had before everything went dark.

I wasn't dead after all. I came around lying in one of the beds of the outpost and could feel no pain or other ill effects. My right hand, my eyes and in the sweetest revelation my tongue worked fine. Wetmouth was sitting right next to me, putting things and instruments back into the box of a field surgery kit. She turned her head and her voice vibrated with emotions. "That was close, Eric. Very close, you almost died." I touched my throat where she had stabbed me and felt a bandage. "Tell me about it, I was halfway to Valhalla when you stabbed me." My voice sounded like a malfunction robot and every word was hurting. "I didn't stab you, Eric. I performed an emergency tracheotomy. I had to make an incision through your neck into the trachea so you could breathe because your upper airways were blocked." She then went on explaining what the trachea was and the significance of her procedure. Explaining things was her way of calming her nerves, I knew and I let her finish. I sat up and said with my rasping and hissing sounding voice. "What is our situation? How are the others?" She leaned forward and gave me a tight hug. I could smell her wonderful perfume and heard her breath reflecting against the inside of her mask. She did not say a word, and kept hugging me for a long moment. "You should not talk that much. Let your wounds heal. We only have emergency medical equipment and I am not a MD." She did not let go as she continued. "Hans will be okay as well, no one else got hurt. Krabbel and Har Hi are on the roof sweeping the jungle edge and the skies with the Paralysator. It appears that there is a smaller flying variety of these Snake beings and they attacked in the dark, one of them managed to sweep the wig of Hans. They are more intelligent than we thought and it seems they have figured out, it is the wigs that protect us." I got up. "How is Hans and how did you stop him?" My mask is more than a disguise, it has sophisticated weaponry incorporated. There is a needler in its nose, microscopic needles dipped in a very potent Shaill nerve toxin." I saw as she lowered her lashes behind the eye slits and added. "The toxin is deadly, but I hoped Hans is big enough to..." She stopped and then said." I had no choice, Eric." "Hans is dead?" "Oh no, he will be fine. I was able to administer the antidote in time. He will be back to normal in a few hours, but…" I put both hands on her shoulders. "As you said, you had no choice. I hesitated too long and instead of firing at him, I threw a knife at the snake. You did what had to be done; besides it all worked out and we can add this to our collective experience." She just nodded, but I could feel her soft shoulders shiver underneath my hands. I touched the tip of the mask's nose. "I bet Hans pride is hurt more than anything else, brought down by something like that! You Sojonites sure are a devious bunch, I'd say." "One could say that." Har Hi had organized the defenses while Wetmouth was patching me up. Hans was sitting with a forlorn expression on his face in the common room and as he saw me coming in, he turned his gaze to the ground kneading his big hands. I sat next to him and said. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I am sure ten thousand men as strong as you fell for one of those Sojonit weapons. She only did it to safe herself." He looked up."Oh I am not mad about that. Wetty did what she had to do and I am glad she did." "Then what is bugging you? I don't know when exactly but I promise you we get of this planet eventually." "Eric I am not worried about that either, but I almost killed you. Har Hi seems to be a better friend to you than I am; he managed to aim to the side. I did not, I hit you. I always considered you my best friend, but it looks, like inside I am not strong enough." I put my hand on his truly immense underarm. "It was Psionics and not you, I hate these invisible powers. Hans do you trust me?" "With my life you know that Eric." "Do you believe what I say?" "I have never doubted a word you said." "Hans, I know you are my friend. I trust you with my life. I have no doubt you are a good friend as Har Hi. Besides I think you managed to pull that darn Paralysator away too. I was only partially affected, if I would have been caught inside that ray at that distance, we would not have this conversation." His eyes lit up. "You know maybe that is true. You should be dead." "Well I am glad I am not. So get up and let us get out there and assess the situation."

The next day, one of our satellites identified an energy source almost five thousand miles from our camp site. It was located in a mountainous area, almost on the other side of this world and on a different continent, with less vegetation than everywhere else. The energy signature did not match any known configuration, but then without having access to GalNet we could not compare it to more than what Wetty had stored on her PDD. We fitted a robot with telemetric equipment and send the machine in remote control mode to investigate. As the robot closed in on the source, the machine was attacked by a large number of the Snake beings. The beings relied on simple clubs and their Psionic powers; neither form of attack was effective against the heavy construction robot. The snakes retreated into a cave and pelted the robot with rocks and boulders. The robot was unarmed but we used its strong arms to throw rocks back. With machine precision and great speed the robot unleashed a deadly hailstorm of rocks, killing several snakes right away and making the rest retreat further into the cave. In order to get to the ground of this mystery I decided to assault the cave ourselves and attacked it from the air soaking the area with Paralysator rays. There was no movement at all, but Har Hi was not sure how deep the Paralysator rays would penetrate the rock, for all we knew there could be millions of those snakes hiding in subsurface caves. Har-Hi said. "I think we should simply go in there with TKU's blazing and roast anything that moves." "I don't think that would be wise," objected Hans holding the P4." We don't have battle armor and those TKU's produce an awful amount of heat, in a confined space like a cave, the superheated air could hurt us too! There is a reason why these TKU's are no longer issued, they were too powerful and did cause casualties among our own troops." I said. "Lt. Aurellius at Camp idyllic had us study the cave wars of Winston Planet and I think I know what we can do. We suck all the air out and make them suffocate. All we need is a strong explosion inside the cave entrance. We got lots of explosives and detonators too." Wetmouth said." Do you think we should do that? This