The clatter of the small rocks was often drowned out by the mournful howling of the incessant winds on planet Oxgris.
Small piles of dull red soil had accumulated against the base of the packed dirt wall, identical in color.
The walls stood five meters tall and enclosed an area of twenty thousand square meters. The rear wall of the enclosure butted up against the sheer rock face of a tall plateau.
It was the most imposing feature on the flat terrain that stretched to the horizon without anything higher than scrub vegetation. In fact, it was the only feature at all amongst the empty landscape that stretched like an endless desert of dry blood.
“It seems I will not have to send one of my warriors to rule Exos 4 after all. Laan Nezgon Zaal shall live, apparently,” Lintorth Sar finished with a short chuckle. “Who would have thought he had known of this outpost on this forsaken planet?”
Voskal Lat shared Lintorth’s humor with a sneer. “By all accounts from the archives, this planet should have had no signs of evolved life.” A scattered burst of plasma shots punctuated his remark as it strafed one of the large flying reptiles, sending it burning to the dusty ground in a shriek of surprise and pain.
“The data scrolls you found were impressive in their obscurity,” scoffed Lintorth. He gazed at the crude stone walls before him and shook his head in mock disbelief. “What have the search teams found so far?”
Voskal Lat held a glowing data cube in his left hand. His right hand manipulated three dimensional images and data, projected above the cube in a pale green nimbus of light, as he communicated with the three search teams spread around the deserted structure.
The twelve Korin Shai that had accompanied the expedition spread out across the landing site and communicated without audible commands.
They formed four triads and stationed themselves at each of the four cardinal points, watching their respective horizons.
Two yadlith scavengers crawled across the barren ground, shoulder to shoulder.
One pressed its face against the ground, almost burrowing, as the other kept its head high searching for odors or movement in its field of view. At regular intervals, they would switch positions and roles as they continued looking for live prey or carrion.
Their cobalt eyes stood out against the bleek landscape as they searched in a spiral pattern from where the ship had landed, moving farther out with every rotation.
Avog, Lintorth’s aythra, rumbled a threatening growl low in his throat until the two yadlith moved out of his way.
Lintorth Sar heard Avog’s claws unsheathe and scratch against the small porous rocks beneath his large powerful front legs, anxious for a challenge.
“Voskal Lat,” Lintorth prompted as he watched the two yadlith digging in the dry soil, sending up plumes of dust.
“The seeker teams just sent their latest findings,” Voskal Lat replied. “Their scans found signs of life within the walls. Whether they are Human, we cannot tell. This cursed wind and sand have scoured any possible clues away and the signs of life we found are so far inconclusive.” His frustration was plain on his face. “The other scientific data I uncovered was from an exploratory vessel’s log. The indication of life on this planet that they recorded was that primitive life was scarce and none were sentient.”
“Have we exhausted the capabilities of our scientific equipment?” Lintorth asked. “Perhaps we should use our ship’s scanners. They are certainly more powerful and might provide some answers. Answers are what we need, Voskal.”
Voskal Lat waved his hand over the data sphere and the displays disappeared. He walked towards Lintorth, small puffs of dust marked each footfall as he approached.
Lintorth watched him frown in consternation as he began to speak.
“Lintorth...” Voskal hesitated for a moment. “The fact that we found this settlement was improbable at best. The archives were centuries old and rushed, as their only purpose for searching this sector was for a new penal colony after the Mertiklask rebellion on Varnos. Their data didn’t even include these flying things, whatever they are.” A warbling screech from one of the same flying reptiles interrupted him as it flew by overhead in the gusting winds. “This settlement,” Voskal continued, gesturing with his left hand, “was also missing from the archives. By the looks of it, it may have been a pirate stronghold.”
Lintorth Sar nodded, acknowledging his most trusted advisor’s words. Lintorth was skeptical of many things and even more people, but Voskal had gained his trust long ago.
A squawk issued from above.
Lintorth drew his plasma pistol lightning fast from his left side and fired.
The first bolt went through the creature’s cranium and the following two punctured the thorax of the unfortunate creature. It plummeted to the dust and landed with a meaty thump. Lintorth casually reholstered his pistol. “Incomplete information. I will see that those clans responsible are properly disciplined.”
Dry, rasping wails from the yadlith made Lintorth and Voskal spin around towards the source of the sound.
Plumes of dust flew into the air as the two scavengers dug while they wailed. The sound meant to alert rather than to signal distress.
Lintorth walked towards the pair, casting a glance at the Korin Shai to his left and right.
None of them paid the slightest attention to the commotion inside the perimeter.
The elite warriors surveyed the sky and horizons for movement or any potential threats. They were oblivious to the high winds, the stinging sand, and the oppressive heat.
The yadlith pulled something out of the ground. The dry soil cascaded off the object, obscuring it from sight.
It looked like part of a body. A skeleton, Lintorth deduced.
As he drew close, he saw the dull sheen of white bone. One of the useless flying creatures.
Activating his communicator, Lintorth turned towards Voskal to instruct him to activate the ship’s sensors again but caught renewed, frenzied movement as the yadlith fought over…a skull?
