Klori’Tar seemed to have realized his mistake and began back-paddling with wide arm gestures.
»I’ve certainly detected the intellect of this being at once,« he apologized. »The universe is filled with intelligent beings. Isn’t this wonderful?«
»Ain’t it!« Maya replied coldly.
Paafnas slipped on Maya’s shoulder by climbing up her right arm which she had offered him. He made himself comfortable and whispered, »As far as I can see it, he’s absolutely harmless. I cannot detect any bad thoughts in his neuronal net. He’s insecure and full of fear, which results in talking a lot. It helps him to control his emotions. He’s convinced he’s on a very important mission.«
Maya nodded faintly and produced a lame smile. She didn’t like the stranger. A Human would have noticed Maya’s reservations, but not so Klori’Tar.
»Follow us into the station, please. Our team is waiting.«
With a strange, silly-looking walk, Klori’Tar followed Maya Ivanova out of the hangar while Paafnas continued his neuronal analysis. Maya trusted Paafnas, but remained skeptical. She placed her right hand close to her weapon.
»If this is just one of many hangars, then how big must the command central be?« Klori’Tar rejoiced. »The Genorantans did a really good job here!«
Maya stopped and turned around while Klori’Tar’s eyes stared at her.
»What? Did I say something wrong?«
»We didn’t say anything about the Genorantans.«
»I guessed it. Who else could have done it, so close to a sun?« Klori’Tar replied quickly, aping Maya’s facial expression, which in his case, looked more like a bad contortion.
»Okay then, may I ask whom you’re hunting with your ship?«
»Certainly,« Klori’Tar responded without answering her question, though.
Ivanova clenched her teeth.
He’s dangerous … and cocky! Maya thought.
A new pact
The team took seats around a large oval table. Directly above the conference room, a transparent dome offered a breathtaking view of the star, Maiter. A small, dark spot before the star indicated the location of the Messy Unit in the distance.
Devotionally, Klori’Tar looked at this display of might and energy.
»Isn’t this beautiful?« he commented.
Arkroid followed his glance and said, »I agree, Klori’Tar.«
Klori’Tar seemed irritated briefly and looked at Arkroid.
»Huh … star? I’m not talking about this old dwarf. I was talking about my Cobalt Hunter! Isn’t it beautiful? It took me the first hundred years of my life to complete the ship, piece by piece. It’s the best ship in the universe and I’m damn proud of it!«
»Ahem … sure it is,« Arkroid cleared his throat and quickly glanced at Nautilus’ avatar which had taken a seat beside him.
Klori’Tar seemed to be in good spirits, he gurgled, »I’m a bit irritated about the star as we see it from here. When I look up, I have the feeling as if I’m standing on my head. Shouldn’t we turn the station around?«
He accompanied his words with a sequence of gurgles and snorts. Arkroid sensed that Klori’Tar had tried to make a joke.
Voit Masgur was observing the visitor conscientiously. Arkroid had asked him to check Klori’Tar’s aura. Voit weakly shook his head as Arkroid sent him an inquiring glance. That meant that Klori’Tar was not possessed by the crystalline substance – he was a self-acting and freely thinking being.
»Let me be frank, Klori’Tar. Your visit caught us by surprise, to say the least. Since we’ve never encountered a Cobalt Hunter, we became curious. What exactly led you here to us?«
Klori’Tar was panting. Maybe it was a sign of nervousness or just a species typical behavior.
»I’m searching. I’m following my target object. My mission and my research led me to this station.«
»You’re traveling through a dangerous space sector,« Kuster~Laap injected. »You must have noticed the anomalies in this region. It would be wise to stay away from this sector and return home.«
»My Cobalt Hunter can manage the conditions. My mission has the highest priority,« Klori’Tar insisted. »I cannot return home until it’s accomplished.«
»How come?« Vasina asked, squinting.
»Because the evil has taken his mother.« Paafnas answered with a sorry voice instead of Klori’Tar.
Klori’Tar lowered his head, almost a Human gesture.
