 
The Treasure of Altaraus

A Story by

Philip R Benge

Smashwords Edition

***************

Published by

Philip R Benge on Smashwords

The Treasure of Altaraus

Copyright Philip R Benge 2014

Cover Art Copyright Philip R Benge 2014

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

The Treasure of Altaraus

Contents

Chapter One: A New Beginning

Chapter Two: A Peace Treaty

Chapter Three: Secrets from the Past

Chapter Four: Between a Brick and a Hard Place

Chapter Five: A New Quest

Chapter Six: On the Treasure Trail

Chapter Seven: Return to New Mars

Chapter Eight: The Gateway of Tomorrow

Chapter Nine: The End Game

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

Chapter One

A New Beginning

Almost the whole of Mazere celebrated when Lantana Stator was elected president of Mazere. She was the mysterious Action against Tyranny, a mysterious figure who had kept the public aware of the many things that the previous right wing ultra-conservative government had wished to keep secret. She had championed the cause of the Non-Citizens of Mazere, a part of the population who had had few rights, except to work in the toxic factories and live in the equally toxic and squalid little industrial towns with no right to vote. She had instigated the protest marches that finally caused the government to resign amid an attempted coup by the military. In the end, though her coup had prevailed, not the military one. The government had been overthrown by the people, and by Lantana Stator, a woman who wanted democracy for all of her people, and justice for all other worlds that they encountered.

David Charlton for one was very happy to see her at the helm of the new government of Mazere. He was the captain of the Galactic Traveller, an aging space freighter belonging to his father. His reason for being on Mazere in the first place was that he had been searching for his father, he had gone missing in that region of space while on a voyage of discovery aboard the starship Blazer Explorer. Unknown to him at the time, his father's starship had been attacked, and the crew imprisoned, by the authorities of Mazere. The authorities had wanted this whole sector of space kept exclusively for their own people. To ensure this end they had sought to keep all other space faring worlds well away from Mazere, and through any means possible to them, including the destabilization of the planet's governments.

David had been falsely accused of murder and mayhem, even of fermenting unrest on the planet by Admiral Stator, the father of Lantana, and who had known nothing about his daughter`s other life as a revolutionary. By doing so, Admiral Stator hoped to take over the government by way of a military coup, when the expected violence that he had been stoking, erupted upon the streets of Mazere. The ruling government though had always been one-step ahead of the military coup, and had arrested him and his fellow conspirators as soon as they attempted to seize power. Unfortunately, for them, they found his daughter at the head of millions of their citizens storming the government building and demanding that the present administration stand down for a truly democratic one.

One of the first actions taken by Lantana, as president of Mazere, was to go on television and set the record straight regarding her friends from Earth. Captain Charlton and his crew were not guilty of anything more than rescuing his parents and friends from a secret government prison on Mazere, where they had been illegally imprisoned. The military had been behind the actions leading up to the unrest, not Captain Charlton or Sarah Jane Hardin who were innocent victims of the military's Machiavellian plot to destabilise the planet and seize power for their own grandiose reasons.

David Charlton was resting now after living through so much danger to himself, and to those that he cared for. He was having breakfast with his new wife, Sarah Jane Hardin. Sarah, as with most women at the latter end of the twenty second century, had decided to retain her own name. They were in their hotel suite on the top floor of a small family run hotel in central Plakara, the capital city of the planet of Mazere. With them at the hotel were Richard and Patricia Charlton, David's parents. They would all have preferred to return to Earth, and never to hear the name of the planet ever again, but they had not. The reason why they did not do so was Lantana Stator, for she had asked David and Sarah to stay for a while and act as her personal consultants. So, with their hands bound, David's father and mother had also decided to remain on Mazere as they were loath to leave their son, having only just got him back after two long and very eventful years.

**********

The freighter Galactic Traveller had departed from the planet Mazere two days previously and without its captain. It was now on course for Earth. In temporary command was Alan Lee, and along with him were Steve Ryan, Christopher Anderson and Millicent McIntosh on the bridge, with Jimmy Fielding and Tony Miles in engineering. They had all had a happy farewell, having seen their friends David Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin marry. However, after an exhausting and very dangerous time they all wanted to return home to Earth, especially Alan, Chris and Millicent, who were all survivors from the ill-fated Blazer Explorer.

Steve Ryan was spending an hour going through some old video logs; it showed their approach to a planet he had named New Mars. While watching the video he suddenly saw something that would change the lives of so many people. There on the viewing screen was the faint outline of a town, long buried beneath the sands of the slowly dying planet. He had not noticed it previously as then he had been looking for signs of a crashed starship, the Blazer Explorer, but now it screamed out for his attention.

"Chris, look at this video here of the Galactic Traveller's approach to the planet New Mars." Christopher Anderson got up from his seat and walked across the bridge to see what Steve was looking at; when he saw it, he called over to Alan Lee.

"Alan this is incredible, you should come and have a look at this video."

Chris took over the controls of the freighter allowing Alan Lee to look at the video; he was joined by Millicent McIntosh who could not contain her excitement, for to see this first sign of a long dead civilisation was to her something amazing.

"Oh gosh Steve, how on earth did you miss this the first time round?" Millicent cried out reprovingly, Steve smiled at her and explained.

"Because sweet Millicent, I was too engrossed at the time in looking for you and the rest of your crew to see the faint outlines shown on the video." Millicent blushed as she met Steve's smile, but then she smiled as well.

"And I thank you sweet Sir, both for your bravery and for your diligence in doing just that." Millicent said giving him a small curtsy.

"You are right Chris, this is amazing. Steve, will you get the site's co-ordinates and attach them to the video, and then send them back to David, and hopefully it will annoy the Mazerens, being in debt once again to him." Alan said with a wicked smile upon his face.

Thankfully, the flight home was uneventful, although a little boring, they had originally planned to land at the space port of Mars, the home base of the freighter, but they were diverted by John Blazer, David Charlton's godfather. He asked them instead to return to Earth, and asked them to land in front the Blazer Space hanger at the spaceport of Washington DC. John Blazer had arranged a welcome home party, for he wanted to show just how much he valued each one of them.

There was one other reason for getting the freighter to Washington, John Blazer could see that there would be a significant increase in the number of people wanting to travel either to Mazere or to Phlox. Therefore, he had also decided that the Galactic Traveller needed extra cabins so that they could cash in on what would soon become a profitable line of business. He had Blazer Space put in four cabin pods; his firm were now manufacturing them for other freighters who were also looking to increase their own profits, but on more local runs. There would be no invoice waiting for the Charlton family when they returned home, this was his way of repaying them, in part, for all that they had gone through on his behalf.

Chapter Two

A Peace Treaty

As soon as they got the message from Steve Ryan, David and Sarah went along to speak with Lantana Stator; however, she was far too busy at that time to worry about an archaeological find. She referred them to Professor Halliard of the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations.

One hour later Professor Halliard, the curator of the museum, rose to greet them as they were shown into his office in the museum.

"Captain Charlton, Ms Hardin, President Stator sent me a message to say that you would be calling, you have something of interest to show me I gather?" Professor Halliard looked to be nearing retirement age, however, he was still handsome, and his eyes had lost none of their sharpness.

"That is correct Professor, I have a recording here that shows the outlines of what might be a long dead town beneath the sands of the planet that you call Canopus, it was taken when my ship went into orbit around it at the initial meeting between our two worlds." David said offering a small computer memory stick to Professor Halliard. The device had been provided by the Mazeren communications officer that had brought the message to them.

Professor Halliard immediately plugged the device into his computer and the recording began to run. He quickly turned into a young boy as he watched the recording, his excitement overcoming his natural reserve as he realised just what he might be seeing.

"This is fantastic; it must be from the ancients' civilisation, it is only the third such town ever found, if only I had the funds available to go there this minute with an archaeological team." Professor Halliard turned from his computer screen to look up at David and Sarah.

"The new president, someone that you are partly responsible for bringing to power my friends," he added tongue in cheek, "has frozen all government funding until her new government is formed. Then we will still have to wait for her new ministers to go over all existing expenses before any new money will be made available, especially for a project as large as this promises to be." The professor stopped for a moment, seemingly stunned. "Oh my! I might be retired by then." David and Sarah smiled their apologies to the man before them who visibly deflated and turned into a very sad man. Neither of them understood the importance of this find, although they were soon destined to do just that.

**********

Months flew by, with President Lantana Stator working an eighteen-hour day to reshape the government of Mazere into one that represented all of its people, and not just the middle and upper classes. The day came though when she could sit back and smile, the first part of her work was completed, now for phase 2. Phase 2 was about formalising peaceful relations with the people on the planet Phlox and cementing those already agreed, albeit informally, with the people of planet Earth. Earth and Mazere of course, had already exchanged ambassadors and so it would be an easier task than the one regarding the planet Phlox. With this in mind, and unknown to David and Sarah, Lantana decided that her two friends were necessary to ensure the success of phase 2, and so she broached the subject in the grounds of the presidential palace.

"David, Sarah, I have told you of my desire to form a federation of our two planets and that of the people of Phlox. To do this I will need your assistance." Lantana stopped for a moment to look at her two friends, and seeing the interest in their eyes she continued.

"I am about to inform your ambassador that I am appointing the two of you as my special representatives to the planet Phlox, for my agents on Phlox tell me that we three have taken on the persona of heroes there. We alone are credited with having taken on the previous government of Mazere and beaten it." This was no exaggeration on her part, and Lantana knew she could use this feeling to the advantage of all the peoples of the known galaxy.

David and Sarah stood there stunned by her words, they could hardly be considered diplomats, and Ambassador Kennedy of Earth would have used a much different word to describe them, one with colourful adjectives before it. Lantana smiled as she looked at her friends' stunned faces and waved their attempts of disbelief away.

"I need the two of you, the people of Phlox wouldn't even speak to any Mazeren diplomats, and in fact they might even be tempted to shoot them." Lantana said partly in jest and partly because it just might be true.

"Now listen to me before you refuse, I want you to open negotiations on my behalf with the many governments on the planet Phlox. The first item on your agenda will be to get these governments to agree to the exchange of ambassadors with Earth and Mazere. This alone will take a lot of hard work on your part, especially as Phlox is nowhere near to forming a unified planetary government, in fact they were even further away than Earth is on this matter. The second item on your agenda is in regard to the forming of a loose federation of planets, of which all would be equal partners." Lantana felt that the security of all the peoples of the three worlds would be best served in this manner.

"Please think the matter over, and then let me know if you will agree to go to Phlox as my special representatives."

David and Sarah knew that this task would take very different skills from piloting a starship across the galaxy. It would be hard work dealing with politicians and often be unrewarding, it would also take them many months, and the chances of success would always be in doubt. They tried to ridicule the very idea of them taking on this role but after much talk between them, they began to take the idea seriously. The next thing they did was to discuss the matter with Richard and Patricia Charlton, before they finally agreed to go to Phlox. They were both just a little scared, but also proud, to be the special representatives of President Lantana Stator of the planet of Mazere.

At one time, Ambassador Jules Kennedy of the planet Earth had detested the Charlton clan, but during the last few months, he had made it up with them, and now was almost a friend, almost. Therefore, when President Lantana had told him of her decision to honour the two youngest members of the clan in such a way, his first instinct had been to dismiss the idea as absurd. However, on thinking the matter through he soon realised why President Stator had chosen them as her envoys, and he saw that there was a good chance that they might even succeed, but even so, being inexperienced in political matters meant that there was also a chance that they might fail. On spending a little more time on the idea, he concluded that if they did succeed, then anyone connected with the mission would also succeed, and with this in mind, he called on President Stator with a suggestion.

"Madam President, I believe that the success of your diplomatic mission to Phlox stands a better chance of success if I was to accompany it, but only as a special advisor to your two special representatives. They will need someone to steer them through the many political minefields that they are bound to meet during the negotiations."

Lantana thought about the idea for only a moment before agreeing to it, for she also knew that politicians could not be treated as normal people, no they were in truth a race apart. She then smiled, for she saw that on this diplomatic mission there would be more special people than ordinary ones.

"Thank you, Ambassador Kennedy, for your suggestion, and yes, I too believe that your inclusion in the mission would be of a great help to us."

Ambassador Kennedy smiled at President Stator, for he saw a real chance of advancement for him, should the mission be a success.

"Thank you, Madam President, and I believe that with the three of us going to Phlox as a team, failure is now not an option."

Lantana returned his smile while striving to hold back her laughter at his pompous words.

"Ambassador, will you also do one more thing for me, will you also extend my felicitations to your own government, and to the other various governments on Earth, and ask them if they will appoint you as their representative on this mission. I believe that a smaller mission will not seem quite so intimidating to the people of Phlox."

Lantana stopped for a moment to look at the view from her windows while she collected her thoughts, and with her back to him, she continued.

"Ambassador, should the various governments on Earth fail to agree, or try to delay the mission, please inform them that this diplomatic mission will still take place." Lantana turned around to face the ambassador.

"Yes, I am offering Earth a role, as their inclusion on the mission would make the chances of success all the greater, but with or without Earth, the diplomatic mission will proceed within the next three months." Lantana did not add that she still had to get the leaders of the most powerful nations on Phlox to agree to meet with her representatives, and then to allow them to speak with the leaders of the smaller governments of their planet.

Somehow, a miracle happened, two months later David and Sarah set out on their mission to Phlox aboard a private space yacht hired by the government of Mazere, and they were to be escorted by the Mazeren space cruiser Timor under the command of Captain Zara.

Commander Zior looked across the spaceport at the sleek space yacht that had been hired to take the two earthlings to Phlox to begin peace negotiations with the barbarians who lived on that planet. They were not using a military starship out of regard for the feelings of the people of Phlox. Zior cursed loudly about David and Sarah's heritage. Then he heard the ship's engines begin to thrust the starship from the ground, he wanted two things as of that moment. One was to see the earthlings' dead, and the second wish was to ensure that the peace negotiations did not take place. He smiled when he looked down at the powerful energy cannon set up beside him, across the spaceport; the space yacht was now fifty feet above the ground. It would move up vertically for the first one hundred feet, and then the powerful engine of the craft took over, and began to move it up and towards him. He was two miles away from it; it would be at two thousand feet when it passed overhead. He locked the weapon onto the fast-moving craft and as it neared his position, the weapon fired automatically. A powerful bolt of energy screamed upwards to strike the sleek spacecraft, its single engine died in a violent explosion, two thousand feet below the craft, the sound reached Zior. He smiled as he watched the black smoke stream away from the stricken craft. A shower of broken parts from the engine rained down, leaving their own traces in the sky. Commander Zior did not wait to see where the starship would land; he hurriedly put the powerful weapon into the back of his all-terrain vehicle and drove away at speed, before any nosey security men came looking for him.

David Charlton had been sitting next to Sarah when the energy bolt struck the starship. He did not fully comprehend what it was that had happened, but he still jumped to his feet and rushed onto the small flight deck of the craft. A thick black acrid smoke began to enter the passenger cabin from the rear of the stricken craft, and the starship was now beginning to fall back to the ground, its power gone. The crew of the ship began to panic as they looked at one another and began to pray, it was now that David entered the small flight deck. Seeing them frozen by fear, unable to do anything about their plight, David pulled the captain from his chair and took over his command. He had not flown this type of craft before but recognised the instruments before him.

Captain Raines, who was supposed to be flying the ship, did not complain, he only hoped that the famous man from Earth could save their lives. The second officer had regained some of his composure but did nothing to assist David, for his mind refused to function.

Sarah now came to the flight deck to ensure that the two crewmembers did not hamper her husband, for she thought herself too young to die. Anyway, she wanted to get away from the smoke that had begun to make her cough. She had left Ambassador Kennedy behind in the passenger cabin; he had just applied a wet cloth over his face so that he could breathe more easily, he had used a handkerchief and a bottle of mineral water.

The ship was now diving nose first to the hard ground below them; they were now only 1300 feet from the ground and dropping fast, the altimeter in front of David was whizzing round towards zero. At least the smoke now rushed to the rear of the falling starship. Sarah struggled towards the one spare seat on the flight deck and strapped herself in while she prayed. The first thing David did was to fire two of the three sets of the forward thrusters, the ones he used began to slow their descent and to bring their nose up, thankfully, these were not powered by the broken engine, but by an auxiliary one. The craft now began to buck because of the thrusters being used in an unconventional way; they were normally only used in space. Even though the nose was coming up, the craft was still falling, but now it was in a belly flop configuration, and with under 800 feet to travel before they crashed to the ground. David, with no time to think his actions through, turned the forward thrusters off and now hit the button that fired up the vertical thrusters; the ones that had lifted the craft away from the ground at take-off. These vertical thrusters screamed as they fought to halt the fall of the craft, they were not designed to cope with these pressures, but even so, they began to slow the rapid descent of the falling craft. When only forty feet from the ground, and with the speed fast diminishing, the vertical thrusters let out a loud squeal and stopped working. The amount of work that had been asked of them had been too much, even so, for a moment the starship had actually stopped falling, now it plunged the remaining forty feet and hit the ground with a tremendous crash.

The emergency crews were soon at the crash site, thanks to David the disaster had been of a limited event. The two crewmembers and its three passengers were found amongst the wreckage of the site, but they were all unconscious. They were taken to a private clinic where President Lantana ensured that only the best doctors tended to their wounds. A security cordon was thrown around the clinic to prevent another attempt on her special representatives' lives. It was in this Déjà vu situation that David came around to see that once more Sarah was beside his bed and holding his hand.

"Sarah." David groaned out quietly. "Are you all right?"

Sarah smiled at him. "Yes, thanks to you I am. No one was hurt badly, you came off worst of all when a part of the flight deck hit you, but the doctors say that you should soon be out of here. Ambassador Kennedy has been worried about you, and he personally wants to thank you for saving his life, he sent a full report to Lantana. She told me that he complained bitterly about the flight crew and their inability to do anything, but he offers nothing but praise for you."

"That, Sarah, is a miracle in itself, the ambassador praising me, what next, maybe I should run for the presidency."

No one was ever found for the crime, and the next day David and Sarah spoke to Lantana about the motives behind it. They decided that there were two possible reasons for the attack. Either someone wanted to keep the status quo, for Phlox to be kept in its place, as it were. The other possible reason could simply have been a revenge attack on them, by someone who thought that the revolution had been their fault and wanted revenge. David then voiced a fear that had occurred to him while lying in his hospital bad.

"Lantana, you should be on your guard, our attacker may make an attempt on your life, should he be against your new Mazere, and this person may want things to revert back to as they were prior to your people's revolution."

Lantana looked at him and smiled. "I will not hide away like a coward, David." She said proudly. "In any case, I have been President of Mazere for almost two years now, if someone wanted to kill me, they have had ample opportunities to do. No, I think that I am not a target, as yet."

"You are correct Lantana, David's attacker was after us mainly, and maybe he, for I am sure that it would be a man here on Mazere, wanted to stop the peace negotiations dead in their tracks, some caveman wants the people of Phlox to remain a split people, forever warring amongst themselves." Sarah declared.

One week later, they were boarding the space cruiser Timor, and the area around the spaceport was under the guard of the cream of the Mazeren army, such as it is. The next six months were hard and unrewarding, as they knew they would be, but finally the three planets agreed to exchange ambassadors, and a formal peace treaty was signed between Phlox and Mazere.

D avid Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin spent the next six months travelling constantly between the major nations of Phlox to push the idea of a federation of planets, and finally the leaders agreed to a meeting between them and President Stator.

It was obvious that they were on the point of reaching agreement, and the inclusion of the Mazeren president at the summit was all it took to ensure success. Her summing up at the end of a long speech to the various leaders brought about the signing of a binding treaty between the three worlds.

"It might seem to some people that it would be easier, and maybe even more popular, to see Mazere as a potential enemy, but I urge all of you instead to take the much more difficult road, to see Mazere as a new and good friend. If we can travel down this road then I, as the President of Mazere, will promise to do all in my power to assist the peoples of the Phlox, and of Earth."

Two things swung the Phloxan decision Lantana's way. Firstly, her offer of help also included the offer of technical assistance, and Phlox wanted desperately to upgrade its space fleet, that or see their two partners profiting while their spacecraft were limited to their own solar system. This catalyst made the various power blocks on Phlox agree to look into the idea of forming a unified planetary government. Secondly was the fact that Lantana was the President of Mazere, and that David and Sarah had been her representatives. This fact, almost by itself, was a major reason why the leaders of Phlox, and Earth, had agreed to her idea, and the three worlds then formed a fledgling federation of planets, and all as equal partners in the venture.

David and Sarah were due to return to Mazere in three days, they would be travelling with Lantana aboard the space cruiser Timor, commanded by Captain Zara. With their official duties over, they decided to go to the ballet where they were guests of the owner of the theatre in the city of Christopol, the capital city of Mayling one of the most powerful of the countries on Phlox. They were relaxed as they left the theatre; they stopped to wait at the roadside for a taxi without a care between them.

**********

Maurice Blazenby was a man in a hurry to become extremely rich and powerful amongst the criminal fraternity. He normally stayed put on the planet Mazere, but the lure of easy money had brought him to Phlox. He was there to steal some of the rare relics being discovered in an archaeological dig that was only the second of its kind to be found, for it belonged to a civilisation that disappeared ten thousand years ago. He planned to acquire them using two different methods, intimidation and bribery, at the moment he was using the former on a man who he had dragged down a dingy alley.

"My friend if you do not want to wake up one fine morning slightly dead, then I suggest that you assist me in my endeavours." Blazenby said in a quiet but sadistic manner that had his victim quivering with fear. He followed his threat up by punching the man in the stomach.

Giorgio Lantini, his victim, doubled up in pain and had to fight his body's need to throw up, he was not used to such violence and had never encountered it personally during his lifetime, he now begged for mercy from the thug towering over him. His pleas brought a second punch that threw him back against the wall behind him and his head struck the bricks stunning him. Blazenby followed this up with another punch that would have floored Lantini had not the wall been holding him up. Blood was flowing from his mouth and from a cut above his right eye. He did not know it yet but a trail of blood was also sliding down from the nasty cut on the back of his head, it had been because of his collision with the wall.

Lilliana Lantini, the victim's wife, screamed and ran for help, although she knew that at times, even in the centre of town, it could be hard to find, hence the brazen attack on her husband.

"Help me please, they are killing my husband." She screamed out from the end of the alley. This alley happened to run down the side of the theatre.

Alerted by the screams coming from quite near, David and Sarah had been walking towards the alley. Luckier still was the fact that they had both been learning Mayling, the main language of Phlox, ever since they had arrived on the planet, so they understood her frantic plea for help. They moved as one towards the woman, and coming to the alley, they saw a middle-aged man fighting desperately with a much heavier and younger man, who looked the archetypical thug. With the thug were two other men, they were his back up heavies, if the thug found that he needed assistance. David and Sarah immediately ran towards the struggle. One of the heavies, the younger of the two, smiled when he saw them and pulled out a knife. David smiled in return, pulled out his energy weapon, and fired it without bothering to warn the heavy. The energy bolt struck the young heavy`s arm sending a pain shooting up it and then numbing it. The knife fell to the floor with a clatter; the heavy looked at David as if he did not believe what had just happened. The second heavy did though, for he began to reach for his own energy weapon. However, before his hand reached it he finally noticed Sarah, and she had her own energy weapon in her hand, and was pointing it at him. She smiled grimly at the heavy.

"Be careful my friend, completing that action could be painful, I suggest you take young friend and leave, we will give your commiserations to your boss."

From behind Sarah, a small crowd of people had been attracted by David's use of his energy weapon; they were walking down the alley to see what was happening. Seeing this the older heavy returned her smile and slowly backed away, his hand held far away from his weapon, for he knew who had interrupted them. Captain David Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin, and both had a reputation for dealing with their enemies in a way far removed from the usual person he ran up against. Anyway, there were now far too many witnesses around. His young colleague followed while casting anxious eyes towards Sarah and then his employer, who was still unaware of the recent altercation that had taken place behind him

While Sarah had been taking care of the older heavy David had put his weapon away and moved toward the thug who had been so busy enjoying his treatment of his victim that he did not notice the change in his circumstances. David reached out and pulled the thug away from his victim. The thug spun round with a curse on his lips and found David`s fist in his mouth. The thug fell to the ground and snarling looked for his support, seeing it running down the alley his face now registered fear. He struggled to his feet and seeing the energy weapon in Sarah`s hand, he struggled to his feet, and then he ran down the alley after his two men.

The woman rushed to her husband. "Are you all right Giorgio, did they hurt you badly?" The man managed a wry smile before answering.

"I will live Lilliana, thanks to our friends here." He struggled to his feet and held out his hand to David and Sarah who gladly shook it while asking if he was Ok.

"Thank you both, I think they may have hurt me badly otherwise." He replied grimly.

"Who was the thug and why did he attack you?" Sarah asked, for it did not seem like the usual mugging.

"The one who attacked me is a criminal named Blazenby, he wants me to help him steal the archaeological finds from the new site that was discovered, it is quite important being only the second such site of its type, it is a town of the ancients." The man said knowing that they would understand the significance behind his words.

"They looked to be Mazerens; you can tell them from their fine clothes and by the way that they scuttle off when someone threatens them." One of the new comers said laughing at his own comments. The small crowd of people seeing that everything was now ok, and noticing the weapons that David and Sarah had put away, now left for safer entertainment.

"But I am forgetting my manners, I am Giorgio and this is my wife Lilliana." The man said. "You, we both know from the news broadcasts, you are the famous friends of the Mazeren president, Captain David Charlton and Ms Sarah Jane Hardin." He said beaming at them. David returned their smiles, and felt slightly self-conscious about his newly acquired celebrity status, as too did Sarah, who now blushed.

"Tell me Giorgio, why would he think that you would be able to help him steal the artefacts?" David asked.

"We are archaeologists working at the site Captain Charlton; we are here in Christopol on a holiday, for we thought that we needed a break, now I think that we will return to our desert where such scum are not welcome." He said quietly and his wife nodded in agreement.

"Maybe you should let the hospital look you over." David suggested as he took in the man's bloody face.

"No, I will be all right after a night's sleep, but thank you for your concern." Lantini replied.

After seeing their two new friends' home, David and Sarah returned to their hotel and thought no more about the matter. Blazenby did though, he was furious that David and Sarah had interfered with his business.

"Cruz, you and Rohr can find out where those two meddlers are staying, because we are going to pay a visit on them and make them wish that they had never heard of this damned planet." Blazenby ordered angrily as he fingered his split lip and flinched as the pain from it reminded him afresh of his humiliation.

The next day the two heavies soon found the hotel that had David and Sarah staying there as guests, they were so very newsworthy that it only took them a few minutes of discrete questioning. With the information, they returned to Blazenby and together worked out the details of the attack that they were going to make.

That night David and Sarah had dined with one of the leading citizens of Christopol. Together with President Lantana, they had been the guests of honour at a small banquet held in his luxury apartment in the centre of the city.

After a delightful evening spent with some very interesting people, they began to feel the need for some fresh air, and as it was not far from their hotel, they decided to walk back. As they neared their hotel, David noticed a large black sedan parked in the shadows across the way. Something about it screamed a warning to him, but it looked innocent enough in itself, what was wrong with him, was it all getting to him, the understandable hatred felt towards the Mazerens politicians, the inane arguments that politicians had about insignificant things, the distrust everywhere? All the same, he kept an eye on it, and a hand on his energy weapon. Sarah noticed his action and looked at him quizzically; even so, she put her hand inside her handbag, and round the grip of her energy weapon. As they reached the doors of the hotel, the rear window of the vehicle slid down with a buzz and hearing this David turned to see an energy weapon aimed directly at him.

He pulled his weapon out, swung around, and fired in one fluid action, the bolt of energy sped across the street to explode against the energy weapon aimed at him, a cry of pain came from the sedan followed by another voice cursing him. Sarah gasped and pulling her weapon free of her handbag sent a second bolt of energy into the vehicle's front tyre, destroying it in an explosion of air and rubber.

The car lurched noisily forward, and then screamed away leaving a trail of sparks caused by the rim of the damaged wheel upon the now ruined roadway. Blazenby screamed out his anger as they turned down the next road and they hastily dumped their vehicle in an empty lot half a mile away. When they finally got back to their hotel the three men were hot and sweaty from their hasty retreat, and the younger of the two heavies was complaining bitterly about his burnt hand, which had happened when his energy weapon had exploded. Blazenby now decided that they should also make a hasty retreat back to Mazere, where the police would not be looking for them in connection with their criminal activities on Phlox.

The police had of course been called by the hotel staff and they arrived minutes later, and as the villains had fled, they chose instead to interrogate David and Sarah. They then took them back to the police station to tell their story again, this time to a senior officer. It was also asked why they felt in necessary to carry weapons in Christopol. David looked amusedly at his interrogator.

"Pardon, an attempt was made on our lives and you ask us why we are carrying weapons here in Christopol. Yesterday we had to come to the assistance of one of your leading archaeologists and it was only the fact that we were armed that saved his life and probably our own." David was fuming, and demanded the right to use a phone. He called their host of the dinner party and told him of their troubles, he laughed.

"What a pair you two are, trouble appears to follow you wherever you go. Don`t fret I will sort it out." He in turn phoned the chief administrator of the national police force who ordered his men to let their illustrious guests depart to their hotel. David and Sarah finally left the police station at four that morning. They also reached a decision, they had had enough of politicians, and of Phlox, they just wanted to return to their old life, and so one year after the return to Earth of their crew, they too returned, but they took with them contracts from many of the import export businesses on the planets of Phlox and Mazere.

They found many things had changed on their return to Earth. Their old freighter now had four passenger compartments, also Steve Ryan and Millicent McIntosh had married. Tony Miles and Alan Lee were also both free and willing to serve aboard the Galactic Traveller, so including Barney, the robot that had been of so much help in their last interplanetary journey, he now had a crew to travel the galaxy, and customers ready to offer him cargoes.

Chapter Three

Secrets from the Past

It was one year later, and Professor Halliard, in his role as the curator of the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations, was at this moment in time visiting the archaeological site on the planet Canopus. A planet that consisted mostly of rock and sand, but it still had some water flowing down from the mountains, and some very fierce animals that managed to survive the tough environment against all odds, for the planet was slowly dying.

Parts of New Mars, or Canopus as the Mazerens called it, held a rugged beauty, but man had sculptured this part of the planet and it resembled a war zone. It had been dug up, and its treasures looted by gangsters, even as the archaeologists made their plans to visit the planet.

Professor Halliard stopped working for a moment and looked up at the sky, only a few small clouds were visible, blowing towards him from the distant mountain range, but they would disappear long before they reached him. He took out from his pocket a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face, the heat was almost too much for him, but at least the wind had not picked up, hopefully it would stay away until this evening, then the cool evening breeze would bring him some relief from the heat of the day.

He was working with a team of archaeologists from the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations; they were working slowly and methodically through the ruins of the ancient site in the hope of finding artefacts from the long dead civilisation. As soon as they had arrived on Canopus, they had seen to their distress that the looters had beaten them to many of the treasures of the ancients.

"Those vandals, they are no better than barbarians, they have destroyed items that were last touched by the ancients, and why? Because they were driven by their sordid, desire to find something sellable to other barbarians, ones who just happen to be mega rich. I suppose we should be grateful Professor, to find anything here, so much was lost in any case over the ten thousand years since the ancient's civilisation fell." Riccardo Charteris was angrily looking down at a shard of pottery that he had painstakingly exhumed from the dry sand that passed for soil on this planet. He felt like jacking it all in and finding himself an easier job.

"Riccardo, calm yourself, you are one of the most able of the museum's archaeologists, if you have a heart attack we would find it almost impossible to replace you." Professor Halliard said laughing which in turn made Riccardo Charteris smile.