is still a potential first contact situation, you know." "After what they have done to that planets population, the survey teams and what they have done last night, heck yes. First Contact was initiated by them and with hostile nature. Besides we need to be able to work in safety. Whatever is left after I am done can ask for surrender." Three hours later one of our robots carried a 1000 kilo charge into the mouth of the cave and as soon as the machine was clear, I send the detonation signal. The explosion was tremendous, fire and smoke belched out of several previously hidden holes and openings all around the area. Hans let out a silent whistle. "I am sure they got the message. Don't mess with Eric." I looked at him. "Who knows exactly how much longer we are to be here on this world. I personally prefer not to look over my shoulder every five minutes and hope nothing messes with my brain." "No argument from me. I just liked the big explosion and wish we had another one to set off." "Let us check out what damage the first one did, if anything is still alive we can always do it again." We assaulted the main cave entrance with heavy Paralysator fire and with our TKU's dialed down to a minimum at the ready. The thermo-kinetic explosion had blackened the walls and incinerated anything flammable and turned it to ashes. Har Hi pointed at a section of cave wall and said. "I guess there was one of them." He made us aware of a shadowy outline of a Snake being burned into the rock wall. We moved very slowly, expecting an attack at any time. Hans carried the Paralysator like a big bazooka on his shoulders was ready to activate the weapon at the slightest sign. Elfi who walked right behind me had her eyes half closed insisted that she could not sense anything. The heat damage of the fire cloud rushing through this chambers became less the further we penetrated into the cave. Now we floor was littered with the bodies of charred snake beings, both the big and the smaller winged kind. Finally we reached a larger chamber. Alien machinery lined the walls, transparent cylinders, hoses, pipes, glass tanks with greenish liquids and banks of control machinery. Some of it had been destroyed and smashed by the explosion. Wetmouth examined the consoles and said. "This is a DNA matrix hatchery. The purpose of this equipment is easily revealed by its layout, but I cannot identify the civilization that made it." Har Hi scratched his chin. "You call this tumbled nightmare of goo and techno-bits straight forward. I would not want to see what you call a mess then." I knew she was smiling under her mask, like a Viking boy who found his way into the armory. "The principle behind the science of Xeno technology is to realize that a machine designed to heat water, may looks very impressive or really alien but it still functions by the same principles and does the same thing then a machine you know." She made a gesture around the cave. "This appears to be very old equipment and most of it is non functional for many millennia. I am sure this is where the Snakes multiplied but it does not appear they had the technological know-how to maintain and keep all this running." Hans looked over the many bodies lying around between some of the smashed machinery. "I think we should pull the plug on whatever is still working. This place gives me the creeps. Let us blow it up."

I decided not to destroy it. Cirruit and Wetmouth did however disconnect the alien power source from all the equipment. We did not see any more of the snakes over the next days, but I was convinced there might be more out there. They had an entire planet and centuries to hide and we were only nine individuals with limited resources, however if there were survivors to the explosion I hoped they carried the message around, not to mess with us.

The fourth week of our stay on Quagmire was almost over, at 13:00 hours today and 28 days ago, we had arrived. Since then we had repaired the GalNet terminal, manufactured a second unit and launched two probes with pre recorded messages in case we were jammed. The possibility that there was a war going on seemed more and more likely and since we did not hear anything, things might not go as well for the Union as we hoped. Maybe the Nul were a more serious adversary than anyone thought they would be. Perhaps the Kermac saw their opportunity and joined the ferocious annelid life forms of the Nul Empire. The floating make shift base we had found on our arrival was gone; its materials had been recycled and incorporated into the new  planetary base that grew in its place. Of course it was far from done, and the robots kept on working day and night. They had to roam much further and use large all terrain wheelbarrows to gather the necessary raw materials. We had moved into the second tier of the base complex, twenty meters above the ground with a good view all around. We all had spacious new quarters now and there was a regular conference room, laboratories and plenty of empty not yet completed or furnished rooms and halls. Cirruit devised a life form sensor combined with a radar system that kept watch and would warn us from any air born attack and he was working on a shield generator to put the whole base under a force field if necessary. The Nanite factory was a marvelous machine but it was limited in what it could create, Multi Dim Shields and modern weaponry were among the things it could not create. To obtain metals and certain minerals, the robots could not rely on dirt and plant material for raw material alone but needed to start mining and that slowed down the entire process. We all knew of the weekly anniversary coming up, we all had our daily meeting right after breakfast. It was there we discussed our daily tasks and the progress of our plans. Elfi glanced over to the GalNet terminal. "I think it is fair to say no one has heard us." She didn't sound depressed but I could sense she saw herself stuck on this planet. I said. "We going to complete the base, and then we have the facilities to strip that Saran Planet Lander and make it a working ship. We got robots and a Nanite factory and a hell of a crew. We are far from out of options. Today we start cutting a way to the Saran Ship and then we devise a way to drag it here". I smiled at her. "We do have some work cut out for us however." She simply hugged me. "How could we be lost with the best friends a girl could ask for?" We then started to make plans how to move the Saran Ship and what needed to be done to get it space worthy. Cutting a 25 kilometer long road into the jungle, wide enough to drag the 800 ton Saran ship back to the base was, even with the robots, back breaking work. We found out that the jungles of