»The evil changed my mother and then drove her to her death. She was a leading scientist on my home-world, but the evil came over her like a shadow. My father had to kill her, because she would have doomed our people otherwise. Thanks to her intrigues, the Thousand Year Peace on Klorian came to an end. Suspicions and hostilities spread like a cancer across the entire planet. I will make the evil pay for this!«
»The evil,« Pi picked up the thread, »can you tell us more about it?«
Klori’Tar shuddered for a moment.
»It’s like a shadow. It appears, manipulates us and leaves again. Nobody has seen its face. Nobody who was swallowed by it has lived long enough to talk. Nevertheless, it influences many nations and civilizations for a long time. It works from out of the dark, it’s insidious!«
Klori’Tar’s voice became more forceful while the team listened to him breathlessly. Only Maya seemed to fully understand what Klori’Tar was talking about.
»There’re people among us who have an idea of what you’re talking about – rather, who you’re talking about!« Maya said.
Herimos grumbled thoughtfully and said, »The Galaxy is big, with countless stars and worlds. Things you’re describing may have different backgrounds and causes. It does not necessarily have anything to do with Morgotradon.«
Klori’Tar twitched as he heard Herimos’ words, his skin turned red and he squinted.
»You know the name of the evil? If you work with him than you’ll be doomed!«
Suddenly, the mood in the conference room changed.
Klori’Tar jumped from his seat, which in turn made Maya and Herimos jump up. She reached for her weapon, while Pi tried to defuse the situation.
»Let’s all take a deep breath and calm down,« he strongly suggested.
»My breathing frequency has nothing to do with my conclusion!« Klori’Tar shouted. He seemed like a wild animal.
Suddenly, the avatar announced, »I sense a rapid increase of energy on board the Messy Unit. Something is charging up over there!«
Klori’Tar was shaking. He had a small, pulsating device in his hand. Nobody had noticed that he had smuggled the device on board the station.
»There’s a cobalt bomb on my ship! If I initiate it then my ship, this station and the dwarf will cease to exist!« he threatened.
Arkroid swallowed. Even though, he didn’t believe that Klori’Tar had such a bomb, he attempted to mediate.
»Listen to me, Klori’Tar! We know the name of the Dark Brotherhood agent because we are after him as well! We fought him on several occasions! Maya survived an encounter with Morgotradon and knows his true nature!«
Klori’Tar stepped back and was stopped by Conceptor Crux’s holographic bust.
»The Messy Unit just established an unknown energy field around the ship. It could be a weapon! Since the ship is very close to the Crux-Heart, the station could possibly be damaged or even destroyed!« the Conceptor warned.
Peu’Fler jumped up and hissed, »We should have eliminated that ship! Now we’re in danger!«
Voit seemed absentminded. Arkroid knew what would happen next.
Voit prepared himself to kill Klori’Tar at a moment’s notice by means of his abilities – before he could initiate the bomb.
»NO!« Arkroid screamed, making the others twitch in the room.
»My life is not important!« Klori’Tar declared. »My mission is more important. If you force me than I’ll die with you!«
»Nobody needs to die today,« Pi intervened calmly, while slowly leaving his seat. »If we’r
e accusing each other and become enemies, then Morgotradon will be the victor! Please, understand that we’re fighting the same enemy. We need to combine our forces. The more we know about Morgotradon, the easier we can defeat him. We need to trust each other!«
The Krolakans were panting with excitement, while Tranos was holding his shield before Vasina.
Klori’Tar’s skin color returned to normal. The red color had turned back to a grayish white. He seemed to calm.
»I won’t destroy the sun!« he announced to everyone’s relief.
Arkroid sighed.
»Energy levels on board the Messy Unit are returning to normal,« Nautilus asserted. »The unknown energy matrix has vanished.«
Arkroid slowly walked over to Klori’Tar and extended his right hand, which the Klorian eyed suspiciously.
