She paused, then let out a short breath. “Denied.” She swallowed hard. Chase noticed her swallow and stopped tapping his finger. Devon turned away from the situation and started monitoring the hoverstation. It was still quiet.
“Are you sure it's being denied?” asked Chase.
“Positive, sir.”
There was something fishy going on and Chase was smelling it.
“Can you patch me to your manager...” he glanced at her name tag, “Sarah?”
She innocently bit her finger. “I know you from somewhere.” She leaned her head to the side. “You're an action vid star, right?”
“I wish,” replied Chase under his breath. “No. I'm part of the governance and I should have access to Sphere 1 without any trouble.”
She ran his bulva card one more time and shook her head. “No. It's saying you're denied access. Maybe they are restricting access to military personnel only?”
“How?” questioned Devon, now paying closer attention. “The military doesn't have authorization over an Overseer. The only person who has authority over an Overseer in the governance is Prime Director Zim Nocki, and he publicly made an apology—”
“But,” interrupted Chase, “it doesn't mean he is being sincere. He is a known liar and may be pulling the covers over our eyes again. He may be the one stopping anyone from going there.”
Chase walked around the counter, ignoring the frown from Sarah. He pressed a button on the HDC screen that Sarah was using. He brought up a com link to the infirmary.
Sarah, being pushed to the side, glared at him. “Excuse me, Sir. You don't—”
“This is an emergency,” said Chase.
To Chase's surprise, Captain Louise Stripe answered the com link call. “Chase?” She looked behind her, then back at the HDC screen, her cheeks were lined with tears, her eyes and face puffy. “Where the hell are you?”
“Are you okay?”
Louise swallowed, holding in a cry. “I'm okay.”
“Can you get my uncle ASAP?”
“Why? What's going on?” She looked behind her once again and her shoulders trembled. She turned for a second, her lack face becoming slack. “Hold on a second.” She walked away from the screen.
A moment later, Brigger took her place. He looked calm, but shaken.
“What's going on?” questioned Chase.
“Things have happened, but where are you? I thought you were in the infirmary.”
“We're heading to Sphere 1 and I think Zim isn't exactly on our side. I need my uncle to get into hiding, somehow.”
A man came up to Brigger and grabbed his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. The man was a Brigantia Guard, worry in his eyes. No, thought Chase. That look is about danger more than worry.
“What's happening, Brigger. I need to know,” demanded Chase.
“It's about your—”
The HDC went dead and Chase smacked it.
“Don't!” yelled Sarah, grabbing Chase's arm from hitting the HDC a second time. “This isn't your property.”
“Is everything okay?” asked Devon.
Chase, unsure, lowered his brows. “I have no idea. It's nothing my uncle can't handle.”
Chase walked around the counter, readying to continue figuring out a way to get a ticket to Sphere 1.
“Don't do that again,” said Sarah, wiping off her clothes as if she was just tackled. “I'll report you.”
Chase placed both palms on the counter. “I apologize, Sarah. It won't happen again.” He paused, then grinned. “I have one favor to ask.”
Sarah glared at him as if daring him to ask. He asked anyway.
“Is there a spare HDC around this hoverstation?”
“Uh,” she screwed up her face in confusion, “probably. Why?”
“Do you have an office?”
She nodded.
He leaned close, smiling, his eyes as innocent as a puppy dog. “Pretty please?”
“You want in my office?”
“It's governance matters and my office is a hovertrain ride away. I'll just need it for a few minutes. It's vitally important that I use—”
“That's who you are,” she said, pointing at him. “Overseer Chase Byrd. I knew your face looked familiar. You're the new guy. I should have known by the name on your bulva card, but I'm not so great with names.”
“Yeah, that's me.” He extended his arm for a handshake. “Pleased to meet you.”
She didn't return the shake and rolled her eyes, sighing, “Come this way.”
When they entered Sarah's office, Chase gestured for Devon to take a seat at the HDC. “You're at the helm.”