"Ok Professor, and I apologise, it is just that every once in a while, it gets to me." He was now back to his normal calm self.

"I know Riccardo; it gets to me as well. I need a word with young Achmed so I will leave you to continue on with the cataloguing of our new finds while I go and find him." Professor Halliard said.

With that he walked across the archaeological site that resembled the Somme battlefield from world war one, thanks partly to the looters and partly to the sand storms that afflicted this part of the planet. The site was now protected by a large barn-like building with a metal roof and this kept out any future sandstorms, however it got very hot beneath the metal roof. Professor Halliard now knew what it would be like to be inside his oven when it was cooking his dinner. He soon found that he had taken a wrong turning, for although he found himself near to the section of the site where Achmed was working with his two young assistants; to get to him he would have to descend a ten-foot high wall of rubble. It had accumulated slowly as the looters searched this part of the site, and such was their rush to find any hidden treasure that they missed so many artefacts now found by the keen eyes of the archaeologists, such as Achmed Tarin. Professor Halliard decided that he was not going to walk all the way back during the hottest part of the day; instead, he decided to edge slowly down the slope. However, as he moved cautiously down the steep hill, he inadvertently stood on a loose piece of rock that moved down under his weight, and he slid painfully down to the bottom of the slope, amid an avalanche of small stones and dirt.

"Damnation!" Professor Halliard swore. This was as blasphemous as anyone was likely to hear him get, for this was serious swearing by the professor's standards.

He sat there for a minute to get his equilibrium back, as he did so he realised that his hand was resting upon a small square box, it was about the size of a thick paperback book. He froze for a good half minute as his brain took in what his eyes were showing him. His hand was resting upon a data box, one last opened ten thousand years ago by the now dead civilisation that ruled the planets of this sector of space, and as far away as Earth, or so it was rumoured. He looked around to ensure that no one had seen his humiliating descent down the slope, but thankfully, he was all alone. He gently picked up the box, and to his delight, he found that it was intact. He could hardly contain his jubilation as his fingers found the locking mechanism and pressed the centre motif, which was of a bird that resembled an eagle, and then he pulled the two wings of the bird sideways. The lid popped open and Professor Halliard found himself staring at a collection of pristine data discs that filled the box, two stacks of five discs which might contain the secrets of the universe, or a collection of love sonnets. Professor Halliard didn`t mind what they contained, he only knew that he would keep them a secret until he had not only read the contents of each disc, but fully understood what they had to tell him. He felt like dancing a jig, he was so happy, but instead he put the box into his brief case, and dusting himself down went to find Achmed. He knew that he should mention his find to his colleagues, but just this once he wanted to savour his find for a while before telling anyone. Unfortunately, the data discs would have to wait until he returned to his home; there he could then study them in private, and away from any possible vandals, such as those who had almost destroyed the site.

For two days, the box called to him, but although tempted, he resisted the urge to take the box out of his briefcase and open it, but finally he was back on Mazere and walking up to his own front door. He hurriedly opened the door and walked inside, he stood for a moment contemplating the pleasure he was soon to enjoy. However, his patience finally cracked and he slammed the door shut and locked it, then he rushed into his study and pulled out the ancient data box.

He had been responsible for finding a way to 'play' the only other discs known to him, they had been found by one of his colleagues on a Mazeren like planet that orbited a star that was in the constellation of Auriga the charioteer. This name was given to it by the people of Earth, although Professor Halliard couldn`t understand why, and the star was designated by Earth as Hip 32480. He found the Earth terms exotic and so he used them in his private work. The Mazeren people called the planet Mystras and a small colony was just set up to open the planet for full colonisation by the Mazeren people. President Stator had agreed to finance it as long as the chance to move out to the new colony was offered mainly to the group formerly known as Non-Citizens, apart from those people necessary to the success of the colony. It was a planet filled with life, however, all intelligent life had mysteriously died out thousands of years in the past, and he was about to find the reason behind their demise.

Professor Halliard now put the first of the data discs into the device that reporters had termed a DVD player, although it had nothing in common with the antiquated machine. The device began to hum quietly and then a page of text appeared on his computer screen. Professor Halliard instructed the computer to translate the alien language, and quickly the text was displayed in Mazeren.

Professor Halliard went through the data over the next seven days and he was delighted to find that everything on the discs was new to him, and the galaxy. The archaeologists across the galaxy would give their right arms to see what he was looking at that minute, and he decided that he would let the world know of his discovery immediately, he had been wrong to do otherwise. It might annoy Riccardo Charteris and his team a little that he had withheld the fact that he had found it on their planet in the Gemini constellation of stars, another name that was from Earth. However, they would soon get over it, especially when they began to read what was contained on the discs, and anyway he would share the honours with all of them, acknowledge that the team found the discs and he was only the publicity man, that should placate any ruffled feathers.

The weekend had started as he began to read the last of the discs, the morning flew by as he worked excitedly, taking in each new fact. The large clock on the wall behind chose that moment to remind him of the time, its loud chime ringing out two o`clock, so he decided to break for lunch. However, that was a moment ago, for he suddenly sat bolt upright, there before him was a reference to a new structure being hastily prepared on a planet named by the ancient civilisation as Altaraus. A new structure that would house all of the treasures of the Altaraun civilisation, left behind for future generations to use.

Professor Halliard had heard tell of the legend before, it was a common tale amongst the people of the Mazere, that the old race had left behind treasures enough to purchase the entire planet. On Earth, they spoke of Atlantis, on Mazere it was the ancients, a race he would now call the Altarauns. He knew that the amount of treasure found would be small compared to the myths surrounding the ancient civilisation, which is if the site of the ancient treasure was ever located. Even so, Professor Halliard felt his pulse race as he read this last paragraph again. He decided that in the interests of archaeology he would withhold this one data disc while he looked further into the matter. To release it would have sent a flurry of treasure hunters across the galaxy looking for the lost treasure. He would go on a paid sabbatical and attempt to find the treasure of the ancients for the people of the newly formed federation, of which Mazere and Earth were the primary planets. He would announce to the board of directors that he intended to spend some of the time visiting the off world archaeological sites, to spend more time at each individual site. He had long wanted to do this, to get out of the museum and onto the archaeological sites. At the moment, he could only make flying visits, such as the one that brought him the data box. Out there, he could spend more time thinking about his passion, archaeology. He could spend more time considering how to increase their knowledge of the ancients' civilisation, and of the people that had made it up. He could speak to the field archaeologists and offer advice on how they should proceed in their search for more of the ancient civilisation's buildings and artefacts. He would also state that his main purpose in taking the time off was that as well as looking at the existing sites, he also intended to seek out new places that held the possibility of finding things of archaeological interest. In this way, he would be able to seek out the planet Altaraus without anyone realising that he was searching for a specific site.

He continued to read the remainder of the data on the last disc, and he found some tantalising leads that he hoped would help him locate the treasure, for he already had compiled a tentative list of possible planets in his mind as to the where he would find the planet of the Altarauns, unfortunately it was rather long.

As he came to the end of the data disc a few words stood out from the rest. 'The plague has now decimated most of our cities, we have left the House of the Archons, set just beyond the old boundary wall to the west of the once lovely town of Lehar, and built to administer our colony worlds. The planet Bihar is quiet now, the planet that orbits the shining white binary star of the triangle of Altaraus; for our people now lay dead beneath its life-giving soils.' This was all that was said on the matter. Professor Halliard sat there in silence as he took in the final sentence; it told him just what had happened to the ancients, that they had been decimated by a plague. He said a prayer for them as he quietly noted the names of the places mentioned on the disc, but they meant nothing to him, nor did he know where the triangle of stars was situated in the vast cosmos.

Over the remainder of the weekend, he used the internet to scan every article that mentioned the name Altaraus, Lehar and Bihar, but without any success, for not once was there a link between these names and a known star system, or even of the legends regarding the ancient alien race.

On Monday morning, he returned to the museum and after sending a message to Riccardo Charteris finally telling of his find, and including a complete translation of the nine data discs. He then told the rest of the world and its colonies, and lastly, he sent a message to Earth, telling them of his momentous find. To allow him to continue with the search for the planet Altaraus, he referred everyone to Charteris, for he told the world, Charteris had been instrumental in the finding of the discs and would answer everyone's questions. Now this was a little unfair for Charteris had only just received the translation, so he in turn referred all callers to Achmed, while he began to read the massive amount of data sent to him by Professor Halliard.

Originally, Professor Halliard had decided to only look at the information he had taken from the data discs while in the privacy of his home, this was to prevent anyone inadvertently seeing what he was working upon. However, he was too excited to wait until the evening, and so with the door to his office firmly closed he looked once again at the clues regarding the treasure that he had found on the ancient data disc, copied and displayed now on the computer monitor before him. Professor Halliard was feeling exhilarated from working on the data discs, hoping with every second that his search would lead him a little further in his search for Eldorado, as the professor secretly called it, after yet another Earth myth. He began to tire as he read his translation of the part of the disc dealing solely with the treasure.

'It had been decided by the leaders of the colonies that the treasure of the people be held within a vault; we have decided to name the vault the Gateway of Tomorrow. The planet chosen to host the legacy held behind the Gateway is to be Altaraus, it was considered only fitting that the planet from whence the colonisation of this part of the galaxy had begun, be chosen to safeguard all that the people of Altaraus had gone on to create. The golden hue of its binary system of stars would be clear beacons for all those seeking the treasure. Once on Altaraus, the seekers should head for the large northern forest, and using the Arrow of Ramada to point the way, journey along the wide road to the Depths of Despair. Once safely within its bleak walls the visitor must cross the Bridge of Sorrows to the Gateway of Tomorrow. Those who seek to enter through the Gateway are only permitted if they pass a simple test put to them by the Guardian of the Gateway. Once within the Gateway, the seekers will have to undergo a trial designed to test their wisdom and courage, only those who are worthy will they be allowed access to the treasure.'

As the new moon rose above Mazere, Professor Halliard worked tirelessly on until he was exhausted; he had worked through lunch and into the late evening in his quest for knowledge. In fact, he was so tired that he inadvertently left his computer on while he went to use the museum`s washroom. It was while he was away that one of his aides came into the room to see just what the professor was working so hard on. He assumed that it had to do with the newly discovered data discs, but he had no idea just how mind blowing it was. On the computer screen, he saw the open file and immediately sent a copy through to his own computer. When he read the data, he sat there for ten minutes while he tried to take it in, one thing was certain, this was a potentially world changing discovery, he smiled and then hurriedly saved a copy onto a memory stick. He knew a man that would pay a great deal for this information, he didn`t have the necessary funds to make adequate use of the data, but Blazenby did, and if handled right then he too would get a large share in the spoils.

When Professor Halliard returned to his office he decided to call it a night, tomorrow he would continue with his research. He was working on two avenues of research, research that his aide failed to download. One was a long list of possible suns around which Altaraus might orbit; the other shorter one was a list of planets that held life of some sort and was nearby, by astronomical measurements, the professor decided that a diameter of thirty light years from Mazere should be the maximum distance to seek Altaraus.

Chapter Four

Between a Brick and a Hard Place

The sun began to set as Lana Andorso stood beside the grave of her father, and she shivered as a cold wind sprang up from nowhere and found its way inside her heavy winter clothing. Lana pulled her coat tightly about her as she thought about her father.

"Father why did you never listen to me, you would still be here if only you had done." Lana sobbed quietly. She now broke down completely and sobbed, both for her father and for herself.

"Didn't you ever think about me, and my welfare, not even the one-time father?"

More tears slid down her young face, this time for her, she was all alone now with no one to run to, no one to care about her. Her mother had died ten years ago, and now her father had been taken from her. Not that it should make that much difference to her life, but it did, emotionally. For he had been there to listen to her tales of woe, even if he couldn`t be of any positive help. Johan Andorso had died from too much drinking, and way too much stress thinking about all the money that he owed, and whether or not he should tell Lana, well now it was too late for him to tell her. She had begged him to change his way of life; unfortunately, he had been incapable of doing such a thing. She looked up from the grave and wiped away her tears, it was almost time to go back to work, and at least it would be warm inside the roadside café where she worked. Lana worked with a man almost as ancient as time itself, old Charlie is all anyone ever called him, but he was as cold as ice to her, and just as her father had done, he only thought of himself. She liked it here at the cemetery, it was so wonderfully peaceful, so unlike the atmosphere that her father had lived his life in. This peace was about to be broken, for from out of the corner of her eye she noticed two men walking towards her, and instinctively she knew that they meant her harm, a quiver of fear ran through her body. It was something about the two men; intuitively she knew that they were not very nice people, more like thugs. The peace of the cemetery disappeared in that moment that they had appeared; now it seemed rather scary, with no one near her to ask for assistance. Lana immediately decided to walk after the fast disappearing priest who had presided over the burial of her father.

"Ms Andorso, please stop walking away from us, or our boss will be very annoyed with you, and you wouldn`t want that." Cruz Broche, the older of the two men, said in a deep voice that suited him, for he was tall and very well built.

Lana was now near to the busy road, filled with passers-by, she felt a little safer this near to so many people, so she stopped walking and turned to face the two men.

"You can speak to me from where you are." She demanded in a wavering voice. The two men just kept on walking towards her, and before she could decide just what to do the man who had spoken to her reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm. Lana winced in pain as the man`s fingers held her in a vice like grip.

"You're hurting me, if you don`t let me go I will scream." She threatened. However, the man ignored her and threatened her in return.

"Mr Blazenby wouldn`t like that either Ms Andorso, he would send someone round to ensure that you never did such a thing ever again." The older of the two thugs threatened while the younger man just looked on and grinned.

"Mr Blazenby, who on earth is he, I`ve never heard of him?" Lana demanded to know. This was an attempt to sound as if she wasn`t scared of the two men before her, however she was terrified.

"Well he knows you Ms Andorso, and he knew your father very well. He wants to speak with you now, and you can either come with us, or have him send someone who isn`t as polite as Joe and me. Which is it to be?" Something in the man`s voice told Lana that she had better agree to go with them, for she had lied when she said that she hadn`t heard of Blazenby, she had, and she knew enough about life not to annoy such a man.

"I`ll go with you now." Lana said quietly.

She wondered just what her father had been thinking of; to get involved with such a man as Blazenby, for this must involve her father, and to deal with Blazenby her father must surely have been desperate. She had heard that Maurice Blazenby was a moneylender with ambitions, and anyone who didn`t repay their loans were first encouraged to do so by his gang of heavies, and if they still failed to repay the ever-growing loan then they simply disappeared. With this last thought, Lana went with the two men.

They led her to a car parked just outside of the cemetery, and once they were all inside, the driver pulled away, and five minutes later he took the car up a long driveway and parked at the rear of a very expensive looking house. The two thugs got out and waited for her, Lana felt her fear reach deep into the pit of her stomach, but she forced herself to look calm and slowly got out of the car and looked contemptuously at the older thug, who she assumed was in charge of the younger man.

"Ms Andorso, will you please come this way." Cruz Broche said ignoring her look of contempt, and taking a hold of her arm steered her towards a pair of French doors, and inside Lana saw Maurice Blazenby sitting in a large armchair. She stood before him and tried to look angry, but she knew when to be quiet.

"Your father`s death has been rather expensive, Lana. He died owing me five thousand credits that I want back. When will you pay me what your father owes?" Blazenby asked, although it was obvious that he already knew the answer to his question.

"I don`t have five credits to my name let alone five thousand Mr Blazenby, anyway it was my dad who owed you the money, not me." Lana argued.

"Well your father is dead Lana, so he isn`t going to pay me. You will have to pay me the credits which are owed to me by your father, either that or I will have to decide just how I`m going to get my money back, which is it going to be?" Blazenby snarled.

He got out of his chair and Lana stepped back away from him until the wall of the room stopped her from going any further, she was very scared that the gangster before her was about to hurt her. He was, Blazenby walked across the room to her and struck her hard on her face. Tears came to her eyes but she held then back, she wasn`t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"And don`t you ever cheek me again, or else I might forget that I`m a gentleman." Blazenby said looking down at Lana and gloating, for he was hardly a gentleman, more a vicious bully of the first class.

"I`m sorry Mr Blazenby, I won`t cheek you ever again." Lana said looking away from him and staring down at the floor.

She was very afraid, her face was pale, apart from the red mark caused by the hard slap, and she had to stop herself physically from trembling before this vile monster. Even so, she knew that he wanted more from her, and she began to plead with him.

"I`m sorry Mr Blazenby but I don`t have any money to give you, and I have no way to get such a sum either." Lana said.

Her fear growing by leaps and bounds within her, for she knew that Blazenby wouldn`t let the matter drop here; he had brought her here for something else, for he must have expected that she would be broke, as her father always was.

"Lana, I`m not the devil, I have two alternatives for you to think over." Blazenby said smiling at her.

"The first one is that I sell you to an off-world brothel, you should fetch five thousand credits easily, a good-looking girl like you." He said callously.

Lana`s eyes went wide with fear, and she was on the point of being sick big time as she waited for the second option.

"The second option is for you to take up the post as personal assistant to Professor Halliard of the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations. His present assistant has just left her post and I have arranged for you to take over from her. How does that suit you Lana?" Blazenby asked with a sarcastic smile spreading across his face.

Lana had been on the point of fainting, now though she was confused, what had he said, surely, she had heard him wrong, he couldn`t have offered her this job, it was a gift from the gods for a girl without the usual qualifications required by the directors of such places.

"I`ll take the second option Mr Blazenby, the assistant's job please." Lana finally managed to say. Her mind was still unable to process just what was happening to her, but she did know that Blazenby now owned her.

"Of course, Lana, there are a few things that you will have to do in return, you can`t expect me to let you off five thousand credits just like that, especially after giving you such a chance as this job offers you." Blazenby said smoothly as he walked back to his chair and sat down.

"No of course not Mr Blazenby, anything you say." Lana said as she now realised that she had in fact sold her soul as well to this foul being from hell.

"I will expect you to keep me informed of everything that the professor does, or says, no matter how unimportant you may think it is. I have other spies working there, but not one so close to him as you will be Lana. I need to be fully apprised as to his work Lana, for I will find out if you fail me, and then the deal between us will be over, and you know what that will mean to you, the off-world brothel. Do I make myself clear Lana?" Blazenby said.

His eyes bored into hers, almost mesmerizingly, as he sat awaiting her reply. Lana did not know if Blazenby was lying about his other spies, although she suspected that he was, for he offered to let her off so lightly, why. However, it did not matter; all that mattered was appeasing this monster before her.

"Yes Mr Blazenby, I fully understand. If he so much as sneezes I am to let you know." Lana replied softly for she now knew that selling one's soul seemed painless, especially when faced with other horrendous alternatives.

"Good, you can contact me on this phone number." Blazenby said handing over his card before carrying on.

"You will have to make yourself indispensable to him, make sure he finds you a necessary accessory that he cannot do without. Be sweetness and light, work hard and volunteer for any and every little job he needs doing. You start work at eight o`clock tomorrow morning, don`t be late and please don`t think about running out on me as I have long arms. Let me stress for the final time, please do not think about going back on our deal, for as I stated earlier, the off-world brothels are always on the lookout for a likely young girl." Blazenby said. He picked up an electronic tablet from the corner of his desk and offered it to Lana.

"You can use this to read the books that the good professor has written, they are all on there. Make yourself au fait with them; you had some education before being forced to drop out of university because of the money problems of your late departed father, and so you should be able to understand most of what he writes. I believe that he is going to be making a trip off world quite soon, when you find out you are to tell me the date of his intended departure and his destination. Oh, and one more thing Lana, ensure that you are invited to go along with him, so you will then continue to keep me appraised from wherever you are, off world or on Mazere, do you understand Lana?" Blazenby ordered her.

Lana felt the violence even though it was coming from his eyes and she meekly nodded her agreement and while looking down at the floor she said.

"Of course, Mr Blazenby, I wilI follow all of your instructions, I promise."

With that, the older thug escorted her back to the road; from here, she made her own way back to her tiny flat with its peeling paintwork, damp walls cheap furniture and almost empty food cupboards. She did not return to the cafe, she was too exhausted both emotionally and physically.

When Lana had gone, Blazenby got up from his desk and walked across the room to a door that led into his library. Inside the room a man was sitting reading a book, he put it down as soon as Blazenby entered the room, and then he got to his feet.

"It was sure lucky that you saw the professor`s notes regarding his amazing find." Blazenby said smiling at his accomplice in crime. Blazenby had no liking for the man he privately called the slime ball, but it could not be denied, the slime ball had come up with the goods so many times since they had become partners in crime.

"Yes Maurice, it was, but you know it really is naughty of the professor to hide such a find from the museum, and so unlike him." The slime ball said disapprovingly.

"I told Munroe of the terrible accident to the professor`s assistant, and he was most upset and agreed immediately to my suggestion of Lana taking over, anything except to actually do some work. I`m at a loss to understand how such people get such well paid jobs?" The slime ball finished angrily. One might have thought that he was extremely dissatisfied with society, but then he grinned at Blazenby and killed the illusion of anger. Blazenby smiled back as he anticipated the riches that would soon be coming his way.

"He knew the right people; and he came from the right side of the tracks, that is how. However, that is enough about such people, tell me again, you are sure that you can`t find this Gateway of Tomorrow all by yourself. Are you still positive that we have to go to these absurd lengths to get our hands on the treasure, it could so easily slip through our fingers if we don`t keep the professor and the girl under constant surveillance?" Blazenby asked for the third time since the slime ball had come to him with the information.

"Yes Maurice, we`ve both gone through the clues a couple of times and we cannot fathom them out, and we don`t want to ask outsiders to solve the clues held on the disc, you never know who to trust nowadays. Only someone as able as Professor Halliard will be able solve the riddle on the data disc. Well I had better get back to the museum and my daytime job, I don`t want to be fired just at the moment, that would never do." The slime ball said. He then stood up and offered his hand to Blazenby.

Blazenby shook the man`s hand and was forced to agree with him, no you didn`t know who to trust, so it was as well that he would also have the girl on his team to send him all of the latest information as it came into her hands. After the man had left, Blazenby walked into a small cloakroom just off the library and washed his hands, his visitor had sweaty palms that made Blazenby want to wash his own immediately after coming into contact with them.

**********

For a week Lana made herself indispensable to Professor Halliard, and although upset to hear of the death to his previous assistant, he soon took to Lana. Lana enjoyed her week working for the professor, she learnt so much that was new to her and looked forward to enjoying her new life. Therefore, it was a terrible shock to her when the professor told her of his yearlong trip that was to start the next week. Why did he have to spend time visiting the many off world archaeological sites now? Surely, they knew enough about the dead people of those cities without going away for a whole year to some ungodly planets. His revelation almost made her faint, for she feared that Blazenby would now go through with his threat to sell her to an off-world brothel, now her usefulness to him had ended. Then she remembered that Blazenby had mentioned the chance of the professor making an off-world trip, he wanted her to ensure that she was invited along for the trip. However, she hadn`t thought that it would be so soon, when she hardly had had enough time to build a bond between them. She was in a panic when she responded to his bombshell, her mind working furiously as she sought to think of the correct words to use.

"Oh, Professor Halliard, that sounds positively great, please take me with you, you will need someone to take notes, to run errands, I`ve always wanted to travel and although we have only been working with one another for a week, in that short time the world of archaeology has got its hooks in me." Lana pleaded and lied. Surprised by her words, Professor Halliard took a second to respond.

"I`m sure that my replacement will keep you on Lana, you don`t have to fear for your job." He said. He did not understand the reasons behind her pleas, and certainly did not see the fear in her eyes. Lana`s thought processes when into overdrive; for she knew that her very life depended on the next few seconds.

"It isn`t only the work Professor, I`ve enjoyed working with you, please consider taking me along as your assistant, you won't regret it, I promise you." Lana declared moving towards Professor Halliard and looking up into his grey eyes, almost begging him to take her.

Professor Halliard wasn`t too sure just what she had meant by her words, was she perhaps promising him more than just work, his mind fogged as he tried to make sense of what Lana was saying to him and how he should respond.

"I will be able to help you with your research, to keep track of everything that has been done, or needs to be done. This will allow you to keep your mind free of such mundane things, so that you can concentrate on the important matters such as the archaeological sites themselves, and of course the people who had once lived there. I`ve read all of your books and I spend all of my free time looking at the exhibits in the museum, I`m sure that I won't let you down." Lana promised as she continued her offensive.

"I wasn`t really considering taking along another assistant Lana, I hope that Ricoh Lethe will agree to join me on my research trip, but if I did agree to your joining me, then I couldn`t offer to pay you much." Professor Halliard began but Lana jumped in before he could continue.

"That`s all right Professor, all I need is board and lodgings, I can leave my few things with a friend and let my small flat go, I only rent it and it`s quite awful really, you would be doing me such a favour to take me along, please say you will." Lana implored the professor. Lana had begun to sweat, but of course it was not only the heat of the day, it was also the fear of what Blazenby would do to her if she failed him, she could feel the sweat under her arms and on her face, but she couldn't do anything about that, not in front of the professor.

Professor Halliard thought that there was more to Lana`s pleas that the desire to travel, he had finally got his mind to function and could now clearly see the fear within her eyes. He realised that this fear could possibly be behind her sudden desire to accompany him, but he could not understand why. It was true that he would find her a great help on his quest, but up until now had decided against taking a second assistant along, but he found that he couldn`t ignore her fearful pleas, not and sleep peacefully at night.

"Ok, Lana, I still have some loose ends to tie up, but please be ready to accompany me at a moment's notice." Professor Halliard said finally to a very relieved young woman, who almost cried out in joy and relief. Lana stood on tiptoes and kissed a very surprised Professor Halliard on his cheek.

"I`ll be ready whenever you are Professor, thank you for taking me along, I promise that I won't let you down." However, Lana`s joy was tinged with a large dose of guilty conscience, for the first thing that she did when she was all alone was to phone Blazenby and inform him of events.

"Good girl Lana, you keep this up and your father`s debt will be paid in full." Blazenby declared. "Don`t go out tonight, I`ll send you a special communications device that will allow you to piggyback on any interplanetary communications system. It`s small and lightweight, and it will allow you to send text messages to me, oh and don`t worry, it also has a built-in scrambler, so you won't have to watch your words when you send me your reports." Blazenby explained to Lana who felt more like a traitor with every second that passed. She now realised that selling your soul could be painful.

Chapter Five

A New Quest

Professor Halliard was just about to leave his office; he had his coat over one arm and his briefcase under the other. As he passed Lana, she looked up and smiled.

"Off somewhere nice Professor?" She asked while she continued her work, she was typing up the professor's notes regarding the administration side of the museum for his replacement, Professor Alcatel.

"Yes, Lana, I'm off to see Captain Charlton at the space port to finalise the arrangements for our trip to the off-world sites. I might not be back until tomorrow morning." With that, he left the museum and got a taxi to the spaceport. He had stated that he was to finalise the arrangements; in fact, Captain Charlton did not even know he was to be the professor's chauffeur.

Lana immediately stopped her work for the professor and sent a text message, using the museum's computer, to Blazenby to advise him of Professor Halliard's destination, and the reason behind it.

On reading the text message Blazenby swore loudly, got up from behind his desk, and began pacing his large office. He did not like the idea of a man of Captain Charlton's reputation, or abilities being involved in this deal, but what could he do about it. Blazenby suddenly stopped and smiled, for he had finally decided that there was only one option, the option all people of his sort resorted to, he would have the captain taken out. Blazenby walked to the door of his office and called out to Cruz Broche, the older of the two thugs he always kept nearby so that he could react to each situation as it arose.

"What can I do for you Mr Blazenby?" Broche asked politely after entering the office and closing the door behind him. His manner was not out of respect, for he disliked the sort of man his boss was, up until lately his reason was to stay as Blazenby's number one heavy, which was a well-paid and easy job that did not overtax him. Now though, he was back in the employ of Admiral Stator, a man he did respect.

"Cruz, you may remember my talking to you about a little space trip that we will soon be taking?" Blazenby said looking up at the heavy, who nodded.

"Well that damned earthman, Captain Charlton, the spaceman that our new president likes, the same one who butted in on us while we were working on Phlox." Blazenby snarled. "Well he is once more mixed up in our business. He is certain to make things difficult, I want you and Joe to take care of him, and do it this time, no mistakes, give him a one-way ticket to the funeral home, OK?" Blazenby ordered, a sadistic smile coming to his face as he laughed at his witticism

"Sure Mr Blazenby, we'll get on to it immediately." Broche said smiling. "We will give him a real nice send off."

Broche left Blazenby's office and went in search of his new partner, Joe Gallic, a young man who was almost as sadistic as their boss was. Before he reached him though, he notified his admiral by text. He expected the admiral to cheer loudly; maybe he would even get a bonus when they killed the earthman.

**********

David Charlton had first arrived on Mazere four years ago, since then much had happened, for most of the time it had been good. Lantana Stator was the president of Mazere. The government of Mazere no longer interfered with the politics on the planet Phlox, or those of Earth. Earth had despatched an ambassador to Phlox, Jules Kennedy, on a mission primarily to cement the already friendly relations between the two worlds, but also to assist them in their desire to become one people, and not the fragmented world that the previous government on Mazere had worked so hard to be the norm.

For a year now, David had been carrying cargo, mostly between the three planets of the newly formed federation. Now he was looking forward to returning to Earth and resting. He knew that he and his crew were considered lucky by other freighter captains, but he also knew that it was more than just luck. He and his original crew had risked their lives in the search for his father and his father`s crew, and it was only fitting that he should benefit now from the contacts made back then. As he looked out at the space port of Mazere he saw a friend striding purposely towards him, it was Professor Armond Halliard. The professor and David were now firm friends, and often met when the Galactic Traveller, David`s freighter, was on Mazere. Professor Halliard waved across to him and smiled warmly at his friend.

"Good morning David, how are you." Professor Halliard called across the space port of Mazere in his English, which was slowly improving. Luckily, both David and Sarah could speak perfect Mazeren.

"Armond, I`m fine thank you, it`s good to see you, how are you, is everything in the world of archaeology still moving along nicely?" David asked in Mazeren as Professor Halliard walked up the ramp of the star freighter Galactic Traveller.

"I`m fine thank you David, and the world of archaeology has just leapt into hyperspace, perhaps we could talk inside, away from any possible eavesdroppers?" Professor Halliard said quietly, as he firmly shook David`s hand.

"What is so secret that we need to talk away from any local eavesdroppers Armond?" David asked quizzically when they were finally sitting in the starship`s galley.

"Maybe nothing David, but maybe the most important archaeological find Mazere, even Earth, will ever discover. I was recently visiting the archaeological site on the planet Canopus, the one that your friend Steve Ryan put us on to; you call the planet New Mars. While I was there, I came across a data box from the civilisation of the ancients, and it was full of data discs." Professor Halliard exclaimed. His voice sounded more like an excited schoolchild then a renowned scientist.

David smiled at him, for his friend had previously told him about the ancient civilisation, and of the other data discs found by a colleague of the professor's. This time though he realised that his friend must have found something truly amazing to make him so excited.

"This must be only the second of such finds so far discovered Armond, but although interesting to history buffs what makes it of interest to the galaxy at large?" David asked. His interest rising a level as he looked at his friend and saw the excitement bubbling away on his friend's face.

"David, one of the discs gave me directions to the treasure of the ancients; you may recall that the ancients were a race of people that your world may well have referred to as the people of Atlantis. If we are successful in our quest this will move the ancient prehistory of our two worlds on by leaps and bounds." Professor Halliard exclaimed excitedly.

"You have an ancient treasure map Armond, you do realise that they are found every day, and they most always prove worthless?" Sarah Jane Hardin said. She had come in on the tail end of the conversation and so had not heard about the data discs.

