“It is in my cabinet,” Lynda replied.
“Let me have it,” Kristen said. “I want to do some studies and analysis of the recording.”
“Are you going to be looking for anything in particular?” Mahmud asked. “Not really. What I want to do is see if I can also map the areas highlighted in the video so as to compare it with what this app is mapping presently. I could write a programme which will compare both and see if there are any points or regions of similarities. That way we can get closer to finding out more of our location. I believe if we can backtrack our current location to the outskirts of Tiangrit, we will be able to get out of here when we need to do so.”
“That is innovative,” Lynda remarked. “I’ll go get it for you.”
“I’ll go and check the Atlantis’ systems and see how we are faring,” Mahmud said, and left.
After they had gone, Kristen busied herself with the app.
***
“Colonel, we are approaching the Grimaldorian Belt,” one of the warriors said. “Yes, I can see we are approaching the Belt already.” Colonel Havlun nodded. Ahead of them there was a formation of rocks, planets, and other bodies which had formed a cluster. They were widely dispersed and spread out all through the perimeter of the belt.
“This is really a wide region,” the warrior remarked. “How do we know where we are going to locate your contact?”
“I am on it already,” the colonel responded. She picked up a console and punched some keys. “Let us pray we will be able to get a clearer signal with this connection.”
She punched some other controls on the console and waited. A message appeared on the screen: UNABLE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION.
“This is not good,” Colonel Havlun stated. “We need to get through. I am not ready to start searching through this maze of bodies.” She tried again. But the same message came: UNABLE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION.
“What are we going to do?”
“We must improvise,” the colonel stated. “Head for the nearest inhabited body around.”
“Yes, Colonel.” The warrior nodded. From where Kristen was in their ship, she saw the wasp ship head for a cluster of asteroids. The Atlantis followed them. Soon, they were flying through what appeared to be a large expanse of rock-like formations, all floating in space. There must have been thousands of the asteroids all floating around.
Eventually, the wasp ship headed for a particular asteroid. They hovered over it for a while before they came down and landed on it. The Atlantis also followed suit and landed close to the wasp ship.
Kristen opened up their door and came down just as she saw the colonel also alight from the wasp ship. “We are here already?” Kristen asked. “No, not yet,” the colonel stated. “I could not establish a connection with my contact. The interference seems to be much more than I had expected. We need to ask for directions.”
“Okay. You know anyone that can give us directions?” “No, I don’t know anyone here on this asteroid. But I am going to ask,” Colonel Havlun stated. She then pointed at two of her warriors. “Both of you should come with me. The others should guard the ship. And you as well, Captain.”
They walked for a couple of metres before they were able to come down from what appeared to be a hill. Kristen was looking around at her surroundings. The ground was rocky and had a lot of gravel and sand on it. There were minimal quantities of plants there, just tree stumps and some shrubs. She looked up and could see the clear, dark sky and stars in it.
“There is no atmosphere,” she observed. “How come there is some vegetation here?” “They could be using sub-soil irrigation methods for cultivation. That means water would be like gold to them here.”
They were now walking through some bigger rocks and shrubs. They had slowed down their pace. The colonel unclipped her pistol while the other warriors pointed their rifles ahead of them as they walked. They were poised for any eventuality.
“I don’t have a weapon,” Kristen pointed out. “You don’t need one,” Colonel Havlun replied. “Just stay close and stay out of trouble.”
Kristen nodded.
Easy for her to say, Kristen was thinking as they walked on. One of the warriors suddenly stopped. They were walking through a footpath with rocks and sand scattered on each side. The plants and vegetation at this point were very scarce. The warrior used her gun to point around them and motioned further ahead of them towards a boulder.
“Footprints,” Colonel Havlun said. She bent down and touched the ground. “Multiple footprints. And they are still fresh. It looks like they were in a hurry. Maybe they ran when they saw us.” She stood up and looked towards the boulder. “We are going there. But quietly.”
