Sheppard's Quest

by Gary Caplan

“I’m not quite sure where to begin,” Garfield went on. “I have known about this possibility for a long time before I first visited Earth in the 2160s.”

  Sheppard was aware that Garfield was quite old by human standards and had lived for several thousand years. He was one of the more friendly members of Karratin people, and a powerful grandmaster Star Knight capable of the most advanced Star Knight skills. Today Sheppard saw something he had never seen in his mentor: anxiety. Garfield was actually worried about something. If the Accads didn’t cause him to worry, what would?

  “For now what needs to be known is that an entity capable of devouring a world has found a way into this universe. It began its consumption of organic material on a world under a thousand light years from here.”

  Sheppard raised his eyebrows and, with his mouth partially open, asked, “What? How is this possible? It sounds unreal,” said Sheppard. He looked around the room, drawing upon the solidness of his office and the surrounding area while trying to comprehend what his old mentor just said.

  Garfield removed one of his devices from his vest.

  “Let me show you. The good news is that it has been initially contained by the Calyx, and the breech was closed by the Thurians.” Garfield’s device morphed and changed into another device with a spherical view screen. It then showed images of the arrival of the entity, showed it closing on a world and some kind of serpentine tendrils moving down and going into the atmosphere. Sheppard could see the thing was huge. It was the size of a small moon, probably a few thousand kilometers across, and it had what seemed to be miles-long tentacles. But somehow it seemed to be alive. Vapors and clouds poured from it and out of the tentacles toward the planet. The images were fast forwarded, and the planet seemed to be getting darker, the colors of life leaving it. Then some unusual ships Sheppard had never seen began to surround it and bombard it with projectiles and cutting beam weapons, resulting in explosions. A different kind of ship appeared near where the entity emerged and remained stationary while the crystalline ships attacked.

  The entity began to send tentacles toward the crystalline ships and damaged some of them. It then pulsed with a barely-visible light, backed away from the alien ships and the planet, and headed out into space. It tried to form a hyperspace tunnel of some kind, but the crystalline ships perused and disrupted its forming hyperspace tunnel, so it couldn’t escape. Sheppard knew it would take a great deal of energy to form such a tunnel for an object its size. The entity must have acquired the necessary energy from the planet for the hyperspace tunnel aperture. The other stationary ship that had appeared near the entity’s entry point followed after it once the hyperspace tunnel closed. It launched some torpedoes at the entity that seemed to crack off some small pieces. The fast replay continued as the entire group moved away from whatever observing device the Hegemony acquired the images from.

  “What was happening?” said Sheppard.

  Garfield responded, “The entity is known generally as a Nahalion. It is a chaotic creature that comes from another universe. It entered through a rift; luckily no others of its kind, either smaller or larger, exited with it.”

  Sheppard said, “If I recall, the Thurians and the Calyx are other elder races like the Hegemony, and that creature was fending them off.”

  “They were not able to mobilize enough of the proper type of ships to deal with it, but we in the Hegemony have dispatched several ships to destroy it.” Garfield said. “The Calyx sent what was nearby, and the Thurians sealed the rift so more could not escape. The report I received indicated the spatial damage near the Dendaga system where the Nahalion exited was severe, and the rift could not be completely repaired.”

  “That does not sound like good news,” said Sheppard.

  “This problem started even before my time. It is partially due to the Thurians’ use of a technology capable of moving entire worlds or parts of worlds around. In any case others are dealing with this threat; the alert status was precautionary.”

  “Where are these Thurians from?” asked Sheppard.

  Garfield replied, “They have a few worlds they are still active on, but I think the only one the Alliance has been to is the planet called Archaeus. Their cultural influence and population have been in decline, and the Thurians also tend to like to place themselves in prolonged stasis.”

  Sheppard nodded and said, “I have seen some type of Calyx ships before. They arrived at QB7 after the two task forces I assembled to battle with the Varlon who were in the process of capturing QB7. Later, the Accads arrived and took some of what you told me later were Quellien crystals from the planet’s interior, and then used their antiproton cannons to destroy QB7 rather than allow it to come back to the Alliance of Worlds.”

  “Yes, but what you may not know is that the Calyx had set those crystal clusters to be used essentially as stability generators. This dimensional breech is likely the result of a weakening of the barrier that the crystals in the Quellius system were designed by the Calyx for. Even the name is ancient and derives from the crystals.”

  Sheppard thought back remembering. He felt odd, like he was just beginning to glean some unknown knowledge, and said, “Well, that explains more of why that Protren arrived as I was in the escape pod and, well, I’m still not sure what to call it, ‘performed a miracle’ and restored the planet and the remaining starships and crew on both sides of this war, even allowing the Phoenix to live up to its name. Then the Calyx arrived to repair or replace the crystals—or were they involved in some other way?”

  Garfield replied, “Correct. I told you some of the issues after the battle of QB7. The Protren acted to restore a balance of sorts, restoring the planet with all the destroyed starships and orbital facilities—including the damaged crystals—even the Varlon starcraft, with the exception of the missing Quellien clusters taken by the Accads. As a result, at least some protection and stability was provided by the remaining crystals until the dutiful Calyx arrived to rejuvenate and in their own fashion restore the missing pure Quellien that had been stolen by the Accads. As with the previous QB7 colony, your Alliance’s science directorate agreed not to disturb the Calyx’s crystalline depositories.”