"Sarah, how are you?" Professor Halliard asked as he stood up and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm fine Armand, but you have not answered my question, what makes you think your treasure map is genuine?" Sarah said smiling at her friend.

"Sarah, I haven`t found a treasure map, I`ve found a data disc of the ancients, if we decipher the clues that I found within it correctly, we should be able to follow them to what it calls the Gateway of Tomorrow." Professor Halliard exclaimed excitedly.

"The Gateway of Tomorrow, that is a very interesting name for a treasure house, it doesn`t sound quite right?" Sarah said contemplatively.

"You are quite right Sarah; I too thought it a strange name to give to a treasure house, but the disc states quite categorically that the new structure they were building was definitely for treasure." Professor Halliard replied looking a little thoughtful now that Sarah had voiced his own doubts as to his translation of this particular phrase on the data disc.

"Are you sure of your translation Armond?" David asked.

"No David, I`m not, we haven`t found that many other examples of the ancients' language to construct a definitive dictionary, and what they mean by the term is still open to interpretation. Mazere`s scholars, and those on Earth too, are working full time on the other discs found on Hip 36439, as you call it, and they will soon be looking at the new discs that I found on Canopus." Professor Halliard looked rather embarrassed as he continued.

"David, Sarah, I have only reported the finding of nine of the data discs on Canopus, I haven`t told anyone else about the tenth disc, the disc that mentions the treasure house." Professor Halliard said nervously waiting for their reaction to his revelation.

"Well Armond that is probably the safest way to ensure that whatever is left of the treasure isn`t looted by the scum of the galaxy, as happened to so many artefacts on Canopus." David said quietly. "Armond are you going to confide in anyone, or are you going to conduct a search for it all by yourself?"

"Well David, I was hoping that you and Sarah would help me locate the Gateway of Tomorrow, for one thing I need a starship to find the planet, and I also have need of your two brains to assist me in finding the Gateway itself." Professor Halliard announced looking hopefully at his two friends.

"David, it will be fun looking for buried treasure. Armond you must tell us everything that you have learnt from the data disc." Sarah thought it would be romantic to search for buried treasure and so had agreed without thinking things through.

"Well why not Armond, currently we were going to have a break from working, however the rest of the crew will have to agree, as we were to have returned to Earth for the break. If they agree to it then we are yours from today." David agreed. However, his smile turned into a frown as a new thought occurred to him.

"But how long will this proposed search of yours take Armond, I`m not exactly rich, and a star freighter uses up a lot of credits." David said bringing Sarah back down to earth.

"No problem David, for you see, before I left the museum I arranged for a new contract to be issued, and I arranged for it to be awarded to you." Professor Halliard declared and smiled at the quizzical faces before him.

"New contract Armond, and how on earth did you know whether we would be available? Apart from that, there is still the question of getting the approval of my crew." David asked looking as if he had lost the plot, which he had, as too had Sarah.

"To answer your first question David, I did a little checking with the space port authorities who told me that you had spoken to them about your proposed holiday. As for the new contract, it calls for you to ferry my two assistants and I around the various off world archaeological sites, as well as to supply the sites with supplies as and when they call for them. This will give us an excellent cover story, should one become necessary." Professor Halliard declared. "If your crew decides that they need their holiday, then our adventure will have to be put on hold until your return." He said glumly.

"It's just as well then Armond, that we had more cabin space added, or else you would all have had to rough it in the ship`s hold?"

"I might even have agreed to that my friend, if it meant getting your help." Professor Halliard said quite seriously.

"Fine, so it is to be a working holiday then, if the others agree to postpone their holidays." Sarah declared.

"You appear to have everything worked out Armond, and if the crew agrees to your proposal then we are yours to command." David said.

"Thank you, David, Sarah, could I be a pest and ask you to broach the subject as soon as possible, I have already told the directors of the museum that I am taking a year away from the museum for this project, so my boats are already burnt on Mazere. I really need to know when you will join me on my quest David, so that I can finalise the arrangements. You see David, my plans all revolve around you and Sarah, and your ship of course."

The chance to broach the subject came just thirty minutes later when Tony Miles, his wife Katrina, and Alan Lee returned from shopping in Plakara, the capital city of Mazere. They had all gone in to purchase some new clothes for their holiday back on Earth. David first gave them a brief resume of what Professor Halliard had proposed; then the professor explained what finding the new archaeological site might mean for Mazere and Earth. Alan Lee asked the question both the other two crewmembers were concerned with at that moment.

"Professor, the disc mentions that the Altarauns buried a large amount of treasure in this vault, if we do indeed find that this is the case, can we all expect to receive a share of it?" He asked and even David and Sarah looked to their friend to hear his reply to this question.

"If we do succeed in finding treasure, and if it is indeed in the form of precious stones and metals then yes, we would all be liable for a small share of the riches, but until we find out in what form the treasure is in Alan, I cannot say for sure. In any case, the majority of whatever we find must go to the people of the federation. To do otherwise would mean that we were no better than the looters of Canopus." Professor Halliard replied.

"I`m sure that we all agree with that Professor, none of us would have it any other way. However, Professor, are you saying that the Altarauns might mean something different when they say that the articles in the vault are treasure, they could be just about anything?" Tony Miles asked.

"They will undoubtedly be of historical importance Tony, for you do not construct a new vault to put items that are of no value to anyone, and you must bear in mind that the Altarauns were a space faring civilisation before their mysterious disappearance, which makes it highly unlikely that we will find mere trinkets." Professor Halliard replied to a much-relieved crew.

Tony and Alan looked at one another for a moment and then Tony looked at his wife, Katrina who shrugged her shoulders.

"Why not Tony, it sounds like it could not only be profitable, but highly interesting as well. Of course, it will mean having to cancel our holiday, for we can hardly take the babies along on such an open-ended mission." Katrina was a little disappointed, but when she had married her spaceman, she knew what to expect.

"On our next trip to Earth, Katrina, you and Tony can have that holiday, and we can have our rest." David promised the young Mazeren woman.

Katrina looked at him for a moment, and then she smiled. "I will keep you to your promise, David." She said as she twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers.

"Don't worry Katrina; I will also hold him to it." Sarah guaranteed.

"Ok, Professor we`re in, when do we leave?" Tony asked with an excited grin on his face, and matched only by the grin on the face of Professor Halliard.

"Now that I have your agreement to join me in my quest Tony, I can finalise the arrangements for all of the supplies needed by the various off world sites and the dates by which they require them. I would hope that they would arrive over the next couple of days. We can then leave, if that is enough time for you to make any arrangements you may need to make, David, as regards to needs of the Galactic Traveller?" Professor Halliard replied with his last words directed at David.

"We were ready to leave for Earth, Armond, so we are ready to chauffeur you around the galaxy whenever you say the word." David replied.

"Now, Armond, you must tell us what clues you have to go on so far." Sarah demanded to know.

"Ok, Sarah, these are the few clues that I`ve been able to get from the data disc. The planet has a large forest in its northern hemisphere; it mentions the Depths of Despair, a Bridge of Sorrows and a Gateway of Tomorrow. Oh, and its sun is part of a binary system and it has a golden hue." Professor Halliard said excitedly. However, his excitement soon died away when he saw the faces of the others.

"That`s it Armond, how are we supposed to find Altaraus with only that much to go on?" David complained.

"It might not sound much David but then you haven`t thought about it as I have. Firstly, the sun is part of a binary system and has a gold hue. This colour of the sun cuts out many of the other binary systems. Secondly, I think we can dispense with any of the binary systems that are more than, shall we say thirty light-years away from Mazere. My final thought was that the planet must have a well-established eco system for there to be a large forest in the northern hemisphere." Professor Halliard explained to his friends.

"So, we have a circle with a diameter of sixty light years drawn around Mazere, that is still a lot of suns, especially as we are not talking about a two-dimensional circle." David exclaimed sadly for he didn`t want to burst his friend`s bubble.

"Not when you take the colour of the sun into account David, and the prerequisite of life being in abundance on the planet. Our ship's computer will help us out there." Sarah interjected. For once, she was disagreeing with her husband.

"That is quite correct Sarah, the number of suns falls dramatically, if you also look for an abundance of the more advanced type of life forms on the planets in orbit around them, life forms such as the trees of the northern forest, and not simply single celled creatures. Moreover, I feel that we will find that Altaraus will be within fifteen light years of Mazere at the most. The ancients do seem to have colonised a good number of the nearby star systems, so it is only reasonable to suppose that they started out here, and only later travelled as far as Earth." Professor Halliard said enthusiastically.

"As for the other clues Armond, we will probably have to wait until we get to Altaraus to work them out." Sarah said finishing off and leaving her audience only slightly dejected. Tony wondered whether he had been right to agree to this odyssey, for he did not want to be away from his young family for too long. Katrina saw his sad expression and loved him even more.

"Tony, you will be back home within four of your weeks, I can feel it, and your normal trips to Earth and back are as long." Tony smiled at his young wife and hoped that she was right, for any longer and he would miss his family terribly.

"If we find that we are in for the long-haul Tony, we can spend short breaks here on Mazere, so you will not get too home sick." David promised.

"There is also something about the name Altaraus that is familiar, but for the life of me I cannot remember where I saw the name before. However, it will come to me David, and when it does maybe it will prove to be a much clearer lead than the ones that I have offered to you so far." Professor Halliard said. After further discussion, he returned to his home and his research.

Sarah spent the remainder of the day on the Mazeren internet, she looked for the name Altaraus, and the other terms mentioned by their friend, but without success. Then she changed the spelling of the words, but this brought up too many hits, so she added further words into her search to limit this large number of hits, however, this still turned up nothing. Sarah then input a word search for various forms of the word Altaraun, and when she tried Altara, this proved to be highly interesting. It listed the legend of Altara, and referred her to the Archaeological Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations, and an obscure artefact found on Mazere, this Sarah thought was obviously what was eluding their friend`s memory, so Sarah contacted Professor Halliard at his home.

"Of course, that is it Sarah, an insignificant find of some thirty-five years ago, which is why it slipped my memory. I was so right when I thought to myself that I was in need of your brain. I will make a copy of whatever there is concerning the legend of Altara and bring it with me tomorrow evening when I call on you. Thank you, Sarah, for helping an old man out.

*********

While Professor Halliard had been busy talking with the crew of the Galactic Traveller, Lana had been busy going through the Professor`s desk to see if she could find any further information that would keep Blazenby happy, unfortunately the professor had not repeated his earlier mistake, and he kept all of his notes with him. Lana couldn`t decide whether to be pleased or not, for guilt still racked her conscience, for she was genuinely fond of the professor.

The next morning saw Professor Halliard sitting behind his desk for what would be the last time before he started his quest; he felt a tinge of sadness as he looked around his office at the many photographs and mementos that he had picked up during his lifetime of archaeology. He was looking for his silver pen, for he never travelled without it, and knew that he had put it in the front of the large central draw of his desk, however it took him quite a while to locate it, and it had somehow become squeezed into one of the files? He sat still for a moment questioning what his mind was telling him. No, Professor Halliard decided, he would first look through the other draws, but they looked untouched until he came to last one, and here he found that his carefully layered files were hopelessly muddled. His mind was in a turmoil as he wondered why someone would have searched through his desk. He was searching his room for other signs when his eyes lit upon his picture of Lantana Stator, a young woman who had hacked into the computers of the previous government and dug out all of their nasty little secrets, and then he froze. In that single moment he knew why, it must be because the searcher knew something of his secret. His computer had been hacked, probably more than once, and the hacker must have accessed his notes on the data disc. Thankfully, all they would tell his searcher was that a planet somewhere within the galaxy had a buried treasure, which even the smallest child knew to be true from his storybooks. However, he would have to be careful from now on. His quest would have to be low key and without any sense of urgency or excitement on his part, or his friends. As the sun climbed high into the sky, he slipped down into the vast storage rooms of the museum and made his way to where he knew a certain clay tablet was located. Once he had found it, he slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket, for the tablet with a miniscule part of the legend of Altara written upon it was quite small. He had decided to take it with him rather than to copy it, for with this in his pocket, no one else would be able to access whatever other clues it might contain.

***********

The next day saw a multitude of goods arrive at the large empty hold of the Galactic Traveller, and later, during the evening, Professor Halliard appeared, and he had brought with him the small broken clay tablet. It was the legend of Altara, but at first sight, it seemed rather disappointing. Upon it, in faded red writing, there was a few lines of writing, the words filled the bottom of the tablet but each line of writing above the bottom line progressively grew less until at the very top there was but a single word.

"It`s written in a very ancient Mazeren dialect, but we have managed to decipher it, and I have here a copy of it in English." Professor Halliard said producing an electronic tablet that David immediately saw was of Earth origin, and manufactured by his friend Steve Ryan.

The crew of the Galactic Traveller looked at the few words written upon the electronic tablet. 'While the ancients lived upon the triangle of lights the people of Mazere were safe. Then came the great evil and many died, the ancient ones left and never returned, for they were angry with us.'

"There isn`t much to go on is there Armond?" Sarah said sadly.

"No, Sarah that it is probably why it was put away into a box and pushed to the back of a shelf." Professor Halliard replied glumly.

David picked up the broken clay tablet and stared at it as if wishing for something more to appear on it. Just then, Barney appeared on the bridge.

"Captain is it all right if I shut down so that I can do an internal scan of my systems to ensure that everything is operating correctly?" Barney was a robot that had been given to David by his godfather to assist him in his search for his missing father. When the search was successfully concluded Barney had stayed on as part of the crew. However, Barney was much more than a robot, he was as much a human as a thinking tin can. His presence gave David a much larger crew than was seen by the casual observer.

"Of course, Barney, go right ahead." David replied without looking up from the broken tablet, but then he smiled and turned to Barney.

"However, Barney, take a look at this tablet first, see if you can find anything else upon it other than the obvious faded writing.

Barney took the tablet from David and looked at it, his eyes being far superior to a human, for he used infrared and ultra violet as well. He began to scan the tablet for anything other than what was seen by the humans. The humans heard a low humming noise emanating from the robot as it worked upon the problem set by its captain.

"Captain, there are four very faded circles painted with radium. I have also found signs that the circles may have been in different colours. The first one might have been in green as I detected the presence of the mineral actinolite on the surface of the tablet. The next two circles have traces of magnesium and so they might have been white, and the last has a merest trace of gold within the remains." Barney said in his metallic voice.

The humans around the robot began to get excited, hoping that Barney`s success would lead them ever closer to Altaraus. David now asked another thing of him.

"Barney can you transfer your findings to the view screen, showing where each circle was in relation to the others?" David was answered by a soft humming, then the screen upon the wall of the bridge sprang to light, and there upon it were four coloured lights.

"Barney, can you draw a line joining up the three outermost lights?" David asked and immediately a triangle appeared on the screen.

"The triangle of lights, could we be that lucky?" Professor Halliard exclaimed hopefully.

"And the green light in the centre could well denote the planet Mazere." Sarah added joyfully. Sarah was sure that they were well on the road to Altaraus.

"Barney see if that triangular shape can be made to match up with the stars near to Mazere, and try using the green circle to denote Mazere." David asked quietly.

They watched as Barney brought up the star map of the area of space around Mazere, and then he centred the green circle on Mazere. With this location fixed he slowly turned the triangle while zooming it out until a match was found, all the coloured circles matched up to a star of exactly their colour.

"Look, David, we have the star which Altaraus orbits, the golden circle on the relic must be it, and it can only be that the planet Mystras is Altaraus. David, Sarah, you have found the planet in days rather than the months that I feared it would take. We must return to Mystras where the first data discs were found." Professor Halliard stopped for a second before another fact suddenly dropped into place.

"David, Sarah you have also cleared up another more minor mystery." He now told them of the final sentence on the data disc.

"It stated that a House of the Archons, an administration centre, is on the planet Bihar, it stated that the planet orbits the shining white binary star of the triangle, and that the building is set just beyond the old boundary wall to the west of Lehar." Professor Halliard said excitedly.

"There are two white stars in the triangle, Hip 36850 and Hip 36439. Of the two, I believe that the latter offers us our best chance. If so then the planet Bihar is what we now call Phlox, and the town of Lehar might be the one being excavated by a team of archaeologists from Mazere, Earth and Phlox." Professor Halliard exclaimed excitedly.

One of the reasons the archaeologists from Earth were allowed to join forces with the locals was because they offered to bring along the latest search tools used on Earth. The equipment was the latest in ground-penetrating radar that uses radar pulses to look beneath the ground. It detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures including ancient pavements and any structures that might be waiting there to be found by the scientist sitting at his computer and analysing the data.

"David, this new information should be of help to the archaeological team on Phlox, they will be able to expand their search, and who knows, and maybe it will provide even more clues to lead us towards our ultimate goal, the Gateway of Tomorrow. We must travel to the planet Phlox first before continuing on to Canopus and finally to Mystras and the Gateway."

Professor Halliard was so optimistic that they could locate the building using the GPR equipment, he reminded David of a small boy on Christmas morning. However, Professor Halliard soon came down to Earth with a crash when he remembered his office desk.

"Listen everyone; as far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned I am taking a paid sabbatical. You are simply taking me to the off world archaeological sites and delivering supplies when needed. Because of the potential value of anything that we may find, we obviously cannot discuss our real motive behind the voyage with anyone, and especially not with my two assistants." The latter part of the professor's statement caused the crew of the Galactic Traveller to sit up and pay closer attention to what he was saying, and just as David was about to ask why not, Professor Halliard spoke again.

"When I returned to my office this morning, I found that someone had searched through my desk, they must have done it while I was here speaking to you about our quest. That could mean that someone, somehow, has discovered our secret. While we travel to the three archaeological off world sites we may get the chance to unmask whichever one it is that is betraying me." Professor Halliard explained to his friends.

"Armond, if you don't trust your two assistants then why are we taking them along, why just not leave them behind? Our quest is of some importance to the people of the federation, why put it in jeopardy" David asked.

'I think that our traitor is but small fry, the villain who is behind this will only want to appear when we have led him to the Gateway. He will be the same person who has been behind all of the looting on the off-world sites. Hopefully by taking along his spy we will be able to catch and imprison this Mr big, and in doing so bring an end to such crimes."

Professor Halliard still didn`t associate Lana`s pleas, and the fearfully look in her eyes, to his intruder, he was the sort of person who never thought badly of anyone, until proven otherwise that is.

The crew of the Galactic Traveller looked anxiously at one another; this little treasure-seeking voyage was beginning to sound nothing like what they had initially signed up for, in fact, it closely resembled their first trip to Mazere, and all of the trouble they encountered both before and during the revolution. However, David didn`t mention this fear just yet, as he wanted to assist his friend, but only as long as the quest did not begin to endanger Sarah or the other members of his crew. If they met the looters in space then his starship's powerful energy weapon provided by John Blazer would make short work of the problem. If, however they met up with them on one of the off-world sites, then he knew he would have to rely on the local security forces who were now guarding all such sites.

"In that case gang, I think that we should each carry an energy weapon at all times, for there is no telling who might be in the pay of this Mr Big. We will also have to keep a close eye on our other two guests, just to ensure that they do not attempt to sabotage the Galactic Traveller at a crucial time in our quest." David said.

"David surely it won't come to that? We are not even sure if it was one of the assistants who looked through Armond's papers." Sarah argued. She too was affected by the growing concern felt by the others, but she wanted to put the concerns voiced over the last few minutes into their correct context.

"You are quite right Sarah; we don't know who the snooper was. I would just rather be safe than sorry. One thing is almost certain, the spy probably won't attempt anything until we find the Gateway, but afterwards we should all be on the alert." David replied.

"David, enough of this talk of traitors and the like; let us talk instead of our quest. As I said earlier, by travelling first to the planet Phlox, I hope to find a further clue to where we will find the Arrow of Ramada on Mystras, or Altaraus, as I like to think of it, only by finding the Arrow can we hope to find the Gateway." Professor Halliard said trying to quell the growing disquiet amongst his friends, and so he sought to lighten up the mood.

"You never can tell what fate may put our way Armond. A nice map would certainly make our quest that much easier" David said as he too attempted to lighten the mood that had fallen upon them all. Professor Halliard then told them all about the various myths that were circulating around Mazere about the ancients and the crew forgot about their earlier fears as they listened to him.

When he had finished his mini-lecture, David changed the tone of the conversation and spoke about a certain matter that he had been dwelling on ever since his friend had asked for their help.

"Armond, I believe that we should tell Lantana Stator about your find, she deserves to know of it, and if she were to find out some other way, and that we have kept this from her, it will hurt her both privately and maybe even politically." David said to his friend, and Sarah nodded her agreement to her husband`s words.

"I`m sorry but no David, she may insist on our taking along a military escort, and I still don`t trust them. Maybe when we are standing in front of the Gateway, then we can tell her." Professor Halliard responded to his friend's advice.

"Let David and me approach Lantana, Armond, and talk to her, I`m sure that I can persuade her to hold off on the military Armond, until we have actually found the Gateway. Otherwise if the person you are afraid of moves against us, then it will be very embarrassing when we are forced to beg for her help." Sarah argued. Professor Halliard finally agreed to allow Sarah to go and see Lantana, but only on the understanding that a military escort was not an option. With this agreed, Sarah arranged to drop by the presidential palace that night.

"Armond, all of the cargo that we are to deliver to your off-world sites has been safely stored away inside our hold. As soon as Sarah and I return from our visit with Lantana we will be ready to leave for the first of the planets." David said. This brought a smile to Professor Halliard`s face.

"Then we can leave tomorrow David, I will contact my two assistants and tell them to be at the gates of the space port first thing in the morning, if they still want to come with us." Professor Halliard replied his good humour quickly restored by the news.

"Leave, David, but we have only just got here?" A voice from the doorway of the galley complained.

"Steve, Millicent, what on Earth are you two doing here on Mazere?" David wanted to know of his two friends, people who he thought would never return to Mazere. David and Sarah rushed forward to greet their friends, after a myriad of greetings, Steve and Millicent were found a seat each, and they then explained their unexpected appearance.

"The Intrepid was coming to Mazere, bringing along the new ambassador and his family, and we hitched a ride, after what we all did for galactic peace the captain said he could hardly refuse. We both needed a rest and so we thought that we would come and see you all." Steve Ryan said smiling.

"But we are about to set out on an extended trip around this area of space, one that as per usual could have a little danger thrown in to spice it up." David cried in despair.

"So, everything is normal then Sarah?" Millicent said laughing. "What are you after this time, a lost treasure ship?" Millicent quipped.

"Yes, Millicent, as a matter of fact we are." Sarah laughed and then explained to their two friends all about the data disc, and of the fears voiced by their other friend, Professor Armond Halliard.

"Well you can hardly leave on such a quest without the two of us; after all it was Steve who found the archaeological site. Anyway, we are in need of a little excitement after the last couple of years." Millicent then explained that they had been working flat out on a new computerised scanner that would be an aid to biologists in the field. Having finally completed the project and successfully marketed it, they needed a change away from the grindstone. They had thought about resting up in a five-star hotel, but thought that time spent with their friends fitted the bill even better.

"I think that you are both mad, but welcome aboard." David cried out joyfully.

**********

Professor Halliard returned home and phoned his two assistants to tell them that they would be setting off on their journey across space in the morning. They were to present themselves at the gates of the spaceport as soon as the sun rose. As both of the assistants asked where they were bound, the professor was forced to give them an answer, albeit false, he told them that they were bound for Canopus. Lana immediately sent a text message to Blazenby; she used her new communications device rather than speak directly to the foul man, as this also lessened her sense of guilt somewhat. Having done this she sat in her dingy flat and cried, for her conscience ate into her guts with each new traitorous act that she performed.

***********

L ater that day both Sarah and David were sitting in the Presidential palace, and talking to their friend in the comfort of the president's private apartment. When Sarah told her friend of the new quest that she was about to embark on Lantana laughed.

"Sarah, treasure maps are ten a penny, I could go out right this minute and get you one." Lantana declared.

"That is what I said too Lantana, when Professor Halliard first told us about it." Sarah said joining in their friend`s laughter. "However, it has progressed beyond the joke stage and I firmly believe that if it is still in existence then we will find it." Sarah replied firmly.

"You and David are that sure Sarah?" Lantana asked, looking at her two friends, her doubts slowly subsiding and Sarah nodded.

"Then are you here to ask my help, to provide a military escort for you?" Lantana asked.

"No, Lantana, Professor Halliard still doesn't trust the military. It just that David and I thought that we should tell you, as it might be of the greatest importance not only to Mazere but to the federation as a whole." Sarah replied smiling at her friend before continuing.

"Anyway, we feel that if it came out, without your being aware of our quest, it could put you in an awkward situation. That two people who you put so much trust in went off on such an important search as this could turn out to be, and without telling you, well it could be very embarrassing for you and the government of Mazere, even the federation might feel the effects of such a revelation. There are still people out there who would like to see our newly born federation crumble into dust Lantana." David said taking their conversation along a more serious path.

"You're quite right of course David, Sarah, such people would take great delight in telling the people of Mazere that I had been let down by my friends from Earth." Lantana agreed. She could see the glee on the faces of certain politicians as they sought to bring her reforms down around her feet.

Thirty minutes later, David, and Sarah were walking through the gates of the presidential palace and looking to hail a taxi to take them back to the spaceport. Their friend Professor Halliard wanted an early start so they had decided against having a night out.

Across the square from the palace gates, Cruz Broche and Joe Gallic were watching as David and Sarah walked across the large square that was in front of the palace. The two men had sat outside the spaceport since yesterday afternoon, unfortunately for them their target never left the Galactic Traveller. This evening they had been luckier, and they had followed David and Sarah to the presidential palace where they had prepared their plan of attack.

"He's mine Cruz; I've always wanted to take down someone important like him." Gallic demanded of his partner who smiled.

"Go right ahead Joe, just take your time, if you miss him then we will not get a second chance, not when all of the palace guards rush out." Broche advised his young partner.

Gallic grunted in response to the advice and put his high-power energy rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at David Charlton's body, the rifle was set on full power and would kill with just one hit to the body. Gallic could feel the excitement rush through his body, he was about to become famous. As Gallic took his time aiming his weapon Broche pulled out a cosh and hit the killer hard on the back of his head. Gallic did not fall down for Broche grabbed hold of him, preventing the killer from falling to the ground. The rifle in Gallic's hands fired a prolonged burst of energy, but now Gallic's hand wasn't controlling it, and the energy burst whistled by David's head and exploded against the metal railings that went around the presidential palace. Broche pulled out his own weapon, and with Gallic's unconscious body to protect him he fired at the ground to one side of David Charlton.

David pulled Sarah down to the ground as soon as he heard the awful whistle of the first of the energy bolts that flew close by his head and exploded behind them. Now he covered her body with his own and pulled out his own energy weapon, moments later he aimed and fired his pistol as the shot fired by Broche exploded on the ground just inches away from his head, minute pieces of dust stinging his face and eyes as it was flung away by the impact. He was partially blinded by the dust entering his eyes but he saw his energy bolt strike the body of the killer, but his enemy did not fall to the ground as he expected. Cruz pulled his partner around the corner and dropped the unconscious Gallic at his feet, he then returned the fire that was coming from the palace guards. Broche looked down at the unconscious body at his feet and fired a burst of energy at it; his weapon was set on kill, not stun as David's weapon. Gallic died quietly, the noise of the killing burst of energy lost amidst the many powerful bolts of energy that were coming from the weapons of the palace guards.

What Gallic hadn't known was that Admiral Stator had sent a brief text message to Broche, it told him that both Captain Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin were not to be injured in tonight's attack in any way. The admiral had a high regard for both of their brains and needed them to help Professor Halliard in his search for the Gateway. However, in the penultimate phase of this search, their lives would be forfeited to ensure they did not cause him problems when he collected the vast amount of data that he knew would be awaiting him beyond the Gateway.

Broche quickly disappeared from the area around the palace and was soon sitting at home and sending a text message to the admiral. It advised him of the failed assassination attempt and asked that the autopsy disregard the fact that the dead killer had received a blow to his head prior to being killed.

David was surprised that the attack had ended so soon, but with the attack over, David still had Sarah to deal with, she was angry at the way he had shielded her body with his own, something that had angered her almost as much as the attack. She pushed his heavy body off her and stood up, David could see that she was angry with him but could not understand why; Sarah soon made herself very clear.

"David, I am not a child to be protected, I am as able as you are to fire an energy weapon at a crazed killer. As a matter of fact, it would have been better for both of us to have had my weapon firing alongside yours, and then the second man might not have escaped." David knew that this was true and he apologised, but secretly he knew that his first instincts would always be to act in a similar fashion, should the situation arise ever again. He also knew that this was illogical, for Sarah was as good a shot as he was, maybe even a little better.

They were spending a lot of time in various police stations across the galaxy, and always because they were being attacked by Mazerens. Maybe this should have told them something and made them leave the planet prior to this last attack. However where would they find a safer place, on Earth? The first series of attacks had been there with serious injury to David. This time they only spent two hours at this local police headquarters, David and Sarah were allowed to leave, and by the time they retired to their bed, they were truly exhausted.

Meanwhile, Broche had returned to Blazenby's office to explain that the botched assassination attempt was entirely due to his partner's failure to kill Captain Charlton with his first shot. Broche then explained that he had only just escaped being killed by the palace guards who had stormed out of the palace grounds and laid down a mass of energy bolts aimed directly at his position. He had been left with no other choice other than to retire quickly, or die. The facts that came out would support his version, as long as the admiral supported him, and Broche had no doubts on that score. Blazenby did not want excuses, he had wanted results and he went to his bed very angry with Broche, he just hoped that he would not regret this latest foul up sometime in the future.

Chapter Six

On the Treasure Trail

The next morning, they related the night time attack on them to their friends, who put the attack down to someone who had supported the failed coup attempt some four years earlier, however, no one could say why the attack had taken place so long after the event. David however, came up with a possible reason.

"One person might be behind the attack, Armond's mysterious Mr Big might have wanted us out of the way to make it easier for him to steal the treasure."

Lana wanted to find a crack to hide in, for she too thought that this was the reason for the attack. However, they all breathed a little easier when finally, the Galactic Traveller set off towards the planet Phlox; it was at least three hours later than planned. Three hours that Lana thought would never end, for the crew went over the attack second by second. Lana was in constant agony, for she knew that she had been the person ultimately behind the attack.

It would take them three days to get to the planet Phlox, as David didn`t want to push the elderly starship`s engines too much as there was no immediate urgency. Once there, they would stay on the planet to search for the House of the Archons mentioned on the data disc. They would only leave after this search was concluded and, when the professor was satisfied with the other work that was currently in progress, and had formulated new plans for the future exploration of the site. Then they would travel onto the next planet, which was Canopus, or New Mars, and the only archaeological site on that planet.

**********

Admiral Stator looked out at the stars that stood out like beacons from the viewing port aboard the space cruiser Sentinel. He had been lucky to be allowed to remain in command of the starship, especially following his failed attempt at overthrowing the repressive regime on Mazere and declaring martial law, with him at the helm. It was only the fact that his daughter now led the planet, and to a better future as part of the newly formed federation of planets. This had saved him from forced retirement or even imprisonment, as had happened to many of the previous government. They had been responsible for the many deaths, and not only on the planets Phlox and Earth. Here on Mazere many people had died, many of them from amongst the former Non-Citizens, and to a lesser degree from the protest marchers, murdered by the state police on the orders of the government. His daughter had finally realised that he had been behind the unrest, and the resulting deaths that occurred on the day prior to her own coup. She had chosen to keep these facts from her people, how ironical that she too should use her personal power to shield a loved one. As too was the fact that his unquenchable lust for power should bring him up against Captain Charlton once again. Once again it was without the captain having the merest trace of suspicion regarding his interest in the captain`s latest quest. He laughed, when a thought flashed across his mind, why he had even saved the captain's life, something else that was most ironical.

