45_The Mystery is Revealed

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45_The Mystery is Revealed

Post by Diaho »

The Mystery is Revealed





Shahrazad was granted independence when Duhiel took the Jade Throne. The Alliance was granted autonomy shortly after its inception. Although Lakekafalle has never formally announced an alliance existed between them and The Alliance of Planets, the actions with in that sphere have been of great interest to the Capital.

A special section was established within the Ministry of Information to keep track of The Alliance and until recently it had been a fairly cushy assignment. The past thirty six hours have been almost more than the four people assigned there have been able to handle. For the past ten years the section chief has kept a watchful eye on them and now she’s being summonsed to the section, the recent activity is more than can be reported by data link.

Arriving at the Ministry she finds the sections alight, entering the section her assistant addresses her.

“Sorry Kenesh to roll you out of bed at this hour but the activity around Shahrazad just jumped off the scale. It looks like the Alliance itself has gone to an alert status and well these events I … you need to look at these. I couldn’t in good conscious transmit this data on an open link.”

Kenesh sorts through the data, it seems all of this started when the fleet returned to port. One of their ships was disabled and towed in by the Dorian’s who remained in system. Why would an elite fleet of Dorian ships remain around Shahrazad? Before their arrival it would seem the planet tested a new ship, little data had been collected on this ship so… then hours later after some disturbance said ship left Shahrazad in a big hurry only to have a distress beacon sound and the balance of the fleet leaving shortly there after. There were a lot of unanswered questions; Kenesh had two choices; wait for the information to filter in, or make an informal call to the Governor of Shahrazad.

Kenesh knew that Sobbash was currently the Governor and their past relationships had been rocky enough that contacting her with a bunch of half facts might get her one hell of an ear full from Sobbash. There was a diplomatic way to contact Sobbash; she forwarded her inquiry to the fuel maintenance ship Seelnay knowing Greta would forward her inquiry to Sobbash within the day. Asking for a strong coffee she spent the next hours trying to make a timeline of events. Right now what she had was so disordered; unless all of this actually happened at once, if so, Sobbash would be in no mood to converse with anyone, especially an intelligence officer from the Empire.

*********
The mine exploded three thousand meters off the port side. The deflectors repelled the solid pieces but the massive EM waves that style of mine produced knocked all automate’s off line. We struggled to get environmental and gravitational control on line. Once that was achieved we set about communications. The beacon was deployed, active and we were sure the rest of the fleet was enroute, talking to them was our next priority.

“Bringing five people didn’t prove to be a very wise idea after all.”

Scholar’s words were only heard by the three of us. Lily and Robert were in computer control trying to coax automates back on line. The emergency lights went out and the main lighting returned. Half of the displays were coming back on line and Scholar said we had short range scanners and limited communications. My tactical display came to life the shuttle was nowhere to be seen however I was seeing the ID beacons for Independence and Defiance they were heading to our last position where the beacon was. However we had drifted quite a ways from that spot. I opened up a ship wide link and told Robert and Lily to make getting our ID beacon back on line the top priority. It would be better if they knew we were here and alive instead of finding the beacon and starting a grid search.

*********
“Cassie I’ve got the distress beacon on tactical but there are no ships showing up in the general area. I’ve got debris but not enough to be a ship. It’s probably from the mine. The shuttle is nowhere to be seen as well. One minute to arrival and Defiance is hailing us.”

“Put Defiance on the main display.”

The image appeared on the display Plakia was surprised to see who was greeting her.

“You should be in bed young lady what do you think you’re doing?”

“Commanding my ship, now if you’ve got something important to say; say it, if not then this conversation ends.”

“We’ve arrived, no sign of either the shuttle or the ship. The amount of residual EM interference is making scanning difficult. I suggest you try the quadrant to your right since their last maneuver was to starboard. We’ll keep looking along the shuttles course for an energy trace unless you have any objections?”

Grandmother can be such a pain, in arriving first she’s taken it upon herself to find Mom and Dad and its now my job to find Noel. I give in and as we arrive we alter our heading to a quadrant just starboard of the beacon and scan intensively. We are greeted with a faint ID beacon, moving in that direction we find the ship dark and adrift almost a half light second from the distress beacon. I notify Defiance of our find and open a link to the ship. Scholar is staring at me.

“Well you’re a welcome sight, we’ve had an interesting adventure I’ll switch you to Noel for the details.”

Noel appears on the display Lily is standing next to her. Before I can say a word Lily lashes out at me.

“You should be in bed Cassie what in the stars are you doing out here?”

“Rescuing you Lily, your toy broke it would seem.”

“How dare you say that? If I had transporters, I’d make you eat those words Cassie.”

I had transporters and with a nod of my head Lily was standing in front of me.

“As you were saying Lily? You were going to make me eat something?”

Lily reached for me, pulled me from my seat, and gave me such a hug which I returned in kind.

