The Rylerran Gateway

by Mark Ian Kendrick

  “Before I do that there’s something else you should know about those two.” When Darreth and Rehl had been unconscious, the doctor had scanned their bodies, too. He discovered the two new men both had tech inside their heads. Clearly, only the adults had them. He had decided to use the highest resolution the scanner was capable of. The image he had taken of the nexus under Darreth’s shoulder blade was extremely telling. On it, he had discovered an extremely tiny line of writing. It was barely discernable since the ship’s scanner wasn’t designed to read at that resolution, but he could make out enough of it. It contained two lines. Both were composed mostly of numbers. Numbers used on Earth and all the worlds of the Empire. He also found a distinct D, an L, and a G. Wherever the tech came from it was it wasn’t Telkan in origin.

  When the doctor was finished with his report, Pacudas nodded. “That adds to my conclusion. Some sort of breeding experiment is going on here. What you’ve discovered tells me rogue Terrans may be involved, too. I intend to get to the bottom of this-this house of horrors as soon as I can.”

  The doctor sat with Darreth and Rehl as they ate. “The captain will see you again once you’ve finished your meal…. The young one. Tann. How did he escape.” Actually, he only knew of one specific incident where an ‘escape’ had occurred: from their ship. On the other hand, he was actually asking Darreth how he might have escaped the so-far unknown breeding colony.

  Of course Darreth had no idea how Tann had escaped. Nor how Naylon had either. “Why wouldn’t he?” he responded. He tried to sound as mysterious as he could, then decided to turn the questions back to the doctor instead. “Doctor, where are you from?”

  “Upila.”

  “What’s Upila?”

  “My homeworld, of course.”

  “Where is this Upila?” Darreth was trying for any information he could get.

  “Five conduits from Earth in the direction of Hydra.”

  Darreth had no idea what that meant although he was familiar with a constellation called Hydra as seen from the Sol system.

  “Of course you wouldn’t know Upila. You’ve never been in Empire space, have you?”

  “Nope, can’t say I have.”

  Perhaps the captain is right, Renarde thought.

  Commander Selaye entered the mess area. “If they’re done, the captain will see them now.”

  Darreth and Rehl sat in front of Pacudas’ desk, while the commander stood behind it. The captain was working only on an assumption at this point. While he questioned his two captives, he was having Lieutenant Navar run continuous scans outside. No sign of further Telkan activity had been detected so far. He intended to keep it that way. In addition, using his assumption he ordered scans at the highest possible bandwidth to look for further Terran biosigns. If this were indeed a breeding planet, surely others would turn up somewhere.

  The captain leaned back. “I’m concerned I may have started our… relationship on the wrong foot. We are as interested in finding your companions as you are. We too would like to see them returned to your colony.”

  Darreth noted that. He thinks we’re from some colony? On this planet? Darreth decided to play the captain to get more information. He took a wild stab. “Which colony? The one here or the one on the other world.” Both the captain and Selaye reacted and Darreth noticed. He wasn’t expecting to get another clue so quickly. So, there might be several colonies nearby, Darreth thought. “You know there’s another one circling the other star in this system,” Darreth added, trying to pry as many clues out of the man as he could.

  Pacudas was aware that scans had so far indicated the other world in this double star system had a significant Telkan presence. Was that where Naylon and Tann had gone back to, or were returned to? The captain couldn’t tell so far. They were just missing. Regardless, he’d get to the bottom of this great big mystery and he would get to it before the day was out.

  Chapter 35

  Lieutenant Navar took a seat in front of the scanner screens on the bridge while the captain and the commander continued questioning Darreth and Rehl.

  The biosign scanner had so far continued to read zero. But the aerial activity scanner suddenly jumped. Immediately, Navar read the vector to determine if the object was powered or simply a meteor. He determined the vector was indeed a powered flight object within twenty seconds. Meteors didn’t slow down, then change directions. His first order was to activate their stealth shield. He then activated the comm. “Captain, the Telkans are back.”

  The captain shook his head and frowned in frustration. “We will continue our, er, discussion later,” he told Darreth. “In the meantime, you will both accompany me to the bridge.” He intended to have his new guests assist him in identifying their newest target.

  Darreth and Rehl were ushered to the back of the bridge while the captain took his chair. Ocio kept watch on them. Darreth’s pulse quickened. Within minutes, the ship was off the screen, most likely having landed.

  “The ship stays here,” the captain announced. “We don’t want them to detect any movement on our part. Lieutenant Navar, the ship landed three point two kilometers away. Darreth, take a look at that display screen.”

  “Why me?”

  “I think you can identify it for us. Their engines have specific energy signatures,” the captain told him.

  “And, that’s supposed to help me identify it how?”

  Rehl shook his head. This was almost comical if it weren’t serious. “You realize this is fruitless,” he told Pacudas. “We have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Navar came forward and observed the readout. He turned to Darreth, prodding him anyway. “What do you make of this?”

  “I make nothing of it. If you think I’m going to be able to identify it you’re out of luck.”

  Pacudas had now determined, based on nothing more than intuition, that Darreth and Rehl were telling the truth. They didn’t give away anything in their body language that could be construed as knowing anything. He didn’t need a scanner to determine that.