“And what am I looking for?” questioned Devon.
Chase glanced at Sarah, who was crossing her arms in the doorway. “Yes?” she muttered.
“This is governance business. Thank you so much for your hospitality, and understand that we aren't putting you in any danger. However, we need to occupy this office in privacy.”
“Yeah, that doesn't sound fishy at all.” Sarah moved away from the doorway and started shutting the door. “Have the time of your lives, you two.” Shaking her head she closed the door, ranting that they were going to get her fired.
“You just lied,” said Devon.
“How so?”
“You told her that we aren't putting her in danger and that's exactly what we're doing.”
“I'm sorry, Devon. You're right, but at this very moment we don't have the time to check our morals. I say our morals left the moment we were attacked and betrayed by our own governance and Prime Director.” He pointed to the HDC screen. “Go ahead, please. We are searching for the truth and I'll do anything to save as many people as I can under my watch, okay?”
“Okay, but what am I looking for on Sarah's HDC?”
“Anything sent from Zim after the attack.”
Devon nodded, then proceeded to cut into the mainframe and hacked back into Zim's HDC. He placed Program Distinguish as the translating application for the data stream, then punched in dates that he wanted to investigate and wiggled his finger in the air, acting as if it was a wand.
“I don't see anything,” said Chase.
“Hold on. It's coming.”
A few moments later Sarah's HDC loaded up messages from Zim's HDC. Chase leaned in and they started reading.
“Yep, he's still an asshole,” muttered Chase. “Look.”
Devon keyed in on where Chase pointed. “He sent out a distress signal—just recently. It was hours before we went to his office. The signal was followed by a message from Zim, stating that he was manipulated to speak the truth.”
“Who's Lien-L?” wondered Devon. “He's communicating with a person named Lien-L.”
“I don't know. But it says Lien-L is on Lumus II and the way Zim's messages read, Lien-L must be his superior.”
“And look. Right there.” Devon directed his finger at a long paragraph. “He wants to know if the plan to poison us is still in effect.” Devon read more, then gasped. “The poison is still here. In Sphere 1! That's exactly where we were going.” Devon pressed some more keys on the HDC, bringing up communication from Lien-L. “Lien-L responded, but it shows that Zim didn't get the message. Lien-L says he sent Payson to kill several important men and that Payson will finish the job that Zim was trained to do.” He put his hand to his mouth in shock. “Payson is to poison everyone.”
Chase grabbed Devon by the arm. “We have to stop this.”
“How? They won't let us get on a hovertrain to get there.”
“Quick, connect to the infirmary again. We have to get the Brigantia and Taranis Guard there.”
Devon punched in the number to the infirmary. A young military man answered. He looked younger than Devon. “May I help you?”
“I need Admiral Byrd,” replied Chase.
“Hold on,” said the young man. He left the screen to talk with someone. Coming back in view, he leaned into the HDC, biting his lower lip. “I'm sorry, no can do. Ad
miral Byrd is off limits right now.”
“What's going on?” asked Chase.
The young man looked behind him, then back at the screen. “I don't know, but there is some commotion.” He glanced behind him, then nodded to someone. “I'm being called into the lobby. Good luck.” He ended the call.
Chase folded his arms. “We don't have time to figure out what's happening at the infirmary. Maybe they figured out the Payson escaped. That's good. But, we have to get to the poison before Payson does. We have to get rid of the poison somehow.”
Devon put out his hands. “You and me? I—I don't think so.”
“Who's going to do it? Sarah?”
“Okay, so we get the poison and then how do we get rid of it? If Payson finds us...” he paused. “Didn't you see what Payson and his men did in the infirmary before they surrendered? They could rip us apart in under a minute...if that long.”
“We just have to locate the poison and get rid of it. You know, throw it out one of the bay air locks or something.” He waved, as if looking out a bay lock window. “So long. Bye-bye poison. It probably won't be that difficult.”