Quagmire had many other nasty inhabitants, besides the Psionic Snakes. All kinds of biting and stinging insects, small and very poisonous snakes, a beetle spitting acid that was strong enough to eat holes in the tough fabric of our uniforms and of course strong enough to burn and blister the skin. Twenty robots and a Nanite factory were simply not enough. Sadly it was beyond the Nanite factories capability to reproduce or to make more robots; this is why we worked alongside the robots. For the Nanite factory to produce metals and high grade materials it needed metals and minerals and could not rely on mud, animal and plant material alone. The gathering robots started several mines to gather the needed raw materials in more concentrated amounts but it took longer to get a finished product. Our plan was to dig the ship out attach newly manufactured Arti grav lifters to its side and neutralize much of its weight, then drag it back to the base. Getting the ship repaired and space worthy was another story. But eventually the old Saran lander was sitting on the duro crete landing platform of the brand new planetary base. After Circuit took a closer look at the old ship and he had delivered his technical report combined with his assessment of the Nanite factories limitations we were certain we would be able to repair the ship. But at best it would take us more than a year to complete. Building something from scratch that could go faster than light would have taken much longer. Most of us had already written off the idea anyone would come and were sure there was a war going on that prevented an early rescue. Mao speculated that Clusen had deleted any traces of our whereabouts and the war troubles had anyone completely forget about us. Har Hi was angry that he was missing a chance to fight and was certain the war would be over by the time we got off this world, but they all were in good spirits. We did have a plan and a way off this world and everyone agreed a year would pass soon enough. There was plenty for everyone to do and I made sure we all had a busy schedule. Six weeks had passed now and things became routine. The base construction progress had slowed down to a crawl as only two robots continued that task, the rest gathered raw materials for Cirruit and the Nanite factory churning out replacement parts for the old ship. It was slow going as he had to give the machine exact instructions for every part, since none of the things he needed were pre loaded in the factories memory. It was late afternoon and I was sitting in the base command office and added notes to my daily report log as I did every day. Earlier this morning Wetty and Mao had discovered a treasure chamber underneath the temple ruins, they kept excavating. The shallow rock chamber was filled with golden trinkets and jewelry, speaking of the high level of craftsmanship of the vanished original inhabitants of this world. I was about to finish and wanted to relief Hans on the watch post when the GalNet terminal beeped and since it was on Auto-receive it came on right away. "USS Devastator calling Olafson's Gang. Are you able to answer?" I believe I made the distance from my chair to the terminal in one jump and said."Planetary Base Quagmire 1, Midshipman Olafson here, and yes we are able to answer. I am switching to Visuals." Captain Harris became visible and I saw Stahl standing behind him. It was the Captain himself and not a Communications Officer and he said "Can you give me a short situation report? Where are you exactly? Any casualties?" "No casualties Captain, Sir. We are on Planet Quagmire Bog as per our orders and I think we have completed our mission. Contact to previous team as ordered was impossible due to the fact they are dead. We identified and most likely neutralized the danger that caused the death of previous survey teams. Base construction as per orders is progressing and we are at 67 percent completion of phase One of the Base construction program. We are attempting to repair an old Saresii Ship Wreck, but we could postpone that if you have different orders or maybe give us a lift from this planet. We are ready to return if that is okay with you." There was a moment of silence and I feared we lost them again. Then Stahl almost pushed Harris aside." We are sending a transport right now, Midshipman. Do you need medical assistance?" "No Sir. I repeat no casualties here." He looked relieved and said. "We are almost 500 light years from your location, so it will take the shuttle a little to get there, but we will keep in contact and try to hurry."

Interlude: Larthop

It was not as easy as she said it was and it took him quite a while to get the hang of this dangerous four wheeled contraption that kept bouncing like an unruly beast of burden over the uneven ground. It didn't help that she made fun of him and told him that it would take Terran kids a few minutes to learn how to drive one of these. He asked her why the most advanced civilization in the Galaxy was not able to produce something more civilized and perhaps robotic and fully automatic. The Union had so many technical marvels after all. Her answer was that Terrans did not want things like that automated and loved to drive themselves. While he was thinking about the crazy and barbaric Terrans, who by all natural means should not even be one of the most powerful members of that cursed Union, he did not even notice the passage or the effects of a trans-dimensional trip, shortcutting 90,000 light years to a 4 hour motorcycle ride through a bat infested cave. He had seen the swarms of bats stuck to the ceiling band their nervous movements, but they had passed underneath before any of them decided to attack. They emerged through a similar gate into the open and Larthop could  feel that they were no longer on Wichita planet and had indeed traveled to another world. Here on the other side of the cave tunnel also was a collection of prefab buildings, but none of the security measures of the entrance. She stopped her bike and said. "Here we switch to a flier. There is an ocean between us and the continent where the Cave of Things is located." He wanted to say something when he saw a huge gray monstrosity coming up a narrow path. He could feel the monsters mind and knew it was not an animal but an intelligent being. "What is that?" Cherubim answered."This is a Huffh, and the owners of this world. They are also real Terrans so shield your mind when you think negative things about Earthers. They are gentle for the most part but like all true Earthers they do have a violent temper. This one is coming to the station most likely for medical attention. I don't see any other Huffh which would mean a funeral procession," He