“Hold your eye open,” a uniformed hospital worker commanded. The female nurse was heavy set, in her late sixties, salt and pepper hair color that was pulled up in a tight bun, and cold grey eyes.
“Hold on. I just sat down for a minute. I already have a security clearance,” Eerika said refusing to comply.
“Well, good for you. Now, hold your eye open! The orders are for everyone in every agency, the military in this facility, everyone to be checked again,” the older woman replied mockingly.
Eerika missed the order that was given and was clueless as to why the mass genetic sampling and collection of personal data was occurring. Initially, she considered telling the old cranky woman to go and take a flying leap off Mount Auslet and leave her alone until she had officially received the order but realized that there was nothing for her to hide. She sat upright, relaxed, and conceded to the intrusive procedure. The nurse scanned her iris, then with a second tool scanned the chip in her name tag. A second worker took her fingerprints then stuck a swab in her mouth.
“It seems that not everyone is who they appear to be. Let’s hope your data matches perfectly. No leaving the facility until you are cleared,” the odd nurse said while walking away.
“How long will that take?” Eerika demanded.
“As long as it takes…princess,” the nurse said sarcastically while walking away. The comment and tone festered a fit of anger in her that couldn’t simply be quelled by inaction. Eerika stood attempting to push through the crowd and catch up to the sarcastic medical staff member nearly grabbing a handful of the bun on the back of her head and jerking her to the ground. The nurse, as if sensing she was being followed, sped up and quickly entered the hospital and went to a rear room that was off-limits to Eerika. Something about her did not seem right and gnawed at Eerika’s instincts. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something seemed amiss. After twenty minutes of waiting, the snarky woman did not return.
Eerika grabbed the arm of a young man in a red medical uniform, “Where is the woman who went into that back room?” she asked.
The male nurse looked at her with an odd expression, “No one is on break right now,” he said as he walked to the door and peered in. “The room is empty.”
“I followed a woman here. She went into that room with my information and did not come out. Is there an exit?” she asked pointing toward the doorway.
“No. No one is in there. There are no scheduled breaks right now. All samples taken are stored over here. What is your name and I will check?” he did little to hide his impatience.
Then it dawned on her, the woman did scan her name tag but had gone into the back room with her information, “She didn’t take anything over there. I guess that is part of the problem,” Eerika’s concern seemed vindicated at that moment.
“Okay. Well, I don’t have time for this. Come back later and we can look for the phantom that took your information,” he said before walking into the other direction to oversee the storage of the samples taken.
Eerika was done with the rude attitudes of the medical staff and pushed her way out of the room. She ran out of the doorway and down the hallway by the hospital. She took a ninety-degree turn to her right and ran until it ended. There was a door in a corridor just on the other side of the wall of the medical facility. There was a guard on duty, which seemed odd. Eerika walked past the guard and noted that she needed to step out for a second while showing her identification. He nodded and she pushed it open, then walked briskly around the wall of rock to the backside of the area where the hospital breakroom was. There was no door, only fixed windows set in the stone wall. There was no way to get out of the room. The woman had taken her information and disappeared into thin air with it. Eerika realized that she needed to report the incident no matter how crazy it seemed.
Perplexed by the incident, she turned to walk back to the door and the cranky nurse was unexpectedly behind her, fist in mid-swing. It met the left side of Eerika’s face. The strike was not expected and Eerika had no time to brace for it. She was stunned by the impact. The large woman grabbed her and suddenly the world was dark.
Einar sat on the bridge pondering what Cyperien said to him. Was there some merit to his point? What would a relationship with a woman like Eerika be like? Every male on the planet of Econ certainly desired to have her or wanted her attention in some way. How could he deal with that? Certainly, everywhere she went people would stare at her. She was too beautiful, even for her own good, which made her a target.
A chirp indicating an incoming message came from the speakers on the console and distracted him. Einar looked up and was surprised that it was addressed to him. Normally such messages were secondary information or an alteration of their instructions. He didn’t look for the author of the message and randomly hoped it was the all-clear to simply take out Nam-nim…perhaps eject the murderer into deep space so that they could return home.
He was sick of her kind…so hungry for power and wealth that no life mattered. No one was more important than their goals, their desires. The thought of moving her to a high-security prison on the edge of the universe was far too kind for what she deserved. He was there when she stood emotionlessly by and watched as the members of the Jamhuri Delegation were slaughtered. There needed to be payback for what they had done. Why should she live when so many died because of her desire for power and to rule? Why should her life have value when the lives of so many had no value to her? It was sickening that they would go through so much effort and expense on the Nam-nim’s behalf. Three meals a day, medical care if she were to get injured or sick, the respectable and civilized treatment afforded to her by the law, which was far more than any slave ever got from her or the members of the Kasadu. The Code was the Code. Like it or not, they had to live by it.
“Relay,” he said ordering the computer to read the message.