“Uh, okay. I guess we go then,” Devon reluctantly agreed.
Chase rushed to the door and opened it. To his dismay, there was Sarah, listening intently to the conversation.
Chase put his hands on his hips. “What did you hear?”
“Everything.” She then backed away. “Is it all true?”
“What did you hear, Sarah?” asked Chase.
“I heard something about poison, a Payson guy, and the Infirmary. Is there another attack coming?”
Chase put his hands gently on her shoulders. “You have to listen to me. This is of utmost importance. If Devon and I don't get to Sphere 1, then we may have a serious incident on our hands, one that can kill hundreds of thousands of people. But instead of those people dying suddenly, they would die by a poison that could take days of slowly melting their insides, blood pouring out of their eyes, and convulsions so severe they would break their back, one vertebrae at a time.”
Sarah's expression turned from shock to horror. As tears welled up in her eyes she slowly nodded. “This way.” She walked them to the front desk where she printed off two tickets to Sphere 1. She held the tickets just out of reach. “You only get these if I can come with you.”
Chase was impressed by her courage but declined, saying, “If you don't give those to me, then we have no chance of finding the poison and getting rid of it. Please don't make me force those out of your hands.”
Sarah placed the tickets on the counter. “Go, and hurry.”
“Thank you. I will repay your kindness when I can.” Chase gave a nod to Devon, gesturing for them to get a move on.
Episode 11
Blowback
The Oberum was a strangely quiet and translucent starfighter. If one paid attention long enough as it flew by, one could see that an Oberum was egg-shape. On the other hand, if one wasn't keeping a close eye on the starfighter they wouldn't see it at all. When in flight it was practically invisible to the naked eye and only gave off a quiet hum, much like a hummingbird.
No wonder Thomas is always unscathed after a starfighter battle, thought Eden. You can barely see his ship.
Earlier in the day Thomas had seen Starship Sirona while exploring the Lumus landscape and noted its approximate location. He ordered everyone to reset their course to match the starship's coordinates.
The Oberum was hovering just above Eden, concealing her and Thomas's mixed crew of Sirians and Fae from topical view.
“I'm breathing on Planet Lumus,” said Eden, amazed.
Jantu, tall and strong, smiled at her and gave a decisive nod. His strong stride was slow and his muscles flexed through his fur-covered legs. He was at least two feet taller than her, matching the height of the giants that had attacked her race.
“I'm talking to a tall, blue cat,” Eden muttered.
He replied, I'm a Sirian.
She patted his arm and chuckled. “Yes, that too.”
“You doing okay?” asked Nyx, who was walking in front of Eden.
“I could kick every Prime Director's butt right now. They've all lied...all of them. How many pictures of the planet's surface have I seen and never once did I see these colors? How many times were my friends, my people, and I told that we couldn't breathe on Lumus...that the gravity was too dense and would crush us?” She pointed to the ground. “At least this ebb isn't zapping me like it was back on planet Aurora.”
Less concentrated, responded Jantu. You won't get zapped here unless the gold elements are gathered closer to the crystal compounds within the ebb rock we walk upon.
Eden flicked her thumb at Jantu. “Nyx, how does he do that? Every time he talks or speaks I hear it in my mind. And it makes me feel like fluttering away on a happy cloud.”
Nyx nodded. “I've not met a Sirian that doesn't have that affect on others. They telepathically communicate from their heart. It's like listening to the strings of a harp.”
“A harp? Is that another species I'm going to run into as well?” asked Eden.
“It's just an expression,” replied Nyx. “A harp is a very beautiful sounding musical instrument that my race, the Fae, created long ago.” She pointed her fingers forward. “Less talk. More walk.”
Eden cooperated and kept her mouth shut, taking in the newness around her. There wasn't much of a difference from what she'd always seen, except for the ground she was walking upon. And the sunset. She had seen pictures, but right now she was seeing it in person. She grinned. Life was about exploration and experiencing as many things as possible, and even though this adventure was nerve-racking at times, it also had its moments.
