by AZ Kelvin
Kendra Varrin gave the order to depart and the comms screen changed to an exterior view, displaying the Blood Star armada as they turned and headed away from Cantankerous Base. The Keect’na ships made sure she didn’t change her mind about leaving the area.
“I do have to say, Captain Evermore,” Tad said, as they watched the Blood Star ships cruise off before they jumped away, “you do have a knack for attracting the most unfriendly attentions.”
“A knack?” CJ scoffed with a short laugh. “It’s a bloody curse, is what it is! A curse to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time—every blasted place we go.”
“Well, I say, if it means that much to her, let’s go get it first, he he he.” Boss grinned.
“Hell yeah!” Cal agreed enthusiastically.
“Sounds good to me,” Katy said with a curt nod. “No way she gets a pass on interrupting my wedding day!”
“But, what about the surgery?” Gina asked.
“Yeah I want to walk again, badly, but not as badly as I’d like to roast that Blood Star bitch’s brisket! Varrin’s on to it now. A delay will only work in her favor.”
The essence of what Boss had just said rang true with them all, Gina included. CJ looked around at each of his crew and didn’t see a single doubtful face or down-turned eye.
“Aye, then”—CJ had a dangerous gleam in his eye—“into the storm we go.”
*~*~*
Chapter Twenty-Four
CJ sat alone late one night at the table in the common room, ten days after his wedding. The refit of the Altered Moon was complete; the preliminary flight tests were done, and the ship stood ready for her crew to come home. The rebuilt infrastructure and the new hull plating gave the ship a slightly different silhouette than it had before. The shuttle bay had been set deeper into the ship, which gave the outer bay doors a lower profile. The wings came up from the main fuselage in a slight arc, like a pair of eagle’s shoulders, before they swept down and forward to end at the sensory emitter pods.
The dorsal fin rose up from behind the shuttle bay and stood tall, placing the third of four emitter pods in the proper spot to link with the others. The fourth emitter pod was mounted to the ventral hull plating just behind the dark matter collectors on the bottom of the ship. The four positions of the emitter pods were crucial to the Moonshine Special Tactic Option. The pods emitted an overload burst across the electronic, visual, and radio spectrums temporarily disabling an enemy’s sensors so the Altered Moon could reposition to attack or make an escape.
The overall look of the Moon was strong. There was a patient muscularity about the ship, like a bow partially drawn with arrow nocked. When the grey-to-black color patterns of the SlyCore hull plating shifted in the ambient lighting of the dry dock, it almost looked like the ship drew breath.
The finish party had been held that night and the crew was due to board later the next day to be on their way. CJ was too wired to sleep and went over the riddles they found in Stile’s Hideaway to pass the time. He absently spun his mug of now long cold coffee in circles on the table, as he tried to make sense of it all. He stared at the words of the first riddle as though the answer would just show itself if he waited long enough.
“Some are stiff and stout, and like to swivel about…
Some are made of words, with nouns and verbs…
Some others must be seen, in order to be gleaned…
Think hard and do your best…
There’s only one chance to make your guess…
To retrieve the living treasure from inside this chest…
Start your quest at the golden star…
And let the Starfire guide where you are.”
The living treasure, CJ thought to himself. Whatever the hell that is… He looked over the images that were included in the file.
One image showed a wooden box with a grid work of eleven by eleven buttons in the middle. A landscape picture around the perimeter of the buttons, which served as a background, had a grassy field depicted along the bottom and a starry night along the top. Down the left side of the buttons, there was a column of indicator lights, all of which were dark. An image along the right side had an old-fashioned lamppost that was host to a long vine of green leaves and large red flowers that spiraled from bottom to top. A shiny golden star in the sky caught CJ’s eye as he looked the image over.
“Hey,” he said out loud, as his mind linked the golden star in the image to the reference of a golden star in the riddle. Yes, here, he thought as he found the reference. Start your quest at the golden star. Start your quest? What quest? He pondered the riddle again. And then go where?