  Sheppard said, “Yes, don’t fool with what you don’t understand. Sharon eventually told me about her temporary duties helping the archaeological section before QB7 was attacked. She mentioned that the integrity of the deep deposits needed to be maintained but did not really know why.”

  Garfield said, “Well at least this Nahalion is being dealt with, so the Alliance of World’s fleets here don’t need to worry. The Talcon were notified, and if the Nahalion eludes the ships or is somehow able to call others through, and as it is in this region, the Talcon can send ships to deal with it.”

  “If it is as powerful as I could see from the images of the battle with the Calyx, then the Alliance may not have the necessary power to deal with it alone,” Sheppard said, and Garfield nodded in agreement.

  Sheppard glanced at his chronometer and then continued, “I still have to make an appearance to help investigate why the Talcon have had some missing animals. I think Sherman and Wilder will ask some of the elders who have voluntarily attached to this fleet. However, perhaps I should ask you for some help. Do you think one of our elder races here like the Betellians, or perhaps one of the Hegemony members like the Estrians or Lyramenians or Karratins, or the Quarran, or maybe even the Rhyn could have been involved in taking some Talcon zoo creatures over the past several days? I already ruled out the Varlon as they have never done anything like this in the past and it’s really not something I would even consider them trying to do.”

  “I can inquire directly to some of the Hegemony science officers or the ships’ captains, and you are right: this type of action is not attributable of the Varlon,” said Garfield. “All I can say for certain is that I have not removed any animal specimens from the Starcity. I’ll ask Admiral Wiesse, and he can answer for the Betellians.”

  Sheppard said, “Thank you.
I have some of the Phoenix crew helping as well to try to figure out something about what happened. Well, if you will excuse me, I have to get back to the Starcity to personally investigate this.”

  “Of course, I noticed you are concerned Rob, not only for political reasons but to foster a real friendship with these Talcon,” replied Garfield.

  Sheppard said, “You’re right. It’s more than just political reasons. Well, your grace,” he said, addressing his former mentor with his Karratin ducal title and a smile, “I have to walk to get to docking bay two, since I have not mastered the translocation discipline like you to teleport about. If Ares knew you were here without her personal security escort, she would be devastated.”

  Garfield replied as he slowly smiled, “More like she would be anxious someone got past her.”

  Sheppard left his office with Garfield. Purely as a courtesy, Garfield went to the bridge communication officer to provide additional cipher codes should the COMNET system, which had been transferred in the past as a gift from the Hegemony to the Alliance of Worlds, send any further information about the rogue Nahalion.

  Chapter 4

  Talcon Zoo

  A Talcon guide met the group as they waited and then boarded the tram to one of the many interior zones of the Starcity. Sections of the Starcity had reorganized and changed since their initial visits here while the inhabitants were in stasis, having recently exited its travel mode. Habitats and subsections were opened or unfolded that barred the passage of starships, even those with atmospheric drives, from entering the inner crust’s habitat zones and platforms. They took the tram, a multicar maglev passenger carrier not unlike an old Earth train. There were a few other passengers, including some Talcon, seated in the transport. Sheppard watched the expansive external scenery of the habitat regions they passed through within the Starcity. They would occasionally go through a tunnel area before arriving at the next compartmented habitat zone. Sheppard sat with Sharon Taylor, and when they passed through the second tunnel passage separating the habitat areas, she held his hand for a moment and smiled. He looked over and smiled back at her.

  “Well, I haven’t been able to be part of one of your investigation teams since we were last within the Starcity,” said Sharon.

  “Let’s hope this time it’s not as dangerous here,” replied Sheppard.

  She smiled and looked out the window of the tram. “Well, with the security computer no longer producing protomatter monsters derived from our subconscious to defend the sleeping Talcon, I think we’re safe.”

  Sheppard nodded, thinking back to the first exploration when he and a full company of crew arrived into a section of the Starcity near where some Varlon corrupting nanotorpedoes had breached into the hull and some Accad warriors had arrived to infiltrate the Talcon stasis chambers. Sharon had found the matter projection devices that were beneath several areas, which allowed the defense artificial intelligence to create a temporary protoform of a tentacled horror to at first scare away and then confront the space marines and crew who were exploring the Starcity over a year ago.

  They passed through several habits as they watched the scenery. They had a priority tram, and it stopped only once at what appeared to be a water-and-ice refuge. A few Talcon passengers dressed in cold-weather gear got on the tram. This area seemed a colder or wintery zone from what could be viewed out the tram’s windows, which began to frost over somewhat. Later along the way, they passed other habitats that were like gardens or held sections of an arboreal forest. Lieutenant Commander Ares and Dr. Grey moved into the area where Commodore Sheppard and Commander Taylor sat.

  Grey said, “Our guide indicated the next habitat is our stop.”