He had a spy here on Mazere, one who had once been a member of Mazere`s secret police, one that had been put in place before the revolution. With the secret police all but disbanded he had elected to carry on working for the gangster, but when he had learned of the professor`s find, he had Blazenby`s office bugged. Then he had contacted the one man he respected, Admiral Stator, and told him about the secret data disc, and what was on it. The admiral had immediately had his starship prepared for immediate departure; he however, had prepared to follow the Galactic Traveller, even though his spy had told him that Canopus was the first port of call. Admiral Stator smiled, he had anticipated Captain Charlton`s security measures and not headed directly for Canopus. He was unaware that Professor Halliard had decided on this particular security measure. He knew that Professor Halliard was to travel to the three known sites of the ancients, so when he saw that they were headed for Phlox and not Canopus, he contacted yet another out of work agent from Mazere`s defunct secret police. This agent had decided to remain on Phlox when the old government on Mazere had been overthrown. He had reasoned that the new government would realise soon enough that they needed men with his qualifications, ones experienced enough to keep a watchful eye upon their new friends. He saw his beliefs vindicated when Admiral Stator contacted him and requested that he now work for him.

"Santo, I want you to travel to the one archaeological site of the ancients on Phlox, I believe it is on the edge of the Ryslin power block, and once there you are to await the arrival of a freighter named the Galactic Traveller. The famous Captain Charlton is in command of it, keep an eye on these new arrivals and immediately report to me if anything of interest might occur. I am particularly interested in any new building complex that might be discovered following their arrival. You have three days in which to find yourself a place to overlook our friends from Earth, that is three days to get there and to witness their arrival and then report on all that they might find on that barbaric planet where you are marooned." Admiral Stator finished his call and then turned to his first officer.

"Commander, please ensure that we stay at the very limit of our sensor range, I know that we are only following after an aging freighter, however, I happened to notice that it has a very modern sensor array fitted on its hull. I saw it on Canopus when the initial meetings with the Earth ambassador were held. In addition, the crew aboard that freighter are very able people, so I would rather they did not notice us. Report to me immediately if they alter course away from the planet Phlox, I will be in my cabin if you need me."

With this arranged Admiral Stator returned to his suite of rooms aboard the Sentinel, and here he opened his private safe. He then took out a small electronic tablet and looked at the information that his spy had given him. Unfortunately, it didn`t tell him where the Gateway was located, he smiled, soon, thanks to his spy who worked for Blazenby; he would be led there by the good captain. It was unfortunate that he did not have all the information that Professor Halliard possessed, for a part of him was sure that with the resources that he controlled, then he would have found out the location of the Gateway with the minimum of effort on his part. This would have meant that he wouldn`t need to trail after Captain Charlton, and he would be at the Gateway before the good captain even had an inkling of his interest in the matter. Another part of him welcomed David and Sarah's involvement, for he respected their minds, and he knew that they would be of a great assistance to the professor, and ultimately himself, in finding the Gateway. He then looked at the very old book that was also in his safe. It was two hundred years old and had been written by an unremarkable man, one Remus Thereus. He, in opposition to Mazere`s renowned scholars, believed that the mythical ancients had once walked upon Mazere, and that they had left behind all their secrets for posterity, all one had to do was to find them. An ancient and badly damaged scroll that had been lost in a fire had gone un-deciphered by all but Remus Thereus; his book told anyone who read it of the legacy left behind by the ancients. All their knowledge had been stored away in the depths of Altaraus, a planet near to their own, but it could only be reached by those able to pass safely through the Gateway of Tomorrow, and the tests that they would meet there. When his spy had told him of the data disc found by Professor Halliard, and of the Gateway, he had immediately dug out the book and reread it. He of all those looking for the Gateway knew in what form the treasure was, and it was not gold or jewels.

***********

During the first evening of the voyage Alan Lee was finally able to leave the bridge of the Galactic Traveller, having been relieved by David and Sarah, and walk along to the galley and have his evening meal, the only other person present at that time was Lana.

"Hello, Lana, my name is Alan; we met briefly when you came aboard the ship." Alan said throwing a smile at the young woman before him. "How are you finding the trip?" Alan then asked.

"Hello Alan, I'm ok thanks, everyone here is really nice, I feel almost like one of the family." Lana replied with a smile.

Alan Lee always got on with people, and Lana was no exception, she was attracted to him immediately. Lana had spent the day reading everything she could find about the planet Canopus, and in particular, the archaeological site, this was so she would be able to help Professor Halliard whenever she possibly could. Now quite late in the evening she had made a light meal and had just sat down to eat it as Alan had arrived. They spent the remainder of the evening getting to know one another a little better, and finding that each liked the experience. Alan did find it rather inconvenient, being unable to ask Lana anything about her work, in case he accidentally mentioned anything to do with the quest, but he found that they had enough in common anyway. He also thought it highly unlikely that Lana would ever betray a trust; no, he was prepared to put a year's pay against that ever happening.

It was not until the next morning that Lana met Barney, and she was initially a little frightened of the robot, however as the trip went by she grew used to his presence, and finally she grew quite fond of him. As the time on this relatively short trip went by, Alan and Lana were always to be found together, when Alan's work allowed it, and Alan was now certain in his own mind that Lana was not the spy. If a spy was on board then it must be Lethe, Alan was not too keen on him anyway, and he seemed rather arrogant whenever anyone spoke to him. Lana had never been happier than when she was in Alan's company, and she had been lulled into a false sense of wellbeing, this was about to be broken. It was late on the third day when almost everyone was up in the galley relaxing, talking about their voyage that Professor Halliard spoke of their true destination.

"We will have to be careful once we land on Phlox, the people have not forgiven the Mazeren people yet after the terrible way in which we treated them, or for the deaths of so many of their people which came about as a direct consequence of the Mazeren interference in their planets political problems." He said to the two other Mazerens on board the freighter, and then he turned to David.

"Hopefully, as this is an Earth vessel, they will treat us better David, they see Earth as being their savour, as you were indirectly responsible for the revolution that swept Mazere only days after your first visit to our planet." Professor Halliard said to David and the crew of the Galactic Traveller.

"It was mainly down to Lantana Stator, and indirectly her father, that the revolution happened, although the result was definitely not what the admiral intended." David replied. He was being modest for the information they stole from the computers aboard the Sentinel, Admiral Stator's space cruiser, was enough to convict all the senior officers of the space fleet and bring down the government. They had sent this information to Lantana; however, she had decided against using it, and when the situation on Mazere changed so dramatically, David forgot about it.

"The people of Phlox see it otherwise, and who are we to contradict them David. The archaeological site is nominally under my control, for a team from Mazere found the site. However, the people of Phlox do not see it that way, there is still too much hostility between our two peoples. David any meetings with the few locals that inhabit this arid land will have to be done by you or Sarah, I will stay in the background. However, meetings of that sort will be few and far between, the only locals we are likely to meet are the security guards and some the archaeologists, and they have come to terms with the way our government treated the people of Phlox." Professor Halliard said. Anyway, he hoped that they had.

"The team of archaeologists, they are a mixture of people from Earth, Mazere and Phlox, as I understand it Armond?" Sarah asked.

"Yes Sarah, you are quite correct. The new board of directors of the museum has members from all three planets, and of course, the archaeological sites of the ancients are of extreme interest to everyone. I feel that through our museum we may even bring the planets closer together, which is why it was such a crime that the looters got to Canopus before the archaeologists, much might have been learnt from the items now stored away in private vaults." Professor Halliard lamented.

"Professor, I thought that we intended to go to Canopus first, not Phlox." Lana said interrupting the conversation as she fought to control the fear that was already threatening to take control of her, body and mind.

"Is that what I told you Lana, I don`t know why, I must have been thinking of my previous trip, however it doesn`t matter, we will be going there another day." Professor Halliard said and then turned back to David and ignoring his other assistant who also wanted to complain about being told the incorrect destination.

Unnoticed by almost all of the others Lana stood frozen to the spot, her face paled as she imagined what punishment Blazenby might inflict upon her. She was absolutely terrified, for she knew that Blazenby would blame her for misleading him about the professor`s destination, even though it was not her fault. Thoughts about her fate flooded her mind, as fear rushed through her body like a river in full flood, and she trembled as she imagined the horrors that she would have to face, and all because of her weak father. Finally, though she was able to get her mind back under control, and with only Alan noticing the terror that has briefly appeared on her face. Lana decided that she would contact Blazenby as soon as they landed on the planet Phlox, she would explain that it hadn`t been her fault, but a momentary lapse on the part of the Professor that had led to her passing on the wrong destination, surely, he would understand. She didn`t dare to contact Blazenby immediately, by making use of the freighters interplanetary communications system, for she feared that it might betray her duplicity to the captain. He was after all noted on Mazere for getting the better of all those who attempted to go up against him. Instead, she began to wonder just what Blazenby hoped to learn from the plans of Professor Halliard, for he was only on a trip around the off world archaeological sites, how could they be of interest to a man such as Blazenby. To loot them would be impossible, even for him, for all of the sites were now under the protection of a detachment of soldiers; they were a new security precaution, sent to each of the sites to prevent further looting.

Alan had been rather unsettled by Lana's reaction to the news that they were going to the planet Phlox, rather than to Canopus, did this mean that she had a dark secret? Did this mean that she could be the spy? Was she responsible for the attack on David and Sarah? He wanted to confront her immediately, but to do so would mean doing so in front of the rest of the Galactic Traveller crew. No, it could wait for a little longer, he would speak to her as soon as he could get her alone, only then would he broach the subject that was beginning to make his head hurt so much.

Behind him, Ricoh Lethe swore, albeit very quietly, he did not like being treated in such a way, even by Professor Halliard. It must be obvious to even the cretins on board this aging freighter that this had not been a mistake, so why all the subterfuge, was he not trusted? After all, he was a colleague, and why was he being left out of the loop regarding the trip's true agenda. A loop that obviously included the starship captain from Earth. Lethe fought to keep his rising anger at this slight on his honour from showing; he would take the matter further, when he next got the professor alone.

The next morning saw the Galactic Traveller in orbit around the planet Phlox, and Sarah was requesting permission to land at the archaeological site. Another happy traveller was Blazenby, who was on his way to the planet Canopus; he wanted to be on hand should this be the planet that housed the Gateway of Tomorrow. He was halfway to the planet when Lana finally was able to send her message to the gangster, he screamed out his rage at being misled by her, for he was travelling in the opposite direction to the one he should have been. His starship now had to travel for another six days to reach the planet Phlox, and who knew what Professor Halliard could be doing while he was in deep space.

**********

Three days after receiving the Admiral's message, Santo Penang was safely positioned atop a large sand dune overlooking the archaeological site. Five minutes earlier, he had seen the Galactic Traveller land half a mile away, it landed, amidst a mini sandstorm raised by its own engines, on a roughly built airport that was far enough away from the archaeological site so the powerful engines of a starship, or a heavy terrestrial transport, did not damage the precious finds. Now he was watching Sarah, she had appeared at the rear of the battered old freighter; it appeared to him that she was being greeted by two of the locals. He saw this through a pair of powerful binoculars while ensuring that the local security didn`t catch sight of him.

**********

The planet Phlox was very similar to Earth, except that the continents were more of a uniform size, and there was no ocean approaching the size of the Pacific. The Galactic Traveller had flow in over a grey stormy sea towards a large continental land mass that straddled the planet`s equatorial line and resembled Africa in shape. Their destination was the archaeological site; it was sitting on the edge of one of this planet`s continents, at the start of a large golden desert that sat straddled across the equator, and was pushing further south with each year that passed. A dried-up river bed ran through it to an ancient harbour long silted up, and that had once looked out upon the sea. It was into this dry arid desert that they finally prepared to land, their thrusters throwing up a cloud of sand as they touched down. The countryside around the craft was a dune filled land that was very hot, and looked to be rather unwelcoming; Sarah hoped that the other sites they were due to visit would offer something more picturesque. She stood at the large open hold of the freighter and wished for a cool breeze, but the soft breeze blowing towards her was hot. She wondered whether Giorgio and Lilliana were still working at the site, looking around her she could see no sign of movement, and supposed that it was far too hot for life to be abroad at this time of day. That is until she caught sight of the two men who were striding towards them across the arid land that was between the rough airport and the dusty archaeological site.

The leading man wore the uniform of the local armed forces who were guarding the site; he also had a scowl spread across his tanned face. The other man was from Earth, he was one of the archaeologists and he wore a smile.

"Good morning, you must be Ms Hardin, I`m Jeremy Sykes, we`ve been expecting you." The man from Earth greeted her with an outstretched hand, which she took and shook while she took in the handsome face of the elderly archaeologist.

"Good morning Jeremy and my name is Sarah to my friends. Tell me is it always this hot?" Sarah asked smiling at the elderly earthman.

"Well I hope that I will fall into the category of friend Sarah, and yes, it is always this hot here, we are all but on the equator." Sykes replied before carrying on with the introductions.

"Let me introduce you to Captain Orlando, he is in charge of safeguarding whatever treasures are still buried beneath the sands of this delightful place, and of course us." He said introducing the local soldier.

"Good morning Sarah, I too hope to fall into the category of friend." Orlando said in broken English. His scowl disappeared as he looked at the pretty woman from Earth before him and he smiled. He had been told that three Mazerens were joining them, nothing about a beautiful woman from Earth.

"But you are Ms Sarah Jane Hardin, welcome, welcome to our dusty home." Captain Orlando said beaming. "I am so honoured to meet you."

Sarah was slightly embarrassed by the local's greeting and could feel herself blushing, or was it just the hot sun. She returned his smile and saw that her initial assessment of this soldier might well be wrong. Seeing his scowl as he had approached made her think he was but an uncouth local soldier, now she saw before her a man who spoke with a nice voice and one who seemed to be quite educated.

Just then, David strolled down the large ramp that allowed entrance into their spacecraft and, after introductions, escorted the two men inside to meet Professor Halliard, and to have some refreshments. Orlando dismissed the three Mazerens and focussed solely upon the crew of the starship. David could feel the antipathy flowing off the military man, and all of it directed at the Mazerens. After refreshments, they broke up the unhappy party, they took Orlando on a tour of the starship, here they found him to be a charming man, but one who still found it difficult to be polite to a people who had caused so much hardship to his world.

Jeremy Sykes took Professor Halliard and his two assistants down onto the hot sand of the planet Phlox, and over to one of two large huts that comprised the living quarters and the offices of the archaeologists. Further, away the professor could see the huts where the security forces slept, and a fence that enclosed the entire site. Once at the office the Mazerens were introduced to one other Earthman, Malcolm Rushton, who was much younger than his colleague was. There was also one tired looking woman from Mazere, and three locals, Giorgio and Lilliana Lantini, and Malik Deland who was in charge at the site. These five people made up the rest of the professionals on the site. The remainder of the archaeological team were all local archaeological students, who were very happy to work for a pittance while working for their degrees. The meeting started off a little frosty, but Halliard`s natural charm soon broke down the local`s reserve, and the men were naturally attracted to Lana, and who being a woman was seen as one of those repressed by the previous hard-line government on Mazere.

**********

On board the Sentinel, which hung in space behind the sixth planet of the Phlox system, the crew were at their posts, alert for any vessel that might warn the locals about their presence here in their planetary system. They were all loyal to their admiral, and they were firmly behind his quest to locate the hidden treasure for Mazere, although their admiral hadn`t told them everything. They certainly didn't want the barbaric people of Phlox to get their hands on it, or even the people of Earth, who many saw responsible for their admiral`s disgrace after the coup that he had led, had failed so dismally. Admiral Stator returned to the bridge and waited for a report from his agent, Santo Penang. To anyone looking at him he seemed his usual calm, in fact he was feeling extremely impatient for the next part of the drama to commence.

**********

On the planet`s surface Professor Halliard was standing just outside of the large grey building that covered the archaeological site, it was there to protect the site from the worst that nature, and man, might send at it. With him were the six archaeologists belonging to the site and his own two assistants. He was about to disclose the slender lead that had been given to him by the tenth data disc, a lead that wasn`t mentioned on his computer, so Blazenby was very unaware of it.

"My friends and colleagues, I have something stupendous to disclose to you." Professor Halliard said joyously in English that was translated by Malik Deland, the senior archaeologist on the site. Everyone turned their attention solely upon him. "However, maybe we should retire to the larger of the two huts, and out of the hot sun. You can hear my revelation in the relative cool of what passes for air conditioning." This brought a laugh from those around him who already knew the failings of the archaeology department of Phlox. Professor Halliard too had discovered quite early on that the sites equipment was mostly out of date, and ready to break down.

Professor Halliard then led them into the relative comfort of the main building on the site, and when everyone was seated, he then told them part of what he had related to the crew of the Galactic Traveller.

"On one of the data discs that we recently found on Canopus, I came across a passage that up until now I have not made public. I did this partly to prevent any chance of the looters of Canopus coming to Phlox, in the hope of getting into the site at night and destroying or stealing even more remains of the ancients. However, the main reason was that I did not have the entire story; it was only after my friends from Earth came to my assistance that I was finally able to understand it. The passage tells of a building of the ancients named the House of the Archon. It is an administration centre on a planet named Bihar; the building is set just beyond an old boundary wall that lies to the west of a town they have named Lehar. There is a fifty percent chance that the planet Bihar is in fact the planet Phlox. Now if it is indeed so, then this site might just be Lehar, although I realise that the chances are that it is not." Professor Halliard said smiling.

"However, you have indeed uncovered a wall to the west of the site that predates much of the town, which makes me believe that we are in fact standing inside the town limits of Lehar. With the GPR equipment brought by our friends from Earth, I hope that it should not take too long to check whether a building does lay undiscovered beneath the sand west of this wall. What I ask of you is that we look for it?"

All of the archaeologists sat stunned for a moment, but then they all began to speak across one another as the facts of what the professor had said kicked in. That was until Malik Deland, cut across the babble bringing it to a halt.

Malik Deland smiled at Professor Halliard and purposely waited a moment before answering, but he was only teasing those assembled in the hut.

"All right, Professor, Malcolm can use his equipment to look for signs of your building, he can spend a couple of days on it, for I know that otherwise you will all be forever pestering me." Malik Deland answered Professor Halliard first in English and then he repeated his answer in his native Phloxan language; however, the Mazeren language was taboo on Phlox, and no one ever admitted to being fluent in the language.

Lana immediately sent off another message to Blazenby, telling him about the data disc and the building that they were to search for in the morning. On receiving the message Blazenby swore, here he was five days away in space and Professor Halliard was obviously beginning his search for the Gateway.

Ricoh Lethe also swore beneath his breath, it was almost as if he wasn`t trusted by the professor, but why was that? Once again, he held his anger in check, and once more he decided to bide his time until he could speak with Professor Halliard when the two men were alone.

For the next two days, Professor Halliard busied himself as Malcolm Ruston scanned the land around the site for signs of a building. The professor was getting tired as the hot sun of Phlox beat down on his back, and he was beginning to despair of ever finding a sign of the building. Lana had been his constant companion, doing all that was asked of her, and taking notes on all that happened around her and the professor. She was forever scolding him for forgetting his sun hat, and she would hurry off to find it. Professor Halliard found her to be an able and willing assistant, one that now he was getting older he found invaluable asset. It was just as the sun was setting late on the second day that Malcolm Rushton found signs that indicated that a building might indeed lay beneath the arid desert sands, it was on a high point that overlooked the central square of the small town that they now had decided to call Lehar. Malcolm Rushton screamed out his delight.

"I`ve found it Professor, I`ve found the building, and it looks quite imposing from what the computer is showing me."

His enthusiasm infected the others as they all rushed into the larger of the two huts to look at the computer screen that he was working on. The computer had cleaned up the data and offered its interpretation of what the scan had found.

"Well done Malcolm, I had hoped that we would be successful, but feared that it would take weeks, even months to find it." Professor Halliard enthused.

"Hold on Professor, there is no way of telling just what we have found, it may just be the foundations to the local high school." Malik Deland, the senior Phloxan archaeologist said cautiously.

"No Malik, this is it, I can feel it. When can we commence to uncover the House of the Archons?" Professor Halliard asked excitedly. Everyone's attention was on Deland as he thought about the matter,

"All right, Professor, we will commence tomorrow morning." Deland said with a wide smile. "In any case, there is nothing else that we are working on that won`t keep for a while, and this could be an important find if it is the House of the Archons."

With this decided they all left to get ready for dinner, a feeling of anticipation filled the air as they left the hut, everyone telling one another just what they would find.

**********

Blazenby was now only three days away from the planet Phlox, and he was in a blazing rage, he ranted so much that his crew feared that he might have a heart attack. It was the thought that after all of his scheming he still might arrive too late to steal the treasure. It was now that Lana sent another message to him. The new message though made him smile; it now looked as if he would arrive just as the archaeologists struck gold. He had a dozen men to call on, quite enough to take on the local security detachment, and especially if he launched his attack during the early morning when most of them would be asleep; all he required was the window of opportunity.

**********

Lana was sitting in the galley when Alan found her alone on board the starship. She was feeling rather unwell after betraying her new friends, the thought of what she had done making her light headed, and she would have fainted if she had not sat down immediately and put her head between her knees.

"Lana are you all right, are you feeling ill? He asked. His concern for her pushing away the questions that he had intended to ask her, about her reaction a few days before about their true destination. Lana quickly got control of herself and stood up to greet Alan.

"I am fine Alan; I just felt a little faint that is all. I missed breakfast today and haven`t drunk nearly enough water. The heat here on Phlox sent me a swift warning not to do so again. That's all Alan, nothing more." Lana said smoothly. Once more, she was in control of her senses, but only for a moment.

"Yes, we all need to be careful in this heat. Lana, I need to speak to you about something. Something that I cannot understand. When the professor told you that Phlox was the planet where we were travelling to, you almost fainted from shock, why is that?" Alan demanded to know.

Lana jumped to her feet; worry blazoned across he pretty face, and Alan saw a good measure of fear in her lovely eyes, but only for an instant as Lana once again got control of her emotions.

"What are you talking about Alan, I was simply feeling a little space sick, please remember that this is the first time that I have been in space." Lana explained and turned to leave, but Alan grabbed her arm. Had she feigned claustrophobia then he could have understood her excuse of feeling unwell. For even though the starship was large, some people still felt as if they were inside a tin can. However, no one was space sick anymore, not even aboard an old freighter such as the Galactic Traveller. He would have to press her for a more truthful answer.

"Lana, the professor believes that either you or Lethe went through his desk at the museum, he thinks that one of you is a spy for one of the looters that ransacked Canopus. Please tell me that I am wrong, tell me that it isn't you Lana." Alan demanded to know. He needed to know the truth, for his feelings for Lane had grown in just a short time that they had known one another. He wanted her to explain away his fears, that she was just another common criminal.

"You think that I'm a spy, Alan?" Lana replied, her eyes glaring angrily at him. "Well thank you Alan, I am not a spy, not for the looters or anyone else come to that, I am simply a woman trying to earn a living in this hard world. If there is one, a spy that is, then I suppose that it must be Ricoh Lethe, but personally, I think that you are talking utter rubbish. Now let go of me." Lana said a touch more angrily than before. With that, she attempted to pull her arm free of Alan's grip, to storm off and hide away from the accusations that were so true, and which were tearing her apart.

"Lana, the attempt on David and Sarah's life on the night before we left Mazere, tell me that you weren't responsible for it." Alan demanded to know, his voice a mixture of anger and agony.

"What is the point of my denying it, you already believe that I'm guilty." Lana screamed out angrily, tears streaming down her face. She whirled about and left a very sad looking spaceman behind.

Alan did not know what to think, his mind was in turmoil, for he could see that she was upset, however, he knew that she had not been telling him the truth. He had now come to believe that she was indeed the spy in their midst, and that he should tell David of his suspicions, but for the moment he held off. No, he would watch and wait before he told his friend of his suspicions. He would also keep a close watch on Lethe. This seemed illogical even to Alan, but somehow it eased his conscience regarding both Lana and David Charlton.

For the rest of the day Lana was constantly afraid that Alan would speak to Captain Charlton and tell him of his fears. She fully expected to be arrested, and then locked away somewhere aboard the freighter. At the evening meal, sick with fear, she did not touch her meal. She rebuffed Alan's attempt at an apology, and as she stormed away from the galley, she heard the captain ask Alan if everything was Ok. She did not hear his reply though as she was through the door and walking down to her cabin.

Ricoh Lethe looked after her with a frown appearing on his face, he seemed to be worried about Lana, he was, but only because he feared that she would tell the crew everything that she knew. Lethe had had many opportunities to air his own grievances to the professor, but for some reason he never took them. For he too was afraid, afraid that if he opened that particular can, the wrong worms would wriggle out.

The next day came and it saw Malik Deland instructing the volunteer labourers where to dig. From the information provided by the computer, he had four teams, one in each corner of the building digging four preparatory trenches to find out if they did have a building laying hidden beneath the desert sands.

Outside and looking down upon the archaeological site Santo Penang had decided to approach the site and offer his help, he was worried that he would be seen by either one of the workers or even worse, one of the security guards, and anyway it was so hot lying under the desert sun. He walked over to the gate and called over to one of the archaeologists who had just come from the main hut.

"Hi there, the name is Santo; I'm studying archaeology on the net and was hoping to get a little site experience before the new term begins." Penang called out to Jeremy Sykes. Many of their volunteers were archaeology students so Sykes accepted his story, even so he did voice some doubts to the spy's mental wellbeing.

"And you came all this way on spec?" He queried. Looking at the spy as if he were mad, or maybe just simple. Ten feet away an armed guard had aimed his automatic rifle at Penang who began to worry that he had made a bad mistake in leaving the safety of his hill.

"No, my friend," Penang said smiling, "I work over at the oil refinery, it's only a few miles away. I have some leave owed to me and I hoped that I could use it to further my studies." Penang smiled his best smile at the older man who finally returned it and invited him inside the gate, after telling the guard that he would be responsible for the stranger. Luckily, the man was from Earth; a Phloxan would not have been so trusting.

"You're in luck Santo; we are just about to start our primary search for a civic building of the ancients. Professor Halliard of the Museum for Ancient Alien Civilisations found a mention of it on one of the new data discs that he discovered, who knows; maybe it will be you who sees it first, the first person in ten thousand years. Oh, and they call me Jeremy."

Penang smiled at the earthman; he would have to pass this information on to the admiral as soon as possible, it sounded as if this could be the end of the search. He hoped that the admiral would repay him by taking him off this backward world and set him up in a good paying job, a job that was located somewhere more sophisticated than Phlox.

**********

The top layer of sand was moved away with a lightweight earth-moving machine, they feared a heavy machine might crush the very thing that they were trying to find, but as they got further down, they had to resort to their human diggers so that nothing valuable was also pushed away. Knowing the position of anything found was important, as if it was found out of context then it might be interpreted wrongly and then they might waste years travelling along a wrong line of thought before they realised their error. They had set up four large marquees, one over each of the trenches, to protect the workers from the sun, but even so, it was hard going. Two days went by before they reached the first brick. Then another was uncovered, and soon a wall began to grow out of the sand as they slowly moved the concealing blanket of sand away. They had found a large building, but what its function had once been some ten thousand years ago was still hidden beneath the thick covering of sand. On the third day some of the windows appeared, although without any glass left in them, and then a doorway. They dug further down through the sand until finally they came across a layer of clay roof tiles and beneath that the remains of the wooden floorboards, partially preserved by the dry sand. On the floorboards were remnants of the glass windows and the partial remains of the room's wooden door.

**********

As the archaeologists slowly excavated the building from out of the sands, a starship moved into orbit above the planet. On board Maurice Blazenby sat watching the scene through a powerful telescope, the excitement aboard his starship was almost at breaking point, his crew of pirates bursting to travel down to help dig out the Gateway, that they knew was waiting for them beneath the hot desert sands of this Phloxan desert. His ship was not approached by a Phloxan craft and asked to identify itself; the planet was still fragmented into six power blocks of various sizes, and all of them competing with each other for overall power. The desert where the archaeological site was to be found belonged to one of the weakest blocks, who as yet didn`t have any space craft, and so the starship that Blazenby was on was able to hang in space above the site and watch without any fear of being challenged. The situation on Earth was much the same, however since the appearance of the Mazerens, and the hostile moves made by them, Earth had begun to coalesce. Thankfully, for its many people, Phlox too was travelling along that pathway; soon both worlds would be able to meet other worlds with a single voice.

**********

What Blazenby didn`t know was that a heavily armed Mazeren space cruiser under the command of Admiral Stator was watching his starship`s every move. The admiral had been on the bridge since early morning and was now feeling a little tired, the waiting was mentally exhausting even for him. They had scanned the new arrival and found it to be a private vessel from Mazere; they also found that the owner, Maurice Blazenby, had a long criminal record. Admiral Stator smiled; his second agent would be aboard that ship. This was confirmed when Cruz Broche sent him his recognition signal.

"Commander Zior, I am going to my cabin, let me know instantly should that vessel show signs of initiating a landing anywhere near to the archaeological site. Oh, and when the vessel has landed, launch our shuttle craft with orders to travel to Phlox, and once there, to find a place on the planet's surface from which they can covertly keep track of the ship's movements, should it attempt a landing." Stator requested of his senior officer. With that, he left the bridge and returned to his suite, which for appearances sake he termed a cabin.

As well as keeping an eye on the small vessel owned by Blazenby, Commander Zior aboard the cruiser had to ensure that they were not seen by the space vessels of Phlox, which were increasing in number and sophistication. It would be very embarrassing for Mazere if their interstellar cruiser was found, and the admiral accused of spying on the people of Phlox. As for the young lieutenant in command of the shuttlecraft, he also had the land forces of Ryslin to worry about.

**********

Lana had sent a message up to Blazenby telling him that the building being excavated was a civic building named the House of the Archons, one that had been abandoned ten thousand years ago. He reasoned that this was probably not the Gateway, just another building for the archaeologists to go mad over. However, Blazenby was a worried man; the thought had struck him that Captain Charlton might decide to keep the treasure for himself, when he finally located it. The captain would probably run home to Earth, and with his hold full of all the treasure that Blazenby wanted so desperately, in fact he wanted it so desperately that his stomach ached to think about all that was hidden behind the Gateway. Blazenby knew that Captain Charlton was supposed to be a friend of President Stator, but this act did not fool him, no one would forgive the people of Mazere for kidnapping his mother and father, killing his friends and almost killing him. No, he must be taken care of before he got his hands on the treasure, without him the rest would scamper away for the safety of their home world. He could then kidnap the Professor and force him to lead him directly to the Gateway and the treasure.

The sun had set when Blazenby decided that the time was right. He ordered his captain to bring their small craft down well out of sight of the archaeological site, but near enough to make a swift attack possible. The captain chose a spot two miles away from the site, and beyond a large expanse of sand dunes that covered this area of the Ryslin desert. The attack would take place during the early morning, when all was quiet and still dark. Blazenby would take his entire squad of thugs with him, leaving just the essential members of the starship's crew behind to guard the craft.

**********

On board the Sentinel, Admiral Stator had been advised by his first officer that the pirate craft was entering the planet's atmosphere, and that it was probably going to land near the archaeological site. Admiral Stator immediately sent a message down to Santo Penang advising him of this fact, and ordered him to tell Captain Charlton that in all likelihood, the site was about to be attacked. He would advise him of the whereabouts of the pirates as soon as they affected a landing. Admiral Stator could not afford to lose the minds of David and Sarah just yet, anyway this would eliminate one competitor, and without having to do so himself.