“Incoming from Eerika Volden, do you wish to listen or read?” Cyperien raised a brow and looked over at Einar, who was lost in his thoughts. He remembered that she wanted to speak with him before he left but had never returned to the hanger. He and Cyperien stalled for as long as they could, but each second that passed gave the Roo’kall a chance to attack again.
“You going to read it?” Cyperien asked.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. Listen,” he said.
The message played out, “Hello Einar. I wanted to see you, but you left before I could return. I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me on Aigi and RA. You are a special person. I know we come from different places and I hope to get to know you better when you return. I pray for your safety. Until then, I will be here awaiting your return. Eerika.”
Cyperien reached over and slapped Einar on the back, “‘Get to know you better.’ Oh yes. What did I tell you? She is interested.”
“I think you are reading a little more into this than it requires. Males and females can be friends,” Einar replied with a hint of a smile. He reached over and gave a prompt for a response. A keypad was revealed on the screen. He began typing, then erased it and repeated the process for nearly thirty minutes, “I don’t know how to respond to that,” he admitted.
“Just tell her that you waited for as long as you could and that you really wanted to speak to her too. You appreciate her kindness, but you worked as a team to get through. Tell her that you would like to get to know her better as well and look forward to seeing her when you get back…perhaps over dinner. Then close by saying that you will think about her until your return and will pray for her safety as well.”
Einar fumbled with the keyboard for a few minutes, read over the reply then tapped the send button before he could change his mind, “Why is that so hard?”
“Nothing easy about love,” he said with a chuckle.
“She doesn’t love me…okay. She is just being nice,” Einar responded.
“A big, tough, strong as an ox man like you will become no more than melted butter in the hands of a b
eauty like her,” Cyperien continued to poke at him.
“She is beautiful, but I am a little embarrassed,” Einar admitted.
“Why?”
“We both were basically naked on RA. The cloth was like not wearing anything and at one point she really wasn’t wearing anything. It was weird being exposed like that in front of a woman you weren’t intimate with. Sure, she is perfect and has absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, but I don’t know what she thought of me.”
“Okay, I think I understand what is really going on here,” he said staring intently at Einar as if in deep thought.
“What?” Einar asked` reluctantly.
“Maybe she wants to talk to you about your manscaping!” he erupted in laughter.
Einar rolled his eyes, chuckled and tossed an empty drink container at him, “Maybe.” Getting her message and anticipating returning to Viennin would make the rest of the trip seem like time was crawling. He was back for less time than it took to take a shower before being ordered to leave again. He looked down at the blood on his uniform. Perhaps he needed a change…time to retire and move on before the job killed him. He and Cyperien were both ranking members of SINSTER, but that meant that they always got the high-risk assignments. It seemed like the job would never slow down long enough to enjoy life. He needed a break and decided that he would take leave upon his return. Maybe Eerika would want to go somewhere with him. Perhaps the nice tropical beaches of Lugdu.
He heard what sounded like lasers being discharged. Einar leapt up and turned his ears toward the open doors behind them attempting to discern what was happening, “Did you hear that?” he asked.
Cyperien looked over at the monitor on the acrylic cylinder, “She is gone. Ningal, she is gone!”
Both men jumped up and ran down to the room where the Nam-nim was being held. The door was closed, and he put his eye to the scanner, it processed the information and quickly opened. Four SINSTER agents were on the floor. One was dead and the others were in serious condition. The illuminated cylinder was, in fact, empty.
“Roo’kall,” said an agent that was struggling to breathe.
With weapons in hand, they sounded the alarm notifying the other agents of the security breach. Within minutes the entire transport was searched. There was no sign of her or any Roo’kall anywhere.
“They took her into…what is that called—” Einar said.
“Dimensional travel,” Cyperien replied uncertain of the answer.
“From what I know, while we are in motion, they cannot find us…especially while we are in celerity. They must have been on board before we left. How is it possible that we never saw them,” Einar slammed his hand into the steel wall, which let out a deep ring. Perhaps they boarded just before we departed. Maybe while I was stalling and waiting for Eerika to return.
“There has to be a way to stop these freaking Roo’kall. I’m getting…no, I am sick of them. Maybe it’s time we start hunting them down. We need to figure out this whole walking in dimension…tamtu etutu thing or we will be left behind…if not destroyed by those who can. I have had enough! They clearly have a huge advantage over us right now.” Cyperien said.
“Agreed!” Einar replied.
Less than a day had passed since the Nam-nim’s escape. The mission was an abysmal failure. Returning to the Alum Base under the current circumstances was embarrassing on its own, but it was greatly exacerbated by the tragic loss of four dedicated agents. Three were killed as a result of the initial attacks after the Nam-nim’s arrival at the base. Now seven were dead. Einar thought about each one and their families. He wondered how they would cope and move forward.
