Star Matters

by David John West

  “This abduction is an outrage my friend!” stated Umberto, his whole head reddening with a flush of anger. “They are treating us like some new planet they just found in the boonies where they can carry out their filthy abductions unchecked!”

  “Outrage upon outrage and beyond,” Rafaello interjected to out-outrage Umberto as they both leaped to their feet as if they could save the situation right there and then. “There will be no rest for us and our friends until this crime has been righted and punishment meted out. We will seek no higher authority to arbitrate, we have seen it with our own eyes! Umberto?”

  Umberto professed the same indignity and they surrounded Keeran to embrace him to convey their solidarity with their slumped colleague and friend.

  “We must go to them,” Keeran said firmly. “They will have taken her to Spargan in the first instance. If she is no longer there we will at least discover what has become of her.”

  “Agreed,” Rafaello stated. “We can load up with fresh provisions from your glasshouses and be on our way Pretty Damned Quickly.”

  The provisioning of the Maria was accomplished swiftly and Keeran commanded the house to power down before boarding the ship and closing the ramp. The Cavallos bent over their control panel with exaggerated care to avoid clashing elbows on this harrowing occasion. Umberto found the Zarnha home planet Spargan under prior destinations in Maria’s nav computer, which removed the requirement of coding in the planet name and harmonic identifier. The harmonic identifier, the theme song that uniquely identified each and every planet with advanced human life, was emitted by each home world and paired with the craft transmitting the same theme. This was a resonance effect of the DMF drive that folded space to connect spacecraft and planetary destination themes. A faint growl was heard from the engines as it lifted off vertically but this time the Maria did not run back across the blood-orange bowl to Corinth City but swept ever upwards aiming between the stars toward the Hyades.

  The Cavallos and Keeran were enfolded by their space travel seats that smothered around them and cosseted their bodies such that they were unable to move, protected and in no physical discomfort. The seats countered high gravity effects and monitored life systems so that remedial measures could be effected autonomously should a traveller become ill in flight. The Cavallos treated such measures and flights themselves as militarily mundane and used the time to ponder plans on reaching Spargan. Keeran however had the opposite mentality. In his youth he could remember actually enjoying the experience of warp drive flight, the planning and charting and the staged ascents and descents. More recently though the accelerations and drops had become unpleasant to the point of anxiety despite his conscious mind telling him such travel was mundane. As a Pointer of Dawn the occasional flight was essential to his missions and he thought he had hidden his growing anxiety from his peers but of course his closest colleagues could see the change in his demeanour as flight times approached and he grew tense and a shade paler. On this particular occasion he was more grimly determined to act than on a standard mission so he gritted his teeth and endured the three stage sequence from Gaya planet surface to full DMF warp drive.

  FOUR

  The Gayan spacecraft Maria came out of DMF drive off the northern magnetic axis of planet Spargan adjacent to a thin funnel of a myriad other spacecraft twisting down to the planet surface. The twister contained spacecraft so dense it appeared like a column of smoke from afar. These craft were arriving at the capital planet of the Spargar empire from hosts of subordinate worlds that submitted their wealth and people to the ruling autarch Omeyn MuneMei. A similar twisting column of craft rising from the southern axis contained spaceships leaving the planet. The Maria was mimicking the lights and beacons of arriving Spargan empire craft. Rafaello had adopted standard Spargan re-entry procedures to merge with the large numbers of ships that made a jostling cloud in lower space waiting to join the Spargan arrivals queue.

  The Cavallos and indeed Keeran had had occasion to visit Spargan several times over their recent generations. Spargan circled a Sol-class star in the loose cluster of the Hyades a hundred-plus light years from planet Earth, three times closer than the home world of Dawn of Gaya in the Pleiades. The stellar neighbourhood was busy; not as bright or dense as that of the Pleiades but much denser than the quiet space around Earth. The Hyades cluster is three times broader than the Pleiades and the brightest stars are around the periphery contributing to a silvery illumination bathing Spargan from all directions at night. The prominent red star Aldebaran burns most brightly in the stars over Spargan and also pointed the way towards Earth from Spargan. The home planet of the Spargars’ bitter rivals in the galaxy, Dawn of Gaya, was in the opposite direction from Earth and the two hundred light years between the two great star realms housed the zones of greatest dispute along the ill-defined border territories.

  The Maria descended into Spargan’s upper atmosphere in the tumult of bright craft on the night side of the planet. The continental map of Spargan laid out below was limned by city lights along the coasts that delineated the land masses. Spider webs of lights spread throughout the land areas. The massed lights shaped the land under night, evening or early morning conditions. Even the seas showed many light clumps amid the dark denoting the floating cities that coped with the excess Spargar population and colonies of abductees from Spargar subject planets.

  The Maria crossed the inner atmosphere boundary where most of the craft of Spargan origin split off in all directions to city destinations and the remaining few alien craft continued to the polar spaceport to clear alien arrival procedures. Rafaello piloted Maria alongside the main stream of craft towards the sickle curve of daytime glowing round the curve of the planet and the capital city Braganza. Braganza was visible now in the fading yellow evening light as the brightest blaze of habitation front and below, approaching fast from the dark.