“You fool you should be in bed; as for my toy you underestimate me. It’s tough, just the electronics are subject, something we’ll address after we find your parents.”

“You know for a moment I though you had, that my parents had, oh I’m such a fool.”

I know Lily felt my tears on her shoulder without saying a word she stepped back and gave me a good look. I could see that look in her eye she had a comment and she was going to deliver it.

“That looks like a comfortable outfit however the shoes are a bit unpractical, this isn’t the beach.”

Looking around the bridge Lily changed the subject and said.

“How would you like to do me a big favor? How about I relieve you of the excess crew you have and in exchange you let me borrow that outfit when we get back?”

I couldn’t refuse Lily she stood there with Noel’s stone face and Risch’s warped sense of humor and it was getting a little crowded around here as well. I agreed and the transport was accomplished with in the quarter hour. Shortly after that their ship returned to life and we were off after Defiance who was on the shuttle’s trail.

*********
“Lafiel something’s bothering me, that ship, where did it come from. How were they able to track us and that beacon it was an Alliance style I’d bet my life on it. I wonder who we really attacked back there.”

“Look Jinto all we did was disable their ship, if that was a distress beacon then someone will find them. Right now we need to get a move on before they recover and head after us again. That beam they hit it us with it disabled all of our systems. Had we not launched that mine when we did, we’d be their prisoners, too bad there are no more aboard.”

*********
Abh’s; no matter how I try I’ll never understand them. Case in point I’ve received a message from Shahrazad requesting our presence and no more than an hour later I receive a request from Lakfakalle to deliver a message to Shahrazad. KO, my first officer, is staring at me waiting for a response to her question.

“Sobbash wants an estimate and Kenesh wants answers. I say we do what we were asked to do first and then give Sobbash the message. I believe it’s the fair way to treat our present position. However our idea of fair and the Abh’s idea of fair leave a lot of room for interpretation. Continue on course, we’ve got a couple of hours of peace before we arrive. I think we should take advantage of it.”

*********
“Sorry Dai but that’s the final word for the moment. This ship’s not commissioned and the Council put me in charge of it. When this is all done, I’ll gladly give you the seat, but until we’re done you are an observer, understood.”

Reluctantly Dai relented and took a position behind Scholar. Lily placed a copy of the operations manual on the display in front of Dai. This gave Dai something to pass the time while the rest of us went about our business. Robert and Arisa were in engineering finishing restoring all of our capabilities. I believe this was a fortunate occurrence, had this actually happened while in service, or worse combat, we could have lost this ship and its crew. Two things that are in short supply on Shahrazad. Defiance is a light second ahead of us scanning for any traces of the shuttle. Independence sits off our port side matching our course and at this moment greatly reduced speed. But I’m told with in the hour we’ll be fully operational.

I take note of Dai leaving the bridge. I bring up the page she was viewing on my display. It’s the ships layout more specifically crew quarters. Highlighted are the Captains quarters it is there the ships scanners indicate she’s heading. I’ll leave her be for the time being. I know she made a great concession accepting the Council’s decision, a decision she was never consulted about.

*********
I’ve arrived at the Captain’s quarters although this ship is not complete the room is comfortable looking, the chairs resemble those aboard my old command and the new smell permeates everywhere. I take a seat and open a link to Cassandra.

“You seem pretty solemn Auntie Dai. I’ll guess Noel’s in charge and you’re just sitting around feeling useless?”

Cassandra can be to the point and biting sometimes. I was feeling useless, that's the reason I opened this link, I wanted to get some more input from Cassie concerning what Jasmine told her. I figured I could put my efforts towards figuring out the cause for Jinto and Lafiel’s action and the rest could concentrate on finding them, but Cassie’s statement left me pretty cold.

“I’m feeling worse than useless if you must know. I have abilities that are going to waste around here and it would seem no one cares. I called to get more information about what Jasmine told you in hopes I might be able to piece together why your parents are doing what they are, but, if you’re into mind reading at distance then I’ll leave it up to you and I shall take a well deserved nap.”

Cassie’s demeanor changed completely. She told me to wait while she changed locations and put the link on hold. A few minutes later she appeared again the location was her cabin. We spent the next twenty minutes going over everything she remembered from her conversation with Jasmine.

“Dai I’ve been awaiting the analysis of the device I found at my parents place; it is most likely contains the explanation for my parent’s actions. Jasmine is convinced that the world they were living in there has become the real world to them but what it is… with Arisa gone and Donald working overtime there’s no one free to look into it at this time unless…”

Dream boxes how I despised them, an invention originally designed to entertain, they’ve became an addiction to some. Investigating meant one of two things; hooking up to the device and experiencing the world directly or trying to off load its contents and hope the data survives. There were dangers connected with both options. Scholar is aboard this ship and with her help I decide to accept Cassie’s request. I’ll venture into the world her parents have been living in.