  “Lieutenant Navar,” Pacudas said. “Take a fire team and see what we’re up against this time. If you find our previous guests, you are to capture them and bring them back here. Alive. If there are only a few Telkans, take them out. If there are too many to handle with just your team, call for reinforcements. Once you return, we’re leaving this planet.”

  “Yes, sir.” The lieutenant left the bridge.

  The captain faced Darreth and Rehl. He pressed the comm. “Llarena. Report to the bridge and take our guests to the spare quarters.”

  Darreth was greatly concerned now. The captain intended to take off while they were still onboard!

  Efren felt his hands shaking as he took the men to the exact same quarters that Naylon and Tann had occupied before they had disappeared. He pressed the button next to the doorframe. He ushered the two men inside, then stepped in himself. He made a show of making sure the door was securely closed.

  “You must let me join you,” Efren whispered.

  “What?” Rehl asked, greatly surprised at Efren’s sudden emotional plea.

  “I want to join your group. Wherever they’re hiding I can make sure no one is found.”

  “What makes you think we’re with any group?”

  “You must believe me. I was one of the guards when Naylon and the boy were aboard our craft.”

  “What happened to them?” was Darreth’s immediate response.

  “They escaped. Most likely because of me.”

  “Were they okay?”

  “In what way?”

  “Were they hurt or injured?”

  “No. We didn’t harm them. It’s the captain’s fault they were even onboard our ship in the first place. All of us were surprised to find any Terrans on this planet. After all, we’re far from the Empire.”

  “What Empire?” Rehl asked.

  “You really don’t know. Neither did they. I want to get out of here. Can you help me?”

  Dar
reth realized this might be their way off the ship. “Not until you explain what’s going on here.”

  “Look, I don’t have much time.”

  “Just a few questions. First of all, who are the Telkans?”

  “Our enemy, of course. They’ve been so for three decades.”

  “The big aliens with six appendages?”

  “Four, like us. They cut the short ones off at birth. We think they’re non-functional. Like an appendix.”

  Rehl looked at Darreth at that news.

  “And this Empire of yours. What the hell is it?”

  Efren quickly summarized everything as Darreth and Rehl both shot question after question at him. Within five minutes they had heard enough.

  “Naylon kept saying history was different where you are from,” Efren said. “If that’s true, I welcome it. I may be nothing more than a soldat, but I know this war will not be ending in my lifetime. That much is obvious to anyone, even a civilian. I would welcome a fresh start on your planet. That way, I can live to have my children fight in a war that’s winnable.”

  Darreth sat down on the small cot as he tried to absorb what Efren had told him. He had purposely not made mention of the tunnel in the cavern. From what he’d gathered from the scant information Efren had told him, Darreth concluded he and Rehl had somehow stumbled on a parallel universe only slightly different from their own.

  “You’ll have to help us off the ship,” Rehl said.

  Efren nodded. “Where is your ship?”

  Darreth answered instead, hoping Rehl wouldn’t contradict him. He had an idea but needed a ruse. “It’s, uh, some distance from here.”

  “I knew it!” Efren shot back triumphantly. “You must have an extremely efficient cloak. Look, I have to get out into the corridor before anyone realizes I’m in here.” He immediately started for the door.

  “Wait. Why are we being kept prisoner? We’ve not done anything,” Darreth asked.

  “You are well behind enemy lines. It makes no sense you could be here for any other reason than because you’re Telkan collaborators.” The silence was deafening. “The captain believes you may be part of some sort of Telkan breeding colony,” Efren added.

  “How did he come to that conclusion?” Rehl asked derisively.

  “I don’t know. It’s just what I heard from the commander.” Efren looked at them both. “You’re not, are you?”

  “We’re here to get our friends back and that’s all. We had no idea there were Telkans on this planet. No idea, I tell you. In fact, it’s a far greater surprise to find you here.”

  “Desperate times, Darreth. Desperate times. We volunteered for this mission. I was extremely lucky to be picked. It was for the Empire. My Empire.”

  Darreth stood. “Then why do you want to defect?”

  Efren looked angry as he stood toe-to-toe with Darreth. “I realize you are new to our language, but do not ever use that word again if you want me to help you.”

  Rehl started forward but Darreth held his hand up. “Sorry, bad choice of words. I apologize.” Amazing, Darreth thought. The man is loyal to his Empire yet he’s sick of his personal situation. The luck!

  “I’ll help you off the ship if you will take me to a world that has never heard of the Telkan threat,” Efren added.

  “I guarantee you this, soldat Llarena. If you can get us out of here and we can get our friends back in one piece, and if we’re still alive, I guarantee you will come back with us to a world that has never, ever heard the word Telkan.” He looked at Rehl who was nodding vigorously.

  “Captain, look,” Commander Selaye said. He was peering out the front view port, then back to the LADAR image. Low black clouds had been drifting overhead for about a half hour.

  Captain Pacudas checked image then looked outside again. “Contact them.”

  Selaye nodded. He pressed the comm badge on his wrist. “Selaye to Navar. Report.”