  “Can you put me down central south on the Traganz?” asked Keeran referring to the wide murky river that split Braganza city between high-rise downtown and low-rent districts ‘South of Traganz’.

  Rafaello was still staring into his instrument panel to ensure they were not receiving additional scrutiny from ground stations compared to home Spargar craft.

  “I don’t see any secure landing sites other than the river itself,” he said. “We could drop you and Umberto at a riverside dock while I cloak and cover Maria in the river bed.” Cavallo craft generally ‘covered’ in hostile territory by displacing a subterranean space to accommodate the craft and then covering over the roof with a thin layer of the original terrain they had replaced, thereby disappearing just below the land surface.

  “It’s too dangerous for you and Umberto to show yourselves, at least until I make local contact with our people there and scout the ground,” stated Keeran. Though planet Spargan was technically multi-ethnic it was not welcoming to aliens and appeared much more homogeneous than, say, planet Gaya and therefore the aliens that were there were more prominent. Most off-worlders found Spargar laws and beliefs too onerous to live by. In any case, Spargar people and technology were not welcoming to others by design or effect. Most human races from outside the Spargar empire had developed spirituality to a greater or lesser extent. They would not accept the secular Spargar belief that there was no spirit and that their life force was primarily to be found in their DNA. The race of Spargar believed they could be released into the controlling biological computer ‘Mind’, on their corporeal death. This would allow them to continue to serve Omeyn MuneMei beyond their deaths by devoting their physiology to the system that ran the Spargan empire at her command. More chillingly than that, Omeyn MuneMei harvested the life force of large numbers of abductees from other worlds in the empire to ensure the Mind was comprehensive and diverse in its knowledge of all Spargar-controlled worlds. Those aliens that did visit officially (rather than as abductees, officially against the terms of the Epsilon treaties) were engaged in diplomatic, entertainment o
r business roles for those galactic corporations that had business on Spargan. A tiny percentage of these alien visitors were employed by Spargar corporations that traded outside the Spargar empire and needed specialist knowledge of trading partner cultures and regulations foreign to Spargan. These people visiting from outside the empire were mostly to be found in the lower rent areas like the eclectic South of Traganz district of Braganza. Downtown Traganz on the north side of the broad river housed the city centre and could only be afforded by the wealthy. These high-caste, politically connected Spargar individuals worked close to the centre of the city or even the empire’s nerve centre, colloquially termed The Spyre for its immense height, and home of their autarch Omeyn MuneMei.

  Umberto and Rafaello launched into protest about Keeran going in to the city alone but they were well aware that their appearance and manner would be most difficult to conceal in the heart of their opponents’ capital city. So it was agreed that they would wait on board Maria concealed in the bed of the river Traganz until they heard more from Keeran. They activated the communications capability on Keeran’s protective ripallo4 so that he could call them when he was ready to return. Rafaello flew Maria along the river Traganz at docking height among the many other craft with business in the capital. The combination of the fading glow of evening and the massed city lights to both banks was atmospheric. A light chemical mist rose off the river a quarter mile wide at this point diffusing the lights on both shores and losing definition of the towering massed spires that collectively formed The Spyre on the north shore. This was the epicentre of Spargar government and where Omeyn MuneMei occupied the dominant central spike in a pall of gathering gloom. Rafaello was busy ensuring the Maria was at correct cruising height over the river and adopting the same drive characteristics as other local craft as it coasted among them in the mist.

  Keeran opened his psyche to send and receive the red threads5 that would connect to any people from Gaya that lived close by. Prior to this, he was only aware of the existence of Amily in Braganza. In her current mission she was based South of the Traganz but he could feel the presence of others there too, presumably those working with Amily and maybe more groups besides, working undercover in their rival’s capital city. There were also faint red threads coming to life heading into The Spyre in the huge complex North of Traganz that would probably be Gayan abductees held close to their nerve centre. Grimly he recognised that Kyra was among them, alive but confined, probably drugged and shackled to prevent her efforts to escape.

  “Put me in at the dock over there,” said Keeran. He could see a short line of craft waiting to drop passengers where he could mingle among crowds in a busy area of shops, bars and hostels that looked welcoming to foreigners.

  Amily was getting ready for work in her apartment in the back streets close to the dock where Keeran landed. She had felt his presence through the red threads connection that grew more urgent as he was clearly approaching and most likely seeking to meet. She was immediately excited about seeing Keeran again, tinged with exasperation with him that this was a surprise, and therefore unplanned, visit. Keeran was usually a stickler for planning but there was the problem that he could react wildly when provoked, and this was how it appeared as she knew that his current mission was on planet Earth and was of interest to both Gaya and Spargan at the present time. Amily finished her make-up quickly in the Spargar fashion, emphasizing her dark eyes and ruby lips in a porcelain complexion. She checked her appearance in a full-length mirror. She worked as the headline singer in the cabaret at the Akhbar Club nearby as cover for her Gayan operations. Spargar workers, who were so staid during the workday, changed after dark and liked to indulge their wild side, especially when they visited the racy South of Traganz district. Amily played her role well and excited the audience with her appearance as well as entertaining them with her voice. She wore a sheath of clinging red fabric that showed off her taut figure to good effect. She wore the heavier lip and eye make-up of the entertainer to pick out her classic Spargar features under spotlights and across the whole room so that she could be seen vividly across the dim lighting of the Akhbar Club. She threw on a wrap and heels and made for the door. Out on the street it was just getting dark. Many people were milling around, turning their minds from their workday drabness to their evening excitement. South of Traganz was a busy area, more cosmopolitan than the rest of the city and tolerated by Braganza city authorities as a good place for foreigners to dwell, as well as a place to allow Spargar city-dwellers to indulge themselves after dark. It was the most edgy area of the city they would tolerate but still remain proper to be seen in.