followed her to an open flyer while he kept looking over his shoulder at the approaching giant." The more you talk the less you make sense. How can these be Earthers? " She activated the flier and he climbed in. Two humans and a Petharian in Uniforms of the medical branch of the science corps stepped out of one of the prefab buildings and greeted the Huffh. One of the humans waved to them as the mysterious woman steered the flier into the sky. He leaned back into the seat and asked her. "Isn't it treason what you are doing. What would happen if that robot did make a report?" "Treason against whom I would ask." "The Union of course, the government you are protecting and if the legends are true you doing it for millennia." "I think it won't hurt to let you know a few things. I was not chosen by the Guardian, and act long before Stahl or Mc Elligott or some of the others. I was chosen by someone else to be the eyes and the ears of Earth and by identifying any potential danger, exposing any enemy as early as possible. This is the reason I still exist and this is all I am loyal too. I am loyal to the Union as long as Earth is part of the Union, but I am loyal to Earth and Humankind first. Chances are Earth will be Terra and a Union member for the foreseeable future." She pointed at him. "You are not interested in the Union, you care not about Saresii. You hold no allegiance to the Kermac or anyone else. You seek to resurrect a power so immense, all else does not matter. Union, Kermac, Saresii, Earth and the rest of the Galaxy means nothing compared to that power. This is what this quest of yours is all about, is it not?" There was no sense of denying anything. "Yes that is what consumes me to the last fiber of my being. The Church of Darkness is nothing more than a vehicle to get me where I need to go. You know it all." He spoke with such intensity and conviction; finally talk to someone who already knew. Was that her true motivation; was she after the same thing? No other explanation was possible in his mind. She had admitted to him that she had studied the same things and she it seemed she was indeed an immortal and on this quest much longer than him. Maybe she knew how he could get out of the control of the Brotherhood. He needed to learn all she knew. Cherubim stared at him from beneath a simple face that was most certainly another disguise."Some of my immortal friends, chief among them the Narth Supreme put their hope and trust in a simple boy from a cold planet, I don't." She fell silent as she pointed the nose of the fast flier downward pointing it to a single mountain, most likely an old volcano sticking out of the surrounding forest covered landscape. She landed on a narrow rock ledge from where short but steep path led to another cave entrance. Larthop held his breath, he knew without a doubt this was the Cave of Things. He had the wafer thin disk he had found underneath the mountains of Koken with him in a hard shell case. He it like a  purse strapped to his body. Following an impulse he took out the disk and it no longer showed a star map as it had before, it showed an image of this very mountain and illuminated the path to the cave entrance, the very path that was now before him. This time he was leading the way, Cherubim the Terran enigma was right behind him. He had only eyes for what was ahead, that the woman had pulled her blaster and was aiming it at his back, he did not notice. She said to him while they climbed the path." We have little time. A fleet of military ships and freighters of the Science Department are almost here. They went the long way because no one knows how secure and stable the trans-dimensional tunnel is and they bringing big equipment too. Lots of scientists, Xeno Tech experts and a load of Security." Larthop only listened with one ear as he reached the cave entrance and without pausing went straight in, holding the dinner plate sized disk with both hands before him, almost as if he was carrying a religious symbol. The cave they had entered was clearly made by someone or something; the walls of this perfectly hemispherical hall were lined with a smooth gray material. Red colored light illuminated the place but neither of them could really say were the light source would have been. The cave was empty except for a pedestal made of the same gray material in the center of this cavern that measured perhaps 100 meters across. A narrow ring of white light lit up as they went closer to the pedestal, centering on that dais at about eighty meters. They both stopped without saying a word, wondering if the ring of light had any significance or effect. It was completely quiet; there was no sound other than their own breathing. Right above the pedestal formed a purple light ball and it pulsated and from it formed a strange looking thing. Larthop tried to describe it by comparing the apparition with two snakes, with heads that reminded him of a sewing pin of old, with a hole in the blunt end. Each of these loop like heads had a glowing blue light in the middle and the bodies of both snakes were intertwined and reminded him somehow of a representation of a DNA helix. The thing so he guessed was at least two meters tall. A sexless voice spoke to them both acoustic and mentally."This is the Dualix, we are from the beginning and wait for the coming of the Master and the decision." Both Larthop and Cherubim knew that this was an entity, not a projection or a machine. It was alive they both were certain, but on a level completely alien to them. The Dualix addressed Cherubim first. "You are from the place the One has chosen. You are servant to the Old you are an agent of the will. The vessel, the one you do not believe is the one was already here." Then the Dualix spoke to Larthop." You are from the ones that have been blessed by the Pree. You are the one that ventured to Narth Prime, the first Non Narth. Yet your mind and your spirit were too weak, too small to contain what you have found there, what you seek is not for mortals, yet you carry the Disc and Dualix will answer." All around the wall alcoves opened, revealed from the smooth gray material and each held an item, some of the things were clearly weapons yet other of such alien design, neither of them could even begin to guess their function. Larthop's voice trembled as he said. "Which one is the token of power?" The One was here and taken what was his. This place contains weapons from cultures and civilizations of many realities and many Universes. Each one had been conceived to be the ultimate weapon and to defeat the One. They all failed, as powerful as these weapons are, they failed to prevent the One from destroying, killing and obliterating." Larthop kept holding