The Syndicate's Journey

by Nicholas Bogucki

  “Good!” He moved his hands together and leaned forward in anticipation. “Can you upload the picture to the Drakdel by any chance?”

  “Let me see...”

  Major General Solbrig tapped on the circular map, and another screen appeared which showed where they had been and where they had flown to. The map was zoomed out more than before but revealed more of Snakardekus.

  “Let’s see if this will work...”

  Major General Solbrig dragged the map of picture seventy-three onto the map of Snakardekus that the Drakdel showed, and then the map zoomed out even more than before. Picture seventy-three had created a red dot that appeared on the map.

  “Whoa...”

  “Are you sure that’s right?” asked Major General Reingle.

  “Seems like it…I mean, how should I know?”

  “If that is the case, and picture seventy-three was taken there.” Major General Reingle pointed to the top right of the screen. “Then, Snakardekus is huge!”

  “I mean, that is a possibility, sure.”

  “What would be another possibility then be?” Major General Reingle asked.

  “That Snakardekus has changed over two hundred years and that what we might see now and what we see in the picture is different.”

  “You could be right about that; we still have to see.”

  “I am just saying that it is a possibility. I’m sure Snakardekus hasn’t drastically changed over the last two hundred years.”

  “That is true, but we still should explore there, Solbrig.”

  “Sure, we can. It might be a while if this is accurate.”

  “I’m fine with that!”

  Major General Reingle was sitting in his chair, pleased with himself that he had figured out where the Snargde might be located. There was some sort of activity where they had been, but he wanted to find them. He did not want to search all month long for the elusive creature.

  “How fast can the Drakdel fly?” asked Major General Reingle.

  “Want to find out?” Major General Solbrig half-smiled at him and swiped his hand and pressed the button “Auto-Pilot” and then moved his hand over to the left and placed his finger on the button and moved it higher on the scale. He moved it as high as he could. The numbers grew increasing until they stopped at 800 mph.

  “Let’s see this thing fly, Reingle.” He turned and smiled at him.

  The Drakdel started to accelerate slowly while it picked up speed then faster as it began its course. Snakardekus started to fly by them. On the screen a message popped up that read:

  TIME UNTIL DESTINATION: SIX HOURS

  “Look at this Reingle; it looks like we will be there in... six hours?!”

  “What... really? Even at this speed?” he gasped.

  “How big is Snakardekus? On Nuwurth, six hours at this speed was more than a third way around the planet.” Major General Solbrig noted.

  “I don’t know how that’s possible, but it seems like it is. I’m starting to think that Snakardekus is nothing but a wasteland.”

  “Well, we have one month to figure that out, and we are only on day one.” Major General Solbrig yawned and covered his mouth.

  “Would you mind if I went for a nap? I mean, what else do we have to do for six hours?” asked Major General Solbrig.

  “No, no, of course, go on ahead.” Major General Reingle turned to his left and waved to him to go to bed. “Don’t worry; I’ll keep a lookout. I’m not even that tired, really.”

  “It’ll catch up to you one day.” He stood up from the chair and walked to the bunk beds and laid down on the bottom bunk. “Wake me up if anything happens.”

  “Okay will do, Solbrig.” Major General Reingle sat in the chair watching the Drakdel soar by Snakardekus.

  Major General Solbrig closed his eyes and rolled over to his right side.

  I always knew life forms had existed on other planets, but I never really had the proof for it. Now, there is a chance of me, well us, meeting them that makes me in a whole slew of emotions. I can’t wait to see something that isn’t a transhuman for once. The Snargde exists, and these pictures are proof. We just have to find them. Whatever it takes, I’m ready to do it.

  CHAPTER NINE

  In a matter of moments, after the Drakdel left the USV Valkanaut, it had slowed down, and in front of Major Generals Lokhorst and Brentari, was a big, cobalt looking planet in front of them. As the Drakdel decelerated to fly into Varenok’s atmosphere, Major Generals Lokhorst and Brentari noticed how Varenok had slightly resembled Nuwurth by the vast oceans it had. As the Drakdel flew closer to Varenok’s surface, the landing sequence was activated.

  “I’m trying to find a spot to land, but there is water as far as the eye can see.” Major General Lokhorst stated.

  “I’m sure we will find something soon.” Major General Brentari replied as she stood up and walked towards the window that overlooked Varenok.

  “We better. I’m not in the mood for swimming.” Major General Lokhorst retorted as she sat in the left chair, watching the window.

  “Neither am I, but it’ll be okay.”

  “We knew Varenok was filled with water, but this? This is more than I thought!” Major General Lokhorst exclaimed. “The faster we can land, the faster we can explore.”

