by Frank Carey
“I’d like that. How long are you going to be there?”
“Indeterminant,” he replied. This was code for, “I can’t tell you over an open channel.”
“Gotcha. Hey, I’ve got to go. It’s good to see you’re OK.”
“Yeah. Same here. See you soon. Aymar out.”
“Aymar out,” she said as she shut down the system. She sat back in her seat and let the tears flow.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
"Nebulon, you in here?" Jason called out as he looked for his wife. She said she was going to visit the Halcyon's City History Museum, but forgot to mention where in the vast space she was going. He had tried contacting her via commlink, but there was no response. Since she was a Tyen, one of the mythical female warriors of Tralaska, nothing short of a pair of raging grizzly bears could even hope to slow her down, but he still worried. The Halcyon representative said few of his people came here and most felt the relics here to be of little interest.
"Jason, I’m in here," she said from a small side room. He threaded his way past displays before entering a room bare except for a metal plate standing in the center. The surface of the plate was etched with scenes from times long past. "Take a look here," Nebulon said as she handed him a magnifying glass.
Squinting, he examined the spot she was pointing to. It was a scene from a marketplace etched into the metal's surface. He could see vendor stalls filled with strange looking items. He looked closely and saw what she pointed to. Standing in front of a stall were what only could be an Erdexi, a Halcyon, and a Martok discussing some matter of commerce. He looked at his wife, her glowing blue eyes made that much more beautiful by the wonderful mind behind them.
"They never put it together, did they?"
"Nope," she said as she ran her scanpad over the area to record the scene. "They lost too much of their history. Now that the war is over, we can work with them to get it back. I can't wait to get my hands on the Histories Vreen and Troon found."
"Don't you find it a little eerie that this is how it all started?" Jason asked as he walked around the metal artifact.
Nebulon looked up and around the plate and asked, "What do you mean?"
"You, me, the Erdexi. It all started when OffSec asked you to examine a strange artifact.
She stood up and looked at him, then at the plate. "Damn, you're right. It is kind of eerie," she said as he walked around and put his arms around her.
"Well, I'm not complaining he said as he kissed her."
"Neither am I," she replied.
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About Frank Carey
Frank Carey has been formally writing and publishing works of science fiction since late 2013. Over the years prior, he had dabbled in various forms of writing including haiku poetry, but that all changed when he and his wife, Jo, decided to try their hand at writing and self-publishing. All his work, to date, has been in the science fiction genre.
Most of his stories take place about two centuries in the future when Earth joins the League of Planetary Systems. Many of his protagonists are strong females. He is an inveterate pantser who believes the story will go where the story wants to go.
Frank’s background includes degrees in physics and extensive work as a scientific programmer and technologist.
Frank and his wife produce a podcast—Xtreme Self-Publishing—which details their self-publishing efforts.
Frank can be reached through his podcast at xtremeselfpublishing.podbean.com or via e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected]