The Star Agency (The Star Agency Chronicles)

by R. E. Weber

  The more Theo thought about it, the more he realised that he didn’t really have much choice. If they were still trying to kill him, then he needed to be prepared. And the best way to be prepared was to be a fully trained operative. He was more than a little angry that the choice was no longer his. But he was also resigned to the fact that it was his best hope of staying safe. Now his thoughts were icy clear. He was going to do this thing. He was going to accept.

  *

  A few minutes later, Theo had showered, dressed and was ready to face the universe. He picked up his jacket from the untidy pile of clothes on the floor, put it on and then straightened it. Then he turned and headed for the doorway. Where exactly he was heading, he wasn’t quite sure; after all, his meeting with First Mentor wasn’t for some time. But that didn’t matter. His path was much clearer now. And he wasn’t about to waste his time sat around in his quarters.

  He was just about to gallop off down the corridor, when he suddenly felt a stinging sensation on the back of his hand, and stopped in the doorway. He held out his hand in front of him, and as he stared at it, just for a moment, he thought he caught a glimpse of something – perhaps a symbol of some sort – catching the light. But when he looked again at where it had been, he couldn’t see it. Was he seeing things? Possibly. After all, he hadn’t slept too well and perhaps wasn’t fully awake yet.

  Slowly, he spun his hand around in front of him, and then he saw it again, much clearer this time. It was a circular symbol of some sort, somehow etched into the back of his hand. If he looked at it straight on it was invisible. But if he held his hand at a slight angle, it was, for some reason, plainly visible.

  He held his hand as still as possible and examined the symbol carefully. It was about five centimetres across and hoop shaped, with serrated inner and outer edges. It didn’t however join up to form a complete circle. Instead, one end of the symbol was tapered to a point, while the other fatter end was open, like a mouth, almost enclosing the pointed end. It reminded Theo of a snake trying to eat its own tail.

  Had he seen the symbol somewhere before? Theo wasn’t sure. But more importantly, how had it gotten there? It hadn’t been there the night before, he was sure of that. So that meant it had somehow appeared overnight. Did that mean he’d had an intruder in his quarters while he’d been asleep? It seemed pretty unlikely. After all, his quarters were secure, with access controlled by him alone. Then there had been his dream. And in the dream, his hand had been throbbing painfully. Had the very real pain of the symbol appearing on his hand, somehow been reflected in his dream?

  Theo looked back at the symbol and noticed that it seemed to have faded a little. Quickly, almost instinctively, he switched on Record to commit it to his companion’s memory before it vanished completely. There it was, captured. Proof he wasn’t going mad. With the image open on his companion, he selected Identify. A few moments later the reply came back:

  Unable to identify symbol.

  Further search options:

  Previous

  Theo stared at the response, surprised. Unable to identify. Could that really be possible? Could it be, that in the Affinity’s vast database, there was no record of this symbol? It didn’t seem likely. Then he noticed Further search options. And without hesitation, he selected it:

  Hyper Mind contextual search

  Help

  Previous

  Theo stared at the new option. What on Earth was the Hyper Mind? He selected Help:

  A Hyper Mind contextual search will result in the distribution of power search packages to all Affinity member species home world data libraries. All results will then be collated, examined, and contextualised on the Polisium Prime Hyper mind. Results will be available in detailed and summary formats. Extended processing time will be required due to member node communication lag.

  Previous

  Theo read the description carefully. He wasn’t entirely sure what it all meant, but his best guess was that it was some sort of power search facility. But what was the Hyper Mind? Was it perhaps some form of artificial intelligence? If it was, then maybe it could help him. It was certainly worth a try.

  He selected Previous and then Hyper Mind contextual search:

  Estimated time until results are returned: 15.3 por.

  Accept

  Reject

  Previous

  Theo did a quick mental calculation. It was going to take nine hours. It seemed like a long time to wait, but then what choice did he have? If it took nine hours then so be it; at least he might then get an answer. He selected Accept:

  Processing initiated. Notification will be sent once results have been prepared.