  Keeran was drawn to Amily through the crowds by the strong red threads connecting the two Gayans but it was Amily who saw him first. She enjoyed coming up on him through the crowd and catching his elbow. He turned to look into her eyes with the great pleasure he always found when they met again. Through many missions they were accustomed to working together but there were occasions, like now, when they had been apart for a young lifetime on different planets. This enforced separation highlighted their pleasure at meeting again. He slightly caught his breath at her dramatic appearance, her Spargar features enhanced as a cabaret performer. Her Gayan soul ensured that she had matured with some of the features he recognised from prior generations of the Amily he knew but the dark hair and eyes in a pale complexion were very different to the blonde hair and blue eyes he expected to see. These features were very much from her Spargar genes and upbringing here on Spargan.

  “Wow, you are looking very… glamorous, shall we say?” As Keeran looked closely he could see through her appearance to know it was still distinctly Amily, Pointer of Dawn, as he had known her over the generations. In particular the way her emotions flitted across her new features was distinctly her. He knew that some strong aspects of the soul always showed through in the latest physical form. He himself still grew a scar on his left forearm in every new generation, which reminded him of an agonising sword thrust he had received in battle many generations previously that was deeply impressed on his soul.

  “Thank you for the big welcome speech then, Keeran,” Amily replied with a sideways smile. She knew he would preserve a level of professionalism on all occasions. “I am on my way to work. I have a second job as a singer in a nightclub here. I work in The Spyre in the day and here at night. I find it’s ideal cover as nobody expects a singer to be anything other than an amusing decoration, which gets me close to the people I have to do business with. What could be a better fit in this neighbourhood?”

  “Good thinking. You certainly look the part. Terrific, in fact!” Keeran recognised his tone had been too flat in their meeting. It wasn’t that he was against meeting Amily emotionally but he did not want to draw attention to them both on enemy territory. Amily wiped the exaggerated smile from his face with a sharp dig in his ribs and she took his arm as they set off walking along the line of neon signs.

  Keeran soon remembered his general anxiety after they had greeted each other as he thought of his headlong rush to Spargan. “They took Kyra from home on Gaya just like she was one of their abductions from one of their own planets. They broke all the treaties, the conventions and they got through our security somehow to get to us on Gaya itself.”

  Amily was shocked, “I know that they brought her here only recently. I can feel her over there,” Amily gestured across the dark river to the city centre. “At least we know she is still alive and where she is approximately, but she is right in the heart of The Spyre and that’s crawling with Zarnha security for Omeyn MuneMei.”

  “I thought they would bring her here at least as first stop as such a high profile abductee.” Keeran spat out the word, unable to believe that this could happen to his own family, from his home planet. “I wanted to get here fast enough to catch them before they get the chance to do very much, and to get her out, one way or another.”

  “We can’t talk out here in the street,”‘ said Am
ily. “Best you check in to the Akhbar, it’s a big hotel behind the club and restaurants. Not very salubrious but ideal for your purpose. It’s very popular with off-worlders and a quirky tourist spot for more adventurous Spargar people. It’s famous for its huge underground spa, which is a great place for secret trysts – ideal for us to talk. I will meet you there after I finish my set.” Amily looked around quickly. Was it her nerves or did she feel someone there watching? It seemed a soul entity was there but she felt no red threads, which meant it was not of Gayan origin. It could hardly be a Spargar entity. Omeyn MuneMei denied the existence of free moving souls, people were either mortal or fixed into the Spargar network. The entity was, in fact, a shade, a very rare and haunted disembodied soul of Spargar origin. Outcast by Spargar as unclean, between mortal form and bonded to the Mind, it had no status in the system and could only be a slave of an iteration of Omeyn MuneMei in the hope that it could at some point regain recognised Spargar form. A Zarnha agent in limbo, if you will. In practice, Omeyn MuneMei and her Mind conspired to prevent these very few souls from integrating with the Mind after death so they could be used for intelligence-gathering as shades they called Gholas. It was one of these tortured spirits that was following Amily, gaining information for Omeyn MuneMei whilst trying not to arouse recognition from the Gayans, who were familiar with free movement of souls between generations.

  The shade Ghola had a difficult time following Keeran and Amily. It could not approach the couple without fear of being sensed and could not hear much without approaching closer. It did, however, manage to capture the drift of their conversation and recognised this stranger that had arrived to meet with Amily as Gayan, further deepening the suspicions of the authorities against her.