“Seedge?” Katy came out of their quarters. “Everything all right?”
“Hey, Mrs. Evermore! Yeah, I just couldn’t sleep. Ready to be on the way and all. Here, look at this.” He told her about the golden star.
“Interesting, hon,” she said amidst a yawn, “Is there a supernova in the picture?”
“No, why?”
“I was thinking that Starfire might be a reference to a supernova.”
“Oh—nope,” he said after a quick glance.
“I was thinking about the first three lines, the other day. I think they’re talking about keys.”
“Keys?”
“Yeah, physical, spoken, and visual. Three keys, or maybe three parts of the same key.”
“Hmm.” CJ looked over the image again. “This could be the physical key. These look like push buttons on this console.”
“And the image around it could be the visual key. Where you found the golden star.”
“The riddles make up the spoken key. You might be on to something there.”
“Why would anyone go to all this trouble just to hide their own treasure? Why leave a trail at all?”
“Good question. It has that power control freak funk to it, you know? Like whoever set this up, did it so someone else would have to go through it.”
“Revenge?”
“Or to give themselves time to escape,” CJ said. “It does say ‘living treasure’ here in the riddle.”
“What if it’s not treasure at all? It may be just another smuggler base or maybe a waypoint.”
Pene came out sleepily just then to get coffee and breakfast going. “Morning, Captain, Chief.”
“Good morning, Pene,” Katy answered.
“Good heavens, is it that time already?” CJ was amazed how fast the late night changed to early morning.
“Ah, yup,” Pene blinked a few times, rounded the corner and went into the galley. A few minutes later she came back out with the coffee service. “Chief, cream and cinnamon.” She handed the mug to Katy. “Captain, cream and double chocolate.” She handed CJ his mug and caught a glance of the image on the table. “Ooh, Starfires. They’re so pretty. They were my Mom’s favorite flower, even though we never had one.”
“What did you say?” CJ perked up.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to peek. I just saw it on the table.”
“No, no, no, it’s all right,” CJ said. “What did you call them?”
“Starfires—that’s a Starfire vine.” She pointed to the image.
“Let the Starfire guide where you are,” CJ read from the riddle. “Pene, you’re a genius. Now, how do flowers tell us where to go?”
“Is there any difference between them?” Katy asked and stopped to smell the air. “Pene, what is that?”
“Cinnamon hot chocolate. Try it?” Pene handed her mug to Katy, who took a sip.
“Oh, that’s good; I’ll have to remember that.” Katy smiled, as she handed the mug back.
“No difference that I can see.” CJ waited until Katy was done sampling. “All the same color, all the same shape and size.”
“There’s none on the lamp post, itself.” Katy pointed out. “They’re all on one side or the other.”
“There’s one Starfire for each row,” Pene said.
“Okay, that does it, you’re officially on the mystery-cracking te
am, hotshot.” CJ winked at her.
Pene puffed up proudly.
“There’s also one of these lights, on the other side, for each row.” CJ looked even closer at the image. “Start your quest at the golden star—and let the Starfire guide where you are.” CJ slowly repeated the phrase over a couple of times.
“There’s a golden star here.” Pene pointed at the star they had seen earlier.
“Yeah, we saw that one,” CJ said.
“Look, there’s another star hidden in the flame of the lamp,” Katy said. “That is not a coincidence. What row is the golden star over?”
“The eighth from the left,” CJ said.
“Uh oh!” Pene saw Boss come out of his quarters. “I don’t have anything out yet.” She quickly brewed a double-strong black coffee. “Here you are, Boss, and breakfast will be right up.”
“Ah, thank you, Pene my dear. You are an angel.”
“Mornin’, Boss,” CJ said.
“Good Morning, good morning, it’s so good in fact, I had to say it twice.” Boss grinned widely. “And what mischief are you two up to already today?”