The small skull had two large eye sockets situated beneath a larger, sloping forehead and a mouth full of flat teeth that seemed to grin at him, even in death.
“Voskal!” Lintorth roared, rushing towards the two yadlith carrion eaters, who were distracted by their find. “To me!”
Voskal was in mid-sentence, talking to one of the search teams, gesturing in anger at two of the technicians.
Lintorth’s outburst caused him to draw his weapon and shoulder his way through the technicians.
The blue eyes of the yadlith looked up as Lintorth’s and Voskal’s footfalls alerted them.
They both dropped the skull they were fighting over and scattered at their approach, staying just out of reach.
Lintorth reached down and snatched the skull up in his large hand, cupping it. Turning the skull from side to side, he examined its features.
Voskal skidded to a stop, realizing that Lintorth wasn’t reacting to danger.
His eyes widened when he saw the bleached skull.
Voskal fumbled for his scanner until one hand withdrew it from a pouch on his side.
Both Kryth looked at each other with the same question in mind, but remained silent, as Voskal scanned the skull with a pale green cone of light emanating from his device.
A grin cracked the serious façade of Voskal’s face as he announced, “It’s…Human.”
Lintorth stared, waiting.
Voskal continued, “The information from this scan matches the data gathered from the captured Reaver on the station Sontar Jal uses for…interrogation. The Reaver that Sontar Jal had captured had a more sophisticated and robust biological capacity. “This, he continued, pointing the scanner at the skull, “is a baseline example of an unaltered Human. The bone is twenty-three percent less thick and does not possess the organic mesh reinforcement.”
“A civilian of some kind,” Lintorth remarked dismissively, eyeing the dirt walls once again. “A colonist, perhaps.”
Voskal nodded, commun
icating with the search teams once again.
The closest team towed equipment over on the mag-sled. Voskal pointed them to the disturbed grave to continue a more detailed search of the site.
One of the techs, dusting himself off after being bowled over by Voskal, glared at him when his back was turned.
“I assume from this planet’s environment, that settling here was not by choice, but rather by necessity,” Lintorth surmised. ‘The walls are crude and I see no sign that this dwelling was part of any larger human settlement. Perhaps he saw this structure and sought sanctuary from the sandstorms or the flying creatures.”
“I agree,” said Voskal Lat. “That is why I have ordered the search teams to pull back and to search this immediate area for more clues. The scout ship has also refocused its scanners for a surface sweep instead of aerial reconnaissance.”
“Good,” Lintorth assented. “Perhaps we can find how…and why the Humans came to be here on this desolate rock.”
Data Cell 3
A lift from the Orion’s Rage’s bridge descended into the hull of the great ship.
The silent elevator brought two of its occupants to their destination several levels below.
Commander Shenta Parejas and Keeper Laurenell Renske exited the lift upon its stop, continuing their conversation as they strolled down a corridor.
“I’m still not understanding why you want me to escort Captain Strathin from quarantine to your quarters, sir,” the Keeper said. “Wouldn’t he prefer if you met him yourself, commander?”
Shenta walked with his arms behind his back.
A short distance later they stopped in front of the commander’s private quarters.
“Right now, the captain is reading the data cells. I told him of the passing of his wife. He’s been in quarantine with his crew for the last week since our return from the wormhole site. He will also be catching up on sixty years of lost history. I just thought–”
“You thought a female would be more suitable?”
Shenta smiled. “Something like that. He needs a softer, more empathetic response…someone trained to identify and respond appropriately to potential emotional duress, Keeper.”
The Keeper’s chin lifted. “I understand, commander. As a Keeper, I can better help him to adjust…and you want me to get a feeling for his state of mind.”
“Yes.”
“I will bring him to your quarters within the next hour and report my findings in the command log.”
“I appreciate it, Keeper. That will be all.”
Laurenell smiled and parted the commander’s presence, returning to the lift down the hall.
Shenta entered his private quarters to await the arrival of Captain Strathin, who had been on his mind since the rendezvous near the Montis Rift Nebula.
There were a lot of unanswered questions with the unexpected return of the First Fleet’s captain and his ship.
Commander Parejas wanted to be the one to ask them.
∞∞∞
Dim lighting came from along the edges of the ceiling and floor.
The ambiance of the warm glow spread throughout the commander’s personal quarters in golden amber tones, mingling with darkened shadows of motionless, silent fixtures.
A wall hanger held the commander’s black officer’s jacket near the door, hidden from view within the twilit room.
Glass clinked together on a table along a wall near a great window which looked out into space, stars twinkling as the ship glided alongside the Mydian system, the Tyr moon just below.
The decanter poured the amber spirit into a stout glass with a frosted ice ball.
A hand replaced the flask cap and grabbed the drink.
Commander Parejas walked over to a large oval window, staring off at those distant celestial light.
He swirled the glass and liquid around before taking a sip.
The starlight radiating through the window glinted off the etched crystal of his glass.
Shenta looked out across the space between the Orion’s Rage and the ship of Captain Strathin, the Tyr.
