NEBULAR Collection 7 - Guardians of the Continuum: Episodes 31 - 34

by Thomas Rabenstein

»Okay, go ahead and ask.«

  Takahashi wiped over his thin lips before he asked, »How could you find us? We were stranded and have been thrown off course by a cosmic phenomenon, ending up in this solar system. No one could know that we’re in this remote sector of space.«

  »Even Toiber Arkroid didn’t, at least not at that time, when he gave us the memory cube before his departure from the Solar System,« confirmed Herimos.

  »Yet, he had been here some time ago to leave another message,« said Ultimus. »How does this fit together?«

  »We don’t know,« admitted Herimos. »But with his message to Vasina, he took care that the Nebular left Earth on time to meet the Atlantika. You remember our short rendezvous in the Neptune System, near the small moon Psamathe?«

  »Of course, I remember,« Takahashi confirmed knitting his forehead. »In other words, the meeting was not an accident?«

  Tranos seems to shiver a little when he said, »My Queen was involved in the construction of the Nebular. During the last six years, she made sure that this ship was built and completed on time. We encouraged Admiral Friedberg to transfer the command of the ship to you … Horatio Takahashi.«

  Takahashi and Ultimus listened to Tranos with rigid faces.

  »No, the meeting in the Neptune System was not accidental, but intentional. The meeting lasted long enough to attach a Progonaut tracing probe to the ship’s hull, with which we were able to finally locate you guys,« Tranos explained quietly.

  »Why, if you already had all the information?« asked Takahashi calmly.

  Herimos answered in a deep voice, »I don’t want to play down anything, but we’re on a very dangerous path. Toiber Arkroid had already, several times, interfered with the timeline. He can no longer truly distinguish which message will ensure the future since his first statement. One wrong step, too much information or a careless note, and our timeline collapses! Even our conversation, which we’re having at this moment, could be devastating or as well be necessary so that the temporal order is preserved.«

  Takahashi’s heart was racing.

  So, that’s it! We run the risk of creating a time paradox. The more we know about the future, the more we are also a part of it, he thought.

  »Now it’s your turn,« Vasina reminded Takahashi. »What did Arkroid tell you?«

  Slightly nervous, Takahashi, rubbed his hands, pondering.

  »The core message was: We should in no way oppose the stranger or even fight the squid ship. Arkroid strongly appealed to us to just let everything happen. I followed his advice!«

  »Is that all?« Herimos asked insecurely and looked at Takahashi. »Why did you follow Arkroid’s advice?«

  »I don’ know,« he replied. »The message sounded authentic and important. It was the way he sent this message to us. I knew Arkroid from many reports and had studied the events in Scutum-Crux. The Techno-Ferry missions fascinated me. I really don’t know how …«

  »Arkroid wanted you to be the commander of this ship! He explicitly insisted on giving you the command over the experimental cruiser, six years before you completed your training. So, we’ve made sure that you were picked. There must be a reason! Why do you think that the Solar Union entrusted the most modern cruiser to a relatively inexperienced commander?«

  Takahashi swallowed hard and straightened. Although his voice faltered, he replied confidently, »Because I can!«

  Vasina smiled softly.

  »We don’t question your abilities. We’re just looking for answers.«

  »What was your allusion about the temporal blur?« Art Ultimus asked.

  Herimos beat his fist against his chest armor.

  »Toiber Arkroid doesn’t just see the future, he thinks himself into the future. He spoke of Temporal-knots or key events which stabilize the timeline. Sometimes, however, different paths lead to these knots and even Arkroid can’t predict exactly how each of these sidelines look in detail.«

  »That’s a very complex issue,« warned Vasina. »Arkroid had probably thought forward the events on the planet and made sure that you were on board the cruiser. But he didn’t tell us any details about the rest of your crew. Either he didn’t know, or he didn’t want to say it in order not to interfere more with the timeline.«

  »He didn’t know it!« Art Ultimus suddenly said and got Vasina’s attention. »Arkroid has left a marker for us, with which we were able to find the portal on Crashpoint. Strovol, our Taslanan, had already located the portal, however. Had Arkroid known that we have a living tachyon energy sensor on board the ship, then his effort would not have been necessary.«

  »What marker?« Herimos asked.

