The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  Not much information, but it’ll work. Okay, that’s one.

  He tapped on all the pictures gears, and the creation date popped up on the image. He scrolled down to look at all of them at once, and he read:

  Eighth of Taween Year 589 EBA...Sixteenth of Rakon Year 589 EBA...Twenty-fourth of Tontor Year 590 EBA...

  He stopped looking and shook his head.

  These are recorded incorrectly, or the Syndicate has gone to Snakardekus several times?

  Major General Reingle swiped his hand to the left and wiped away all the pictures and went to his home screen. He was distraught. He looked at the time on his INH, and the clock read 00:17.

  Crap. I should get to bed, less than six hours until Snakardekus. I’ll be able to research this later. Maybe Solbrig knows something about this.

  Major General Reingle swiped away his INH and turned over to his left side on his bed and closed his eyes.

  Maybe there is more to this world than I know, hell, more to the Tarkington System.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Just a few doors down, Major Generals Brentari and Lokhorst had their own conversation.

  Major General Brentari sat on her bed cross-legged as she was talking to Major General Lokhorst on the INH. Major General Lokhorst was sitting at her desk, leaning back on her chair, and her feet were resting on the end of the desk.

  “What do you think about that meeting we just had, Lokhorst?”

  “Well, honestly, I feel like there is something else going on that we don’t know about.”

  “Yeah, I get that vibe too, but what could it be?” Major General Brentari asked. As she talked, she opened up the “Files” tab.

  “Did you want to look at the files together?” Major General Lokhorst asked.

  Major General Brentari’s eyes moved to the side of the screen in embarrassment. “Uh...yeah, that’s what I was going to just ask you...”

  “Sure, you were Brentari.” Major General Lokhorst smiled.

  “So, let me know when you are there, I suppose then we can sync together.”

  Major General Lokhorst swiped her hand and opened the “Files” tab.

  “Ready?” Major General Brentari asked.

  “Ready.” Major General Lokhorst asked. They individually tapped the small circle on the bottom left of the “Files” tab. It was two arrows, one pointing left and the other right. The “Sync” button enabled users to simultaneously look at their INH’s together while each one controlling it.

  They opened the file together labeled “NEW: VARENOK” and saw many records about Varenok. Among the many records that were there, the first few were titled: “Pictures,” “Environment,” “Creatures,” “Atmosphere,” “Language,” and “Miscellaneous.”

  “How is there all this information about Varenok?” Major General Lokhorst asked. “Like seriously, there’s a lot here, and we are just now finding out about it?”

  “You have a point. I’m upset about this, to be honest, but it’s like what Lieutenant General Armitage said that higher ranks have access to more information.”

  “If that is true, then all seven of us, both Lieutenant Generals and General Deschner have access to this, then?” Major General Lokhorst questioned.

  “Six. Lieutenant General dee Veyra didn’t receive these, remember?”

  “Oh, right. Well, that we know of. I’m sure Lieutenant General dee Veyra has access to it too, like how Lieutenant General Armitage did.”

  “Hm. Probably so.” Major General Lokhorst agreed. “So, now what?”

  Major General Lokhorst exhaled. “Well, let’s try not to get worked up about this. This is a big task, and we are more prepared for this now, right? So...where to start?”

  “I’m...not entirely too sure. This looks like a lot of information, more than I thought would appear.”

  “You’re not lying, Brentari. I thought it would have a lot less, like...nothing.”

  She chuckled. “Yeah, I thought so too.”

  Major General Lokhorst smiled. “So... want to start at the top like at the ‘Pictures’ or...”

  “Sure, that’s fine.” Major General Brentari agreed.

  Major General Brentari watched as her INH screen changed as Major General Lokhorst tapped on the file that was labeled “Pictures,” and it opened numerous pictures.

  “Wow. There’s like...” Major General Lokhorst scrolled through the pictures. “There’s like forty of them.”

  “Forty more than I thought.”

  Major General Lokhorst shook her head. “Well, let’s get to it. Let’s see what Varenok has to offer.”

  “Alright, So... it looks like they are labeled. You see on the right-hand side?”

  “I do. Yeah.”

  “Where should we start?”

  “Hmm...Let’s just start at the first one. Is that alright?”

  “Definitely alright.”

  Major General Brentari tapped on picture number one, and it appeared before their eyes. The picture was from afar and showed the entire planet of Varenok in the image. Varenok appeared on the screen, and the planet was bright blue; it looked very calm and serene. In the image, around Varenok were two moons that seemed like they orbit Varenok. From this image, it looked as if the entire planet was encased in water.