Penang immediately went in search of Captain Charlton, he found him talking to Professor Halliard. Penang approached David who looked around expectantly while preparing to defend himself should this be a prelude to another attack on him by a Mazeren, he was still a little jumpy following the attack on him outside of the presidential palace.

"Captain Charlton, my name is Santo Penang and I'm with Mazeren intelligence. My people have just informed me that a pirate starship is about to land nearby. I believe that we can expect an attack, probably just as the sun rises tomorrow morning." Penang said in a low voice, for he did not want the locals to know that he was a Mazeren spy.

"I will be able to tell you from which direction the attack is likely to come from after the craft lands." Penang hoped that all that he had heard about this man was true, for he did not want to find that he was dealing with an idiot who would march him to the Phloxan guards, as not only they would rough him up, but it would also result in a diplomatic incident that would be deeply embarrassing for the admiral.

"Well, Santo, at some point I will have to alert our Phloxan friends, but we will do that after you find out from which direction the attack will take place, at the moment I will only alert my crew. Oh, I assume you will want me to promise that you will not be killed, or harmed in any way by the Phloxan security guards, seeing as how you are a Mazeren spy?" David said to the spy who smiled; glad to be dealing with a man who accepted what he had told him without question and one that also understood the facts of life.

"However, first of all Santo, I need to confirm your identity, you could be a pirate yourself, one who is trying to send us off on a wild goose chase while you ransack the site." David said to the Mazeren spy who was instantly on his guard. What a fool he was to think that a man such as Captain Charlton would have accepted him on his say so alone. It only took a moment for Santo to offer a solution.

"You are I believe familiar with Admiral Stator, he will vouch for me, will that be enough to convince you of my credentials, Captain." Penang whispered.

"Admiral Stator!" David protested. "Why, Santo, would I trust someone who tried to entrap me by framing me for a murder which he knew I hadn't done. Someone who also endangered my father's life and killed some of my friends." David declared vehemently. Santo blanched under the unexpected attack.

"Captain we do not have time to call President Stator, the one person on Mazere that I know you trust, no, you must trust me." Santo pleaded with David who looked at the spy and then smiled.

"Ok come with me, I have an idea." With that, David led Santo over to his crew who were talking together about the day's work in the trenches.

Once there, David quickly alerted the crew to the new danger, but he ensured that the two assistants knew nothing about it. It was now that Alan Lee came forward, and taking David aside, he told him about his fears regarding Lana. David listened to his friend's confession and his apology. David stood in silence for a moment before speaking quietly to his friend.

"Ok, Alan don't worry, I understand, I've seen the way you look at her. Anyway, what you have said is mostly circumstantial, all you have is her guilty sounding outburst, even so, speak to Armond and have him keep his two assistants busy, and ensure that it is far away from their cabins aboard the Galactic Traveller. With this news about a pirate attack on the site, we will need to search their cabins to see if we can find anything incriminating. Steve, Millicent, Sarah and myself will go through their cabins in search of any evidence such as a communication device. I will get Barney to sit at our own communications centre from now on, he can scan the airways for any localised signals; he can then trace them to their source. You ensure that our two friends do not escape Armond's tender care and return unexpectedly to the ship." David then rounded up his team while Alan found Professor Halliard and put him in the picture.

David led the others back to the freighter, once there, he had Tony Miles guard Santo, while the others searched the two assistants' cabins. The search of Ricoh Lethe's cabin by Steve and Millicent took but a short time and resulted in them finding absolutely nothing that should not have been there, and certainly not a secret communications device capable of interstellar communications. In fact, Lethe had used the freighters communications centre to send the odd message back to Mazere, and always when there was someone with him to operate it, for in his own words, he was unable to operate such a device.

David and Sarah soon came upon the device used by Lana, and both of them knew exactly what it was capable of, they knew also that it was a top of the line model and far too expensive for Lana's pocket. It took but five minutes for David to reprogram it so that all messages sent from the device would only go as far as the freighter's communications centre, as would all incoming calls.

"Let's not say anything about this to Lana just yet Sarah, we will wait until after we have seen off the pirates, and only then ask her to explain this device. With her comrades defeated she will break down quickly and tell us all that we want to know." David said and Sarah agreed to abide by his suggestion.

Santo Penang walked over to them as they left Lana's cabin, with him was Tony Miles who looked at David with an unasked question in his eyes. David said one word to him, 'later'. Santo Penang now had the confirmation that the pirate craft had landed, and to the south of the archaeological site. A rough track led directly from where the pirate craft had landed to the archaeological site, and with plenty of cover for the pirates to hide in up until the time that they launched their attack.

David spoke to his crew and told them to keep a close eye on the two assistants, and then he told them that he planned to go on a short trip to investigate the Mazeren spy's information. Steve Ryan immediately pulled him to one side.

"I'll come with you David." Steve volunteered before any of the others could think of doing so.

"No, Steve, I'll take along a couple of the local soldiers, I need the rest of you to ensure that Sarah and the others are safe, but also to keep a close watch on the professor's two assistants. Do not worry about me, I will be fine, this is only a surveillance mission, nothing more."

Sarah and Millicent had moved up to join the two men and heard the end of the conversation. Now they too began to argue that one of them should also be allowed to come along for the ride, but David would not hear of it, he needed them here to guard the freighter. This was not the only reason that he needed them here; he also wanted to ensure that no warning was given to the pirates. After getting their assurance that they would abide by his decision, and that they would ensure that the two assistants were both kept under surveillance, David left them to approach the Phloxan security man, Captain Orlando and quietly tell him of the situation.

"Captain, a member of the Mazeren security has informed me that a pirate ship has landed close by and is about to launch an attack on us, probably at first light.

"A Mazeren spy Captain, and you trust him?" Orlando asked incredulously.

"No, Captain, but we cannot afford to dismiss his information either, so I propose driving out towards the area where the pirate craft is supposed to have landed and checking out his information personally. I will also take our spy along, but tied up until we find out whether he is with us, or against us." David said. Captain Orlando thought about the matter for just a moment.

"And if he is against us Captain?" He inquired.

"Then I will return him to you bound and gagged, but don't worry Captain, whether he is friend or foe, I will let you know." David assured the local security officer.

"I will send three of my men along with you to ensure that he doesn't give you any trouble Captain, my government wouldn't be too happy if anything happened to you on my watch, you are held in high regard on Phlox." Captain Orlando said smiling at the earthman.

"While you are away I will organise a welcome party for our unwelcome guests, please remember to call ahead, or you might receive a painful welcome yourself." Orlando said still smiling.

"You can take one of our vehicles, they may not be as modern as the vehicles you are accustomed to using, but they are purpose made for this type of terrain, they also have a large calibre machine gun on top, should you run into any trouble." Captain Orlando led him across to a tracked vehicle with room to carry a number of soldiers in the back. Orlando called to three of his men who were resting nearby.

"Corporal you and your two men will accompany Captain Charlton and his prisoner. You are to head along the rough track that leads to the south of the site; there has been a report of a pirate ship landing near to the coast some two miles away. Make sure nothing happens to Captain Charlton, and follow his orders to the full." Orlando ordered his men before turning back to David.

"These three men speak some English, it was thought necessary to have a small number of our men speak your language when the archaeologists from your planet were invited to join us here on our famous site." Captain Orlando informed David. Although he knew that David did speak a fair amount of the language spoken by the people of Mayling, the most common language on Phlox and spoken by many of the intellectuals of Phlox. However, as with Earth, he did not know any of the other languages spoken on the planet. David and Santo Penang now moved across to the vehicle, as they prepared to enter it, Sarah ran up.

"Take care David, all the treasure in the universe isn't worth dying for." Sarah gave him a quick smile and then kissed him.

"Don't worry darling, I'm not the hero type." David said by way of reassuring Sarah; however, she knew that unfortunately he was just such a person. The vehicle then moved off, and without being able to turn on any headlights, instead they had to rely on the dim light cast by the small moon of Phlox, luckily it was full and directly above them.

**********

As the armoured vehicle moved off down the rough track, Captain Orlando gathered his small command together.

"Soldiers of Phlox, a spacecraft full of Mazeren pirates has landed just two miles away from our position. We can expect an attack to be launched on us from the south, probably along the narrow track that twists its way to the coast. They may begin their attack anytime soon, but most likely it will be at dawn tomorrow. A vehicle is already on the way to check on their activity, we must forego our sleep and move out to cover the area some quarter of a mile from here where there is a perfect ambush position, you see that our many hours spent training is about to pay off."

With these words, the soldiers collected their equipment and followed their non-commissioned officers into the desert. Most took up their positions in the place mentioned by their commanding officer, a place that they had spent many hours training for such an eventuality as this. The balance were sent to some of the other positions at other points around the site to ensure that they were not taken unawares if the pirates did not do as they thought.

Ricoh Lethe looked around at all of the activity and moved over to speak to Sarah who had just walked across to keep a watch on the two assistants. Sarah had joined Millicent and Steve, they were passing the time talking to Giorgio and Lilliana about what other relics had been found on the site. They did this while they covertly kept a watch on the two assistants.

"What is going on Sarah, why all the sudden activity?" Lethe asked as he looked after the disappearing soldiers.

"It would appear that some local bandits are thought to be in the area, something akin to the nomadic people that once attacked the caravans in the deserts of Earth, maybe four or five hundred years ago." Sarah replied and then turned to make small talk with Millicent, and the subject was closed. As Sarah seemed unconcerned, Lethe dismissed the matter and looked again at some of the artefacts that the archaeologists at the site had found during the years that they had been toiling away.

**********

The armoured vehicle made quite good time, as the driver was familiar with the track; they had been driving for a mile when the driver pulled the vehicle over just below the crest of a hill after receiving an order from his corporal. The Phloxan corporal now turned to look at David.

"David, we should check out the area in front of us, the land drops sharply just ahead, and if there is anyone coming our way then we will be able to see them without being seen ourselves." Corporal Johor Manym said.

"Ok, Johor, let's see if there is anyone about. Ryder, Gras, please ensure that Santo doesn't attempt to give our position away." David ordered the two troopers. Santo looked at the two giants who had been left to guard him and gulped as he attempted to disappear from their view.

David and Corporal Manym moved silently forward towards the crest of the hill, and as they neared it they both dropped down so as not to be seen against the skyline. Although it was dark, their enemy could well be using night vision glasses, so it was safer not to take any risks. Before them, the land dropped all the way to the coast, they could see the waves crashing against the rocky shore just a mile ahead of them. Sitting on a small plateau just beneath them the two men saw a small starship, all around it there was frantic activity. The pirates were lit up by a dim red light coming from the underside of the craft, and focused to the ground directly before it. It was clearly designed to be as covert as possible and not to light up the sky. The focus of the activity focused around two small vehicles, and it was at this moment that the pirates boarded them and then the vehicles began to move along the track and towards the two watchers; they would reach their position within five minutes.

"Johor, do both of your men have personal radios that have enough range to contact Captain Orlando?" David asked as a plan began to unfold within his head.

"Yes, David, we all do, why?" Johor asked of the Eastman.

"Johor, I want you to leave the best of your two men here to watch our uninvited guests. If they continue up the hill then he is to wait until they drive by, then he is to report in as soon as he safely can. If they move off in another direction, he is to let us know immediately. The rest of us will take the vehicle and drive back towards the site to report in." David ordered the soldier as he went over the finer points of his plan in his head.

"Shall we not report in now?" Corporal Manym asked concerned that they might be making a mistake.

"Not yet Johor, our guests might be able to pick up our transmission, Captain Orlando will have to wait until your man reports in." David replied.

They had driven half the way back when David had Corporal Manym drop off with similar instructions to those of the first trooper. David was soon approaching the ambush point, a position recognised by the driver who stopped and advised him of the fact. It was at this moment that the first trooper reported that the two pirate vehicles had driven by some thirty seconds previously. David now allowed the driver to radio in and to ask for permission to continue into the ambush zone. Getting permission to proceed the driver drove through the ambush point and pulled up in front of Captain Orlando.

**********

Blazenby sat complaining loudly as the vehicle bounced along the track, they were moving slowly towards the archaeological site, soon they were due to stop and wait until the sun was about to rise. The pirates had decided that they would then split into two teams to attack the site. Once at the site the first team would fire the two heavy energy weapons fitted to each of the assault vehicles. They would be aimed at the large huts where the local soldiers slept, with them gone, the second team of pirates would attack the freighter crew and take the professor prisoner.

As the leading vehicle pulled up, the pirates within the two assault craft were stunned to hear the loud chatter of heavy machine guns as they opened up on their vehicles, and then they felt the bullets striking home. Two loud explosions rocked the vehicles, as the high-power energy weapons that they had been relying on were destroyed by the burst of fire. The driver in the second vehicle that Blazenby occupied tried to turn his vehicle around but a missile hit the front of the vehicle and destroyed the compact and very sophisticated engine that was housed within it.

"Everyone out." Blazenby screamed out in panic as fire took hold of the vehicle and its smoke began to make him cough. He now proceeded to push some unwilling pirates out of the door in his panic to escape the flames. The first one was shot immediately he stepped from the craft; however, he had taken all the attention away from the next six men, which included Blazenby. They hid behind their assault vehicle and began to return the fire coming from in front of them; however, a second team of Phloxan troopers opened fire from behind them and moments later only Blazenby was left alive. He was alive because he had run hurriedly down the track as the rest of the pirates fell beneath the relentless fire of the Phloxan troopers who were happy to be able to kill a hated Mazeren pirate. Captain Orlando only called for a cease-fire when he knew that all of the Mazerens before him were lying dead.

Inside the first of the assault vehicles Cruz Broche had waited to hear a let up in the fighting, then he called out in a loud voice.

"Don't shoot I am not armed, please, I am one of the Mazeren agents who brought the pirates to the notice of the glorious soldiers of Phlox." Broche sounded very scared, he had anticipated an ambush, now he hoped to survive it.

"Captain Orlando, please spare the man until we can confirm his identity. Santo may know him and if so, he has done both of us a service that deserves our thanks, not his death." David implored.

"Captain Charlton, not long ago these two Mazeren agents would probably have been working against both of our planets, why should we allow them to live now?" Captain Orlando demanded to know angrily.

"Because now we are in a federation of planets, a federation that might come to be of use to both our planets, we need Mazere, even if we must remind ourselves each and every day." David argued earnestly.

"You are correct, and from what I have heard, no one will have to remind himself of this fact more than you." Captain Orlando said head bowed. He turned and called for the spy Santo Penang to be brought forward.

"Mazeren go into that craft and bring your fellow spy back with you, then tell us all if he is indeed a man who deserves our thanks." Captain Orlando ordered.

Santo looked across nervously at David who nodded to assure him of his safety, and so he entered the assault craft and greeted his old friend, Cruz Broche.

"Come out Cruz, I believe that we will be safe." Penang said pensively.

"Either that or dead my friend." With that, Broche left the craft with his hands held high above his head. When Broche and David saw one another, there was instant recognition on both their parts. Broche fully expected to die at that moment, at the least for his part in the assassination attempt against David, when they had both been on Phlox. David though, only knew him from the attack on the two archaeologists on Phlox, however he did wonder if he was involved in the other attempt on his and Sarah`s life on Phlox. He decided to ask a favour of Captain Orlando.

"Captain would you have a squad of your men escort these two spies to a secure location and wait there with them until I return?" David asked quietly.

"Of course, Captain Charlton, but if there is something wrong with these two men then I can simply shoot them, no problem?" Captain Orlando replied intrigued by David's odd request regarding two men that only moments earlier David had asked that their lives to be spared.

"Maybe later my friend, for the moment I just want to put them on ice until such time as I can speak with them." David replied softly,

Five minutes later and Corporal Manym approached David.

"David, we came across a pirate attempting to escape the ambush, so we killed him." Corporal Manym said in a matter of fact voice. "From his clothing I deduced that he was the pirate captain so I searched his dead body. I found these papers on him that identified him as a Mazeren." Corporal Manym said with distaste before handing the papers across to him. David took the papers, but before reading them, he spoke to the corporal.

"Yes, my friend, a Mazeren, but I assure you that all three of our planets have criminals, but also on Mazere they have numbered amongst them a large majority of people who overthrew their government, and then came clean about its intentions as regards both Phlox and Earth. I know that your people have good reason to hate the Mazerens but I beg of you to give the Mazeren people a chance; most of them want to be your friends. The only alternative will be a lingering hatred followed by the most terrible of wars." Corporal Manym looked at the earthman before him and slowly a smile came to his face.

"You are quite correct David, I will remember your words whenever I hear someone talking of their hatred for the Mazerens, and I will attempt to be as eloquent as you."

David smiled at his new friend but then turned to the papers that he had been given. He saw that they belonged to a Mazeren who was called Maurice Blazenby, he smiled, happy that the slug would not bother anyone again.

As the two Mazeren spies were led across the spaceport towards the archaeological compound, they walked by Lana who looked fearfully at Broche, he smiled back at her and shrugged his shoulders. Lana's eyes followed him as he was escorted towards a solitary hut by a squad of soldiers. She knew that his presence meant trouble for her, but she was not sure what sort.

David now sought out Sarah, who on seeing him alive and well, threw herself into his arms and cried out of sheer relief. He then showed the papers to her and just as he had done, she smiled and added the words good riddance to her eulogy. David then mentioned the odd facts regarding Cruz Broche.

"Sarah, the time has come to speak with Lana." David said and Sarah pulled slightly away from David and smiled, but then she pulled him to her and it was only after a long kiss that she finally released him. They went in search of Lana and found her standing alongside the freighter. Lana looked at them and fear touched her body, she trembled as she heard them say that they needed to speak with her, but she allowed them to take her inside freighter. Once they were all sitting in the galley, David put the communications device onto the table in front of her. Lana immediately broke down and wept, when she finally stopped she told them about Blazenby, about what he had threatened to do with her, and how she had been too terrified to do anything otherwise than what she was told to do. She put her head on the table and quietly wept for herself. David smiled, not out of malice, but because he knew, that Blazenby would not be touching anyone else's lives.

"Maurice Blazenby is dead, Lana, one of the Phloxan soldiers killed him, and he is lying face down in the sand somewhere along the track with a dozen machine gun bullets in him, the Phloxan soldiers certainly don't take any prisoners, not Mazeren anyway." David said. He now threw the papers that Corporal Manym had handed to him onto the table in front of Lana.

Lana looked up with hope now on her face for the first time in quite a while; she quickly looked through the papers and smiled.

"Captain, I need to see his body, to know that he is really dead, please take me to him." Lana pleaded.

David looked at Sarah who nodded, the three of them left, and after finding Corporal Manym, they had him drive them back along the track to certify that the dead man was Blazenby. Much to Lana's relief it was, she kicked the dead gangster in the head and then spat on him. Corporal Manym looked on approvingly.

"Captain, it would appear that even a Mazeren prefers this one dead rather than alive." He said smiling at Lana, who wiped away her tears and held her head up high.

"You can do what you like with me now Captain." Lana said bravely, and fully expecting the worst. David did not reply to her statement instead he turned to Corporal Manym.

"Johor, can you take us to the hut where the two agents are being held?" He asked and then looked across at Sarah.

"We may as well interrogate our spies now." David said quietly and Sarah agreed. Lana, however, cried inwardly for she now thought that her ordeal was to continue.

They arrived at the hut and David had another request to male to Corporal Manym.

"Johor will you stay here to ensure that our two Mazeren agents do not attempt to escape?" David was not about to take any chances with two highly trained agents.

Broche and Penang were brought out and led to the nearby Phlox barracks for questioning by a squad of Phloxan soldiers commandeered by the corporal.

Sarah looked at Cruz Broche and smiled. "Hello again, beat anyone up lately?" She asked. Broche decided not to reply.

"Broche, the last time that we saw you, you were a criminal, now you say that you are a government agent, please explain, or I will let Captain Orlando have his way, he wants to shoot you." David said to the Mazeren agent.

"It is rather a long story, Captain." Broche replied glumly.

"You have five minutes, so just the highlights please." David replied. Broche looked at the people before him and smiled.

"Five years ago, I was a government agent spying on Maurice Blazenby. Then your revolution happened and I was unemployed. When we met here on Phlox, I was no longer an agent, simply a heavy working for Blazenby. A few weeks back Blazenby heard about the Gateway from some secret informant he has at the museum. When I heard about it I contacted Admiral Stator who re-employed me as a government agent." Just as whole planets change their allegiances so do people, now I am supposed to be one of the good guys." Broche finished his story and waited to hear whether he was about to be shot, as he expected to be, or released. Santo Penang although not a part of this particular enquiry also waited to know if Captain Charlton would keep his word regarding him personally.

"A few minutes ago, Captain Orlando said to me much the same thing about you. He said that not long ago, you two Mazeren agents would probably have been working against both of our planets, Earth and Phlox, why should we allow you to live. The reason that I gave him was that circumstances have changed, that we are now in a federation of planets, a federation that might come to be of use to both our planets, we need Mazere, even if we must remind ourselves each day. I refuse to go back on my words Broche, but if either of you ever attempt anything against my family or friends I swear that I will kill you." David got up and looked at Corporal Manym, the two men smiled at each other, and that was that. David now turned to Lana who was sitting there afraid for her own future.

"Lana you asked me about your fate, well Armond still needs your assistance, and there is no telling what he would do without it." David said smiling at her, Sarah nodded and smiled approvingly.

Lana broke down and cried, for all her fears were washed away. She went up to David and hugged him first and then Sarah. They all returned to the archaeological site where David put Alan Lee in the picture who also smiled once he heard all that Lana had said, and the decision David had made on hearing her tale.

"Thank you, David, I owe you one."

**********

The next day David and his crew listened to a Mazeren news broadcast that dealt in full with the attack on the archaeological site.

"What was your part in this drama, Admiral Stator?" The newscaster asked.

"We had begun to suspect that Maurice Blazenby was behind the spate of interplanetary looters, and so we decided to follow his craft when it left Mazere. It took us to the planet Phlox where we knew an ancients' site was located. When we saw them entering the Phloxan atmosphere we contacted Captain Charlton who by luck was at the site at that moment with the noted Mazeren archaeologist Professor Armond Halliard. Using him as a go between we alerted the Phloxan military guarding the site, and in this way were able to stop the attack from going ahead."

"A first for the newly formed federation of President Stator, Admiral, when the people of the three planets of the federation came together to defeat an evil touching all three planets." The newscaster announced, to which the admiral could only agree.

Admiral Stator said nothing about the Gateway, or of their quest, he simply wanted to stay in the background until the very last minute.

The same day the complete two-storey building was finally uncovered from the sands, and upon its walls, they discovered pictures of other worlds, and still intact, as with the frescoes of ancient Knossos on Earth, they too left the archaeologists stunned by their beauty. Professor Halliard was working in the hot and stuffy lower floor of the building. He was hard at work carefully brushing the last covering of sand away from the fresco that he was working on. Slowly emerging from the dawn of their history he saw before him a picture that could only be the Arrow of Ramada. He controlled his eagerness to reveal the words printed beneath it, but soon the ancient's letters appeared and he now read them aloud to David Charlton and Sarah Jane Hardin who has come in answer to his hastily cut off cry of joy.

"The Arrow of Ramada pointing the way to the Gateway of Tomorrow, and all that will soon lay hidden beyond it. My god David, look at the background of the picture, it's the Alaina mountain range, and there is the sun slowing setting beyond it, this will make locating the Arrow so much easier." Professor Halliard said as he endeavoured to suppress his excitement that was threatening to explode.

"You're correct Armond, we now have our map, it should make it easier to find the Gateway, and once we arrive at Mystras we can use a photograph of the fresco to locate the exact position of the Arrow. Those two peaks are quite distinctive; we should easily be able to triangulate the position of the Arrow from them." David said with almost as much excitement as the professor. The three friends stood there for five minutes as they looked at the fresco.

"Yes, and from the fresco it appears as if the Arrow is quite a large rock. David, when we locate the Arrow we will be able to follow a line between it and the Alaina mountain range, and then using your ship`s sensors hopefully find what the data disc named the Depths of Despair." Professor Halliard whispered excitedly. "I imagine it to be either a deep valley or maybe even a massive cave system."

Just then, Malik Deland appeared wanting to take a photograph of the fresco showing the Arrow. Professor Halliard, Sarah and David moved to another part of the ancient house to continue their conversation. Professor Halliard`s face now took on a worried look

"What is wrong Armond, you look as if the weight of the world has suddenly descended upon your shoulders?" David asked. He was concerned now that the strain of the search might have been too much for his friend.

"David, as you have seen, Malik Deland has now taken photographs of all of the frescoes, it is so he can show them to the people of Phlox. However, I`m at a loss as to how to stop the photograph of one fresco getting out, the one showing the Arrow. For all we know, Blazenby might not be the only person looking for the Gateway. You told me that one of the Mazeren spies informed Admiral Stator about it, the one named Cruz Broche."

David Charlton looked at his friend, a puzzled look coming to his face.

"Armond, you might well be correct, but surely there is no way that anyone will be able to tell where that mountain range is located?"

"I knew David." Professor Halliard retorted just a little put out by his friend's dismissal of his fears.

"Yes, Armond, but you know which planet the Arrow is on, for most other people it could be a mountain range on any of a dozen or more planets, it could be on Earth and I wouldn't have known. Tell me my friend, how many people in this galaxy would know either the significance of the Arrow of Ramada, or would recognise the Alaina mountain range?"

"Two or three of the people on Mystras might be able to recognise the range David." Professor Halliard answered defensively. "I suppose some of the archaeologists from the dig there may remember it." Professor Halliard said.

"So, we have a clear lead over most of the galaxy." David Charlton replied.

Professor Halliard still seemed to be worried so David offered him a solution.

"Armond, if you are worried about the photograph of the fresco getting to an enemy then I suggest that you ask to borrow Malik's camera, say that you want to download the photographs onto your personal computer, and then accidently delete the picture of the Arrow." David suggested tongue in cheek, a smile coming to his face as he looked at his friend.

Professor Halliard initially looked horrified at this suggestion; it would be such a dishonest move to make. However, as he thought more about it, and the benefits that the treasure, whatever form it came in, would bring to his people and the rest of the federation, he smiled.

"Yes, of course you are quite correct David, and it would not only be better for us, in the long run everyone would benefit. Later on, we can mention the help given to us by Malik and his team, should we succeed in finding the Gateway."

Therefore, with his sense of right and wrong assuaged, Professor Halliard decided that he would do just that, but he would feel suitably guilty when he deleted the photograph of the Arrow of Ramada. Professor Halliard saw Lana appear at the top of the ladder, one that led down to the level where he had been working. He immediately scampered up the ladder, moving at a speed that amazed David and Sarah, and once at the top the professor took Lana away.

"Lana, we will be leaving Phlox soon, please ensure that all of our equipment is back on board the Galactic Traveller." Professor Halliard said as he hurried Lana on her way.

Lana looked at him in a dazed state as she tried to get her head around this sudden change of plans, but she hurried across to the main office of the site and began to collect their equipment together. She was happy, for now she was working solely for the professor, Blazenby was dead and with his death so was the threat to her well-being.

Professor Halliard then returned to David and Sarah and told them of his sudden decision to leave the planet Phlox, and immediately, for he was eager to start their journey to Canopus.

"David, the more that I think about those two government agents turning up, the more I think that I am correct in my suspicions. We know that the Admiral knows of our find, through his agent Cruz Broche, maybe this was not about taking out a looter, but more about taking out one of the competitors. No, mark my words, Admiral Stator is after the Gateway, and the treasure stored behind it." Professor Halliard declared defiantly.

"Ok Armond, as soon as you are ready we will head for Canopus."

Professor Halliard now went in search of Malik Deland, and his camera.

"Malik, may I borrow your camera as I would like to download the photographs on to my personal computer, so as to be able to study them at my leisure." He felt a little dishonest in asking this, especially when the archaeologist handed the camera across without a second's hesitation. He really liked Malik, but he knew that he had no choice in the matter.

Ricoh Lethe wandered across to David and looking across at the departing back of Professor Halliard, asked what was up.

"Armond has decided that he has done everything possible here on Phlox and has decide to leave, I think that he wants to be somewhere where he won`t feel quite so unwelcome, so we are off to Canopus as soon as everyone is back on board." David said smoothly. "So, if you have anything to collect then I suggest that you get it now, as Armond is in a hurry to leave."

Lethe looked at David, and David could see the anger almost boiling over inside of the man. "I`m supposed to be his colleague, yet he never tells me anything."

With that, Lethe stormed away towards the freighter. David could hear him swearing under his breath, and David could hardly blame him for being put out, for he would feel the same if, the positions were reversed.

Professor Halliard soon downloaded all of the photographs onto his personal computer, and it was time now to delete the last picture in the camera the picture of the fresco showing the Arrow of Ramada. He felt so guilty, he was sure that someone would see him doing it, or Malik would storm over before he left to demand an explanation. However, after a last look around he now deleted the last photograph. He then returned to Malik Deland and told him of his decision to immediately leave the planet and head for Canopus, as he had some pressing business there. Deland was a little dazed by the professor's sudden decision to depart the planet.

"Professor Halliard, we have only just touched the surface of this new building. This is your discovery, surely you want to stay and see what other history there is hidden beneath the sands of this desert. Things that haven`t been seen for ten thousand years?" Halliard smiled at the Phloxan archaeologist.

"No, my friend, this is your site, and whatever is laying beneath the desert sands of this hot land are for you to find. All that I wanted to do is to set you on your way. I would be grateful though if you would keep me appraised of any of your future finds here in Lehar. Goodbye my friend, I will ensure that you and your team get the credit for the photographs. I will forward them on to Mazere and to Earth, and I presume you will publish them here on Phlox." Deland nodded in agreement and with that Professor Halliard shook Deland`s hand and turned away towards the freighter. He was eager to get to Mystras, or as he now called it, Altaraus, and seek out the Gateway. However, first, they had to drop off the supplies on Canopus; to forego this might proclaim to any further enemy that Mystras was where the Gateway was to be found. By going via Canopus however, it would only show that Mystras was the next planet in line, and might even make their enemy lose heart in the whole thing and quit.

The first thing that Stator knew of their decision to leave Phlox was when his lieutenant aboard the shuttlecraft saw the freighter taking off from the planet and entering space. Admiral Stator did wonder a little as to why he had not heard earlier from either of his two agents on the planet, but decided correctly that they must both be prisoners of either the Phloxan military or Captain Charlton. This was proved partially correct when he received a message from Santo Penang telling him that they were travelling to Canopus aboard the Galactic Traveller. Penang then asked if transportation could be provided to get them home from Canopus.

David had decided to take them off Phlox before a Phloxan gave in to the temptation to shoot the two spies, However, he would not allow them anywhere near the engineering department, or on the bridge. They were confined to the galley or the hold, where they were sleeping.

Chapter Seven

Return to New Mars

Cruz Broche and Santo Penang were extremely grateful to David for taking them off the planet Phlox, even if he was only going to deposit them on Canopus, at least that planet was in the Mazeren sphere of influence. However, David was a little worried that taking agents of Admiral Stator with them was akin to ancient Troy taking in the wooden horse. The Mazeren space cruiser Sentinel, with Admiral Stator aboard, had stayed just at the extreme edge sensor range for the entire trip. Steve Ryan had noticed the Sentinel appearing and disappearing on the freighter's scanner, however, he had not realised just what he had been seeing, but he remarked upon it.

"David, you mentioned to us all that our old friend Admiral Stator might be interested in this new quest of yours. Well you should know that someone may well be on our trail. When I was on the bridge earlier, I noticed that we are being dogged by someone, unfortunately, whoever it is has succeeded in staying at the extreme edge of our sensor capability and so I do not know just who, or what it is. I suppose it could even be a computer generated blip, a minor fault in the systems design that has become noticeable now the unit is older, it might just need overhauling when we finally return to a planet that has a Blazer Space maintenance team." Steve said.