Ironic, he thought, a moon named after a lost ship, to have that ship return and be positioned above its namesake.
The Tyr was being held in a berthing point above the moon near the colony’s ship-building facilities. Her entire hull was covered in a force field emanating from the hangar it was berthed at.
Parejas knew that every precaution needed to be taken after the incident near Montis, even though it was a welcome sight to have the captain back after all these years. There were too many unknowns to pass off with cheers and celebrations.
Thorough scans and scrubbings of the ship and medical tests of her crew needed to be performed to ensure the safety of the hidden Human colony.
With unanswered questions of the Gashnee and the Kryth inching ever closer to Mydian, it was a small cost to pay for the survival of his own.
Shenta drew another sip of his Tyr whiskey. He thought it appropriate, considering the irony before him. Besides, the recipe was a favorite of his and a descendent of a place once called Kentucky.
His mind now shifted to his fiancée, Shawna, as he looked out at the Tyr and the stars beyond her hull.
Shawna’s last communique said that the atmospheric readings were better than expected and that they hadn’t seen any other Kryth activity in the system since their arrival.
The commander now had to focus his attention towards an old friend and legend, Captain Dexxer Strathin.
The computer chimed the captain’s arrival and pulled the commander from his thoughts of his bride-to-be.
“Enter,” Parejas commanded.
The doors parted open to his quarters and the captain of the Tyr walked in.
Shenta walked away from the window to meet his guest.“Captain Strathin, welcome aboard the Orion’s Rage. I thought this setting would be more relaxing.”
The two men shook hands.
“Thank you, commander,” the older captain said. “But please, call me Dexxer.”
“Very well, Dexxer.” Shenta said smiling. “Please have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?”
The captain was looking over the room. “A good, solid drink would do fine, Shenta. It was pleasant to have a Keeper of the Adytum as my escort here. I got to catch up on a few more questions I had since my return. I was sorry to hear of her father’s passing. I knew Alan well. He will be missed.”
“Indeed he will. I know it’s difficult for you after all this time to have many sorrows answer your questions. May you find peace in those moments and be left with the memory of the loved and lost. The Adytum would be a good place to visit once you and your crew return to Janus. You may find it relaxing and therapeutic.”
Captain Strathin made his way over to a chair which sat about a large viewing window in the floor, the centerpiece of the commander’s personal quarters. “I will take your advice. I would like to pay my respect to Alan’s gravesite and catch up on the past sixty years.” The captain looked around, awaiting Shenta and his drink. “This ship doesn’t cease to amaze me. She’s marvelous. How long did it take to complete construction?”
Shenta poured the glasses, “Her hull was laid in 250 and she was completed eight years later.”
Captain Strathin looked at a large painting of the Rage on the commander’s wall. “She was but a dream when your father and I spoke of the future fleet. I am sorry he can’t be here to see her now.”
“He would share your sentiment, Dexxer,” Shenta said as he handed the captain his drink.
He moved to sit across from the captain in the opposite chair.
The commander continued, “I doubt any words of mine might suffice regarding your late wife but, from my heart, I am sorry for your loss.”
Dexxer leaned forward and lifted his glass. “I appreciate that, Shenta.” He sighed, looking at his glass as he continued, “I understand that things are moving fast after my own unexpected arrival and that my knowledge of the Gashnee is your priori
ty. I…” The captain paused as his emotions washed over him. “I lost any hope of seeing my wife again over fifty years ago when we were separated. I never thought we would make it back. As the years passed and turned to decades, I could only imagine how she felt. What she must have thought. I have no doubt she awaited my return as long as she could.”
Captain Strathin’s hand shook as he took a sip from his glass.
Shenta waited for the man he last saw when he was but a boy in his ethics class continue his long-journeyed story.
It was a long silence.
“I didn’t read how she died,” Strathin said, looking towards Shenta for confirmation.
“It was a shuttle accident to the planet’s surface. All twenty-four lives were lost.”
“I see,” the aged captain said before taking another drink. “I know you didn’t bring me here to catch up on lost time, commander, though I do wish we had more of it. Much more. You see, commander, I am here now to assist you in understanding a dangerous enemy. An enemy that will stop at nothing to retake what it considers its rightful inheritance: the Milky Way Galaxy.”
Captain Strathin emptied his glass in a single gulp.
“I’ve come back to help you stop the ultimate evil in the universe, commander.”
Data Cell 4
The morning dew was fading as the sun drew higher in the sky.
The grass fields surrounding the Erudition One waved in the light breeze that came in from the north.
Birds sung and flew from the green conifer treetops during the spring season.
The land was new and fresh compared to the rest of the poisoned planet.
Crystal clear streams, meadows of wild flowers, and a living landscape of animals set a stark contrast against the hull of a thousand-meter ship that sat in the middle of this pristine scenery.
The ancient vessel had returned to the planet she had fled two hundred and sixty-nine years ago.
Human beings were back on the planet of their origin.
The Earth was renewing herself and the Earthiests were here to help her along the way.
Annals of the Keepers - Rage Page 2