the disk he did not realize he was crying in frustration as he yelled at the being in front of him. "You tell me I came here for nothing? The token is gone? To the deepest pits of Under-all with you! I was promised you will tell me how to obtain it." "We are the Dualix and we must obey the holder of the disk. Find the key hidden on a cold world and guarded by a white God and with it you can obtain what is on Narth Prime." The purple glowing snakes started to fade away. Larthop screamed. "I am not done with you. Tell me where to find that cold world." "You are a fool. You were within reach of it already; all you had to do was being patient and learn what the Narth Supreme wanted to teach you. It would have been yours for the asking. Yet you tried to steal and cheat. Now with the disk you had control over the Dualix, and all knowledge we contain, yet you commanded me to the deepest pits of Under-All and this is where the Dualix now must go. Find me there and I answer more of your questions." The Dualix vanished, but the strange entity managed to leave with a quite human sounding laughter. In a fit of rage he flung the disk after the vanishing apparition, but it passed through thin air and fell to the ground on the other side. The alcoves closed before he could reach even one. Larthop was near insanity as he hammered his fists against the smooth gray metal. He was about to give up. A cold planet guarded by a white god that was certainly not enough of a clue. The Universe was full of cold worlds and I there were millions of legends about white gods in a million books and scrolls. He dropped to his knees and kept banging his fists against the wall. This was not fair, this was simply not fair. He was supposed to be a villain, a man on his way to become a god. He had felt the power, he knew it existed. How could the Universe be so cruel, but wait he had come with that woman Cherubim. She was much older than him and she was after the same, she would be his guide and help him to find the next clue, there were supposedly twelve tokens out there and each held tremendous power. Had she not mentioned a simple boy from a cold planet? Someone the Narth Supreme was waiting for? He looked up and saw her picking up the disc. "What now, Miss Cherubim? Where do we go from here? Who is that simple boy? The cold world? Is it Eric Olafson of Nilfeheim. Is he the key to it all after all?" "You have done all I needed you to do, you found the disc and gave it up on your own free will. You know I could not have taken it from you; the disc only works for its rightful owner. You have been that rightful owner by finding it first. Now you tossed it and it accepted me. I actually almost pity you Mr. Larthop. First the Narth, then the Dualix and now you threw away the disc that is showing me the location of another token." Larthop could not believe his ears. He slowly got up and said. "What will happen now, are we going to find the next token?" Cherubim raised her arm holding her blaster and fired, Larthop died instantly. She continued to fire until his body was completely consumed and nothing more than an atomic dust." That is what will happen. I said I almost have pity, but then I am not known to be the emotional type." Cherubim secured the disc in a pouch and went outside the cave. There she used her PDD and spoke into it. "That keeps the Disc of Koken out of the hands of the Brotherhood and it is in working order that unlucky Larthop gave it up on his own free will. It turns out that Neo Viking has received the ring form the Coven and gathered whatever was here. We better keep an eye on him and if he is really The One we must be prepared to terminate him before he becomes too powerful." A male voice answered." Do you really believe all this meta-mumbo-jumbo about dark powers and god like beings? I was there when he was in that cave and all he picked up was simple axe." "I am doing this far longer than even you Old man. This disc and the Dualix are proof that this is quite real. The Narth would not guard one of these tokens if it wasn't dangerous. I am not sure what the role of this Neo Viking is in all this, but I think we need to be very careful and keep close watch." "Thanks for the update; we keep this quiet for now. I don't want the Old Warrior to get wind of this and I certainly don't want anyone else to know." "I am going after that not so dead ex admiral now. It might be a while before I contact you. His trail has gone cold."

QUAGMIRE BOG

When the D 40 Long range shuttle of the Devi arrived a few days later we had time to complete our Shuttle landing deck. We had not started on the actual space port landing field, called for in the plans for the medium sized Planetary base, since it would take our robots many month to prepare the foundations and pour thousands of tons of duro crete, but the Landing deck on top of the base was more than adequate to accommodate a D 40 shuttle. We had remained in contact with the Devi and transmitted a detailed written report. We all assembled before the entrance to the landing platform elevator, wearing fresh clean uniforms and had our luggage ready behind us. From the now landed D 40 emerged Captain Harris and the Admiral himself and behind them a group of fleet officers with science team badges on their sleeves and five marines stepped on the platform. I called my friends into attention and the Admiral gave us a short crisp inspection before he allowed me to put them at ease. I said saluting them." Admiral, Sir. Quagmire Bog Forward research base Cara Paterhum ready for your inspection." Harris stood behind him and asked." Cara Paterhum what does that mean?" "Sir, Fleet Regulation 4539-575 subsection eight pertaining the establishment of new bases upon previously unoccupied spatial bodies gives the officer in charge the right to name said base, if no name had been chosen by fleet command prior to construction. We decided to name this base after the so named local temple that used to be here, in doing so we wanted to honor the original inhabitants of this world." Both of them raised their eyebrows simultaneous and almost the same way, attesting to the fact how long these two men had served together and Harris nodded." Fine sentiment, Midshipman." We gave the arrived officers a tour of the facility and showed them the captured Snake beings held in stasis. Wetmouth explained to them that the crates in another store room held the salvaged alien machinery from the cave we had assaulted and other crates were filled with pieces of temple artifacts, collected plant and animal specimen. Near the end of the short tour while Wetmouth and Cirruit showed off golden artifacts and jeweled statues that was part of the temple treasures she