  »Arkroid left a clearly visible sign in the dense forest on Crashpoint. An image that can easily be interpreted by us,« said Takahashi. »He burned a picture of the Solar System in the forest, modeled after old crop circles on Earth, visible from a great height. However, he didn’t complete the crop picture. Our computer decrypted the circles immediately. The circles were not to scale according to their true planetary orbits, but they showed an exact replica of the planet’s radii, except for Mercury, which was completely missing in the picture.«

  Vasina turned pale, Herimos also showed signs of nervousness.

  »We want to see all data on these … crop … or forest circles … for further analysis. Can you manage that?« Tranos asked.

  Takahashi nodded, and added, »We’ve also observed an anomaly which Ultimus described as a tachyon valve. This crack in space structure was the reason for our accident and probably also the reason why the Guardian of the Continuum appeared here.«

  Herimos breathed faster. So far, the Neo-Sapien had never lost his composure, but now, he became nervous.

  »Guardian of the Continuum? Anomaly?«

  »We’re going over all your observations and data accurately and analyze them,« Vasina explained calmly. She also seemed concerned. »Everything indicates that we’re dealing with a temporal knot. The activity in this solar system is a key event, essential for our future …«

  »… and whether this knot bursts or continues in the right timeline,« Ultimus added thoughtfully.

  »… only the future knows!« Takahashi finished the sentence and looked around the room.

  32 - Frost Artifacts

  Written by Thomas Rabenstein

  In secret mission

  The commander, dressed in a crisp white uniform, entered the command central, causing spontaneous laughter among his crew.

  With a casual walk, he headed straight for his command chair, slumped in his seat with a deep sigh, crossed his legs and looked around wondering.

  »Have I missed something?«

  Welf Rouven, First Navigator of the converted Pulsar Cruiser Solar Pride, controlled himself with a lot of effort and pressed his lips together. Yet, his facial expressions couldn’t hide his amusement.

  »What’s with you, Welf?« the commander asked with a worried voice. »Do you have a toothache? Should I call the ship’s doctor?«

  »No, please don’t!« Welf Rouven replied, feigning horror. »Dorothea is going to send me to the sickbay, and I’d have to endure hours of checkups.«

  »Ah?« stretched Fosset and smirked.

  »I don’t know how our navigator feels, but I’m afraid your dress uniform burns into my sensitive retina. Instead of calling a physician, you might as well call an eye doctor. This gleaming white jacket looks really dazzling, Commander,« said Gamze Acun and stroked briefly over her artfully arranged hair. The young, attractive woman, with Asian complexion, looked, discreetly coughing, at the rest of the crew, then added with accentuated words, »Just like an ice-cream vendor.«

  After her words, some members of the command central crew fought with their composure. Only the commander maintained his regular face, looked at Gamze Acun in surprise and raised his eyebrows.

  »I knew that I could count on your honest judgment. I just wonder, however, why I’ve made you the manager of my science department. Since you boarded my ship, half the crew
is laughing at me.«

  »You accepted my application because I was the best from all the other applicants and had the most experience. I didn’t come here because I’m after your money,« she replied snappily and confidently.

  »Oh, you’re not?« asked Fosset with fake amazement.

  »No thanks,« Gamze Acun assured quickly. »Not even if you were twice as rich.«

  »Too bad,« Fosset, grinning. Then he looked down at his uniform and flattened a fold on the right jacket sleeve. »I don’t understand what’s wrong with this outfit. Don’t you know that in former days, the captains of ocean liners invited selected guests for dinner in such uniforms to dine on the high seas? They were usually then sitting at a large round table. Only the gold fringes on the epaulets and silver seams are not quite a proper style and were added at my request. I thought this gives the uniform just the right touch and dignity.«

  »You want to eat with us? Now?« Kokrint asked quickly. The dwarfish ship engineer from the planet Zerbit rolled excited with its protruding frog eyes. His long red eyelashes blinked hectically. The skin color of the extraterrestrial changed quickly between blue and green, showing his inner feelings. Immediately a low rumble sounded, an unmistakable sign of the Zerbite’s seething gastric juices.