  Sharon got up and went to gather her equipment. After a few minutes, the tram slowed and then stopped at one of the open habitats, a savannah area. They walked to a pavilion that was in the process of being constructed. It appeared to be about half completed, and some Talcon construction crews were working on it. They were introduced to Crenwir who was one of the senior Talcon zoologists for this region. He was one of the individuals who reported the missing animals.

  “Senior Director Crenwir,” said Sharon Taylor, “I read your initial reports about the disappearances, including the Talcon prince’s personal collection.”

  Crenwir nodded and said. “At first the authorities thought we misplaced the cyrospecimens or that they died, and we staff here were covering up a problem.”

  Sheppard said, “But you were right: they disappeared and were likely taken.”

  Crenwir replied, “Yes, after some initial investigation by the staff here and eventually by the security authorities, that was the conclusion.”

  Ares asked, “Sir, can you take us to the sections the animals were taken from.”

  Crenwir led them to the area where some specimens of the rare, catlike predators, which had become scarce on their world of origin, were kept. Ares and Taylor took their scanning tools out and began data collection. Sheppard looked at the nearby educational displays, and after a moment, the display began using language he was familiar with. His investigation team continued to unload their equipment. Then he went to help O’Brien move some equipment cases from the entrance to the investigation area.

  “These were only one of the many specimen types that are missing. It’s as if some faction sampled and removed them methodically,” Crenwir said. “Early on we thought this could be the result of those recently awakened colonists who belonged to the fringe environmental group that believed these creatures should be free and we had already found some habitable planets. However, after our security reviewed the loss, the findings did not support that live free faction.”

  Taylor replied, “I realize you made an investigation already, but we have to have our own data as the Talcon have not granted us the level of security access to certain data stores.”

  “Actually, we have investigated this only to a limited degree,” Crenwir said. “Because we still have many colonists in suspended animation pending the decision of colony locations, many of our educated expert colonists who could have evaluated this in a more thorough manner are still in the medical awakening process or in the information briefing process.”

  “Then it will be good to look at the problem from, say, an external viewpoint,” added Dr. Grey.

  As she passed by, Ares said, “I’ll look at the access points and energy shielding in this area, along with any potential security issues.”

  “Yes, I agree this is a good task for an external agency to do, sir,” Crenwir said. “It’s also an excellent idea to obtain additional data for you to evaluate, Lieutenant Commander Ares, but still it is unfortunate your people have not been granted a higher access to our computer and security systems.”

  Grey commented as he smiled, “That would make this too easy for these experts then.” Taylor grinned at him then moved off to scan some soil samples.

  Ares raised her eyebrow and said, “That’s all right; I like a challenge, sir.”

  Crenwir looked around for a minute, then motioned and said, “I will also take you to examine the areas of the few avian species that were also removed from their habitat zone.”

  O’Brien removed some diagnostic scanning equipment from the cases he and Commodore Sheppard had carried out to the first investigation area. Then O’Brien began to put together some tachyon detectors and some multispectrum sensors. The passage of time would degrade any results. Sheppard knew he wanted to come up with some theories then select the most likely after the scans were analyzed.

  The officers had brought a few computer device links, known simply as CDLs, to interface with the few information systems to which the Talcon allowed them access, to obtain data from the time of the animal specimen’s loss. All key command stations on the Phoenix’s bridge had access to backup eye circlet CDL interface units. Chief Engineer O’Brien activated his implant imbedded behind his ear to interlink to his sensor devices. O’Brien looked across the field and noticed Sheppar
d using his more retro-fashioned commlink hand unit and smiled. In moments O’Brien set up the detectors, and using his interlink, he rapidly interfaced with the system and verified that the scanning was proceeding. If the initial scans were not useful, he would have the data and know when to move the devices to a better and probably more useful scanning area.

  Crenwir took Sheppard and Grey into the habitats to tour them and also showed them the habitats with missing animals as the crew officers followed to obtain some sensor readings. The facility was extensive, and several different areas had missing animals and other specimen types, including some mineral and soil samples.

  Crenwir said, “The specimens were taken from three sites on the Starcity. This was the last one, from what we can gather. We believed if any traces of the event were left, it would be with the last occurrence.”

  Grey asked, “Were there many staff that were possible observers present then.”

  Crenwir said, “There were few staff present—only those monitoring during the various feeding times. No actual direct observations of the missing animals occurred, at least not that anyone has admitted to.”

  The first site they visited was damp smelling and, as indicated by the outside display information, it was some kind of plant eating animal with a long neck. Crenwir said, “Many of the habitat zones or feeding areas affected have not been repopulated yet, so they are much as they were when we originally created and formed them.” Another creature that had missing members was one of the ones not taken from a habitat. As Robert and Sharon moved to see it, the rodent-like creature squeaked and ran away on its small feet. “Looks like we scared that one off,” said Sheppard.

  Sharon replied, “I got some readings before it scampered away, and O’Brien and his small team will get some more detailed readings.”

  In another area, they saw some very colorful insects that were quite large. O’Brien said, “Some of these creatures are as big as the dog I had as a child.”