They walked up to the boulder that was about twenty metres away. As they walked, the warriors kept on checking the ground below.
Kristen looked at the ground but what she saw was not really distinct or recognizable. They were walking on a footpath, but how was it possible that the Gualdions were able to detect a ‘fresh set of multiple foot prints’?
Kristen tried to see if she could recognize anything on the path on which they walked. Nothing. She could not see anything that resembled a footprint. Perhaps the Gualdions were using some form of x-ray vision to see their environment.
At the boulder, the warrior pointed up to the top. It was a ragged route that went to the top of the boulder. “The footprints went up that way,” Colonel Havlun stated. She turned to look at Kristen. “You’re going to have to climb up.”
Kristen nodded. “No problem. But what about you guys?” she asked. “Just follow our lead,” the colonel stated and they all squatted. It was a simultaneous movement, as though they wanted to duck for cover, or perhaps hide from someone or something.
Kristen cursed and squatted as well, expecting to see or hear something. What happened next was a shock to her. One by one, in their squatted position, each of the Gualdions was jumping up. Kristen watched as they bolted high up like kangaroos to the top of the boulder. They had squatted in order to gather pressure to make those massive leaps.
Kristen shook her head. They must have leaped at least fifteen feet into the air to get to the top of the boulder. And all with one bound.
Kristen tried to jump but could not get very far. The space suit she was wearing was too bulky and not designed for such purposes. She sighed. No wonder the colonel had asked her to climb up.
She looked for some footholds in the boulder and began to climb. She was able to discover some other stubs of branches and rocks along the trail as she walked, pulling herself when necessary. Soon she was on top of the boulder. At that point she saw that there was a cave. It was quite dark inside, with only some faint light coming out of it. She tried to peer into it.
“You can come in, Captain,” she heard the colonel say. “We have the place secured already.” Kristen walked into the cave. It was a bit damp inside and what appeared to be water was dripping from parts of the rocky roof above. The ground was damp and muddy in a lot of places. Kristen had to steady herself several times, otherwise she would have slipped and fallen on the muddy floor.
Eventually, she came up to the Gualdions. The illumination in the cave was coming from lights on their rifles. One of the women was pinning something down on the ground while Colonel Havlun stood by the side. The other alien was watching guard.
“What is that?” Kristen asked as she came closer. “That, my dear Captain, is a lerumpt.”
“A what?” Kristen asked as she stepped forward to take a closer look. The lerumpt was like a millipede, with a long, cylindrical body which was brown in colour. The lerumpt that was pinned under the leg of the Gualdion warrior was about ten feet long, which made it almost their height. For legs, there must have been dozens of them, all moving around randomly. Each of the legs was as thick as a human arm and they grew out from the sides of its body. The Gualdion warrior was holding the neck, on top of which was a head. The head had four eyes that were as large as tennis balls. Just like
the Gualdions, it had two vertical slits where a nose would have been on a human face, and a horizontal slit where a mouth was supposed to be.
“What?” Kristen exclaimed, and took a step back. “A lerumpt,” the colonel repeated. “Don’t worry. You can come closer. It is not going to harm you. They are known to be very shy creatures that are afraid of confrontation of any kind. This is why when it saw us coming it ran away. But we were able to trace it from the multiple footprints it was making on that track. Besides, my soldier has already subdued it.”
Kristen came a bit closer and shook her head. She was not feeling comfortable at what she saw. Those multiple legs were quite irritating to look at. “Don’t worry,” Kristen said. “I will just watch from this distance.”
The colonel shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She pointed at the lerumpt. “We were just asking it what it knew before you came in. Unfortunately, it refuses to tell us what we wanted to hear.”
“Seriously, I do not know anything,” the lerumpt stated. Its voice sounded like the hiss of a snake or leaking pressurized pipe.
“You know a lot of things,” Colonel Havlun insisted. “Otherwise, why would you be running away from us when you first noticed our presence?”