"I take it that it is beyond your capabilities then Steve?" David asked his extremely clever friend.

"Well it is hardly my field of expertise David, but if it were only the external scanners that need adjusting I could do it, however, I don't fancy going out for a spacewalk if a potential enemy is close by. Anyway, Millicent would never forgive me if I upped and died out there. However, I might be able to do it, when we have a lot of time to spare and oxygen all around us." Steve said facetiously.

"Well we don't want the scanner off line just now anyway, not if there is a chance that the space cruiser Sentinel is indeed on our trail." David declared seriously. It seemed that fate had decided that they would have to tangle with Admiral Stator once again, unless they could somehow find a way of losing him, and that seemed highly unlikely.

Finally, they were landing on Canopus and handing over the two agents into the care of Riccardo Charteris and his team. The crew were all keen to have a look around the archaeological site discovered by Steve, and so they followed Professor Halliard and his two assistants through into the large building that covered the ancients' town. It was covered in the same way as the ancients' town on Phlox was, and for the same reason, to keep the sand from destroying their precious site. They spent the next two hours being escorted around the site by Achmed Tarin who was very happy to do so, as they were the men behind the discovery of the site. Later in the morning Professor Halliard arranged for the many helpers on the site to unload the cargo destined for them, and then he sat down with Riccardo Charteris to continue their talks about ways in which they could further their knowledge regarding this site and its ancient citizens. He also apologised for not telling him of the data discs.

The Mazeren security force seemed a poor bunch, especially when compared with the crack troops on Phlox, however David thought they would at least deter any would be looters. They were led by a Captain Maar who greeted them cordially, but then hurried back to his office. The troops under his command though were only ever to be seen sitting beneath any accessible shade, never once did they patrol the perimeter fence or seem capable of putting up much of a fight.

It was mid-morning on the following day, Riccardo Charteris came hurrying across to David, and he was very worried.

"Captain Charlton, I'm really glad that you are here, two of my team are twenty miles away visiting what seemed like a promising lead, you may have seen them leave the site at first light, well it turned out to be a wild goose chase. However, their vehicle has broken down, is there anything that you can do to help, all we need to do is to get a spare part over to them, so they can get their vehicle going again?" Riccardo Charteris asked worriedly.

"Why hasn't Captain Maar sent a team out there to rescue them, Riccardo?" David asked.

"Well our second vehicle is also out of commission, and anyway the security force doesn't like to leave the base, they are afraid of the Skarganars, they are a local carnivore and highly dangerous." Riccardo Charteris explained.

"What is wrong with your second vehicle?" David asked, for it seemed weird to him that both vehicles should be out of commission together, either that or the maintenance routine was rather lax.

"We are not sure Captain Charlton, anyway it will take far too long for Captain Maar's men to repair the vehicle, you see the two men have reported seeing a couple of Skarganars out there. Unfortunately, neither of the men are armed and so it could turn rather nasty if those creatures decided to approach the vehicle in its present state of disrepair." Charteris replied. "Captain there is one other problem, there is a sandstorm out there somewhere, and unfortunately our satellite receiver has also broken down. We don't appear to be having too much luck just at the moment with our equipment." Charteris pleaded with him.

"You're kidding me Riccardo, why on earth did you allow your two men to go so far away when a sandstorm is blowing this way?" David exclaimed.

"We didn't feel the threat was too serious, but with the satellite receiver out of action, well we have no idea just where the sandstorm is now, it's urgent that we get our two men back here, and before the sandstorm hits." Charteris said earnestly.

"Riccardo, no one could have such bad luck as you have had today, is there a chance that someone might be behind your troubles." David wondered.

"I do not know Captain Charlton, all I know is that our two men are stranded out there and I cannot do anything to assist them." Charteris complained bitterly.

"Ok Riccardo, I will be glad to help you to get your two men back here, and before the sandstorm hits." David declared. "Tell me can we land the freighter anywhere near to where they are?" Riccardo shook his head

"No, Captain. The land is far too rough over there, but you have a shuttlecraft surely?" Riccardo asked.

"No, Riccardo, but we have a small hovercraft, it looks as if we will have to drive out there, it will take longer but we should be back here within two, maybe three hours at the most. You collect the replacement parts and I will get the hovercraft." With that, David went in search of Tony Miles, who he decided he might need to help repair the faulty vehicle, and Sarah to tell her that he had to go out on a rescue mission. On the way, he picked up two extra energy weapons for the two missing men to use, should the occasion arise. David and his crew were still carrying their weapons with them as the two Mazeren agents were still on the planet, and they did not know if they could trust either of them.

He soon found Sarah and told her of the latest problem; Sarah was far from pleased with his response.

"David, why are you one again attempting to keep me out of harm's way, I am coming with you." She told him. Sarah was fed up with seeing the man she loved drive off into danger, if he must insist on doing so then she was going along too.

"Sarah, if we have trouble fixing the vehicle we will have to bring the two men back in the hovercraft, you know that it only takes four, and I might need Tony to help to repair the vehicle." David remonstrated.

"If you can't get their vehicle going then one of them will just have to sit perched on the back of the rear seats, no problem David, now let's go find Tony and be on our way." Sarah ordered and immediately walked over to where she had last seen Tony Miles.

David sighed; there should not be any problem as long as they did not hang about, he thought, and as long as nothing else happened while they were out there. He thought of the last time that he had been in this particular desert, and of the wild creatures that had almost eaten him alive, thankfully, his friend Jimmy Fielding had saved his life that time.

They finally found Tony preparing to relax, but he was happy to come along. Before they left, David spoke with Alan Lee and Steve Ryan.

"Alan if that roaming sand storm comes anywhere near, I want you to take the freighter up, Barney can work in engineering and the rest of you up on the bridge. Just ensure that you are away before the storm hits, as otherwise it will foul up the engines and maybe even destroy the delicate hardware on the hull of the ship." David said to his friend.

"Don't worry David; we will keep the Galactic Traveller safe." Alan assured him.

"Steve can you have a look at their satellite receiver, see if you can repair it for them?" David requested.

"Of course, David, I will get on to it right now." Steve Ryan replied and went off to gather some tools from the starship.

With the safety of the starship taken care of, David, with Sarah and Tony walked back towards their small hovercraft. Tony was the driver with David riding shotgun, he had relegated Sarah to the backseat. He was still a little annoyed that she had insisted on coming along, but only a little, for he turned around and smiled at her.

"Well darling, you are about to see the beauty of the wilderness that covers most of New Mars."

Sarah was just a little excited to be going on the journey, she had always enjoyed travelling around the wilds of Texas, where her family home was on Earth, and she was looking forward to the trip. However, Sarah sat with her energy weapon on her lap, for she too remembered David's last trip into this desert. They used the vehicles computer to keep track of their own position and those of the archaeological site and the broken down vehicle. At least they knew that they could not get lost, not with the satellite in orbit above them constantly reminding them of where they were.

"Try to keep to the high ground, Tony, if we travel along the wadis and the gullies of this planet then we won't be able to see if any of those creatures are nearby, and that will be very dangerous." David ordered.

This measure meant that they would take at least another thirty minutes to get to the stranded men, but at least they would eventually get there in one piece. At times Tony was almost driving in circles, as they followed the high ground around the many water made gullies. These were dry now as the hot summer was making its presence felt in spades, they were all wearing sun hats to keep the worst of it off them, but even so all three of them were soon sitting in clothes drenched in sweat. The ground was now beginning to rise towards the massive mountains to the north, and soon they would be within sight of the missing men. It was now that they lost contact with their base, and Sarah, who was keeping a constant lookout about them, was the first to realise why.

"David what is that funny looking cloud to the south west of us?" She queried. David turned to look behind them and then he groaned.

"Sarah that is not a cloud, it's a giant sandstorm, and it is coming this way. Tony, we need to make better time, take whatever route is quicker, disregard what I said earlier."

Tony looked across at his friend and nodded, he understood, they were to take on the lesser of two very real dangers.

**********

It was mid-afternoon at the archaeological site and the giant sandstorm was almost upon them, Alan was at the helm of the starship, with Steve sitting at the sensor controls and Millicent was standing beside him.

"Ok Barney, let's have power to the engines." Alan ordered the robot in engineering. The engines began to hum as power was sent into them, but then they heard the hum turn into a dreadful whine and then nothing.

"Barney, what's happening down there, where are the engines?" Alan shouted into the intercom impatiently.

"There is a fault down here, Alan; you had better come down here to inspect them." Barney's metallic voice replied.

Alan looked worriedly at his two friends for only a moment before rising and racing down to engineering, the sandstorm was only ten minutes away and they were still on the ground.

"Tell me Barney, what's up with the engines?" Alan ordered as soon as he entered engineering.

"Alan, it seems to be mechanical, we will have to wait until Tony returns to repair the fault, so unfortunately we are not taking off." Barney replied gloomily.

Alan looked at his two friends, and both looked as stunned as he was.

"Barney can't you give us just enough power to jump over the approaching sandstorm?" Steve asked the metal man.

"No, Steve, not even enough power to jump over you, I'm sorry." The metal man sounded very sorry to have reply in such a way.

"Steve, we have about five minutes to rig a tarpaulin over the engines before the storm damages them beyond repair, come along Barney, we will need your assistance if we are to succeed."

With that, Alan rushed from engineering with the others on his heels; he headed for the stores where such items as he needed were stacked neatly on the shelves.

"Barney grab the larger sheets of tarpaulin and take them outside to cover the engine, Steve grab some of the smaller sheets of tarpaulin to cover the hardware on the hull, Millicent you're with me. All of you, don't forget to collect a face mask each, you will need it to protect your eyes from the sand, and also wrap a damp scarf tightly around your face, it will allow you to breathe without taking in a mouthful of sand each time you require a little oxygen." Alan ordered his friends just as Lana rushed in. She looked at the frantic activity around her and wondered why they were not taking off as planned.

"Can I help Alan?" she asked when she saw the others grabbing things off the shelves and then disappearing.

'Take these Lana, and follow Steve and the others." Alan ordered the young woman. "And don't forget to put on a face mask to protect your eyes and damp scarf to cover your mouth."

As soon as they left the starship, they noticed that the wind had picked up speed and was nearing gale force, and there towering above them, but thankfully still far enough away, an angry wall of sand was bearing down on them.

"Steve you take care of the hardware with Millicent, Lana and I, along with Barney will sort out the engines." Alan cried over the noise of the approaching storm.

Steve and Millicent headed for the sensitive scanners, they needed to cover them with a tarpaulin quickly before they were destroyed by the storm. Minute by minute as they worked they could feel the wind strengthening. Steve fought to cover the scanner with the tarpaulin that seemed to be alive, but the wind was constantly getting behind it and trying to carry it away up into the heavens. Grains of sand were already being blown against them, stinging any exposed parts of their bodies, and the main storm had not even hit yet.

"Millicent grab a hold of both ends of the tarpaulin while I try to tie this end down." Steve called out over the ever-strengthening wind. Finally, it was in place, he then took out some wire and began to thread it through the tarpaulin's eyelets, and then he began to twist the wire around two of the scanners' supports. When he had fixed down the side nearest to him, he moved over and began to do the same to the other side. The foot soldiers of the sandstorm had now arrived, and they felt even more of the sand stinging the parts of the face not covered as the wind sought to blow them away.

"Millicent, we need to do the same to the communications antennas, they are above us and to the right. Steve began to climb up a set of rungs built into the side of the starship, Millicent followed behind him, and soon they were on top of the starship where the antennas were located. However, now the storm had arrived in spades and Steve had to hold on to the starship as he edged along the metal hull. He was bent over almost double to stop the wind from blowing him off the starship, and the much lighter Millicent almost lost her footing as a strong gust of wind threatened to blow her down to the ground. Luckily, Steve caught a hold of her arm and held her tight against him for a moment while she regained her composure. Slowly they worked their way towards the delicate antennas that were already swaying madly in the wind. Once there, they worked as before, and being practised now, they soon had the equipment protected against the storm. Steve looked across at Alan and Lana who were still working at covering the much larger engines; luckily, they had Barney to help them. Steve indicated to Millicent that he wanted to go and see if Alan needed any help, she nodded, and they both carefully crawled over to the top of one of the engines, they saw that miraculously the starboard engine was already covered. Barney was at the top of the port engine holding the tarpaulin while Lana was holding the bottom of it. Alan was lashing the tarpaulin to the undercarriage of the starship to prevent it from blowing away.

"Steve we're done, how about you." Alan shouted loudly. The rampaging wind was now approaching its maximum strength and threatening to blow them over.

"We're also done Alan, I think that it's time to re-enter the Galactic Traveller." Steve called out and the others followed him back inside to the stillness inside the freighter.

"Thank god that we had these masks on." Millicent said thankfully. "That sand was very painful; we would never have completed the job if we had to constantly battle the sand, to try to stop it from blowing into our eyes and mouths and up our noses." The others were in full agreement as to this.

"I wonder how the others are, Captain Charlton, Sarah and Tony, they will need to find shelter if they are to survive the storm." Lana said fearfully.

"I`ll try to contact them on the radio, if we can get a signal through all of that sand that is." Alan said worriedly, unfortunately, he could not.

"David will look after them, don't worry." Steve said firmly, although he too was worried for their friends.

***********

Tony took the hovercraft down along a narrow gully that went directly to the disabled vehicle; it would save them five valuable minutes. He now also increased speed as he sought to outpace the winds that he could already hear howling behind him. They broke through to a flat expanse of land that rose quickly into the foothills of the majestic mountain range before them.

"Stop the vehicle Tony." David ordered. However, Tony was already bringing their small hovercraft to a halt. There before them, the disabled vehicle was parked tightly against an almost sheer rock face that climbed up some two hundred feet. About the vehicle were some of the creatures that David had faced the last time that he was on the planet, Skarganars is what Riccardo Charteris had called them, and they were amongst the most ferocious and dangerous animals in the galaxy. David swore loudly and Sarah looked at him, just a little shocked to hear her husband use such a word, for never before could she recollect such a thing happening. David looked around at her and seeing the look of shock on his wife's pretty face, smiled.

"Sorry about the language darling, but those two men are in one hell of a lot of trouble; those are the creatures that attacked Jimmy Fielding and me on our last visit." David said explaining his profanity to Sarah.

"David, look up there." Tony said pointing at a group of the creatures that were on the cliff two hundred feet above their friend's vehicle.

The creatures were struggling to push a large boulder over the edge and down on to the disabled vehicle below. Seconds later, they watched in agony as the rock fell straight down towards the disabled vehicle with the two men hiding inside of it, but at the last moment, the rock hit a small outcropping. Although diverted, it still hit the vehicle but instead of crushing the passenger compartment it destroyed the vehicle`s engine.

"Move it Tony, we need to get there in a hurry."

The need for haste was because David saw two other fearful things. The first was the sandstorm that was now uncomfortably close by. The other thing was fifty more of the ferocious creatures, they were being pushed this way by the sandstorm, and they had seen both vehicles. Howls went up almost at the exact instant that the hovercraft leapt forward, it was moving straight towards the disabled vehicle and the six ferocious creatures that were even now attempting to gain entry through the damaged part of the vehicle. They were too busy pulling pieces of metal away to see the speeding hovercraft, at first that is, but the howls of the pack soon alerted them to a new source of food and they leapt of the broken vehicle to rush towards the hovercraft.

"Set your energy weapons to full power, they will simply shrug anything less off." David ordered Sarah and Tony.

They did not really need to be told, for they had both heard David tell the story of his close encounter with these terrible creatures. Even full power only knocked them down for a short time, you needed to use a long burst of energy bolts to actually kill one of the creatures, something none of them wanted to do at the moment, not unless there was no other option open to them.

Their three energy weapons opened fire at almost the same moment sending three powerful bolts of energy whistling through the hot air of New Mars. The first three creatures were knocked off their feet as the powerful bolts of energy hit them. The other three creatures seeing members of the pack taken out so easily stopped their charge forward against what had seemed a timid prey, but the prey was already upon them in the speeding hovercraft and the three powerful weapons fired again at almost point-blank range taking the last of the creatures out of the way. Achmed Tarin and Palin Marinas ran from the broken vehicle, they jumped into the hovercraft as soon as Tony brought it to an abrupt stop amid a swirl of air blasted sand. Achmed sat in the seat next to Sarah and Palin sat on the back of the seat between his friend and Sarah, who greeted them by pushing an energy weapon into their hands.

"Move it Tony, take us alongside the mountain range and away from the sandstorm, and away from those fifty mightily pissed off creatures that look like they want us for their dinner." David screamed out above the noise of the wind that had risen to almost gale force in moments.

Tony quickly accelerated away from the approaching hoard of creatures; unfortunately, the sandstorm was gaining on them. The creatures charged on after them, but whether they were in pursuit of them, or it was just that the creatures were trying to seek shelter from the storm, David was not certain.

"Thank you, my friends, when that rock crashed down on us I thought that we were done for, I will never be able to repay you for the courage you showed in driving at those beasts and then saving us." Achmed declared in a very relieved voice.

"And I too add my thanks to Achmed's, now I can see why our president has made you her friend." Palin said almost sobbing in relief.

"Think nothing of it my friends; we were only too glad to help. Look you two, we need somewhere to lay up until after the sandstorm blows away. Do either of you know of any caves near here?" David asked against the roaring of the wind.

"Unfortunately, David, I think that those creatures will also be heading for any nearby caves, and I do not fancy sharing our sanctuary with them." Achmed replied sadly.

"Then we need to find some high ground away from them, one with plenty of cover to hide behind. There will be less sand the higher we are, but we will still need something to hide behind if possible, these storms pick up heavier things than sand, things that could kill if they hit you." David said as he looked back towards the approaching wall of sand. At that, moment a bolt of lightning struck the ground not far from them and made the need for haste all the plainer.

"This is going to be fun David, now I wished that I had been a dutiful wife and stayed behind." Sarah said timorously, but then she smiled and spoiled the whole effect. "However, who would have taken care of you, if I had done so." She said laughing and she reached over to squeeze David's shoulder.

They had been travelling for ten minutes, and had left the creatures far behind them, when David saw something that promised relief from the stinging sand, for they were now only twenty feet ahead of a seemingly solid wall of sand.

"We're not dead yet darling, look ahead, there is a track winding its way up the hillside. Tony head for it and see how far we can take the hovercraft before it gives up." David said joyfully.

The track in question was narrow and quite steep as it wound its way up the hill, but it seemed to go high enough to hold out some promise of relief from the storm.

The hovercraft must have feared the storm as well, for it took them up to a narrow ledge some fifty feet up, and without even the hint of stopping. At the rear of the ledge, they saw a dark cave, as they knew that the storm was all but upon them they drove the hovercraft straight into the mouth of the cave, its headlights lighting up the rear of the cave. There were plenty of signs that the Skarganars had been using the cave at one time, but now, it was empty. Thankfully, the entrance to the cave faced away from the storm so they could sit it out without too much discomfort. David and Tony quickly picked up some small pieces of wood and dead vegetation that had been blown into the cave at some time and David lit their fire using his energy weapon. Although it had been extremely hot during the day, the night would be soon upon them and the temperature was already falling sharply, but with the fire, they could stay warm. Then he gave them instructions for the coming night.

"We will need to keep watch during the night, I for one wouldn`t want any of those creatures sneaking up on us. There are five of us so we can all take a turn, ninety minutes each should bring us round to dawn tomorrow. One thing that you need to know about these creatures Achmed, Palin, they have the ability to hypnotise you, I know this because I nearly died the last time that I was here on this planet. If any of the creatures appear, first you wake the rest of us, and secondly you do not look into their eyes, you simply shoot them. Ok?" David asked to which everyone answered yes.

Tony took the first watch while the others tried to get some rest upon the hard ground, Sarah and David providing each other with some heat from each of their bodies.

***********

It was late afternoon, and Steve Ryan and the other members of the crew of the Galactic Traveller were all in the galley. Lana was in her cabin trying to get some sleep. Steve and Millicent were sitting discussing the damage to the engines that had crippled the starship. Steve looked across at Alan and asked him to verify a point.

"Alan, am I correct in saying that Lana was forced to work with the professor after Blazenby had found out about the Gateway?" Steve asked. Alan stopped what he was doing and looked across at his friend.

"Yes, we already knew all about that, why do you ask?" Alan replied.

"Because that means that Blazenby must have had another source to get his initial information from, maybe this person was also responsible for the looters that were here on New Mars."

"He did, for the Mazeren spy, Cruz Broche, told David that Blazenby had another informant working at the museum." Alan said before looking back at the book in his hands.

"And that person may have been behind the problems that Riccardo experienced today. He would also have had to have access to the freighter if the engines were sabotaged." Millicent added. The two of them had begun to wonder if the engines had in fact been sabotaged rather than faulty. It seemed a reasonable option considering the two faulty vehicles and the satellite receiver.

"It could only be Lethe then, if one of the people from the archaeological site tried to gain admittance they would surely have been noticed, in any case the risks would have been tremendous." Steve said.

"Who said anything about sabotage; it is more likely that as the engines are so old that a part just finally broke." Alan queried. He had been reading and only half of his mind had been on the conversation.

"It is just that so much has broken down here, the two vehicles, the satellite receiver and finally the ship's engines, it all seems too much of a coincidence to be anything else." Millicent replied.

"I don't think it is sabotage Millicent, more likely it is all down to poor maintenance, and the Mazerens here do not fill me with confidence. Anyway, if it were sabotage then surely it is more likely that one of the two agents were behind it all?" Alan replied.

"Well we thought that initially, but I remember seeing the two agents ensconced in the sites small rest room. Riccardo was with me, and on seeing my interest in the agents, he complained about them. It appears that they were getting in the way of his team when they wanted a break, they had been there since early morning and they had not moved an inch except to go to the toilet. Later in the early afternoon, I saw them walk around the archaeological site, but then only to look at the remains of the ancients' town, they never came back to the freighter for I was sitting at the main doorway reading, right up until the sandstorm got here. They could not have entered any other way as the other doors were all locked and bolted shut." Millicent replied.

"It may have been one of the agents, although I do not know when they may have done it, but it could also have been Lethe, where is he anyway?" Millicent asked.

"He has been assisting the professor at the archaeological site; he has been ever since we arrived." Steve replied. "At the moment he is marooned somewhere on the site along with the two agents. At least with our three suspects holed up there we do not have to worry about further acts of sabotage, if indeed it was sabotage, not while the storm is blowing. After this sandstorm lets up, I will stroll over and speak with Professor Halliard, ask him if Lethe ever left him long enough to commit the various acts of sabotage." Steve decided. "Then maybe we can talk more about it."

Alan looked up at his two friends. "Why would Lethe do it though, I mean Blazenby and his gang are all dead, I can see why the two agents might do it, especially if the good admiral has acquired more information regarding the Gateway and wants us stuck here on New Mars, but not Lethe." Alan argued.

"Maybe it was just out of revenge, if we are right about him being in league with Blazenby then he was looking forward to a piece of the action, with Blazenby dead he won't get anything." Millicent argued.

"Well if it was sabotage then we can be thankful that the saboteur knew nothing about starship engines, or it could have happened when we were about to leave the planet's atmosphere, and then we all would have died a fiery death." Alan remarked thoughtfully.

**********

It was only inches from David's throat, he watched in horror as saliva dripped from its terrible mouth, a low growl escaped from its throat as it prepared to kill him. Sarah, is Sarah still alive, this one thought ran through his mind as he felt someone shaking him. Instantly he was awake, Sarah was speaking to him.

"David, it's just a dream." He sat up as he realised that he had been having a nightmare, the others around him were still asleep. Only Sarah who had the last watch was awake. He smiled at her and then he chuckled.

"I really thought that my number was up darling."

The sun was just about to rise above the eastern horizon when David woke the others. The storm had blown itself out, and although there was a faint red tinge to the sky, it looked clear once again.

"Come on you lot, time to join the living, we need to get moving now, I want to catch a head start on those creatures before they remember seeing us away from our base." David said loudly. They all gradually stirred and as one groaned as their aches acquired from sleeping on the ground reminded them that they were not in a nice comfortable bed.

"Come on I saw a small stream not far away, we can fill up our water containers and refresh ourselves there." David said chivvying Sarah and the others.

"Oh, David, I could really do with a drink, take me to it now." Sarah pleaded with him.

David drove the hovercraft back down the track with Sarah riding shotgun and the others sitting in the back. Once back on level ground, David headed south; he hoped that in doing so they would stay well clear of the Skarganars. Although they were all armed, the creatures were both intelligent and numerous. David wondered what they ate, for he had not seen any other large life forms on the planet, but there had to be one.

After driving for ten minutes, they came to a small stream that was flowing down from the mountains that lay far behind them. David stopped here so they could all get a drink; it was cold but crystal clear. There in the wet mud by the stream were the prints of a small quadruped, the creatures' prey, it had been here earlier and left its mark. After filling up their two small water containers David tried to contact the Galactic Traveller, and luck was with them.

"David, am I glad to hear from you, are you all right, did you find Achmed and Palin?" Steve asked relieved at last to hear from his friend.

"Yes, we're fine thank you Steve. We have Achmed and Palin here with us. Their vehicle was destroyed by the creatures that we came across the last time we were here. We were forced to drive further east to escape the sandstorm, and now we are forced to head further south to avoid the creatures. We will swing west when we can and towards the ship, we should be with you in time for a late breakfast. How are you, did you lift off so as to avoid the storm?" David asked.

"No David, we did not, something is wrong with the engines, Barney say's it is mechanical. I'm afraid that Tony has some hard work waiting for him when you all return." Steve replied much happier now that he knew his friends were ok.

David now wanted even more to be back at his starship, and once there to find out just what was wrong with its engines, he thought that it was too much of a coincidence to be merely engine fatigue, just as Steve and Millicent had thought. However, all he could do was to take a deep breath and pray to whatever god lived on this god-awful planet to smooth out their journey back.

"Ok Steve, I will try to call you later to give you an update, look after what is left of my ship." With that, David signed off. His thoughts immediately went to the two government agents who were the most obvious suspects behind any act of sabotage, if that is what it was.

David knew that he needed a clear head for their journey back to the freighter, so after filling the others in about the new problems waiting for them back at the site, he dismissed the incident and they moved off. They kept moving south for another twenty minutes, then David turned west and back towards the site. The weather was still and quite cool, but then it was only thirty minutes since the sun had finally risen above the distant horizon. Ahead of them, a large dome shaped hill began to fill their view, David thought about the last time his view had been blocked by such a feature on New Mars, which had been the time when he had been attacked and almost killed by the creatures of this dying world. He smiled grimly and immediately steered towards the southwest so that he would pass by the hill with a good measure of safety, should the creatures once more be waiting to attack him.

As they began to pass by the hill, he saw once again the fierce-some creatures of this arid land. They are a pale skinned creature, about the size of a mountain gorilla, but totally bald with pink eyes, fierce-some claws and huge canine teeth. They were resting up after the terrible sandstorm, but as soon as they saw the small group of humans, the creatures let out a blood-curdling howl that almost froze the blood in their veins. Then as one, they leapt forward towards the people, their next meal, they loped along with their long pink tongue hanging from their mouths, saliva dripping from it fell to the ground.

There were at least thirty of the creatures and maybe even more were close to hand. David swung the hovercraft around sharply and accelerated away at speed, there would be no leaping across rivers this time, not with five people in the craft, the small hovercraft was simply too heavy this time around. No, this time around they would have to attempt to run away from them at speed. He knew that their five weapons could bring down a great number of the beasts, but these creatures moved so fast that to try to fight their way through them would have meant certain death. Even now, it had been a close thing, with Tony having to use his energy weapon, it sent a powerful energy bolt at the leading creature that was already preparing to leap aboard the craft and cause untold damage to its passengers.

Once more, they would have to stay away from the gullies, to take routes that were longer, for to journey along the gullies would have meant chancing the creatures throwing rocks down upon them. This had happened the last time that he had been attacked by the creatures. David feared that one of the creatures might even attempt to leap aboard and cause the vehicle to crash into the side of whatever steep sided gulley that they were using. David soon out-distanced the creatures but their flight home came to a stop when a mountain stream blocked the way. David sighed and turned the vehicle in the direction that the river was flowing, further away from the Galactic Traveller, and away from the creatures. They were now heading further to the south and looking for a point where it was shallow enough to enable them to drive across it safely. Thirty minutes went by, that took them even further away from the freighter, before they finally found a place that would allow them to cross. Here the stream was very wide and quite shallow. David drove quickly across and then turned to the North West, and towards their freighter. Twice more on the way back they had to hide while a hunting party of the Skarganars prowled by, but finally they sighted the freighter, and safety.

**********

When they drove up to the door that allowed entry into the starship there was no one there to greet them, and they were unable to drive the hovercraft inside the rear hold, for the ship was locked up tight to prevent unauthorised entry, just in case the problem with the starship's engines had been an act of sabotage. It took a minute before Alan arrived to answer David's loud knocking on the door. Steve and Millicent were not aboard the freighter, they had gone in search of Professor Halliard to tell him of the new problem, this time regarding the starship's engines, and to question him about his two assistants. Alan looked very relieved to see them after such a gruelling twenty-four hours.

"Thank god you are all back safe, was it bad out there?" Alan asked.

"Between the creatures and the sandstorm, it made life interesting Alan." David replied with a smile.

Achmed and Palin now said their farewells, and after saying thank you once again for their rescue, they went in search of Riccardo Charteris. David, Sarah and Tony now followed Alan down to engineering where Barney was waiting to help Tony repair the engines. With Tony there, the task progressed in leaps and bounds allowing Alan to tell David and Sarah about the theory that Steve and Millicent had formulated. Moments later, Steve, and Millicent returned from their detective work. After the relief of seeing their friends, alive and well, Steve reported their findings.

"According to Professor Halliard, Lana was in his sight for the whole of yesterday, which is right up to the time of the sandstorm when she returned to the freighter and helped us to fit the tarpaulins over the engine ports. She was either standing next to him, taking down notes, or was on an errand for him, but never out of his sight." Steve looked across at Alan and smiled when he saw the relief plain on his face.

"Now we come to Lethe, he asked the professor if he could work with Riccardo, and the professor agreed, for this site is still turning up surprises, for example the data discs, and he did not want to stifle Lethe's obvious excitement to work here." Steve then looked across at Millicent who after receiving a nod from Steve carried on with their tale.

"We then went to speak to Riccardo and he told us that Lethe did not come with an offer to help out until quite late in the morning. Time enough to allow Lethe to sabotage the satellite receiver prior to Riccardo telling you of the fault, and then asking if you could help him to rescue his two men. He also had time enough to sabotage the ship after you had left on your rescue mission, and before I sat down outside to read in the warm sun." Millicent said with a satisfied look on her young face. David looked across at Sarah who had looked grim, as their two friends had told their tale, but never the less, Sarah was a person who believed in justice for all.

"David, we can hardly beat up Lethe on assumptions alone, unless we can come up with something more solid than unproven theories we must give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until Tony finds out what is wrong with the engines." Sarah stated firmly.

"You are correct Sarah, how is it going Tony?" David asked their engineer who had just found the fault.

"It wasn't sabotage; it was a faulty capacitor that is part of a highly sophisticated piece of equipment that sends the ship's power to the two engines. The fault was due to extreme old age; fortunately, we can make a new one with our 3D printer which is incidentally also extremely old." Tony said feeling and looking rather tired. Steve and Millicent looked very guilty, but David said something to improve their spirits.