“I think we’re better equipped over here to look into to the device than you are over there. Why not send it my way and I’ll look into it for you.”

The table in front of me glows and the device appears I end the conversation with Cassie and call Scholar to my cabin.

*********
We’ve arrived at Shahrazad, KO has the ship in a high orbit and I’m approaching the administrative center. In the time since we received Kenesh’s message I’ve done some further thinking on the subject. I’ve decided to go in and inform Sobbash of my current position before she has the chance to divulge any information she wouldn’t want Kenesh to hear. I find the center strangely quiet, making my way towards Sobbash’s office I round the corner to find her heading at me, her head buried in a folder

“Whoa there governor we’re about to have a collision.”

Sobbash stopped we came within a foot of colliding. Closing the folder she looked at me like she already knew what I was about to say. Just so there is no misunderstanding I tell her what’s on my mind.

“Before we get started you should see this message I have for you.”

I hand the message to her she reads it twice stopping at the same place every time. She places the message in the folder and asks me to follow her. We head to a conference room adjacent to her office that’s where our conversation begins.

“I want to thank you for showing me this message I promise I’ll contact Kenesh within the next twelve hours. You were originally called here to give me an estimate on salvaging the ship in space dock; however I have a message from Seelnay for you. I know in the past you’ve handled difficult matters for both sides but this time the Empire can not know what is actually going on around here and it will become quite obvious as you move about this system just what we are up to. I need your solemn promise or you’ll need to leave.”

In the past we’ve done special favors for both sides mostly diplomatic however this time I feel Seelnay is going to have us do something I’ll not be comfortable with. I agree to Sobbash’s wishes and the recording from Seelnay is played. To my surprise Seelnay is not on the display Arisa is and her request in a very simple one.

“Greta we’ve known each other for way too long, you’re one of the few people besides the boss I can trust. When you take the ship apart, look carefully for signs of sabotage; I say this because after an extensive refit we had a six-month trip from the edge of hell aboard that ship. Tay blames it on the age of the ship I think it was a rouse to speed development of the replacement and I firmly hope that ship hasn’t suffered any intervention from Tay or her people as well.””

The message ends and I’m staring at the display. Sabotage one word that has always rubbed me in the wrong direction. Tay and questionable actions that has been a given but to stoop so low as to purposely alter something so it would fail that’s a new time low for her in my book. What I didn’t know is that the suspicion of sabotage was only the tip of the iceberg where Tay was concerned. I took the assignment and returned to the Seelnay from there we ventured aboard the ship and started our investigation.

*********
I’m back in my office Kenesh’s message is laying on the desk in front of me. She has questions and at this moment I don’t have enough information to give her conclusive answers. I have to face one fact that I’ve been ignoring since this incident started, Lafiel and Jinto are not in their right minds I say that knowing what ever affected them has altered their thinking patterns beyond anything we’ve experienced before. So what to tell Kenesh, should I be upfront and honest and tell her the Emperor’s sister has lost her mind, stolen a ship, and attacked one of her own ships? I could see Duhiel’s face when word of that reached his ears. It wasn’t a pleasant thought but I have to say something and soon because their actions, I’m sure we’re being monitored by those within the Alliance and heavens know who else, information concerning this affair is going to reach the Capital shortly through other channels.

Cassie says they’re looking into the device she removed from the Residence. I hope they find out and soon what the root cause of this is. In moving away from the system in the direction they taken they’ll be leaving the relay network in the next few hours. Instead of almost instantaneous communications there will be a lag as the signal makes it way to the nearest relay satellite. Their real time data already has a thirty second lag and growing. Should they stray even further from the net it could become hours and even days before we’d have answers?

I’ve sent an urgent message to Noel, reminding her of these facts and addressing the message I’ve gotten from Kenesh, to put finding the cause above finding them. I know Noel’s got her hands full but she not out there alone most of our finest minds are out there with her as well. I relax and look out the window it’s a cloudless day very much like the one those years ago when an explosion shook the island and this nightmare began.

*********
“Minister Zachary we need to leave the system at once, one of our transport convoys has been attacked by pirates. The escort group has taken a lot of damage but managed, for the time being, to drive off the attack. I’m ordered to leave at once but I’ve also been ordered to leave you with six ships to fulfill your commitment to Governor Sobbash, prepare for transport and good luck.”

In a flash I’m standing on the bridge of another ship most of my personal belongings still remain on the flagship. Oh well I hope this Captain has a good sense of humor because I’m about to temporarily relieve her of command. Something the Empress and I came to an understanding about when I accepted this position I presently hold. The Captain’s humor level was low, she initially refused my request, but after conferring with the fleet commander she relented.

“Minister I understand. But, I still must make an official protest for the record. While it’s been several years since you held command I believe your lack of present experience could cause us trouble if we actually needed to engage in a mission.”

“Protest noted, now I’ll let you in on something not well known, I was assigned to this part of space well before you were even thought of Captain. My experience, while not current, still gives me an operational advantage, if we have to engage in a mission with in this system.”