  “It’s really blue, huh?” Major General Lokhorst asked.

  “Very blue.” Major General Brentari replied. “Almost mesmerizing to look at.”

  “Definitely. Did you notice that at least from this picture that there are no landmasses?”

  “Huh, I guess I did not.”

  “Maybe other pictures will show landmasses?” Major General Lokhorst asked. “Or something else besides water?”

  “Maybe so. Only one way to find out!”

  They waved their hands in unison, and picture number two appeared. This time the picture looked almost identical except for the fact that the moons had been moved.

  “Either the whole planet is water, or the Syndicate just likes taking pictures of the same area.” Major General Brentari noted.

  “Hmm...you know there is a way to find out the information of each picture, right?”

  Major General Brentari shook her head.

  “Yeah, here I’ll show you.” Major General Lokhorst explained. “What you do is tap the picture, then on the bottom right-hand side, you tap that gear, and from there you can see all the information about the picture.”

  Major General Brentari followed her orders and did what she was told.

  “So, it looks like these two photographs were taken different days, heck even different years...does that strike you as odd?” she asked.

  “Sort of does. Let me see when.”

  Major General Lokhorst tapped on the gear button and swiped up to see the creation date for pictures one and two.

  “Huh, the eleventh of Larzod of 589 EBA...”

  “Wait... 589? Uh, Lokhorst?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You realize this was almost two hundred years, ago right?”

  “Wait, really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How?” Major General Lokhorst started to speak but couldn’t utter a word. “How...how can that be?”

  “Well, I’m not sure...have we been to other planets before?”

  “No. I-I think we would know about that if it happened, right?”

  “Well, that’s true, but we just found out about this just like an hour ago. Maybe previous Generals knew about that and left all of us in the dark? Major General Brentari asked. “I mean… didn’t General Deschner tell us before that the Syndicate had launched probes to Snakardekus and Varenok before?”

  “I believe so...actually, I can’t recall now if he mentioned it or not.” Major General Lokhorst admitted.

  “Huh, well...we obviously have pictures here of Varenok, so we either had to go there or send probes there. Either way, I am sure that we can learn from these pictures.”

  “You’re right. Don’t dwell on it.” She nodded her h
ead. “Shall we continue?”

  “Well...” Major General Lokhorst looked at the time, and it read 23:30. “You realize at this rate we will be up all night, right?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It’s almost midnight.” Major General Lokhorst rubbed her eyes.

  “Oh my gosh, is it really? Where did the time go?”

  “I... don’t know, but we should get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

  “You’re right about that, we should.”

  “On our way there, we can just hook up our I.N.H to the Drakdel’s screen and look over pictures together.”

  “You’re right about that, Lokhorst.”

  “Well, I’m signing off and getting some sleep. Don’t stay up too late!” She swiped away the side of her INH that was full of Varenok pictures.

  “Goodnight Lokhorst, see you in six hours.”

  “Goodnight, Brentari.”

  CALL ENDED WITH MAJOR GENERAL BRENTARI

  Major General Lokhorst swiped away her INH and laid on her bed, looking at the ceiling.

  I wonder what awaits us in Varenok. I wonder what kind of creatures and environments we will encounter there? I suppose I’ll see it soon enough. I just would like to know what there is before I get there.

  She rolled over on her right side.

  Guess I’ll know soon enough, huh?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Lieutenant General Armitage laid in his bed and quietly heard a beeping noise that happened in sets of three. The sound continued to beep and became louder. He tossed his head and opened one eye as he waved his hand to stop the noise. He saw that the alarm on his INH read 05:30.

  He was not a morning person, but he knew today was the day that the Major Generals leave to Snakardekus and Varenok. Half-asleep, he moved his legs over to the side of the bed and sat there for a moment and looked out his window to the right of him. He could see the sun millions of miles away in space.

  Sunrises up here aren’t like they are down in Nuwurth.

  He shook his head and stood up. He walked over to the mirror and looked at himself.

  I guess I was so exhausted that I didn’t change clothes last night.

  Lieutenant General Armitage looked at the left side of the mirror, and it displayed everything that his INH did. Such as the time, weather, information about himself, and anything else he had on his INH. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, and he brushed his teeth while scrolling through the mirror. Which was connected to his INH to see if there were any sort of documents or files that he had to look over before their departure.

  The Drakdels! I hope General Deschner didn’t forget about that... who am I kidding? He wants them to be here more than anything.

  He looked at the time in the mirror, and it read 05:35.