"Look you two super sleuths, your theory regarding Lethe being behind our initial troubles might well be correct, I will go and speak to Armond about it while you two use the 3D printer, Tony if you can give our two sleuths the data they will need, you can go wash up and then have a rest." David and Sarah then went in search of their friend.

"David, Sarah, I heard that you were both back. I have seen Achmed and he told me everything, I was just about to come and find you. Come sit down and have a drink."

David smiled at his friend and sat down next to the professor, and then he and Sarah had an ice-cold Kakao while they spoke to him again of Steve and Millicent's suspicions regarding Lethe.

"Lethe, another of Blazenby's spies, well it makes sense my friends, he was working late at the museum while I was looking through the clues that I found on the data disc." Professor Halliard thought the matter over for a moment before speaking again.

"Ok you two, I will think more about the matter and let you know, there is no rush to decide what to do about Lethe." Professor Halliard said dejectedly. It was later in the day that he approached them again about the matter.

"David, Sarah, I have asked Lethe if he would like to stay on Canopus, as he once said that he wanted to spend more time in the field, anyway he jumped at the chance to stay behind. I told him that we are returning to Mazere briefly to collect some parts for the ship, and to allow me to speak to President Stator. I then led him to believe that we are due to head for a planet in orbit around the star Pollux."

"Pollux, Armond, why there?" David asked just a little baffled at the choice, as was Sarah.

"You two must be tired, it is just a ploy to mislead Lethe, if he was indeed another spy, it is nothing more, and it is just in case he is now in league with your friend the admiral." Professor Halliard said laughing at his friends but only for a moment.

"David, I still do not like this subterfuge, it seems so underhand to do such a thing, but then events have ensured that we have been working that way ever since our quest began." Professor Halliard said sadly.

Lethe had been stunned when Professor Halliard had spoken to him earlier, and baffled when told of the next planet on the itinerary. However, he thought that this might be another lie. He knew what was really behind the invitation to forego the rest of the trip; he was not trusted by Captain Charlton.

**********

The next morning, the Galactic Traveller lifted off from New Mars, or Canopus depending on who you were, and headed off towards Mystras, or Altaraus if you were part of this quest.

Millicent was sitting in the galley with Professor Halliard, and they were talking about the many planets that had been touched by the ancients, but then she asked the professor a question that stopped him dead.

"Armond, you told me that the ancients died out as a result of a plague, tell me, are you sure that the plague has died out, we're not going to catch some nasty disease when we enter the Gateway?" Professor Halliard looked at her for quite a while as he thought about what she had said to him. Finally, he answered her question.

"No, Millicent, we will be quite safe, with the ancients all dead the disease would not have anything left to live on, and it too would die, surely, after 10,000 years?" Professor Halliard answered. However, he was still a little bothered by her question, and his concerned increased as she continued to question him about the subject.

"Professor are you sure that all of the people on Mystras did die, couldn`t there be a pocket of them left in the northern forest that is our destination. A small pocket of survivors who had returned to a Stone Age civilisation ten thousand years ago, and are still living in it. They could dwell within the forest completely unknown to the few colonists living on Mystras. If so, then not only could they be a danger to us, infection wise, but also, we could be a danger to them. Have you included all the necessary antibiotics in one of those crates in the hold, just in case we need them?" Millicent asked.

"No, Millicent, I did not, do you think that maybe I should have? The planet has never been properly surveyed, not even by the small team of archaeologists, but of course, they were working much further south than the Alaina mountain range. In fact, that is one of the things that the colonists on Mystras were asked to do prior to full colonisation." Professor Halliard asked shakily.

"It might be better to travel to Mystras properly prepared, just in case we do run into any survivors." Millicent replied.

"Oh dear, I suppose you are right. I will ask David to stop off at Mazere to collect the necessary medicines, antibiotics and medical equipment, just in case we find survivors hidden with the jungle." Professor Halliard said and standing up he walked up to the bridge to tell David of this new development.

"So, after all our travels we first have to head back to Mazere, Armond?" David could hardly keep himself from laughing, Alan and Sarah did not bother to try.

"I will write a message asking for all of the necessary supplies, and maybe we should include a research doctor amongst our team. David could you perhaps send the message to the Mazeren medical council, mark it for the attention of Doctor Trask. I know him well, he is a good man, if I ask him to expedite matters for us, and to have what we need waiting for us when we arrive, he will do it." Professor Halliard promised.

"You are paying for the petrol Armond, I`m only the chauffeur, Mazere it is. At least Alan will be happy, he can spend some time with his wife. Sarah, why don't you go ask Alan if he would like to send a message home to Katrina telling her that he is getting a night off."

Lana was in a daze, first she was told that they were headed to a planet orbiting the star Mystras and not home to Mazere, now they were heading for Mazere to pick up more supplies and even a doctor, but she did not complain. She thought about Ricoh Lethe being left behind on Canopus, and after a moment's thought, she realised that while she was now trusted, maybe Lethe was not.

They touched down on Mazere five days later, and waiting there in the cool morning air were the supplies that they requested. In addition, there was Doctor Augustus Malin of the Mazeren institute for alien diseases and medicines. There were also a great deal of boxes and crates for the colonists on Mystras, which the colonial department of Mazere had sent along to make use of their trip. The doctor was a good-natured man some fifty years old, and he was eager to hear more of their quest to the unexplored north of the colony world Mystras.

**********

They lifted off the next day, after Alan had said his good byes to his wife Katrina and their children again, this time the freighter headed directly for Mystras and the land of the Altarauns.

When they were within hours of Mystras, they told Doctor Malin and Lana something of their search. They told them that Professor Halliard had found a lead while researching the civilisation of the ancients, and that it mentioned a portal known as the Gateway of Tomorrow, of a cavern of some kind known as the Depths of Despair and finally of a Bridge of Sorrows. They also showed them the other leads that they had found since starting the quest. The Triangle of Altaraus, the fact that the ancient civilisation was wiped out by a plague, and finally they showed them a picture of the fresco, found on Phlox. The resulting discussions kept everyone busy as the large freighter sped nearer to the planet Mystras.

"Did your research mention the possibility of meeting people living in the forest Professor, is that why you invited me along?" Doctor Malin enquired.

"No, it was Millicent who said that we should include a doctor in our company, just in case we do meet survivors of the ancient plague. You are here to safeguard the two peoples from one another."

Steve Ryan once again noted the anomaly on the scanners and mentioned the fact to David.

"Well if it is Admiral Stator, and he has unwelcome designs on the Gateway, then we can do nothing to stop him following us. However, we may be able to search for the Gateway in secret once we get to Mystras. I'm open to suggestions Steve." David said shrugging his shoulders and looking at the others who were on the bridge at that time. Unfortunately, no one else had any ideas to offer at the time.

Chapter Eight

The Gateway of Tomorrow

The green and blue planet of Mystras with its white clouds reminded those aboard the Galactic Traveller of their home worlds. They landed two hundred feet away from the homesteads that housed the people of the new colony. Here they delivered the much-needed supplies and were able to pass on the latest news to the colonists who were happy to have some guests, even if they were soon to travel to the north of their beautiful world. Doctor Malin spoke with the colony doctor about the health of his people, while Professor Halliard spoke to the colonists about his hope to find another town of the ancients.

They did not immediately visit the archaeological site where the first data discs were found; instead, they stayed with the colonists for the rest of the day. The next morning, they made a flying visit to the site to deliver some supplies. The stopover was very short, for after just a brief visit where they left some much needed supplies, they said goodbye and left for the massive northern forest, one that almost encircled almost the entire northern hemisphere of the planet. Thankfully, they had some idea as to where to begin their search for the first of the places mentioned on the data disc. They had seen the Arrow of Ramada in the fresco on Phlox, and Professor Halliard had downloaded the photograph taken by Malik Deland.

The Galactic Traveller moved quickly across the vast forest until the vast snow-capped Alaina mountain range appeared on the horizon before them. Using the photograph, they easily triangulated the position of the monolith named the Arrow of Ramada and headed across to it. They found the massive monolith easily enough, for it was four miles long and a quarter of a mile wide and in the shape of a gigantic arrow that stood half a mile high. The area around it was completely covered by enormous trees that hid the ground three hundred feet below their expansive leafy expanse. The Galactic traveller moved forward, travelling in the direction that the giant arrow pointed. Slowly they moved ever nearer to the Alaina mountains, Steve was sitting at the sensor control unit studying every inch of the surface, as the starship moved ever forward. Sarah and Millicent were studying the large view screen set behind Steve, who preferred to use the small monitor built into the console. The view screen showed the ground directly beneath the starship. Alan was at the helm, David was standing to one side of him, and they were looking through the forward window at the green view about them. Professor Halliard, Lana and Doctor Malin were all standing at the rear of the bridge, and they too were looking through the forward window.

"When we find the place named the Depths of Despair, we will need to find somewhere to put the ship down Alan, although at the moment that seems to be a forlorn hope." David noted.

"I would imagine that we will have to wait until we are closer to the mountain range before we find room enough to put something as big as the Galactic Traveller down" Alan replied.

"I think that we will find that the Gateway will be situated nearer to the mountains anyway, David." Professor Halliard said from the rear of the bridge.

***********

High above them, in orbit around the beautiful planet of Mystras, the starship Sentinel kept a close watch upon the Galactic Traveller as is moved slowly north towards the Alaina mountain range. Admiral Stator had watched them leave the archaeological site on this planet, and had wondered why they had they only spent such a short time there. Now they were flying over the vast northern forest, he assumed they were seeking the Arrow of Ramada. Did their research on one of the other planets, Phlox and Canopus, give them a clue as to its exact location? They appeared to know just where to start the search, for otherwise they would have started the search at one end of the forest and slowly moved across. A slow and laborious task but unavoidable. At least they were totally unaware of his interest in the matter.

**********

"Someone or something is into our computers David, and whoever it is, they are not aboard our ship." Steve Ryan called across to David.

"I can confirm that Captain, they have scanned my memory circuits and there is nothing that I can do to stop them." Barney said from the rear of the bridge where he had been busy scanning his circuits to ensure that he was in perfect working order.

"Surely, Steve that isn't possible, neither Earth or Mazere has that capability." David queried.

"They don't David, if I had to make a wild guess I would say only the ancients had that sort of technology." Steve replied. He did not know whether to feel scared or elated, however, he knew that time would make this decision for him.

"It must be in response to our own sensors, maybe they just want to ensure that our intentions are honourable." Sarah said and she was feeling elated, as was Professor Halliard.

"You are correct Sarah, our search is nearly over, and the entrance to the Gateway must be very near to us." Professor Halliard stated confidently.

"You are correct Armond; I think that I have found it. Our sensors indicate that an opening to a large cavern is two miles ahead of us." Steve called across excitedly.

"Slow ahead Alan, bring our speed down to crawl speed, we need to feel our way from here on in. Steve, tell Alan the exact moment when we are directly above the entrance, Alan stop the moment that Steve gives you the word." David ordered in his normal calm voice.

His calmness made Sarah look across at him in wonder, for she was almost at the point of exploding. David now moved across to Steve and looked at what their scanners were telling them about the cave system. They appeared to be large and quite extensive.

The Galactic Traveller moved slowly ahead until Steve saw that they would be in position above the entrance in just a matter of seconds.

"Alan prepare to come to a dead stop in ten seconds time." Moments later and Steve began to count down. "Five four three two one stop." Silence came to the bridge as everyone held their breath in anticipation for something to happen, which it did.

A Pulse came up from the planet's surface and vibrated on the bridge of the freighter; it held them in its spell for ten seconds and then stopped.

"Oh my god everyone, they just called out a welcome to us." Millicent announced to the others. "We are welcome, all we need to do is to find somewhere to land and then come back to this spot to find the Gateway is open to us." If Millicent was thrilled then so was everyone us, but David brought them all back to earth with a bang.

"Slow ahead Alan, we don't want the Admiral to think that we have found anything." David said with a calmness that he did not feel.

"Steve scan the area between here and the mountains, I want to know if it will be possible to take the hovercraft with us. It will be easier on Armond and the doctor if they can ride up front, and we can load our provisions in the back." Steve nodded and began to program the scanners to survey the ground around their flight path.

David felt that the two older men might find the going a bit tough, for neither looked particularly fit. When Steve had set the scanner up, David then asked his two boffins a question that had been bothering him ever since they had felt the energy pulse.

"Steve, Sarah, I really didn't expect to find that the Gateway still had power, or that it would be able to recognise, or greet a visitor. Do either of you have any thoughts on the matter?" David asked the two brilliant minds of the group, they looked quickly at one another for a moment before Sarah offered her suggestion first; her voice was full of the excitement that everyone was feeling.

"David, an off the cuff answer is never easy, and it will not necessarily be right considering the amount of knowledge that we possess on the subject. However, at a guess I would say that there is a computer down there controlling access through the Gateway, the power could be geothermal power taken from the planet itself, and with a team of maintenance robots to keep it working." Sarah looked as excited as Millicent over the unexpected greeting, and she now looked across at Steve Ryan, eager to hear what he had to say on the matter.

"I agree Sarah; the computer though will not be there just to greet some new house guests, its main duty will be as guardian of the treasure, to what end we will have to wait until we know a lot more." Steve said knowing that his answer will not have helped David to formulate a plan of campaign.

"Well as long as the guardian isn't some fire breathing dragon, for they are the usual guardians of treasure troves." David said only partly in jest, he then looked across at Armond.

"Armond is there anything that you can add?" David asked his friend who he could see was bubbling away with excitement.

"No, David, I'm not used to archaeological finds greeting me, they have normally been dead for far too long, isn't it exciting?" He exclaimed joyfully. "Oh, and I do not think that you will have to worry about dragons, David, maybe energy weapons though." David smiled at Professor Halliard before turning to Alan Lee.

"Alan, continue travelling as far as the mountain range. It should be dark then so we can set down a landing party. Tomorrow morning you can move the ship over ten miles and then take her back down over the forest as if we are still searching for some lost city." David then turned back to Professor Halliard.

"Armond, how cool does it get at night down there?" David was worried that they might freeze.

"We should be all right during the day; in fact, it will be a nice walking temperature. However, if we are caught outside during the night then we will need something to keep the cold out, it could drop to as low as 11 degrees centigrade. We will need to build a fire in any case to deter any local carnivores from approaching our camp." Professor Halliard said enthusiastically.

"Well the party will need something warm to wear to keep out the cold and damp of our trip into the Depths of Despair, for from our scan it seems to mean a large cave system. We will all be issued with an energy weapon just in case Mystras has the equivalent of the wolf of Earth, we do not want to be attacked by a pack of those without any sort of defence." David advised.

"Who is to go on the landing party David?" Millicent almost screamed at him in excitement.

"Well as you are so cool and calm, you can accompany it Millicent." David replied to everyone`s amusement, but Millicent didn't mind the gentle ribbing, not if she was going.

"Ok everyone this is my list of people for the landing party. Armond of course, myself, Sarah, Steve, Millicent, our good doctor had better join us just in case Millicent is correct in her fears, and last of all you Lana, Lana you can document this entire trip into the unknown, that is if you want to join us, it could be dangerous?" David asked Lana who had thought that she might explode, as she waited to hear if she too was joining the landing party.

"Yes Captain, I will be very happy to document the trip, and as for danger, that for danger." Lana said in a voice that even she did not recognise as her own, as she snapped her fingers to show that she was not afraid to face any danger that they might meet. David laughed and then he turned to speak to Alan Lee.

"I'm sorry Alan, but you, Tony and Barney must stay aboard to act out the charade that there is nothing here in the forest but trees. Keep listening for us, when we say the word Excalibur, this will be the call for you to return to the drop off point, but you are to only arrive there as the sun sets." David instructed his friend who nodded to show that he understood his orders.

David knew that his friend was disappointed to be staying behind, but what choice was there with the space cruiser Sentinel, hanging in space above their heads.

The Galactic Traveller was fifteen miles away from the mountains just as darkness fell upon the land, but not before Alan had found a place large enough and hard enough to enable them to land safely. They spent a quiet night preparing for the coming twenty-mile trek back to the Gateway. The starship was sitting in a meadow surrounded by coniferous trees of various types, and that were standing tall enough to dwarf the freighter, a perfect site for what they planned to do in the morning. When morning finally came, it found everyone ready for their trip.

"Where is the Sentinel, Steve?" David asked as the sun showed signs of rising above the mighty mountains before them.

"She is still there but they are in a poor position, if we exit via the door to the front hold our life signs should be hidden from them by the trees. Once within the forest we will be able to blend in with the normal life signs that should abound here."

Thirty minutes later and the sun had finally risen, and Alan Lee was preparing to lift off, the bridge was very lonely now except for Barney, for his friends were hiking back through the forest in search of the Gateway. That and whatever had greeted their arrival.

**********

Admiral Stator watched as the Galactic Traveller moved on its way, why had it stopped yesterday for just a few minutes, and why had it not carried on its search during the hours of darkness. Did they simply stop for those few minutes to check some anomaly; his ship's sensors had registered a power surge at the same time, had there been a malfunction on the old freighter. The stopover could have been to repair the malfunction, or was it simply because they were not in a rush. This way they could rest their entire party and in doing so be ready for whatever was thrown against them during their search today. Admiral Stator had to control the urge to throw something, anything as his frustration grew at being forced to wait on others, and others who he was sure had finally arrived at the planet that housed the Gateway. He smiled why else come to this great northern forest and search this area so methodically.

**********

Steve had found a narrow track that meandered through the forest; it was wide enough to allow them to take the hovercraft along to make the trek so much easier. Professor Halliard and Doctor Malin were riding in the hovercraft with all of the landing party's gear stowed behind them. David and Sarah initially led the way followed by the hovercraft, then came Millicent, Lana and finally Steve Ryan. They entered the dark forest just as the sun rose over the far mountains; it would take all day to travel back to the site of the energy pulse. If Lana or Millicent began to tire then they could take a turn in the hovercraft. David and the other members of the crew would have to walk all the way. Although they were not used to walking for such a long distance, they did get some exercise every day in a part of the forward hold fitted out as a small gymnasium. This had been done at Sarah's insistence, who wanted them all to stay healthy, even while cooped up in their metal world travelling between the stars.

David was using one of Steve's tablets to guide them to the site of the energy pulse, although he was forced to make a meandering course as they followed small tracks probably made by whatever large animals inhabited the forest. After an hour of travelling through the forest, he called a break; he needed a break, as did the others who were walking. He chose a small glade to rest up in and sank to the ground. It was dry, luckily, it was summer here in the world of the tall trees, and so the going was easier than forcing their way through the thick snow that lay on the ground during the planet's northern winter.

"David, Doctor Malin and I think that we ought to walk for the next hour, so that two of the others can rest up, it will be fairer this way and not exhaust everyone." Professor Halliard declared.

"Thank you Armond, the rest of us can have a twenty-minute ride on the hovercraft." In effect, Professor Halliard and Doctor Malin ensured that they only rode for a part of each hour, giving everyone a much easier trek.

The going was much easier now with everyone getting some rest during the trek into the boreal forest, at times they had to use their energy weapons to clear a fallen conifer from their path but the going was not overly difficult. When they came to a stream, they were thankful that Steve had scanned the whole length of their trek through the forest, for his tablet showed them the best place to cross it. Thankfully, it was not in full flood as mid-summer had already been and gone and autumn would soon be approaching.

They were approaching the area where they expected to find the Gateway, and had entered a dark narrow gorge with its walls climbing up towards the skies, when they saw ahead of them a small group of men; they appeared to be a small hunting party out of the Bronze Age, according to Professor Halliard. They also appeared to be friendly and made no indication that they were about to attack them. The leader of the group came forward and spoke to them in a language that seemed vaguely familiar to David but somehow, he could not understand it. Professor Halliard was a better than average linguist and he realised that the people were speaking in Mazeren, but it had been altered over the millennia by the natives.

"We are on a peaceful mission, we seek the Gateway of Tomorrow, it sent out an invitation to us and so we are here." Professor Halliard said slowly. He hoped that the natives were familiar with the Gateway, otherwise he would have to explain about the cave system, and then hope to persuade the native to allow them to pass in peace, and at least the native appeared to understand him.

"You seek the god of the cavern; only those who are very brave or extremely foolish would dare to brave the danger that lies within the cave. Enter, if you wish to speak with the god, but heed my warning. Who amongst you is your leader, for I would like to know whether he is a fool or a hero?" The native leader had spoken in a loud voice so that all around could hear his words of warning. David by now was following the conversation, if only just, but he had understood what the native had said to his friend.

"I am the leader, and I am no fool." David spoke also in a loud voice that seemed to echo around the forest.

"Follow me stranger and I will prepare you to meet our god, your friends must wait here." The native spoke almost religiously, but then they were about to meet his god.

Sarah stepped forward, worry clearly showing upon her face. "David are you sure that you will be safe, we can use our energy weapons and be gone before they awaken?" Sarah offered.

"No, we could not, first we will try the diplomatic way, we were quite good on Phlox and they had a reason to distrust our words. If they try anything then I can still use my energy weapon." David said smiling at his wife, he kissed her briefly and then followed the native.

The others of the quest moved up to Sarah to assure her that her husband was well able to look after himself. Of course, Sarah knew this, what she did not know is whether they could trust these people to act honourably?

The native led him down a narrow trail that stopped before a cliff face. He then had to climb down a narrow crack in the solid walls of the gorge. Soon he was climbing down a vertical rock face, he was not an experienced climber, but to back out now would make him look a coward before the native leader. That might mean having to fight to gain access to the cave system. There was another reason to take into account; it was that they would also have to pass through the native's land when they made to leave at the end of their quest.

They finally reached the bottom of the cliff, and David saw a circular hut before him, it was into the hut that the native led him. The opening was quite small and he had to duck down to enter through its narrow portal. Within the hut were a circle of seats carved into the rock that protruded up from the stone floor, both the seats and the floor had been swept clean of earth and polished, the place was spotlessly clean.

The native leader sat on one of the rock seats and indicated that David should sit opposite him. Unnoticed by David an extremely ancient native had entered behind him and shut the door, this man now began to lay a fire between the two men. The old man then pulled out of an old but beautifully decorated bag that hung around his neck, some thin pieces of wood, and these he lay in the fire. He then sat down in one of the empty stone seats and began to sing in a voice that seemed remarkably like a priest from far away Earth. A red smoke immediately began to pour from the fire, the smoke rising up to the ceiling in its desperate attempt to find an exit by slipping through the straw roof.

The sound of the old man singing, and the intoxicating smoke, began to make David feel woozy, and although he fought it, he soon slipped into a dream-filled sleep. He found himself in a large cavern and before him; he saw an enormous dragon. David was dumbstruck, a dragon? He noticed a wisp of smoke lazily curling up towards the ceiling; it came from the creature's mouth. The dragon slowly turned its head towards him and on seeing him it roared, the ear-splitting sound of it crashing into David making him cover his ears. Behind the dragon, he saw his friends screaming for his help but the words did not reach him, the only words he heard were coming from the native leader.

"Come my friend escape to safety, you cannot save them, think of yourself." The native called urgently.

David turned away from the native as the dragon began to move towards him, David`s answer to this was to rush forward to try and run beneath the creature's body, it was raised up off the floor of the cavern by its enormous feet and legs. The dragon roared its anger at him and attempted to swat him as he neared, but David made use of a Jiu Jitsu move and threw his body forward in a roll that carried him beneath the creature. He now rushed for the safety of the small chamber where his friends cowered in fear. David was also scared, but he had never seen his friends cower, and never had he seen them look quite as frightened as they appeared to be.

"Sarah, Steve, all of you pull yourselves together, we can get out of here but you must be ready to move when I give the word." He demanded of his unusually timid wife and friends. David was unsure as to how this situation had happened, where had the dragon come from, was this the danger the native had spoken of, was the dragon the guardian of the treasure? All of these questions flew through his head as he turned to look once more at the ferocious beast.

The dragon turned and bellowed noisily and then it blew a massive ball of fire at them, his friends being further back were safe but he was singed by the tail end of it, and he swore as the wave of pain hit him.

"David are you hurt, come further into the tunnel." A distraught Sarah cried in fear.

David ignored her call and turned to face the huge beast that threatened all of their lives. From nearby, the native called to him.

"Come my friend run to me, leave the others for there is still enough time for you to escape the dragon, come, leave them." The native leader bid him.

David ignored the native as he tried to remember something important, something that kept eluding his mind. Behind his friends he saw a rock chimney that climbed towards the sky, He rushed across to look at this escape route but on seeing it, he knew that escape that way was impossible, for Professor Halliard and the doctor would never be able to make it.

"Steve, take Sarah and Millicent with you, you should be able to escape that way and get help, I'll stay here with the others to keep them safe.

Steve looked up the chimney and trembled. "No, not that way David, it is far too dangerous." He cried out fearfully. Sarah and Millicent cringed away from the chimney in fear; they too would not dare to try this route to safety.

David could not understand what was happening; his wife and friends were not cowards, what was happening here? David's hand fell down by his side, automatically seeking and finding his energy weapon, his mind immediately cleared, his energy weapon why hadn't he thought of it before, why hadn`t the others used their weapons? He pulled his energy weapon out and fired directly at the dragon, it was set at a lower setting so it should only stun the creature. The energy bolt struck the creature squarely on its massive breast and David gasped, for the dragon was unharmed, he simply shrugged it off, and the dragon even seemed to be smiling at him. David cranked the power setting up to its fullest extent and fired another prolonged burst of energy at the enormous beast, but again with no effect either, it seemed impervious to the most powerful hand weapon devised by man. The dragon roared angrily and moved towards David, he was desperate to find a weapon to use against the creature. The dragon lowered its massive head and looked at the puny humans hiding from it within the small chamber. It opened its massive mouth and seemed to smile at him; he knew that death was only seconds away; soon the dragon would send a ball of fire into the chamber that would consume them all in a painful death. David watched as the dragon inhaled, death was only a moment away. Above the creature David saw a long thin stalactite hanging from the ceiling of the enormous cave, he fired at the point where the stalactite touched the ceiling, far above them, he watched as the long thin limestone spear fell down towards the fierce creature. The dragon still had not let loose with the threatened fire ball, instead it looked up to see what David was looking at, but too late for the stalactite struck the dragon on its head and David sighed with relief as the dragon fell to the floor of the cave. Whether it was dead or merely stunned he did not know. All he knew was that they could now escape. Moments later and he was back inside the native hut with the two natives.

"Well, stranger, do you still want to proceed into the cave, or will you return back to your own land and leave the danger that you will find there untouched?" The native leader asked.

"We will proceed into the cave, if there is danger within then we will seek to overcome it, but we must complete our quest, for others also seek the Gateway, and they will use what they find to help them conquer other far away worlds." David replied.

"Then continue on stranger, but once within the god's domain, be on your guard." The native said quietly.

He found his friends waiting for him outside of the hut, they had journeyed down to the hut via a much easier route, the hovercraft was parked to one side of the large rock face and his friends were unloading it.

Sarah rushed across to him to check that he was OK, his friends following behind her. He reassured them that he had only been taken on a magical mystery tour; he had been in no danger.

"Your clothes David, they are scorched, are you well, tell me now what happened." Sarah demanded to know.

David looked at his scorched clothes in surprise; surely, his adventure had been but a dream. "I am fine Sarah; I did not get burnt at all, I do not know how my clothes were scorched." David saw the old man walking away. "Unless!" Had the old man been responsible in some way, but David dismissed his thoughts on the matter as absurd. He then related everything that had occurred during the time that he had spent away; he also said that as far as he had known he had never left the hut. Sarah looked hard at him but finally she was satisfied that he was well, if a little scorched. Happy to be together again, they picked up their supplies, this consisted of; food and water, enough for three days, two large coils of rope in case the bridge was down after ten thousand years, their bedding as they might have to spend the night within the cave system and of course some torches to light the way. They then proceeded into the cave's enormous mouth.

**********

Admiral Stator sat in the command chair upon the bridge of his powerful space cruiser, he was thinking over the events of the last two days. Even he knew that the Arrow of Ramada pointed directly to the Gateway of Tomorrow, why was Captain Charlton wasting time looking ten miles away from this line. He came to a decision, the freighter was simply decoying him away from the Gateway, Captain Charlton knew that he was here and had left the ship during the time that the freighter had rested on the ground.

"Commander Zior, take us down through the atmosphere please, take us to the place where the energy anomaly occurred yesterday." Admiral Stator ordered.

The space cruiser slowly descended through the atmosphere of Mystras and soon they were stationary above the cave system that led down to the Gateway

"Please scan the ground around us Commander." Admiral Stator requested of his first officer.

The powerful sensors scanned the area beneath them and within a minute, the Gateway responded in kind, as a powerful scanner swept over the space cruiser. Commander Zior called out in alarm.

"Admiral, something has scanned our computers and is now scanning our defensive and offensive capabilities." Commander Zior did not show the fear that was affecting him; the admiral would have transferred him had he thought his first officer scared so easily.

"Obviously this is what we registered yesterday on the freighter, we appear to have found the Gateway, we now need to land Commander, use our energy weapons to clear an area large enough for the Sentinel.

**********

One hour previously, David and his friends had walked forward into the cave, and Steve had soon discovered in which direction they had to proceed.

"Over this way David, although it is strewn with rubble from a rock fall, a track is still visible." Steve called across to his friend. Steve, with Millicent following close behind him, moved off, they were following a faint trail that began to descend into the enormous cave system discovered by the scanners on board the freighter; the others soon followed their lead.

The way led further and further down into the depths of the planet. On the roof of the cave a colony of birds roosted, their droppings inches thick on the floor below. Lana let out a scream for there were a small number of insects feeding off the droppings.

"Sorry everyone, I just do not like creepy crawly things, especially when I only have my normal shoes on." The others laughed, but all of them greed, albeit if it was only to themselves.

The path led down into the depths of the planet, now the only light was that given out by their powerful torches. The trail narrowed until they entered into a narrow tunnel that stretched far beneath the planet. After a long walk, they emerged from the tunnel in a vast chamber that seemed to stretch forever before them. To one side of them the ground fell away some hundred feet to a hard rocky floor and at times, the way was narrow where parts of the path had slipped down.

"Take care everyone." David called out. "We do not want anyone to hurt themselves; walk slowly and only put your feet where you can see solid ground." They walked on down, now taking care as they stepped, but they were in high spirits for they knew that their quest must be nearing its end. Their way now was descending still further, and none of them looked forward to the return journey up hill.

"If we are not already in it then we must be nearing the Depths of Despair." Professor Halliard said to David and Sarah facetiously, they were walking beside him and smiled at his weird humour.

"Soon, anyway Armond, parts of the way show the signs of being improved by man, probably so that they would have room to transport whatever they have hidden away." Sarah ventured.

Their way now left the huge chamber and they were back inside another long tunnel, but this finally ended when they entered into yet another vast chamber, and like the last one the beams of their torches soon disappeared into the inky darkness, unless that is they were focused firmly on the way directly ahead of them. The first thing they saw that was not made by nature was a large plastic information sign; it looked so very out of place down here within the depths of the planet. Upon it were the remains of writing, but it had faded badly and the sign itself leant to one side, however the sign was made out of some sort of strong rigid plastic, and this was still intact. Lana let out a moan and when the others looked further ahead of them they saw what was causing her distress, it was the remains of what they assumed to be the Bridge of Sorrows. The centre span had collapsed during an earth tremor that had brought part of the ceiling down, and it could be seen far below them.

"It appears that we will need the rope, lucky we brought it along David." Sarah said softly. "Unfortunately, it means that we will be delayed, thereby giving the admiral more time to realise that he has been tricked and allow him to chase after us." She smiled glumly at David who returned her smile.