CJ and Katy filled Boss in on what they discovered about the links between whatever it was in the image and the riddle.
“Looks like a puzzle box,” Boss said when he saw the image up close. “These lights on the side count down. You only have so long to solve the puzzle.”
“GABI, are you up?” CJ called into his comms unit.
“Is that a trick question, Captain? Yes, I am already on board the Altered Moon to assure everything is prepped for your arrival.”
“Very good then, it can wait. We’ll be there soon.”
“Acknowledged.”
Gina came out just then fully dressed in her flight suit, as Pene brought out food to eat.
“Somebody better rouse the Doc and Cal,” CJ said, from where he and Boss studied the image.
“I got it,” Gina said.
“Look at the second riddle.” Boss read from the file:
“Three paths go a different direction.
Four scouts run the race.
Seven stars from the same creation.
One chance to keep the pace.
Three queens attend the coronation.
Five bandits rob the place.
Seven demons sow damnation.
Two angels dance with grace.
Four diamonds sparkle in the ocean.
Six hounds continue the chase.
Three ghosts drift in slow motion.”
“Yeah I saw it. Sounds like a bunch of random crap.”
“Yes, except for one thing. They all have numbers. By the Stars! Why didn’t I see this before?”
“And then what, apply the numbers to the buttons?” CJ asked and corrected himself. “No—to the Starfires.”
“Right,” Boss said and then quoted the riddle, “And let the Starfire guide where you are…”
Gina came back and sat down to eat a light and quick breakfast. She made her excuses and went ahead of the others to do a last check of the flight systems before they left. Katy left with her to get things warmed up in engineering. Cat and Cal joined CJ, Boss, and Pene for breakfast and were then caught up in the ongoing conversation.
“So, I think,” Cat said, “that you move over from the golden star in whichever direction the flower is on at the post.”
“So, the first flower is on the left side of the lamp.” CJ plotted it out.
“Right, I mean correct. Start at the golden star and go left three spaces on the first row, according to the first line of the second riddle,” Cat continued. “So, you really think this checkerboard thing is waiting for us at the coordinates?”
“Honestly, Cat, I don’t know what to expect, right now,” CJ said. “Which reminds me, Cal, I’d like you to put together some CQB gear and some hide-away holsters.”
“Really? Are we anticipating close quarters battle?”
“I’d rather anticipate it than be surprised by it. Personally I’d like a pair of extendable assault batons in a side mount back holster.”
“Roger that!” Cal said with a smile. “I know just what you need. Do I have an hour to gather some things?”
“Not much more than that.”
“You good?” Cal asked Zhu, even though he’d made sure most of their stuff was moved back onto the ship the day before.
“Yes, yes, go. I’ll get the rest.”
“I’m off then, see ya on the ship,” Cal said, as he hurried off.
“I have a cart coming from the steward, Cat,” Boss said. “You’re more than welcome to throw whatever you’ve got on there.”
“Thanks, Boss, I’ll take you up on that.”
“You too, Pene,” Boss added.
“Roger dodger.”
“And make sure some of these goodies come along, as well,” Boss said in a hushed tone concerning the sweet rolls. Cat and CJ just smiled, to which he said, “Boy, I can’t wait to be back on my feet and get my appetite back. I feel like I’m wasting away in this suspensor chair.”
“Oh yeah, and it looks that way, too,” CJ joked along with him.
“Aye to that!” Pene said unconsciously with a snort of laughter, which drew a surprised look from Boss. “I—I mean about packing some goodies along with us.” She knew now would be a good time to get busy, while CJ, Cat, and Boss all shared a smile.
The luggage cart easily held the remainder of the group’s personal belongings. CJ and Cat did a sweep of the rooms the group had occupied to check for anything left behind. Boss, Pene, and the steward were already halfway to the transtube, as CJ stopped to look around the common room one last time.
“Seems like forever since we’ve been in space, huh?”
“You got that right, Doc. You ready for this?”