Red faced the Captain left the bridge; I opened a link to Governor Sobbash to inform her that the sixty ships in system had been reduced to six. She acknowledged my transmission and the link closed. The look on her face caused me more concern than her response. If I didn’t know better I’d suspect what ever the Princess and the Count were up to was more than a joyride in space. I instructed the first officer to notify me if there were any changes and I went looking for the Captain I felt we needed to finish clearing the air especially after the look I got from Sobbash.

*********
Captain’s log: Sobbash’s message sits on the screen in front of me, Kenesh is curious, they say curiosity killed the cat and since she has nine she should be careful of what she desires. That aside I took a fleet wide inventory and found Plakia is carrying two damaged relay satellites. Her crew is putting top priority on repairing them so we can drop them as we need them it’ll be a temporary fix but at least it’ll be something.

Robert has handed me another concern, he took the time, with maximum provision aboard the shuttle, to figure out their range. If his numbers are correct they’ve gone past the limit for a safe return to Shahrazad. It’s beginning to look like they’re on a one way trip, something completely out of character for either one of them.

Dai and Scholar have started examining the ‘dream box’ found at the Residence. It seems operational and intact their next step is for Dai to link with the system and experience the information it contains. This has some dangers to it and I can understand their hesitance to blindly dive into it, but we need answer especially if Jinto and Lafiel are on a one way trip to?

I’ve communicated all of this information back to Sobbash I know it’s not much but since we’re still looking for the shuttle’s energy signature its the best I can send home for now.

*********
“Noel sorry to interrupt but we’ve got their trail once again. They’ve altered course and are back on the original heading they took from Shahrazad. Forty minutes to intercept and sixteen minutes till next FTL burst.”

I order the fleet to spread out maintain an operational link and we’ll track them for awhile. When the next burst is over we’ll try for containment with three ships it should be easier I hope. I open a link to Robert and Arisa answers.

“Captain err ah Noel Robert’s a bit tied up at the moment can I help you?”

I inquired as to how we were able to pick up their trail in the midst of the EM explosion and Arisa gave me the answer.

“Well Noel its simple, those kids can design very function hardware, its just they haven’t learn how to tweak it yet. It took me about twenty minutes to tweak the sensors. We’ll be able to see everything around us even if the dump another EM charge our way and you should know I’ve also tweaked the shields and deflectors. We’ll not have any more problems with them; however Robert drew the line when I wanted to tweak his precious Star Drive unit. So for the moment I’m studying it in detail I bet I can get factor seven out of it no sweat.”

Dai will be happy to know her ship will be better than new when she gets her hands on it and personally as far as I’m concerned she and not I should be keeping this seat warm. Before Scholar joined Dai, I told her that and she agreed, but she was no longer in charge, that decision was up to Erin, Li and the Council something that I’ll push for on our return. I don’t want Dai and my friendship to suffer because of this incident.

*********
“Lafiel we are ready for the next jump.”

My words echo around the shuttle as Lafiel intensely scans a small portion of space directly in front of us and says.

“No need for another jump Jinto, tie into my tactical channel, the planets less the a quarter light second off our bow.”

I cross referenced the data and it was correct our target which should have been another jump away was sitting in front of us. We engaged the sub light engines and were in orbit in less the ten minutes. We found the landing area and set down shortly after that.

*********
“Ekuryua to fleet, slow to sub light we’ve lost their trail.”

Seelnay is as confounded as I am, one moment we had a hot trace and the next nothing. I instructed Plakia to stay behind and aggressively sweep the areas incase we’ve been slipped another rouse. Cassie and I return to their last known position. Our search starts with the end of the last jump; that trace was almost dissipated. From there we followed a rapidly decaying sub light trace which leads us to a position just before the next jump was possible.

“Scan the area, if they’re out there lets let them know we are as well. Call Defiance back we’ll need their search capabilities as well.”

Defiance arrived about fifteen minutes later we then started symmetrically scanning the area with in one light second of our position. The only thing that showed up in the scans was the Minors system about three quarters of a light year from our present position. A class C star with twelve planets, it was surveyed sixty years ago and found to be devoid of any life. Although six planets were capable of supporting life forms none were discovered. The system was deemed uninhabitable and further exploration was deferred. It looked like we were going to give it another serious look.

“We’ll concentrate on the six planets listed as habitable first then do a study of the rest. Defiance do you have a relay satellite ready for deployment?”

“Aye that we do Noel should I go back and place it between our present position and the last one in the net?”

“Approved and don’t waste any time because I do believe time is of the essence here. Cassie and I will start our scans we’ll await the establishment of the link to contact Sobbash.”

Defiance jumped towards the net. We figured about forty minutes at their maximum speed and they’d be at the drop point. If Seelnay’s calculations are correct we’ll have about a twenty second lag in real data and about a minute in spoken communication which is better than the hour real time and three hour conversation we have presently.

