NEBULAR Collection 5 - Panic in the Galaxy: Episodes 22 - 26

by Thomas Rabenstein

  Klori Tar threw an estimating glance at Arkroid.

  »That all depends on your technology. For my part, I’ll dial myself into tachyon space and rematerialize inside the portal down there. I assume that you detected the portal already, didn’t you? The owner of the base is currently not in the solar system. This is the right moment.«

  »Okay then,« Arkroid answered with a sigh, looking at Kuster~Laap and his ZyClonians. »We’ll try to follow you.«

  Maya Ivanova wanted to object, but swallowed her words when she saw Arkroid’s determined look.

  »Great! My ship transmits a short signal as soon as I’m about to execute the transfer. Don’t forget to bring your weapons!« Klori Tar said. »Even though Morgotradon is not inside the base, he could return any minute. In the meantime, we need to be concerned about any slaves or guardians he left behind to watch over the base.«

  »Rexas?« Vasina hissed.

  »Maybe … or worse!«

  Arkroid leaned back in his seat and rubbed his nose.

  This mission stinks!

  An intelligent replication

  Skeptically, Morgotradon stared at the message, which one of his replications had handed him. Cautiously, he set aside the Jamal-Comb and enveloped the device with a deadly energy field, which only deactivated when it sensed his biometric aura.

  Morgotradon slowly turned toward the replication.

  »You and a handful of your sisters will transfer via the tachyon portal into the base and check out what’s going on there. The Rexas were never reliable allies. In case that they disregarded my orders, you will launch a punishment campaign against their home-world.«

  »Maybe the guardian ships didn’t report back because they got caught in the dimensional overlap. The Kugo slaves may have also revolted, as their planet had been affected by the phenomenon,« the Ivanova replication dared to speak up, just to receive a slap in the face for her insubordination.

  »When I want your opinion I’ll program it in your brain myself,« he replied coldly.

  The replication shuddered, torn between fear and devotion.

  Is that revolution in her eyes? He thought

  Morgotradon was enraged and watched her reactions closely.

  »At least you seem to show some sort of initiative. Forward my orders to another one of your sisters and come back here at once! I want to assess how far this new characteristic has taken over your thinking. I hope for your sake that you won’t disappoint me tonight!«

  Her face lit up in expectation.

  »As you wish, Master.«

  »This star base is important to me and my plans, especially during this phase of the game. I hope, I don’t have to explain it to you …«

  »… I know, I know,« she answered enthusiastically. »The Great Tremor! Soon the future Masters of this galaxy will come, then your mission will be accomplished, my Lord.«

  Morgotradon jumped at her and grabbed her by the throat. He lifted her from the floor and slowly squeezed her windpipe. The replication struggled to keep her breath. Her face turned red and then blue. Morgotradon felt her pulse pounding at his fingertips … he literally had her life in his hands.

  »Who told you this? Speak up! I didn’t tell you anything about my plans! Who told you, Bitch?«

  Maya Ivanova’s replication croaked and had trouble breathing. She replied in a hoarse voice, »I informed myself and called up the star base data, the rest was easy to figure out. I know about your mission and your function inside the Dark Brotherhood network, which spans over the entire galaxy.«

  Morgotradon looked at her strangely and suddenly let go of her.

  »You’re an interesting replication. I never thought that a copy would develop such self-esteem and drive. What else did you find out?«

  The replication arranged her hair and massaged her neck, coughing. Although, speaking hurt her; she didn’t show it to him. With her head held high, she replied, »The future rulers of this galaxy don’t give a damn about your achievements and your loyal services over all these centuries. They don’t care that you enslaved entire nations, controlled the galaxy or made sure that civilizations raged wars against each other to further the Dark Brotherhood’s causes. There’s no reward in it for you by causing stagnation … all this is not important to them and it probably never was. As soon as the galactic transfer is completed, you will be history! These rulers, whom you don’t even know, perceive you as a rusty tool which can be discarded. If you’re lucky, they’ll pay you for your troubles, however, as soon as the parasite galaxy materializes and their charges spill into this galaxy, the Dark Brotherhood is a thing of the past.«

  Morgotradon’s golden eyes studied her. It seemed for a moment as if the glance in his eyes softened a little bit, but his voice sounded as harsh as always as he said, »I need to examine you closer than I had thought. I don’t like your interpretation of the inevitable events to come. You developed a sense of contempt. Maybe … I made a conditioning error when I replicated you.«

  »Maybe you did everything right?« she whispered with a smoky, alluring voice and let her gown slip down to the floor, exposing her naked body to her master’s longing glances.