  Close

  Theo closed the message and then sat back down on the bed, staring at the image of the symbol. What had just happened to him? Why had the symbol been imprinted on his hand instead of simply being sent to his companion? Why all the Da Vinci code nonsense? But then, perhaps if it had been sent to his companion, it might have been traceable. And maybe that was the point. Symbols that appeared and disappeared on his body proved nothing unless there was still some trace of them. Clearly, whoever had done it didn’t want to be tracked down. At least not easily.

  As Theo stared at the image, a sick feeling began to well up in his stomach. Had he seen the symbol before the mission, he might not have thought too much about it because it would have just been another riddle to solve. But now, after the mission had been sabotaged with, it seemed, somebody wanting him dead, things were suddenly very different. He had to report it to First Mentor, even if it didn’t prove anything. Otherwise, he might be putting himself at even further risk.

  Theo had been so deep in thought that his companion bleeping had barely registered, and it had taken a second louder bleep to break his concentration. Shaking himself back to reality, he quickly opened the message:

  Meeting reminder. Your meeting in the Sensorium is due to commence in ten Seh’nu.

  Close

  Theo closed his companion down, stood up and then stared at the doorway in front of him. Then he took a deep breath, stepped out into the corridor and made his way towards the Sensorium.

  *

  ‘Good morning, Theo,’ said First Mentor. ‘I trust you are well today?’

  ‘Erm, yeh I’m good,’ said Theo nervously.

  ‘I do hope that you have given serious consideration to the offer you have been made, and have decided how you wish to proceed.’

  How you wish to proceed. It sounded so matter of fact the way First Mentor had put it, but Theo was shaking with fear. What he was about to say next was going to change the course of his life forever. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Then he looked back at the glowing column in the centre of the Sensorium.

  ‘Y…Yes,’ he said, shaking so much he could barely get the words out. ‘I’ve decided.’

  ‘Good,’ said First Mentor. ‘Please don’t give me your answer for the moment. We have some further attendees who wish to witness your decision.’

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, a shimmering three-dimensional image appeared in front of him, squatting on the floor.

  ‘Greetings,’ growled Commander Haarrnn Toh.

  ‘Erm, hello,’ said Theo.

  Then to Theo’s right, another image appeared.

  ‘Good morning Theopolis James Logan,’ said the shimmering ghost of Governor Tallus.

  ‘Hello, Governor Tallus,’ said Theo, suddenly straightening himself up and standing stiffly to attention.

  ‘Theo,’ said First Mentor. ‘This conference has been arranged at the behest of Commander Haarrnn Toh of the Star Agency, with Governor Tallus also in attendance. Governor Tallus and myself are required to witness your decision.’

  ‘Right, yeh,’ said Theo nervously.

  ‘Theopolis James Logan of the planet Earth. I, Commander Haarrnn Toh, head of Star Agency Operational Command, wish to formally invite you to undergo a training program, which will, if successful, will lead to you becoming an fully
trained operative of the Star Agency. I now require you, in the presence of our witnesses, to confirm whether or not you wish to accept this invitation. Before your answer is given, can you please confirm that you understand what is being asked of you?’

  Theo swallowed quickly. ‘Yes, I understand.’

  ‘Good,’ said the Commander. ‘In which case, can you now please confirm whether you wish to accept?’

  Theo stared back at the Commander, then at Governor Tallus, before finally glancing back over his shoulder towards First Mentor. Then he looked back at the Commander and took a deep breath. ‘I do,’ he said.

  ‘For the record,’ said First Mentor, ‘please state either I accept your offer, or I reject your offer.’

  ‘Oh, I mean I accept your offer. I wish to join your training program and become an Operative for the Star Agency.’

  ‘Congratulations, Theo,’ said First Mentor. ‘You have taken your first step into a much larger world.’

  ‘And I too am gratified to be working with you,’ said the Commander.

  ‘Yeh, ditto,’ said Theo, relieved.

  For a moment, both the Governor’s and the Commander’s images remained frozen in front of him. Then they just seemed to wink out of existence.