»I’m offering you peace and cooperation. Let us sit down and talk about how we can defeat Morgotradon together.«
»I’m ready!« Klori’Tar replied. »But why are you pointing your grip organ at me?«
»It’s a gesture of friendship, practiced on my home-world. Touch and shake my hand and the pact is sealed.«
Arkroid smiled encouragingly.
Hesitantly, Klori’Tar touched Arkroid’s hand and retracted it quickly after a brief shake.
»Different strokes for different folks. There’re strange rituals and customs all over the galaxy!« he murmured.
Of course
»I’m absolutely sure that we’re talking about the same person, the former fleet commander of the House of Persia and agent of the Dark Brotherhood, whom I mortally wounded and who seems to be back among the living!« Vasina summoned up.
»He was never dead!« Maya rebutted. »The crystalline structure healed his wounds. He stopped being a Progonaut a long time ago. In reality, he’s a replication himself.«
Klori’Tar recorded the discussion with a small handheld device.
»This device contains my data bank about the evil, collected from hundreds of worlds,« he informed the team. »The organization, you call the Dark Brotherhood, is known to many worlds, but never openly mentioned. I cannot say for certain that this organization really exists. Everywhere where I found evidence of evil, mal treatment and mayhem, one individual stuck out like a sore thumb: Morgotradon! I always asked myself what Morgotradon’s objectives are and why he slumps civilizations into their demise. I haven’t found a plausible answer yet. So far, I only heard his name – my mother uttered it as she died in my arms.«
Maya seemed shaken and lowered her head.
»He probably misused her for his plans, made an agitator out of her. We don’t know why the Dark Brotherhood is doing this. I suspect that they want to delay the development of nations and civilizations,« she said with a croaky voice
Klori’Tar’s cheeks turned red as he affirmed, »That’s the reason, I’m hunting him! I owe it to my mother! That’s my mission!«
Arkroid looked at Klori’Tar for a long time.
»I understand your emotions and conviction, but we have to be clear about the fact that Morgotradon has no scruples and that he’s very dangerous! He possesses means which are far superior to what we can offer. He seems to have changed his strategies! He wants the Jamal-Combs. I want to know why.«
»How can we say for certain?« Voit asked reserved. »The replication was probably only here to commit sabotage and prevent us from receiving the Jamal-Comb from the Conceptor.«
»My gut tells me a different story,« Arkroid replied, pointing at his belly. »He wanted to secure the comb before the carriers attacked – secure it for himself.«
»He already possesses one Jamal-Comb,« Maya reminded the team.
Vasina fidgeted with her hands.
»If your assumption is correct than he knows about the significance of these combs, Toiber, otherwise he would have just been satisfied with the destruction of the Crux-Heart, including the loss of the Jamal-Comb. Five combs are necessary to prevent the transfer of the parasite galaxy.«
»Five are needed, according to Genorantan teachings!« Kuster~Laap assured.
»Your teachings don’t mention who designed these combs,« Maya mocked. »That’s typical for you Genorantans and your ancient stories. That would be too easy anyway, because we would have already visited these beings in the interim and asked for new ones.«
»Not all objects can be replaced,« Kuster~Laap rebutted. »Some things are unique – such as these Jamal-Combs.«
»That also means that if one comb or key is missing the entire rescue plan is going down the drain!« Pi concluded.
Maya straightened in her seat.
»Morgotradon is acting in self-interest,« she said. »The unknown rulers of the parasite galaxy would not like for him to keep the Jamal-Combs! They want the combs destroyed as they interfere with their invasion plans.«
Vasina took a cloth from her pocket and placed it on the table. As she cautiously opened the cloth, the three combs were laying side by side before her. An intensive bluish hue surrounded the three objects, an indicator that energy was flowing between them.
»I just want to know why the combs glow like that,« she wondered.
»I’ve seen one of these objects before,« Klori’Tar admitted freely, »unfortunately only as a holographic picture. It was about a hundred years ago when I visited the solar system of the Hedoders. The Hedoder System is two thousand lightyears from here. I trailed the evil to that solar system, but I came too late.«
»What happened?« Herimos inquired with a deep voice.