  »You should really be adjusting your universal translator, Kokrint,« advised Gamze Acun. »There won’t be any food now. The commander spoke of historical events.«

  »My last decent meal was also a historical event,« lamented the Zerbite. He reached into his wide jumpsuit and pulled out a dried Jabba-Jabba leaf which he crushed loudly smacking with his molars. He enjoyed it while his skin color changed to magenta. There was a crackling sound, as the vegetarian crunched the fibers of the red fern leaf. The resulting noise made Gamze Acun grimace painfully.

  »We understand Kokrint,« acknowledged Welf Rouven. »After all, you had your last meal about thirty minutes ago.«

  »How did you lure Kokrint away from the GCC and inspire him to serve on the Solar Pride?« Gamze Acun asked Fosset, smiling boldly.

  »We’re glad to have such a capable engineer on board. The rest of the story is unimportant,« Fosset replied briefly.

  »Unfortunately, the pre-tachyon technology of this vessel cannot be modified as desired,« explained Kokrint while chewing his leaf. »I can’t live up to my fullest potential, but to get the most out of these ancient systems excites me, nevertheless. You have to see it in the right spirit of things.«

  Fosset nodded.

  »Thanks to your skills, the Solar Pride is already significantly improved over her sister ships. Our cruiser has an artificial gravity vector and an inertia damper. Only an FTL drive is missing to fully realize my vision, and then nothing will keep us in the Solar System!«

  Fosset leaned back and gazed at the central display.

  »I wonder what we could find out there?«

  »Good Lord! We should better buy a life insurance policy,« murmured Gamze Acun. »I have the feeling that we right away end up in the deepest trouble, right from the get-go.«

  »An FTL flight without weapons and protective fields is not in my contract. It’s void outside this solar system. Although I’m always hungry, I’m not stupid. Your small ship would be pirate fodder,« Kokrint ate even louder to stress his point. His eyes rolled as if he was pondering. »Buhut …,« he stretched the word, »I have a mirror brother who could arrange that the Solar Pride could be fitted accordingly. Of course, only against stable currencies or in exchange of valuable goods. The GCC doesn’t need to know.«

  »Understood,« Fosset muttered, winking at Gamze Acun.

  »Mirror brother sounds interesting,« Welf Rouven interjected, as he checked the course data of the private spaceship. »What is this all about? Does he look like you?«

  The small, quirky dwarf with his long trunk-like nose, spiky hair and large protruding frog eyes grinned broadly, showing his massive vegetarian teeth.

  »No, it means, he eats the same as I do.«

  »Unfortunately, it’s illegal, to equip a private spaceship with weapons. I don’t even want to think about an FTL drive,« Fosset said regretfully. »But one day these barriers will fall. We’re only at the beginning of a new and rapid development.«

  »Another question, Commander,« Gamze Acun changed the subject. »I can’t make heads and tails from our flight data. We already made the fifth course change, fly from planet to planet, fly deceiving maneuvers in the Solar System, to finally arrive in the middle of nowhere. Do you even know where we’re going?«

  Fosset showed his famous smile. Fine crinkling appeared around his eyes, which sparkled mischievously.

  »Just wait and see, Gamze. My research showed me to follow a hot lead, and if I’m right, then it’ll be very exciting. Our destination will motivate and appeal to your researcher’s instinct.«

  Fosset looked her boldly in the eyes and smiled confidently.

  »Oh no,« she groaned in agony. »I know this look! You’re not looking again for these extraterrestrial artifacts, which according to your theories, stem from the time before that supernova … that explosion cloud that formed our Solar System?«

  »I’m still convinced that this Pre-Nova Civilization existed, but that’s not it,« Fosset reassured her.

  »Too bad,« said Welf Rouven without looking up from his navigation console. »We would’ve been able to watch ourselves again in the system-wide news channels. I can still vividly remember the last stupid broadcasts. The tabloids attacked us and ripped apart this beautiful theory.«

  »But it wasn’t as bad as the unauthorized surface drilling on the moon Europa. You still remember these universal life spores that you suspected below the lunar crust and from which all life is said to have developed on Earth?« Gamze Acun interjected derisively.