“I was not running away from you,” the lerumpt said. “I was simply going to my shelter.” “To your shelter?” the colonel repeated. She looked around the damp and dark cave. “I never knew you were now adapted to living in such dirty and cold conditions.”
“Come on, please let me go. I don’t have anything for you.”
“We are not here to rob you or harm you. We just want information, that is all.”
“And like I have told you several times, I do not know anything.” “I know what you might be thinking, that perhaps the life of the person we are looking for might be in danger,” the colonel said. “But I will be honest with you; he is not going to come to any harm. I simply need to know where he is located in this massive expanse of asteroids that is the Grimaldorian Belt. Just take a look at this.” The colonel paused and brought out a device that resembled a tablet. She punched some keys on it and then showed it to the lerumpt. “Can you see? There is no connection. There seems to be some sort of interference which has been blocking my calls. I really would not have had to come here if I had been able to get him on the phone.”
“I don’t know where he is,” the lerumpt insisted. “Maybe we have to motivate you to tell us what we need to know,” the colonel said. She looked at her soldier who was holding the lerumpt down. “Go ahead. Shoot away one of its arms,” Colonel Havlun ordered.
The female warrior aimed her rifle and fired. The lerumpt let out a loud scream as the laser blast tore through its body. In the next instant, it was writhing in severe pain. Two of its arms lay on the rocky and muddy ground. A blue-coloured fluid was gushing out of the lerumpt’s body from the side that the arms had been severed.
Kristen shivered in shock at the viciousness of the soldier’s action. She did not believe the Gualdions were capable of so easily carrying out such an act of torture. And now the lerumpt was wriggling and screaming in pain, with the liquid still gushing out of its sides.
“Soldier, I asked you to get rid of one arm, not two!” Colonel Havlun said, watching the lerumpt in pain. “See what we now have—a crying and bleeding lerumpt.”
“You did not have to do that, Colonel,” Kristen stated in anger and disgust.
“Don’t worry about the lerumpt, Captain,” Colonel Havlun stated. “They have very regenerative body tissue. It should be able to grow out another set of arms within a week.”
“Please let us leave him and go away from here. I am sure it does not know anything,” Kristen said. “Is that what you think? Well, I don’t think so. I still believe he does. Our trip to this place is not going to be in vain,” the colonel said. She looked at the lerumpt. “Well, are you going to tell us what we want to know?”
“I told you I don’t know anything,” the lerumpt insisted. “Really? Okay, maybe you need more motivation. But don’t say I did not ask you nicely. Unfortunately, my soldier is a very bad shot. I asked her to take off just one arm and she ended up taking two. I wonder what will happen if I ask her to take off six arms? Even a lerumpt like you will not be able to survive the loss of a dozen arms. I am sure you will just bleed to death.”
“No, no, no,” the lerumpt begged. “I will talk. I will tell you what you need to know.”
“Go on, tell me what you know of the tracker and his present location,” the colonel said. “He is on the Axis,” the lerumpt replied. “The Axis?” the colonel repeated.
“Yes, the Axis Fort within this Belt. It is not more than three hours’ journey northeast of your present position.”
“The Axis Fort?” the colonel repeated. “Isn’t that supposed to be a prison facility? What is he doing in such a place?”
“I am not sure,” the lerumpt replied. “There is a rumour he is charged by some planets with espionage. I only know he has not been seen in the last month.”
“Okay, we will go and check on him,” the colonel said. “But if we do not find him there, I am going to come back and personally sever all of your hands.”
“You don’t have to do that, Colonel,” the lerumpt pleaded. “It is the truth I am telling you.”
“Then why did it take you so long to tell me what I needed to know?”
“I was afraid you would not believe me,” the lerumpt replied. “Well, of course I don’t believe you,” the colonel replied. “Your kind may be shy but they are known to be very secretive and tell a lot of lies. I hope for your sake it is the truth you have told me this time.”