»Morgotradon had been there and stolen a sacred, cultural object from the God Temple. I could be wrong, but the object looked like the ones on the table.«
Klori’Tar touched a sensor pad on his recording device and activated a small holo which displayed a Jamal-Comb, slowly spinning around its axis.
»I can’t believe it!« Pi gasped.
»I’m afraid he’s showing us the truth. We can trust Klori’Tar’s information. Morgotradon is in possession of at least one Jamal-Comb. It’s only logical that he also wants the remaining keys. This changes the situation.«
»How is that, Arkroid?« Tranos asked.
»We don’t need to run after Morgotradon – he will come to us! We need to prepare ourselves!«
Vasina exchanged a quick glance with Tranos.
»Let him come, he won’t live long enough to think about touching the combs!« Tranos promised.
»I can’t wait! He’s mine!« Maya declared. »If he comes close to me, he’ll regret it.«
Klori’Tar pushed out his chest and affirmed, »I’m offering my services and join your team!«
Arkroid pondered for a moment before he said, »I think it would be more difficult without you. Together we can end this Morgotradon chapter!«
Voit displayed a smile as he addressed Klori’Tar, »Honestly, do you really have a cobalt bomb on board your ship, powerful enough to destroy the sun? Would you have initiated the bomb and kill us all?«
Klori’Tar smirked, a gesture he had copied from Maya Ivanova.
»Of course!«
Everybody in the room fell silent …
Lust without love
Two naked bodies were rolling around on the big bed, accompanied by sounds of lust and excitement. Entangled ecstatic, heavy, female moaning and grunting filled the room. However, the roles were unequally divided between the partners. While the male partner dominated the duration and love play, the female partner followed his lead in devotion. Her cheeks were glowing from her heat while he just stared at her with ice-cold eyes. It seemed as if he just used her to satisfy his animalistic drive. Even as she reached her climax, he remained emotionless, almost ejective.
He rolled on to his back and stared at the ceiling. As always, he ignored her touches and loving words. She covered herself with a bed sheet and sat up.
»Was it better this time? Did you like it, my love?« she asked cautiously.
His golden eyes stared at hers, emotionless.
; »You’re not even close.«
»I look exactly like her! Are you not happy? I love you, you can do anything you want,« she replied, raising her voice.
He grinned as he said, »You love me because I coded it that way. I own you, you belong to me. Love has nothing to do with it. It’s random access memory and because you aren’t real you’ll never be like her. You won’t ever be Human.«
His words stabbed her like a dagger. Her eyes exploded across her face as if fear, shock and anger couldn’t decide what to do with her facial expressions.
»I will kill that bitch when I meet her!« the replication hissed.
Morgotradon just looked at her emotionlessly.
»This emotion is another synthetic approximation. Every aspect of you is fake, even your feelings you think you possess. You bore me. Go back to your sisters, I want to be alone!«
She followed his command and left the suite. Moments later another replication entered the room and brought some refreshments. Without a word, Morgotradon drank a beverage. As she let her gown slip to the floor, his voice cut the air, »Not Now! I’ll call you when I need you!«
Silently, she picked up her gown and left the room.
Morgotradon turned around and picked up the Jamal-Comb which he had placed on a small nightstand. He looked at it with fascination.
He changed his view and looked at a small safe where he kept a strand of Maya Ivanova’s hair, from which he had copied her DNA and reproduced his willing slaves. However, they no longer satisfied his longing for the real woman.
One day, I’ll have you in my arms again, Maya. Then you’ll understand what it means to be loved by me and I will finally be able to have real feelings again, he brooded.
Morgotradon touched the scar on his belly.
»Huh … you can’t kill me like that, queen of extinct people!« he shouted into the room. »I will also make you my slave. You will beg me to kill you every day!«
The former fleet commander took a close look at the comb, trying to decipher the strange symbols.
»Yes, I’ll kill you … slowly, each day a little bit more, but first I want your combs.«
NEBULAR Collection 5 - Panic in the Galaxy: Episodes 22 - 26 Page 22