  »No, that neither,« laughed Fosset. »But we’ll get back to that subject matter at a later time.«

  Addressing the Zerbite, he asked, »What do you say about my theories and research projects? Isn’t it time for creative thinkers who seek a little adventure, making new, unexpected discoveries?«

  »It’s time to eat something. I’m hungry,« Kokrint replied gruntingly and shoved another Jabba-Jabba leaf in his mouth.

  Fosset frowned briefly, then he slowly got up and tugged discreetly on his white uniform. »I’ll go back to my cabin and switch to the regular uniform. Welf, please, call me as soon as we crossed Sedna’s orbit and tell the chief to concoct something special for today.«

  »For which occasion, Sir?« Wolf Rouven asked.

  »I want that Kokrint feels comfortable in his skin and that we can dive into the upcoming adventure with renewed vigor. A good dinner always helps,« Fosset said convinced. »If Chambers refuses again to add a few carbohydrates to the dinner or worse, doesn’t serve dessert, then he’ll be walking on Pluto’s surface – barefoot! I want to announce something important at dinner.«

  »Since you mentioned it,« exclaimed Rouven and coughed mutedly, »We’ll be passing the Charon Base shortly. There’s a remote scanning station and a Hawk squadron located on Pluto. They probably want to know what we want here, so far out in the Solar System. What do you want me to tell them if they call us?«

  Fosset turned around before leaving the command central and said, »The Charon Base commander, Stephen Fungus, is an old friend of mine. He knows the Solar Pride and probably waves us through. But should someone ask some stupid questions, then just say that Hugh Fosset is taking one of his little trips again.«

  Dinner in the outer ring

  Exotic scents, outlandish sounds and classy-looking place settings – that’s how the mess hall presented itself to the crew after the shift change.

  Hugh Fosset paused for a moment in the open airlock and whistled through his teeth.

  Chambers has once again outdone himself. He even brought out the martial goblets from Equinox. Hopefully, the crew is strong enough to lift these massive cups. Generally, these chalices are only used during the Neo-Sapien manhood initiatio
n ceremonies. Even an Equinox warrior drinks from these cups with both hands, Fosset thought impressed.

  The ship’s cook was standing behind the galley counter and was eyeing the crew expectantly, who was entering the mess hall. Chambers sharpened two long filleting knives and checked the cutting edges again and again with his thumb.

  He’s curious how they take his arrangement, thought Fosset and nodded appreciatively at Chambers. The ship-owner listened for a moment to the strange music which filled the room. The sounds were somewhat strange and yet familiar. Fosset had heard this music once before and puckered his brow. Of course, the Shwakan fertility anthem. The melodic sounds are supposed to stimulate the appetite and Shwakan reproductive instincts. Maybe these sounds have the same effect on Humans.

  Fosset looked around and saw a familiar face. The head of his science department was already present and surrounded by a crowd of young cadets.

  Gamze Acun was the focal point as usual. Each of the young men wanted to take the opportunity to introduce himself or exchange a few words with her.

  Fosset noticed a flash for one second. It came from a tiny gem which was gracing Gamze’s left nostril. The piercing was not only an eye-catcher, made of genuine torpin-stone from Hexaquotl’, but also a small communicator with which she could always tap into the intercom system.

  Her dinner dress must have been cut from Pleunatan garment. No other material of this galaxy could bring out her curves that well, Fosset thought appreciatively, sighed deeply and walked slowly toward the captain’s table. He gazed at the holographic place cards which established the seating arrangements. With a few quick moves, he exchanged Kokrint’s place card with Gamze’s. The scientist was going to sit on his right side now.

  When Fosset looked up, he met Chambers’ brief glance. The steep wrinkles on the cook’s forehead revealed that he had noticed the change of his seating arrangements. Fosset blinked at him briefly and then sat down in his seat.

  »Commander, may I sit down?« Welf Rouven asked. The navigator smiled and pointed at his place card.