“Cassie start with the inner three planets, we’ll take the two in the center and after that move to the one in the outer belt.”

*********
“Approaching drop area in three two one: slowing to sub light and all stop.”

“Very well link us with the net and give me access times.”

“Access established real data is eighteen seconds voice is forty eight seconds.”

“Very well drop the satellite and have it establish its own link then test the times again.”

“Satellite dropped and functional times match ours to the hundredth of a second. Unit is on line and fully operational Captain.”

“Inform Noel the link’s live and take us back max speed.”

“Message acknowledged and engineering says we are approaching max speed, rendezvous with the fleet in thirty eight minutes.”

“Thank you, tactical, scan the area as we travel broad band and long range. If there is someone else out there I want to know about it. I can’t believe we’ve come this far without raising some ones curiosity. You know how I hate surprise visitors.”

We scanned all the way back to the fleet, space seem empty and quiet too quiet for my liking. Upon arriving we'll join Cassie in scanning the inner planets while Noel took the outer ones.

*********
Our scan of the planet was complete the atmosphere while breathable contained an excess of helium. The decision was made to venture outside in environment suits and determine the actual effects of breathing this mixture might cause.

“Ready Jinto I’m about to open the hatch, remember to set the cloaking device with a fifteen second delay and voice activation okay?”

Lafiel didn’t have to remind me of those facts if she had been paying attention but lately she seemed preoccupied I hoped this excursion would center her focus once again. We left the ship with helmets dawned and preceded with the exploration of the area.

“Its beautiful Jinto so beautiful I want to stay here forever.”

I have to admit the surrounding landscape reminded me of the gardens on Martine. So lush and green were the trees and so clear was the stream that ran along the tree line. I take a sample of the water and to my surprise it is just that water; however there are no micro organism’s residing in it. Something’s not right here but I’m having trouble grasping it. Lafiel on the other hand seems like a child at play then I notice she’s raised her visor and is breathing the atmosphere. Moving to her I open my microphone to say something and have me ears assaulted by Lafiel’s altered voice. She quacking like a duck I walk towards her close the visor and switch her pack to one hundred percent oxygen. In a matter of minutes she’s understandable once again.

“We can do this Jinto; we can, the atmosphere, while voice altering, is breathable. We can find what we came here for with out fear of dying.”

I wished I shared Lafiel confidence but the planet was heading into darkness and I insisted we returned to the shuttle for the night. Lafiel fought me for a split second then we made our return. The warmth of the shuttle leads us to sleep as soon as we were aboard.

*********
Captain’s log: “We’ve been in this system for approximately three hours. Defiance is just entering the system from deploying a rely satellite. I’m getting ready to establish one of the highest security links I’ve done since the war. When Sobbash hears what I have to say she’s going to be more than amazed. I’m also monitoring the progress between Dai and Scholar concerning the ‘dream box’ retrieved from the Residence. They have established the link and Dai’s experiencing the sights and sounds Jinto and Lafiel have been. The comm. Link’s established; time to inform Sobbash of our findings, so far.”

“Noel those you requested are in the room with me, now what is so important that you had to go to these extreme measures to communicate with us?”

I place a scan of the third planet upon the display and start my explanation.

“This is a scan of the third planet taken by Independence a little over two hours ago, as you can see it seems a very ordinary planet, however that same planet scanned with our enhanced sensors tells a completely different story.”

I place the image from our sensors on the screen and continue.

“Our best explanation is that this system emits a natural blocking radiation, it would seem our enhanced system can poke through it and give us an accurate picture of what is actually here. That said the shuttle Jinto and Lafiel took was also the test bed for the sensors we are presently using while not as sophisticated as ours are. They are capable of seeing most of what we’re seeing. I’m convinced the shuttle is on one of the planets in this system. While this ship is, at present, the only one that can truly see these worlds for what they are. The process of searching all twelve planets is going to take longer than I’d like. Donald, Arisa and Robert are making modifications to the other two ships in the hopes they’ll be able to join in the search within the next six hours.”

All the time I was talking, Sobbash was intently listening with her were Risch, Atosuryua, Erin and Li. It was my wish to inform the governing bodies of our unique and disturbing discovery at the same time. The time to move to the other problem came and I had little to tell them at this time.

“I know everyone here and there is worried about Jinto and Lafiel. All I can tell you is we are exploring the device taken from the Residence in the hopes of getting a clearer picture of why they’ve done what they have. I wish I had more to say but at this time I wanted to report everything we had. And lastly Erin, Li I have a request, simply put, commission this ship and put its true Captain in charge. While, at the moment, the friction between us is tolerable I rather it was Dai sitting here than myself. Get with the Council and see if you can make it so.”