was able to excavate and secure, Stahl stood in the back and said quietly to me. "I understand the military greeting and I appreciate all the crisp and professional way you are displaying but all this quoting of military regulations and handbooks seems out of character, Mr. Olafson. What has happened that changed you?" "Admiral Sir, we are at war with the Nul are we not?" "No son we are not at war with anyone at the moment. Why do you say that?" "We have working GalNet terminals and we figured only a war could have kept you all that long away. None of our enemies has the technology to jam GalNet communications after all, besides It is beyond my understanding of fleet regulations why fleet command saw it fit to send midshipmen to this planet without clear instructions or adequate equipment. In light of previous experiences I therefore  came to the decision to stick to the military rules and regulations, quote them where ever I go, since they seem to have so very little meaning to those in charge, Sir." There was actually something like pain in the old warriors face and I already regretted my sharp tone, but I had to put the anger I felt in words. "Son, I was not aboard the Devi for the last six weeks and Captain Harris did not know you were gone. There is a pile of manure crawling with vermin on the Devi and we will clean house when we are back, you have my word on that." I wanted to apologize for my choice of words but he stopped me. "I want our future officers to speak their mind. I understand your anger and while I appear calm, I assure you there is a volcano boiling inside me for what has been done right under my nose and there will be an eruption and it won't be pretty." I officially turned the base over to Lieutenant Strasenburgh and his team; it was him who had come along with the Captain and the Admiral. We briefed them on the conditions on the planet and then as we boarded the shuttle, I could almost sense the relief my friends felt. Returning to the Devi was like coming home. We were checked out in sick bay and after we had time to clean up we were summoned by the Captain himself to the big auditorium on deck 54. All other midshipman groups were there and to our pleasant surprise we saw Lt. Merkus. He was standing next to Lt. Clusen. The chief instructor tried to look indifferent but I sensed how displeased he was to see us. He could not completely hide his nervousness as he nibbled on his lower lip. Suppor and the red team were there, sitting prominently in the lower middle. The Thauran was much less successful to hide his feelings seeing us. The Captain greeted us and asked us to join him at the podium while Admiral Stahl stood in the back by the main entrance with his arms crossed before his chest. Harris asked us to give an account of where we had been and what we had done. I delivered my report and concluded: "For our scientific report, the collected specimen, unearthed ruins, captured alien psionic gifted beings and the ancient alien breeding facility I am giving the podium to Midshipman Wetmouth." Harris raised his hands. "One moment Mr. Olafson, would you mind and explainto me how you ended up on a planet that was strictly off limits and deemed too dangerous for anyone except a special selected team with Marine support?" "Sir, we had no knowledge of our destination being off limits; we had no control over the destination of the shuttle that dropped us of. We did asked several times to verify our orders and destination and each time the orders were confirmed, by Lt. Clusen, the Shuttle hangar officer and the shuttle pilot.I recorded all orders given on PDD as all instructions and orders given to us were verbal only. We were ordered to conduct this mission as our field test. The nature and name of the planet was only revealed when we found the PDD in the packing crate." Admiral Stahl's voice sounded calm as he asked form the back where he was standing. "Lt Clusen, can you shed some light on this mystery then? Sending Midshipman to Quagmire Bog was certainly not part of the field test." Clusen shrugged and said. "I can't know all the planets that are off limits or deemed dangerous, Sir. I received the orders to send the Olafson team there for their evaluation test from Academy HQ. That particular Midshipman team received so much attention from Senior Command,over other much more deserving teams, made me believe it would be a particular easy assigment." Harris said. "Academy HQ has never in its entire history sent Midshipmen to restricted planets. The HQ orders were for Lt Strasenburgh and his team and came from the Science Corps not the Academy, including the equipment on the shuttle." Clusens said with a tone of accusation in his voice. "The Olafson team has been favored since they came aboard. Their impossible scores inflated by military decorations they could not possibly have earned, making it unfair to those Midshipmen working hard to gain their accolades. Commanding the Devastator, being picked for fighter class, and showing off obviously choreographed fighting before important dignitaries and showing off at the Diamond ball escorting royals. How should I know that this was anything different? I simply followed orders and sent them along. Frankly I have to say since they have been gone; things ran much smoother on Deck 54 and those who really deserve it excelled." Someone handed Harris a PDD and the captain looked at it at the same time marines escorted a Chief Petty Officer to the front. The man had light blue skin and wore the insignia of a Shuttle pilot on his sleeve. Harris looked up. "Mr. Uhrim, I understand you flew the shuttle that dropped these Midshipmen on Quagmire Bog. I was also informed you are currently investigated for stealing five highly classified Jammer Drones. I am sure it won't surprise you to hear we found them in an orbit around that planet. You know what the penalty is for stealing classified Mil Tech?" The shuttle pilot grunted. "I am not taking the fall for this alone. I had no choice; I am Thauran and was forced to obey him." "Lt. Clusen?" "No not him, he has little to say. I am talking about Midshipman Suppor." Clusen still tried to save the situation. "The orders came from Academy HQ. If one of my midshipmen did something illegal, then I will investigate and deal with it. Sir this discussion should not take place before all these midshipmen." "Oh it will happen right here. They earned the right to hear why the Navy sent a bunch of Midshipmen ill equipped to one of the most dangerous planets without any support." Stahl walked to the front of the auditorium. "I give you one chance and one chance only Mr. Clusen. If you tell me the truth now I will give you a fair trial and court martial. If