  “What are you in a rush for? We have all month to find out about Varenok. You know, we are the first transhumans to ever step foot on Varenok, right?”

  Major General Lokhorst stood up from her chair and walked next to her as she spoke and looked out the window. “Yeah, whenever that happens.”

  “Too bad these Drakdels can’t land on water. You’d think with all the technology we have, it would be possible.”

  “Yeah…I’m just tired and anxious. I must’ve stayed up later than I thought. I was just curious about Varenok, so after we ended our call last night, I continued looking at pictures.” admitted Major General Lokhorst

  “That’s okay, did you find anything new?” She looked at her curiously.

  “Well, no. I didn’t stay up too much later, though.”

  “I see.” Major General Brentari turned and looked at the planet that they were flying through. “I’m starting to think that Varenok is full of water, what do you think, Lokhorst?”

  “I don’t want to say I told you so but come sit down. It might be a while.”

  “You’re probably right.” Major General Brentari turned around to look at her and walked towards the other chair to sit down.

  “Hey! What’s that?” Major General Lokhorst pointed at the window as Major General Brentari walked towards her chair. She stood up and moved her hands on the desk. Through the window was a white landmass on the water, and it looked big enough to land on.

  Major General Brentari yelled. “Slow the Drakdel down!”

  Major General Lokhorst waved her hand and decreased the speed, and the Drakdel began slowing down.

  “You know what that looks like?” asked Major General Brentari.

  “Land!” shouted Major General Lokhorst.

  The Drakdel flew closer to the white landmass, and they could identify that it resembled an iceberg. The iceberg was flat, a good landing point, and surrounded by water. Major General Lokhorst pressed another button on the INH, which made the Drakdel hover over the iceberg.

  “That’s an iceberg, Lokhorst...”

  “That it is...which means that the outside temperature is cold. Cold enough to land on, I hope.” Major General Lokhorst waved her hand and looked at the temperature. “negative two-hundred- and twenty-degrees Fahrenheit...” she blurted out.

  “What...how, are we supposed to survive?” asked Major General Brentari.

  “I... don’t know...” Major General Lokhorst uttered.

  “Should we land and call General Deschner?”

  “I didn’t want to call him right away... but it looks like that is the best possible solution at this point.”

  Major General Lokhorst pressed “Land,” and the Drakdel slow
ly hovered downwards, protruding its three legs to land. The Major Generals stood up and strolled towards the window and looked out. They could see the white iceberg that the Drakdel landed on, and in the distance, they saw water all around them.

  “Looks very secluded to me.”

  “Sure does.” Major General Lokhorst walked up to the window and moved her hand on the window. “You know you can’t even feel how cold it is out there being this close to the window.”

  “That is reassuring. As long as we stay in the Drakdel, we’ll be fine, right?”

  “That is true, but how are we going to explore Varenok if we don’t go out there?” asked Major General Lokhorst.

  “That’s a good point… You know, I still cannot believe that we are the first transhumans to come here.”

  “We’re not the first. What about all those pictures that we saw?”

  Major General Brentari started to explain her reasoning. “Well, Lieutenant General Armitage hinted that they were taken from a probe...”

  “Did he now? Or is that what you’re just telling yourself?”

  “Well, even if he didn’t explicitly say that I’m sure he wouldn’t withhold information from us, right?”

  “Don’t be so naïve, Brentari.”

  “Hm...” Major General Brentari looked through the window again. “Anyways... we should probably call General Deschner, huh?”

  “Yeah, if we want to survive, that is.”

  The Major Generals turned around from the window and walked to the desk and sat down in the chairs. Major General Brentari waved her hand and opened her INH. She pressed “Call” and swiped her hand down to find “General Deschner, Koba” and pressed his name to call him.

  CALLING GENERAL DESCHNER

  In just a moment, the screen flickered, and then General Deschner appeared on the screen.

  “Hello, Major Generals.” General Deschner was in the same chair as before in the meeting. He looked like he hadn’t done much since they just saw him last. His jet-black hair was still styled the same, and his bright blue eyes were even piercing through the call.

  “Hello General Deschner.” Major General Lokhorst greeted him.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” he asked with a smile.

  “Well, we have a tiny predicament...” Major General Brentari mumbled.

  “Oh? What exactly is that?”

  “Well, you see General...Varenok is a planet with freezing temperatures, almost mirroring Nuwurth’s Arctic Zones.”

  “Really?” asked General Deschner. “How cold is it exactly?”

  “Right now, the INH says that it is negative two-hundred- and twenty-degrees Fahrenheit.”

  “That is cold.” General Deschner scratched the right side of his face with his left hand. “Hmm...well that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

  The Major Generals looked at each other in disbelief, then turned and looked at him. “Uhm General Deschner...” Major General Brentari uttered.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “You realize we don’t have suits or anything, right?”