Erin and Li said they would make my request a top priority. Sobbash along with Risch and Atosuryua, were sorting through all the data we had sent back. Sobbash requested we leave this link live and said they’d be back to us shortly with their impression of what we’ve sent back. I agreed and put the link on standby. Returning to the ships monitor I started concentrating on the scene from the Captains quarters where Dai, Seelnay and Scholar were in their own rather risky experiment.

*********
“Greta you need to see this.”

I floated to where KO was and got a shock, a large conduit that carried the main power cable had been misaligned upon installation. That misalignment along with the normal vibrations of the ship was causing the inner casing to cut into the cable. We figured in another day or two there would be a break followed by a massive explosion. I documented the scene and we continued our search.

Moving to the bridge and disconnecting most of Arisa’s patchwork conduit we discovered another anomaly, the master supply cable to the main feeder bus was too short according to the specifications. The normal contraction and expansion of the ship was tugging at then tie point and there was quite a bit of fraying. Given time the connection would fail and the ship’s bridge would be without power that is if it failed, if frayed any more the demands on the connected strands would have been more than they could carry and a fire was a definite possibility. Leaving the deck plates removed we documented this and six other anomalies we found in our three hour inspection. It was time to go planet side and show Sobbash what we’ve found.

Sabotaged, maybe, but what ever the reason was, this refit on the ship was not done in accordance with established procedures, period. Sobbash and Arisa are not going to be happy with what we found, and this is from the general inspection. If we were to dissect the ship for salvage there will be many more discrepancies I fear. KO and I hope the new ship was better constructed than this one was refitted, if not, Noel may have her hands full; not that she doesn’t already.

*********
This timeline of events, if what I see here is actually happening there is no way Sobbash is going to talk with me but… I’ve been informed that Governor Sobbash is, at this moment, on a link waiting to converse with me. I pour a strong coffee and activate the link; a slightly bedraggled Sobbash greets me and says.

“Kenesh as much as I would like to talk, I’ll get to the heart of the matter and once it’s resolved we’ll have an in depth discussion about it. At zero three hundred, local time, an unauthorized shuttle flight occurred, those aboard the shuttle were the Count of Hyde and the former governor of this world. A ship was dispatched from here to escort them back, it suffered a mechanical problem and the rest of our fleet responded to their aid. At this time the whereabouts of the shuttle and its occupants is unknown. When there is more information I’ll pass it along Sobbash out.”

Sobbash vanished as suddenly as she had appeared leaving no time for questions, but, after hearing what she had to say I really didn’t want any more detail. A report is due today what to tell the general staff is… Lafiel whatever you are up to you’re unknowingly going to upset a delicate balance that is between your world and this Empire. If your brother’s not furious I’m sure your grandmother is going to express more than concern over this information and Sobbash, the ‘whereabouts unknown’ is not going to sit very well, but, I’m sure you’re aware of that fact already.

*********
Dai’s been in dream land for about an hour now, I’m monitoring the device and Scholar is maintaining a telepathic link with Dai, while Scholar will not see any detail she’ll be able to sense anything out of the ordinary at which time I’ll disconnect Dai from the device. I can sense that Dai is experiencing something quite stimulating, I watch Scholar’s body language for the slightest indication of trouble and wait.

*********
Sensor modification and calibration are complete although not as capable as this ship is the other two now have the ability to see about eighty percent of what we see. I’ve decided to have an opinion session between the Captains of the other two ships. It has been a non stop argument ever since the link was established and I’ve heard enough.

“That’s enough, Cassandra and Plakia; you’ll cease this petty bickering at once.”

With Robert in engineering, Seelnay and Scholar with Dai, it’s just Lily and I on the bridge. For the last twenty minutes I’ve watched my daughter getting angrier by the moment. My sudden outburst has her looking my way waiting for my next move. It’s time to exercise the authority the Council gave me before I left and they’re not going to like it one bit.

“This was supposed to be an information exchanging and suggestion sharing session but it’s turned into a debate between a parent and a child about the one who connects them both. You two need to get to an agreement on how to handle Lafiel after we find her, now I’m pulling rank and taking over this discussion starting right now.”

I have Lily place the shuttles course and the charts and project it into the system. Along their projected course lay four planets, three show signs of having some sort of an atmosphere and it is there we’ll begin our search.

“Plakia examine the outer planet, we’ll take the center one, Cassie you’ll have the inner one to scan. Remember if they are on one of these worlds they’ll most likely be cloaked. While you’ll not be able to detect a cloaked vessels location, you should be able to see the cloaks decay signature. Robert has given your engineering departments the signatures parameters and the system has been tweaked accordingly. Now lets agree on this before we start, if any one of us finds the ship they’ll notify the other two by this link. Should the shuttle detect you and try to escape let it get free on the planets interference before you try anything. Assume the following as well that the crew of the shuttle should be considered hostile. I know its Jinto and Lafiel but remember they did send a proximity mine down our bow and recently. The shuttle is armed and lucky shots have occurred in the past. With that said approach the planets at battle stations; shields and deflectors active, weapon systems on line and ready. Consider this entire system as hostile until we have a clearer picture. Any questions?”