  ‘Is that it?’ said Theo.

  ‘With regard to this matter, yes,’ said First Mentor, ‘unless you have something further you wish to discuss with me?’

  For a brief moment, Theo wanted to tell First Mentor about the strange symbol he’d seen earlier on his hand, and then and how he’d felt like he’d had no choice but to join the Star Agency. But for some reason the words stuck in his throat and his mouth didn’t want to open. ‘Not now,’ said a distant voice – his own voice – from the depths of his mind. ‘Not yet.’

  Theo cleared his throat and then looked back at the glowing column, which hid First Mentor’s true form. ‘Erm no,’ he said finally. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Good. You will be contacted in due course to make arrangements to commence your training, the timetable and content of which have yet to be decided.’

  ‘Right, fine. So is that it? Can I go now?’ said Theo.

  ‘No,’ said First Mentor. ‘There is another matter we need to attend to first. I have arranged a meeting of all the recruits from your planet. I felt that it was time that you all met formally.’

  Right on cue behind him, Theo heard faint rush of air as a doorway opened.

  ‘Trust you to be the first here, teacher’s pet,’ said a familiar voice.

  ‘Weng,’ said Theo excitedly. ‘Long time no see.’

  Weng held out his hand towards Theo, but before he had time to raise his own, Weng had withdrawn his and had instead wrapped his arms around Theo, slapping his back hard.

  ‘Ah hell, good to see you buddy,’ he said.

  ‘Yeh, you too mate,’ said Theo, his voice muffled by Weng’s shoulder.

  ‘Yeh, right sorry,’ said Weng suddenly releasing him.

  ‘S’OK mate.’

  ‘So where you been then?’ said Weng, grinning from ear to ear.

  ‘Oh you know, out and about,’ said Theo, grinning back.

  ‘Yeh I heard, Teng Muah eh? Well done mate. I hear they do some pretty wacky experiments out there.’

  ‘Do they?’ said Theo, faking surprise. ‘Erm, I didn’t see anything like that when I was there. So anyway what about…’

  ‘Hello The-op-olis,’ said Lara striding through the doorway with her best attempt at a smile.

  ‘Hello Lara, how you doin?’ said Theo.

  ‘I am well. And you?’

  ‘Great,’ said Theo.

  ‘I told you to expect a surprise, didn’t I Logan?’ said Ruby marching in behind Lara, closely followed by Cristos.

  ‘Yeh you did, but I mean...’

  ‘Come on, Abubakar.’ interrupted Ruby looking back over her shoulder. ‘They don’t bite’.

  Then a tall African boy appeared from the corridor and walked nervously into the room. Seeing his obvious apprehension, Theo smiled and stretched out his hand towards the boy.

  ‘Theopolis’ he said. ‘But you can call me Theo.’

  ‘Abubakar,’ said the boy quietly, so quietly that Theo could barely hear him. ‘Call me Abs.’

  ‘Abs it is,’ said Theo smiling.

  As he continued shaking Abubakar’s hand vigorously, he heard some more footsteps coming from outside, and glanced over Abubakar’s shoulder to see who else was coming. Then his mouth dropped open and his arm fell down by his side. There, in the doorway, stood the most stunning looking girl that Theo had ever seen. She was tall and slim, with beautiful, shiny, long, black hair, deep, brown eyes and olive skin.

  ‘Who’s that?’ he whispered to Abs. ‘She’s…’

  ‘Yes,’ whispered Abs. ‘She is, isn’t she?’

  Ignoring Abubakar, Theo stepped slowly towards to girl, his mouth still hanging open. The girl caught his eye and smiled. It was a huge, beaming, glorious smile.

  ‘Hi,’ she said smiling. ‘I’m Larissa. As everybody else here seems to have a short name, you can call me Lari.’

  ‘Lari?’ said Theo, surprised. He was about to say that it sounded like a boy’s name, but he thought he’d better not. It was, after all, very obvious that she was a girl. There was no doubt about that.

  ‘Ruby’s told me all about you,’ said Larissa beaming. ‘It’s good to meet you at last.’