  Morgotradon took a rushing breath as he ogled her immaculate, ripe body. Seconds later, he cracked a devilish grin and muttered, »I’ll find out in a moment how much more initiative you’re willing to show me!«

  Inside the base

  On Arkroid’s signal, the chest armors of the two ZyClonians dissolved, releasing clouds of nanopods which, like insects, swarmed throughout the room. Seconds later, the nanopods formed an egg-shaped object – a tachyon projector.

  A brief flash of light from the newly created device indicated that the initial charging process had been completed. A bright, glowing and swirling energy curtain now illuminated the room. The glowing curtain conveyed a magic, almost hypnotic attraction.

  Lai Pi swallowed and made sure that everything was okay with Paafnas. The Pleunatan had slumped down in his seat and became very reserved, he seemed afraid.

  Maya stared, mesmerized at the energy curtain, perspiring slightly.

  She remembers her first tachyon portal transfer. She’s nervous, Arkroid thought understandingly.

  »The link has been established to the planet’s portal,« Kuster~Laap announced.

  Arkroid was distracted by the whirling energy and shadows, which gave a glimpse into tachyon space as he heard Kuster~Laap’s voice. Some of the shadows inside the field reminded Arkroid of scenes in a horror movie. He shivered.

  I’m afraid! I have a bad feeling about this!

  »I just received Klori Tar’s signal,« Nautilus announced. »He’s about to transfer and wants to be the first entering the base. He asked us to follow him in a couple of minutes.«

  Vasina opened a safe and distributed the weapons. Even though the former Crystal Base had not been guarded, this could be different. The hand weapons were Solar Union Government issue and kept under lock and key. Nautilus, certainly capable of designing and manufacturing of much better weapons, would never be able to do so due to the Cosmic Moral Code. »Your silver suits possess a strong personal defense shield generator and can compensate a direct hit or energy blast in case you’re under attack. I strongly suggest that you retreat then and use your weapons responsibly. I did not create combat suits for you. These suits are for your personal protection only, I hope you understand the difference?«

  Herimos gnarled. He had rejected taking off his body armor in favor of a silver suit. Vasina and Tranos had also rejected the suits and rather relied on their Progonaut combat suits. Arkroid, Maya, Pi as well as Paafnas were the only ones wearing the silver suits. Kuster~Laap and his ZyClonians didn’t need the suits either.

  »If you ask me, it doesn’t need to come to a fight,« Arkroid remarked, trying to condition his team for the mission. »If Morgotradon and his charges leave us no other choice then we’ll defend ourselves to the best of our abilities. We need to be attentive, ready to adjust to the situation
s at hand and take our chances. Our primary objective is to gather information. We didn’t come here to seek revenge or to fight.«

  »Klori Tar just transferred,« Nautilus announced. »You should get ready.«

  Arkroid nodded, but waited a couple of minutes before he stepped through the energy curtain with his gun in his hand. In case the atmosphere wasn’t suitable for them, their silver spacesuit and their personal defense shields would protect them.

  Blinded by the transfer flash, he closed his eyes. The transportation manifested itself by causing a slight tickle on the skin and a short dizziness after he arrived on the other side. As soon as he opened his eyes, he knew that he had arrived in the base – everything looked different and strange. Instinctively, he raised his weapon, but there was no enemy waiting for him. He wiped over his eyes to shake off the temporary blindness and stumbled over something on the floor as he walked away from the portal. His eyes had adjusted to the lighting conditions in the portal room. More than a dozen lifeless bodies were lying around the portal pillars. Some of them were surrounded by a yellowish puddle, perhaps body fluids or blood, Arkroid guessed.