From my first mention of the word hostile Cassie has been looking away from the viewer, Dawn has moved to her side and they are quietly conversing I know she’s heard everything. Plakia on the other hand didn’t bat an eye when I mentioned hostilities in fact when I said that, she raised her shields and assumed a battle stations posture. Cassie’s finished with her conversation and directs her attention to the viewer.

“Lets be clear on one thing should the shuttle prove too hostile to handle. I’ll be the one who’ll make the decision as to how the situation will be…”

Cassie’s face went blank and pale at the same moment, before a word could be said Dawn was back at her side. She leaned over and put the link on stand by, it was then Plakia spoke in a tone I’ve never heard her use before a solemn tone.

“Noel I’ll interpret what she was trying to say. Simply put you and I have been relieved of making the decision, should it become necessary the one who will be responsible for taking them out, if need be, will be Cassandra I need your agreement on this.”

Lily had moved to my side when this part of the discussion started. Part way in Ariel had arrived on the bridge to relieve Lily she got the better part of the conversation as well.

There was nothing I could say or do to make the situation better. Against my better judgment I agreed if it became necessary that Cassie would fire the shot and hoped to hell it would never happen. Lily was not happy with my decision she stated that much and more.

“You just agreed to… you just signed their death sentence, how could you? We have no idea why anything has happened yet you’re sitting there just as comfortable as you were at home watching…”

It started slowly almost inappreciable to ones senses, a slight buzzing in the ears followed by distortion in vision and trouble concentrating. The battle stations alarm went off automatically and Dai’s voice echoed throughout the ship.

“Emergency Jump all ships return to the relay satellite at once, scan behind you as you go this is not a drill.”

I tired to move but what ever it was had my neural system in confusion, ships automates had already sensed the danger and were saving the ship. Auto course inputs and coordination between the three ships was occurring faster than my mind could read the screen. We jumped within seconds of each other and as we did several jump points appeared on the other side of the system. Our ships were scanning while we left and once we were a quarter light second from the system the buzzing stopped.

However I couldn’t move in my seat. My eyes and brain were the only functions I had. I knew the alarms were going off by the flashing lights, but I couldn’t hear a thing. I managed to catch a reflection of Lily in my display she and Ariel were slumped over the rail to the rear of my seat. It was another half hour before my body would respond to my mind.

*********
“Sobbash we’ve got trouble the links been broken. The last data I have shows a fleet wide emergency retreat was ordered and carried out by the ships automates working in unison. Looks like they’ve retreated to the last logged point in the system. That’s where Defiance dropped the comm. link off however there is no response to our inquiries from the crew we’re just getting auto messaging that is very confusing.”

Atosuryua and I move to Risch and begin sorting out the data. Erin and Li are staring stunned at the comm. display. To think a system the Council though pointless might have actually been useful. I didn’t say a word, at least not now; I wanted to know just what was happening.

*********
I awoke to a splitting headache. Seelnay is passed out in her chair and Scholar is out cold on the floor. The plug to the device was still in Seelnay’s hand. My left hand, which I had trouble moving, was resting on the master console. It would seem by the information on the screen I ordered an automated retreat from the system for some reason I still can’t remember. Then it hit me there was no noise, it should be just short of deafening in this room. I try to silence the system but the AI’s are firmly in control until we arrive at where ever I sent us.

“Dai what happened? You were in the device then suddenly you reached for the console and ordered a retreat? What did you see and more importantly what has happened to us?”

Scholar has come around, that link of hers is unmistakable, but if I did what she implied I did. I hate to bust her bubble but I have no recollection of what happened at least not at this moment. Right now a nap sounds wonderful, if I didn’t have this vicious headache I’d be asleep already.

*********
Survival mode, a concept developed by Risch and Samson many years ago. As we ventured farther into the unknown our ship became their own life preservers. We built sophisticated AI units and gave them the ability to take over the ship and protect it from danger incase of crew incapacitation. To that end there needed to be a master unit and usually that unit was aboard the more advanced ship, in this case it would be the newly constructed Discovery. The conflict we are observing is Discovery is trying to order the other two ships to conform to its standards and the other two ships do not recognize it as the master unit.

At this moment Risch is sending instruction from here to them in hopes he can intervene, reset the system, and gets an understandable report from them. We’ll know shortly if he is successful.

*********
“Greta there is still no response from the planet, I’ve contacted the station and they can not raise the planet either. Looks like we’re going to arrive unannounced and hopeful not trigger their defensive grid.”

“Keep trying KO, if for some reason they’re overwhelmed I want us to be on the system when we trigger the proximity sensors. Expect an automated challenge and answer it accordingly, also be prepared to get us out of here in a hurry if Sobbash has changed the challenge codes, understand?”