  I must leave soon...if only there were something I could do. I mean, I did tell the Major Generals, and I gave them everything I knew about the mission. It’s up to them now to look out for themselves. I’ll send them a message later today to see if they read the files or not. If I hurry enough maybe, I’ll be able to catch them before General Deschner does.

  Lieutenant General Armitage swiped away the hologram in the mirror and looked at himself again to make sure he looked presentable. He turned the water on and put his hands underneath the water and splashed his face with the water, and then he exhaled. He walked to the dresser and opened it. Inside were the clothes that he had on. He had many uniforms that were identical to the one that he slept in. He changed quickly into a fresh pair of his uniform.

  He grabbed his dirty clothes and moved them to the clothing bin, then faced the door. He pressed the button, and the door opened as he walked out of his cabin and walked towards the hallway into the docking station, which was right by the Medbay and the Conference Room.

  The docking station is a place that was used to load and unload transhumans and supplies from the USV Valkanaut to other ships. As he reached the docking station, he saw that he was the last one to arrive. He was late. Lieutenant General Armitage walked in, and the doors shut behind him.

  “Nice of you to join us. I thought you weren’t going to.” General Deschner chuckled.

  “Yeah...” Lieutenant General Armitage shook his head. “I guess I overslept, huh?”

  “You guess so?” Lieutenant General dee Veyra asked while raising her eyebrow.

  “Yeah, it happens. I don’t like mornings.” Lieutenant General Armitage replied.

  General Deschner walked to the Drakdels, and then he stood in between both doors.

  “The Drakdels arrived this morning. They are furnished with everything you may need. They look small on the outside, but they are comfortable on the inside.”

  General Deschner turned and pressed a button to open the doors to the Drakdels. When the doors opened, a quick whooshing noise was heard almost as if the air was decompressing.

  “Well, is there anything you want to ask before you leave?” General Deschner asked as he held out his arms.

  The Major Generals looked at one another, then looked at the Lieutenants then at General Deschner.

  “You want us to keep in contact with you, correct General Deschner?” asked Major General Lokhorst.

  “That is correct.”

  “What if by some chance our INH’S cannot send a signal?”

  “Well, you see, the computer inside of these Drakdels are connected wirelessly to the USV Valkanaut. If your INH does not work, try to connect them to the computer, and the signal should be strong enough to reach here.”

  “The lengths that the signal has to transfer must be incredible.” Lieutenant General dee Veyra was amazed. “How did you manage to do to that?”

  General Deschner moved his hands in his pants pockets and chuckled. “All I have is time on my hands. I’ve been looking into this for a while now. The computers are just as a precaution.”

  Lieutenant General Armitage glanced over at the four Major Generals worried.

  Yeah, exactly how long would that be, General. Lieutenant General Armitage thought.

  “Any other questions?” General Deschner looked around.

  “Yeah... for clarification.” Major General Solbrig cleared his throat. “In a month, we come back here to the USV Valkanaut or travel to the other assigned planet?”

  “Yes, Major General Solbrig. You will trade information among yourselves about this mission. You will provide the other two Major Generals where you landed and the whereabouts of such via your INH” He cleared his voice. “In one month, you will be conducting research on your assigned planet, and after that month is over, then you will travel to the other planet. In two months, all four of you will come back to the USV Valkanaut. Then you will enlighten us all that there is to know about Snakardekus and Varenok equally. Is that answer sufficient?”

  General Deschner looked at each one of the Major Generals intently. Each one of the Major Generals nodded in agreement.

  He knew what he was doing, sending them into foreign lands to collect data. Did he also know what they would encounter on the planets? Lieutenant General Armitage thought.

  “Good.”

  “Uh, General Deschner?” Major General Reingle asked.

  General Deschner nodded. “Yes?”

  “How fast do the Drakdels fly anyways?”

  General Deschner answered him. “Well...the Drakdels will move through space faster than the speed of light. Don’t worry, though you won’t feel a thing due to the engine and how it is built.”

  “How it is built?” asked Lieutenant General Armitage.

  General Deschner looked at him and answered. “Lieutenant, you should know that the Drakdels are built out of Kerolium. You do know what that is, right?”

  Is this some sort of joke? Drakdels were never made of Kerolium. They are made out of Titanium and Colerite, not Kerolium... What if he modified the Drakdels for planetary expeditions? There’s only one way to find out.

  “General, did you modify the Drakdel
s for this mission?”

  General Deschner looked at Lieutenant General Armitage and started to speak while his bottom lip slightly quivered.

  “Actually, yes.” General Deschner replied. “You see, Lieutenant General Armitage here knows that Drakdels, in fact, are not solely made out of Kerolium, but in fact, they are made out of- ”