  He secured the portal in all directions, but there was nobody around who could offer him any resistance.

  There had been a bloodbath in this room, not long ago. These beings on the floor could be Kugos.

  He watched the portal where his team members should be arriving shortly.

  The dead beings had a short build, not much taller than one and a quarter meters. They were lying in an embryonic position, with their knees and muscular legs pulled toward their bellies. Their arms were thin and short while their hands and fingers were finely structured, clenched into fists. Although their bodies were dressed with green-shimmering coveralls, their arms and legs were exposed, showing a thick, almost fur-like, skin. Their elongated faces grimaced as if they had endured great pain before their demise.

  Pi stepped out of the portal with an astonished yelp. Moments later, he was followed by Maya, who, after quickly assessing the situation, jumped over the dead bodies and secured the room toward the exit, leading into an adjacent room.

  The next one to arrive was Herimos. He too raised his weapon and assisted Maya. He growled as he saw the dead bodies on the floor.

  As soon as Voit came through the portal, he crouched in pain.

  »What is it, Voit?« Arkroid asked.

  »I just felt the life aura of one of these beings extinguish. He must have been in unspeakable pain!« he panted.

  »Is there anything you can do for them?« Pi inquired with a hoarse voice. It was a horrible sight to bear.

  »It’s too late, Pi. They’re all gone! I can do a lot, but not awaken the dead.«

  Vasina and Tranos stepped through the portal. Tranos reacted quickly and established a defense field around Vasina and himself as he saw the dead bodies. He deactivated the field again after he was certain that no danger was looming.

  The last arrivals were Paafnas, Kuster~Laap and the two ZyClonians. Paafnas quickly climbed up the wall, aided by his suction cub-like hands and feet and observed the scene from a higher vantage point. It seemed to Arkroid that Paafnas had given in to an instinctive flight reaction. Irritated, Paafnas licked over his deep black eyeballs.

  Kuster~Laap felt deep sympathy for the dead beings on the floor and asked, »Who did this?«

  The other team members were holding their ears in pain and went on their knees due to the deep frequency of Kuster~Laap’s voice. Pi was close to vomiting.

  Arkroid requested, »Kuster~Laap … please … restrain yourself! Your Voice is killing us! We don’t know what happened here. We … have … no idea.«

  There were no clear markings around the portal; the walls appeared strangely smooth, almost as if melted out of the rock, covered with a rubber-like substance, which lend Paafnas a perfect surface for his ceiling excursions.

  »There’s no Airlock!« Maya announced, while cautiously scanning the adjacent room with her equipment. »This is just an opening which connects these two rooms. It looks more like a glorified cave system. A weak energy field separates the rooms from each other; I can reach through the field without problems. This looks all too familiar in one-way or the other.«

  »This is organic technology, which adapts to the location and the space also promoting the necessary living environment. We know this technology from Quaoar and also from the Globuster cave on Sedna.«

  »I know,« Arkroid said. »This black, rubber-like substance seems to be preferred by the Globusters ...«

  »… or their masters!« Voit added quickly.

  Arkroid nodded.

  »The portal on the other hand is the same technology we found on the Treugolan world. I’m afraid Klori Tar is correct. We discovered another one of Morgotradon’s bases. This is clear.«

  Maya looked at the dead Kugos.

  »Are you suggesting that the Globs are responsible for this massacre? If there’re any of these system guardians around, then we’re in deep trouble. We don’t have a Globuster-Fist. I strongly suggest returning to the ship. Anything else is suicide.«

  »There’re no Globusters inside the base or on the planet,« Kuster~Laap announced calmly, watching two swarms of nanopods leaving from Nood and Naad chests. They swirled around Maya, penetrated the weak energy field with a crackling sound and disappeared in the adjacent room. »This base is flooded with oxygen. The Globuster-typical chlorine gas is not present. Although this installation is based on the same principles as the Globuster caves, it was built for oxygen breathers. We’ll know more when the nanopods return.«

  »It’s a mistake to rely on the findings that this base is flooded with oxygen,« Vasina warned. »The Globusters were able to escape at Uluru Station, despite an oxygen atmosphere. They caused chaos there, remember?«