We were five minutes from sensor boundaries and adhering to the landing profile. The planetary defense system should have this ship’s beacon logged, all we had to do was answer the challenge question correctly and our landing without incident would be assured. Sometimes you hope everything goes as planned but…

“Challenge received and answered, the system instructs us to remain aboard until we are escorted to the government center. Greta what’s going on down there I’ve never seen this response before.”

My worst fears surfaced something has happened to the new ship and we were slow in reporting our findings to Sobbash but she did instruct us to do it in person so in that respect we were following her orders. I had no intention of remaining on the ship until the welcoming committee showed up. KO and I would make a bee line to the center as soon as we docked. I move to the locker and remove two side arms, handing one to KO I say.

“Last resort, we know most of the security staff on the island but just incase someone new or trigger happy is there we will defend ourselves and nothing more.”

We are three minutes from touchdown I have KO announce our arrival loudly; we make the break directly over the island at five thousand meters. In sure even if they are in the deepest reaches of the complex we’ve been heard.

*********
KA BOOM!!!

The building shook, moving to the defense monitor I find the cause of the sudden disturbance, it’s the shuttle from the Seelnay. It appears they’re on final and not getting an acceptable response they decided to let us know they were here. Good we’re running short of live bodies around here I’ll put them to work as soon as they arrive. I send a detail to escort our guest here without delay and return my attention to the console. Risch’s instruction reached the ships and the system rest was successful. Independence took command, we are now receiving data with a single voice and what we are seeing is incredible to say the least.

*********
The landing was successful when we docked we were surprised to find a welcoming committee waiting for us. KO and I were escorted to the center. Entering the building Atosuryua showed us to the main communications room. Entering we were greeted with an AI report that stood all the hair up on my neck.

“This is the current fleet status. The fleet is five minutes from point Delta, all ships are fully functional; however most of the crew is incapacitated. Scans report neurological incapacitation as the primary affliction. The central automate aboard Discovery is in telepathic contact with Scholar; however the information we are gleaning from her is not making any sense. A copy of the information exchange is being forwarded. While not in immediate danger, the crew, if they don’t recover shortly, we’ll have no other alternative but to abandon the instruction left by Fleet Commander Lexshu and return to point of origin for crew repair.”

I listened then a cold chill went up my spine I blurted out the following question.

“Which ship is the control AI?”

“Independence is I’m about to switch over to Discovery why do you ask?”

“Don’t do it! I’ll explain later but whatever you do, Do Not give fleet control to that ship. If it has the same issues we found aboard its predecessor you could lose control of the fleet.”

Risch’s hand retreated from the console; Sobbash and he were standing in my face within a second demanding an explanation.

I handed them the report from our inspection they read it and then Sobbash said.

“Wonderful, just wonderful, there is a possibility that our most advanced ship has a bug in it. Thank you Greta you probably saved all of their lives, however we have another problem that you’ve heard pieces of. We need help sorting out this mess, can you two take those consoles and review the minutes that lead up to the emergency retreat order being issued while I contact the Alliance and Risch sorts out the AI command structure.”

*********
Not knowing what has happened, KO and I refrain from the data retrieved by the on board system and concentrate on what data was being fed by the AI units. About three minutes from the order being issued a spike in emissions from a planet just off Discovery’s bow brings an automated scan request from its AI. This emission starts to affect the crew within seconds of its detection. What confuses me is that the withdrawal order is issued from the Captains quarters aboard the Discovery, not by its AI unit. A follow up command to scan the area as they left was also requested but who was in the Captains quarters and why the scan order?

Sobbash is in a discussion with Erin and Li, I ask KO to examine the scan logs after they left to see if anything out of the ordinary occurred and I approach Sobbash with what we found so far the conversation I hear stops me momentarily.

“You asked what you could do. Right now you can hope the Great Spirit is really protecting them because they are on the other side of the galaxy and we have no real idea of their condition. As far as that goes inform the Council of what has happen and tell them to expect anything and everything.”

I catch Sobbash’s eye and she motions me towards them I tell her everything we’ve discovered so far. I was about to go into detail when KO yells at the top of her lungs from across the room.

“WHAT THE HELL!!! Greta you have to see this get back over here!”

The seven of us tried to see KO display and it wasn’t going to happen, Sobbash transfers the images to a larger viewer. What we saw was high resolution scans from the three ships as they departed. About two seconds after their jump at least five jump points appeared on the other side of the system. A massive ship approached a planet, an energy discharge was directed at said planet and it vanished into the void. The last image of the area was the silhouette of that ship along with three more. The data stops at this point.

We stare in disbelief at the display if what Noel said was true, and the shuttle was on a planet did we just witness the demise of two wonderful people? Silence filled the room…




To be continued in: Dai’s Dilemma

"Ah! You don't know my name?
Its very simple, Lafiel you shall say.
In return I'd like to call you Jinto."


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