“Hell yeah. If you’re waitin’ on me, you’re wastin’ time.”
The two of them caught up with the others at the transtube. They continued on down to the dry dock level, where they saw Snow as he waited outside the door to Dry Dock Two. CJ and Pene stopped to greet the dog before they continued on their way. CJ was in front of the door, as a technician came out and turned down the hall. The door was open long enough for him to see the infrastructure of a midrange ship that sat in the initial phase of assembly. CJ was curious about what he had just seen and decided to check it out, but when he turned to go into Dry Dock Two, the door wouldn’t open. The automated response stated that Dry Dock Two was for authorized personnel only.
“Huh,” CJ said to Snow because the dog was the only one around. “What’s going on in there?”
Snow couldn’t say.
“Ah, well, cheers buddy!” CJ scruffled Snow’s head and continued on to dry dock three.
CJ stopped as soon as he stepped through the doors of the dry dock. The Altered Moon loomed large above him; steam hissed from somewhere. Maintenance crews hurried to clear the dry dock of equipment before they depressurized for departure. CJ could feel the energy of the ship as the main power systems pulsed with a rhythm of their own. Boss and Pene were at the cargo platform when Gina came up to stand next to CJ.
“I gotta say, Captain,” Gina said after a moment, “she looks real good.”
“Yes she does, G. We’re lucky to call her home. Everything check out?”
“Aye, sir. You want to do a walk around?”
“Absolutely.”
They strolled around the ship and checked for any overlooked issues. Gina took them up on a hover platform to check over the areas not visible from the ground. It took them several minutes to cross the width of the ship.
“Wow, she always seems so small from the inside.”
“I know, weird, huh?” Gina laughed and then spoke into her comms unit. “GABI, this is Gina.”
“Go ahead, G.”
“Hey, can you open the shuttle bay doors for the captain’s inspection, please?” Gina brought the platform directly over the shuttle bay.
“Yes, of course.”
&nb
sp; The outer doors opened almost a full one hundred eighty degrees to show Moonshadow where she sat anchored firmly in place until they needed her. The shuttle now took up only half of the newly redesigned shuttle bay.
“I am amazed they found that much more room in there,” CJ said, as Gina pulled them up and out of the bay.
“Katy said they streamlined the dark matter collection system, which gave up the extra room.”
“Okay, GABI, you can close her up,” CJ called over the comms, as they flew past the shuttle bay and out over the starboard wing.
“Aye, sir.”
The SlyCore hull plating diffused any light, giving the ship a soft finish, like bright starlight on black satin. They passed over the apex of the starboard wing, where one of the particle cannons was mounted.
“GABI, raise starboard dorsal cannon for inspection, please.”
“Roger.”
An access panel slipped away as the firing platform raised from the ship’s interior and locked into place.
“These are the new gimbal mounts.” Gina slowed their descent a bit.
“Mmm, look at that.” CJ pointed to the new cannon and its spherical mounting platform. The three long, rounded triangular barrels of the cannon itself were almost the size of the work platform CJ and Gina rode on. “Impressive, thank you, Gina,” he said, as she settled the platform back down to the deck.
“My pleasure, sir.”
“You good to go?”
“Ready and rarin’, sir!”
“Good, say your good-byes then, and power up the systems for preflight.”
“Roger that!”
CJ walked up toward the bow of the ship as Crissi came across the shuttle bay to join him. He couldn’t help but admire Crissi’s beauty as she walked over. Such exquisite colors: various shades of green, blue, pink, violet, yellow, and clear, they all sparkled and twinkled, as she moved. Color pulses through the body crystals were frequent, as they were used to communicate, and the occasional streak of bioenergy would course through them, here and there, when their physiology called for energy.
“Eealann Na’Hann, SeeShay.”
“Eealann Na’Hann, Crissi.”
“Iiii aunnted tau ggiithh tau eau,” she said, as clearly as she could in the Human tongue while she handed a Keect’na data crystal to him.