  »I don’t believe in the Globuster theory either,« Voit explained and slowly walked around the portal, always aware not to get to close to the dead Kugos or the energy field. He seemed to be trying to find out what had happened in this room. »Something or somebody came through the portal and surprised the Kugos. Whoever or whatever it was, they didn’t have a chance. These bodies were unarmed! According to what I know about the Globusters; they tear their opponents apart. They act like carnivores, hunting down other animals. These beings, however, were killed with energy weapons. This doesn’t fit the Globuster theory. The attackers must have acted swiftly, with surgical precision, because the dead bodies fell in close vicinity to the portal. If Globusters were the attackers, then the Kugos would have tried to escape or simply run away.« Voit shook his head a couple of times. »No, we can rule the Globusters out.«

  Arkroid pondered for a moment, looking at the dead Kugos.

  »Where’s Klori Tar?« he asked sharply. »Was he not supposed to arrive here earlier than us?«

  As if Arkroid’s words had been a signal, a nebulous fog appeared in the room, revealing Klori Tar’s body.

  Herimos had noticed the fog from the corner of his eye and reacted by aiming his weapon at the phenomenon. Vasina, standing closest to the fog, had pulled her sword and whirled it over her head, barely missing Klori Tar’s face. His eyes seemed to pop out of his face in surprise.

  »Don’t shoot! I was hiding to wait for your arrival. Isn’t this awful? Who would kill these unarmed, peaceful beings without scruples and remorse?«

  Klori Tar was hovering a couple of centimeters above the ground, which indicated that he was wearing some sort of an anti-gravity suit. It was unclear as to why.

  Maybe this hovering technique makes him more agile.

  Arkroid squinted and glanced at the Klorian.

  »Whoever did this acted in an utmost brutal way. Was there nobody else here in this room when you arrived? Did you see anything?«

  Defensively, Klori Tar raised his arms.

  »You don’t know me, Arkroid! If I had witnessed this massacre then I would have punished the attacker immediately or died trying!«

  »These beings we
re here on Spook for a longer time, they didn’t arrive yesterday. As we can see, they don’t consist of antimatter.« Arkroid resumed, just scolding himself inwardly about the antimatter remark. If these Kugos had been transformed to antimatter, this base would no longer exist. He sighed and found a mocking glance from Maya who had caught on to his faux pas. »Sorry, uh … never mind,« he earned a nod from Vasina and Tranos. »I assume that Morgotradon misused them as workers or slaves.«

  »He’s not here,« Klori Tar stated unwaveringly and glanced at his multi-function wrist device.

  Arkroid looked surprised, but didn’t comment. Instead, he crouched down and examined one of the dead Kugos.

  »Somebody’s here. The proof is right before our eyes. We should expect the worst.«

  Maya nodded faintly as she caught Arkroid’s serious glance. She understood what he wanted to say.

  A shock

  Klori Tar’s secret about how he was able to detect Morgotradon didn’t help him gaining the trust of the team.

  Did Klori Tar cause this bloodbath and so he chose to lie about it? Is he playing a game of deception with us? To what purpose? Arkroid thought.

  Although Paafnas had checked Klori Tar’s good intensions, it nevertheless, had left some unanswered questions.

  Maya had interpreted Arkroid’s glance correctly and kept an eye on the master of the Messy Unit.

  Trust is a valuable characteristic, but it has to be earned!

  Arkroid frowned. Maybe Klori Tar had been sent by Morgotradon to catch the Techno-Ferry and her crew.

  »How long until the nanopods return?« Arkroid addressed Kuster~Laap, cautiously throwing a glance into the adjacent room.

  As usual, the ZyClonians didn’t reply, they seemed indifferent. Nonetheless, they were communicating with Kuster~Laap and the nanopods.

  »The base is huge. The nanopods are still on their way. Nood and Naad have begun to reproduce more nanopods, in case they’ve been lost,« Kuster~Laap remarked.

  Fascinated, Arkroid and Pi watched the swelling and heaving of the ZyClonians’ flat chests. Millions of small particles seemed to be whirling around in waves, reestablishing the original chest widths.