  It took several seconds before Lieutenant Navar reported in. “The weather’s taken a turn for the worse. It’s raining pretty heavily where we are.”

  “Stand by.” Then to the captain, “Should we recall them until it stops?”

  Pacudas continued to look out the view port. Several drops of rain had already started to hit it. The captain didn’t miss a beat. “No. If Darreth and Rehl’s friends were on that ship, I want them returned to us as soon as they’re within range. The rain should provide enough cover to prevent their fire team from being too easily detected.”

  Llarena called for Ocio to relieve him an hour later. His first task was to man his station in the engine room. At his console, he logged in to the scanning system on the bridge. Working quickly, he replayed the logs of the last several hour’s readings at high speed to make sure there was nothing close by being monitored outside the ship. It was a simple matter to input a string of code to tell the system to ignore any movement closer than a kilometer. No one on the bridge would be aware he had done so.

  As he worked on inputting the code in such a way as to prevent detection, he continued to mull over what had recently transpired. As he had told Darreth, he willingly volunteered for this mission. It was for the greater glory of the Empire and he was proud to have been picked. But Naylon’s description of a world, even an entire universe, no matter what that even meant, which had never heard of Telkans, had weighed heavily in his mind ever since he’d heard it. For his entire life he had lived in a constant state of semi-fear. His entire life! He had never actually acclimated to it. In fact, being a trained military man had exacerbated his general feeling of dismay instead of diminishing it. He was sick of it. He was so sick of feeling that way it was the main reason he had volunteered for this mission. He felt the intent was that their discoveries on this side of the conduit would result in a decided victory once and for all. Instead, their successful passage through a violent star system and onto this planet had upped the ante. Landing here had only provided him with fresh lingering fear instead of the opposite. Unfortunately, his collective military training and experience had yet to provide him with a sufficient reason to completely shed that fear. Clearly, the Telkans continued to be a technologically superior force. They were physically stronger and had far more endurance than any Terran he knew. They were longer-lived creatures too, and thus able to sustain the war for, who knew, possibly even centuries! Yet, Naylon and his young companion’s impossible appearance on this world gave him a glimmer of hope. There were worlds somewhere, wherever they might be, that were outside the reach of an endless and un-winnable war. And now, while he plotted to help release two Terrans who had done nothing more than simply be on this planet, he realized one more important thing. The captain had defied orders. Pacudas had decided to interrogate these men, who were completely innocent of plotting against the Empire or thwarting anything the Empire was doing in space or on any world, instead of continuing on with their mission. That in itself was reason enough to do what he was doing. No, he admitted to himself, he wasn’t privy to everything that had transpired between Naylon and the captain. Nor with Darreth and his friend Rehl. So, maybe there was something he was missing. But he was sure Naylon had also told the captain that where he was from there were no Telkans.

  Armed with all of that, he worked even faster. Now, he switched to the internal sensor array configuration screen. It was a simple matter to disable the airlock door sensors. They had been activated by default after Naylon and Tann had disappeared. He made sure they were disabled for only an hour. He input a sub-routine that would keep the log file’s timer going despite the lack of input.

  Minutes later he went to the observation room where Darreth and Rehl’s effects were still strewn all over the tabletop. Their weapons were missing, but that was all he was sure were gone. The rest of it he stuffed randomly into their packs. He rounded up Tasker Ebit, handed him the packs and told him to place them in the airlock. Tasker Ebit complied immediately.

  Breathing hard from the adrenaline surging inside him, he quickly returne
d to his quarters, threw a few of his effects into a backpack, then returned to the corridor and placed it in the airlock. Tasker Ebit had done his task since the two other packs were there already.

  “Ocio,” he said casually, as he came up on her. She was literally sitting on the floor now outside Darreth and Rehl’s quarters. She quickly stood up. “Why were you on the floor?”

  She looked down the corridor, then whispered to Efren, “Because I’m bored as hell. This is ridiculous. Why is the captain doing this?”

  Efren placed his index finger against his lips. He feigned surprise at what she had said for even more effect. “Don’t let anyone hear you say that.”

  She shook her head, somewhat exasperated Llarena wouldn’t show her sympathy. “I’m turning in. I’ll relieve you later. Is it raining yet?”

  He nodded. “Just started.”

  She spent a few minutes in the galley. Efren could hear her. Eventually, he noted the noises in there ceased. She was completely out of earshot now. He went to the end of the corridor, in full view of the airlock. No one was present. None of the Taskers were nearby right now. It was now or never. He returned to the quarters and pressed the door lock button. The door slid open. Both Darreth and Rehl, who had been sitting on the lower bunk, stood.

  Efren whispered, “Quickly. I’ve worked out a way to get you out of here.”

  “We’ll be caught,” Darreth responded in the same whispering voice.

  Efren shook his head. “I think not.”

  Darreth looked at Rehl. “Let’s go!”

  Chapter 36

  “The door won’t shut,” Tann told Naylon. He looked at the doorframe again. Naylon stood next to him and observed as well. Although the small room had been his cell on the flight from Rylerra to Andakar, this time it was his quarters. Naylon’s quarters were next to his, as before, too.