  Theo glanced across at Ruby, who was now staring at them out of the corner of her eye, frowning. He smiled rather sheepishly back at her, but she quickly looked away and carried on talking to Weng.

  ‘Yeh, I erm, I mean, I hope she’s told you nothing bad,’ said Theo nervously.

  ‘Oh no,’ said Larissa. ‘Not a single bad word.’

  ‘Great,’ said Theo. ‘She’s erm, a mate.’

  ‘I know,’ said Larissa beaming back at Theo, ‘I know she is.’

  ‘Oh not like that,’ protested Theo. ‘Really, she is just a mate.’

  ‘OK, I believe you. Anyway I’m new here. Aren’t you going to introduce me to everybody else? I’ve only really met Ruby and Abs.’

  ‘Oh yeh, of course,’ said Theo, grinning like a Cheshire cat. ‘Come with me and I’ll introduce you.’

  *

  It had only been a matter of minutes before everybody had met everybody else and were busily chatting away like they had known each other all their lives. But even though there were now other people in the room for Theo to talk to, all he could do was stare at Larissa.

  ‘Close your mouth,’ whispered a voice in his right ear.

  Theo turned around to see Ruby frowning at him.

  ‘Sorry, Rubes. She’s erm… I mean, where’s she from?’

  ‘Brazil. São Paulo I think,’ said Ruby casually as if she didn’t really care.

  Theo turned to face Ruby, finally taking his eyes off Larissa for a moment. ‘Are you OK mate?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ said Ruby sarcastically. ‘Fantastic!’

  ‘You don’t seem it,’ said Theo looking back at her, concerned. ‘You look upset.’

  Ruby looked back at Theo and sighed, then smiled thinly back at him.

  ‘Just ignore me,’ said Ruby. ‘Feeling a bit tired.’

  ‘You and me both,’ said Theo smiling, ‘But so long as we’re still mates.’

  ‘Mates forever,’ said Ruby, staring longingly back at him.

  ‘If I may just interrupt you all for a moment,’ said First Mentor, ‘I would like to make an announcement.’

  Suddenly, everybody stopped talking and turned to face the glowing column in the centre of the room.

  ‘Now you have all met each other formally, there is something I need to tell you.’

  ‘Sounds serious,’ whispered Ruby.

  ‘The seven humans in this room now represent all the recruits from your home planet. All other invitations have been withdrawn. There will be no further arrivals. You are the final seven people from your world.’

  ‘I suppo
se that makes us the Brilliant Seven,’ whispered Ruby.

  Theo turned and stared at Ruby, confused. Then suddenly, he burst out laughing. ‘Magnificent Seven’ he said. ‘It’s the Magnificent Seven, not the Brilliant Seven.’

  ‘Ha, well, I suppose that makes you Tonto then, does it?’ said Ruby, finally breaking into a smile.

  Theo just grinned and nudged Ruby in the side.

  ‘Still most of them seem nice enough,’ said Ruby. ‘But I don’t...’

  ‘So that’s it,’ said Cristos, interrupting. ‘Just us seven, no more?’

  ‘Correct,’ said First Mentor. ‘We believe that seven of you will provide adequate representation for your world.’

  ‘Cool,’ said Weng loudly. ‘In that case, can I just say something?’

  Everybody turned to look at Weng who was now puffing out his chest as if he was about to start singing.

  ‘Oh no,’ whispered Theo to Ruby. ‘He’s going to do something embarrassing, I can tell.’

  ‘I just wanted to say that us seven, us magnificent seven…’

  ‘I can hardly bear to watch,’ said Ruby putting her hand over her eyes.

  ‘Oh no,’ said Theo, ‘it’s Independence Day again.’

  ‘…we are the new Earth. The Seven. Yeh, that’s what we’ll call ourselves. Come here and hold your hands up.’

  ‘Do we have to?’ said Theo.

  ‘Get yourself here Logan, now. And the rest of you too.’

  Reluctantly, everybody in the room walked towards Weng.

  ‘Form a circle and hold your hands up here. Like this.’