Everyone was sure to be on edge. Until Ovtave told Cyperien and Einar of her experiences on the slave transport with the boy Duncan and of the assassin that had killed several agents, the notion of a living being traveling and simply appearing in the blink of an eye, stepping out of some unknown dimension, was the stuff of children’s stories. Prior to this experience, Einar never believed it to be real. He heard about the Redum soldiers simply appearing at the Baraza Zima but had yet to see the holographic of it. Now, he saw the results of it first-hand. No longer would he discount the possibility. They needed to find a way to even the playing field so that they could fight the Roo’kall.
How many of these assassins existed? It seemed like an army. Did they only come out of the tamtu etutu, as it was being called, just long enough to kill? Where did they go? Could he find a way into this strange new world? Could he learn how to travel in the tamtu etutu? Could he arrest or kill them in this place? He needed to know. The two boys, Joseph, and Duncan, from what he was told, seemed like normal boys. They were not of the same nationality as the Roo’kall but were more like Viennin and Earth people and seemed to have the same ability. Was it simply the power of the mind that separated those who traveled by those who did not? He would be sure to find out upon their return. He would do everything in his power to try and get to the tamtu etutu and see for himself.
The Stur Craft closed in on the hanger and he was about to pass through the cascading water, which also seemed a bit more angry than normal. Heavy storms in the north Viennin states caused the Auslet River to reach flood stage for hundreds of miles. The increase in the volume of water pouring over the hanger opening required caution when passing through. During both men’s time as SINSTER agents, they had never seen Auslet Falls in such condition and he wondered how thick the wall of water actually was. They would need to compensate for the increased weight and pressure of the water as it hit the spacecraft if he were to safely enter the hanger.
Upon their approach, a light penetrated his eye. Einar turned to the starboard side and noticed that the sun was reflecting off something on the ground on the exterior of the base not too far from a door. Under the current circumstances, he thought everything was worth investigating. He also wanted to get a photo of the cascading water as the conditions seemed to be a once in a lifetime event. Einar touched down and moved quickly out of the craft. The noise of the water crashing down on the large rocks at the base of the Auslet River was almost deafening in the hanger.
He neglected to notify Eerika of his return but still looked around the hanger hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Without wanting to seem too obvious, he quickly walked around and check the areas where he recalled seeing her. There was no sign of her in the common areas.
Einar, a little disappointed, decided to get some fresh air and check out the object responsible for the reflection. Instincts and experience told him that it was probably a little more than some sort of useless debris. The second he rounded the corner, Einar realized that the reflected light came from the screen of an arao that was apparently discarded. This was odd since it seemed that the daily lives of most Viennians were controlled by their dependency on the personal electronic device. By its position, it was obvious that it was unintentionally dropped on the ground. Einar retrieved it and looked for any external indication of who it belonged to. It was black and had no definitive markings on it, other than a few scratches on the back, which he assumed was from when it struck the stone surface. He tapped the screen and it illuminated to reveal a prompt to read an incoming message from ‘Einar’ with no last name. While Einar was not that uncommon a name, he only knew three working for SINSTER. He heard a transport approaching the waterfall and slid the device into his pocket. Einar turned to watch the carrier with the bodies of the deceased agents as it approached. He stood motionlessly and saluted as the transport passed under the angry falls of the Auslet. The impact of the water with the top of the carrier caused a heavy spray that rained down on him. Despite getting wet, Einar held his salute until the carrier passed.
Einar shook the water from his hair and brushed off what he could. He made his way back to the building and decided not to report or turnover the device right away. There were several seats off by themselves in the hallway. He sat down where it was quiet and somewhat secluded. Out of curiosity, he pulled the arao out and
looked at it again. He read the prompt, tapped on it, then realized that he was reading his own message. The arao undoubtedly belonged to Eerika. The device was new as if just unpackaged and set up. She needed to replace the other one after losing it when fleeing Aigi during the Baraza Zima slaughter. It didn’t seem likely that she would be beyond the walls on the outer perimeter of the facility. Why would she leave her brand new arao out there? Could have been in a hurry and didn’t realize that she dropped it. Instincts told him that was not the case.
Eerika needed to be found. Perhaps it was nothing and she hadn’t realized that the device was lost. Nevertheless, that was a rather foolish consideration and it did nothing to lessen the anxiety of the unknown. He moved briskly toward the hanger to request assistance from Cyperien in tracking her down. The double doors slid open far too slow for his liking and he forcefully shoved one of the panels into the wall pocket sounding an alarm and nearly jamming it. Einar passed through and noticed that Cyperien was conversing with two members of the military’s security detail, which wasn’t too unusual, but it was an odd place for a debriefing. Under the circumstances, they had just lost four agents, and everyone was on edge especially considering the need to deal with the threat of an attack by the Roo’kall.
Cyperien turned and watched Einar as he approached, “We need to go with them. They want to ask us some questions.”
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