She gazed at the falling sun, knowing that soon the sun would dip even lower on the horizon and stop when it showed a sliver of itself. Right now it was almost as dark as Lumus was going to get, and the shadows on the ground would grow about a foot longer and a shade darker. To Eden's delight, it wasn't as cold as the climatologists on Starbase Matrona had always said it was at this time of the evening—almost below zero. In truth, it felt like a comfortable seventy degrees.
They were hiking on a large plateau and nearing the edge of a cliff. She knew there were plenty of canyons on Lumus, but she just didn't know exactly which one she was on. Per Nyx's instructions, she didn't want to ask just now.
Several Sirians ran past her, then slowed and crouched at the edge of the drop-off. They seemed to have spotted something far below and they dropped flat on their bellies.
Eden crouched too, then inched her way on her stomach toward the edge of the cliff and next to the Sirians. She was itching to see exactly what they were observing. The closer she came to the edge, though, the harder it was to push forward. Her feet tingled with anxiety and she couldn't get her hands to cooperate. She broke out in a cold sweat and her breathing became erratic.
She hated heights.
A blast of wind came from behind her, sending small rocks everywhere, including down the canyon wall. Eden looked over her shoulder to see the Oberum coming in for a landing. Once its landing gear struck ground, a door opened and a ramp descended. A moment later Thomas walked down the ramp, then crouched when his feet hit the Lumus surface. He too dropped to his stomach, moving quickly to Eden's side. Her heart start to beat faster. And this time it wasn't because of the height.
He took her by the hand; she wanted to close her eyes and experience this moment forever.
“Thinking about heights will not overcome your fear of heights. Action, on the other hand, will.” He helped her crawl forward. “One knee at a time.”
Instead of heights, Eden imagined Thomas was pulling her in for a kiss. This quickly took her fear of heights away. The closer she came to him, the brighter her eyes felt.
Once she was shoulder to shoulder with him, he pulled out a small pair of glasses and placed them over his eyes, looking down the steep cliff. “The starship is down below.” He took off the
glasses, giving them to Eden. “Put these on and follow my finger. You'll see Sirona is a little beat up, but still intact.”
She placed them over her eyes and flinched a little too much for her own liking. These glasses took away the shadows, magnified and lightened everything around her as if it were still daytime.
“There, do you see Sirona?” asked Thomas.
His voice, thought Eden. It's so nice...so perfect. Eden followed Thomas' finger, then watched as the glasses zoomed in. She nodded. “Yeah, I see it.” She took off the glasses and handed them back. “What do we do now?”
“We wait,” he responded. “Radar picked up a craft headed for Sirona. It was small, so it shouldn't pose a threat to the starship, or to us.” He dipped his head at his Oberum. “I just want to see what's going to happen. The ship was moving slow, much like a passenger transport.”
Just as Thomas finished his sentence, a small ship came around the far corner of the canyon and headed for Sirona. It was dark and had no lights in or around it, as if it was trying to sneak up on Sirona. When it finally reached the giant starship, looking like fly nearing a dragon, Thomas handed Eden the glasses. Putting them on, she immediately saw the small ship as if she were standing next to it.
The ship stopped just above the middle of Sirona and hovered. A platform came down from the ship carrying two people. One person was at least three or maybe four feet taller than the other person and Eden could easily tell that the larger of the two was a man and the smaller was a woman. The two spoke for a couple of minutes until the woman bowed and hopped off the platform and on top of Starship Sirona. The platform raised back into the small ship, swallowing the man from view. It then shot off with incredible speed.
“Who...or what are we watching?” asked Eden. “I couldn't see their faces clearly.”
“It's very peculiar,” replied Thomas. “The woman on Starship Sirona carries herself very well, like royalty.” He turned to Eden. “Or, like an admiral.”
Star Guild Episodes 10 - 18 (Star Guild Saga) Page 5