  “Why does that matter, Brentari?” General Deschner asked.

  “The extreme weather out there?” she questioned him. “We won’t survive out there in our uniforms.”

  “Major General Brentari” He looked at her, then he looked at Lokhorst. “Major General Lokhorst, do you both know about the OBA?”

  They shook their heads.

  “You don’t know? Go on, go grab one.” He motioned with his hand to grab one. “Oh, and don’t forget a vial!”

  “Where are they located?” Major General Lokhorst stood up as she asked.

  “They’re located in the control room, it is in a cabinet, and the vials are near it.”

  “Oh, okay, I’ll go get one.”

  Major General Lokhorst stood up and walked to the control room and pressed the button to walk through the room, and she walked inside. She saw the cabinet, and then she opened it and grabbed the OBA on the left side, and then she grabbed a vial of Antimatter. She turned around and closed the cabinet door and left the control room, and walked back to the main room where General Deschner was on screen, and Major General Brentari was sitting in her chair.

  “Here, I got it, General Deschner.”

  “Okay good.” He sat up straight in his chair. “Okay, so first push the Antimatter into the slot...the area where there isn’t anything.”

  “Right here?” she asked him as she was pointing to the middle area.

  He nodded, and then she pushed the vial in.

  “Good now, put the mouthpiece in your mouth, and connect the two arms to each other as it goes around your head. The arms can tighten around your head for security.”

  She followed his orders and did what he said and tightened the arms. He smiled at her and moved his hands together.

  “Now, you can talk and breathe while wearing the OBA.”

  Major General Lokhorst looked at him then at Major General Brentari and spoke. “I don’t understand, how is this supposed to help with the outside temperature?” she asked and realized her voice sounded robotic, which made her jump.

  “You see, the OBA is designed for inhaling whatever atmosphere you are in and either cooling or warming your bodies internal temperature. Our implants already can see our internal and external temperatures, but with extreme conditions such as Varenok, these OBA’s will be extremely helpful.” General Deschner cleared his throat. “With this OBA, you can walk outside freely wearing what you have on now and be fine. By the way, you can take it off now. You don’t want to waste it, especially in the Drakdel.”

  Major General Lokhorst nodded and removed the arms and the mouthpiece and put it on the desk in front of her.

  “How is that possible?.” asked Major General Brentari.

  “Anything is possible with Antimatter.” General Deschner smiled with the biggest grin that he could muster.

  “Well, that’s a good thing, but what if we wanted to grab something or hold something, wouldn’t our hands freeze instantly?” asked Major General Brentari.

  “That’s a valid question, but the answer is no.” he still smiled.

  “Can I ask why that won’t happen?” asked Major General Lokhorst.

  General Deschner chuckled. “Well, you see, it seems as if you already forgot, but the nanochips throughout your body deal with temperature, yes?” He looked to his left and right to see them both nodding in agreement with what he was telling them. “Well, with the OBA, your temperature rises beyond what it can normally handle, your entire body raises the temperature. Meaning things that are cold to the touch aren’t as cold anymore. The implants help stabilize the temperature as the OBA produces it.”

  “That’s...revolutionary!” Major General Brentari blurted out.

  “That it is,” General Deschner reassured her. “That it is. It would be a shame for Antimatter to fall into the wrong hands.”

  “Especially if it can do all of this? Absolutely!” Major General Lokhorst agreed. “This will make traveling so much easier!”

  “Good. I’m glad you think so!” General Deschner smiled at them again. “Do you have anything else you may need help with?”

  Major General Lokhorst began to speak, “General Deschner, Varenok, seems to be so far aquatic. Do we have any sort of mechanism to traverse the seas?”

  General Deschner sat back in his chair and looked around the room as he thought. “Hmm...” he began to speak, “As of right now, no besides the OBA.”

  “Really?” asked Major General Lokhorst, “Can the Drakdel be used to go underwater?”

  “No, they cannot. I’m not sure if the OBA’s can be used underwater or not…just make sure that you bring extra vials of Antimatter with you when you explore!”

  “Yes, General, will do!” Major General Lokhorst exclaimed.

  “Well, until next time! Oh, and don’t forget to continue to keep track of your research.”

  “You got it!” Major
General Brentari acknowledged. “Goodbye!”

  “Goodbye, Major Generals, and good luck!”

  “Goodbye!” Major General Lokhorst shouted.

  CALL ENDED WITH GENERAL DESCHNER

  Major General Brentari looked at her INH and noticed the time, and it read: 07:45 Nuwurth time. “We should begin recording the time like General Deschner said.”