you lie to me I will not consider you an officer and deal with you accordingly." Clusen remained defiant. "I followed HQ orders." Stahl waved at someone and a marine escorted a furry gray being in Lt Uniform. Stahl said to it. "Lt. Nort. You are the Communications Officer that was on duty while these orders supposedly were received from Academy HQ. We can find no transmission log for that day. Your signature however can be found on a document that chancels the deployment of the actual survey team and substitutes it with the Midshipman team. Can you explain that?" The being was nervous and Clusen was staring at the being with such intensity as if he wanted to kill it with his gaze. The furry Lt tried to escape the stare and said in a quiet tone." No Sir I cannot confirm that. No communications have been received from the Academy during that time or any time while I was on duty since we left Arsenal 4." "How come the orders where decoded by you?" "Sir I let Lt. Clusen change the orders that came for Lt. Strasenburgh from the Science Council and I used a comm. Loop with an old Academy code to create these orders for Lt. Clusen." "Why would you let him do that?" "Because he has powerful friends and they threatened to kill my family back home." Clusen hissed. "And die they will!" The furry Lt straightened. "I am glad I came forward Sir and I will face charges as an officer and not as a coward. The Worm will die when you step on it." Stahl said: "Mr. Nort, yes you will face charges, but I will send NAVINT to your home world to protect your family.And believe me I will step on the Worm that crawled on my ship, so hard it will be felt across the galaxy." He then turned to Clusen. "Why?" "My family is forced to live below our status; Namamir Suppor has the fate of my mother in his hands. His family is influential and has the ear of the Emperor himself." "I am ashamed to have men like you on my ship. I am ashamed that this navy allows trash like you to wear this uniform. Marines take him and that Midshipman and get him out of my sight." Stahl looked away as the Marines dragged them out. Then he said and I was certain his words were transmitted through out the ship." The Devastator will remain where she is, we will not approach any planet, nothing will be launched or allowed to leave before everyone aboard has been checked by PSI Corps. Anyone belonging to any secret society or organization can come forward now and I promise everyone receives a fair trial. My offer ends in thirty minutes anyone caught after that will be hanged, no appeal, no trial no second chances. Remember this is my ship and there is no place you can hide and I can't find you." Harris added. "Centron, sound General Quarters and prepare for a head count. Any life form not on the Crew list will be found, anyone not on his post will be dealt with as a deserter." Then he faced us. "You all and especially you Mr. Olafson must by now have the lowest opinion of this Navy and I cannot find any excuses. All I can is offering my apologies!" "Sir, I am proud to serve this great organization. It is true I experienced what might be called injustice. It is true I meet a few that might not live up to the high standards of this Navy, but I met many more that hold up that standard, I met those who exceed it every day and I am very proud of this Navy, as a citizen and a member. I feel deeply honored and beyond what I deserve to be given a chance to serve alongside distinguished officers, hardworking enlisted and senior staff. Most of all I feel deep gratitude to this Navy because it was the vehicle that allowed me to make friendships that are deeper than any family ties could be." I snapped in attention and saluted the Admiral and the Captain. My friends immediately followed suit and to my surprise so did every Midshipman present. There was a moment of silence. Stahl simply nodded and said. "Why don't you carry on with your report Ms. Wetmouth? I am eager to hear what your findings where." etmouth did not have to be asked twice and she delivered a long lecture and finally came to an end saying:" Since being on board I was able to cross-reference my findings and some of my data with GalNet. I am fairly the snake beings are the legendary PSI weapon the Afonee used in the Glamaan war about 9000 years ago. The Afonee culture has ceased to exist but excavations on their home world found similar DNA manipulator hatcheries just like the one we found." She bowed to the audience and stepped down. "So all we had to do to solve the Quagmire mystery was to send the Olafson gang." Harris smirked." I should have thought of that." Stahl grinned. "That's how we managed to solve the Bone Mystery on Wichita." To us he said." You did well down there and acted like fleet officers should. Do you have any requests or wishes?" Har-Hi nodded." Yes Sir. I like to keep at least one of those old TKUs." "Permission granted, anything else?" Krabbel danced nervous back and forth. "Well some ice cream would be nice, Sir! I mean real ice cream made from fresh milk." That caused open laughter and Stahl nodded. "I see what I can do. You are on R&R for 48 hrs. Mr. Olafson you are with me." I followed the Admiral and as soon as we reached the corridor and were alone he stopped. "I personally apologize to you. Mr. Olafson. Because it was my fault what happened. Lt. Merkus informed the Captain about Clusen's misconduct several times, even before you came aboard and I heard about Clusen's attempt to chance the score rating system. I frankly wanted to see how far he would go. I never imagined he would go that far and commit attempted murder. For this I must apologize. Lt. Merkus has been reinstated and found not guilty on any charges." "Sir what I said in there I really meant." "I am going to space Clusen now. He has lost all rights to be trialed like a soldier. I would like you to be present and to see that I am keeping my word." "I am not looking forward to see a man die Sir, but I perfectly understand the need for capital punishment in some cases." While I was standing with the Admiral outside in the corridor I saw the other midshipmen and my friends leave the auditorium and Wetmouth waved. My voice became hard and cold as I said. "Yes Sir I like to be present. I do not feel he deserves death for putting me in danger, but his actions endangered my best friends and that I won't forgive." He started walking again and said. "What if you get a genuine order that puts you and your friends in harm's way?" "Sir, I believe in this Union and I feel it is worth protecting. A community of beings where a Spider and an Android can be friends, where outer form and heritage means little, is a society worth serving and if serving means dying