"Well he is not here yet Sarah, and until he is I for one will not worry about him." With this, he took Sarah's hand and they went up to join Steve and Millicent who were looking for an easier place to cross, other than the fallen bridge. In front of them, a deep gorge barred their way, one that went down several hundred feet.

"Well everyone, this is certainly our Depths of Despair, and that must surely be part of our Bridge of Sorrows down there." Millicent lamented.

"There is only about a six foot gap in the bridge, we should be able to fashion a makeshift span to get us across." David said optimistically as he looked back at the ancient plastic sign. We could use the sign, it certainly looks strong enough, if we cut it up and use three layers of it to form the walkway it should support us." David walked back to the sign and grabbed a hold of it to assess its latent strength.

After thinking things through for a minute David told Sarah and Millicent of the idea that was forming in his head. He told them what he needed and asked if they could take care of it while he sorted out the next part of his plan. They agreed and immediately began by cutting the large sign into three slices, each one measuring eight feet by two feet; they used their energy weapons as oxy acetylene torches. They then stacked the three slices on top of each other and used their energy weapons to bore two holes into each end of their prefabricated planks. Using short lengths of rope, they threaded them through the four holes, two at each end, and secured them. With this done, they asked Doctor Malin and Lana to help them to carry the new bridge to the divide.

David and Steve took the remainder of the rope and cut it into five lengths, four of the same size to be used on the bridge with one piece spare. They took them to the remains of the bridge and fashioned lassoes out of two of the lengths. David intended to lasso a part of a damaged upright on the other side of the bridge and then shimmy across hand by hand. He had regularly done such a thing before as part of his training routine; however, there had never been a drop of several hundred feet beneath him when he had done such a thing. Steve soon had a lasso formed and after just three attempts succeeded in roping the jagged piece of metal that had one time helped to support the broken bridge, he then lashed the other end of the rope to a similar piece of metal on this side of the gap.

Sarah and Millicent now came forward to watch the next part of the operation, with them was Professor Halliard, seeing the potential dangers for David, he was almost wishing that he had never found the data discs. Lana watched anxiously, her hand in her mouth as she watched David climb up onto the rope and begin to shimmy across. Silence filled the massive chamber as he moved away from the safety of the solid ground and slowly moved across the gap, one hand at a time. David was almost at the other side when the rope on this side slipped as his weight dragged on it, the sudden movement knocked him loose and he fell. Sarah screamed out in terror as she watched him fall and Lana nearly fainted from the shock.

**********

The Sentinel hovered some six hundred feet above the natives, who screamed in panic and fled, for they thought that the god of the cave had appeared. Just then the energy weapons of the Sentinel opened fire and even within the confines of the cave the noise of the powerful energy bolts could be heard as they whistled angrily down to explode amongst the trees of the northern Forest, unfortunately the minds of those deep beneath the earth were occupied elsewhere.

The Sentinel slowly settled on the ground and a dozen marines poured out through its doors to take up sentry duty, but there were not any natives nearby, for they had fled to safety. Only the hovercraft was in view and it told a story to anyone who knew what its presence signified. Admiral Stator then left the space cruiser with an armed guard of twenty crewmen; women had still not made their presence felt on his ship. He immediately marched across to the gaping mouth of the cave and entered. A muffled scream came from somewhere; he smiled, for Captain Charlton appeared to be having trouble. He soon found the trail left by the crew of the freighter and set off after them.

**********

David did not have the time to be scared, his hands scrambled to catch hold of something to stop his fall. After falling ten feet down he saw that he was heading for a ledge another twenty feet below him, when he hit it the air was blasted from his lungs, then he began to slide off the ledge that sloped down sharply to the floor hundreds of feet below him. His legs were already over the side before he managed to reach out frantically with his right arm in an attempt halt his progress to certain death. His hand had grabbed hold of a piece of the rock that protruded up enough to allow his hand to grasp it, as he did so he felt his shoulder wrench and gritted his teeth in pain, somehow, he managed to overcome the pain and stop his slide to certain death. He lay there trying to get his breath back and he thanked his personal god for once again saving his life. He pulled himself further up the narrow ledge, glad that nothing had been broken by the fall, but he knew that his body would be a mass of bruises soon, and his shoulder was already hurting.

Sarah could not believe it when she saw David lying on the narrow ledge thirty feet below her, she almost fainted with the sheer relief of it, recovering a little she called down to him in joy.

"David, are you ok, did you break anything?" She sobbed out the last words, but managed to smile when David waved to her.

"No darling I am fine." He then adding a silent proviso, at least I hope I am.

"Wait there David, I will be with you in a minute." Steve cried down to him. Millicent felt her heart leap into her mouth when she saw her husband begin to shimmy slowly across the same piece of rope that had almost sent David crashing to the bottom of the gorge, but she gained control of her mind and watched as her husband moved across the divide. This time the rope had nowhere to go and Steve was soon standing on the other side. Looking back at his wife, he called to her.

"Millicent throw me the long length of rope over, carefully." He ordered.

Millicent picked up the fifth length of rope and prepared to throw it across the divide; she measured the distance in her mind before throwing the rope to her husband who expertly caught it. Steve tied one end of the rope to the guilty upright and then he dropped the other end down to David who tied it around his waist while ensuring that gravity did not pull him down the sloping ledge. He then began to climb up the rope, but his wounded shoulder meant that it took him longer than it might usually have, as he was having to nurse the shoulder, or risk a spasm of pain sending down to the rocks below. Up above Steve attempted to take the strain off the broken upright by taking David`s weight, thankfully Steve was quite capable of doing such a thing. Steve also hauled on the rope pulling David to safety, for David was struggling to climb up the rope, and Steve feared that he might fall again. Thanks to his friend, David was back on the bridge, and they hugged each other in relief. On the other side of the divide, Sarah and Millicent did likewise, but their relief was accompanied by a flood of tears, Sarah swore that she had aged twenty years when she had seen her husband fall. David and Steve took a minute to regain their equilibrium but then they were ready to continue.

David instructed the others to throw over the other three lengths of rope, ensuring that they held on to one end of each rope. They now fixed one of these ropes to another solid looking piece of metal so that they now had two handrails to give the others support when they crossed over with the supplies, for Armond had done the same thing on his side of the gap; they were ready for the next phase of the operation.

Sarah and Millicent now pushed the laminated plastic bridge across the divide with the assistance of the others on their side of the divide. Thankfully, it did not weigh too much and the plastic bridge finally got close enough to Steve who grabbed it and pulled his end to safety.

They now took the four short lengths of rope that were attached to the plank and tied them to the two rope handrails, with this done they finally had a bridge to cross over the divide.

One person at a time now walked across the new bridge, which moved under their feet as they took each step forward, each person carrying some of their supplies to the other side of the divide. The bridge creaked and groaned as the rope moved, and they had to hold their fears in check as they moved across the swaying bridge, but with the two upper ropes to hold onto, their fears were held in check, and they finally made it across. Sarah was the first to cross and she threw herself into David`s arm and kissed him fiercely but she broke from him when she heard him wince in pain.

"What is my darling, are you hurt badly?" Sarah asked concerned now that her husband`s fall had hurt him more than it had appeared.

"I think that I wrenched my shoulder, my love, when I reached out to stop my slide off the ledge down there." David said smiling. "Do not worry it is nothing." He said.

"My macho man." Sarah said angry at his foolish words, and taking the medical pack from Millicent who had just crossed over, took out some bandages and fashioned a sling out of it.

"There, David, keep this on. The next time that action is required Millicent and I will do it, you two macho men can sit back and do the worrying, I am sure that my hair is beginning to turn grey because of you David." Sarah scolded.

Millicent was rather an old-fashioned girl who liked to see Steve taking charge of things, but she said nothing to contradict her friend. David wisely did likewise but he silently reserved the right to act if required. Armond, who was the last of them to cross the bridge, had just stepped onto it when they heard a noise coming the direction of the tunnel by which they had entered the enormous chamber, as one they turned to look in that direction. They could see the flickering lights of torches and hear the voices of the Mazeren crewmen as they made their way down the rough track. Armond silently hurried across, when he had done so David took out a large fierce-some looking knife and cut the four ropes on this side of the divide and pushed their new bridge off, it crashed noisily against the far side and swung uselessly from the ropes attached to the uprights on that side of the divide. Sarah and the others were horrified at seeing him do this, but they kept their complaints for later. Now they hurried away along the track that soon led them out of the chamber and ever nearer to the Gateway. David now explained his actions, that of cutting the ropes and destroying the bridge.

"We need time to get to the Gateway before the admiral, he will have to repair the bridge to get across himself, so that when we want to leave here, it will be there waiting for us." This explanation was accepted by the others and they settled down to see where this new tunnel would take them.

**********

Barney was at the helm of the Galactic Traveller while Alan Lee kept an eye on the starship's scanners. He swore angrily as he watched the Sentinel enter the atmosphere of Mystras and move across to the Gateway. He called down to Tony Miles in engineering.

"Tony, we have been rumbled, the admiral has figured out that we are just a decoy. He will soon be hovering over the Gateway."

Alan was watching as the space cruiser fired its energy weapons to clear the ground beneath it. He tried to contact David and the landing party, but the signal could not penetrate through the large amount of limestone that stood between them. All he could do was wait for his friends to contact them.

**********

The new tunnel was no longer taking them down into the depths of the planet, now it progressed almost horizontal until their way was blocked by a huge door, and lights sudden lit up the passage in an explosion of light that blinded them for a minute, but slowly their eyes became accustomed to the brightness.

"Welcome travellers to the Gateway of Tomorrow, to pass through the final section of the Gateway to what you seek beyond, you must satisfy the conditions laid down by those who created me." A voice boomed out in Mazeren. Its words confirmed their suspicions that they would be dealing with a computer. "You can return to the surface at any time, should you choose to, but if you do so before satisfying the conditions governing those wanting passage through the Gateway, then you will not be allowed to re-enter the portal."

The large door before them opened and they entered into a small plain room with a keyboard set in the wall beneath a small view screen. As they took this in, the door behind them shut quietly without anyone noticing. On the view screen was a single question, it was there to test their intelligence, and if they failed it, they would not be allowed to proceed any further. Sarah explained the question to Steve and Millicent, for they could not read or speak Mazeren.

"It appears to be a riddle rather than a question. It says, I am one, but I am also the reason why others of my kind are not. What am I?" Sarah said a little mystified. "There is also a clock counting down, we have five minutes to type in an answer." Sarah smiled grimly and turned away so as not to be distracted as the others talked amongst themselves as they tried to work out what the riddle meant. The minutes ticked by but the answer to the riddle eluded them. Sarah knew the answer to this riddle; it was something she had read in her younger years, but what was it. The clock slowly counted down; when it reached two Mazeren minutes, she smiled, of course. Sarah walked to the keyboard and typed in the number two. The only even prime number, for all other even numbers were divisible by the number two.

"Of course, Sarah, I should have realised that myself." Steve remarked angry with himself.

"I expected a much harder question, something about life itself." David said, also cursing himself for not thinking of the answer.

"Maybe the computer just wanted to assure itself that we have a certain understanding about things, that we are not simply pirates." Sarah ventured.

A portion of a blank wall in front of them swung open, there was a short corridor and at the end of it, they could see another room. The corridor was quite narrow which meant that they had to walk along it in single file. David was the first to enter the corridor followed by Sarah, he soon reached the new room and saw that this room was also quite plain with a single door on the far side, but this door was open. Sarah followed him in and then they turned to wait for the others, but they were not there and the door had closed behind them. There was now only one direction to go, forward.

***********

When Admiral Stator finally reached the Depths of Despair and the broken Bridge of Troubles he screamed out in rage, for he knew that Captain Charlton must be behind this piece of vandalism, but he then calmed himself and sent for his ship`s artificers to come and repair the broken bridge. Captain Charlton now had a clear lead, but there was only one way out and the captain would have to get by him to get to it. Finally, though he was across and he soon reached the Gateway. He now found himself standing before the enormous door of the ancients, and he swore angrily for once again Captain Charlton was one-step ahead of him. Then the deep voice of the guardian of the Gateway boomed out to him.

"You have bypassed the test that the native people were told to give to the leader of a people attempting to pass through the Gateway of Tomorrow. Therefore, you will have to take a similar test later. Be it known to you that you can return to the surface at any time, should you choose to, but if you do so before satisfying the conditions governing those wanting passage through the Gateway then you will not be allowed to re-enter the portal."

The large door before the admiral opened and he saw the small room within it, but before he could proceed the guardian spoke again.

"You have many men with you; however, only seven of you will be allowed to proceed." Admiral Stator knew that for now he must obey the rules, he turned to one of his junior officers.

"Wait here until you hear from me, if I call, you are to use explosives to gain admittance through this door."

Admiral Stator then entered the small room with six of his men, before him he saw the keyboard set in the wall beneath the view screen. As they took this in, the door behind them shut quietly without anyone noticing. On the view screen was a single question. It was the same question answered by Sarah. I am one, but I am also the reason why others of my kind are not. What am I?

Admiral Stator had no idea, nor did his officers, or the crew beside him, the five minutes ticked by and then the door behind him opened.

"I am sorry but as you cannot answer this question you cannot proceed beyond this point." Boomed out the guardian's deep voice.

**********

David and Sarah walked out of the open door and into a world of beauty. They were obviously above ground, but how when they had descended so far. They were standing in a small glade, which seemed like paradise to them, all they heard was the chirp of insects and the songs of birds. Three deer-like animals entered it, seemingly unafraid of them, and they began to eat the lush green grass. David and Sarah walked slowly amongst the shady trees; it was so peaceful so perfect. However, the tranquillity of this Eden was about to be brought to a sudden end, Doctor Malin appeared along the track, and on seeing them rushed towards them shouting a warning.

"Captain Charlton we must leave this place now, we are all in the gravest danger, the plague is not present amongst the natives, it's here within the Gateway." The doctor screamed out in terror.

"What are you talking about doctor, please explain yourself." David demanded of the half-demented man before him.

"The professor asked me to check to see if the plague was present amongst the natives that we met, so that we could make a hurried retreat if necessary. Well I checked and I could not find a trace of ill health amongst them, in fact they are probably the healthiest people in the galaxy." Doctor Malin explained hurriedly. "However, I must have left my medical scanner on because as soon as I entered this paradise." Doctor Malin almost spat out the last word. "My machine began to ring out a warning, the plague is in the air, it's everywhere in here, we must leave now before we all die." He demanded agitatedly. "Come on, what are you waiting for Captain." He asked panicking even more at David and Sarah's inactivity.

"Doctor if you are correct then we dare not leave this place, to do so could spread this deadly plague to all of the people in the federation. I suggest that you recheck your findings, maybe the machine overheated due to being left on." David said calmly to Doctor Malin who was literally shaking with fear. David may have seemed calm on the surface but beneath this calm exterior, he was scared, but not for himself, it was the thought that his beloved Sarah could die; this almost tore his heart apart.

Doctor Malin turned to his machine and reset it back to the ready mode. He then turned it on and within seconds, its alarm bell rang out. The doctor sank to his feet crying softly but David was not to be beaten so easily.

"How long do we have Doctor, before we die, assuming that we have the virus already." David demanded to know.

"I do not know, let me think." Doctor Malin stopped his crying and tried to gain control of himself. "Look I will check to see if you are showing any signs of it." He said turning his device to David and then to Sarah and lastly upon himself.

"The disease is not present in our blood yet." Doctor Malin said recovering slightly. "We must leave now before we catch it and die here, so very far from home." He pleaded with David and Sarah.

"Could we have the disease Doctor, even though it is not as yet present in our blood?" Sarah asked. Doctor Malin looked across at her and hesitated before answering her question.

"As the disease is airborne then yes we could already be infected, it just may not be in our blood yet." Doctor Malin answered sorrowfully.

"Then it is already too late to think about leaving isn't it?" Sarah said gulping back a sob. Doctor Malin could only nod weakly for he was crying now.

"Then we cannot leave here, can we Doctor, for to do so would be a crime against all that we believe in, am I right Doctor?" Sarah asked the grieving man.

"No, we must stay here for our loved ones, our people." Doctor Malin said sorrowfully.

The computer guarding the treasure of the Gateway ticked off the fifth and final test. Unknown to the David and Sarah, Doctor Malin had unknowingly already approached Steve and Millicent and told them of the dangers they were facing by not leaving this place, they, as David and Sarah had just done, had refused to leave as this would have spread the disease amongst the peoples of the federation. Professor Halliard and Lana had done likewise. Doctor Malin was now released from his trancelike state, and he seemed elated to David and Sarah, who could only stare at him in shock.

"Captain Charlton, I`m not so sure that we are infected." He gasped out. "What I said earlier, about the disease, I could not help myself, but in reality, I never tested the air, it might be all a lie! My pleas to leave here were forced out of me, as was my agitated state." He declared.

"Forced, by whom?" David demanded to know, anger coming to his usually calm features, for he had thought that he had led Sarah to her death.

"I can only assume it was by whatever is ruling here within the Gateway. "Doctor Malin replied happily, for he now knew that they were not going to die.

The glade, the forest and its animals faded away, they were once more within the Gateway, rock walls surrounded them, and their friends were now with them. Doctor Malin quickly told them the good news, for they too were beside themselves with grief.

"Captain Charlton, you and your people have passed the tests that were set for you, what you are seeking is beyond the door behind you." The deep computer voice boomed out.

***********

"Place the explosives here by the locking mechanism of door and then stand clear." Admiral Stator ordered his crewmen and indicating where he wanted the explosives set. He had noted where this was when being forced to leave the Gateway having failed the test.

Directional explosives were attached halfway up the huge door, just where the handle on a normal door would be, with this done the crew retired and covered their ears. There followed a large explosion and the rocky tunnel shook, almost as if in anger for this attack on it. When the dust finally cleared, Admiral Stator saw that the door was now open, the way was clear to him, but then he swore, for he saw that the inner door was locked. As he turned to his men all the lights went out.

"Turn on your torches men; it seems that we must do this the hard way. Lieutenant, please blow open this door here." The admiral said pointing to the one before him.

Chapter Nine

The End Game

David Charlton led the way to the treasure of Altaraus; he was taken back when he saw before him a collection of computers and masses of equipment, no sign of a ruby anywhere.

"My makers have left you all of their knowledge Captain Charlton, that and some equipment for your starship, for I believe that getting away from this planet will be nigh on impossible without it." The deep voice of the Gateway said quietly, his booming voice quietened by need. Just as he finished speaking, the room shook, as the sound of an explosion reached them.

"Admiral Stator is annoyed at not having worked out the simple riddle that Sarah Jane Hardin accomplished with ease." The Gateway computer said. Sarah felt herself blushing, for it had not been that easy for her to get the answer.

"You will all be transported back aboard your ship, then this equipment will be sent, do not move your ship away from this area until I give you the word, or so much will be left behind for the barbarian already at my doors." The computer instructed David.

**********

On the Galactic Traveller, Alan Lee was beginning to worry, his sensors showed the explosions and he could guess who was behind them, Admiral Stator. As he looked across at Barney for inspiration, David appeared out of thin air before him, closely followed by the others.

"David how on earth...?" Alan began to say.

"Tell you later Alan; prepare to take us away from this planet as soon as I give the word." Alongside Steve, the Gateway computer appeared.

"I will need power within the hour Captain, in the meantime..." He did not finish for a series of explosions were heard all over the ship, they appeared to be coming from the outside of the hull.

"Have no fear Captain, that is only a complete defensive array being fixed to the ship. Your engineer will find that a tube is hanging from the ceiling beneath each of the four units that are fixed to the upper hull, and from the floor of each of the four units fixed to the lower hull. He will have to connect them up the ship's power to make them work. I suggest this is done quickly, for you will need them when Admiral Stator realises what has happened."

David did not need to think twice, he got on to Tony Miles and informed him to give them the power necessary to leave Mystras at a moment's notice, and then to start on the defence array that had popped through the hull in eight different locations. Tony swore silently but got on with the job.

"Steve, Barney if you would lend Tony a hand with the defence array, for we are very short of time." David requested of his friends.

"Sarah take over the sensor controls; let me know if the sentinel leaves Mystras anytime soon." David ordered and then he turned to Professor Halliard, Millicent, Doctor Malin and Lana.

"If you four can assist the others, I would appreciate it, some holiday eh Millicent?" David said turning to his friend, but she was already out of the door.

"Captain everything is now aboard your starship, you can take your starship to safety. Your engineer will find two new items in his department, ask him to hook the power module up to his engines immediately, it will give him the power to run the defence array. The other unit operates the defence array. Unfortunately, the engines aboard this ship are not as modern as those aboard the Sentinel, so the admiral will overhaul us given the chance." The Gateway computer said.

Unknown to David his hold was now filled with computers that held the knowledge of the ancients, but they would have to wait.

"Alan, take us to Mazere, Sarah, I`m off to ask Tony to hook up the new piece of equipment in engineering.

David found Tony working with Lana in engineering. He was showing Lana how to connect a cable to the long thin tube that was protruding through the ceiling.

"That thing scared ten years off of my life David, when it punched through the ceiling." Tony complained. "And what are those two things over there?" He asked pointed at two large devices standing near to the engines.

"Well this one seems to be the unit that will give us more power. Tony, leave Lana to finish that; you need to connect this unit up to the engines." David ordered. Lana appeared to be working out quite well as a new crewmember; she could turn her hand to many new things.

"Ok David, but we really could do with a little more time to complete our work, this is not child's play, it is way above my head, where are the controls to this defence array?" Tony asked.

"I think that this second unit houses the controls to the defence array." David said as he felt the engines increase in power as the Galactic Traveller began to gain altitude and soon the starship was through the planet`s atmosphere and entering the vacuum of space.

David was studying the new power unit when he saw a door slide open and a video screen appear with a message in English on it, it was the first of the instructions that Tony required to attach the unit to his engines. Tony got busy with this while David helped Lana with the cable for the defence array.

Soon Barney, and then Steve arrived, they brought the cables from two of the other defence array units, and now there were three cables waiting for Tony to connect them up to the other new unit sitting untouched in engineering. He would only do this when he had finished connecting the power module to the engines, so that they would have sufficient power to make the array work. Soon most of the cables from the eight units that made up the defence array were laying on the floors of the corridors leading into the engineering department, making it appear very untidy. Given time, Tony would have the cables concealed beneath the metal flooring. However, for now the fact that they would be able to defend the freighter against an attack was all that was important. It was not until the early morning that the new power unit and five of the defence array units were up and running, however, they now had a blip on their sensors and it was growing larger.

Admiral Stator had taken two hours to batter his way through all of the closed doors to find that the cupboard was bare. It took him seconds to realise what had happened when the lights had gone out, that Captain Charlton had stolen his treasure and departed for places unknown. He knew that there were a number of choices, Earth, Phlox, Mazere, Canopus, but which one would Captain Charlton have chosen. Mazere, not only was it just two days away, but he had no idea how long the Sentinel would take to discover his ruse, and then Captain Charlton knew that he would be chasing after him. If it were Canopus, then his agents there would inform him, it could not be Earth, the freighter was too slow and would be overhauled as soon as it was discovered that Mazere was not the destination. Phlox was obviously out of the question, there were simply too many governments to deal with, and all of them would want the knowledge now aboard the Galactic Traveller. No, it had to be Mazere, and he was proved correct when the Sentinel began to overhaul the freighter within two hours of giving chase.

Two hours pass quickly when your life is soon to be in danger; it was too quickly for the crew of the Galactic Traveller, for it was now that they saw the Sentinel appear upon the scene with all guns blazing. Admiral Stator was stunned to see his powerful bolts of energy exploding harmlessly against a wall of power that surrounded the aging freighter. The defence array was operational on the upper hull, but only the rear units were working on the lower hull of the starship.

"Alan ensure that our lower forward hull is always pointing away from the Sentinel, if she slips one by our defence array we are done for." David ordered.

"I will do my best to oblige David, however, the Sentinel is not only faster than our old freighter, but it is also much more manoeuvrable." Alan replied gloomily.

The powerful punches thrown by the Sentinel were shaking the freighter apart and Tony was soon on the intercom complaining about it.

"David, the ship cannot take much more of this pounding, you must do something, anything, to stop it, it is either that or it will soon be all through. We are running short of power in any case." David had already come to this conclusion.

"Tony, in a very short time I will ask you to switch all our power over to the energy weapon, we should be able to get off one quick shot. As soon as we have fired, switch the power back to the defence array." Alan smiled as he listened to David and Tony talk on the ship's intercom, this was the first time that he had done so since the Sentinel had arrived on the scene.

"Understood David, I will await your orders with much impatience." Tony replied, happy at last, for they were about to fight back. David turned back to the bridge crew.

"Sarah take over the weapon's console, be prepared to fire one quick shot at the Sentinel's engine when I give the word. Alan prepare to head straight for the Sentinel as she passes us.

The Sentinel swooped in again and sent three powerful bolts of energy at the freighter and when they hit the lights flickered for a moment before coming back, then the Sentinel began to draw ahead of them. David was already talking to Tony Miles.

"Now Tony, full power to the energy weapon." David turned to Alan. "Now Alan, now Sarah."

Sarah had locked on their single energy weapon to the Sentinels external engine pod, and the power of their energy weapon was now boosted by the new power module. She fired a single burst and watched as it struck the Sentinel's large single engine. A burst of energy exploded outwards as the powerful space cruiser lost power and fell back. Tony quickly turned on the defence array again, and the aging freighter quickly left the powerful space cruiser far behind.

David now sent five messages out into deep space. One was to Earth, to John Blazer of Blazer Space, he was David`s godfather, he told John Blazer of their treasure, and about Admiral Stator`s attack on his ship, and he requested that he inform the United Nations of his find, and of his destination, Mazere, it being the nearest planet to offer the sanctuary that he needed. He also said that he felt that the admiral was on a personal power quest and that his actions were probably unauthorised by the government of that planet. David hoped that he was right in this.

David sent a similar message to Mayling, the leading government on Phlox; he asked if this message could be passed onto the other governments of the planet. He followed this up with a message to the Earth ambassador on Phlox, Jules Kennedy and told him everything that had happened. A further similar message went to the Earth ambassador on Mazere, Roger Spencer.

The last message went to Lantana Stator, it was similar to the other messages, but he requested that she send him some sort of assistance to escort him to Mazere, as he feared that Admiral Stator, her father was not finished with him yet.

**********

The crew of the Sentinel were stunned when their powerful space cruiser lost propulsion and drifted helplessly in space as the aging freighter disappeared from view. Yet again the earthman, Captain Charlton had managed to get the better of their commanding officer, Admiral Stator. Then they heard as five messages were sent from the freighter, five daggers aimed at their hearts. Even if they were able to catch up with the freighter, they knew that they were finished now.

***********

On the bridge of the Galactic Traveller, they had received no response to any of their messages; maybe there had not been sufficient time to formulate one. However, Steve saw two blips appear on his sensor unit, they were in front of them and closing fast.

"David there are two fast moving starships coming towards us from Mazere, if they are here to aid the Sentinel then we are done for, we need to decide quickly what our response should be." Steve said anxiously.

"Steve is right David, we cannot cope with three space cruisers, and we cannot allow what we took from Mystras to fall into the hands of Admiral Stator. The first thing that would happen was that the government on Mazere would fall, then Phlox would break off diplomatic relations with Mazere, maybe for ever, and Earth would be forced into a war against a Mazere before it could make use of the ancients' technology." Sarah declared grimly. Everyone on the bridge looked to David for a lead.

"If they are indeed the enemy then I can only see one option, we must scuttle the ship and ensure that everything in and on it is completely destroyed, are we agreed?" David asked those assembled on the bridge. Sarah, Steve, Millicent, Doctor Malin and Professor Halliard all nodded their agreement of his words.

"Right then I will ask Tony and Lana if they will also agree to it, to dying for their fellow man, or woman." David said soberly, adding the last two words when he looked across at Sarah. Soon he had the agreement of everyone on the freighter; it would be either total victory or death.

"We wait then, soon we will know if they are friend or foe."

On hearing David`s message Lantana almost exploded, her father was still chasing power after all that had been accomplished after the people's revolution, she immediately ordered the space cruisers Timor and Ryslin to rendezvous immediately with the Galactic Traveller, Lantana herself was on board the space cruiser Timor. They found the Galactic Traveller after four hours travelling at maximum speed, and just in time, for the Sentinel had caught up with her for the second time; the star cruiser's engine had not been too badly damaged by the single energy bolt. Lantana spoke to her father in terms that were not those of a daughter. She then ordered his first officer to put her father under arrest and to assume temporary command.

***********

When the crew of the Sentinel had first seen the two space cruisers coming towards them they were elated, victory was theirs. However, when Lantana ordered her father to surrender and relinquish command they were stunned. They once again saw the depths of their own despair. They would be returning to Mazere in disgrace.

Admiral Stator returned to his cabin having relinquished command to his first officer. He knew that he was finished now, he had brought humiliation to his daughter without being victorious, and he knew what he had to do. In one of the draws of his desk, he kept an old-fashioned pistol, the sort that fired bullets. He took it out and stood to attention.

"Checkmate." He said sadly acknowledging that Captain Charlton had won the final battle.

The pistol shot rang through the starship, when his officers found him he was dead Commander Zior decided that now was not the right time to tell his daughter, President Lantana, there would be plenty of time after they had landed at the spaceport.

**********

The four starships then travelled back to Mazere where President Lantana learnt of her father's death, she took it bravely, only later would she cry, when she was alone. As president, she was forced to come clean about her father's latest actions, and those that had occurred prior to the riots that had brought her to power. She had offered to stand down, but the people would not countenance such a thing, she was the best president that the planet had ever had and they wanted to keep her.

The crew of the Galactic Traveller were all put on a month's paid holiday, the government of Mazere footing the bill. Tony Miles was home with his family; Alan Lee and Lana were getting to know one another in a small cabin in the hills, far away from the spaceport. Steve Ryan and Millicent were in Plakara holidaying with David and Sarah. They were staying at the same small family run hotel that they had been in some four years earlier. It was located in central Plakara and their suite was once again on the top floor of the hotel.

A tri-planet panel of scientists was being set to look at the data brought back from Mystras, and Steve and Millicent were heading the panel. There had been no dissention for not only were they both very able scientists, but all three planets trusted them, for they were friends of the Charlton family.

There was one fly in the ointment; security guards were now posted around David and his friends. They were there on the orders of President Lantana Stator to ensure that no one attempted to exact revenge upon them, or so they were told. However, since her the death of her father, Lantana had changed. What was certain was that their life on Mazere would never be the same again. Soon they would have to make Earth their centre of operations, and Mazere, they would stop there just long enough to unload their cargo and load up with a new one.

The End

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Also, why not visit my author page by clicking on the link. Smashwords Books.

About the Author

I was born in London, England. Like most of the world, I had to work hard to pay my mortgage and all the other bills, so I only had the time and the energy to write some short stories. My wife and I have a son who is now married to a lovely wife and they have five children of their own. Since retiring to the Greek island of Crete, I have finally found the time and the energy to write some full-length Science Fiction stories.

Other Books by the Author

Colonies of Earth Series in order

Galaxy Spies

Time Storm

Rebirth

Trial by Ordeal

Horror Stories

Strange tales; three short mild horror stories

The Vampires of Cymru-- coming soon

Rob Hinds black magic stories

Kidnapped and Bound for Hell

The Satanists

Dreamscape

The Return of the Bitch from Hell

David Charlton stories, a science fiction series

Rescue Mission to the Stars

The Treasure of Altaraus

Return to Mazere

Other science fiction stories

Quasar

The Venetou

Invasion Earth

Lost and Far from Home

Journey to the Stars

Rebellion is in the Air

Short children`s stories

Three Journeys of the Scary Kind