“It is the truth,” the lerumpt insisted.
“All right,” the colonel said and stood up. “Let’s take our leave.”
They left the lerumpt bleeding on the floor of the cave and walked outside to where the trail was. “Why did you not take the lerumpt as a hostage?” Kristen asked as they walked back to their ships. “I don’t think it will try to deceive me any further,” the colonel replied. “Besides, I did not want his bleeding all over my ship. If he was lying, I can always come back and finish him off. For his sake, I hope he is telling the truth.”
“So what do you now plan on doing?” Kristen asked.
“Of course, I am going to find out why they have kept him on the Axis Fort,” the colonel replied. “If the fort is some sort of prison, how will you be able to get him to come along with you on the journey?” Kristen asked.
“I can always nicely ask those detaining him to hand him over to me,” Colonel Havlun replied.
“What if they refuse?”
“Then we just have to motivate them a little,” the colonel replied. They soon got back to where their ships were parked. The colonel turned to Kristen. “You will follow us carefully as we proceed to the Axis Fort,” she stated.
“I understand, Colonel,” Kristen replied. Inside the Atlantis, Lynda came up to Kristen. “What happened out there?” she asked.
“Lynda, do you really want to know?” Kristen asked as she sat down on her seat.
“Of course! Everyone wants to know. We were all worried.” “Well, nothing really. They were looking for information on a particular contact of the colonel’s. I must say, they have very good motivational skills, considering what they did to their informant.”
“Motivational skills?” Lynda repeated. “Yes. They took off two of his arms to get what they wanted,” Kristen replied. “And from the looks of it they were willing to take away more.”
“Those aliens are not soldiers,” Lynda said. “They are savages.” “I agree with you. We are heading for a prison facility to meet with their intended contact,” Kristen added. “Let us see how this one turns out.”
After the wasp ship lifted off, the Atlantis followed it, maintaining a close distance behind.
CHAPTER SIX
Kristen looked at the clock on her dashboard. The time was 4:32 AM. She recalled they had departed fro
m their last destination at 1:27 AM. That meant they had spent almost three hours flying through space.
Kristen’s mind went back to the incident in the cave. She involuntarily shuddered when she remembered the sight of the bleeding lerumpt. For its sake, she hoped the information it had given with regards to the location of the colonel’s contact was true.
She looked outside and saw that they were still behind the wasp ship. From the readings on her monitor, they were still within the Grimaldorian Belt. She checked her tablet and saw a similar reading there as well. The app was identifying their position as still being within the same Belt.
Kristen smiled. This was conformation that her mapping was coming out properly. She checked the coordinates and tried to locate their destination. She spotted the Axis Fort on the tablet. It was a small asteroid whose size was comparable to others in the Belt. She calculated the distance to the fort and discovered they were going to soon be arriving at the planet. The exact time to their arrival was 4 minutes and 18 seconds.
Kristen smiled again. Her app was seriously working now. Not only was she able to locate the terrain around them, but she was now able to use it to gauge distance and time in between locations.
This is a remarkable achievement, Kristen was thinking. Hopefully, it was going to soon come in handy in helping them to chart their course away from the Gualdions.
But that would be when they had the opportunity to do so. They were heading for a prison facility to go and meet with the colonel’s contact. No one knew what that meeting would result in or where they were expected to go from there.
“Captain,” the voice of the colonel came over the radio.
“Yes, Colonel,” Kristen responded. “We are already approaching the Axis Fort. I will advise once again that you keep very close to us while we inform them of our arrival. I do not want them to think we are on separate trips.”
“I understand, Colonel,” Kristen replied. “We are right behind you.” The colonel dropped the line and looked outside at the planet they were approaching. It was an asteroid which was flat, not round like most other planets. It appeared like a massive piece of boulder rock that was ash and grey coloured. It was floating through space as if it had been detached from a rocky mountain and carelessly hurled into space. There were jagged edges all over the asteroid.
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