then this is what I will do and I know my friends think the same way." He put his hand on my shoulder."Well put, son." I followed Stahl to the 64th Section of Deck 61. Here was the General Detention Center and the headquarters of Ship security. There in a small chamber with an Auto Dresser he changed into a completely black uniform. Except of his Admirals Gold on his sleeves it was bare of any decoration or ribbon display. He motioned me to do the same and the uniform I got was alike. No ribbon display, no patches, completely black. He explained. "The delinquent has lost all rights and the lack of decoration and ribbons symbolizes that these signs of honor would be besmirched by his gaze. What we are about to do is among the hardest tasks a commanding officer has to do." "Captain Zezz spoke of a similar incident, Sir and I had the misfortune to be instrumental in a public execution not so long ago." Stahl pulled on the seams of his uniform jacket. "I remember that case and I know how much it has troubled him. I fought the Shiss for decades and even I thought of them as coldblooded Lizards. Your friend Zezz has one of the most human and caring souls I have encountered in my long journey. I am glad he and you have met." "Yes Sir, I have been fortunate to become friends with Captain Zezz." He sighed. "This is why you are here and not your friends, you came a long way already in this navy and if you keep on this path I see you reaching your goal and become Captain of a ship perhaps soon. This is why I want you here. To see that justice is done but doing it can be very hard. I want you to see the dark sides of Command as well." I knew we were about witness the execution of a man. I did not look forward to it at all, but to hear why I was here made my heart skip a beat. He handed me a pair of gloves and a black hood." The hood helps as a psychological barrier and the gloves are to be put on when the command is given." He too put the black hood over his face and so did I. Then I followed him into a small empty Storage bay with an airlock on one side. Twelve Marines all in black, six on each side of the airlock stood silently and ramrod straight. Stahl motioned me to remain at his side as he positioned himself next to the Airlock controls, dismissing a Sergeant standing there. "You may stand back, Sarge. I must do my own dirty work." The Sarge saluted. "Aye Sir, standing down." Whispering the Sarge added." For you Sir my Marines and I would do anything." Clusen was brought in and Suppor right behind him. Both still wore their uniforms. Each had their hands tied to the back and were bare feet. Captain Harris stepped before the air Lock facing the two. "Lieutenant Clusen, for acts unbecoming an Officer of the United Stars Navy I herby revoke your commission. By lying after being asked to be truthful you have forfeit your right to be tried by a military court and under the regulations laid forth by the Uniform Code of Justice of this navy, you are nothing more than a common criminal." Harris put his hood on and said."The mask of the executioners is all you see before you die. No hand shall be soiled by the task of exterminating you from our society." Everyone put their gloves on and so did I. I was glad for the hood as I could not help to feel sorry for the two. For all his faults he was still a thinking being and like before back on Corri-Door I wondered why society had not found a way to deal with crime another way. My mind tried to explain all the reasons to my consciousness and while I understood all the reasons and because they put my friends in harm's way they deserved what was coming to them, but my soul still refused to listen and I felt somehow guilty for putting them here. Clausen was still defiant and said. "I had to do what I did. I am also my mother's son and the welfare and status of my family is more important than fleet and duty." Suppor seemed not to fathom what was about to happen. His face showed the same arrogance as always. "I demand to see a lawyer. If I am no longer a Midshipman I am a civilian and therefore have the right to a lawyer. The emperor shall hear of this. He was not pleased with what happened to Admiral Swybar and now you accuse Thauran nobles again." Stahl spoke." You don't deserve anything. You soiled the uniforms you wear so much that nothing can clean it, so you going to implode in it. By conspiring against the Navy you formed a secret and condemned yourself to death." Clusen was dragged to the airlock first, the massive door opened. His tone of voice changed and he was pleading. "I am sorry. I knew what I was doing was wrong. I will do anything to make good what I did." The marines started to beat a steady rhythm on drum pads they wore on their belts. I had heard the very same when they chained me to the whipping post, back at camp Idyllic. And it caused cold showers running down my spine. I flinched as Clusen's legs collapsed. He was now weeping and his face had lost all arrogance, all that made me recognize him as the man I knew and turned him into a helpless victim, the Marines dragged him merciless and without losing a step into the Air lock chamber. The door hissed down and slammed with a terminal sounding clang into the frame. Stahl said. "May whatever Gods you worship have mercy on you." He then pressed the button. There was no sound coming through the thick material but we saw Clusen getting pulled into the vacuum of space through the transparent window in the door. He did not explode or implode. I was certain I saw him move his legs before the outer door closed. Suppor had seen it too and now he it hit finally home and he knew that he was about to go next. He screamed and cried and begged. Stahl said." Brain scans and testimonies confirm that you are, despite your youth a driving force of deceit and disorder. It was you who placed a deadly life form in the shower of your comrades. You conspired with the Worm. While you have not been fully commissioned yet,your crimes exceed all venues of mercy.You will not be executed by the Navy. After serving the maximum of 90 days in the Brig you will be dishonorably discharged and with the loss of all your citizen privileges released into civilian live.Where you face a Union Court. By then you will find a very different Thauran Empire. Your Emperor is implicated in dealing with the worm and committing crimes against the Union. He is your Emperor, but he is also a Union Citizen and as such he will be arrested and trialed. Maybe you will see him hang before it is your turn."

The next days aboard the Devi were as dark and solemn as that execution. Alycia herself questioned those caught and the network of the Worm was unraveled, and over 200 beings had been executed.